Ladies Nationals 2008

What a weekend!!!! You are reading a post written by the Double National champion!! Believe it or not, considering the last post, i won the Nationals in my car AND my brothers 8. I'm over the moon and still smiling almost a week later!

I think the Nationals is about the only meeting i experience full on nerves and boy did I have them last Saturday morning. Following my crash at the Fastest Man i was already in 2 minds about whether racing the 8 was the right thing but too late to back out now. I just needed to get that first heat in both cars under my belt and then i would feel much better. Well the first heat couldn't have gone any better, the track was great and the cars were superb, nothing faltered and I won quite comfortably in the 5 and very comfortably in the 8. Now i could settle!

Heat 2 brought another win in the 5 but a dodgy start in the 8 due to a very dug up start line meant i could only manage a 4th. To be fair though, the first 4 of us, Sandra, Sue, Clair and Me, were all bunched up and as fast as eachother. I new i didn't need to do anything stupid though and was happy to sit on the back of the other 3 and just bring the car home in 1 piece. Even in fourth the confidence i felt in the car was amazing, i knew i could race it 100% as if it was my own. The comfort and set up was spot on.

2 more wins in heat 3 took me into the final as joint top qualifier with Sandra in 5 and 2nd qualifier in the 8 with Clair Horner just in front of me by about 8 points.

Sat on the start line of the final in the 5 i felt so much pressure. I feel like people expect me to win because i ususally do but in all honesty it's probably me that most expects myself to win! At first i was glad to avoid Sandra during my heats in the 5 but come the final i realised i had no idea where i stood against her and really i would have felt more confident having had at least a heat against her. Well there was nothing that could be done now so all i could do was give it my all, drive to win the race and hope it was enough. I got a cracking start and was into the bend first and just threw myself in with the confidence i knew i had to have. Looking at photos now i see i was only slightly ahead of Sandra into the bend and so there would have been no room for hesitation, i needed that confident fast entry into the first bend to get my lead and pull away. I stayed about quarter of a lap infront of sandra for most of the race i think and took a good win.

It was strange sat on the line in the 8 for the final. I wasn't sure whether i felt pressure to win or not. On one hand i was 'just having a go' in the 8 because i could, no-one would expect me to win and so i was pleased to make the final, anything else would just be a bonus. On the other hand, i'd won 2 heats, i was 2nd qualifier, and i wanted to win!! I sat there knowing i could get the good starts and the only downfall i might have against Clair was the confidence into the first bend. That's what let me down last week at fastest man, i could get into the bend first but not commit like she could and thats where i lost out. This week was a little different though, i had the confidence in the car and the track and so i sat on that line just bullying myself to commit into that first corner.
Another amazing start saw me first into the first corner and boy did i commit. It felt amazing, i threw it in and came out a few car lengths in front already. What a world of difference that half a lap had made! I never looked back from that moment, just kept up my speed and confidence through to the end. I won class 8!!!

It felt great to win in 5, but as mentioned before the pressure is on me to win that anyway. It was a totally different feeling in the 8. The moment i crossed that line i just cried, and all the way back to the pits i cried, and sat in the car and cried! Yeah ok i'm meant to be a tough racer and racing is in my blood, but even i can be overcome with emotion at such an achievement as this! And what's kind of ironic is that my mum won the nationals in 5 and 8 in 1994, so it definitely is in the family!