Tel's Tales 029– Snetterton Weekend Sprint 2014

Saturday

For me this was a new venue and the weather for the weekend was perfect with it being dry and warm during both days. After Steve and I fought our way through the Friday afternoon A1, A14 and A11 traffic we parked up in the paddock to enjoy a vodka jelly curtesy of Phil Nicholls who seemed to have an endless supply. (thats why he needs a big old Landrover as his tow truck.) We could all sign on immediately so that was easy and a quick track walk followed before we got down to the serious drinking. On Saturday morning the sun began to shine again and I had been scrutineered by 0710 hrs !!!! even before my breakfast and thats a first! I wandered around until I found Phil's bike in the paddock and decided to do another familiarisation lap and I even overtook Phil as he was walking round. The track looked fast and wide so I began to wonder how my little bike engine would do against the powerful car engined brigade who were licking their lips in anticipation of kicking my bum. The briefing was short and sweet so we suited up for P1and the start of what was to develop into a very testing weekend. 14 Westfields and Paul Morcom in his Merlyn single seater were ready to play (Matt Turner had to pull out after his engine problem at Harewood) and John Loudon was showing off his new “GGR blue and orange “ bodywork. P1 saw young Jack Goulding trying hard but outbraking himself and spinning off at the end of the main straight. A welcome return to the scene by David Cleaver saw him setting the pace with 95.70secs closely followed by myself and Derek Hodder. Steve Everall was slow and developed into total clutch failure but was happy to accept a double drive with Phil Nicholls. Martin Watson (gunplumber) had a stuck fuel filler cap and was in a panic until we got it off and greased the alloy threads which had become thread bound. Dave Cleaver's seat appeared to come a bit loose but he still improved to 93.81 secs in P2. The next problem was Pete Gouldings sheared halfshaft which looked terminal but Pete's wife was contacted and brought his spare to the circuit and he worked all day in the sun and heat to change it but then found that the car would not start. Lots of helpers and suggestions failed to solve the electrical problem which we thought was the ECU or throttle pot. ( it turned out to be a damaged rear wheel speed sensor which was presumably confusing the ECU. Eventually at about 1930hrs Pete and Jack packed up and headed home after a very very frustrating day. T1 produced the next problem when Martin Watson's Duratech car threw the crank/water pump/alternator pulley. Amazingly the marshalls found it undamaged on the track and we refitted it so he was back in action but had intermittent reduced power due to a wire being knocked off the oil pressure sensor giving the ecu a false reading.

The 3 timed runs saw some aggressive runs by several drivers as we tried to cope with a fast track that did not seem to have the usual grip levels and external rumble strip plus a bit of grass seemed to be popular. In the end I was able to beat the class G target time with 92.94secs but was not as quick as John Hoyle on 92.72secs and fastest Westfield man Dave Cleaver on 92.42secs. John Hoyle was elated as this was the first time he had been quicker than me and he had a wide smile on his face. Final comments on the day were that maybe the track was a bit dusty or hd little rubber down but it seemed to me that there was just not the normal levels of grip to carry big speed through some of the corners without risking running wide and off the track. A rare sight was Del spinning off during T2. So it required a high degree of accurate driving to hit all apexes as well as being a bit brave as well. In fact a Prosche GT3 RS hit the arco barrier and looked a write off and a Sylva Pheonix took a heavy hit at the front so it was not a forgiving track.

Sunday

I did not witness any sore heads in the paddock but for me I had struuggled to get any sleep as my airbed went down at about 0100 hrs! As the day progressed it appeared that times were improving a little compared to Saturday but Del and Gary were a lot quicker so any adjustments to the car were working well. In T1 John Hoyle was trying way too hard and spun off into the infield at Hamilton. I was using every bit of track I could which included red and white rumble strips as well as some green grassy bits which Phil Nicholls also found useful. John Loudon was pushing hard but outbraked himself at the end of the pit straight in T3 I think and drove sheepishly back into the paddock. Also in T3 John Hoyle had a big lock up on the pit straight at the start of his second lap and Martin Watson ran out of fuel on a rerun. Steve's times were improving after Phil discovered a loose remote gearchange linkage. Phil Nicholls was really getting to grips with the track and a few extra bits of grass as well so the vodka jelly was certainly acting as a stimulant! I think he may have a good chance of the Novice title if he can string a few more results like Snetterton together. Jason Brown had a great weekend and on Sunday he beat the target so was well pleased with himself and his points. Simon Broadbridge seemed pleased with his performances and when I saw him on track he looked very smooth and scored well.

I hate stating this but John Hoyle beat me again......... Fastest Westfield was Gary Bunn on with a great 90.25 secs on his last run, Del did 91.35secs ( but looked faster on his last run when the timing threw a wobbly), Dave Cleaver 91.37 secs and John Hoyle 91.90 secs.

So Gary, Del, Dave, Jason and myself all beat the target times to score well.

In summary this was a great venue that was challenging for everybody and we all had big moments! The weather was sunny and I think most would readily return to have another go and improve. Commiserations to those who had breakages and hope you are quickly up and running. Steve and I have already stripped out the engine and are getting a new clutch put in so grazed knuckles and swearing seem to be on the cards for the next few days along with oil spillages and copious amounts of coffee....... strictly no vodka jelly of any flavour.

Hope to see some of you at Pembrey

Terry.everall@virgin.net

Speed Series Correspondent

Class G competitor