A Rather Strange Weekend at Silverstone
Wow. So, that was a very strange weekend’s racing. Those of you who watched the Silverstone BTCC on ITV4 will have heard the commentators reference race 3 in particular being one of the strangest they’d ever witnessed. Other comparisons were made to events on track during the 1992 season, a year which at least one of the RCIB sponsored drivers hadn’t even yet been born, with Aiden Moffat only celebrating his 23rd birthday on the eve of ‘race day’.
The weather forecast was always predicted to be a bit wet for Sunday and we’re not sure if it’s just us, but regardless of the time of year, any visit to Silverstone normally involves the need for waterproofs and an umbrella. This weekend was no exception. Race 1 wasn’t too bad weatherwise and Sam Tordoff ‘stand in’, Mike Bushell drove his heart out for a very respectable 7th place, whilst team mate Rory scraped into the points, not helped by the ballast he was forced to carry for this race. Jack Goff was showing promise too by biting at the heels of those in front.
Race 2 saw the weather close in, and a ‘prang’ between Rory and Ollie Jackson put Rory out with Mike again bringing in points with his 9th place finish.
But, race 3 is where it was at. This was a race that was almost comical in illustrating what a difference tyre choice makes in wet conditions. With the safety car out early on in the race, Aiden Moffat (who started at the near back of the grid in 29th) and Jack Goff, with one or two others, dived into the pits to swap tyres as the weather worsened. This was a decision that would have monumental effects on the overall result. With the safety car gone, and the track by now really quite wet, the cars of Aiden and Jack (Laser Tools Racing and Team Hard…both sponsored by RCIB) cut through the field like a knife through butter.
In fact, even when Aiden ran too wide on the run off towards the end of the race and did a rather spectacular ‘360’, he still climbed back up to 2nd with ease and confidence from position 4. Jack Goff by now, had opened up a spectaular lead having pulled away from Aiden who was his only real challenger until then, ending up with a significant lead. We can only but imagine what must have been going through Jack’s mind as the following pack became more and more distant in his rear view mirror.
The race finished with Jack Goff achieving his first ever win for Tony Gilham’s Team Hard, and it was a win based on determination and a great, and brave strategy. Aiden too deserved applause for his grit for climbing up from 29th to finish runner up and for listening to his tyre engineer’s suggestion of an early pit stop. Aiden also finished the Infiniti on the podium for the first time ever.
Unfortunately, the lack of points has formally meant Rory can’t now win the drivers championship, but Cobrasport AmD with Autoaid/RCIB can still win the Indy title, if points go their way at Brands. With Jack Goff now having a win behind him, and being on his team’s ‘home track’ for the final weekend, anything is possible for this remarkable conclusion to the 2019 season.