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Absolutely unbelievable achievement. Some don't like him but you can't take away what he has achieved. Well done Lewis #44

Car has been a bit neglected over the last few months, so started giving it a much-needed clean yesterday.

Having seen how much rubber your new engine helps you put down, I can see you easily exceeding this

love him or hate he's claiming a position as one of the F1 greats and flying the flag for GB

The following morning, still very bleary eyed from the night before, we got the cars packed up and set off. Google decided to take us down one of the worst dirt tracks I've driven on to date, only to discover it was a dead end and we had to go back. It was so bad that both me and Chris, at the same time got the idea to keep 2 wheels on the grass for a smoother surface. Unfortunately, Croatia decided that wasn't OK, as they'd nicely camouflaged some bricks in the grass every 20 or so meters. I'm sure it would have looked comical from outside to see both mine and Chris's cars launched into the air in synchronisation when we hit a brick each, but it didn't feel good from inside! Fortunately, no damage was done to either car and we could carry on. At this point I had pretty much reached my limit with Croatia and was just short of skipping the day we had planned, but Chris was a little more patient and I didn't want to wreck it for him. We made it to Plitvice early, but it was already packed full of people. Fortunately we had booked our tickets in advance so could walk straight through, although we were immediately stuck behind people on the narrow boardwalks. I did my best to get as many photos as possible without all of the people in, but if you Google "plitvice lakes tourists" you'll get a taste for what a lot of the walkways were like. We took a slightly Convoluted route around though, which took us away from the large crowds for a good portion of it. The views were absolutely beautiful, although it was overcast and I'm sure it would have been even nicer on a sunny day. The relentless nature of the trip had been catching up with me a little over the week leading up to this, so we had booked 2 nights in a hostel (yep, 2 nights in one place - madness!) in Ljubljana so that we could have a down day, and honestly it couldn't come soon enough for me after the night before, so after Plitvice, we drove straight there. Literally the second we crossed the border into Slovenia, the world seemed to become a happier place though. The sun came out. The roads improved, and it just seemed happier. We got to the hostel, showered and went straight for the bar to relax for a bit before dinner!

Graham, you agree that the Speed Series needs a makeover. Can you not embrace the change with a positive outlook? I for one felt the Speed Series was becoming stale and I suspect I'm not the only one. It needed more than a few tweaks here and there. I find the changes rejuvenating. I think putting BECs in their own class would be counterproductive, and I'm not convinced there is a significant overall performance difference when on the same tyres. They'll make gains in some areas and CECs will gain in others. I suspect the real difference is who's behind the wheel.

@IanK (Bagpuss) Sport 250 Silhouette you kindly provided used on banner for our stand at the Bath & West showground last weekend. Keen eyed observer even recognised it was a 250, did ask where the seats were though!

Time to put the flags up! It annoys the neighbours as they support the Red German. 😀

Enjoyable weekend after a "character building" drive to Shepton Saturday morning in the dark, with gales, horizontal rain, leaves and branches, plus standing water everywhere. The brave souls with no roofs were a "trifle damp" when we got there! Good attendance despite the weather, met some interesting people looking over our cars.Thanks to all who visited. Mats out and dehumidifiers in service to dry things out this week!

My big mistake was to buy her an electric Hyundai Kona, now I can’t fart quietly enough !!

We Brits love a plucky loser, and then get a bit uppity when a genuine world beater comes along.....finding all sorts of reasons why he's not likeable or not that good lol... Should go down as one of the greatest f1 drivers ever IMHO, although not a big f1 fan.....much preferred the old style wrc tbh....McRae and Burns... Mart.

1, 2, 3 GO

It’s simple as I want exhaust exit on Right hand side to keep my noise sensitive wife happy !! Plus 200bhp would keep me happy !

Looks like the club put a good display on

I've been on various se7en forums and mailing lists for over 20 years. In all that time, this may be my favorite thread. Count me as someone who is not looking forward to the end of your journey 😉 -John

Meet at Sainsburys Matlock, DE4 3SP, 10.30am SUNDAY for a run around the Peak District with eats and drinks along the way. Is anyone not SORN? is there anybody out there? do come out to play, the weather will determine which day we go and I will update this later on in the week.

