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TEL's TALE's 060/16 Croft 28th March 2016 Easter Monday is always Croft sprint so most of us got loaded up on Sunday. I managed it just before we had thunder and lightening and a massive hailstorm so things did not look good for the morning. I live in York and the rain belted it down all night and caused some local roads to flood so my 0600hrs start for the drive up to Croft was dark and a bit hairy in places. Arrived to find an almost deserted and empty paddock (which never looked full all day so entries must be down). To say it was wet and very very cold is an understatement. Did I mention it was cold? My feet stayed like blocks of ice all day and several warm layers were needed under race overalls. Only 4 Westfields were entered plus Mark Anson in his OMS and Matt Hllam in the Dallara (both in class J2). During the day we had quite a few supportes/spectators includig Steve and Margaret Everall, Beverley, Lisa, Justin, Paul Aspden and probably a few others I have forgotten. John Loudon was pit monkey for Nick Algar who was out in the DJ Firehawk. Tim Nunn came out with his first excuse claiming he did not feel well and was full of cold (excuse number 3 in volume 1 of the drivers compendium of Excuses). There was no debate about which tyres Tim Nunn and I needed so on went the wets. Tim, (used excuse number 27 in volume 2 this time) explained that his tyres were not really wets and were old and rubbish, I just stuck to the fact that I found I only had 3 psi in my left rear so at least the footpump exercise warmed me up a little. Now I must explain that it was really really wet and cold and slippery. I was blasting down Tower straight at about 110mph and braked for Tower bend but just locked up the fronts and had to quickly get off the brakes and just got round but it was a bit of a moment. Tim had spin down at the first bend and his engine would not rev beyond 10000rpm whilst Richard Kerr braked at the same place I did but completed a 360 deg spin and just avoided the armco barrier. John Hoyle seemed to have cured the problem with the sadev gearbox electronics and was going well setting best P1. Mark Anson looked good in the OMS so his wet practices at 3 Sisters were useful. P2 started as the rain eased off , the wind blew and it was COLD! The track was still very wet with standing water on a few bends. Unluckily Tim Nunn slid into the barriers after the finish line and hit the nearside of his car breaking the upright balljoint and bending the end of the lower wishbone. John Hoyle was the next car and got a late red flag which he missed. Sometimes I wish that the marshalls could be a bit more visible to drivers or the Clerk of the Course understand how focussed we are on the track/next corner. John was quickest in practice with 103.85 secs. T1 We had a 60 min break for lunch and withmy spare balljoint, hammer and molegrips we straightened the wishbone end and refixed the balljoint but Tim decided to call it a day as the engine issue was frustrating him. The track was now dry enough for me to put my slicks on and I posted a much faster time of 85.93secs for the others to chase. Richard Kerr had a good run with 90.65secs on his ZZRs but the bad luck gremlin got John Hoyle. His car sounded a bit odd on the start line with the revs up and down irratically. As he got to the first bend the engine died and later he was towed back to the paddock. We looked at electrics etc and then someone spotted that his external trigger wheel for the crank sensor had broken off....game over for John. With just two Westfields left Richard and I kept improving in T2 and T3 as the track dried but stayed …..you guessed it …..COLD. Matt Hillam went well in the SBD Dallara but mark had a few problems. I think it was at the end of P2 when he caught the rear wheel on the edge of the garage door and bent the fabricated upright and had to readjust the rear toe in to allow for that. Later in the timed runs he had the misfortune for the end plate of his rear wing to detach itself ( failed rivnuts appeared to be the culprit at high speed). He did not get a T2 or T3 time but he can sort these teething probems out and be competetive at 3 Sisters in April. Final best times were Terry Everall (me) class G 84.37 secs Richard Kerr class F 87.11 secs Mark Anson clas J2 95.59 secs Matt Hollam class J2 75.10 secs Nick Algar recorded 73.63 secs in the DJ In summary there was quite a bit of carnage and the track was too cold ( also headwind ) to get near target times despite some spirited driving. In my opinion this would be a good reason to use a First Past The Post scoring system and not Target Times. Terry Everall Speed Series Correspondent Class G competitor.

