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Yesterday morning I finished off a few bits on the car while my daughter was at her dance class. I have replaced the engine mounts which has definitely stopped a lot of the wobble I was getting, and also fitted a better oil pump which has improved the oil pressure too. I gave it a bit of a test run which was all good, except, that is, for taking a cut through lane which seemed to last forever, and was more like a muddy stream than a road! It had rained pretty heavily overnight, but was nice and sunny so I when I got back, I thought I would wash the car before going to pick her up in it as the roads would have dried. On that drive, the roads weren’t too bad, just a few damp patches. After lunch, and a dog walk, we headed to Lyme at about 3.30 to have a mooch and watch the sunset. As said, I thought the roads would have dried by then but no! So much water running off the fields, in places there were streams running down the sides and some flooding still. We managed to avoid the deeper bits and found a lucky space to park up in the Cobb Gate car park right on the front. We had a lovely time in Lyme, quite quiet by that time and we walked on the Cobb to see the waves, had fish and chips then ice cream and watched the sunset. What’s not to like? It was getting pretty dark on the way back and at times hard to see, particularly with a couple of cars with over bright head lights following me. There was still loads of water about, and although I avoided one flooded corner, I hit two others in the dark which sent a spray of water right over the bonnet, fortunately not quite reaching us! I also had a bit of an aquaplaning moment on standing water (I’m on R888Rs which are fairly low on tread now) which was exciting but all ok. Must get my 15” wheels with more sensible tyres back on for the winter. So, having got home safely and put a very tired daughter to bed, I then cleaned and dried the car for a second time and got it tucked away safely ahead of Storm Ashley, which as I type is easing off having given us torrential rain in the night and some pretty gusty winds. Nice to get out in the car even if challenging at times!

Can't be there in person so I thought I'd join in remotely today..

It was a great days racing👍

Not a book that has influenced me, but one I have read at least 10 times over the years is Chickenhawk, by Robert Mason. Not at all political, just a chronology of his time and antics in Vietnam as a helicopter pilot. His second book, covers his struggles back in the US, and his incarceration for being a flying drug runner. From memory, both books were written in prison. So no, not influencial at all!

Yes, it’s one of our favourites and only about 35 mins away which is fab. Funny re spaces, there was bags of room to spare behind the car as I always park towards the front incase someone in a Chelsea tractor thinks it’s empty and just drives over it 🤪

This was to be the final rounds of the Westfield Speed Series Championship in 2024. The event was organised by Longton and District Motor Club. And there were high expectations that this again would be another successful event. The running order was with the most powerful cars having the initial runs. So this meant that the British Sprint series competitors were the first to line up on Saturday morning. It was still a little bit greasy and Pete Golding managed to spin at the cork screw, this set the scene. Dave Smith in his Westfield Sports 250 with a highly modified engine reported that he had a plug down on the first practise run. Worse was to occur to Harry Moody in his megabusa. He had had problems with his drive shaft at the previous event at Harewood a couple of weeks previously and had replaced the drive shaft joint and tested it on the drive where all was well, however, 200 yards into the first practise run and the drive shaft pulled out again, so that was it, game over for Harry. In the first timed runs, it was still proving to be slippery. Dave Smith reported a spin along with Mick Dent having a tank slapper. As the day progressed, the weather conditions improved, and some good times were recorded, Dave Banner took the class record with a 52.81, Chris Boyd was happy to get back to seeing some of the times that he had set several years ago in his Sylva Riot. Steve Arkley had a good day until his final run when he suffered issues with his fuel pump, which was diagnosed as a loose connection after the run! Howard Gaskin had started the day on his Uniroyal rainsport tyres and decided to change them to his Nankans, but went slower, so he went back to his Uniroyals and ultimately three seconds faster He had suffered a misfire off the line going up to Rocket, but that cleared throughout the day and managed to finish the day on a 59.99. So he was happy with his result. Dave Smith. reported to be having a good day and was managing to get into the 55 seconds, but couldn't do any better, However, this did result in him setting a class record for the road going class.. Mick Skidmore was on form and managed to beat his PB by 0.5 seconds. John Loudon. was second in both runoffs in the British Sprint series and managed in the progress to set a new personal best beating his old time by 1.42 seconds. Mark Bishop had had a brilliant day and was looking forward to Sunday. Also going well was Stuart Gilks and he was having a good day as well, he was running with a interesting tyre combination with Avon 888 on the rears and Uniroyals on the front. He was sharing the driving with his daughter, Louise. Ian Davenport was back out again, he has not done many events in 24. was enjoying the camaraderie. at Anglesey. On Sunday, the weather forecast for the day forecast rain from late morning. So the organisers wanted competitors to get in as many runs as they possibly could in the morning session before the rain came. However, the rain did not materialise and a dry day was had! Overnight, Mick Skidmore had altered the gear ratios in his gearbox so he could have more top speed on the back straight as we were running a different circuit combination. Dave Smith had also changed class and gone from road going into the slick tyred class. Howard Gaskin kept the same tyres on that he had switched back to and the misfire was gone. So all went well on Sunday for Howard who may be retiring from competing.........Ian Davenport, on the other hand, switch to Uniroyals and had a good run. Dave Banner had the misfortune of a rod coming through the side of the block in his megabusa, so an early finish for Dave. We managed to run through the afternoon in dry conditions with no other major incidents to report. So this concluded the final round of the championship and the points ended up being. equal for Dave Banner, and Dave Smith, both scoring. 10 maximum points on 10 rounds. So the result for the Westfield Speed Series Championship was a tie between Dave banner & Dave Smith. Competition throughout the season has been great and hopefully there will be more to be had in 2025. If you are thinking about competing. I would seriously recommend it. It is just great fun and a great set of people. and some really good circuits to visit, here is to 2025.