MHR @Paul Hurdsfield a true milestone to be blatting a westy around the ring at your age 😎👍🎂🎉

Last year I bought a Keis heated vest and now I have the Keis heated glove liners. They can be used independently to each other or you can plug the gloves into the vest. They can both be powered from a car cigarette lighter type socket or from a battery. I went out last night for an hour or so to try the battery and it was lovely to not have cold hands plus all my torso was warm. I had the the heat fluctuating between medium and low and I still had power in the battery when I arrived home. Today I went out with the power coming from the socket and it was so lovely to be out with no coat but I was so comfortable in just a jumper over the vest. I bought a pair of XXL Sealskinz bike gloves and I wasn't sure if it would be too much wearing two pairs of gloves but I didn't feel restricted at all and I could operate everything in Buttercup comfortably. There was not too much heat either and my hands didn't become sweaty With the battery I have the best of both worlds as I have constant power from the power supply, plus heat from the battery if I want to get out and walk. The battery fits inside the vest in a little pocket and you just attach the cable that is built into the vest. The gloves plug into little sockets under the armpits. The cables are just the right length for my arms and I couldn't feel the cables in my sleeves. You control the heat with the built in controller that is in the vest. Well with the money in my opinion and so looking forward to trying them when it gets colder.

I was musing on this recently and I had a thought. This is dangerous territory I know, but I will press on... Major cities, London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool etc etc are where we find the worst pollution, (and for us drivers, the worst congestion on the roads and for public transport users standing room only on the bus/tube/tram) I think we can all agree. Large cities are also where we find the best/fastest/most reliable internet connections, yes? So change the law. Anyone who is able to work effectively from home should be allowed so to do without fear of reprisal from the boss. Start removing large swathes of workers from city centres and along with them goes pollution, congestion, RTA's etc etc. Now clearly there are some jobs where attendance is non-optional but even some of those can be reduced if there are less people to "service". And that's the downside. TfL would suffer as would many public transport franchises. Many fewer people paying congestion charges and parking fees. Support services like cafe's/bars/restaurants and in fact most retail is likely to suffer. And there's more. What if a building that housed (lets say) 200 staff now only needs to house 100? Office space goes un-used and unpaid for. Rent and rates income will fall and may never recover. We'd be on a downward spiral. Cars get used less so less fuel is used which means less fuel tax revenue for the government BUT more money in OUR pockets. Great! Less mileage on cars means they get serviced less frequently. Bicycles can be used for fun instead of alleviating guilt!. I could go on... But lets really think about it. How many people, given excellent home internet connections, really actually NEED to sit at a desk when most of the time we email the geezer/bird/non-binary person who sits next to us anyway? It's ridiculous. So I say make working from home compulsory for anyone who can. Trouble is it would be a climatic success but an economic disaster. Discuss...

Is there really such an advantage in a BEC compared to a CEC? John Loudon seemed to be quite competitive when he moved up to class G. I wouldn't be happy to see more classes rather than fewer, for the reasons given in my previous posts. Anyway, the SSOT are to be applauded for getting the draft regs. out so promptly, so potential competitors can start planning for next season.

Further to what Jez has just posted, I was eligible to enter class B this year but was persuaded by Keith and Martin to stay in D. Had I gone in B I would have finished 4th overall instead of 8th(?). But B was very empty and I had a good scrap with Martin and Keith and enjoyed it more than I would have being in B.

For what it’s worth I’ve owned 3 Westfield’s over 21 years two CEC one BEC. Each car had different characteristics in terms of power delivery and handling. If I could put all the best bits of 3 cars into one I’d make a fortune!! I therefore don’t see the issue with both being in the same class. Time in the car outweighs what gearbox you run in my opinion. Also having done SS events and other championship events the thing that makes the SS less appealing is lack of cars on the day competing and the number of classes. Oh and the fact as so few have entered class E the last few years I’ve won a basically one horse race and am not eligible for a pot! I think the changes are positive and will gain momentum for more people to register. for the avoidance of doubt in the BEC I’ve beaten CEC but they have also beaten me. Ambition and talent go hand in hand with gearbox and tyres.

Handy to know!

Shropshire recyling centres will let you take 4 a month in

Nnnoooooooo, carry on. We want more.

And BIG well done to Lewis from, he WILL go down as one of the all time greats, and he flies our flag to boot.🇬🇧🍾👍 It was also great to hear all the tributes to Niki, saying that Mercedes and Lewis could not have done it without him😢

Pembrey now likely to be 6th and 7th June 2020 but might change!!!!!!!

