https://www.mgcc.co.uk/pbic/

MGCC MG Cup

So, you want to come racing?

There is no better place to start in the clubs most diverse championship the MG Cup!

2019 will be the 31^st year of the MG Cup which was set up by club racers for club racers offering value and close racing, this ethos has stayed with the championship and today MG Cup is proud to offer such a diverse grip of MG / Rover cars to one of the most established club racing championships in the UK.

With a simple class structure for standard, modified and full race cars and clear regulations designed to keep costs to a minimum, the series is suitable for both novice and experienced drivers.  No other championship offers close regulations enabling RWD/FWD/NASP/TURBO cars to race competitively within 100th of a second of each other.

Open to MG Midgets, MGA, MGB, MGC, MGBV8, MG Metro, MG Maestro, MGF, MGTF, MGZR, MGZS, MG3, Rover Metro GTi and Rover Tomcat Turbo’s

So, what are you waiting for come and join the grid in 2019!

The MG Cup is a true celebration all MG Rover production cars.  Offering some of the best, close, competitive and clean racing in the UK.  It is truly the only one make club championship, offering high quality close racing with high driving standards.

2019 will see the championship race at

• Silverstone National
• Brands Hatch
• Silverstone Historic GP
• Donington Park
• Oulton Park
• Snettertron 200

The championship is based on 6 double header races with 10 rounds counting from 12 rounds racing at some of the UK finest circuits organised by the MG Car Club.

2018 saw the championship secured by Darren Harris in his Class A ZR 160 race car.  Any car from any class can win the MG Cup.

Would you company like exposure at MG Car club race meetings then look no further?

The MG Cup welcomes race sponsorship for each of its rounds offering great exposure to the MG market place and fellow petrol heads.   For more information please contact the club for details

For more information please visit the championship website www.mgcup.com

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Of the twenty cars initially signed up to race on the excellentSnetterton 300 circuit 19 made it to the track, well I say that but Peter Burchills ZS did have to be brought in by the Twigger Rescue Service asunfortunately Petes tow vehicle broke down on the way to the circuit. You havemy sympathies Peter as this is exactly what happened to me prior to the Silverstone GP event earlier this year with Steve Tyler helping to recover mycars!

Qualifying.

 So on bright and sunny Saturday the 19 went out to get to gripswith a fun mix of high speed and handling tarmac. Chris Whitewicks MGF onlylasted one lap. His hope of the piglets keeping up service on the vehicle whilst he was away from the farm had not been realised and a rear wheel bearingdisintegrated. Clearly as Jon Harker was missing Chris has decided to takeup his position with the earliest exit possible.

Next to go was Iain Dowlers ZR170 asit sadly developed an electrical fault on the second lap and had tobe towed back in. At the top end of the lap times the cheeky chappyRichard Buckley set the fastest qualifying time of 2:19:421 in his Rover 220 Turbo and then in order to ensure no one would beat it decided to do a Schumacher and block the track to get the session red flagged, however this wasn’t a tap into a barrier but a ‘gentle’ roll at Nelson cornerprior to the bomb hole. A bit of a waste and a lot of work for Mr Buckley whotook it really well and I hear that it has spurned some letter writing to getthe sausage kerb removed as corner cutting can be controlled by camerasnowadays. Second and third on the grid were taken by the Metro 190s of MikeWilliams and outgoing champion Alan Brooke. There was a reasonably good spreadof times and class overlaps between A,B & C with the back of the grid’highlighted’ by the day-glow orange ZS 180 of Nigel Bayston in his first everrace.

Race 1.

The planned race start of the first double header before lunch wasdelayed as the Morgan race had laid down a lot of oil around Coram and sometime was given for the cement dust to soak it up. This was a good decision inmy view as we found out an hour later that the effects had been effectively reduced by the time we went back to try again. This gave Iain Dowlers team somemore time to try and find the electrical gremlin but it still eluded them at13:00

Still sunny, but now missing a Tomcat, ZR170 and MGF the race got started shortly after 1:10pm. I got a good start in my ZR170 and could see I needed to try to keep up with Peter Burchills ZS180 as Dan Jones, my main competition in class B, got back to grips with his car after some time off. Initially he dropped away but I could see he was learning and as Peter fed me various camouflaging materials from the track, grass, dirt, gravel and cement dust, Dan loomed in the rear view mirror. Directly in front Peter was having fun with the other class C cars and eventually the bunching allowed Dan to get past at one point. In my attempt to get back I out braked myself at the end of the Bentley straight and had to go down the escape road. This only allowed that group with Dan in to pull away to a point I could not recover with him taking the class B win.

