BARC Westfield racing championship

[Keith Scarfe]

The Latest race in the series was at Cadwell on Sunday 26th May.

I had a very good day qualifying on pole and winning the race. I also posted fastest lap which was a new lap record (1:38.95). I am now leading the championship.

For more info check out my report on the web site:

www.scarferacing.co.uk

[Keith Scarfe]

Here is the reoprt by Brian Small:

Round Three was at a cool and intermittently wet Cadwell. Qualifying saw

Championship leaders Keith Scarfe on pole and Bill Lancashire third split by

Chris Hazell all inside the previous year's lap record in spite of a still

partially damp track. They were closely followed by Quentin Laithwaite

continuing his improved performance in the new season.

In the race itself Keith Scarfe dominated winning by 7 seconds from

Lancashire and setting a new lap record at 1.38.95. Ben Wheeler, Stewart

Linn and Stephen Hall were third, fourth and fifth, all being previous race

winners. Chris Hazell disappointingly spun and retired at Charlies 2 on the

first lap.

Brian Small

Westfield Drivers' Association

[Mark Stanton]

Keith

Glad to hear the BARC Series is still going strong - Must try and get along to watch sometime - whats the turn-out and support like  

Good Luck for 2002      

[ian crocker]

Well done Keith.

Ian

[Keith Scarfe]

Hello Everyone.

The latest race in the championship was at Croft at the weekend. All didn't quite go as planned. Here are some notes for those interested:

Qualifying on the Saturday went quite well. I had changed a few things on the car: new brakes from EBC and new tyres from ACE tyres, so had to allow these to bed in for a couple of laps before going for a quick time. I also had to remember the track, as I had not been here since last year. My best time was pretty good at about 0.5 seconds slower than my existing lap record. This was not quite good enough however because Stuart Linn was slightly faster and he was on pole with me in second and my main championship rival Bill Lancashire in third on the next row back.

Initially the race went very well. Stuart Linn did not make the start as he had family commitments, so I had the front row all to myself. I made a good start and got in to the lead with Bill right behind. I managed to hold the lead well being nice and consistent and being able to keep a good gap back to Bill for the whole race right up to the last lap - or rather what I thought was the last lap. Just as the Formula One guys always say, Motor racing is a team event and everyone in the team plays a part in the race. This time, for a change, it was not the driver who made a mistake, the pit crew indicating the 'laps to go' got it wrong and showed me the last lap one lap too early. Having crossed the finish line on what I thought was the last lap and conformably in the lead I eased off the power expecting to slow down. There was however still one lap to go and Bill behind in second closed right in and by the time I had realised what was happening he got past and into the lead. I tried to get back but there was no way in the remaining time.

Oh well it was a lesson learned the hard way for everyone. A bit embarrassing for us all but these things happen in motor racing and I should still be pleased with second place and fastest lap. I still have a good lead in the championship and we will have to make sure this silly mistake doesn't happen again especially in front of our home supports at the next race at Silverstone.

Result : 2nd + fastest lap.

Championship position : 1st.

Next round is at our home circuit Silverstone  on Saturday 24th August.

[John Loudon - Sponsorship Liaison]

Well done Keith. 2nd is better than nothing and at least you are still winning the championship. Better luck next time out.

John

[Keith Scarfe]

Hi all.

Just a quick note to say I have updated my web site with the last couple of race reports: Croix and Croft.

I have also put a scan of the timetable for Silverstone on there if you fancy coming along to watch.

Let me know if you need any more information regarding the Silverstone race. I am expecting a lot of people there watching as it is the local race. Should be fun.

Best regards.

Keith.

[Fast Westie]

Congratulations Keith, you are obviously a much better driver than me, I managed a 62.5 second lap on slicks with 195 bhp  

[Keith Scarfe]

Cheers Fast Westie. That must be croix you are referring to (as I haven't done the croft ones yet). When were you there then? What did you think of the place? I thought is was ok but a bit mickey mouse. I prefer driving fast circuits like Oulton but seeing as I was nearly a second faster than anyone else, I must be ok at these little twisty circuits.

You will have to look out for the TV program on Discovery with us on it should be funny.

[Fast Westie]

Keith

I used to live in France, hence it was my local circuit. I find going under the bridge scary since it is so bumpy on the exit which tends to throw my car around alot. It was quite scary in the wet when I was on slicks - lap times dropped to 1:20 in the pouring rain!!

Found the circuit quite underdeveloped which was a shame. Very hard on the car, both brakes and engine since there are straights punctuated by tight corners.

In the old days they used to run touring cars there and some F1 teams tested there before Monaco because of the slow corners.

