An attack of the gremlins for Dave Sharp
MDS Team Still fighting The Gremlins
It was all systems go for the MDS race team at the weekend, with V8 stock car meetings at Chesterton Stadium, Stoke on Trent on Saturday evening followed by a quick change to Buxton Raceway on Sunday morning.
Conditions were extremely hot and dusty especially on Saturday due to the meeting being held on shale, heavy watering of the track added to the challenging conditions for all drivers.
The meeting was held on a two thirds format consisting of three heats and a final. An electrical problem caused Dave problems in his first heat, but he fared better in his second heat with a ninth place putting him in the points and into the final. The slippery conditions added to an exciting race with cars spinning off but Dave held on to achieve another ninth place and gain a few more valuable points.
After a quick hose down and change of race set up for the car it was off to Buxton on Sunday morning.
Buxton offered its own challenges, set in the hills of Peak District this is a spectacular tarmac circuit with stunning views. The meeting was a world championship qualifying round so the team had hopes for good results.
Heat one went well with some fast racing, Dave moved into second place. He and the first driver pulled out a good lead until an incident on the top bend caused the race to be yellow flagged and stopped. This closed the pack up for the restart of the race causing the two leaders to lose all the advantage they had initially gained. After a hard-fought race Dave still managed to achieve a respectable result finishing in a large group separated by only two seconds but still in the top half of the field.
The gremlins then returned in the form of starter motor failure, a temporary replacement was sourced but the team were unable to fit it in time to complete the meeting.
Hopes are now focusing on the next meeting at Birmingham Wheels Raceway on the 21st Julywhich will be the re run European Championship postponed from 24th June at Northampton and this will also be a World Championship qualifying round.