Elsewhere Alan Brookes Metro 190 had a throttle issue and retired on lap 4 the same lap as Kayleighs Tomcat and Mike Williams Metro 190 exited on lap 6.

This left Peter Burchills class C ZS180 battling with Matt Simpsons Tomcat, Matt took the win by one second. The quick learningDan Jones’ class B ZR170 only one more second behind in third overall.

Further down the order 2018 class A and overall champion Darren Harris’ class A ZR160 was looking to clean up whatever else he could and hetook the class A win shaving 0.25s off the lap record.

Steve Tyler was much happier now he had replaced the two part piston in No4 cylinder earlier in the week but must have over achieved with the rebuild of Aaron Ross’s carbon copy ‘British Legends’ ZR160 as Aaron lapped 1.5s quicker than Steve taking 2^nd in class A. Dale Reet split the two of them taking the third class A spot and collecting one of MGCC’s heavyweight glass awards.

Nigel Bayston brought home the dayglow Orange ZS to complete his first ever race with Rod Oakenfulls MGB some way ahead.

Race 2.

A slightly delayed 2^nd race around 16:30 still wasn’t enough time for the Dowler ZR170’s electrical issues to be resolved so 16 cars again gridded up in yet more bright sunshine… yes, really no wind or rain.

Hoping to improve my performance and not make any errors in race two I put some new tyres on thinking this might be what I needed to hold off Dan Jones. My good start was immediately stifled as Dave Nixon missed 2^nd gear and I had to lift off in a hurry, not darting left or right as it would have caused a startline shunt in the traffic. Safe, but this allowed Dan Jones ZR170 to go straight round the outside and I had all the work to do to try and vie for the class B win. This all turned out to be a bit hopeless as Dan turned up the wick and drove a couple of seconds a lap quicker than me taking the lap record in class B by 0.8s, the win, driver of the race, and I was informed on Monday, driver of the day (award in the post). I did try but only succeeded in making my wife laugh and my son cry as I had a huge 70mph slide through Nelson corner in the infield falling back further.

Meanwhile the whole class C crew seemed to be having a very interesting day with some good mixed racing. Alan Brooke had screwed his Metro 190 throttle cable back on and he nibbled 0.7s off the lap record he set last year taking second overall behind Matt Simpsons Tomcat. Peter Burchills ZS180 continued to be reliable and clocked up a third in class C only 0.2s behind Brooke with Dave Nixons Tomcat in fourth after he remembered how to use the gear lever.

In the midfield again Darren Harris took the class A win and further improved the class lap record taking it down to 2:23.970. Kayleigh Twiggers Tomcat chased him in two seconds behind at the flag.

Next it was Aaron Ross ZR160 again for 2^nd in class A but this time Steve Tyler drove a bit quicker to take the 3^rd in class with Dale Reet a little behind in 11^th overall.

Previous MG Cup regular Dave Strike was driving his spare MGB race car in both races, really in preparation for the BCV8 this coming weekend on the same Snett 300 layout. He said he was lonely but Ginny will no doubt sort that out.

Unfortunately Craig Baystons dayglow ZS did not finish the second race as neither did Mike Williams’ Metro 190. The power both eluding the engine and the starter motor as it seemed to need to be pushed around a lot.

Alan Jacksons ZR175 converted rally car running Vauxhall stickers, five spoke staralloys and looking a bit like an Astra completed both races in class I. The remaining MGB regular Rod Oakenfull closed out the finishers.

For all the lap time information you can as usual visit the TSL website here: https://www.tsl-timing.com/event/183953

For Dickon Siddalls photography of the event please see https://www.dsdigital.co.uk/motorsport-photographs-2018/gallery304/ If you have a look around this site you can find all our previous races this year and more, maybe even purchase one of his excellent shots.

