Tel's Tales Issue 030- Pembrey 2014
Entry posted by Terry Everall
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Tel's Tales 030– Pembrey Weekend Sprint 2014
I dont really know where to begin as many of us there had a nightmare including me in the run up to the event as well as at the sprint. My problems started the week before the event when I needed to source and fit a replacement clutch to my brother Steve's sprint car after it failed at Snetterton. We found a good guy in Leeds who put new ceramic pads on the twin plate helix clutch and then I attempted to reinstall the engine and put the clutch arm in the wrong way round and broke the plastic fulcrum pin......idiot! Sbd came up trumps and I had new one the day after and in it all went. Steve jumped in to try the clutch and we were both alarmed by the instant grab and then violent shuddering at the back end of the cars. I was convinced it must have been the 4.1 diff as all the noise came from there, so we swopped it over for his spare 3.92 only to find it made no difference. I was lost for words.......but several swear words appeared appropriate at the time. I rechecked I had installed the clutch correctly and rang Derek Hodder, John Hoyle and Paul Aspden to see what they thought. In the end it transpired that nothing was wrong just a new ceramic clutch bedding itself in and acting as an on – off switch so that when new and at low revs it is not pleasant. For full blown sprint starts it was brilliant!
The trip down to Pembrey is always long as its 298 miles from York and I travelled in convoy with Steve from Leeds where we met mega traffic (as did everyone else I think) and in the end took 7hrs 30mins with only a ten minute stop so by Friday night I was pleased to go for a stroll around the track with Steve, Stephen & Sally Herbert as it was free from all traffic and looked just as technical and quick as always. Sally took photos of all the corners so Stephen could study the best lines whilst in bed at the Premier Inn. As usual the Everalls would make do with sleeping in our trailers after we had cooked our gourmet dinner of Irish Stew with sausage and potatoes followed by a tin of cold rice pudding......bliss
SATURDAY
There was a good turnout of Westfield Speed Series competitors totalling 15 including Matt Hillam in class J2 driving the SBD Dallara.
The good news was it was dry all day with a little cloud and we had overhead acrobatic formation flying by small aircraft at low level and trailing smoke just like the red arrows which is a bit off putting when you are trying to concentrate on a quick lap. I have to say that there is no way I would do that as it did not seem to leave any room for errors and there were no gravel traps to catch you if you got it wrong. P1 saw most people just getting their lines sorted out but one guy in his road legal RX8 did substantial damage to the front of his car when he got it badly wrong at the paddock bend and had an argument with the tyre wall. Steve Everall started the car up and it was immediately obvious that something was wrong as it spat and backfired. We found it had flooded 2 plugs which when replaced cured the problem. At the end of my P2 run I suddenly heard a strange engine noise and noticed that the oil pressure was down to 3 psi which even for a blade is too low so that was game over for me trying to score good points and defend my class G record. I was not a happy bunny but Steve offered me a double drive in his car so at least I could have some fun. Incredibly last year also saw me retire the car in P2 so I must have a jinx at this place. In the end there were 3 timed runs to count.
T1 saw further problems with John Loudon's car breaking its alternator mounting on the main block and also flicking off the dry sump belt. Several of us attacked the car and fabricated a new steel bracket and managed to fix the alternator in place. Unfortunately after his T2 run he decided that the engine was showing low oil pressure and it was best to retire rather than blow the engine. The class H battle between Del and Bunny went to the wire again with Del being fastest Westfield on 107.99 sec They were split by Tim Nunn's 2nd run of 108.34secs. David Cleaver in class F and John Hoyle in class D were having a great fight and Dave finished on 110.03secs with John on 110.50 on their last runs. John Loudon's 115.46secs (class C) held off Paul Aspden (class E) on 11.6.95sec. Steve Everall beat Stephen Herbert with a PB of 118.94secs. Simon Broadbridge, Brian Jones and Michael Skidmore were also pushing hard as they drove better lines and got braver. Matt Hillam in the Dallara went well but the car needed mods to the rear springing.
SUNDAY
Another dry day for everyone with cloud threatening rain that never appeared provided 2 practice and 2 timed runs for everybody. Paul Morcom had arrived with his beautiful Merlyn formula ford and John Loudon was double driving Paul's class E car so he would not score points. At some point during practice Mick Skidmore's car would not start and when I checked it with him we found the lower alternator bracket had broken and the alternator was hanging loose with the pulley belt missing so there was no charging of the battery. We temporarily fixed it in place with tie wraps but needed Steve Everall's spare battery and Gary Bunn's Battery pack to keep him running on total loss sytem helped by a long push to the start line to save battery power. During P1 we saw more engine carnage as John Hoyle lost oil pressure due to a dry sump pump problem which we could not fix so he was out and joined the frustrated club. Then Simon Broadbridge appeared and was concerned that his pulley belt had caused a problem and the water temp had gone up to 120deg C but luckily when he topped up the water and fixed the belt the car ran fine all day. At the end of T2 Paul Aspden's car appeared to develop a vibration at high speed so Paul aborted his final run. Today Gary Bunn was quickest on 107.24secs with Dave Cleaver putting in a great 108.61secs. Tim Nunn was driving hard and in practice had a big spin that put a grin on his face. Despite not scoring in class G I managed a 115.77secs in Steve's car whilst Simon Broadbridge was well pleased to beat the class A target time.
In summary it was a good weekend and a well run event that made the trip worthwhile for most people I think......shame about the broken cars.
Terry Everall
Speed Series Correspondent
Class G competitor
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