Tel’s Tales

Curborough Figure of  8 Oct 2017

This event was run by MAC and the figure of 8 has become a popular layout compared to the single or double lap options. There were 12 speed series competitors (including 3 in class J2) present and a few Westfield supporters visited to watch the runs. At the briefing we were told that the event was oversubscribed and a few of us wondered why that had happened! The result was that special arrangements had been put on place to  make sure we got 2 practice and 2 timed runs before 6pm. For me, I had a frantic early morning start due firstly having to do a one mile walk at 0500hrs to  free off my sciatic nerve pain and then when I set off the trailer lights decided to have a mind of their own and switch on and off at random. A swift kick sorted that problem out! It had rained overnight and the track was still damp but a cloudy dry day was promised and that is what we got despite some threatening dark clouds.

P1 was marginal and entertaining for the slick shod car drivers and Matthew Haynes spun off whilst Derek Hodder and Adam Phelps put in quick runs. I then helped Martin to soften off his shock absorbers to try and get more grip.

P2 the sun actually began to warm the track and the tyres (not had much of that this year) so times tumbled. I watch Garry Bunn on his very aggressive run and was amazed he made it through 2 of the corners but clearly the car is handling brilliantly including speeds of around 115mph through the finish. Derek Hodder posted 57.00 secs ( target of 58.09secs)  and Adam was not far behind in the Busa with on 57.31 secs which he could not reproduce in the timed runs as the track got colder.

T1 This started after lunch and saw Del and Garry tightening up the paddle shift which had worked loose ( Garry is a bit of an animal!). Mark Schlanker in the OMS broke a halfshaft so that put him out. Due to the clouds reappearing and Stephen Herbert telling us that rain was forecast after 2pm we all needed to get a good run in the bank. Luckily the rain never arrived.

T2 was definitely a colder track so improving on times was hard. As I queued up for my run Charlotte Phelps approached holding a wheel wrench in her hand. I had previously commented on her sitting on top of the busa’s roll cage and I thought she was going to get her own back. It turned out that the starter solenoid on the busa was on the blink so she had a suitable tool to give it a friendly tap and get it working. I am sure that if I was her and Adam I would have a word with their travelling mechanic/sponsor/dad as I am sure they had this problem at a previous event and it should have been fixed!

In the end Derek, Garry, Adam and Matthew Haynes all beat the target times and banked some good points.

All cars looked undamaged and ready for the final Anglesey weekend despite John Loudon trying a new line straight across the top of the molehill which certainly tested out his ground clearance and suspension but did not improve his time. ( he still beat me!)

See you there and bring some good weather

Terry Everall

Class G Competitor