Ian Boulton made a guest appearance at the circuit, not competing as his car still needing work after the unfortunate Oulton incident and possibly remembering last years exploits at Snetterton in the cool temperatures where his cars ‘heating system’ was somewhat excessive.

Thank you for everyone attending the end of day awards, they were again the usual cheery affair hosted by Mark Baulch.

Darren Harris served up some lovely chilli and butter chicken dishes in the after raceget together where we debated the day and racing subjects. Thank you for that.

I hope the Dowler car was fixed eventually as they were still working on it as the sun went down!

Please look out for the final paperwork from Kevin Hewer for the 17^th November awards party. We have a swing and pop singer booked this year which should be entertaining.

When I may have any programme offer from MGCC for next year I will distribute it for discussion but as you know we have proposed many ideas for improvement. What the MGCC race sub committee for 2019 want to do has not been clearly stated to us to date and without the strategy the committee can’t negotiate with any potential sponsors or form a plan.

Have a good weekend.

Many thanks,

Nick Arden on behalf MG Cup.

Oulton Park 2018, Race Report.

Well, the weather held off in the end as the drivers of the Peter Best MG Cup headed up to the Frozen North of the country to the picturesque Oulton Park race circuit.

Many of the racers had arrived on the Friday evening in preparation for the Saturday race day, some had even come up on the Thursday so they could make use of the test day being run on Friday. One of these was Class A ZR man Darren Harris, some say he has no hair to aid his slipstream, others say his right foot is too heavy and he keeps burning out clutches! After the last session of the day he had burnt off the last of the material on the clutch and handed the car to his slightly snarly chief mechanic Stuart to fix. Which obviously was a good move considering what was to come.

Kayleigh Twigger was again making good progress during her test sessions as was Hannah Brian who had been testing on the Tuesday, good job really as the drive hub and shaft on her Metro decided it had had enough and spat out all it’s bearings, just giving enough free time to source new parts and have them fitted (by me!) in readiness for Race Day.

We were very nearly up to 17 entered drivers as the morning of race day arrived. But behold, Jon Harker had yet another nightmare befall him and he was on his way home before the qually session had even started. Jon has entered every race this year but has been inundated with issues from his not so trusty MGTF LE500, we can only wish him luck in completing a race at Snetterton…

So, 16 racers went out onto the track in cool conditions for the first session of the day. Matt Simpson in the Miami Blue Tomcat was the best of the bunch and posted a time that was a mere 2 tenths quicker than the ZS of Mr P Burchill, who has suddenly found great pace at his (nearly) local circuit. Quickest Class B driver was Ian Boulton who was well and truly up there and mixing it with the Class C cars and the fastest Class A driver was Darren Harris.

Mike Williams in his 190 Metro came into the pits after just one lap complaining of something rolling round his feet and under his pedals…. Once his fuel filler cap had been found and placed back on the tank he was back on his merry way, only to return to pits yet again with the rear righthand wheel coming adrift from the hub. Back out for a third time he went, but was soon to return to the pits after Mike realised that if he started from the back of the grid again he would have much more fun come race time.

Many of the drivers must have been listening to the whimsical excuses from Nick Arden and were also complaining of not being able to get heat into their tyres.

Race 1.

The temperatures had risen and the day had become muggy as the lights went out for the first time of the day. The first into Old Hall bend was Matt Simpson, but Demon starter Mike Williams who had started from the back of the grid passed 7 cars before the first corner and was on a mission. The Metro of Alan Brooke had chased Matt’s Tomcat into turn 1 closely followed by the guest car of Stuart Tranter who had the Black Tomcat of Buckley right behind him, they were both through and underneath Pete Burchill hanging him out to dry on the outside.

After a very leary moment on the way into Cascades Mike and his Metro set about going through the field like the hot knife through butter (etc etc) and by lap 2 was up to 8th and by lap 6 was 3rd and chasing the duelling duo of Buckley and Simpson. 

For a while it seemed like he might just be able to get up to the front two but a quick fix on his exhaust after qually had finally let go and he was black flagged by race control and was forced to pit and end his race. 

A fine battle was unfolding further back between Ian Boulton, Pete Burchill, and Oulton Park MG Cup race sponsor, (many thanks to Expert Beauty!) Dave Thomson who were all having much fun fighting over 3rd place.

