Leaderboard

onliest tigger Wendz and new acquisition... looking forward to a bit more comfort

Here is our Le Mans start. It was blooming great fun. Thank to James for filming and to David for taking part.

Here it is, my first ever track day lap! I did get quicker as the day went on.

All of it, everything, is just brilliant. I feel like I have been on your holiday without even leaving my armchair. You are a very selfless man and thank you for sharing it with us.

See you boys there! The shy retiring one will be there too

sorry I keep forgetting about forum need to get used to checking it more often, I'm meeting up with Jim and Jean Friday morning

There's a nice little group booked into this one now. Plenty of room for more though. ​

Brief text from John yesterday - "running but a bit smokey". Fingers crossed!

Now I have to ask .... is that "short sightedness" as in "poor planning" or as in "I can't see what I'm about to wipe out with my M230 chain gun ...." Hopefully the former Shall I get my coat now ...............

just watched all the videos - very good indeed :t-up:

That drone footage is amazing Geoffrey. Its brilliant how it looks so different from an aerial view. Its a credit to you, not so sure about them dodgy folk waving from lawyers dam mind, lol. Really good mate was glad to be part of it.

The problem I have with all this eco-drive, is the disproportionate focus on cars. OK in city centres it may be a major problem for air quality but elsewhere I am sure there are bigger energy gains to be had in lots of other ways. Growing up my dad would never turn the heating on once the clocks had changed ... it was summer now !! I would say most offices and houses that I visit are continuously heated to 21 or 22'C. How many children are taken to school by car when we used to walk, how much energy is wasted on packaging etc etc. So because cars are an easy target to regulate and the problem is solved by someone else they get too much focus on them IMHO. Also if we are going to focus on cars .. let's make them lighter and smaller .. not just electric. David

John As per PM, I can help as required on the Saturday. I have some knowledge of the blue book. David

Objection to changes to 10.5.2. I object to this being changed, particularly under the reason of Safety. Either Methanol is safe to use (which it must be as you are still allowing it) or it’s not. You state it is to reduce power, but currently it is only the medium powered cars using Methonal, which makes it ridiculous to still allow the big Formula engine V8 cars to still compete.

Objection to changes to 10.3.1. I object to this being changed, particularly under the reason of Safety and with a six month lead-time. This is purely a matter of which class a vehicle competes in and cannot therefore be considered a Safety matter. Any changes a competitor will need to make to stay in class will be very expensive and time consuming. There is no reason why Sprinting & Hillclimbing should align with other disciplines and in fact this is not correct a factor of 1.5 is allowed in Rallying. It’s not broken why change it ?

Dear Sir / Madam, With reference to the proposed regulation change “Speed Event Committee April 2016 -2” I am a hillclimb competitor competing in both club and national events in a normally aspirated pump-fuel powered single seater racing car. This proposed regulation change therefore has no impact on my vehicle but I feel strongly that the proposal should be withdrawn. Quote; 10.5.2 (b) With the exception of Period Defined Vehicles A-E, vehicles using Forced Induction are prohibited from using methanol. Reason; Due to the increased power achieved through methanol use it is considered, on safety grounds, that its use in Forced Induction vehicles should be prohibited. Unquote. I believe the argument is flawed and I strongly disagree with this proposal and wish it to be withdrawn; • The power that can be produced from any engine, forced-induction or otherwise, is directly related (and proportional) to the budget available to the builder/owner/driver of the vehicle and engine combination in question and is NOT dependent on the type of fuel being used. o There are many very powerful forced induction engines in our sport that run on pump fuel including a current “Top ten” contender o Of the current top ten cars in the British Hillclimb Championship, only two are forced induction, and only one of those runs on methanol o Of the current top ten cars in the British Leaders Championship, only two are forced induction, and only one of those runs on methanol o Of the current top ten cars in the Midlands Hillclimb Championship, three are forced induction, none of which are running methanol • The key reasons that competitors are using methanol are as follows; o The cooling effect of the fuel chemistry on the inlet charge allows for a simplified installation, often avoiding the need for inlet charge coolers to be fitted. It may also be possible to have a much-simplified/reduced-complexity engine cooling system o The engine performance can be maintained with a larger safety factor (compared to “Pump fuel”) allowing for a more cost-effective and reliable installation o Methanol attracts a lower fuel duty and is therefore cheaper than “Pump fuel” o Methanol is safer than “Pump fuel” (from a health perspective as well as fire hazard) • There are a myriad of non-forced induction engines being used in our sport that produce significantly higher power outputs (both on methanol and pump fuel) than forced induction cars competing in the same class – how can the “on safety grounds” argument hold water? • The power level produced by a car/engine combination is only one of many factors that may have a contributing effect on that vehicles perceived safety levels. Much more important is the level of maintenance and preparation carried out on that vehicle as well as the quality of the build and assembly I sincerely hope that my views, which I know are supported by many other competitors, are taken into account when this proposal is discussed at committee. I look forward to receiving your response, Regards Obj to Methanol ver2.rtf

Better than rotary IMO, but even then jobs are limited...IIRC its £80k to get your commercial license with no guarantee of a job at the end... One of my customers is an aerial survey company and the number of applications they get a week is daft. I don't know what you do offshore currently, but for me the big 'growth' area is HSE. Could be worth exploring that with a view to consultancy...?

Reply to TL on the flip helmets. As Bernie says full face is the requirement for an open top car.

See you there, looking forward to it.

Great photos! I don't want to hijack the thread but I have a quick question, to the person who had the 2x Blue Flip up helmets. I wanted to get one but figured that Track day events probably wouldnt allow them. Is it down to individual events or are they allowed on the whole?

Great day,fantastic weather and thanks Bernie for the help to fix cycle wing bracket and thanks Pete for a few driving tips they really made a difference

Fortunately I'd put the roof up for the journey home... I took the A12 and the water was indeed biblical!! Anyway, here's a link to the photos I took today.... hope you can view. https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B9uyu78zYjLrdnFmOVZUMHhyWDg&usp=sharing

By 'flowing' you mean from one opposite lock to the other, right Pete?

This is the Cairngorm funicular railway that we went on. Real "chavy" family at the top and they were more entertaining than the views. Excuse the quality as I just filmed it from inside through the glass. The commentary is quite interesting though.

Glad you made it home kev. Scary on the a12 - I had waves of water coming over the front and side of the car, decided it was safest to get off and use country roads.

Have done startline for past ahem, number of years, happy to do it again this year, can do both days.

Made it home safely, despite getting caught in two biblical downpours! Car ran like clockwork, the little devil. Thanks to everyone who was prepared to stick their heads into the oiliest engine bay in Woodbridge, to sort out my electrical gremlins. Mike, I promise to look into a megajolt, so that I can dispose of the existing machanical sh*t, as you so eloquently put it. Great day guys and thanks for helping to entertain the kids.

This is Glenfinnan viaduct. This is in the Harry Potter films. You can still ride over it today in a steam train. Ample parking and a visitors centre with toilets are here. You can walk down to Loch Shiel that is in the distance. The Glenfinnan monument is located here.

Here is some footage I took with my drone. I hope you like it.

It's set to be recorded just on case I miss it.