Tel's Tales Issue 025 - March 2014
Entry posted by Terry Everall
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Tel's Tales 025
Well this is it guys! The 2014 season has started and hopefully most cars are now ready and we are desperate to get on track and see if our expensive mods have worked and produced a better handling and quicker car. Thanks must be given to Nick Algar and the Speed Series committee members who have produced an extensive programme of events and updated target times for all but the new circuits such as Rockingham and Prescott. There is a vast amount of work involved in doing this admin and on a similar note we need to take heed of the fact that after this year (2014) Nick Algar will not be organising or arranging the very popular club weekend sprint at Blyton so we need people to step forward and work with Nick to take over the reins for this event 2015 onwards, which we do not want to lose. Nick wonders if It would be good if an area could get involved with running this event.
My car is just the same as last years and I am looking forward to the battle with Tim Nunn, Matt Turner and a surprise with Stu Hill in class G and hope that Mark Anson will be able to join in. I understand we may even see Barney's old blade car out agin. In class E ACW has registered and Stewart and Ben Pickles have also registered and may do a few events in the blade car. Class D looks very competitive again (Stephen and Steve are using ZZR tyres this year) and John Hoyle has done a few more secret tweaks. In F we will see the double drive with Luke Algar and Richard Kerr's supercharged Duratec and Barry Slingsby has moved back to class to join Pete Goulding, Paul Morcom and Tim Pennington. Paul Aspden has got his engine back together (class E) and it will be good to see him out there again. Del and Gary appear to have only Matt and Steve Davies in class H. Class I has been introduced this year to accommodate John Roberts in the electric westfield so it will be interesting to see how well this goes.
We return to Croft on Easter Monday and I am looking forward to driving this great track again. It is fast and technical requiring you to be brave in a few corners as the scenery can get a bit close around the Essses and Barcroft and Gary Bunn likes the gravel trap at the end of the start straight. Rockingham has now happened very early in the season and I will post Pete Goulding's report at the end of this blog which outlines how the event and the 4 competitors went. Prescott weekend is new to us and may attract a good turnout but I am not sure about the practical use of any paddock etc which appears to be away from our support vehicles.
I wish everybody a great seasons without engine failure or crashes but I think I am just dreaming !
Rockingham report by Pete Goulding
Well after the usual winter rebuild it was time for the first event. Rockingham was a last minute addition to the calendar which I fancied a go at instead of North Weald which was where I was going if my car was finished so I could give it a test run. After many last minute problems including a blown water pipe on the first test drive which meant an embarrassing recovery back home. I also had major vibrations from a new prop shaft and had to have modified to be stronger. I also fitted the wrong diff and filled it with the wrong oil. Despite all this I loaded the car with one day to spare and was ready to roll after only 10miles of testing.
It was an early 0510hrs start for me but the journey was clear of traffic and it was nice and sunny which was a bonus. I arrived at 0715hrs and met up with James Alexander and his “mighty” crossflow. We both set up in one of the free (or was it include in the price?) garages (which were very nice) and then the rest of the WSCC guys turned up. Everyone signed on and the cars passed scrutineering without any problems and helmet straps seemed to be the flavour of the day and got special attention. There was then time to walk the track and the usual banter and p*** taking came into play. James immediately decided it was time to eat (extra ballast) and he made many trips to the burger bar throughout the day.
The action started with a convoy run followed by 2 practice runs and it was obvious that the track was very interesting and needed respect with very fast straights and tricky bendy sections. Newcomer Lee Smith was loving it and really enjoying his first speed series sprint and putting in some good times. Stephen Herbert was struggling on one part of the track spinning once and then on the grass for his second run and this was at the end of the 126mph straight which ended in a 2nd gear hairpin which was downhill and off camber. I think most of us had trouble there during the day. I was struggling for grip but did not realise how bad it was until I saw the videos later. This may have been because I was running new rear tyre which were only medium compound. Instead of adjusting the settings I waited to see if better grip came in later in the afternoon but it did not so I need to sort this out. The mighty crossflow was going well and James's new traction control system was working well and the more burgers he consumed , the more grip the car appeared to have. Stephen stopped spinning and ended up third in his class whilst Lee kept improving and was well pleased with his result. I managed to win my first event pushing Jeff Wiltshire ( who is he??? Terry) who was running a supercharged car.
The venue and weather was fantastic for the time of the year and the running of the event was slick. It was a shame that there were not more Westfields but with 100 points for all four guys who dared. I can recommend this event as it is only going to get better and faster the more we visit. Big balls are required on the banked part of the circuit and I was not quite brave enough to go flat out. My next event is Castle Coombe which again only has a small entry and it looks like it will rain but I have ordered sunny weather in advance.
Speed Series Correspondent
Class G competitor
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