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July 04 Roland Preece spotted at HarewoodWell we will be going to the Harewood event on the 5th August, which I can't wait for But Roland Preece, one of our class 5 regulars is on the front of their web site in his R400 taking a little excursion through the gravel, i think you can see his eyes just about shut at the time
Rob March 21 Lotus 7 Speed Series at Race RetroThere is going to be a stand with cars and club members at the RaceRetro event being held this weekend at Stoneliegh Park, Coventry. I will be manning the Lotus 7 Sprint Series stand on Sunday from 10am to 2 pm, so come along and say hello :) Race Retro is billed as Europe's premier winter show for historic motorsport. "A full weekend of interest and activities, where historic motorsport enthusiasts, competitors, event organisers and the supporting industry, can come together under one roof, in a relaxed atmosphere, to discuss their plans and promote their events and services. This pre-season gathering, at the end of the Winter break, is far away from the pressures of the racing season and allows time and space for all to enjoy this amazing sport in all its disciplines, which has grown so much since the 1980's. Newcomers to the sport will find all they need to get started, from advice to accessories. The event will showcase all historic disciplines and display racing, rallying, hillclimb, dragsters, trials and short circuit cars plus motorcycles, covering a period from the 1930's to the 1990's, currently in use for historic motorsport." There are 4 exhibition Halls based on themes Hall 1 - is the rally area, including some Group B cars :), plus engineering and accesories... Hall 2 - (where I will be) is the racing and speed hall, for event orgainsers and historic competition car manufacturers. Looking forward to having a wander around this hall and see cars such as the Westfield XI mentioned by Radio7 Hall 3 - motorcycles, with 100 years of the TT Hall 4 - Autojumble plus the 2 live arenas with auto-tests etc Might even go in the Caterham if it passes the MOT Friday, weather permitting... Might not take the credit card tho as it could take a beating if not careful... Rob :)
Technorati tags: RaceRetro March 06 Cadwell forms in the postSeason almost feels like it has started, first event form and cheque sent off for the Borough 19 sprint at Cadwell Park. Forms available online (word doc) Cadwell from the air It is a long way to go for an event but hopefully worth it and I will get a place. Rob :)
Technorati tags: Caterham, cadwell park March 02 Longcross no moreSo not really a surprise (SCMC have been saying it could be the last event at longrcoss for a number of years) but it appears there will be no more motosport at Longcross :( 'Please be advised that it is with regret that I have to advise you of the cancellation of the 2007 Chieftain and Scorpion Sprints at Longcross following the decision of QinetiQ Management to withdraw the venue from ALL motor sport use. This decision was confirmed this afternoon at a meeting between myself (as MSA Liaison Officer), Ian Davis (MSA) and the appropriate management at QinetiQ Farnborough. The withdrawal is also effective immediately for all remaining motor club bookings for rallies (Craven MC / Sutton & Cheam MC / Rally Britannia / Bexley LCC / Oxford MC) and Sprint bookings (London Irish MC). This situation is subject to an on-going discussion although it should be stressed that QinetiQ have stressed that they are unlikely to reverse their decision. Should there be any favourable development over the next few days then I will advise you accordingly. I would ask that any queries or communications regarding this matter are directed toward me in the first instance.Barry Guess MSA Liaison Officer' Being discussed on Blatchat and also Pistonheads Longcross from the air I have always enjoyed the challenge of longcross on the 4 times I have been there over the last couple of years, even though I have visited the scenery once :o and it is a pity that it seems highly unlikely that we will get to go back. It was local, long, fast and challenging and usually 3 timed runs where possible. A number of people queried the safety situation, but when you are sat on the start line safety doesn't seem to come into my head... On the good side it means some extra time to get the car prepped now before the cadwell event, which i hadn't really planned on doing....
Rob :( Technorati tags: longcross February 22 2007 regs onlineThe regulations for the Lotus 7 Club of GB Speed Championship 2007 have now been published (I should know I did it) There has been quite a few changes to class structures and scoring to make the championship be more attractive to new competitors :) So take a look and if you are interested drop me a line and I can supply more details Rob December 15 Lotus 7 Club speed championship -2007 Provisional calendar
a few new venues for us such as Llys y fran and Hethel (as part of the 50th anniversary of the lotus 7 celebrations...) Updated 02/03 due to cancellation of all motor sport at longcross Rob September 01 I was having a good dayat curbourgh last weekend until...
on my final run the inertia switch cut in, it was either off the rumble strips at the mole hill, or the corner after it, the inertia switch did its job as it cut the petrol, and I had to be towed back to the paddock.
