Tel's Tales Issue 055 -Blyton July 2015
Entry posted by Terry Everall
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Tel's Tales 055 – 2015 Season- Blyton 11th and 12th July 2015
This was the place to be at our own Westfield Weekend.
First let me make an apology! There was so much happening over the weekend and we were all split up in different positions that I cannot possibly comment on everyone's problems but just the ones I became aware of. My weekend of motorsport started when I arrived on Friday morning to help run the Sprint School with Paul Morcom and Adam Read. The Friday trackday was used by some to practice and others were having a lot of fun. I got involved with repairing quite a few cars to keep them running and a few trips were made to the local Halfords Motor spares outlets in nearby Gainsborough. Among the casualties was Pete Goulding whose car was misfiring at high revs so he kept changing crank sensors. It was great to see Derek Hodder back on the scene double driving Gary Bunn's car but unfortunately it shattered a piston in the afternoon so the cosworth powered car was out. As is often the case there were offers of sharing a car so would see them again on Sat/Sun. Paul Aspden's car was breathing heavily and throwing a lot of oil into the catch tank for some reason. Adrian C Watkins (ACW) was out testing his new slick tyres to run in class G this year and was looking very fast as was Barry Slingsby with his slick shod car running for the first time in class H. Richard Kerr and Luke Algar were back out in the rebuilt There were about 40 Westfield competitors who were getting ready for the weekend and Friday night saw some at a local pub which Gluten Free (Graham “its my birthday” Frankland) organised, including transport whilst others availed themselves of the free BBQ put on by John Williams who had arranged the whole weekend and did a great job and deserves all our thanks.
Saturday
We had great weather all day but that did not stop my brother Steve Everall from spinning off on the last bend during first practice and I think Michael Skidmore followed his example. Pete Goulding's car seemed to have sorted itself out and was firing on all 4 cylinders. Derek Hodder was double driving Barry Slingsby's car and Gary Bunn was driving with Paul Aspden' class E car. Mick Allard was tyre warming for ACW and it was good to see them both on track. We were pleased to see newcomers Steve Carpenter and Roz Kennet joining us in class B so welcome and good luck as I know you are hooked!
P1 saw ACW and Barry's previous practice paying off as they led the way but both Tim Nunn, John Hoyle, myself and John Loudon were hoping to score well to improve our overall championship positions. P1 and P2 were completed very quickly and there were reports of several over enthusiastic drives with slides and spins as we all got ready for T1
T1 went well for Dave Richings in class A and it was his fastest time. Roz Kennet also failed to improve over her 82.42secs run but she was smiling all day. Keith Adams in class D and John Loudon in class C also posted their best times on this run. They were not alone as Steve Everall, Michael Skidmore and Gary Bunn all made this a banker and their best runs. I too could not improve on my 66.30 secs and was suffering from a lack of front end grip. I was about to blame my shock absorbers as I could not get any decent bump or rebound movement but eventually sorted this on Sunday when Derek Hodder and Luke Algar suggested it was my inboard wishbone mounts that had been done up too tight when I replaced my wishbones after the Hethel crash. Sure enough, much to my embarrassment, I had torqued them up way too tight so all was well when the bolts were loosened a bit!!! Matt Turner banked his best at 66.99secs and Mark Anson was chasing hard with 67.50 in class G. ACW was showing the way and as predicted by many his special 1800cc Duratec engine was proving to be more than a match for the bike engined guys.
T2 took place after lunch and Derek Hodder came limping back into the pits as the gear change cable had come adrift but worst of all Paul Aspden's car was throwing out a lot more oil and he decided to retire completed and loaded his car up for home. He was offered a double drive but politely declined and was just miffed with this latest setback. There were a few with dnf times which at Blyton often means that they had 2 wheels off through the finish line or 4 wheels off and outside the course white lines and these included Keith Adams, John Loudon, Graham Millar (in the class J Escort) David Birch in the class F Busa. There were some who added insult to injury by taking out the finish timing lights!!!
