Blyton 18th & 19th May 2019
Entry posted by Terry Everall
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Blyton 18th& 19thMay 2019
Well after a slow start to the season with low numbers of drivers this event proved very popular with 9 Westfields and 4 Class J2 single eaters taking part. In addition to the Westfield class competition there were good class battles on the day for both road going and modified cars mainly running on slicks. Del and Gary were back out with the upgraded Dick Spanner supercharged Honda machine which now has even more power and is off the scale. My brother Steve had his first outing in the car now nicknamed as “Terry’s spare car” as it is a clone of mine! I actually prefer the colour of the car better than mine. It had taken us 7 months to build and is a real challenge for Steve in class G as he has never driven a BEC, used slicks or paddle gearshift systems. John Hoyle was back out after having to miss last year and he had fitted new Avon ZZR tyres despite me telling him to fit some SLICKS! However, because the ZZRs were cheaper he is back in class F. Jason Brown was also out for the first time this year and he had great family support. John Loudon and Mark Anson were doing battle in their single seaters.
Saturdays weather forecast was a bit iffy and indeed during T1 the track was wet due to light rain. We got 1 practice and then went straight into 5 Timed runs and the weather improved as the day went on. At the start of P1 Dels’ car , which had run perfectly on the Friday trackday would not start. A quick call (one of many over the weekend) to NMS did the trick and they were up and running. Practice went ok for most but Steve found gear selection using the paddles was difficult. T1 saw a damp track and in particular the yellow painted rumble strip exiting Bishops was treacherous to say the least and there were a few spins (Mark Anson in his Jedi) as well as my sideways action that caused some brown trouser moments. I always tell people to stay off outside rumble strips when its wet but I did not heed my own warning as I was pushing too hard. After T2 Matt Turner was still beating himself up as he believed he could go much faster if he stopped making small errors. Meanwhile John Hoyle was making it look easy as he posted some very quick times even though he was on ZZR tyres and it was his first time out in a long time. As the day progressed Del and Garry began to have issues with a lack of engine power/ engine cutting and they tried to trace battery power, alternator and engine temp problems etc. Mick Dent, Tony Smiley and Jason Brown were all going well and there were no major dramas that I heard of except for Steve still trying to get used to his new green mean machine and my clutch failing on the very last run.
Sunday was the Outer circuit rather than the Eastern circuit we drove on Saturday. The weather was great all day so it was a shame Mick Dent was not competing today. Matt Turner in class G was again going well right from the start and backing up his Saturday success when he beat me into second place although he did spin off in T4. Steve was getting better with the gear shifts but wants a quickshifter to improve things. As I lined up on the start the left hand lens of my optical sunglasses fell out and I could not “see” where it was but assumed it was on the floor of the car. I set off and at the wriggler something flew out of the car so that cost me a pair of sunglasses! Once again John Hoyle was on fire showing us all how to do it. John Loudon in his Force managed to beat Mark Anson in his Jedi.
A great weekend by Longton and District Motorclub and a great boost to the season. Pete Goulding did really well in his Ecoboost and scored well in the British Sprint.
The guys in class G and H had a great battle and for me the two best drivers of the weekend were John Hoyle and Matt Turner. I am pleased to say that Westfields occupied many of the top spots in the Nat B event.
There is no doubt that Blyton is always a challenge and the two tracks add variety so I hope we get lots of entries and spectators for our own Blyton Weekend in July. There will be a trackday on Friday to take part in or watch and a bring your own food BBQ on Saturday night. See you there!
Terry Everall
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