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My First Sprint - Javelin Sprint Series


benedwards64

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Having watched a friend of mine compete in his MR2 in the Toyota Sprint Series, it didn’t take much persuasion for me to enter a round of the Javelin Sprint Series. Both series are operated by Javelin and run simultaneously through the day using the same circuit, timing equipment etc. The Javelin series is open to all marques and runs a fairly loose class structure accordingly – on the same day there was everything from a Yaris Hybrid to an Ultima GTR!

 

This round was at RAF Woodbridge, with a very technical layout paired with lots of ‘interesting’ surface changes. Having done a handful of trackdays this was my first timed/competitive event, and to be honest I didn’t know what to expect. All I knew was that I was in a class of three – me, a track-prepped Caterham running a 160 VVC k-series, and another Westfield – which turned out to be Steve Hope in his 3.0 V6 Duratec-powered SEiW. Gulp.

 

After a couple of sighting laps and an untimed practice run I was still struggling to piece together the twisty circuit in my mind – my first time was 1:52.8. A couple more runs and I was starting to get more confidence in the car and getting a feel for the lines, but I was struggling massively with heel-and-toeing – frustrating, as this is normally second nature for me. I think I need to reconfigure the pedal setup a tad (or buy myself some new feet!). After a few runs with frustrating mistakes, including a *small* spin at the end of the back-straight, my times started falling. I finally got down to 1:47.2 on my first run after lunch, which I was happy with, but felt I still hadn’t had a good clean run. Naturally, I then fluffed up my next two runs – the first was tidier but slower (more brave needed!) and the second was horrendous – missed braking points, missed gears, terrible lines, the works. I was pretty frustrated with myself. When finally I lined up for my last run of the day I sat in the queue just thinking to myself “braking, braking, braking.” The start was tidy, and once I made it through the twisty midsection with a clean set of braking points and downchanges I started thinking it could be a good time. I hammered down the final straight and through the final two chicanes and caught a glimpse of the timing board: 1:46.06! I was over the moon, so pleased to have knocked over a second off a time I thought I couldn’t beat. It’s a hell of a rush!

 

A few pics below, I’m hoping for a few more once the sight photographer puts his photos up. It was an excellent day in all – made even better by the fact that I was 2-3 seconds ahead of the Caterham :d

 

Big congratulations to Steve Hope as well, who not only trounced my times by around 8 seconds (!) but gave the Ultima something to worry about by picking up second fastest overall for the day. I think I need some sticker tyres. And a turbo…

 

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And I borrowed my friend’s GoPro for what turned out to be my fastest lap of the morning. It’s pretty messy still, with plenty of sideways and a missed gearchange slowing me down. I promise my later runs were neater!

 

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Any reason why you have not joined the Westfield Speed Series???

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Maybe im getting old, but that track looks scary!

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Any reason why you have not joined the Westfield Speed Series???

 

Not particularly, but I like the variety of cars with Javelin and I get to do it with my best mate and many friends I have known over the yars from my Toyota days. Plus, the relaxed classes mean I don't have to worry about too many regs and there's only 6 rounds a year, so I have plenty of free weekends. Tis only a bit of fun ;)

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Maybe im getting old, but that track looks scary!

 

Nah, there's nothing to hit except a bit of shrubbery :d

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Nah, there's nothing to hit except a bit of shrubbery :d

 

And the odd unforgiving cold war concrete bunker!

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No wish to stick a dampner on this but I should make you aware that some of these series don;t run under MSA coverage. No great problem with that however when I have checked shall we just say the Insurance aspect was somewhat sketchy. So I would just ask to see a copy of any insurance they have.

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What would you expect to be covered? (genuine question)

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Maybe im getting old, but that track looks scary!

Woodbridge is our nearest airfield track and a favourite of the Essex & North London boys.   It's not scary at all and is a completely different layout to the sprint cct.

It's mandatory you attend with us later in the year, when your car is up and running.   If my daughter can drive it in the Westfield ok and only passed her driving test last November, I'm sure you'll have no problem.

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Hi All,

 

A short e-mail to advise that the WECC/WAC Woodbridge Sprint, scheduled for 19th July, has regrettably been cancelled. We have been informed that the venue, Woodbridge Airfield, is no longer available for motorsport.

 

Regards,

Alan Barnard

Clerk of the Course

West Essex Car Club

was due to do a sprint with b19 on the 19th july  but was cancelled with a statement no more motorsport events are going to be held here. .so interesting that these are still happening

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What would you expect to be covered? (genuine question)

 

Not sure about you but my worry is always getting a 3rd party claim against me as without insurance you have to settle the full amount personally ie sell your house etc. As an over the top example a young student won something like 5 Million for disability. So it's really that which I am looking to be covered ie if I came off track and ran into her. At any Offical MSA event the 3rd party cover is £ 65 Million details here https://www.msauk.org/assets/401-405insuranceandmotorcompetitionsappendix2-1.pdf  this also shows what is covered. So I am pretty happy that i'm not going to suddenly find myself bankrupt as a result of having a bit of fun.

 

Don't get me wrong this is a very very unlikely event and it's much more likely that the organisers would be sued, but as with everything in life if we know what the risks are then it's up to us if we want to take them. 

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Not sure about you but my worry is always getting a 3rd party claim against me as without insurance you have to settle the full amount personally ie sell your house etc. As an over the top example a young student won something like 5 Million for disability. So it's really that which I am looking to be covered ie if I came off track and ran into her. At any Offical MSA event the 3rd party cover is £ 65 Million details here https://www.msauk.org/assets/401-405insuranceandmotorcompetitionsappendix2-1.pdf  this also shows what is covered. So I am pretty happy that i'm not going to suddenly find myself bankrupt as a result of having a bit of fun.

 

Don't get me wrong this is a very very unlikely event and it's much more likely that the organisers would be sued, but as with everything in life if we know what the risks are then it's up to us if we want to take them. 

 

Plus if anything serious happens to you as a result of not your fault, you should have insurance to make a claim the other way. A recent hillclimb at Harewood saw a spectator lose their life after tripping over someones jack. I'm not saying his family have or would sue the owner of the jack but the opportunity could arise

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Javelin still have their events on the calendar, so only West Essex Club not going there again.

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Plus if anything serious happens to you as a result of not your fault, you should have insurance to make a claim the other way. A recent hillclimb at Harewood saw a spectator lose their life after tripping over someones jack. I'm not saying his family have or would sue the owner of the jack but the opportunity could arise

 

Fair enough. Not something I'd thought about in all honesty, but it's run under the IOPD rather than the MSA and it looks like they have sufficient cover in place. Personal injury cover is available through Javelin, and on the day the only place spectators were allowed was about 30 yards from the start-line - the rest of the circuit was completely off limits.

 

 

Javelin still have their events on the calendar, so only West Essex Club not going there again.

 

Yeah this was mentioned on the day. I’m not sure on the details so won’t speculate but part of the track is unusable due to surface damage (hence the different layout to last year) and Javelin are now the only TDO allowed to run events. Sounds like there were several clubs using it before so no idea who/what the issues were caused by though!

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Fair enough. Not something I'd thought about in all honesty, but it's run under the IOPD rather than the MSA and it looks like they have sufficient cover in place. Personal injury cover is available through Javelin, and on the day the only place spectators were allowed was about 30 yards from the start-line - the rest of the circuit was completely off limits.

 

 

Pleased to hear they have some insurance, excuse my ignorance but who are IOPD ? Would also be interested in knowing what the insurance is PM me if you prefer.

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