Jonathan's pre-season preparations went -
quite literally - with a bang, when he contested the third round of the ABKC
Winter Series on 18 January.
The fast Oxfordshire circuit often produces
exciting and dramatic racing, but for Jonathan his dramas were of a more
mechanical nature.
The limited format of just two heats and a final make
strong heat finishes vital - and Jonny was almost immediately on the back foot
in the first of the day's races, when his best engine failed.
He said,
"The First heat didn't go well. The motor broke on the first lap and I had to
go back into the pits and that was that."
Switching to a different
engine put him back on the grid for the second heat, but with insufficient time
to set it up correctly, Jonny had to tiger away to finish in 6th place.
"I'd started from 7th place and had a few problems with my Maxter
engine, but managed to finish one place better." Given the ever changing track
conditions, he also felt that he hadn't quite found the optimum handling
balance, and admitted "We still didn't have a good set-up for the
dry."
The first corner after the start at Shenington is a fast flick
left, before the pack streams into a looping right-hander that then turns left,
before a straight takes the field into a tricky hairpin corner. The field then
barrel down a long straight before hitting the brakes and threading their way
through a challenging left-right chicane. Accidents at this corner are common,
and the Final was to be no exception.
Jonny takes up the story, "I went
from last on the grid and had got through to 4th place on the first lap. I was
sitting behind Jack Harvey, but was suddenly shoved off the track at the
chicane."
He recovered and was sitting in 6th place and catching the
group ahead when his motor's main bearing let go as he exited the chicane
again. His motor detonated in a way that both impressed and depressed his
engine tuner, Gordy Finlyason.
Compounding Jonathan's disappointment
was his pace prior to his engine blowing up - "I had recorded the fastest lap
at that point in the race and then the engine went 'bang'!"
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