Grats to John, Clive and Fulvio.
A little miffed that Mr Loynes has discovered the charms of the Connaught
. I campaigned with it through most races last season and it is an acquired taste, but the car can be made to perform quite nicely. I was hoping that this secret pocket rocket would stay that way.
I thought that this season I might try the Gordini for a few races and see if I could squeeze some points out of it. I was helped by the small grid for this race, but handicapped by the useless gearbox and getting the damned thing moving off the grid.
As a result, I was in last place going into Tarzan on lap 1. Zandvoort has only one real overtaking place, at Tarzan, and for me in the Gordini I had to be in the slipstream of faster cars to even have a chance of progressing.
It soon became apparent that the pace amongst the regulars had improved since last year, and my hopes of stealing points in the Gordini were soon dispelled. I might have saved some dollars, but it cost me valuable points.
I should offer apologies to our new member Rich, who was mercilessly hassled by me during last night's race as I tried to make up ground from early mistakes. Also to Alessandro, (I was pushing Fran for a passing opportunity and it was clear that his Vanwall mirrors had fogged up when I had to take to the grass a couple of times to avoid contact),
I had not expected anyone to make passing move at that point and was entirely focused on sticking close to Fran for a tow down the straight, when a wheel appeared on my left
....too late to leave room, and on the limit of adhesion and directional control in the Gordini ended in a tangle.