HRDC Donnington Allstars

[Nick JM]

Surprisingly (unless I am really blind and stupid - always a possibility) I cannot see any thread on this - is anyone going?

[terence]

What?

[gary396]

Didn't know anything about it myself but it's mentioned on the HRDC calendar and on Donington's site under the umbrella of 'Superstars, GT Sprint & Auto GT Championships' (whatever they are?):

August 31st & September 1st
What to expect...the track action will start at 9am on Saturday and 9.05am on Sunday and you can look forward to a full days entertainment from:

• Superstars International Series
• GT Sprint International Series
• Auto GP Championship
• Scottish Legends Cars Championship
• CNC Heads Sports/Saloons Championship
• HRDC Allstars Championship

[AGD A105/6]

There is indeed an HRDC Allstars race on Sunday 1st September, alas without my participation. Expect a varied grid - 35 entries at present - of 50s and 60s saloons, and 60s sports cars including MGB50 entrants.

[Nick JM]

hoping to get there in the 'B but have not driven GP circuit before - only driven the main circuit on a test day - any pointers?

[terence]

Hey Nick,the GP circuit is two straight sections connected by a long hairpin basicly. Easy enough just a little annoying,all the "Loop" does is ad a little more distance,three extra corners with their braking points,all very easy.Enjoy.

[Nick JM]

thanks Terry - will let you know!

[morninggents]

I don't think the loop adds anything - other than length - and spoils a good circuit. Main features are that the braking section to the hairpin is downhill and the corner behind the pits leading back on to the club circuit is uphill and quite wide and difficult to 'sight' in my experience.

[Lancsbreaker]

Only time I've raced the Melbourne Loop I enjoyed it as the braking for the hairpin gave a good outbraking opportunity......although the exit from the hairpin gave a good showboating "hang the tail out" opportunity Not the quickest approach!

[Nick JM]

Only my fifth ever race and nearly 18 months since I was in the car so to be honest I have no illusions as to where I will be on the grid!. Just aim to enjoy it, learn from it and keep out of everyone's way - hopefully the sun will have his hat on too so should be a great day out.

Thanks Iain & co for getting the motor ready, hope

[Greem]

To those of you who raced or prepped cars for this one: thanks from all the marshals that were there. To see such a massively eclectic selection of cars racing hard, but most certainly fair, was one of the highlights of the weekend. I was on post 39, on the exit of the Goddard's hairpin; a lot of drivers seemed to be showboating round there at times although I think it was more that they were pushing hard and trying not to take a bite of the right side kerbing!

It's a shame the Mustang lost a wheel at Redgate, I hope there's not too much damage.

[Nick JM]

Really great event - i was there in the green/black MGB and had a wonderful race. Had a good battle with other rookies at the back and made up 9 places and a 4th in class - i have to say I was delighted.

The loop certainly makes it entertaining - rejoining the main circuit after the loop is a really weird opposite camber type corner which must have provided fun for the marshalls in the opposite post!

what happened at the loop near to where you were before practice? There were warnings for slippery surface and everyone was ultra cautious.

Not sure how the Mustang faired but the nearside looked quite bad - hope he can get it back togtehr again soon.

Thank you to all the marshalls and all the positive comments which filtered down to us afterwards. Sounds as though you enjoyed it as much as we did

[Greem]

Originally Posted by Nick JM

The loop certainly makes it entertaining - rejoining the main circuit after the loop is a really weird opposite camber type corner which must have provided fun for the marshalls in the opposite post!

what happened at the loop near to where you were before practice? There were warnings for slippery surface and everyone was ultra cautious.

I was at the other end, where you rejoined the start/finish straight - and you're right, we were entertained. I seem to recall you almost getting on the grass a few times, actually, but just feathering the throttle enough to keep the oversteer down - nicely done!

The surface flags out for your practice were caused by the entire contents of a V8 engine's sump blurting out round the hairpin - one of the Superstars cars pulled off, but not before oiling most of the loop from post 27 round to the exit and causing 6 or 7 cars to spin or go off under braking. Luckily they all recovered, but it did swap the positions around from 2 to 6 (the leader got away lightly).

