Tel's Tales Issue 054 -Anglesey June 2015
Entry posted by Terry Everall
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Tel's Tales 054– 2015 Season- Anglesey 13th and 14th May 2015
The build up to this June event run by MAC and Chester MC started to cast some doubts when the finals saw that we had different numbers on both days (never seen that in my 15 plus years of competing), there was to be no cafe/restaurant open and maybe no catering at all! Plus there are no awards at the event (sent to winners at the end of the season). So I packed burgers,sausages,stove, beer,bbq,frying pan etc as I prefer to stay in the paddock rather than go out for meals. In the week before the event John Hoyle had made a mammoth effort and repaired his car after severe damage at Pembrey, Steve Everall's alternator had been repaired so the battery would now charge and Michael Skidmore had bought the proper SBD kit to fix his alternator, pulley and belt problem and it proved to be a good investment. It was good to see Paul Aspden back out at last and he had offered John a double drive if his car was not ready. There were 12 Westfields entered as well as Marshall Rowland in his Elise, Matt Hillam in the SBD car, Steve Davies in his Exige and Nick Algar in his DJ Firehawk.
The weekend was important as the two top runners in the overall championship, in the form of Tim Nunn and John Hoyle were chasing big points to improve their averages.
Saturday
Scrutineering was very early and easy apart from bit of a puzzle as to how the Scrut's could deal with our signing on cards which we got later. Briefing also saw some preferential treatment for the British Sprint guys who were allowed to refuel alongside the pit wall whereas all others had to refuel in the paddock due to safety issues. Maybe they use petrol that does not catch fire!!!!!!They were also told they would not have to queue uphill due to no handbrakes and race engines but a few of also have the same issues. The threatened rain and thunderstorms had passed us by so we had a dry weekend which pleased everyone.
P1- Interestingly this weekend wold see us tackling the International circuit first with the 2 lap National on Sunday. Steve Everall's starter motor decided to play up and stick or not engage, so that was a worry for time, but the application of my hammer seemed to work wonders. Marshall Rowland decided he preferred the it lane rather than the track at the first left hander but he kept his foot down and nipped across the grass back onto the track. His excuse was that his Sat Nav was not switched on so Steve D wrote him out some pace notes and stuck them on Marshall's windscreen …...cheeky burger!
P2 – Lee Smith outbraked himself turning into Rocket as his enthusiasm exceeded ability and he had all four wheels off. (Only kidding as he was trying very hard.) The track was warming up a little so everyone seemed to improve their times and as well as class battles there were quite a few personal battles so resolve. John Hoyle was fastest in practice with 90.14secs chased hard by me on 90.47secs, Tim Nunn 90.94secs, Mark Anson 91.31secs and John Loudon on 93.06secs.
T1 – John Loudon was trying a bit too hard and spun out on the first corner, John Hoyle was on fire again and did his best run of 89.56secs but Tim Nunn pulled out a fantastic run of 88.23 secs to set a new class G record. Lee Smith beat Dave Richings but are not in the same class so just friendly competition! Similarly Steve Herbert 94.89secs just pipped Steve Everall by 0.21secs with Michael Skidmore chasing them hard. Paul Aspden was lacking seat time but the car was going well in class E ad he did 96.13secs. In class G Tim's time as fastest Westfield could not be beaten by me on 89.19secs and Mark Anson on 90.44secs.
Times achieved
Class A Dave Richings 100.44
Class B Lee Smith 99.43
Class C John Loudon 92.32
Class D John Hoyle 89.56
Stephen Herbert 94.89
Steve Everall 95.10
Michael Skidmore 98.51
Class E Paul Aspden 96.13
Class G Tim Nunn 88.23(new record)
Terry Everall 89.19
Mark Anson 90.44
Sunday
2 Laps of the National course
We awoke to cold, overcast and windy weather but apart from a few drops of rain we stayed dry. Lee Smith offered Mark Bishop a double drive as his own car had failed before the weekend. The drivers briefing was contentious as we initially were only offered one practice (as it was two laps) and two timed runs. There were comments such as “thats unacceptable” and “your wasting our money”and at least our frustrations were aired and we did get 2 full practices as well as the timed runs.
P1- Most of us did ok but it seemed as if all the Class G cars were struggling with missed gear shifts so Trickshifter gremlins were blamed. John Hoyle was just fastest with 112.21secs.
P2 – Tim decided to test the grip around School but came off and still recorded 122.55secs! Nick Algar's car fractured an exhaust pipe so that ended his weekend which was a shame as he was 3rd in the top 12 run off on Saturday. John Hoyle and I were fastest with exactly 112.45secs.
T1 – As he was leaving the paddock for the start John Loudon suddenly heard a high pitched noise from his engine. We whipped the bonnet off and sprayed wd40 on his alternator belt and all was quiet again. At the end of T1 Paul Aspden noticed that his engine had sprung an oil leak which looked to come from the rear crank seal so he looked a bit worried and decided not to do his final run. Lee Smith was faffing around and trying to reset his ride heights which is tricky on a sloping paddock and without spirit levels etc. I was fastest with 110.92secs but way off target time and Tim did a 111.63secs but came back with a sick engine. Oil was leaking from the block so that was a disappointing game over for him. John Hoyle recorded a good 112.15secs.
T2 – This was it, all or nothing for the remaining competitors and personal battles needed to be resolved as all times were very close.
Michael Skidmore lived up to his name again and came off at Rocket recording all 4 wheels off but he was laughing about it......I think! Mark Bishop who was getting to grips with Lee Smith's car had a spin at the finish but failed to beat Lee thank goodness. Both Steve's had Pbs so were quite pleased with their times and SH pulled out a good run to get down to 118.08secs. John Loudon was close to target after another good drive but Mark Anson suffered when he got a rerun and his tyres were a bit too hot. I managed to improve a bit and was quickest Westfield with 110.56secs
In summary it was a good weekend event but I do feel that if the timekeepers were able to be quicker and deal with several cars on the tracks maybe with more up to date software etc then we would get more runs and better value for money.
Finally the convoy of me , Steve Everall, John Hoyle and Paul Aspden returned home together to God's own County. See you all at Blyton.
Final times achieved:
Class A Dave Richings 125.53
Class B Lee Smith 122.95
Class C John Loudon 113.09
Mark Bishop 134.51 (driving class B car)
Class D John Hoyle 111.52
Stephen Herbert 118.08
Steve Everall 119.07
Michael Skidmore 122.01
Class E Paul Aspden 118.95
Class G Tim Nunn 111.63
Terry Everall 110.56 (fastest Westfield)
Mark Anson 112.94
Terry Everall
Speed Series Correspondent
Class G competitor
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