T3 was the last run and Howard Gaskin in class D took out the timing lights and Matt Turner had a dnf as did Lee Smith in Class B. Andy Hargreaves went well in the R1 class E car whilst in class F Luke Algar was leading the way with some impressive driving in the Supertec car and Richard Kerr and Pete Goulding were a little off his pace. In class A Jason Brown produced his best run to win class A from Dave Richings. John Walters (Shaggydo) drove well as was a clear winner from Martin Harvey in the silver bullet and Simon Rossinelli in 3rd in front of Barny Francis and Lee Smith. Steve Carpenter had a very good time on 73.87secs on his first event. Stu Hill beat the target time for class C and was happy to be back on track after a bit of a break beating John Loudon and Mark Bishop. John Hoyle in the very powerful big capacity redtop broke the target time and was well clear of the rest in class D with 65.13secs but Phil Nicholls beat some very experienced drivers to finish second with 68.74secs
In class F Luke Algar blasted to 64.80 secs on the last run to take the well deserved win.
Class G was won by ACW with 63.99secs closely followed by Tim Nunn on 64.30secs as both beat the target time.
Class H was taken by Barry Slingsby with a quick run of 64.67secs on his new slicks and Dave Banner was pleased with his 67.59secs in the 1600cc Busa which he is still developing.
Winners Times
Class A Jason Brown 73.37
Class B John Walters 69.37
Class C Stu Hill 67.44 (record)
Class D John Hoyle 64.98 (record)
Class E Andy Hargreaves 69.02
Class G Adrian Clinton Watkins 63.99 Fastest Westfield
Class H Barry Slingsby 64.67
Class J3 Graham Millar 73.70
Class J2 Paul Morcom 74.49
Sunday
Overnight heavy rain cleared early but remained cloudy and we got ready for P1. Gary Bunn was now double driving Pete Goulding's car following the demise of Paul Aspden's car. Steve Everall was having battery/starting issues as was getting ready for his usual battle with Stephen Herbert who beat him on Saturday. The previous night's activities had not been too excessive but I lacked a bit of sleep due to listening to “Oh Yes”, “Oh no”! and several repeat verses of “Please release me let me go” at about 0130hrs! It was noticeable that the usual suspects did not appear until quite late this morning and there were a few bleary red eyes evident.. The weather was not as good as Saturday and P2 was interrupted by a big rainstorm but we survived a few slides and hairy moments.
P1/P2 saw Dave Banner suffering from a lack of power which he eventually diagnosed as the brake bias bolt had jammed the accelerator pedal. Richard Kerr/Luke Algar's car was losing water so off Luke went to get some Radweld but it did not work. They eventually found a badly crimped part of the rad and cured it with a tweak of the pipe grips. Steve Wilson had a DNF as did Stu Hill in P1 plus Martin Harvey, Pete Goulding and Michael Skidmore in P2. My P2 suffered from a repeating trickshfter fault which kept cutting the engine. I cured this with a dollop of clear silicon to prevent the adjuster screw from vibrating loose.
T1 - I was benefiting from the improved suspension travel but had a big fright when I had to swerve round a pheasant on the track as I approached the Wriggler chicane at about 115mph. Tim Nunn came back reporting a missed gear change that worried him as he was not sure why it happened. ACW had 2 wheels off through the finish so had a bit of pressure for his T2 run which was to be our last run. Mark Anson's throttle blipper for doownshifts was now working after we replaced the rubber suction pipe. Richard Kerr got his first run in but Luke returned to the paddock with a dead engine which turned out to be the crank sensor trigger wheel coming apart so they were out.
T2 – This went well for most people but Stephen Herbert tried to brake too late at the Wriggler and went straight on through the cones to Steve Everall a rerun on warm tyres and enabled him to go quicker! Tim Nunn had another missed change and was not a happy bunny as he returned to the paddock. Peter Goulding had another DNF as well as Stu Hill and John Hoyle also ran wide at the finish to have a DNF but it did not matter as he took fastest Westfield time. Most impressive was Martin Harvey who appeared to have 3 DNFs (P2,T1,T2)in a row for no points. Many of us had our quickest runs and it was a great weekends motorsport with the usual banter so well done to the organising team, marshalls and helpers that enabled it to happen.
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Winners times :
Class A Jason Brown 73.31
Class B John Walters 69.88
Class C Stu Hill 68.44
Class D John Hoyle 64.62 (fastest Westfield)- record
Class E Andy Hargreaves 69.34
Class G ACW 64.94 (record)
Class H Barry Slingsby 64.89
Class J2 Paul Morcom 73.68
Class J3 Graham Millar 73.19
Dave Banner won Best Prepared Car.
Terry Everall
Speed Series Correspondent
Class G competitor
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