[Nick JM]

Thanks for the compliment - however it was pure fluke as I have not driven it before and experimented quite a bit before deciding that without an expert to guide me there was no way I was going to figure out the best approach and line on my own!

[apriliadriver]

A mate and I spectated on Sunday to watch the HRDC AllStars : my main interest was to see how heroic Tony Murray went in my old Alfa 2600 coupe which he has lavished much development on; and Justin Murphy, fresh from a race-win at HSCC Gold Cup last w/end at Oulton. An entertaining race and both of them did well, with Justin coming in 4th after the TV Griffith, Cobra and Mustang - not bad for a 1500cc Ginetta G4 running to standard HSCC technical rules.

This was a mainly moderns meeting - a Russian won the s/str Formula Beria Democracy cup (I think I just made that up...) but when did you last hear the Russian National Anthem played over the Paddock p.a. ? Must have had Kevin's crew scurrying for an old wax 78rpm somewhere.

There was other stuff like a sort-of DTM Junior race and a Legends event ... I can't ever recall seeing a race-car on the track with a giant teddy bear lodged in the glass-free rear window. Fireproof, of course ?

The serious point is that it shows the perils of running in isolation from other classics ... when the AllStars gridded up, the crowd at Redgate melted away. I think Dave and I doubled the number of spectators there. Julius Thurgood puts on a good show and the entrants love him, but there's a divide between those interested in historics and those who came to watch moderns. A bit sad, really.
Nick

[Nick JM]

The G4 was incredible - came by me as if i was not moving...which I gues in an mgb it probably would look like!

Shame if the crowds disappeared around Redgate but there were plenty around the loop - probably because you can get closer to the action - and also roound by the old hairpin.

You are right bout the national anthem though

[zefarelly]

I donated my race entry to Justin ( he made a video for our band. so I owed him)
timing was all wrong and I have/had too many other things going on.
really pleased he made it, and did so well with Dunlops when the cars set up for modern Yokis. (why the HSCC persist with that and some of their other ****witted regs/series is beyond me, but I'm a minority I know)

re All tarts . . . JT does a great job, but this year has been damage limitation after last years flakey attendances and over opportunistic 'series' no idea what happens next year, but I'm thinking of a year off.

[Nick JM]

I am not sure why there was an iffy attendance last year - come to that what, in your opinion, fellow forum observers, constitutes a race series and what sets it apart from others of the same ilk?

[zefarelly]

There are lots of good series, but TC 63 failed and it was the only really good place for a Cortina GT to race with comparable cars.

I'm building a GT car which is far more appropriate for HRDC and many other things, but I can't do both at the same time, asides which the Cortina is looking a little tired after ten years racing and it could do with its shell restoring after 50 years or it'll fall apart.

[morninggents]

Originally Posted by Nick JM

I am not sure why there was an iffy attendance last year - come to that what, in your opinion, fellow forum observers, constitutes a race series and what sets it apart from others of the same ilk?

Quality of circuits/events and the 'Club' aspect which keeps entry fees to a minimum. It's why HSCC is so successful.

[morninggents]

Are there any results posted for this event?

[Nick JM]

I will see if I can scan in the results sheet. easy by email but perhaps not so on here for a luddite like me

[Nick JM]

Originally Posted by morninggents

Quality of circuits/events and the 'Club' aspect which keeps entry fees to a minimum. It's why HSCC is so successful.

The E Type Serie had this too...but bludgeoning costs is slowly killing it. I heard a rumour of engine rebuilds at approaching 6 figures. That cannot be conducive to club racing at any level

[morninggents]

The E Type series is a bit of a special case as it was promoted to celebrate 50 years of Es in 2011, probably only as a one season series but as it was popular in that year it was kept on for two more seasons but with diminishing numbers as the novelty of the anniversary wore off.

If rebuild costs are at the figure Nick has quoted I can only think there is a lot of component recasting going on which begs the question of how closely they follow the original. Ridiculous!

[terence]

Well,you have the five litre conversion to think of first