[Keith Scarfe]

For those interested, here is my report from the latest race in the BARC Westfield sports car championship which was at Silverstone on Saturday 24th August:

With Silverstone being my local race circuit, there were lots of supporters along both from the Milton Keynes area and further afield, to watch the race. This was great but only made me more nervous.

Qualifying went well. I got out in a bunch of cars of similar speed and passing was difficult, but once passed, had a good run, with one particular good lap. I got the fastest lap and hence pole position for the race but felt the car wasn't handling as well as it could, but I had to be satisfied as I had the pole position.

The race can only be described as the best yet, both for me as a driver and for the spectators to watch. I got a good start and was into the lead, but the next two, Bill Lancashire and Ben Wheeler were right there with me. These two then began fighting for second which gave me a bit of a gap, but by lap 5 they had caught back up to me. Then in one lap I was passed by both and was down to 3rd. I fought back and got back into the lead in a single pass going into the left hander at Brooklands. I held the lead right up to the last lap when Ben got a great run on me through Copse and passed me going into Maggots. I stuck with him right up to the finish and I got a much better run out of the final corner Luffield. I drew along side and we crossed the finish line exactly side by side. It was so close even Ben and myself didn't know who won until we completed the slowing down lap. The result was given to Ben by 5 thousandths of a second which at a speed of 110mph is just 25 centimetres or 10 inches.

Even though I didn't win, I was still very happy with the result, as Bill Lancashire, my main championship rival, spun on the last lap and finished a relatively poor 5th. This means I only need one more decent result, finishing no more than one place behind Bill in any of the remaining 3 races, to clinch the championship.

Result : 2nd.

Championship position : 1st.

Next round is at Snetterton on Sunday 8th September.

[Keith Scarfe]

Here is my report on the latest round of the BARC Westfield Sports car racing championship, which was at Snetterton on Sunday 8th September.

The weather forecast for Sunday was for rain and it was correct. It was wet for both qualifying and the race.

I don't particularly like the wet, but am ok, if anything too cautious, not taking too many risks. This is obviously not the way to win in the wet, but at this stage in the season I went into this race knowing I only need one good finish out of the 3 remaining races to win the championship. Qualifying showed this. I went as fast as I dared in the conditions and posted a time to give me 5th place on the grid, not great but not too bad. My main championship rival Bill Lancashire was in second place so not too far away.

In the race my main tactic was not to actually win the race but to stick with the leading bunch of 5 or so cars and in particular to finish one place behind or even better to beat Bill. If I did this I was pretty much confirmed championship winner.  Just before the race started the rain stopped but the track was still very wet. It was a 50:50 choice whether to go for wet or dry tyres. I decided to go with the wets (the safe bet) but Bill took a gamble and went for the dry tyres. Most others went for the wets. Off the start line I got a good start but where those in front of me made poor starts I had no way past and had to slow and settle for my original 5 place. Over the next few laps I made up one place and was challenging the poll sitter, Chris Hazell, for third place when he lost control directly in front of me on the very fast Riches corner. As I was so close to him I had to take avoiding action which in the wet is extremely difficult. I had to go round the outside of him which is always very dodgy and indeed we made contact. It wasn't too bad, only body work damage and we could both continue. I had however lost 2 places and was again back to 5th spot. I managed to fight my way back up to the leaders and at one point got into second and was challenging for the lead. Bill Lancashire made a mistake by braking too late into one of the corners, which let the leading cars through, me included. He was down to 4th, with me in 3rd. My aim for the rest of the race was to keep it this way. I was able defend this place well to the end. On the final corner I got a great run on the second place man and drew along side going over the finish line and just like Silverstone it was almost a dead heat, but for second this time. Ben Wheeler took the win by just one second, Stuart Linn was second with me in third by just 15 thousandths of a second and Bill in Fourth.

That was just the result I needed I didn't need to win the race, only to finish one place behind or better than Bill to pretty much guarantee the championship, which I did. Now, in the final 2 races of the season, I only need to enter and take part, not even score any points, in order to win it again for this year and thus retain my title.

Result : 3rd.

Championship position : 1st.

Next round is at Mallory Park on Sunday 29th September.

[starter]

Great result Keith,

Wish I could have stayed on to watch on Sunday but the family beckoned. Weather sounds worse than the Saturday where we were qualifying in the wet but the race was dry. What sort of lap times were you posting?

MikeW

[Keith Scarfe]

Hi Mike.

Yes I had a great race. Didn't win but it was very close with some proper wheel to wheel racing. Excellent fun even in the wet. Our times are 1:33 in the wet and probably about 1:20 in the dry. We haven't had a dry race there for 2 years now so I am only guessing the dry time.

Cheers.

Keith.

[jhawkins]

Keith, I didn't realise that this result meant you had won the championship.

Congratulations, see you at Mallory....hopefully in the dry!

Regards

Jonathan