A Buggy Man view of this race.

What a lovely day for a run, I had few problems qualifying leaving getting a place on the grid very late, after a discussion with the race Marshalls in “Parc Fermat” after a questions about the over flexing of the rear wing of the buggy I explained to them that at my age your rear end tends to sag a bit, but this was remedied by wearing Lycra shorts under my running shorts to reduce flexibility. I decided to use option tyres (Hard) on the buggy and the lightweight Brook shoes on the rear hopefully for a better weight /drive ratio, I had to start at the back the grid due to a right hand drive shaft problem (sore Knee).

The race started with a fast down hill section, though poor road conditions did cause excess vibration in the buggy that upset Robert. The road conditions improved before we reached the sweeping left bend which could be taken at full throttle before braking hard for sharp right hand bend, which did cause some bunching in the field, the road narrowed and we had to careful not to put a wheel on the grass which may have caused a loss of traction, after a quick chat with teammates, we pushed on up the short incline before a sharp right hand bend and avoiding the hazard of bollards in the road, it was then a pleasant flat section along the side of the river before a left hand bend and onto the bridge, getting good drive off the bridge we powered our way up the first hill (499ft above sea level) though the trees on to a pleasant countryside section of road after short recovery we picked speed as the course gradually fell back down hill and after short left hand bend

We hit top speed on the fast down hill section , unfortunately this was quickly followed by a very sharp incline on the left and right combination of bends and just as we thought we going to make it the road bared left and we were greeted by another incline having already gone right through the gearbox we were reduced to using the crawler gear(walking)up too the highest point on the course (591ft above sea level), just as we were recovering the from the hill the road turns left and we were on to an undulating section of the course as it begins to drop back downhill and we could pick up speed and cool the engine down (me)a sharp left turn and it was pass the football pitches before a quick left right left turn combination chicane and we up though the gears and picking up speed again , before the road sweeps left and on to a very fast downhill, luckily the new brake package worked (new blocks), it was then onto the next incline a short sharp hill (466ft above sea level) and though our initial speed got us up to half way we were again reduced to using the crawler gear, but as we reached the brow of the hill, we were greeted by very welcome roadside support (Phil Rutter),

We then took the double right and left turn, and again began to pick up speed, we hit top speed on the last downhill, before the sharp left hand hairpin taken on 2 wheels much too Roberts glee, it was then downhill pass the 9k marker trying get up as much speed as possible over the bridge and round the sweeping right hand incline before turning left and carrying on climbing to the right turn back on to cobbles of the market square and as we dropped through the gears to climb the hill, the fantastic support from Quakers and the rest the crowd drove us on up the hill to the castle gates and on to the grass and chequered flag.

I would like to say a big well done to all the Quakers who ran the race and especially too Jeanette Appleton who’s number I ran under. I take my hat off to you all (as it was the prize for finishing)

For those of you who were there and noticed that someone else was as mad as me was pushing a buggy round the race. I pleased to say I did beat him only just.