We caught up with Mervyn Beckett who raced in the 750 Motor Club Classic Hatch series.
 |
| Beckett races the lone Nova in the series Photo: Michael Barrett |
"At Mallory Park, which was the first round of Championship, I was hoping to just finish my first
race but sadly I hit engine trouble two laps from the end, so I had to retire.
In the second race the engine trouble was out of the way and I went for it and
got a strong seventh and I was over the moon.
"The second meeting
of the year was at Brands Hatch, I had a good qualifying session and qualified
seventh and eighth for the two races. Race one sadly didn't go well due to rain
on the out lap and as I was still using the qualifying tyres, I didn't have much
grip and fell down to sixteenth out of twenty-four cars. The second race was in
dry and I had great start and managed to
stay out of trouble, I pushed my hardiest and managed to overtake a couple of
cars and finished a fantastic fourth and to me it felt like I won it.
"The mid season for me has had its ups and downs. We headed to Snetterton in May, Round 5 at Snetterton
was a fantastic race for me starting near the front of the grid and getting my first podium finish in 3rd place. Round 6 was looking close to another podium but sadly due to a leakage I had to settle for 7th.
"For rounds 7 and 8, we headed to Pembrey in Wales. Round 7 was another good result a solid 6th place, that was good as on turn 3 on lap 1 I was last due to a spin. Round 8 was a very wet race and was pleased to finish 6th.
"In Round 9 at rockingham I finished 8th, a good recovery after a poor qualifing in 11th. In Round 10, I was doing well until I sadly had a rear brake problem making me a second a lap slower dropping me down the field to 11th. In the championship I'm now sitting 7th overall and leading the novice championship. My target for last 4 rounds is to stay 1st in novice and get into top 6 of the championship.
"After the Rockingham problems, I had to sort out with the race car. Due to so many changes I entered the Allcomers race at Silverstone and again I felt happy with the nova it felt on pace again. To me it was just a test season.
"Rounds 11 and 12 were at Donington Park I qualified fourth for race one and pole for race two. I was well over the moon with that and it being my first pole was great. Race one for me not much happened just kept at the front and finished fourth and with that result I took the Novice Championship. In race two I went for it battling for the lead for almost the whole race, I was second most of it but sadly Lee Scott and Martin Cayzer passed me on the run to the the line so finished fourth but overall it was a fantastic weekend.
"The final two rounds were at Cadwell Park and it was a very wet weekend. In race one I managed ninth and race two eighth. I found it very hard to keep nova straight in the wet, not knowing until after the race I had a rear wheel sticking but it did make so nice photos.
"After a fantastic first season winning the Novice Championship and fjfth overall, I'm keen for the top step next year. Classic Stock Hatch is looking a strong grid for next year with a few new and ex champions coming back so I cant wait for an even stronger season next year."
"The mid season for me has had its ups and downs. We headed to Snetterton in May, Round 5 at Snetterton
 |
| There were some close battles at Snetterton Photo: Michael Barrett |
"For rounds 7 and 8, we headed to Pembrey in Wales. Round 7 was another good result a solid 6th place, that was good as on turn 3 on lap 1 I was last due to a spin. Round 8 was a very wet race and was pleased to finish 6th.
"In Round 9 at rockingham I finished 8th, a good recovery after a poor qualifing in 11th. In Round 10, I was doing well until I sadly had a rear brake problem making me a second a lap slower dropping me down the field to 11th. In the championship I'm now sitting 7th overall and leading the novice championship. My target for last 4 rounds is to stay 1st in novice and get into top 6 of the championship.
"After the Rockingham problems, I had to sort out with the race car. Due to so many changes I entered the Allcomers race at Silverstone and again I felt happy with the nova it felt on pace again. To me it was just a test season.
"Rounds 11 and 12 were at Donington Park I qualified fourth for race one and pole for race two. I was well over the moon with that and it being my first pole was great. Race one for me not much happened just kept at the front and finished fourth and with that result I took the Novice Championship. In race two I went for it battling for the lead for almost the whole race, I was second most of it but sadly Lee Scott and Martin Cayzer passed me on the run to the the line so finished fourth but overall it was a fantastic weekend.
 |
| Beckett had a sideways Nova at Cadwell Photo: Michael Barrett |
"The final two rounds were at Cadwell Park and it was a very wet weekend. In race one I managed ninth and race two eighth. I found it very hard to keep nova straight in the wet, not knowing until after the race I had a rear wheel sticking but it did make so nice photos.
"After a fantastic first season winning the Novice Championship and fjfth overall, I'm keen for the top step next year. Classic Stock Hatch is looking a strong grid for next year with a few new and ex champions coming back so I cant wait for an even stronger season next year."
nice going Mervyn,hope you do well again next year
ReplyDelete