Tel's Tales Issue 057 -Ty Croes Anglesey September 2015
Entry posted by Terry Everall
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TEL's TALE's 057/2015
Ty Croes Sept : 2015
A big Westfield presence was to make this a great weekend for most but not everyone! Many had long journeys and fought their way through the Friday traffic and Pete Goulding and his son Jack had another epic 8hr trip which they were thinking was too far and too long. Lee Smith had pulled out as his engine failed close to the weekend. As most people know Adrian Clinton Watkins made a monumental effort to get his (well Barry Slingsby's car actually) engine and box transplanted into a substitute car after Mike Allard smashed it to bits at Loton Park the previous weekend. Most annoying for some was that the messages about whether the cafe was open for food and drink on Friday night were confusing but it just about worked out ok in the end. The next drama was that Stephen Herbert's tow car broke down in Holyhead (he had left the car in the paddock on its trailer) and luckily he got a lift from the B&B. After the breakdown man said the car had a serious defect it decided to start later in the day and seemed to keep going all weekend much to Sally's delight.
Saturday: 2 laps of National circuit
P1: would be 2 laps so just one practice for everyone. Steve Everall had a bad run as “someone” forgot to clip down both sides of his bonnet but he got round without losing it. Graham Ware was double driving Kevin Jones's R1 car but due to being about 19 stones and very tall he broke the carbon Fibre seat so it was swopped for the passenger GRP seat and refixed which kept them running all weekend. Pete Goulding had an alternator/ battery problem which bugged him all day despite attempts to fix it. Jason Brown was running with number 13 and did not seem to any bad luck all weekend. Ade , John Hoyle and Dave Cleaver put in the quickest times on a dry track.
T1: For most competitors this went well and Mark Anson, Dave Cleaver and Richard Kerr recorded their best times for the day our of the 4 runs available. For me it was the run that everyone fears....perfect oil pressure, car running absolutely on song and the without warning as I passed the start line at about 110mph, on second lap, there was a big puff of blue smoke from nearside and the realisation that the engine had blown up. As I lifted the bonnet I could see that number 4 con rod had punched a large hole in the side of the block so that was game over. Thanks to my brother Steve I double drove his XE car ut would not score any points.
T2: As I watched Dave Cleaver pass the same spot where I had blown up I saw a similar engine failure with associated smoke......luckily for him it was a water hose that had blown off so quite an easy repair and he was going again. John Hoyle had a great run and blasted inside the Target Time to set a new record and he improved it even more on his last run. Richard Kerr's car, double driven as usual by Luke, broke a CV joint but Mark Anson had a spare so that was fitted asap. They also had an issue with the car stuck in 3rd gear but sorted that as well. In class Martin Harvey, in the silver bullet, beat a very fast John Walters. In D all went quickest on their last runs, John Hoyle broke the record on 109.65secs, Steve Everall was second on 117.29secs, Stephen Herbert so so close on 117.31secs and Michael Skidmore with 124.13secs. Kevin Jones won n class E whilst in F Luke Agar broke the record with 111.12secs from Richard Kerr on 115.42 secs bt the star was Dave Cleaver recording a new record of 109.80secs. Mark Anson, in G, was fast with 113.21secs but Adrian C Watkins was quicker with 109.18secs. In H Derek Hodder 108.46secs just pipped Gary Bunn 108.83secs to be fastest Westfield in his supercharged honda. In class J, Steve Davies was beaten by Marshall Rowland with a smooth drive in his Lotus Elise. After his last run John Hoyle changed his diff, went for a shower and still made it in time for the awards...how the hell does he do that!
Sunday 1 lap International circuit.
Another overcast but dry day made for good conditions on track and the two practices went ok for everyone particularly my brother Steve as luckily I spotted 3 very loose bellhousing bolts that had almost fallen out! They were quickly tightened up so at least I would be driving a car that was still in one piece. John Hoyle and Ade (who had altered the car geometry /set up overnight) were very quick again in practice and likely to set the pace whilst I had to get to grips with no slicks and a stick to change gear with rather than paddles but at least I was not spectating. The event ran much quicker than the two laps did yesterday so we did not get much breathing space.
Timed Runs :
Kevin Jones decided to adjust his nearside camber as the tyre wear pattern looked like it was only using part of the tread width. Stephen Herbert came in after T1 with a broken cycle wing stay which he repaired with jubilee clips and a short piece of alloy tube curtesy of Pete Goulding. In T1 John Hoyle suffered and engine cut before the finish and was not happy. Dave Cleaver and myself set about trying to trace the fault using DTA software and checking 12v supply etc. When we checked the rpm signal it was ok , so crank sensor working. We had fuel and a spark but it would not start. When I looked at the live data it showed no throttle position signal so John checked it and found a broken wire coming out of the throttle pot. It was going to be tricky to solder a connection and repair it but that was tried and the car started again ready for T2.
In T2 John Walters tried a bit too hard and spun at the finish, John's car failed again as the wire solder did not hold, Pete Goulding had a major issue with a vibration in the transmission/propshaft area that he could not find despite checking bolts etc. Ade, Dave and John were setting good times but Kevin Jones's car was suffering from the double drive and started to deposit oil into the airbox which caused lots of smoke and reminded us of his “red leader award” of a few years ago. Stephen Herbert was leading the battle with Steve Everall who was running out of revs and struggling to shift down from 3rd to 2nd.
T3 saw John Wlliams setting yet another Pb and he was well pleased! Marshall Rowland beat Steve Davies again and he left early! If you want to see the times achieved have a look at the speed series results. In summary we had 5 timed runs but not everyone took them, I think Gary Bunn was fastest Westfield with 87.35secs closely followed by Ade on 87.45secs, Del on 87.82secs, John on 88.02secs despite his problems. Not many people stayed for the awards as they had long drives home and for me I had an engine change to sort out!!. It was a great weekend and we will still have to wait and see what happens at Ty Croes in October to see who wins the overall championship. Hope to see you there
Terry Everall
Speed Series Correspondent
Class G competitor.
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