Picture from Mr SA, more of his pictures at http://hotair.fastmail.co.uk/curbaug2006/
Rob April 25 Longross (Chieftan) results and reportLongcross - the first event of the year was on sunday, and I had a reasonable day...
3rd in class
5th out of all the lotus 7 speed championship contenders and 10th fastest out of 121 runners who made an official timed run which isn't too shabby..
Official report on the SCMc web site http://www.scmc.co.uk/Chieftain%2006/Chieftain_home.htm
Offical results http://www.scmc.co.uk/Chieftain%2006/Chieftain_home.htm
Woke earlyish and it was raining this didn't bode too well for the event, the forecast I had seen was dry for the morning and getting showery towards the afternoon.
Getting there was a doddle as it is only 30 minutes away and SCMC have a very efficient , noise testing, scrutineering and sign on procedure so that was a doddle...
There was the usual chit chat before the event, and as this was the first event of the year a chance to say hello to people not seen for a while. We all had a chance to walk the 'snake' in reverse, and then 2 sighting laps, this would be a good tester for the amount of grip or not there was going to be as it was continous rain/drizzle. the sighting laps also helped to remind me whihc way the course went,the only chnage being to the chicane area next tot he paddock whihc was a lot more open and one bend versus the two of the previous year. I follwed around a cerbera who was having fun getting the power down along most of the course.
First timed run was going to be a real eye opener to really test the grip levels, and how brave you felt like being. I was generally quite conservative on this run and posted a time of 2:17.10, to give you some idea my best time in the dry the year before was 2:00.70. Never really using the full power of all my upgrades over the winter, i was still quite happy with the time, the fresh acb10's where actually giving quite a lot of grip. I was 2s behind adrian and 1.2s ahead of david ( my main competition), unfortunatly another competitor dave McFarlane had a slight off and ripped an oil hose off and it was game over for him and a long trup back to West Yorkshire.
It didn't stop raining by the time the second run came along, but with knoweldge that there was good grip and the reminder of the first run I was able to imporve my time to 2:13.5, which I was quite pleased with until I found iut Adrian was nearly 4s faster and David was pretty much the same as me. Much muttering between David and myself ensued wondering where we would find 4s.
The first timed run came about after lunch and I really attacked the snake , and was braver around the banked sections and chicane and i put in a time of 2:08:79 I was very pleased with this as I had taken nearly 5s off and the conditions where pretty much the same. David put in an even better performance and was 0.39s ahead, whilst Adrian claimed to put a 'banker' in and was slower than both of us at 2:09.11
It was quite clear that there would be only 2 timed runs ( we had 3 last year), due to various delays with cars going off the circuit.
Feeling rather bouyed from my T1 times I resolved to see if I could go better, the conditions where getting better but the course was still wet with a fine drizle. Although I went well and improved my time slightly to 2:08.34 it wasn't nearly good enough, i hadn't attacked enough and been committed through the snake and both Adrian 2:05.78 and David 2:06.37 where way faster than me. I was reasonably pieved about this and got the car onto the trailer and packed up. There was then a long delay and cars where coming back from the holding area. Unfortunatlty there had been a rather large accident by one of our class runners and had gone into the trees at a very fast section, the resulting damage means a large bill. This put everythign in perspective and i was more than glad to be going home in one piece.
So I ended up 3rd and scored a miserly 18.03 points, hopefully this will be a dropped score at the end of the year and didn't seem much of a return for a hard days competition.
Roll on llandow on sunday, lets hope for dry conditions.
Many thanks to The Sutton and Cheam Motor Car club for hsoting the event
 Rob March 07 Longcross - got a placeJust yesterday I posted that I hoped that I would get a space at longcross
well overnight I got an email fromt he orgnaisers at the Sutton & Cheam MC, syaing that I did have
and also a list of current competitorsso that is good news, and I know I have to have everythign sorted by then
and a big thumbs up to SCMC for using email to communicate this type of information electronically
rob March 06 Harewoods a long way off but...Harewood and the Mike Wilson Memorial Meeting is a long way off 17th Spetember, and is our season finale (great place to have that if it stays dry), however the entry forms are already available here so if you want to get your place then you might as well enter...
Suspect will try and get mine in quite quickly
 thanks to the 'troublemaker' for pointing that one out to me
rob Longcross Entry FormsYikes the season is getting close
Entry forms for the first even at longcross the Chieftan Sprint are available, and if you want to get an entry the advise is do it ASAP as the event was over subscribed last year (170 + entries Vs 120 Places)
My form and Maestro card details where int he post box on Friday nioght, lets hope I get a place
rob Want to compete in your Caterham 7 or Lotus 7?Then you can't go much wrong with entering the Lotus 7 Club of GB speed series...
