Tel's Tales 037– Hethel 3^rd August 2014

So after loan of my trolley jack Paul Aspden's tyre was changed at 0615hrs and Gary Bunn, Derek Hodder, Dave Cleaver, Paul Aspden were just about recovered from the lovely meal we had last night at the pub. Five minutes drive and we all arrived at the Hethel (Lotus cars) test track for todays event run by our friends at Borough 19 MC. Today's event presented a new challenge due to the new layout covering a 1.25 lap run so after signing on it was time to jump on our bikes and ride around the track to pick out braking points as well as the proposed lines through the corners and deciding which parts could be taken flat out. It was certainly going to be interesting as some of the straights were very very long and most cars would be in top gear and on the limiter so in theory big power would help. As the day progressed and information was exchanged it seems that some cars were pulling in excess of 145mph whilst I managed 127 mph at 14000rpm without quite hitting the limiter. Due to the weight difference Jack Goulding was quicker, at about 136mph, than his dad Pete so size apparently does matter. Practice was to be one session of 2.5 laps so quite a trip for most of us and you had to count the times you past the finish line. Those with double drives needed to refuel to avoid being towed back. Practice did see a lot of cars going off and it was about 1230hrs before I got my run so there was a lot of hanging about. In the end everyone was very pleased with the challenges the track presented and David Cleaver was showing us how quick he and his car are by setting the pace as fastest Westfield and some good battles were developing between the Westfield drivers.

T1 saw the pace really pick up as we all got to grips with the new track and started to push the limits in terms of late braking and trying to keep our feet planted on the loud pedal through as many corners as possible. It was obvious that the Westfields were very quick and impressive once again. It was a shame that after the first of Del's pracrtice runs he came back to the paddock complaining of having problems with the steering. After several of us checking the wishbones, rose joints, bearing play, steering rack etc it was not clear what the problem was until I walked away from his car and glanced at the rear end. The rear offside wheel had massive camber as well as major toe in so there was the problem. Del then found that the bottom wishbone mount had fractured allowing the wheel to move and the only good thing was he was not doing almost 150mph when it failed. His experience at knowing how his car feels paid dividends but his and Gary Bunn's day was over. (Gary had scored 100 points but poor Del only scored 20 points)It was good to see Martin Hepworth out again this year and he was enjoying his runs with family supporters including his grandson who acted as my pit crew, pushing me to the start line and cleaning my slick tyres off, due to the horrendous amount of gravel in the paddock and he did a great job which I greatly appreciated. Paul Aspden looked good round the bends but struggled to get a quick time ending with 136.83 secs (according to Paul he needs to brake much later). Fastest Westfield with a great T2 drive was Dave Cleaver on 123.121 secs followed by ACW on 125.54 secs and me on 125.78 secs. Dave Cleaver was actually 6^th fastest overall and in my class on the day I beat the slick shod Mallocks by 19secs. Most of us withdrew from the possible 3^rd timed run as it was getting quite late and tyre wear was high. In summary this was a great event and a technically fast and challenging track so good value for money. On the long trips home many of us got stuck on the A11 or A1 and got home late but I think it was worth it.

The engine in ACW's class E car is raising a few eyebrows as is his continued scoring of 102 points and Dave Cleaver is building a high average score. Lets see how the rest of the season goes.

Terry Everall

Speed Series Correspondent

Class G competitor