The sun shone brightly for our last ever race, the entry the highest for the season at 20 - where were you all earlier this year! There was a chance to welcome new drivers such as Kerry Gardiner in the seriously nice looking Touring Car Alfa Romeo 75 1.8 Turbo and Jo Farby in the ex-Neil Smith Fiat Uno - and also to welcome back drivers such as Terry Davies and John Griffiths, all running as guests. Good also to see Phil Thompson's Panda and Julian Brown's X1/9 up and running again after early season problems, and David Lambourn's Lancia Delta having a trouble free day for once.

This is the bit where I'm supposed to add that it was great to get the Y10 out on track - but laziness got in the way. This last race would be courtesy of Graham Scott Racing, I chose the stress free "arrive and drive" deal for this last race in their production class Alfa Romeo 75 2000 - my third meeting of the season and the third different car I have raced!

Being fully used to the normal method of dragging the car and trailer across the country, I was looking forward to having all the normal pressures removed from my day so I could concentrate on the important bit - the driving. Being the world's most inept mechanic, there was piece of mind knowing that someone would look after that side of things while I lazed around drinking tea.

I arrived up at Oulton Park around 8:30am, having travelled up the night before with Julian Brown and stayed with friends just down the road in Warrington. "My" car was already off the trailer, washed and ready to go. The GSR team took it off to scrutineering and then during the morning installed my video camera and transponder, before taking time for the important bit - getting the seat and harness adjusted to my liking.

This meant I could take time strolling round the paddock without a care in the world, chatting to my fellow competitors and catching up on news since the last event. I took time to check over the Gardiner Alfa 75 Touring Car, the standard of build being on another level to that which I am used to. Also caught up on the tales of woe such as Jo Farby who broke the gearbox in testing on Friday, lucking a new one was found and installed in good time for the meet.

Finally it was time to go out and find the track - we were second last race of the day, and consequently also second last qualifying of the day, so it had been a longer wait than usual. I drove out onto the circuit near the back of the pack concentrating on how the Alfa 75 felt - my first ever race in a rear wheel drive car, and which way did the track go after all. I had been to Oulton before, way back in 2000 with the Y10, but it rained hard all day, the track was very slippery in qualifying and the Y10's electrics cried foul exiting Cascades on the first lap - so I was hardly an Oulton expert!

I was running out of class (again) with a Class D eligible car in Class A, up against Ted Reddick's Ferrari 355C, the aforementioned Alfa 75 Touring Car and David Lambourn's Delta. To win a pot this season I needed 24 points, equivalent to coming second in qualifying and in the race, which (not knowing Kerry was running as a guest) I knew wasn't going to happen. I slipped past Kerry Gardiner on the second lap and to my surprise he stayed there for about 8 laps of qualifying before finally going past into Old Hall - by the exit uphill out of Cascades he was gone. It quickly became apparent that I would be running near the back of the grid again, I managed to overtake the Panda and the Delta but everyone else seemed to be able to pull away at will. Around mid session I caught up with Emma Karwacki, we have a rivalry which brings out the best in us so I started to close but by the time I got the gap down to about 50 metres, I started to lose ground being lapped and she got away. It came as a surprise that the practice times showed her to me fully 1.7 seconds clear of me, but no surprise at all to be last bar the Panda and the Delta which were safely 3 to 5 seconds behind me.

Up front, as expected, Ted Reddick set the pace, but championship contender Tim Lewis was throwing down the gauntlet just .7 seconds adrift, with Andy Thompson (Class B winner last time out at Oulton) a further 1.3 seconds adrift of Tim. That boded well for Tim who needed maximum points from the meeting to take the overall title for 2003. Further down the grid, Tony Soper was making a guest appearance in the Alfa GTV V6 which seems to get quicker every race, he qualified a strong 4th. Ian Stapleton headed Neil Smith in Class C, with Westley Evans and Roger Donnan heading Classes D and E as is the norm, Roger keeping the pressure on Tim Lewis for the championship title.

A long break until late afternoon for the race left plenty of relaxation time. GSR came up trumps again, laying on food in the Winnie as well as TV to watch the GP qualifying.

By the time we finally made the assembly area, the paddock was looking a bit sparse, many other competitors having departed for the day. The crowd seemed pretty good, the good weather probably helped, but they also seemed more enthusiastic than normal - I even saw Emma signing autographs!

There seemed to be a few problems with deciding which class some people were in, the grid must have been published 3 or 4 times and still Phil Thompson (Class B) ended up tagged on the back of Class D, launching him six places up the grid before the race even started. Running in Class A (I now thought I needed to win the race and get fastest lap to finish 3rd overall in Class A - maybe Ted and Kerry would both fall off on the first lap!) I was predictably on the back row with David Lambourn's Delta (still not sure why he doesn't run in Class C) but luckily for me I was on the inside of the circuit. In front was Tony Soper who I knew would be hard charging from the off, leaving me all the space in the world. To his left was Kerry Gardiner. Having kept him behind me in practice, my game plan was to get past him on the first corner and see how long I could keep him behind, although plainly his car was so much faster than mine he could power by at will.