He is a great driver, no question. Whether he is "the all time best" really isn't possible to judge. There have been many really good drivers over the decades, and you can only really compare one with another if they drive, or drove, against each other and even then it depends on how good their respective cars are. However, in Louis's case, it is significant that he has won world championships in 2 different makes of car, and generally speaking has been quicker than his various teammates. So he beat Alonso to the championship and Alonso had been a champion; he was generally quicker than Rosberg, even though Rosberg beat him to the championship one year the records show that Louis had a lot of bad luck with reliability issues and it has to be said one or two self-imposed accidents; and against Bottas, although Bottas has won races including of course the latest one, more often than not Hamilton has beaten Bottas in the races. Personally, I'm a great fan of Hamilton. The German shoemaker was undoubtedly a great driver. and I would be delighted if Hamilton can get one more world title to match Shuey. Mind you, Max and Charles are both going to be mighty quick and difficult to beat in the next few years, given comparable cars in performance terms.

@si_salisbury coming making 15!

Brilliant result and well deserved.

I'd pay to see this in a competitive event

Lots of valid and balanced points for/against the new set of regs. However... The regs are decided and set in stone pending MSA approval. Lets see how they go for a season of racing and resume discussions next October with the benefit of hindsight Generally we are making hypothetical cases that may play out differently in reality. Anyone who made points now, for or against, that turn out to be correct are welcome to say to me "I told you so" at the 2020 awards evening 🤣

I want to make clear, that my post is Far from trying to critizise SSOT for their work... I'm only stating the facts of how the Spirit of the Speed Series is written, and you guys have done a brave move to -at least try- mitigate the flaws of it... and I'm clarifying this because -and Ill repeat it again- Think the spirit of the whole championship is wrong, but this is a whole different matter. However, I think -regardless of all the flaws flagged by graham- the move is in a good direction. It will encourage at least a more direct competition within the class rather to win in a "no other man class" like happened several times, and will cut down the "class purpose build cars" witch is one of the ways of doing a mathematical workaround the regs. Also, regarding the regs and the advantages... It happens too often that drivers with a fully roadgoing car will beat purpose built sprint cars, guys with Toyo beating cars with ZZr on the day (or at least being really close) and even in some wet events, propper drivers beating "all time contenders" to the overall championship because of their skillset... Therefore, the car equity is in a whole second plane for me, let alone the gearboxes or the end power. If we ever get to the day that we all are in within half a second to each other, then the car will become a factor, but, not now.

Build quality. But, that’s something you need a bit of experience to be able to ascertain. As has been asked - where are you? Local members will probably be happy to show you their cars and point out what to look for.

Discuss 😁 I’ve only ever done a single round so my view is from “a slow novice entrant looking to give it a go in a rather non-competitive car” - I think the “Speed Series” should reward fast drivers.

I may be naive... but I want to believe the SSOT has put the system to test with previous results, and is, at least, coherent... However, I would not expect John H to become champion on the new regulations. This championship is not about being the fastest, is not about beating direct competition... is about being in the right class and have the right car for this class. New regs, would more than likely bring you a new winner... Never forget that... because you all seem to don't take this in account. Regs will never be fair, and will always be a mathematical workaround said Regs. We don't compete against each other, we compete against a written book of facts and times... (at least until now) new regs seems to partially amend this. the next big step, is to heavily cut down in events. 30 events, only 10 score... this is mad. You can have guys competing for the win that have never meet each other on a competitive day, and this is unacceptable for me. However is the price to pay to have a race day every weekend somewhere in the country if you want, and to have a nice spread on uk's geography. Championship will need cut down to 12 weekends, and 8 scores to count... 4 to drop (not to attend). The Overall numbers of the Speed series, would probably be cut down, but at least, you would have 20-30 Westfields on each competitive weekend. Now is, unfortunately too spread, and is sad to run a series that has an average of 3 or 4 attendants for meeting.

Hope to try and make this one!

ooooh, now I want everyone to think of what a 60 mile drive feels like in their Westfield. Perhaps you would go to your local beauty spot, pop to the seaside or call in at a track to watch some motorsport. Well one of these guys is going to wish that he had done just that one extra journey, as this year it is going to be a really close competition. Thank you very much for your entry Quinten and to everyone else, keep 'em coming.

