1998 AutoTrader 1/32 Touring Car Championship.
Area 4: South East
Reports: Rounds 1 & 2,    Rounds 3 & 4,
Results: Rounds 1, Rounds 2, Round 3, Round 4.

Rounds 1 & 2: May 24th '98

We had some Viking racers frantically adjusting their cars in pre-race scrutineering to make them legal. But all cars eventually passed. Everyone had an enjoyable time and the racing was good humoured. We had many a laugh during racing as several cars decided to fall apart (Viking again!). In rounds 3 & 4 we (Viking) shall make a better attempt at race preparation now that we have learnt the hard way.

Even so, although we were prepared to get a sound thrashing from the hardened racers from ‘up North’ (anything further up the M2 is ‘the North’) we did manage to push two of our team to 11 points each to tie for 5^th place overall after the first two rounds.

Congratulations go to Tony Baldock for excellent driving rewarded with consistent high scores. This clocked up 23 points for the current area Championship leader. Guest driver Rachael Jones deserves a mention as she produced a final score that would have put her in equal 5^th spot along with Peter Gill and myself – If only she had entered the competition!

Rounds 3 & 4: Aug 16th '98
The final double header race ran firly smoothly once we got started and into the routine. Three of the 'away team' drivers could not attend so that cut down the time needed to qualify and race a bit , but it was still a long day. Racing commenced at about 10'ish and finished just before 6pm with about an hour for lunch.
Once again lessons could have been (should have been) learnt by the Viking drivers as some of the cars lost wheels during racing - how many times must we make this mistake?
Credit goes to Nigel and Kevin for their cars ran without as much as a hiccup. Together with their solid driving they easily amassed almost 50% of the points available between the two of them. Well done guys.
It has been a very interesting time for our club as none of us at Viking had ever entered a championship contest. We have learnt a lot and should be able to compete again next year with a little more confidence and preparation.
Roll on next year.