Home race disaster for Taylor
Croft circuit in the North East was the next stop for the HI-Q MSA British Touring Car Championship. Also it was the home race for Whitley Bay's Alan Taylor.
After a busy week where Alan made appearences at his Big Mussel restaurant in Newcastle and also the HI-Q Forum at Darlington it was back to the usual routine of the race weekend.
The weekend started badly as Alan went out in the first free practice the drive shaft snapped and that put him out for the entire session and also 35 mins of the second session so he only managed to do 8 laps in the morning. Qualifying was better but with 2 red flags during the session Alan was unable to set a decent time and would line up 20th on the grid. " today has been a nightmare." Said Taylor "I had to sit out pretty much all morning and the Qually was a pain because everytime I was on my best lap the session was stopped."
Race day was wet and windy and with a huge North Eastern crowd Alan knew he had to put on a good show for the fans. With the rain getting worse it was decided that the cars were to do 2 laps to asess the conditions before the race got underway.
As Alan lined up to take the start he was already in trouble. The de-mister had failed and his windscreen was steaming up rapidly un daunted by that the race got underway. With the visability getting worse Alan stayed out of trouble and avoided the spinners up front and held his position. The first 2 laps were trouble free but then on lap 3 it all went wrong. Stephen Jelley had aquaplained off in to the barrier at Tower and was being tended to by the Marshalls when Alan hit the same river on the track and ploughed into the barrier and Jelley's car which in turn knocked 2 marshals to the ground.
One of the marshalls was briefly trapped under the car and suffered minor injuries and the other was unscathed. The car was wrecked and that was it for the rest of the day. " I could not see a thing. I was braking up to 50 meters before the corner and I just lost control. I'm sorry that the marshals were hurt and I wish them a speedy recovery. I hope to be out at Snetterton I will keep you all up to date on here on the situation. Thanks to all the fans that wished me well and for the support, it really means a lot. "
bravenet.com