My body and brain (partly) are functioning again after the shock of the drastic wholesale changes being proposed for the SS in 2020! I would agree that the SS does need a serious make-over to attract new entrants to competition and entice back those who are no longer taking part or are finding their enjoyment in other sprint and hill climb championships. The proposals for 2020 will not address these obvious objectives correctly and they also run a high risk of turning more competitors away from the SS championship which has provided many Westfield owners (me included) much enjoyment over the years! What we must avoid here is the kids christmas present syndrome "the box looks shiney and bright on the outside but the contents are not fit for purpose before the end of christmas day" So why are the SSOT so keen to push on with these proposals and and get them into MS UK asap ? 1) BEWARE once approved I am told every year it is impossible to get them changed when errors and omissions come to light after approval! 2) The Blue Book including the tyre list for 2020 has not been made available for general circulation so without this necessary information I guess a large number of the potential competitors are not that well informed on what MS UK are going to issue! Like the SSOT I to have a draft copy of the regs soon to be published that is dated 19th Sept! 3) Contrary to the SSOT explaination the MS UK 2020 Regs are very little different for sprinting and hill climbing than those for 2019 except for the renumbering to allow General Cars to added att he lower end of the numbering system So lets be clear here the changes to the SS Regs have NOT been caused by changes to MS UK regs for 2020! 4) The much discussed Target Time System with all of it's problems either perceived or actual did facilitate a consistent performance measurement system across all SS classes and MORE IMPORTANTLY did allow a single driver in any given class to actually have do a bit of work to achieve a reasonable score at any given event that he or she was the only competitor in the class. 5) You may or not be aware that Paul Morcom headed up a working party a couple years ago to review most available scoring systems and based on that comprehensive piece of work the SSOT at the time concluded that Target Times were the best option for the SS and all of it's different considerations. 6) Now it is proposed that we have a first past the post scoring system for 2020 which in it's self is no bad thing but as far as the speed series is concerned it comes with strings attached! 7) The major one being it should NOT ALLOW 1 person in one class to go around 10 events and score maximum points with little or no effort. IT needs a QUORUM to be specified for the number of competitors competing on the day in EACH Class before the points count towards the SS Championship! 8) This leads on to the technical class stucture of the SS Regs. By the nature of the beast a Westfield Sports car is a very variable item, some factory built cars, some factory supplied kits for self assembly and many "home brew" designs that has been the brain child of the owner builder many of which compete in the SS! 9) Over the years the SS Regs have been honed to take account of this wide variety of technical differences to provide a "levelled" playing field for the many differently speced cars to compete side by side in a reasonably fair manner! 10) The MS UK Regs CANNOT and DO NOT drill down to such a level of technical complexities but do try to provide regulatory framework that addresses the main supply of vehicles coming from manufacturures with defined specifications and known production quantities and specify at a high level what MUST be done and what can and cannot be done to allow participation in UK Motorsport. 11) They rely totally on the Club Championships to define in their Regulations what is fair, reasonable and equitable conditions under which competitors should compete in their chhampioship. 12) In the proposed 2020 SS regulations the SSOT have dispensed with fairness and level playing field conditions that we enjoyed from our previous regs in favour of the inadequate MS UK Regs because of the need to have a well populated class structure need to support the first past the post scoring system. 13) The most over riding decision of un-fairness in the proposed 2020 SS Regs is the amalgamation of the Bike Engined Cars in with Car Engined Cars in both the Road Going and Modified Clases. 14) Only a limited number of the Car Engined Westfields will be able compete on similar technical specs to Bike Engined Cars in Road Going classes because of the Sequential Gearbox Regulations MS UK Regs ref 12.8.1 (b) where only a handful of factory built cars were supplied and specified using Elite Sequential gearboxes which proved to be to weak to cope the outputs of the higher powered engines. 15) In the modified classes it is fair to say the to have any chance against the bike engined cars (apart from ACW coming back) car engine Westfields will need to be upgraded to at least sequential gearboxes, slick tyres and as much power they can squeeze out of their hand picked and much loved car engine! 16) You must appreciate like many of these things the devil is in the detail and the details must be understood! 17) It really depends on what you want to in the to do and get out of the speed series? either just make up the numbers so the first past the post scoring system works fairly or do what to try and win something? 18) For most of the Car Engined Owners the new SS Regs as currently proposed means spending MONEY and probably quite a LOT of it, ie changing your car, buying new gearboxes, slick tyres and associated wheels and probably a lot of other stuff! With these Regs as proposed for many of us the ARMS RACE is back big time! 19) Do not let the SSOT "BORIS" you! Put in the time to understand the details, how they will affect you and how much they will COST you! 20) With regard to lesser rule changes if we are reducing the overall number of events and the Novice Champ is reduced to 6 events why don't we reduce the Expert Champ to 8 Events. 21) Why can't we retain the Sprint Challenge along side the new Hill Climb award ? Proposed Workable Solution We MUST NOT let the proposed new SSOT Regs go to MS UK for approval in there current form but I do not want to be a total party pooper in this matter! It is now time to put Bike Engined Westfields into seperate classes in both Road Going and Modified on there own particularly if the the first past the post scoring system is to be adopted! I will let some else look into quetion of what car engined cars can get away with by running under the MS UK Technical regs with no added rules from the SSOT ie dog box h pattern gearboes allowed in Road Going and so on! Long Live the Speed Series we must improve it's appeal to all Westfield owners and not just the quickest drivers and those with the higest levels of technical wizardry! Sunday Brain Dump overy! Enlightened reading I hope? Glutey