Matt Simpson was just about able to hold off the hard charging Rich Buckley in the Black Tomcat (black cars are usually faster anyway..) but luck was on Rich’s side during race one as the fuel pump on Matt’s car unbeknown to him was about to pack up & on the last lap of all things, and he slipped to finish second overall. Third overall went to the fastest Class B car out there of Ian Boulton. 2017 Champion Alan Brooke was also unable to finish the race as the rapid metro had a lifter let go and that was his racing done for the day.

Well done to Class C & Race winner Rich Buckley! Class B winner Ian Boulton, and Class A winner Darren Harris.

Race 2.

The MG Cup may have been the last race of the day on the timetable, but as they say the best is always left till last!

Pole position was held by Matt Simpson for the second race in a row, but this was not to last as the issue he had with the fuel pump at the end of race ! was about to bite him in the behind, and was to finally let go straight after the start. 

All of the luck on the other hand was gifted to Mad Metro Mike as he assumed his preferred last spot on the grid, and launched himself to 2nd overall by turn 2! Passing 14 cars in the process, and thankfully the footage from his onboard camera as slightly blurred, I can only assume so was Mike’s vision for lap one as well.

All of a sudden the mirrors of Buckley’s Tomcat were very full of the raging Metro and there was very little that could be done to prevent an inevitable pass into the lead. But in the mean time there was enough time for Mike to make an off track excursion at great pace through Cascades, but only to re-join still in second and not having lost too much ground, after gathering up what were left of his thoughts, the Mighty Metro set up a pass into Druids and some very gentlemanly racing room was given by the Tomcat’s driver and Mike slid into top spot.

By lap 5 there was still only about a second between the leading pair as Buckley was not letting Williams get away from him.

The battle for 3rd place overall was becoming an epic 7 car fight with Tranter, Thompson, Nixon, Boulton, Arden, Harris & Burchill all lapping at very similar times and all only covered by a few seconds.  

This was proving to be the dice of the day as they all went at it hammer and tongs for 5 laps, that was until lap 6 when at Island bend, a very quick 100mph near flat out left hander, the cars of Nixon and Boulton had an unavoidable coming together whilst trying miss another driver who was having a moment of his own. The ZR and the Tomcat were skittled across the grass and ended up against the barriers at the Shell Oils hairpin. Both drivers emerged from their cars shaken but not stirred. 

With all the shenanigans at Island Bend going on this put a large gap between Nick Arden and Kayleigh Twigger and Stuart Tranter had re-joined behind them both. Stuart soon got past the other Tomcat and once past he tried to pull away, but Kayleigh used this opportunity to learn some better racing lines and was soon lapping faster and hanging onto the coat-tails of the Yellow Peril Tomcat.

This was to be the finishing order of an event filled Race 2, and once back in the Paddock everyone was able to assess both the damage and the triumphs of their race day.

Darren Harris was awarded not only Driver of the Race for Race 2, but also Driver of the Day. To top off the day he also managed to break the MG Cup lap record for Oulton Park which was previously held by James Walpole since 2013.

Both Dave Nixon and Ian Boulton were checked over in the Med Centre and after some sore hands and necks for the following few days, both are looking to re build their cars very soon.

We hope to see them both out racing as soon as they are able.

So, there is one last piece of news…….

***The Champion for 2018 is Darren Harris !!***

It is now mathematically impossible for anyone else to catch him up in the title race and so the Class A, and Overall Championship accolades go to him. 

With less than 4 weeks to go until the Snetterton 300 Showdown races in the east of England, we hope to see as many of the racers and supporters there.

See you at Snetterton everyone !!.

Kevin Hewer,

MG Cup.

Congratulations to all our winners in 2018

A great seasons racing was had in 2018 with our thanks to all of the committee for organising great racing and entertaining end of season celebration.  A few sore heads but its rude not to celebrate in style…

With 4 rounds left its all to play for….

Race 2 report by Ian Boulton

So as the grid assembled for race 2 we were unfortunately two drivers short.