Interested then entry forms available here
for more information check out the speed series web site
rob
January 11 Lotus 7 Club Speed Series - Official Calendar PublishedThe official calendar for the Lotus 7 Club Speed Series for 2006 has been published
Lotus Seven Club Forums - 2006 Speed Championship
Sun 23 April – Longcross*
events with a * are ones I plan to do at this stage, although I would like to do all (well maybe not aintree...)
rob November 29 My first ever sprint - write upWay back in June 2002 I dd my very first ever competitive motorsport event and did the following write up for se7ens.net. That day I managed a best offical timed run of 54.62s,I have been back to MIRA 3 more times and have only managed to reduce my time by a little under 1.5s (pb now 53.18), and that with sticky compound tyres, reduced weight (of the car), adjustable suspension and alledgedly more expereince :o
At the weekend I competed in my first ever competitive motor sport event, a sprint being run by the Lotus 7 club at MIRA.
Last week was spent fretting over whether the car would conform to the regulations, and me as driver wouldn't make a total arse of myself. Ihave done numerous track days but was expecting a totally different experience to that, and I was not to be disappointed. The Friday night/evening was spent doing final last minute things and packed the car up for a very early start (5:45 am) for the drive up past Nuneaten.
On the drive up I had my first real bout of nerves, I kept asking myself what was I doing? Don't make a complete fool of yourself! Relax its your first time do not expect to come anywhere but last... The nerves cleared up and I pottered up the motorways and arrived just before 8 at the car park inside the MIRA gates. Chatted to a few friendly faces that I knew from trackdays and other events.
After a short time we where led in convoy onto the site and I found the correct place to park up , emptied the car, put on stickers , timing strut (after a mad panic when I had thought I had forgotten it!!), race suit etc. This was probably my first mistake, I should have signed on first as by the time I got there, there was a long queue. Not to worry I got chatting to other's in the queue and all where novices like me!
After signing on, it was onto scruitenering, and the queue for this was very long, but eventually it was my turn . I mentioned to the scrutineer that this was mine and the cars first ever sprint, so he kindly took a long time about telling me what he was looking/checking
for which was interesting. The car and I got a clean bill of health which was a relief.
All the cars had 1 convoy run around the course to get familiar with the layout which went something like this. Off the line and into a 180 degree long left hand bend, then a straight with a bend in, which was flat, through the speed trap, on the brakes for a tighish right, quick straight and then a tight left, straight again before a final left 180 degree and final blat to the line. The convoy went in a blur and to be honest I couldn't remember where the circuit went.
So it was a quick break, for a bacon buttie, cup of tea and toilet trip and then into the queue with the other class 3 runners. Sitting in the queue, all kitted up and the nerves came back a bit, and I just kept saying to myself do not worry, have fun, don't fall off and make yourself look like a fool. I could see the times of the other competitors and most where around the 60s - 65s mark, and at the time I said to myself that if I broke 60s by the end of the day I would be happy. I am not sure upon what facts I based this notional barrier but it seemed a good one.
The previous cars where all doing some tyre warming but when my time came I thought it would be best if I just rolled up to the line. As the start is on a slight down bit, the marshals pushed me up to the correct place between the timing beams and then held onto the roll bar. I was told when the light went green/go I could go at my own time.Sitting there felt like an eternity but was probably more like 20s, I could feel the nerves coming back, but I just tried to relax. The green light came up and forgetting everything about staying calm, I booted it straight away, massive wheel spin and sideways action, quick change to 2nd, more spin, starting to go around the corner, up to third, try and keep some sort of smooth line (but failing badly), then onto the straight, into fourth then break, I had forgotten that it was a flat corner and I was breaking for it, DOH! DOH! Back on the gas through the speed trap (at a very slow 87 mph I was later told), on the breaks down a gear, turn right, lots of grip , short straight, the braked hard for the tight left, quite a bit of under steer but held it together, round the last bend and across the line. 59.6 something, wow that felt good and I had already beaten my notional time. I knew I had cocked up at least 3 time (the start the straight and the tight left) so maybe there was more to come. Drove back to the pits, feeling on top of the world, switch off, out of the car and with a monster grin. Some of the more seasoned sprinters who Knew I was a novice came over and asked how it went which made me feel great. Checking the other practice times and I was either 2nd or 3rd in class, WOW! Although some 3s of the class leader
2nd practice, and I was more confident and relaxed heading for the start line, I had done a not to bad time, with a few mistakes and room for improvement. But most importantly I had fun, and was looking forward with excitement to the next practice. Sat on the line I just kept saying to myself don't wheel spin it too much, and do not break on the straight bits !! Green light shows and my note to myself not to floor it big time is forgotten, massive wheel spin and sideways action again, round the 180 degree corner a bit more ragged this time, onto the straight and this time I am flat through it, I am in 5th gear through the speed trap, but because I am so much faster I break conservatively early, quite smooth through the right hand corner. Brake a little later for the sharp left, still some understeer but not as much flat out down the straight, down a gear round the left hander , quick straight and across the line. 56.5 wow almost 3s of my time from the 1st practice. Back to the pits a very happy bunny.
