TEL's TALE's 060/16

The weather alll week was wet and cold so it was promising to have a good forecast for the Sunday event. Crossing the M62 int deepest Lancashire saw lots of fog, snow on the hills and temperatures down to -2C.

I pulled into the paddock at 0725hrs and got the car out of the trailer in pristine condition after its clean up following Croft. b******* me if Andy Hargreaves came charging onto the paddock to park alongside me and go through a deep puddle spraying my pride and joy with muddy brown water!

Anyway it was good to see him out as well as our spanish newcomer Maurici Revilla-Vasquez (Maurici for short) in Adam Read's old car. Matt Turner was starting his season and prancing around the paddock displaying his new WHITE overalls ( it made Mark Anson's black and green ones look tame). As the day progressed he realised that although he bought them at the right price the easily get dirty and he was nearly in tears as mud and dirt splattered his arms after the first practice. Scrutineering went ok except there were annoying comments about the required width of harnesses and buckle positions on Hans devices but it was all wrong.

During the day I gave out 12 T Shirts so keep an eye out for me at events if you want yours.

P1 The track was damp and very cold so no surprises that there was little grip for anybody. Unluckily Graham Ware, who was double driving Kevin Jones's car, had to withdraw as the seat mounting would not adjust to accommodate him but was ok for Kev. Richard Kerr reported an engine misfire so Tim Nunn (spectating) helped check plug leads and coil etc

P2 Derek Hodder's car picked up a gear selection problem which I think they diagnosed as a faulty connection. There was still a lot of slipping and sliding going on and sideays action, rally style. Was being practiced by most drivers. At the end of practice I was quickest on 47.38secs closely followed by Matt Turner on 47.96secs. In the Novices John Williams and Maurici were getting slowly quicker and chancing the new class B1 and A1 respectively.

T1 was before lunch and the track was drying but still cold. Matt and I still looked to be the quickest Westfields on track but we were all still a long way off the target times due to the prevailing conditions and lack of tyre heat.

T2/T3/T4 the afternoon timed runs ran quickly at first and the sun was out a bit. Maurici was getting the hang of the car and had Adam Read helping him with dat and set up. In class E Andy Hargreaves was holding off Kev Jones ( both with Yamaha R1 cars) on a time of 48.67 secs which he never bettered. Kev Jones best was in T2 with 49.62 secs. In class C was a lonely Craig Spooner who was going well until he spun and went backward after the finish line in T4 and luckil only damaged the corner of his rear diffuser but it was his fastest run of 50.72secs. In class G, Matt and I had a tremendous close battle with Matt's T2 time of 45.65 secs being the best of the Westfiields for some time. I will come back to the outcome later. In class H Del and Gary were close as usual. In T3 Del banged in a 46.36secs to hold the lead until Gary went out second with tyres that Del had warmed up and then, the jammy b*******, got a rerun on really warm rubber and set a new record with a fautless, fantastic run of 44.21 secs. Then things got messy as charging Richard Kerr flew through the finish and then ran out of grip on the right hander to end up in the tyre wall. It was his best time of the day on 47.33secs but it bent the offside steering arm and broke the rosejonted connection to the steering rack. We patched him up with a straightend steering arm and a few tie wraps holding the steering rack in place but he did not fancy his chances with another run.... it would have held together.....NOT! Mark Anson was pleased with his progress in the nice looking OMS2000 and for his first outing set a time of 46.51secs. Then things got interesting as more cars ended up in the tyres after the finish and slowed down the proceedings as well as the timing gear only allowing one car on the track at any one time.Matt Turner began to look at his watch as the time sped by and he started a rain dance as the clouds came in and it got a lot colder. He was seen speaking secretly to officials saying “lets call it a day as we have had 4 timed runs” and he was leading me! We had a good banter about not being able to go any faster due to the colder track etc and I agreed with him but I wanted another shot at it. Tim Nunn was smiling as he and I had a well remembered battle which was only settled on the very last timed run 7 when I won by 0.01secs.

The track was cleared and the officials annouced a last run so Matt and I had to battle it out again. Matt did not go any quicker and did a 46.36secs but I slammed in a 45.52secs to beat him by only 0.13secs. Now thats close competition!

Maurici ended uo with Best Novice award and was very pleased. Another great Longton and District event and lots going on in the paddock so hope to see you at the next eevnt soon.

Quickest Westfield

Gary Bunn Class H and new class 3G record of 44.21secs

Terry Everall

Class G competitor