HSCC Championship Finals

[105 Mad]

Not the best days motorsport for me I'm afraid. Qualifying was a shocking display by me on how not to drive in the wet.

The race was on a drying track & I did have a great race with David Lloyd in his Mustang. I caught him under braking & drove around him at every corner only to see him powering past on every straight.

Only down side was yet more body damage, one of the Cortina's used me as his brakes & before anyone says anything he wasn't lapping me.

He was a quicker car but had stalled on the start line. He obviously had the pace on me so next time, rather than pushing me at Becketts, try out dragging me on the national straight.

[bigvalveelan]

Well I had a great fun day out.
I was in the ex Tony Broom / Geoffs Sizzey Turner in Historic Roadsports. Managed to qualify 3rd and then finished the race in 4th.

I was one of the few numpties to go into the gravel in qualifying (thanks to the Marshalls at Beckets out for getting me going again). In my defence I was having trouble getting into 3rd gear - I didnt realise that it was the gear lever that was cracked. It finally broke on the last corner of the race!

It was looking quite competitive with the leaders for a while, but I'm afraid there is a limit to what is possible with the 35 year old dampers. I suspect they went off about 30 years ago, but also they did get worse through the course of the race.

All of which bodes well - some new dampers, some experimentation with the settings and a weight loss programme (need to lose 75 kg off the car and about 7.5kg off the driver) will be good for a couple of seconds a lap which is what we need.

And that was on the Silverstone National circuit which really favours cars with power over the ones with corner speed.

If there are any pics of HRS car number 1 (not in the gravel) they'd be much appreciated.

Paul Tooms

[Nick JM]

Originally Posted by 105 mad

Only down side was yet more body damage, one of the Cortina's used me as his brakes & before anyone says anything he wasn't lapping me.

Sorry to hear that. My co driver (with many years experience of racing under his belt) drove my car in the Guards and had a similar experience when one of the "black things" (his words but I think he meant one of the black Chevrons or Ginettas!) appeared from no where on the main straight and created a gap between the 'B and another car by swiping the passenger door of the 'B. I am not casting any blame because I have not yet seen the GoPro footage but it is the second time my car has been battled scarred in the Guards and both times in a race where the grids are mixed.

I know its racing but, as a novice, can someone tell me please:

a) what the etiquette is after touching another racer's motor (i.e. is it considered polite to find out the chap in the pits and say something along the lines of "sorry but that's racing" or is it accepted practice to say nothing and bu**er off). BTW this is a genuine question from a puzzled novice - I know what I would like to think I would do (i.e. at least to say sorry) but is that considered wet? I mean the damage is not substantial but it is there and the driver must have felt it!

b) what is the rationale in having grids (like the Guards) where the difference in speed between cars is so great?

[Nick JM]

sorry chaps - the first line was a quote from "bigvalveelan" but the "quote" bit is missed off!

[Nick JM]

Sorry again - quote was "105 mad" !! pre lunch sugar deficiency!

[Marcus Mussa]

Originally Posted by bauble

For those fellow members who mentioned that they might like their picture took at Silverstone can find my efforts at rbmapics.com, I have put up everything that came out good bad and frankly awful, but it might be just what you want.

....Marcus who obligingly pulled off right next to me to ensure I did not miss him.

rbmapics.com - assortment - Ten Tenths HSCC.

Bob.

Thanks for the photos!
Just what I wanted...!
Marcus

[bigvalveelan]

It is tricky lapping cars with such big speed differences, but I think it is totally and absolutely unacceptable to make contact and then say nothing. It is the responsibility of the person doing the lapping to make a safe pass.

If it is a hard hit then I would have thought the race officials would be interested.

(I had my heart in my mouth when I went round the outside of a bright yellow Mustang at Luffield in my little Turner)

Paul

[grantp]

Originally Posted by bigvalveelan

(I had my heart in my mouth when I went round the outside of a bright yellow Mustang at Luffield in my little Turner)

Paul

I watched that (sorry, no pic but someone will have one) and wondered if you might be "invisible" but that particular car and driver, whenever I have seen them, always seems to be aware and playing fair. However the size and weight difference must certainly heighten one's awareness!

[one-two]

It's never nice to hear of contact, particularly when there is a feeling that it could have been avoided, but I'd be careful of generalising too readily from a small number of specific incidents. I did the very simple exercise of looking at the difference between the lap times of the first and last-placed cars in Saturday's races and there isn't anything particularly different about it in Guards. For what it's worth, it was slightly less than the gap in HRS and a lot less than the gap in FJ.

