Brands Hatch 2009

30th October and 1st November - National Championship
Rounds Fourteen and Fifteen
Brands Hatch

That’s our season over the team have done a great job - it's been such a hard year with two championships to race in. It's been even harder when the dates clashed as well but that's what we set out to do and we got the job completed together.

Jim and Colin, my main every day team, both became dads this year so it was a special year for them. It also made things tricky for them - balancing home and work life is never easy at the best of times. Everyone in my team has done a great job though this year. Mallory Park was the busiest for sure but now it's time to settle down and get the cars all sorted for 2010. I'm not sure who is on the driver list for that one yet but hey, it's early days. We are also getting some cars sorted out for what Richard the commentator is calling a wet weekend in Wales - the Winter Cup at Anglesey.

As for Brands Hatch - another two hard and busy days but all the drivers were chilled and settled into the cars. It turned out to be one of the best weekends especially with Darren deservedly getting the driver of the day award on Saturday. On Sunday he was even more chilled with the car going exactly where he put it but later on developed some push but overall he had a great weekend. John Marshall seemed to be getting on much better with his car after a few changes and I think he missed the close quarter action of Legends so we might see him back in 2010 perhaps racing with Legends as well as in the Scottish Classics in one his superb Ford Escorts.

Ross Marshall dod well despite having to run off the back - you'll remember he missed the last meeting at Pembrey as he was trying to win the Champion of Champions trophy up at Knockhill so he therefore had to race from the back. He did real well though.

Nick Brace did what many people had not even contemplated and that was to win the Rookie Championship not only up in Scotland but also the National one as well. Superb acheivement.

As for John Jon he had to finish all the races at Brands Hatch at the front of the field which is not so easy with the quality of the field these days. He took third in the championship - it would have been higher but for some technical problems and retirements during the year. You cannot escape noticing that JJ and Lee Fitzpatrick won a very large number of races this year though. And Lee is the 2009 Champion which means that my team is the first team in Legends to produce two different National Champions. Another first for us. Lee has really developed as a driver since joining us and a championship title cannot lie. He kept his cool throughout the season, even when there were problems, and bounced back.

I think, and I hope the drivers agree, that my drivers have had great support from the team members who have worked hard to get the cars out there in tip top condition and also refettled them when necessary. I nearly forgot David Hunter who joined us late in the day to take part in the Scottish Championship - he took second in the Rookie Championship despite not being out there from the word go. Ross was a very worthy Scottish Champion and is driving in a style worthy of that title.

It feels so good in the camp - all the drivers bounce off each other and they chat well about what gear to use at what corner. It works well and I think 2010 is going to get much harder as all the drivers have come on well this season.

Anyway that’s it from me - thanks so much to all my team for all their help in driving the bus, cooking, cleaning, putting the cars back on track, helping out with tv filming and the on boards- they make running such a busy team much easer and to Lez for her helping me out all year.

Steve

Lee and John Jon shared the overall wins this weekend but what a great weekend for the whole team. Lee is overall champion , JJ is third in the championship. Nick Brace is Rookie Champion. Darren Gaulton posted some very impressive results in car 4 with three top ten finishes. Ross Marshall took two podia and John Marshall showed great consistency in car 7.

Saturday