Jonathan Harker had once again suffered with his LE500 season long brake issues and he didn’t feel comfortable driving the car.
David Thompson’s rental car was still in the garage with the mechanics trying their best to fix the problem.
So the slightly reduced grid of 19 PBIC cars and 14 Metro Cup cars took to the track.
Class C
Richard Buckley had recovered from his last minute, 4 lap, super dash qualifying and took up P2 on the grid next to Peter Burchill who had managed to grab pole position away from the Tomcats. Matt Simpson was on row 2 in his super shiny Tomcat, on row 4 there was the hyper dayglow orange dream machine of Craig Bayston.  A little further down the grid on row 7 was Kayleigh Twigger, feeling more confident racing in her back garden. Dave Nixon was parked right behind her and keen to get going, after months off racing following engine issues. Mike Willliams knew that his rocket powered Metro did not actually need to qualify so he took up his position on the back of the grid, surrounded by old friends from the Metro Cup and ready to embark on his burn from the stern. As the lights went out Mr Buckley shot forward, Mr Burchill went backwards and Mr Simpson joined Mr Buckley at the front as they turned into Redgate. They were probably both surprised to find the 1.4 litre Metro of Jack Ashton was keen to take them on for the race lead. After a super start Richard Buckley was not to see another car again until he started lapping Metros on lap 8 and would continue to lead the race all the way to the chequered flag for a convincing win. Peter Burchill was keen to recover from his poor start and slipped back in front of Matt Simpson under braking into the old hair pin. Matt Simpson was still fighting hard but now with the Metro of Jack Ashton. At the other end of the grid Mike Williams had passed 5 cars before Redgate, passed Kayleigh Twigger by the old hairpin and had overtaken 18 cars by the end of the first lap! He passed Dave Nixon going into Redgate on lap 3 to get up to P5 in class. A lap later he repeated the move on Craig Bayston  for P4, on lap 5 he passed Iain Dowler and Matt Simpson and on lap 6 he found that Ian Boulton was only too keen to surrender P3 (for some reason) and he let him through. He then continued to chase Peter Burchill for P2 and eventually went down the outside of Peter approaching Redgate putting him both P2 in class and overall.  Peter put in a sterling effort chasing after the Metro and attempting to not break at all for the chicane. On the final lap Peter suddenly remember that he was now writing the race report so he turned left rather than right at then chicane leaving Ian Boulton 3^rd place and the race report to write. Class C finished Buckley P1, Williams a very hard earned P2, Burchill 3^rd in class. Craig Bayston finished an impressive 4^th in class having got in front of Matt Simpson on lap 10, Craig also took a second and a half of his best qualifying lap time. 5^th in class was Dave Nixon who had negotiated his way past Kayleigh Twigger and Simpson, in his first completed race since Snetterton last season. Despite power issues costing Matt Simpson about 2 seconds a lap, from lap 9 onwards he managed to finished 6^th in class after a long race being swamped by Metros. Kayleigh Twigger finished 7^th and had run a great race despite a little spin exiting Redgate on lap 13. Kayleigh was clearly getting more confident in her car as she also managed to shave over two seconds off her qualifying lap time taking her into the 1:26 zone.

Class B welcomed Shaun Holmes who had purchased beautiful blue ZR to have a go at front wheel drive racing, starting on row twelve amongst the Metros. Iain Dowler was also back with a vengeance after half a season absence and was starting on row three, Ian Boulton lined up behind him in his ZR. James Darby, who holds the class B lap record at Donington, started on row 6 in his MGB alongside the gleaming ZR of Nick Arden. As the lights went out the Dowler’s ZR was struggling to get into gear and anchored behind Burchill’s ZS that was also struggling to move. Boulton drifted past Dowler into the class lead. Back on row 6 Arden had made a better start than Darby and was up to P3 in class. Dowler was hot on Boulton’s tail for the first two laps leaving Boulton little choice but to get in front of the speedy Tomcat of Matt Simpson. Boulton closed his eyes and slung his ZR round the outside of Simpson round the Craners and then managed to keep the tomcat behind for long enough to put a cushion between himself and Iain Dowler. Dowler continued to push hard and chase after the Metros and Matt Simpson. This tenacity was rewarded the black and white flag with a 5 second penalty for racing class C cars too hard. Having an equally impressive battle further down class B were the MGB of Mr Darby and the ZR of Mr Arden. The two were never more than 2.5 seconds apart, Nick managed to hold James off until lap 5 when the two cars were side by side though the Schwantz curve and McLeans. Mr Darby edged ahead as the two turned into Coppice and took P3 in class. The race for P3 was not over and went right down to the wire with the two cars finishing 0.4 seconds apart! Shaun Holmes was enjoying racing with the Metros he also improved his best qualifying lap time by 2 seconds. Class B finished Boulton P1, Dowler P2, Darby P3, Arden P4 and Holmes P5.

