HSCC Autosport 3 Hours - Snetterton

[HFJ Drifter]

Excellent reports once again John and thanks for the photos.
I think I'm probably better known for my exploits in the pale blue Alexis Mk2 rather than the Gemini. Its usually Keith, my dad, who drives the Gemini.

Cheers

Stuart

[John Turner]

Sorry Stuart, senility setting in; got you to post though! Must come and introduce myself one day! (bad luck!). Anyway, tell us how the Alexis drives and how your race went.

[HFJ Drifter]

The Alexis Mk4 seems to drive pretty well, I'm only into my 5th race with it so I'm sure the car is alot faster than the driver at the moment. I spoke to John Ampt last year who raced the Mk4 in period and he told me it was a car that responded well to sliding and being driven on throttle which suits my driving style with some of the angles I get the Alexis Mk2 at.
Next race will be at Brands in a couple of weeks where we'll see if I can get the Mk4 through Paddock Hill bend as fast as I can the Mk2.

[John Turner]

Originally Posted by HFJ Drifter

a car that responded well to sliding and being driven on throttle which suits my driving style with some of the angles I get the Alexis Mk2 at.

Very true; loved watching that; great entertainment. Will you be driving the older car again sometime?

[John Turner]

Starters - 13
Classified - 11
Duration - 15 minutes

Disappointing field. It needed double this number particularly on this long track. Poleman Jamie Brashaw (32 - March 793) won this and although he was only 2.8 seconds ahead of Hugh Price (38 - Chevron B38) his best lap was so much quicker you'd have to say he was just controlling the race. 3rd was Geoff Hoodless (22 - March 803) and 5th was class B winner, Mike Jones in Brabham BT38C (33). Iain Rowley's race in the Oliroy C1 (23) lasted 3 laps:-

[HFJ Drifter]

Originally Posted by John Turner

Will you be driving the older car again sometime?

Yep at some point, just in the process of building an engine for it at the moment. The aim is for HSCC Oulton Gold Cup meeting.

[grantp]

A few pics from the FJs, race 1 .

1. The Deep Sanderson.

2. Brian Mitcham in the U2 leading a large group early in the race ...

3. ... with Robert Barrie in the middle of it in his Lotus.

4. Three wheeler practice in the Alexis.

5. Almost like an Autoroute. Jeremy Deeley's Cooper T52 in the foreground sporting and interesting silencer. There appeared to be a number of challenges at the noise test check on the day - even for some cars that had passed well enough the day on the test day or the previous day's noise check.

6. Alex Morton in the Ausper T3 had a battle with Charlie Butler-Henderson in what was, apparently, his first drive a Cooper (T56). Here CBH, who eventually got past the Ausper, seems to be taking an interesting line into Oggies, a corner that offered a number of challanges on day especially in the later rain.

[McMuttley]

Originally Posted by grantp

Historic FF1600 - Race 1

......It's quite remarkable how well presented the cars are. Is it my imagination or are they better presented than ever this year?
.....

Great Pics as usual GP.

In my case credit goes to Peter Alexander and his team who have not only mechanically restored the car into top condition (and done it again when they have pulled it back out of the fence!), but carried out a lot of research into the history of not just his own, but a wide range of FF's. We've spent many a night (not together I add) pouring over webistes in the US (even Brazil) to get background to the cars when they were racing in period.

In all historic series its great to see cars not simply raced, but restored and respected.

As for the helmet, nothing historic there, just helps the olde dear spot me from a distance!

Keep the pics coming (same to JT et al)

[grantp]

Originally Posted by McMuttley

Great Pics as usual GP.

In my case credit goes to Peter Alexander and his team who have not only mechanically restored the car into top condition (and done it again when they have pulled it back out of the fence!), but carried out a lot of research into the history of not just his own, but a wide range of FF's. We've spent many a night (not together I add) pouring over webistes in the US (even Brazil) to get background to the cars when they were racing in period.

In all historic series its great to see cars not simply raced, but restored and respected.

As for the helmet, nothing historic there, just helps the olde dear spot me from a distance!

Keep the pics coming (same to JT et al)

Thanks for the background McM. There's more to all this than people might imagine.

