Finishing A Funky February + BANNERS Concert!

The start of this year has certainly been...weird...to say the least.

From not going back to University, to a week in Paris (and indeed later Germany) to going to Cornwall twice in a week - it's all been a bit odd - and February has been no exception.

Time has vanished into thin air and now we're in the final week of February

FORMULA IR-04/FORMULA 4/Formula D

Week 11: Road America

Road America isn't a favourite of track of mine - it's got down-hill braking zone(s)...and "The Kink".

In practice, I was no-where really "special" - so I was expecting a "try and get around and survive" sort of day.

As I entered the session, I realised I was Car #1 (highest iRating out of the field). No Pressure then.

Qualifying went...alright, P6 (which turned out to be a personal best) - but I knew that the important bit was still yet to come.

The Race

To be perfectly honest, it wasn't the race I had in mind, but I'll take it - it was still a good, enjoyable race.

Other than the driver ahead of me (P4) having an laughable reaction time, the start was pretty uneventful (all things considered).

Sure, I made up a position on this driver, but lost it again as another driver passed me later on - I eventually did make this position up as someone went off at Canada Corner.

The following lap, P3 spun at Turn 5 - and I was into the Top 4 - one more incident and I was - potentially - on for a podium.

The very next lap...it came. P3, the driver ahead, spun at Turn 6 - and now all I had to do was keep the 11 competitors behind me at bay and I'd be Golden for my first podium of the year.

After almost losing it at the same corner as P3, I disciplined myself and got on with the job at hand...well, almost.

Of all the corners I could have gone off at, I went wide at the final corner and P4 behind stormed past - momentum, slipstream and more all powering him along.

I'd stay 4th until the dying laps.

On Lap 8 the two drivers behind me started engaging in an entertaining little battle - keeping one behind was one thing - two fighting cars? that's something else.

Fortunately, for me, there was a fairly significant gap between the two cars - so, as before, I only had to deal with one - and offered him a good fight - but he was just too much for me.

And with one more lap to go I held on to 5th. My first Top 5 of the year and Season - and best since 21st December 2022.

As a result, I'd be given a solid +27 iRating - putting me at a personal best iRating of 1526 - tell me I'd be this high a year ago - I wouldn't believe you for a second!

23/02/2023

On the subject of "high iRating", on the 23rd February 2019, I hit the highest iRating of my debut year at 1187.

I wouldn't surpass this until during the same period in February 2021.

On this day, Pre-Season Testing kicked off for 2023.

24/02/2023

It's terrifying how quickly life can change.

One day you could be in school, on your daily commute, hanging out with friends, and the next you could be in the centre of a war-zone.

One year ago, millions of Ukrainians found themselves in this position - in the days leading up to the 24th February, 2022 - there was a tense atmosphere in Ukraine, but very few actually thought that events would play out the way they did.

The 24th February, 2023 marks a year since that fateful day, when the invasion and war began, and lives began to be taken.

A year on, Ukraine is still fighting for their freedom although lives are still being lost on a daily basis.

The United Kingdom - and other nations had a one-minute silence in their respect.

25/02/2023

The 25th February marked the last weekend in February before March would storm in out of nowhere. Spring is literally on our doorstep.

On Saturday (25th Feb.) I would help Spencer Kemble (driver at Kabort) get his participation credits for racing in the IMSA Endurance series - it very much went the same way as the Nurburgring GP race - decent start - was begininning to feel good - and then a clash with another car dampened the mood - but it was certainly fun at the time.

Enjoying both races made me realise something "Since I'm doing IMSA Pilot Challenge GT4 next season, maybe I should do the IMSA GT3 series as well, and make it a IMSA-Double-Whammy Season"

In all honesty, the race was 1hr 30 mins of me shitting myself around every corner - wondering if the car will stop or not. We did hang around the back due to my conservative pace - but somehow made it into the Top 10 of GT3's before getting wiped out very late on.

As a result, I lost at least -20 iRating - returning to 1499 - March being a perfect opportunity to power through the 1500's - or find my "happy ground".