Class A had 6 contestants, Hannah Brian was out for her first drive of the season with her Metro gleaming with its new bum and feeling comfortably at home with all the other Metros (4 of whom she had out qualified). Dale Reet was also out for his first race in his equally shiny 160ZR. Hannah made the better of the starts and led Dale for the first three laps. Dale managed to get ahead of Hannah and also managed to reduce his best qualifying lap time by 3.5 seconds. At the other end of class, Darren Harris led Steve Tyler off the lights with Stuart Emmett taking up P3 in class, Steve was hot on Darren’s tail for all of lap 1 until the two were briefly split by the rocket powered Mr Williams making his way through from the rear. The top three stayed in that order for the race although they had some fun with a few Metros on their way to the flag. Rod Oakenfull was in P4 in class and had a great race with the Metros. He also managed to reduce his best qualifying lap time by 2 seconds during the race.

The only DNF was Chris Hughes the sole runner in the invitational class, in his beautifully prepared 1.6 litre Rover 100 which completed 13 of the 14 laps and produced some impressive lap times.

It was another weekend of rapid repairs and some very close racing but all went home without any major damage and most with big smiles from a great days racing on our hottest race day of the year so far.

 

Race Report by Mike Williams – After the Silverstone issues, I had used up all my spare R65 gearbox parts (Metro Gearbox). I decided to go the R65 route for this season as the sheer amount of spares I had made more economical sense back in March when I started to build the car for the MG Cup.

Four months later, it was time to try the PG1 gearbox. For the sake of my wallet, not to mention my sanity.

An evening’s testing at Donington a few weeks ago showed that after 2 hours of track time, the gearbox was still working fine. That was actually more track time than I had managed in all the races and qualifying so far this season with three R65 gearboxes! Bring on the race!

During the testing, I noticed the brakes had started to fade and upon checking them at home, I noticed I had taken the pads almost down to the metal and there was a small leak on the rear cylinder. I replaced all that I needed to and whilst I was at it, I decided to do the “almost bi-monthly” rear wheel bearing change that the poor Metro requires. “Best safe than sorry” I thought!

 

Qualifying: A new gearbox in the car so what could possibly go wrong? I got out near the front of the near 40 car line up so some clear track time was almost guaranteed. The first lap was about warming up the tyres as per normal and this went as planned as well as getting a few cars that were in front, behind me for a clearer track. The second lap was about putting my foot down and starting the timed laps. Through Redgate, still in 4^th I was motoring towards Craner curves. Craner is flat out in 5^th in the Metro, a little lift to negate any power on understeer but the car is on the limit of grip at what I can only guess is 105 to 110mph? Unfortunately on this occasion, I had approached a slower car still warming up so rather than be an idiot and squeeze past them, I lifted and cruised down craners and most likely did 30mph slower.

Taking the apex on the left of the curves, I heard the most horrific squeal from the car. Whilst trying to approach the old hairpin and the back end of the car wanting to overtake me on the right, all sorts of “what the hell” thoughts were going through my mind. I couldn’t brake for the old hairpin as the rear was still fighting me but I needed to take the corner regardless. So, the only thoughts were to turn in and see what happens.

As expected, the rear of the car was now trying to overtake me on the left hand side, only this time, it was winning. So, full opposite lock to and full right foot ensued. Somehow, I managed to keep the car pointing in the right direction as well as keeping 2 of the wheels on the circuit.

Had this been lap 3 or later, I’d have squeezed past the car still warming up, and I’d have been travelling 30mph or so faster when all this happened. Lucky boy! And thanks, whoever you were, warming your tyres.

The live facebook live video captured the whole episode and one comment made by a viewer captured my feelings of what happened perfectly. It said, “You’re gonna need a shovel after that!”. I couldn’t explain it better myself!