After the practice I am notionally 2nd in class which is amazing to me however still some way off the class leader. Ok I know the car very well and is set up for how I like it on trackdays, but I was expecting to be nearer 2nd from bottom rather than the top of the 11 car class.
As the practice had been run through quickly we got a timed run in before lunch and 2 after it.
So to my first timed run, by now the nerves had gone totally, and I was having a really good time, but now it was for real. This time I was less brutal away from the line which helped reduce wheel spin and as a result I felt I took the first corner much more smoothly, which then helped me to relax and be smoother throughout the rest of the course. Over the line in 55.45, WOW another second of! After this run I was 3rd but only by 4 hundredths of a second to another novice in my class (Adrian Williams).
I was still over the moon, but now the competitive streak was setting in. I smelt the chance of some silverware either 2nd or 3rd would be great on my first trip, obviously 2nd would be best. But some of the rest of the class was close by and everyone was improving quickly.
By the time the 2nd run had started it was drizzling slightly, not too much to effect the grip, although try telling the brain that. I started cautiously around the first corner but the grip levels where still excellent, so started to push on, however coming around the tight left the back end stepped out and my track day brain of 'do the goon' popped up and I did a big sideways slide out of the corner. I knew I was loosing time and kicked myself for it, across the line fuming to a 56.00 dead. That gooning moment had probably cost me any chance of improving my time. Back to the pits annoyed at myself. Luckily none of the other front runners improved so I was till in third.
Onto the third run, and I knew if I wanted to get 2nd (first was out of reach) I had to concentrate and put in a good smooth run. I was ahead of Adrian in the queue as well so he would be able to see my time and know what to beat. The competitive streak was rearing its head again and the adrenalin was starting to flow as I moved up to the line. I
just tried to tell myself, keep it smooth, hang on to 3rd and do not through it away. Of the line no problems even waiting about 5s after the green light had shown, smoothly around the 180 degree long left, flat out down the straight through the speed trap (104 mph I was told), brake a little later around the corner up to the tight left, was slower into the corner but balanced the car so has not to get it sideways, Nailed it this time down the straight around the left flat on the straight. I was unsure as to the time, it felt quicker but would I have improved, up flashed 54.62 YEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHAAAA that felt good. I was hoping that would be good enough for 2nd and as it happened it was as Adrian was unable to improve on his first timed run time. The class leader was way out with a 53.28
So my first competitive outing and 2nd in class I was well chuffed I was so happy and proud with myself and got some congratulations, but before I could celebrate or pack up I was told that the top 2 in each class get to have a run off. The times wouldn't count towards anything but I got another go! This time full of confidence and also knowing it really didn't matter I managed to improve to 54.14 I think.
Packed car up and then onto the prize ceremony, where I was awarded a very nice silver plate which has already gone on the mantle piece. I have never won anything before like this so was a bit embarrassed but also proud to go and get it.
The drive to some friends in Tewksbury went in a blur as I recalled the days fun .
A big thanks go to all the organisers who made the day happy and to all the people I met on the day who gave me advice, banter and help, and also to the person who tried to run me over (you know who you are;-) ) The bug has really bitten and I have my next sprint at Llandow in 3 weeks time For best times for all competitors use this url http://www.lotus7club.co.uk/ck/20020622mira.htm rob IOM Manx Classic 2006 - maybe not this yearI said a while back Seriously considering this - IOM Manx Classic 2006
Well I was considering doing the IOM Manx Classic as mentioned before however not only did it meet with a distinctly luke warm reception from SWMBO, but also I have found out that it will clash with the opening round of the Lotus 7 Speed Championship at the Chieftan sprint at longcross on the 23rd of April
Longcross is my local venue being about 10 miles away so would be daft to miss that, no riduclous early mornign start or cold tent overnight for longcross for me....
rob
November 14 Seriously considering this - IOM Manx Classic 2006
Seriously considering this, will have to discuss SWMBO, but could be the basis of a nice family holiday and some fun for me at the same time
October 31 new venue rumoursQuote
October 22 Provisional Dates for curbugger next year sprints?
From Barabara Swift
"Provisional dates for club sprints at Curborough - Saturday 20th May & Sunday 27th August"
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