The best day of my life?

I have enjoyed some really great moments in my life. I remember vividly the first time I drove my dads kart at Wizzard Kart track in Carrolton, Texas, graduated from highschool (and University, believe it!!), and raced for the United States karting team. I recently had a day which could have been the most enjoyable, ever.

For the last few weeks I have been at Palmer Sport instructing. As with any company I have started at what is considered the bottom of the preverbial totem pole. As many of you know I feel hugely fortunate just to be at Palmer Sport so I am happy just to be there, let alone getting a job reserved for the most senior instructors.

A few days ago, there was a fluke in the allignment of the stars and the directors schedule said I was the only driver available who could help the mechanics to 'run in' a new car which just came off the assembly line. (50+ hour process of being hand built by mechanics piece by piece)

The process of running in a car is important to break in an engine, gearbox, and differential before the car is driven to maximum speed. There is a strict program which involves turning laps with the engines RPM at a predetermined ceiling, then gradually building up speed. It would be my duty and responsbility to help them with this to drive hours upon hours around the Bedford Autodrome's 'West Circuit.'

Although I do have a fair ammount of time in single-seaters I have only been had opportunities to drive them under pressure and on the clock. It has forced me to push unnaturally hard and always feeling quite on the edge without knowing precisely where that edge was. Where as F1 drivers usually log in between 1,500-3,000 miles before their first race, the first time I wason track was often to qualify. This day gave me the chance to build up speed, confidence, and comfort in the car.

At the end of the day I had completed around 100 laps of the West Circuit. While still going relatively slowly (93 mph) down the straight away's, I was carrying good speed through the corners and getting used to the handling of the Formula Jaguar and the grip the F3 tyres were delivering.

There is nothing more in the world I enjoy more than driving single seater race cars. Although it was a day which ultimately came down to being at the right place at the right time this day served as a reminder to why I moved halfway across the world leaving behind friends and family for an uncertain destiny.

Thank you to our photographer Lee Marshall for capturing the images. If you would like to see more of his work he is available via http://www.lee-marshall.co.uk/

From cloud 9

Michael