You can find the live facebook feed on the MG Cup Forum. The incident happens around 6m 50s.

This is the rear tyre after the incident:

The shovel was a good idea!!! I’d gone through all the tread, through the canvas, through the next layer of rubber and also through the metal plys. Not sure how much there was left to go through!!!

Race 1:

Starting at the back is always fun, but how much progress can you make when you are 33^rd on the grid at a Circuit like Donington? My thoughts of making a half decent finish were to push the car 110%. Sod tyre management, sod caution, go flat out from the start with the only reservation being not to hurt anyone else!

The detail is a blur to be honest, but I have the TSL live timing in my car so I used this as a gauge of how hard I needed to keep pushing.

I had a great start as seeing the lights from the back is almost impossible but I could see them through someone elses screen when most likely most others around me could not. I had managed to pass 7 or 8 cars before taking two wheels only the grass on the right, avoiding a collision of course! J

Redgate was jammed so it was a case of running in line with everyone else but I had managed to pass 12 cars by this point. I kept my patience as we came out of Redgate and buried the right foot lifting only once to avoid a car before the old hairpin. I had managed to pass another 5 or so cars before braking for the old hairpin but I had to brake late to make the move which resulted in the rear trying to overtake me.

By the end of lap 1 I had managed to pass another 3 cars and the TSL screen showed me I was up to 12^th position and only 6.5 seconds behind the leader.

Second time around Redgate, I had to take to the outside line as a Metro had spun in front sending cars scattering in all directions but I kept it on the black stuff, I kept it buried until the old hairpin again.

By the end of lap 2, I was up to 6^th position, but I was now over 7 seconds behind the leader. I needed to push harder.

I was up 4^th as we ended lap 3 and the gap to the front had come down to 6.5 seconds again so I kept pushing 110% hoping I could catch the leaders. I was spurred on somewhat now as I could clearly see them in front of me on the straights.

It took another 2 laps to get to 3^rd as the cars I was chasing were being piloted very well. By the end of lap 5 I was less than 4 seconds off the leader (Richard) and Peter was practically right in front of me now.

Lap 6 was now about getting past Peter but where I had been lapping in the 1m 24s previously, my lap times were now in the 1m 26s and I could feel the front tyres were noticeably poor on grip. I was taking corners in 3^rd where I had previously done so in 4^th so I decided to let the tyres cool for a few laps and then make my attack.

As much as I waited and took a little bit of time with the tyres, they did not seem to be coming back to life and the laps were now passing without making any progress on the front two. By the end of lap 8, I was back down to just 4 seconds off the lead with Peter right in front of me again. The tyres had not come back to life, but it was now or never with only 5 or so laps remaining. If I could make a second a lap like earlier, then I would have a whole lap to fight for the lead? Or so I thought….

 

As I approached Goddards at 120mph, I braked as I had previously only to find the front tyres locking. I nursed the speed down but it was still far too fast to negotiate the car between the sausage kerbs of Goddards and emerge with the wheels pointing in the same directions as they had been pointing prior to entering the corner. I opted to miss the corner and take 2 wheels onto the tarmac and 2 wheels onto the gravel just behind the corner but crossing the line confirmed what I already knew. I was now 9 seconds behind the leader and the only thing my 100% effort would now yield was the possibility of losing 3^rd place, possibly worse if I had hit the kerbs at Goddards.

It was just a case of getting the car back in the position I was in, and enjoying what I remembered of the 20 minute blur that had just occurred.

 

Having looked at my front tyres after the race, the Goddards incident was most likely a blessing in disguise. The tyres had delaminated and I had lost possibly 25% of the tyres surface area. No amount of nursing these tyres was going to bring them back but had I pushed further, I could have possibly lost them altogether.

A big thanks to everyone who raced and made that one of the most fun races I’d had for some time.

Pitures by Flying Tigers Photography (thanks Peter)  link to photos  – https://www.facebook.com/pg/flyingtigersphotography/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1775158629239970   please ask photographers permission before using.

 

 

 

After 6 rounds and the halfway point of the season it looks like class A or B front runners have a point advantage….   all to play for in the 2nd half of the season….  I am sure the class C drivers will be doing what they can to close the gap….