The plan worked, we got a good clean start, and Kerry's (presumably) lack of experience at our rolling starts meant he was too far back from the car in front (Ted) as the lights went green, where I was sat on Tony's rear bumper waiting for him to go. I went into Old Hall level with Kerry but with the inside line he conceded the ground and I was in front. Heading down to Cascades, dust was flying everywhere as Emma spun off to the outside of the track heading into the chicane. It was all rather crowded and I followed Julian's X1/9 through the chicane, going up the hill we closed in on Phil in the Panda. Julian went round the outside, I took a little longer to catch him but made my pass before going into Druids. Next in front of Julian was Jo Farby in her first race in the Uno. They had qualified half a second apart and looked to be in for a good scrap. I tried to stay in touch with them but they were slowly pulling away, as their couple of second lap time advantage over me would suggest. On the second lap Julian tried to go past Jo into Cascades but held back and then outdragged her on the way out up the hill. They were pulling away, but Kerry was still behind in the 75. There were parts of the track where he was plainly faster than me, uphill from Cascades and downhill to Old Hall seeming the most likely places he would make his move - but I seemed to be going from Old Hall and through Cascades quicker despite running on Dunlop control tyres rather than slicks.

On the third lap, Westley Evans' race was over, parked up before Cascades with fuel pump failure. At the end of the third lap, my racing (if not the race) was effectively over as Kerry powered alongside going into Lodge, but he ran wide and I got back level with him as we came over the brow towards the start-finish line. Going down towards Old Hall, he made a gap but I stayed with him to Cascades and then he was gone, never to be seen again! I had a couple of lonely laps before Ted Reddick came flashing past heading towards Druids. Tim Lewis must have been some way behind (presumably he erred on the side of caution going through the traffic) as he didn't catch me until Old Hall later that lap - the next time I saw him would have been around lap 8 or 9, beached in the gravel at Druids - championship over for him unless Roger Donnan also failed to finish. A short while later, Emma appeared behind me on the start-finish straight and barged past going into Old Hall, on a major mission after her first lap faux pas. By the time she had left Cascades she was gone - her best lap in the race being a 3 second improvement over qualifying. The rest of the race was pretty quiet for me - Ted lapped me three times in the 355, but the third time was going into Lodge for the last time, Andy, Tony and Neil got me twice, with another 4 drivers lapping me the once. For my part, I lapped the Lambourn Delta but it was good to finally see it finish a race, as it was with the Panda which finished some 28 seconds behind me after a troublesome season. Julian also finished in the X1/9 but lost his battle with Jo after spinning at Cascades late in the race.

So, the race spoils to Ted Reddick who shook off the Minari to win by 25 seconds, with Tony Soper a similar distance behind Andy for third. Championship spoils to Roger Donnan who claimed maximum points from the meeting to uphold his requirement to win.

Class positions - Ted claimed Class A in the Ferrari 355C by a large distance from Lindsay ward's Lancia Thema, with myself and John Rutter tying for third, despite my error of judgement at Snetterton (entering in Class B instead of A). In Class B, Tim Lewis had scored enough points to remain clear of Andy Thompson despite Andy's win and double points with his joker. I had been in third before this race but finished in fifth, Terry Davies ran as a guest in this race, so third place spoils went to Julian Brown. Ian Stapleton's absence from the race didn't stop him from winning Class C, again Neil Smith winning and playing the joker but not quite being enough - ex-class champion Ron Davidson coming in third. Class D was the preserve of Westley Evans despite his disappointment in this race, with Peter Woodward taking second, third falling to Graham Scott after a late surge. And finally Class E - champion Roger Donnan taking a convincing win from Emma Karwacki and Charles Cozens, with early pace setter Bryn Griffiths falling to fourth right at the end.

I should like to add my thanks to Graham Scott Racing without whom my presence at this meet would have been impossible. Its easy to be blase as an experienced racer, but the whole GSR arrive and drive experience was one which I can thoroughly recommend, run in a very professional manner and which allowed me to have nothing but the driving to think about.

Check out the final standings for 2003.

Nyssa Racing would like to offer our congratulations to the 2003 Le Mans Auto-Italia champion, Roger Donnan, and commiserations to Tim Lewis who ran so close before his title hopes ended in the gravel at Druids.

We now wait to see what the future holds for next season - it is intended that the series open up to include other cars originating from throughout Europe rather than just Italian based cars, but how this will all run is not exactly clear yet. The series will still be sponsored by Le Mans Autoparts and it is the intention of Nyssa Racing to continue to support this series assuming the regulations don't throw up any nasty surprises. Walking around the paddock, it seems that most competitors are of a similar mind, so we look forward to renewing battles with old friends (and making some new ones) next season.

We intend to spend the close season getting the Y10 up and running again, hopefully in plenty of time for some pre-season testing. Too much time has been spent to just give up now, but a new project has been started for future years - full details will be finalised when we have seen the new series' regulations.

Video downloads:

Not super quality, one or two problems with the camera that haven't occured before - but still well worth watching.

Qualifying:
Ted and Andy go past (0.58Mb)
Tony runs wide at Lodge (0.29Mb)

The race:
The start (2.06Mb)
Julian passes Jo (0.84Mb)
Fighting off Kerry (1.66Mb)
Being lapped by Ted and Tim (0.73Mb)
Passed by Emma (1.11Mb)

Visit the Le Mans Motorsport site for details of the Le Mans Auto-Italia championship and standings so far.