After a long summer break, the paddock was once again alive with the sound of wheel guns and revving engines. It had been a while since the roar of the Radical Winter Cup had been heard in Yas Marina (and, let’s be honest, crankandpiston too).
You’d think then that nerves would by at a high, the last lingering butterflies doing their collective dances as race suits were zipped, helmets and balaclavas drawn closed, and six-point harnesses buckled tightly as the cars made their way to the grid for the launch into turn one.
Far from it though. True, sooner or later the competitive urges would spring to the surface (despite assurances from pretty much everyone that all they were looking for was a ‘clean race’), but for now drivers and mechanics alike discussed the heat on pit road and other plans for the weekend in between their respective thoughts on race setup. Elsewhere backs were being slapped and hands being shaken as the back to school vibe clutched seemingly everyone in sight.
Of course the first day back at school is not always the easiest. Though he would eventually disappear into the distance and collect the first two race victories of the season, Bassam Kronfli’s weekend would not get off to the easiest of starts when his SR8 machine developed clutch problems.