A thread to say thanks on behalf of me and everyone else to the Speed Series Organising Team and Tigger for their hard unpaid volunteer work that makes the Speed Series so great. It's been a damned hard slog for them just getting there before the season started, especially dealing with things out of their control. No one could have done any more or any better, which is reflected by the excellent Speed Series numbers. Post below to join me in the SSOT and Tigger Appreciation Society! PS: Any negative comments regarding either of them and especially any moans about the new regs / classes / scoring, and you might find your avatar gets changed to this:

Well.......... was a day of red flags was it not.. I can't be too over critical I suppose, as I caused one of them. Just been looking over the car after my little off. Apart from a bit of bodywork damage, it looks like a bent wishbone and maybe a bent half shaft... oh, and a couple of bashed wheels. Think I got off lightly. Will put up a video nasty at some point. (Did someone mention Rockingham is slippery when wet? ) ​ Enjoyed the afternoon, but hurtling around the banked corner at 110 plus, I couldn't help thinking.. I hope this car's OK after it's bump. Nice to meet a few bods, but as usual I mostly didn't know who the hell I was talking too.

Well here is my first go at putting together a little film using footage from my drone. I hope you like it.

Love all the upgrades!!

Yes it was an enjoyable day all round.You have to eat hot x buns on Easter Monday!

Throughly enjoyed the day. I was apprehensive in the morning especially when I saw the snow coming down. I'd definitely go back. Food van was nice! As were Gary's pre-buttered hot cross buns

Cheers for the welcome guys. My plan for owning is to have something to drive in the summer, something fun and exciting. Haven't had a fun car since my Integra 10 years ago. During the long and cold (and wet I hasten to add) winter I plan to build on what i have. At the moment I'm not looking for all out power or intricate handling. I want to build up my confidence and limits in the car before I go mental.

Hi Q that would be good Look forward to seeing u again!!

Nice vids Gary. I've got a couple of similar ones to upload.. probably tonight.. one dry, and one wet spin.. unfortunately with an added crunch!

A greasy track spin earlier in the day

My best effort of the day, I was learning all the time from CleaR Motorsport. I still have a lot to learn, but very pleased with the progress I made during the day. It is in HD if you change the settings

Welcome Sam The Northants meet is on the second Monday of each month at the Aviator Hotel at Sywell Aerodrome (19.30 onwards) The Earls Barton car meet is also a regular gathering that quite a few of us go to in the summer months and it should be starting up again fairly soon. Look forward to meeting you Regards Mark

If only they ran on methane

Probably an hour program would have sufficed and going around in circles is usually very boring as F1 shows but 6.5G downward force hanging onto a motorbike at 78mph is very impressive IMO.

Why dont you come along to your next local meeting, which happens to be tomorrow night Details in my signature strip below. You will be made most welcome and we can have a chat about what your plans are for the car, engines, etc etc

Sorry I missed you earlier David , its been a hectic day or two : had a battery problem last night with the car , luckily a local member had a spare so still made it . We even met a local chap who I didn't know before who took us back to his house local to the show and showed us his garage full of Lotus's ( 6 of ! ) . He had even filled in the indoor swimming pool and made the lounge smaller to get all the cars in !!

The beam engines were running today, they are air driven now. One of the two pistons. The second stone step has nearly 200 years wear on it, from where the operator used to stand on that step to look at the signal. An 80 year old man, who was in charge, told us, he was full of interesting little facts like that. We had to have a little photo shoot outside the boilers After our lesson in British industrial history we took the short journey to Ecclesbourne Railway, where the steam trains were running. We headed for the Pullman cafe as the rain really started lashing down. When we came out it was back to sunshine so we went for a drive through Bakewell, up round and down the lovely Via Gellia road. That nicely landed us in Matlock Bath for some fish and chips to finish the day off. A fantastic day out with a big, yummy thank you to Martyn and Sue for joining us. We are just sorry the awful weather meant the others were not part of it but thank you for expressing your intentions, it means a lot.