My Last Week

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Three weeks ago I left New Zealand on a tour of Europe to pursue the next step in my motor racing career.

It's gone by in a flash, and now I'm just a week from boarding the big silver bird to make the return journey, but there's still a whole lot to look forward to in the coming week!

Dom and I have spent the last three days at Donington where he had his debut in British Formula 3 - an extremely tough championship - and with his family all eagerly awaiting updated back in NZ, I took a new role for the weekend - photographer.

Armed with the wicked Sony camera Dean Cockerton lent me for my trip, I explored every possible angle of the Donington National Circuit and snapped away as Dom tested, qualified and raced across the three days of competition. I let my artistic juices flow...

It was the third race track I'd visited in two weeks where I wasn't driving, so I was decidedly eager (even more so as it was impossible to even go exploring on a very cold British Friday) and ran six laps of the Donington fence line, watching three or four races throughout.

I was sure that I'd completed more laps on the day than some of the bunnies who sat parked in the gravel trap!

We stayed in a tiny twin room at a local hotel, so each night travelled into Derby where there was a Westfield Mall that had the typical food courts, shopping, supermarkets and cinemas that preoccupied us for a few hours at a time.

One thing I have enjoyed a lot here in England in M&S - Marks & Spencers - a fresh produce supermarket where every single item in the store is fresh and pre-packed, ready to eat. It didn't matter whether we wanted fresh fruit, cereal and yoghurt, sandwiches, chicken wings or fruit and nuts, they had it there and it was fresh and delicious. It certainly beat succumbing to junk food, and while it cost a little more than the usual food joints, you pay for quality.

Don't I know it, being involved in the Porsches!

Dom had a spirited debut in Formula 3 - he was really thrown in the deep end having had no seat time in the car previously - but I enjoyed seeing the future F1 drivers eagerly trying to stake their claim before moving onto the European Championship, Renault World Series or GP2.

Personally, I'm happy with the path I'm taking though. The personalities are a little different in single seater racing - everyone has F1 tunnel vision and it's a bit of a headache. Not to say I wouldn't love a few laps in an F3 car at some stage though!

Dom and I are back in Milton Keynes now, having a bit of breakfast before heading off to the gym, and then into London to see Colin Giltrap and Earl Bamber this evening.

Until then!

Jono

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Photos

Dom at Speed
in his Double R F3 car.

Breaker, Breaker
That's a whole lot of walkie talkies!

Keeping Dry
It rained a lot at Donington.

Comments

[jonolester]

Oops
Apologies for the grammatical errors - wrote this in a hurry! Jono