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After two 2nd place finishes in Wales last weekend, the championship is about to accelerate quickly. And after the domination of the Oliveira/Jenvey-Sheane combination at Pembrey it might be easy to become demoralised. You see, since 2004 and the previous seven races at the Lllanelli circuit, the car has won six and retired from a seventh. No matter who the driver, Pembrey appears to exaggerate the performance advantage of that car. However, Sam drove faultlessly and took another two victories, re-establishing himself as the clear favourite for the championship title. Pembrey is a circuit set low within the Welsh valleys, surrounded by undulating hills and beautiful countryside. Yet the track itself sits on the grounds of a former Royal Air Force Station and is almost perfectly flat. The circuit is categorically not suited for Formula Vee. Our fixed gear ratios put undue stress on the engine and at almost every corner you are forced to compromise to some degree. Changeable weather conditions on the Friday made finding a good set-up difficult. What we consider our "base-line" set-up patently wasn't working and for the first time this year, we struggled for grip at the rear as well as the front. Going into Saturday I was a bit unsure as to what to expect. As we waited in the assembly area for qualification it began to look as if it might rain. It was therefore important to put in a least one fast lap early on, just in case. I initially began to work with Martin Farmer up until lap three when he spun on the exit of Spitfires. Martin, like me, was struggling to get the car fully working at Pembrey. I noticed that my tyres were beginning to overheat and so I backed off for a lap to try and let them cool down. I then pushed for a single lap and backed off to do the same again until they were completely over-worked. It was good enough for third on the grid for both races. Daniel Hands took pole position on the Saturday and Sam Oliveira did likewise on the Sunday. Considering that I was fighting the car, I was somewhat relieved. The rain stayed off and as I lined up on the grid for the first of two races the sun was shining - reminiscent of last years summer heat. After the first lap, it was clear that I had faster race pace than I was expecting. It was only just under-way when it was red-flagged after Ryan Lindsay and James Birch came together at the Hairpin. On the restart and I got to the outside of Hands under braking for the Hairpin. He maintained the lead until Sam reached the front on lap four. Later that lap I made it past Hands at Honda and tried to close the gap to Sam. After a lap of pushing, I had pulled out a gap from the cars of Hands and Jake Oliveira behind. However, it wasn't to be as a quick look in my mirror revealed plumes of blue smoke trailing my car together with a metallic rattle as I progressed up to maximum revs. A broken cylinder head stud meant I had to nurse the car home as quickly as possible, eventually losing sight of Sam. I continued to battle with Hands, once losing the position as I was held up by a back-marker. I then passed him again at the outside of Honda. In the end it was a reasonably comfortable second place but by all accounts, it was a long way from first. Hands and Farmer were both landed with 10 second penalties for jumping the start meaning Jake was promoted to the final podium position.