My drive in the BTCC for 2004 came together very late. I knew 2004 was going to be tuff, the list of drivers entering the championship look strong - Thompson, Reid, Plato, Muller, all a mix of consistent speed and vast experience. Also switching from rear wheel drive to front wheel drive for the first time in my career was never going to be easy. I was keen to build on my success from 2003 in the BMW but, too make matters slightly harder it was the teams first year in full blown Touring cars. The list of development components too test was endless, especially because we were running just one car with myself driving. The car was Plato's 2001 machine, was 3 years old and hadn't turned a wheel for some time. We were able to update some of the car too 2003 spec but Vauxhall were never going to give too much away. On a more positive note the Astra had a good history with a proven track record, reasonable reliability and was apparently one of the easier front wheel drive cars to manage behind the wheel. Testing started well but was always going to be limited during the winter months, I remember it trying to snow at Snetterton and I was just glad I wasn't in a single seater. Some of the white lines became frozen which snapped the car into wild oversteer but was good preparation for the season. I was soon at ease with the car and quickly gelled with quite a shy but secretly determined Techspeed racing team. I couldn't believe how much quicker the Astra was in a straight line compared to the BMW - the extra gear help keep the engine buzzing in the correct rev range and the gearshift was ultra quick despite needing far too much energy to move it - this would be a problem all year with deep blisters to prove it. It had plenty of grip, particularly mid corner and the brakes, whilst needing to be stamped on, to get any temperature into them, were still easily sufficient to scrub speed. The highs - Round 1 at Thruxton came round pretty quickly and I was looking forward to this track that always rewarded brave and committed drivers. We qualified on P7 just piping Plato at the end but it was very tight. We finished where we started in the first race and I couldn't get past Huff for 6th who was really struggling under brakes. He defended well and I knew 7th would guarantee us 4th on the grid for the next race. I made an average start and was struggling to get the Astra of the line and who could blame me after having so much traction in the rear wheel drive BMW that was just like a rocket of the start. I sat most of the race in 4th but knew I was quicker than Eaves in front of me. He made his Honda type R as wide as possible, but on lap 15 I managed to get along side him and courageously go round the outside of him at the chicane after the back straight. I pulled away and quickly gained on Muller and Plato who were fighting it out for the lead. I remember seeing huge chunks of rubber flying off Muller's front tyres and I knew he was struggling. Unfortunately the closer I got the higher the engine temperature got. Infact even with the heater on and the windows open it was still over 120 degrees. I was desperate to challenge Muller but the engine started to retard and go into safe mode. I was told on the radio to be careful if I attacked Muller - for everybody's interests at Vauxhall but it was something I strongly ignored. At the same time my engine was up to 124 degrees and anything over 130 was pretty much a guarantee that the head gasket would disintegrate. I reluctantly dropped back out of Muller's tow to try and generate some airflow around the radiator which reduced the temperature by about 10 degrees. Eaves was catching me but never had enough laps to challenge me. 3rd it was for the second race but we all felt short changed by the engines behaviour. This dilemma would also stop us competing in the final race of the day. However, Standing next too Muller and Plato on the podium - two champions in just my second touring car race was something to feel very special about and this was the perfect launching pad to the season.The lows - The first Brands Hatch round was probably the worst weekend of my career. We out qualified the works cars starting on the front row in 2nd place, but we never even made it out of the pit lane. A faulty starter motor let us down and this would rear its ugly head again at Mondello park. We also failed to finish any of the 3 races. This was a real kick in the mouth for everybody involved and it was a long time before any of us recovered from such a disappointment. On the other hand, when we returned to Brands Hatch we had another chance to display our speed. As the season went on it was obvious to us that the works teams were getting more speed out of their cars whilst our budget had pretty much run out - an average qualifying performance proved this. Vauxhall kept us at arms length making my feisty battle with Muller even more satisfying, my move on him for 7th was much to his disapproval and the anger he displayed only fuelled my confidence. The last race at Brands was probably one of the most exciting races ever in touring cars, Kaye's stricken Honda caused the safety car to come out and it was my belief that creative Mr. Gow would pull it in for a last lap blast. It was like pinball - absolute desperation for many drivers, but I made sure that I was in the right place at the right time and I was sure of 2nd place but Plato's experience got the better of me and he defended extremely well. So another 3rd which was very much deserved from our efforts earlier on in the year.  Brief summary - I was disappointed not to have finished higher up in the championship but when you really analyse my year it was clear to see that we spent allot of the season ironing out gremlins or chasing reliability issues because of a car that had been sat in a workshop and neglected. With so many DNF's or DNS's it was difficult to challenge for the independents championship. It also being Techspeed's first year, there were times were their inexperience caught us out - learning about starter motors was a costly lesson for us all. My inexperience of front wheel drive also caught me off guard at Silverstone. The track was like butter and I had never experienced such conditions, even the year before in the BMW. There was more grip than I ever realised and the weight from the touring cars really helps the tyres gain temperature and grip - something I did not exploit to the maximum.  It would have been nice to have had more testing and spent more of the budget updating the car but hindsight is a wonder full thing. Missing Knockhill was a hard decision but money was tight and we had to get back on track after being smashed to bits by Charlie butler Henderson at Croft. The 3 race programme was heavy going and especially tough on the mechanics. Snetterton was also a big season low after doing so well at Brands Hatch, but I felt very strongly that Vauxhall had held me back in the engine department, especially after me getting the better of Yvan at Brands - it was too much of a coincidence. I insisted on a better lump of Iron for Donington and looking at the first race result we got it. On the other hand I believe it was an excellent performance from everybody involved and I was reasonably happy with the 2 independent wins against such hard company and in an ageing car. I would like to say thank you to the sponsors who gave me the opportunity, to the loyal fans who genuinely want me to succeed, my manager Mike O'brien and finally all the personnel at Techspeed who worked very hard on my behalf. As for next year - Touring cars, GT's or even sports cars, its an answer I wont know until next year.