Donington Historic Festival

[gary396]

Some from the Jaguar Classic Challenge which started off pretty wet, then eased off but ended up throwing it down!

[grantp]

Originally Posted by apriliadriver

Having been somewhat downbeat in an earlier post about the chances of two Alfas against a dozen-plus LCs in the Under Two-Litre Touring Car race, I am delighted to see that the Banks brothers won the U2TC race in their Alfa GTA, beating the 13 Cortinas still on the track.
Forza ! and well done !
Nick

A very quick GTA very well driven.

[gary396]

Few more from that race:

[gary396]

Some from the Stirling Moss Trophy race:

[gary396]

I haven't bothered with the Super Touring Car race, so some from the far more interesting "Mad Jack' race for pre-War cars which was bathed in late-afternoon sunshine:

[gary396]

And finally, the last race of the weekend was the HRDC 'Touring Greats" race for pre-60 Touring Cars.

[gary396]

Last batch from that (last) race - which started dry after the nice lady on the tannoy system mentioned that it wasn't due to rain again until after racing finished. She was wrong!

[Rudernst]

Originally Posted by zefarelly

Having had a good look at a lot of U2TC cars I would like to publicly say its a ****ing joke, as is a lot of the rest of it, I sat in a line of cars at scrutineering, an e type and a lister in front of me, both brand new cars with clueless custodians.

I'm seriously contemplating giving it all up. At the very least mothballing the Cortina.

Zef, I see where You are coming from.
for much the same reasons, i am looking more and more seriously at racing modern spec car such as Fun Cup, because there everybody basically has the same car

RE

[brands]

I love the shots in the wet from the top of Craners, Gary.
Makes standing out in that weather worthwhile.

[grantp]

Originally Posted by Rudernst

Zef, I see where You are coming from.
for much the same reasons, i am looking more and more seriously at racing modern spec car such as Fun Cup, because there everybody basically has the same car

RE

Buit would that really work for you Rudolf?

Surely you would miss Historic Club Racing at the most raw level on offer.

Example.

[zefarelly]

THat's not club racing

Its not so much sour grapes as a has not looking at the haves, but specifically (in sallons at least) people creating businesses on the success of cheating and being allowed to get away with it. Thereafter selling the idea to all the sheep out there who are desperate for a tin cup and ruining it for everyone else.

History is being rewritten, badly.

There are more genuine and correct cars gathering dust. mines now being added to that list.

[grantp]

Gentleman driver.

This, according to the maestro, is Iain's new favourite car. Driven in my photo by its owner - a chap who appreciates a good curry.

All is well with some parts of our world.

[gary396]

Originally Posted by brands

I love the shots in the wet from the top of Craners, Gary.
Makes standing out in that weather worthwhile.

Thanks. I don't mind the odd bit of wet weather - adds to the photos in some circumstances - and I was fully 'wet weather sealed' in my walking gear.

[grantp]

Originally Posted by gary396

Thanks. I don't mind the odd bit of wet weather - adds to the photos in some circumstances - and I was fully 'wet weather sealed' in my walking gear.

Certainly offers some special opportunities.

It's only when you remember that you didn't bother to adopt "full wets" just as things get too wet and too interesting to correct the anomaly that one questions the decision to, er, expose oneself. So to speak.

Well that and seeing the camera system dripping prodigious amounts of water.

Here's one from a dry moment.

[The1inOrange]

Originally Posted by grantp

E-Type was going well. Another driver who has not done Donington for a while.

The race was very wet at the start, mostly stopped raining in the middle section and then chucked it down at the end.

I was at Coppice and got completely soaked. Many people spinning putting the power down as they came out of the corner and decided they were on the straight. Several offs into the gravel. One great recovery when the driver managed to dig himself well in, although only just off the circuit, and somehow found a way to reverse out.

A lot of people had clearly had "incidents" and the last blast of rain produced a number of excursions.

At that point I gave up for the day as I had family visiting. Apparently there was about to be a track inspection due to concerns about the amount of standing water.

All well it seems as I could hear noises when I got home and then the sun came out which must have made a great ending for the remaining spectators.