Have DMd you Peter

I absolutely love Lyme Regis and strange to see a car that actually fits in the cobb gate car park!

Aged like milk, but should come soon.

Todays - after wash picture Later changed headlights bulbs from Philips +130% etc to Aliexpress LEDs , Was during a beer so test drive tommorow evening, but looking good so far, seems a good improvement. (thanks for advice @Flying Carrot Steve ! (in fact His advice was original Auxito bulbs, but I'v tried the Alixepress version - will see. External quality looks really good , as is the fitting) From parking perspective I really can see improvement, might be partly due to more blueish colour, but in long distance swithch now I see the bulbs are working, that was not alway the case with halogen H4) )

Well she looked beautiful even in grey, who can carry a grey jumper off? Only Lucy. Unfortunately, she was the bearer of bad weather, so this event is postponed until next Sunday. I reckon that lido will be like the North Sea with the winds that are forecast, bring your budgie smugglers and your bikini's if you wish to attend the alternative entertainment 😃 So it's meet at Whitworth cafe on the 27th October, 10am. Let's hope we get a better forecast next weekend, please check before travelling.

@Flying Carrot Steve could I take them?

The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy! Finally finding my level of sense of humour and the meaning of life!

One of the discussions on Saturday at Anglesey was around perception, which to some extents applies here. The perception that a road going car will not be able to compete as everything is a fire breathing monster........ From an outsider who has competed for a just few years 😉 there is a perception that most Caterhams (Yes I used that word as a Caterham owner) compete in road going with a few Westfields in the mix, where as most Westfields compete in modified as fire breathing monsters, with very few similar tuned caterhams. In real terms there is a place for everyone, within the event class structure, from road going standard westfields, to highly tuned and modified monsters in Modified Specialist production. We are competing in roadgoing Specialist Production in a number of championships and see a good mix of road going cars (not just Caterhams & Westfields) with a mix of power and experience, the advice I always give competitors is compete with what you have, see if you like it and learn from experience and when something needs replacing always go for something better. will you be the quickest in the class straight away, probably not unless you are a budding F1 Driver, but if you enjoy it, and most do , you will improve and you will start rising up the rankings, but at first if you have a smile on your face and are improving then thats all that should matter.

Just revised the listing and selling just the car on its own now complete with ZZS on black CXR's. 13k for all that fun....what vfm.

Decided to get the document that the bank sent me to fill out for my business account tax info. Unfortunately my Cockapoo puppy got there first… butter wouldn’t melt eh?

I've had a notification that my subscription ends on the 24th, and as we sold our Westy late last year and doubt we will have another anytime soon, we've decided to let the sub slip. Over the seven-odd years, it's been a pleasure getting to know the people we have met on runs, and chat with folks on the forum - it's a cracking club that has a winning formula.