Team B&Q Jet York City Racing test and development driver Peter Cate competed in his first race of the year at Thruxton last weekend and what a comeback drive he gave his fans! Substituting for the injured John B&Q, Peter was keen to start where he left off at the track where he enjoyed so much success last year.
Peter joined Jim Edwards, driving Jim's old car which was repaired after its Oulton Park excursion. "The guys have done a tremendous amount of work to get the car straight" said Peter. "It's a huge credit to them that I can go out and be on the pace within a few laps."
In fact Peter was more than on the pace; he was setting the pace within the team right from Saturday's free practice session. "I love this track," he commented. "It has so many quick corners where the car has to be well balanced and you really have to commit and literally hustle it through - fantastic!"
However, on the Saturday afternoon qualifying, Peter was only able to put the car 7th and 9th on the grid for the Sprint and Feature races, with Jim 9th and 8th. "I wasn't at all happy in qualifying; the balance of the car was gone." It turned out the car had been fitted with different wheels, and the altered wheel offset had upset the car. Peter was also blocked by the inexperienced Tom Boardman on his second flying lap. "He just backed right off in front of me after running a hot lap just ahead of me and dived into the pits! I had nowhere to go but into his bumper - it's not the kind of tactic I'd expect at this level."
Nevertheless, when the lights turned green for the Sprint race on a cloudy Sunday, Peter made a cracking start, diving up into third place as the pack fought their way through Allard and the Complex before executing a daring move to pass both James Kaye and Gavin Pyper into the 125mph Church corner and taking the class lead, a first for Team B&Q!! "I was looking for more Production runners ahead but I couldn't see any!" he smiled. "I think we raised a few eyebrows but I knew it was just a matter of time before the more powerful cars just out-dragged me." Peter defended resolutely and it appeared he would be able to hold onto third place ahead of Spencer Marsh, until a fired-up Mark Fullalove screamed past up the straight to the chicane. "I was amazed at the power of the Peugeot considering it's supposed to have been pegged back this year, but I just stuck to his boot lid and when he made a mistake and ran wide out of the Complex, I was able to dive through." Fullalove retaliated however and slammed into the side of our car, damaging the steering and leaving Peter to struggle home in sixth place.
The team had to work fast to repair the car for the Feature race and really excelled, straightening the suspension geometry to ensure the car would be as competitive as possible. Unfortunately, with minutes to go, a very small but significant oil leak was spotted which would have a dramatic effect on Peter's race. The Feature race has a rolling start with little chance of an advantage, but in the melee of the first few corners, Peter's sixth sense saw him avoid the carnage and the dive ahead of Jim on the exit of Goodwood and down into Church. "A lot of people were struggling initially with cold tyres and it seemed I could capitalize on that." Almost immediately, the safety car came out to allow removal of the wrecked cars and this gave John B&Q a chance to reflect on the fact that both his cars were running in podium positions for the first time ever! "I couldn't watch," he admitted afterwards, "but it felt great - we have definitely arrived!"
As the safety car pulled in, Peter began to harrass the leading Alfa Romeo of Alan Blencowe, our Honda just managing to stay with the Alfa along the straights by using the slipstream to good effect. "We were closing on him and I think a pass would have been on," he said. Unfortunately, that wasn't to be: as Peter entered Noble, the 100mph left hander, his car suddenly snapped around 180 degrees and left the track backwards!! "It was so fast, at first I thought it was a tyre blow out!" In fact, it appears the oil leak deposited oil under the right rear tyre at that critical moment and caused the car to spin out. Peter managed to rejoin and bring the car back the pits where the team checked the car and fitted two replacement tyres before sending the car out again to collect whatever points remained. "I was six laps down so I figured the best thing I could do was help Jim, so I waited and let him past and then did what I could to hassle Saunder's' Alfa to distract him from passing Jim." That was easier said than done considering he was now running on old tyres from the Sprint race but Peter struggled on to the finish, taking a well earned point for 10th place at the flag with Jim retaining his third place ahead of Saunders.
"I just want to thank John for this opportunity and look forward to the next chance behind the wheel. I think we definitely made our point this weekend," he said after the race. "We showed we can run at the front and whilst we know we've got a lot of work to do to eliminate our disadvantages, I think we've achieved a lot these past two days. I don't know if I'll be driving at Silverstone or if John will be recovered, but either way I suspect this particular car won't be as competitive there compared to Jim's, simply because there are even more slow corners where it really shows it's age, but you can be sure that whatever happens, it will make entertaining viewing!"