26/02/2023

Upon writing this, I realise how close to the "current day" I actually am - I thought I was weeks and weeks behind, but it turns out, I'm only a day or two behind.

On the 26th February, I went to my first Concert of the year: BANNERS in Portsmouth - being on the Isle Of Wight, I can get a ferry directly to Portsmouth - so it was one of the most convenient concert locations to date (I've been to one in Glasgow, Manchester and London - I'm going on a tour of all the venues myself - seeing a different artist in every city in the UK!

The only difficulty was - due to a mechanical problem on one of the ferries, they were only running a VERY limited number of ferry crossings during the day of the concert.

I boarded the 12:00 ferry from Newport/Fishbourne to Portsmouth and pondered how I was going to spend the next 6 hours until the concert started.

After scouting out the location (didn't see it at first), my first priority was parking - whilst there WAS side-street parking, being in the city-centre, there was "Permit Holders Only" parking.

Eventually, I narrowed my parking options down to two places:

1) Wimbledon Park Sports Centre Car Park

2) Fratton Station Car Park

Whilst Wimbledon was closer, the car-park itself was much more of a head-ache to deal with.

There was signage up saying "Vehicle Registration Required", yet at the same time, it was a Sunday and the sports club was closed.

On saying this, there was a "Your Parking Space" website where you could pay for parking online - which only went up to 4pm, and then said it was "fully booked" - I didn't want to get caught out by something so silly (if there were to be a warden or CCTV) - so I just parked at the station and walked into the centre of tow- the city.

I was on about 50% charge by this point - which would have DEFINIETLY not been enough for a 2hr+ concert - so I found the venue, before sitting in Wetherspoons and had a bit of lunch.

I was mostly there to charge my phone, but nibbled on a Mixed Grill (wasn't overly hungry) - barely finishing it.

from here, I went to Costa - which overlooked the venue. Closing time (4pm) came, and still there wasn't a soul waiting outside.

After talking to a member of staff at the venue - I next headed down to Portsmouth Beach - surprisingly my first time - and another beach ticked off the "Beaches Visited" list.

From here, I'd wonder along the beach, up to the end of Portsmouth Pier before heading back towards the venue.

There was still 2hrs 30 minutes until the start of the concert - so I took my chance at a little "eatery" called "It's Mustard" - originally, I just went in to get out of the cold and to charge my phone (again) but after the cashier/owner asked me if I was only charging my phone, I hestitated and ordered an Apple Juice.

They did have some good items on the menu, but it being Sunday, they were only serving Sunday Roast.

After slowly drinking my Apple Juice, I asked if they had any desert items, and they had this delicious chocolate fudge cake - which I absolutely loved.

On emerging, it was about 6pm - and there was only two people waiting outside.

A further half-an-hour later, only 5 people had turned up.

I can't say for certain how many people turned up - but according to Google, The Wedgewood Rooms only accommodates for 400 people and was a small venue - I didn't quite think BANNERS was this small of an artist - Someone To You has 140,000,000 views (140 million) - so I'd expect him to be...big.

But it was a nice enough venue - and it being small meant that I could get quite close to the front without being squished.

It was an a incredibly enjoyable experience - and I met some very friendly Swiss people who I be-friended throughout the night.

In terms of the whole experience - I'd have to rate it 2nd behind Tom Grennan (just because I'm lazy and prefer seated) and as my first concert of the year - it made me realise why I love concerts so much.

There was a moment in the show, I put my phone away, and just felt the music - felt the moment - just lived every last second of it - all of my problems in the outside world vanished for a moment - and I was free - with people who also loved this small artist in front of me - I think I've found something I like more than motorsport? Nothing beats escaping reality at a good concert.

After the concert, I'd Uber back to my car (because...dark.)

and attempt to get on the 10:30pm ferry - but the next was the midnight one - and that I settled for.

I knew my parents would be home the following day - so I ensured the house was in a decent state, put the bin/s out for collection and had a well-earnt bath before hitting the hay.

Monday flew by within a micro-second, and here we are on Tuesday - The final race-day of the season tomorrow!

Thanks for reading!