No Luck at Trak as car 'falls apart' - 17/ 01 / 05

Luck wasn't on Ross' side today after a rear block breakage meant retirement from the first qualifying round, things improved slightly in the next two rounds as Ross managed to get himself upto third on the grid. Things got better still as he sliced down the inside of Malcom Shears into turn 1 of lap 1 to take second and then move past Rod for the lead half way round lap 1. For the first minute of the race Rod and Ross stormed out in front of the field, creating a huge gap on the battle for third between the rest of the field. Approaching the 2 minute mark Ross' car lost acceleration and Rod (not a contender in this championship) was allowed through and quickly opened up a lead. Second place looked secure for Ross with a large gap in hand but after the 2 minute mark the car had a dramatic loss in speed and handling. Such was the drop off in pace that first Jason and then Michael caught up and relegated Ross to 4th, just holding off the fast closing Malcom on the last lap.

There was much head scratching in the pits after the race about what caused the drop off in speed and handling. It was discovered later on though when it was noticed the bottom allen screw had dropped out of the front left hub - this allowed the front left wheel to move several centimeters forwards or backwards and a crazy camber angle on cornering as well as scrubbing speed on the straight as it tried to go in a different direction to the front right wheel!

The car will be getting a thorough going over before the next meeting at Plymouth on Sunday, see you there.

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