Tel's Tales 02/2017 Anglesey
Entry posted by Terry Everall
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Tel’s Tales Anglesey 1st and 2nd April 2017
I guess that any of us involved in motorsport have a bad break, once in a while, such as my clutch issue at Rockingham but things can only get better……or perhaps not in my case. I thought that it was just an unlucky start to the season but more doom and gloom was on the horizon. It was my oldest grandaughter’s 18th birthday on the Friday so I delayed my 4 hour drive and set off at 1830 thinking I will miss the traffic on the M6. I was correct and Steve and I flew along until we hit the M56 where there seemed to be accidents every 5 miles or so. Then the Welsh Highways department played their best card as they had apparently (with little warning) closed about 10 miles for roadworks, with no diversion routes shown. After what seemed like hours of ignoring my satnav request to “turn around when possible” we went through Chester and back to Queensferry. Arrived in the paddock at about 2330hrs too late for a beer or two so just went to bed! Woke at 0100hrs to the sound of heavy rain belting down on the motorhome roof which even drowned out Steve’s snoring.
Saturday was a bit dull and cold but the damp track was drying and with only 35 cars there would be lots of track time….for most people! Some Speed Series stickers had been dished out by Tim so they were being slapped onto car sides. Scrutineering was easy and away we went at 1000hrs prompt with 2 practice runs. Alas, in P1, Craig Spooner hit the tyre wall somewhere near Rocket complex and having hoped that things were repairable he found a damaged chassis so had to pack in so that was a big blow for him. I was fastest car in P1 and P2 and I was predicting that a Westfield could take FTD on both days so things looked good. Steve’s gearbox was still playing up and no matter how much we adjusted the clutch cable he had problems all weekend with selecting 2nd or 3rd gear and as a result his times suffered. I set off for T1 like a scolded cat but after about 200m approaching Rocket the engine note changed and I lost most power so I killed the ignition and came to a halt for a tow back to the paddock. The engine would start but sounded awful, no sign of plug or piston damage but that was it I was out! Tim Nunn was having a problem as he was losing power at around 10000rpm in the blade car. Mick Dent was continuingly having to tighten up his nearside front hub axle to prevent it coming off. In T4 John Hoyle got a bit giddly approaching the LH hairpin near the finish and came off so he could test the grass surface grip. This was not a god move as his car literally got bogged down and filled with soft brown mud resulting in damaged bodywork. Even the recovery vehicles got stuck and could not pull him out. The long break whilst they sorted this out helped people refuel and get a cuppa as the runs were coming fast and furious. In the end there were 2 practices and 8 timed runs by which time most people had given up trying to go faster. Great value for money and day for Derek Hodder as he took FTD closely chased by Gary. Tim Nunn had a good battle with class G newcomer John Loudon and only just won. Mick Dent running in class H with his Busa was really quick and only 1 sec behind Del. As this was a new circuit there were good points for many. The final straw for me was when , due to only a few of being in the bar, we were kicked out at 2100hrs.
Sunday- Mark Anson had turned upon Saturday afternoon and stayed over to spectate with me and help around the paddock. He biggest complaint was that he had to pay a fiver to get in. I had been appointed as a Steward for LDMC so I asked the lads to be polite and give me some respect in view of my position…that had no effect at all.
During practice Tim’s replacement fuel pump seemed to be working ok but in the end a change of plugs was probably what cured the loss of power. John Loudon was running out of revs and on the limiter for a long way down the back straight and was a bit puzzled as his new Elite box ratios should have given him a top speed of about 135mph. It seems that his drop gears may have been installed incorrectly which helped his acceleration but not his top speed. My old tyres seemed to be working well on his car so he will now need a new set particularly as there were 2 practices and 12 Timed runs available which is unheard of. In T2 Mike Skidmore’s prop shaft failed at the universal joint so he put the car on the trailer. Del and Gary were going well but their WIFI gear change system seemed to be sticking and cause shift problems. In T1 John Hoyle beat the target time and scored 101 points so was a happy bunny. In the end Gary Bunn beat the target and took a well deserved FTD in Del’s car so they did the double and did Westfields proud.
So it was a great effort by LDMC in running this event early in the season which I believe will be well supported next year based upon the weekend weather and number of runs made available.
Terry Everall
Class G competitor
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