I think the problem with the Monday the brands refer to was that is was somewhat sparsely attended. It seems that Mr and Mrs. Public had not been keen on the day at any point. The Paddock area behind the garages was distinctly empty as most of the races with garage allocation had finished on Sunday.

Most of the infield was accessible but apart from the car clubs (light attendance on Monday except for the BMWs who had a parade lap or two to enjoy) there was hardly anyone in it. To be fair given the wind strength I'm not surprised. The old tunnel at Coppice was open for pedestrians. The new tunnel open for cars.

Lots of flat caps and period dress in evidence amongst the older spectators and some of the teams which was nice to see.

I felt for Joe who seemed to qualify pretty well but then had some technical problems precluding further participation. I long way to go for 15mins of qualifying.

I think that was the first time ever that I have seen someone dig themselves into the gravel and then get back out of it. It saved me the job of having to snatch him out.

[grantp]

Understeer.

[zefarelly]

Originally Posted by grantp

Understeer.

I heard about the new 32mm ARB's on Sunday. Very special.

[Mike Bell]

As a matter of interest, none of the cars I looked at in the paddock had anything like that.....

Sorry to see that you didn't make the race Joe, after what looked a good qually. Car looked fantastic in the scrutineering queue, definitely my favourite Crustina!

[zefarelly]

Thanks Mike, I never really got going, gently warmed uo, bedded pads/discs, started getting a feel for new lsd/dampers and bang.

Still doing a post mortem, broken exhaust valve, trashed No1, but why???

block is scrap, head will repair, but a shame as its a new old stock casting, only one Ive ever seen. fingers crossed crank is ok.

[grantp]

Originally Posted by The1inOrange

I think that was the first time ever that I have seen someone dig themselves into the gravel and then get back out of it. It saved me the job of having to snatch him out.

Did we chat after the session?

Certainly a first for me, especially after he seemed to sink in about a half wheel depth on the fist attempt to recover.

Deserved some form of driver of the day award in my opinion.

[The1inOrange]

Originally Posted by grantp

Did we chat after the session?

Certainly a first for me, especially after he seemed to sink in about a half wheel depth on the fist attempt to recover.

Deserved some form of driver of the day award in my opinion.

That was one of my team you spoke to. I was clearing gravel off the track after the session.

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by zefarelly

Thanks Mike, I never really got going, gently warmed uo, bedded pads/discs, started getting a feel for new lsd/dampers and bang.

Still doing a post mortem, broken exhaust valve, trashed No1, but why???

block is scrap, head will repair, but a shame as its a new old stock casting, only one Ive ever seen. fingers crossed crank is ok.

Gutted for you Joe. Sometimes life is just not fair! Hope you haven't got a cat.

We've found out why we couldn't stop the Morgan- the rear shoes fell apart- again! Going to be a difficult one to solve, as the only linings that ever worked on the car (all races 1hr plus) are no longer available, due to some constituent in the material flouting H&S rules in the USA..... (No, not asbestos.)

[coppice]

I enjoyed Saturday in a clubbie sort of way but it still feels nothing like the Festival it is supposed to be. As last year, it is a weekend meeting stretched over three days . As for the 1000km 'race' , and entry of thirteen cars did not exactly get my pulse racing - I enjoyed watching the T70s' sight and sound for ten minutes and then the long drive home beckoned.

[zefarelly]

It didn't feel like a festival to me, just a clubbie with a load of artics-Awnings chaotically scattered around the paddock.

In reply to an earlier post re the XK Iain raced. There are some nice series around, Like U2TC was when it first started, it was a breath of fresh air after a season of red flagged races and crashed freshly imported v8's.

How long they last is another matter. 60's saloons are long gone, 70's have already bolted as the gates been left open. GT's the same. How long will the Fiscar type stuff last before people start extracting the urine and it gets spoilt ? 80's will be next . . . It seems only the unaffordable (for the vast majority) end of the market gets left untouched?

[delta]

You will bounce back Joe. Its in your blood just like the rest of us. Lost count the number of Sunday evening drives home I have had saying "that's it!!! I've had enough motor racing "