2008
mixed season opener
Barry Gates & Anthony had mixed fortunes in the first
race of the 2008 V de V series. Despite
limited Donington testing, in a tricky wet-dry qualifying
session, they took 5th position on the grid in their Ligier
JS49.
In
the race, they were hampered by gear selection problems,
but Barry still produced a solid performance in the opening
stint to stay in touch with the mid-field group.
However,
he was caught out by a rain shower after 45 minutes, causing
him to slide off the track and become beached in the gravel
at Redgate corner. Remarkably, despite loosing 4 laps he
was dragged out by a recovery tractor onto the track and
back into the race!
At
mid-distance the Chevron racing team did an excellent job
to refuel the car and change drivers and Anthony took the
second stint. Despite the gear problems, he still produced
lap times that were competitive and battled through the
pack.
He
had a good race with ex-F3 driver Charlie Hollings, overtaking
his friend on the outside at Redgate and eventually took
8th place as the red flag was thrown 15 minutes early due
to a stricken car on track.
"That
was a baptism of fire, but at least we finished!" said
Anthony. "We were lucky to still be going at all after
the gravel trap moment, but we picked up a good handful
of points, which may be helpful later in the season. We
need to do a bit of work to be more competitive, but we
know where the time is to be gained and we'll be more on
the case at the next round."