I have quite a few McMuttley shots but I'm still processing stuff through the day (trying to keep up with JT). I'll gather them together when complete and make them available.

[grantp]

Not much I can add to this except maybe a few shots of the regulars and a 'newbie'.


1. A novice arriving late for the collecting area and being delayed for a noise check. Good job he only had to drive about 10 metres to get there!

2. The Argo of David Clark seen in qualifying where he was 4th fastest. Sadly he only completed 1 full lap in the race and that was all for the day.

3. Jonathan Price in the ICL liveried March 793. Qualified 3rd.

4. Paul Dibden in his Argo. Paul is a stalwart of the series and has managed to appear at nearly all the rounds run over the years since he joined as far as I can recall.

5. Gareth Walters with his Palliser, another of the regulars and competing in the older 1600 class.

6. Mike Jones running in the 1600 class drove a very competitive race to take the class win and 5th overall.


ETA: I have just realised that my selections are all facing the same way - not very artistic. Hopefully the obviously erratic image size differences will make for some variety!

[John Turner]

Starters - 29
Classified - 27
Duration - 15 minutes

Sponsored by Bybox

Except that it was actually 10 minutes as it was redflagged! Anyway, a good turnout of cars, and I'll stretch this to two posts as well, although was struggling to find enough decent pics. The Tin tops usually provide great entertainment and the race for the lead was good dust up between the 3 Lotus Cortinas of Craig Dolby (30), Steve Shuttleworth (38) and Mark Jones (79) and they finished in that order covered by less than a second. Jones had brought his car up quickly from row 5 (problems in qualifying?) and given that his best race lap was 1.3 secs better than anyone else, I'm a little surprised that he wasn't able to establish a position at the head of the field, but maybe he just ran out of time! It's a shame that the lovely red Alfa Guilia Sprint (33) of James Fuller wasn't able to hold on to the LC trio but he nevertheless finished 4th. Andy Jones was clear Class E winner in his Singer Chamois (86) finishing 6th overall.

I note that Grant is providing captions to all his pics, something I used to do until about 2 years ago. I'm afraid I'm struggling with that level of commitment these days, so apologise:-

[John Turner]

More:-

[eveningladies]

Here's some in car footage of the battle for the lead in the HTC race:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxImLik0s38

and a few pics from the battle for the lead:

[grantp]

First HTC race.

JT has already reported on the race so I would normally add some sort of notes about the pics but I think in this case they are self explanatory. A few Tenthers in this set.

Nice to see an LC regularly lifting a front wheel as if in period.

[grantp]

It's often quite thought provoking to see how a small difference to something makes a huge difference to the outcome. Ths video of the Clio at Mallory for the recent Motors TV meeting that produced the red flag for the last race of the day for example. About 30 cms to the right or an absence of the last tyre on the tyre wall and the outcome could have been very different.

But things are as they are.

One consequence of being slightly off line in an App K mini - about a tyre width at a guess - must have put a lot of loading through the shell and suspension in this sequence.

[grantp]

Sometimes things get a bit warm.

[John Turner]

Great shots, there Grant.

I have also made two amendments to my report of the saloons courtesy of Simon Benoy who kindly contacted me to draw them to my attention. I do worry about myself sometimes - unable to read even the typed word!

[John Turner]

Starters - 19
Classified - 16
Duration - 15 minutes

Supported by Cubicle Centre; the field didn't even manage the first lap before the Safety car was brought out, due, I believe, to a coming together between Lincoln Small and Stuart Tizzard. Antony Ross (5 - Lotus 59) had briefly led but retired after 2 laps leaving Ian Gray (1 - Brabham BT16) assume his usual position to win this albeit very short race (2 laps after the SC pulled in) with Richard Kendle (30 - BT21B) and Tim Kary (60 - BT28) 2nd and 3rd respectively. I'm afraid what you see here is pretty much the sum total of the surviving pics of a very shabby lot I took of this race:-

[John Turner]

