Anarchy In Autumn!

30th September, 2023. 1 Month Ago.

1 Month ago, to this day, I wrote my last blog and then seemingly vanished into thin air.

In reality, I was in continental Europe, basking in the Spanish Sun.

Having finished at Tesco at the start of the Month (September) and then passing my driving Test - I had one goal left for the year (well, two).

To go on a two and a half week holiday in Spain.

The end of the year has been a bit mad - and it's been a little bit of a "check-list".

- Checking off the end of my Tesco Contract

- Checking off passing my manual driving test

and this was the last of the things "keeping me up at night" (nervous/excited)

I've only been twice abroad without my parents - ironically enough, on both occasions it was to France - first in 2018 (Le Mans 24 Hours) - and then in 2023 (x2) to Disneyland Paris/Paris City.

On this occasion, I was headed to Spain - and it was rather...odd.

On both trips to France (2023), we stayed relatively near to Disneyland Paris and then got public transport to the park itself - and indeed the city itself.

During this trip to Spain, we were very much in the centre of Spain. I'll admit - I'm not much of a "city-boy" I was born and raised in a fairly rural town (compared to central London) and have rarely - if ever been on a "city-break" - my happy place is by or in water (be that a sea or a pool).

Whilst we spent the majority of the time in the flat/accomodation - we did venture out on a few days to museums and the local area (Madrid) and a park.

Holidays are meant for relaxing and soaking up the heat - and we absolutely did that - resting, recovering and enjoying our time in a warmer climate whilst the autumn storms battered the UK.

The food was also lovely - going out to restaurants on a few occasions - so that was nice too.

Back on iRacing, it was the 2023 iRacing Petite Le Mans - but we had no entries. It's weird to think that a year ago myself and Lorenzo managed to come home in a shocking 2nd place in class. Even more shockingly, this would mark my first podium of the year 3/4 of the way into 2022.

It was also the weekend that a new (Japanese) motorsport anime called "Overtake!" was released - I've watched the first three episodes religiously.

It was also the Qatar Grand Prix which was thrilling as McLaren had an absolute field day.

Oscar Piastri won the sprint race - McLaren's first win since 2021.

Before Ricciardo won at Monza (2021), McLaren's last win was in 2012. Been a tough century for them.

McLaren were absolutely back in business as they scored at 1st & 3rd in the Sprint Race and then a 2nd and 3rd in the full race, behind the absolutely unstoppable Max Verstappen.

McLaren then scored a further 2nd at COTA (Circuit Of The Americas) at the following race.

9th October, 2023

On the 9th October, 2023 Tesco said they would begin hiring festive colleagues...and they did.

Just nowhere on the Isle Of Wight - and that still applies 20 days on.

Yet I still haven't given up.

12th October, 2023

On the 12th October, my parents joined me on mainland Europe, them in Germany and myself (pretty much) just over the border in Spain.

17th October, 2023

On the 17th October, 2023, a new iRacing week began and so too two very unique events:

1. SCCA Run-Offs (Sports Car Club Of America) Every (Official) race you do scores you points, and the Top 40 drivers at the end of the week (Friday Evening) race in a broadcasted race on the Weekend.

There was a variety of series you could run including GT4, Clio Cup, Mazda MX5 and Formula Vee

As I only landed on Friday, competing was out of the equation - I was humiliated last year, so I was more than happy to let the SCCA series slip by.

2. Ringmeister.

Usually in iRacing, every week the track changes - but in the Ringmeister, every week the car changes - and it just so happened that on the week of my return, the Ringmeister series was running the Aston Martin Vantage GT4.

Looking back, it was an absolute recipe for disaster. - I hadn't been driving on iRacing for the past 2.5 weeks

- I hadn't driven a lap of the Nordschliefe since August (2 months)

- By this point everyone and their nan had qualified*

*back in August, I raced on Wednesday, the day after the car changed - so very few people qualified - hence I was able to start at the front of the grid.

Come October, I would now be racing on Monday, the last day of the iRacing week.

20th - 22nd October

My return was to the UK was rather strange - seeing one mate (Saturday) before heading home on Saturday evening

Did nothing on Sunday (felt guilty coming home a day earlier than planned) - wanted to see another mate, but needed a day off and then on Monday had a Universal Credit meeting

24th Oct.

24th Oc marked 11 years of posting on Facebook - weird to think that's almost half my life. Facebook is pretty much the only social media platform I'm active on.

24th - 29th Oct.

Was on mainland helping out a mate.