wow...a LOT of car for the money imho mate. glwts. Mart.

Oh!!! I love criticizing adverts (unless they are from the club...) C'mon... can't wait!! Now... seriously... witch car are you looking, and what do you expect from her?

Funnily enough, I read this yesterday knowing I would be doing something very similar for my 13yro boxer Molly soon Unfortunately, it came a bit too quickly and this morning after she had a series fits I had to make that very decision. Today has been an extremely tough day. I feel exhausted, it was a very hard decision to make. **** I will miss her

First of all welcome, you can add a link to the cars advert and ask questions , someone may know the car and we all have our own interpretation of what we as individuals are looking for in a car i suppose the first Question to ask yourself is what do you want to do with it and does the car suit that choice but we’re happy to help

Crack on, we'll be happy to help 👍

Second video from me: Afternoon session.. the slippery parts were less slippery! There's some exhaust flames on show.. they looked better from where I was sitting though. There's also a tin top that got a big slide on in Hawthorn.. Megane maybe? I then got a clear lap or two towards the end, when the green Lambo past me. I tried to keep up, but had to pull out when I noticed the coolant swashing around in the passenger footwell.. dam! I could have had him.. maybe..

Here's a laugh, you can chuck one in the Westie and bring it to Matlock, we can drop down the road 2 miles to the steam train at Darley Dale and drop it in at the recycling centre there. Or bring Big Foot and get rid of up to 4 at a time. I am serious btw.

My local council re-cycling centre take a max of 4 tyres a visit. Have a browse on your local council website in the re-cycling section, not the general municipal dump.

On our way out of Albania, as one last little bit of crazy that the country decided to throw at us, I got pulled over by the police. I wasn't speeding (and Chris was in front at the time, so not sure how they would have picked me up and not him if we were, but as soon as I saw that I was being flagged down, I pulled over. Immediately, the officer started shouting at me for stopping, and telling me to go again. I have no idea what was going on there! Next up was Montenegro, and it pretty quickly became a highlight of the trip for me. I didn't know much about Montenegro, so was slightly concerned it might just be more of Albania, which I sort of needed a break from! From the beginning, the border crossing gave me confidence though. It's the first place on the trip I've actually been asked for insurance (which I had, but more on that later). For anyone that didn't have insurance, such as Chris, they had a formal office set up, and it was just €15 for the week. Yep, Euro. They're not in the EU, but use it anyway. That's because back in the '90s, the country decided to switch from their own currency to the German Mark. Then when the Germans switched onto the Euro, so did Montenegro! Ireland were playing in the RWC that day, so we stopped for some lunch across the border. It was good, cheap, and the people were friendly. Couldn't ask for much more! We carried on from there, and almost immediately were driving alongside a beautiful gorge. I thought I'd take out the gopro for a couple of minutes, but ended up leaving it on for the whole drive. You couldn't go too fast anywhere though, as the roads weren't only used for cars! Miles, and miles of twisting, winding roads. After the first hour, the roads emptied out, and we had this to ourselves until we got to our destination in Zabljak. We set up camp for the night next to an abandoned ski lift, ready for an early morning and a big hike. It maybe got a little colder than anticipated overnight though!

Thanks folks, I can honestly say I’ve never experienced anything as horrible as “the end” the eyes staying open the body going limp, not feeling good today i keep saying how long might he have had, and reply with well at least we removed the guess work of any suffering hoping the rugby is a good distraction