Starters - 17
Classified - 14
Duration - 15 minutes

In fact this race lasted 11 minutes, although I cannot remember why. Russell Love won this comfortably by over 15 seconds in his Reynard SF79, although I wonder what the result would have been had Nelson Rowe not started from the back in his SF79 (87). Rowe finished second and appears in the 3rd pic below attempting to make it 3 abreast through Murray's although he wisely backed out of it. Colin Wright (75 - SF79) was 3rd. Pics 4 & 5 show the two invitation Formula Supervees of Jon Randall (47 - Lola) who finished and Charles Merrill (97 - Royale RP9) who didn't. The final pic shows Stuart Olley (51 - Delta T79) taking to the grass to avoid the spinning SF78 of Jan Langdon:-

[Mike Bell]

[QUOTE=John Turner;2902753]
The final pic shows Stuart Olley (51 - Delta T79) taking to the grass /QUOTE]

By the looks of it you are using the word 'grass' figuratively John!

Although my favourite single seaters are the liitle F3s and FJs the FF2000s have a lot going for them- enough to make me start talking to certain people.

Interestingly they seem to roll a bit in corners or is that an illusion caused by the wide noses? Maybe the grip afforded by slicks makes a difference as well!

[Peter Mallett]

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

Interestingly they seem to roll a bit in corners or is that an illusion caused by the wide noses? Maybe the grip afforded by slicks makes a difference as well!

Don't forget they have a heavy old lump of an engine in the back, which may well be the cause of all that rolling. Reminiscent of the F5000s compared to contemporary F1 cars. The weight of all that metal made them "interesting" to watch in corners. I recall Allard at Thruxton providing a particularly good example of the dynamics of those cars.

[SAMD]

[QUOTE=Mike Bell;2902797]

Originally Posted by John Turner

The final pic shows Stuart Olley (51 - Delta T79) taking to the grass /QUOTE]

By the looks of it you are using the word 'grass' figuratively John!

Although my favourite single seaters are the liitle F3s and FJs the FF2000s have a lot going for them- enough to make me start talking to certain people.

Interestingly they seem to roll a bit in corners or is that an illusion caused by the wide noses? Maybe the grip afforded by slicks makes a difference as well!

Apparently there is a noticable difference in body roll when driving a 'modern' single seater compared to the older ones.

[grantp]

I managed to miss the Classic Racing Cars races whilst involved with other things. Did get a few in qualifying though.

[grantp]

HFF2000 Race 2.

As JT mentioned the race was red flagged early after an incident involving car 43 - Jan Langdon. I think the car must have had handling problems since it seemed to be pirouetting nearly every time I saw it. Only had one timed lap in HFF2000 qualifying so it was out in the CF3 session as well with much the same results but obviously managed to complete the required 3 laps. It managed to complete race 1 though not without incident as I recall.

It was a shame the race ended early because whilst most were out on wet tyres a couple of the runners (at least) were out on slicks and making good progress after the first two or three laps.

John Hayes-Harlow had made it to third as the flags came out but dropped back to 4th under red flag rules about which lap was to be used to declare a result.

Having observed that, the drive of the race had to be that from Nelson Rowe. Starting from the back after some sort of problem in the first race he really did storm through to second whilst conversely Simon Toyne, who finished second in race 1 running strongly throughout, seemed to have problems in race 2 that restricted him to a mid-field finish.

I think the weather stayed changeable enough that the slicks vs. tiring wets competition could have been very interesting for a further 2 laps that race would probably have run.

Another good win for Russell Love. It would have been interesting to see Olly Thorpe out there as well but he was not able to take the start.

[John Turner]

Starters - 24
Classified - 23
Duration 15 minutes.

This time Ben Mitchell made a poor start and it took him over half the race to catch and overcome Ian Ashley (62 - Lola T200) to take 2nd place, by which time Benn Simms (5) was long gone and went onto win by nearly 22 seconds in the Alexis Mk14. I earlier mentioned the Cooper Chinook (18) of Stuart Dix and he had certainly found some pace for this second race, having started from the back and overtaken half the field (see pic 2) before pulling into the pits after 4 laps, sadly to retire. I hope Dick Dixon (27 - Lotus 61) will forgive me for showing him about to have a 'grassy' moment before he went onto finish 16th, whilst 38 is the Kvantti Mk1 of Pertii Kiiveri who finished 6th:-