[Moosehead]

Huge speed differences should not be the cause behind contact as simply the faster cars should be able to overtake easier. Now if the difference in speed was very little then you could argue that getting past as backmarker was difficult - still no excuse for contact though.

[bauble]

Originally Posted by 105 Mad

Not the best days motorsport for me I'm afraid. Qualifying was a shocking display by me on how not to drive in the wet.

The race was on a drying track & I did have a great race with David Lloyd in his Mustang. I caught him under braking & drove around him at every corner only to see him powering past on every straight.

Only down side was yet more body damage, one of the Cortina's used me as his brakes & before anyone says anything he wasn't lapping me.

He was a quicker car but had stalled on the start line. He obviously had the pace on me so next time, rather than pushing me at Becketts, try out dragging me on the national straight.

Do take a look at www.rbmapics.com Assortment - HSCC Ten Tenths

Where there are a few shots of your great dice with the Mustang. Loved It!

[mark garritt]

Originally Posted by 105 Mad

Not the best days motorsport for me I'm afraid. Qualifying was a shocking display by me on how not to drive in the wet.

The race was on a drying track & I did have a great race with David Lloyd in his Mustang. I caught him under braking & drove around him at every corner only to see him powering past on every straight.

Only down side was yet more body damage, one of the Cortina's used me as his brakes & before anyone says anything he wasn't lapping me.

He was a quicker car but had stalled on the start line. He obviously had the pace on me so next time, rather than pushing me at Becketts, try out dragging me on the national straight.

It was unusually slippy even for a wet track. Allowing for the fact the track changes all of the time, it was wet at the finals last year and we managed 1.18 in the guards in an E vs 1.29 this year in the Mustang (32). I got quite embarrassed when I spun for about the 4th time at Becketts. It was like driving on ice, as soon as the back stepped out there was no holding it. I'm guessing you were driving an Alfa? I raced one with the series for quite a few years and it handled like it was on marbles in the wet. Les Ely's guys set it up for me and it transformed the car, he's got one guy who's excellent at doing this, just a thought for you.

[Nick JM]

I was in the HSR and Guards in the MGB - I am pleased I was not the only one who thought it was slippery. As a novice (first race in the wet) I though there was something wrong with the car - or me - Beckets in particular was especially slippery. Exiting I had some very sideways moments which must have at least amused the marshalls on the opposite post!

[grantp]

A few snaps from Silverstone's cheap seats.

The link should take you to a top level directory from which you can choose the whichever sub-directories are of interest.

A bit of a mixed bag and I somehow contrived to miss the FF1600's completely though I did see the second half of the race from the pit wall appreciating the benefits of Mr. Morgan's live timing feed!

http://www.scene-from-above.com/web/...?dir=33254&s=3


Some excellent races and a great day until I was drenched in the downpour right at the end.

[apriliadriver]

Grant,
Thanks for the pics - reminds me just how greasy it was out there and some great shots of the Camaro !
Nick

[grantp]

Originally Posted by apriliadriver

Grant,
Thanks for the pics - reminds me just how greasy it was out there and some great shots of the Camaro !
Nick

My pleasure Nick and thanks for the nice words.

I have to say it did seem especially slippery for most of the day judging by what one could see from the spectator areas.

In the HTC set you can find a series of shots of a Cortina that dabbled with the barriers and lost out in a big way. This was quite late in the day and the track seemed mostly dry, but a slight off-line moment (which I took little notice off since many were going there) turned into a full spin and a trip across the grass and more tarmac of the pit exit lane all of which, being wet, meant even less loss of momentum than usual. The speed by then seemed low so I thought there might be a light touch but nothing too spectacular - I was wrong though, sadly. Given the sun was out and it had been rain free for some time it was enlightening to see just how slippery 'dry' can be.

You have reminded me that I have a couple of shots of your garage in the paddock and a few other sundry shots that I'll gather together and add to the site. The Camaro makes a great subject.

[grantp]

Here we go.

One travelling garage and a couple of other random pics from the day.

Love the blue toolbox Nick. I have its twin in my garage. Sadly no Camaro to go with it.

So, Nick's Garage.

Jeff Bloxham - whose powers must be fading as nothing seemed to head his way at the time he was in sight .

Mid afternoon snacks ... no idea who the chap with the hat is. Mr. Rowley will probably know.

I briefly wondered if the chopper was Jonathan Palmer but soon spotted through the murk that there were not enough blades on the propeller.

[Alan Morgan]

Is the third picture HairyDJ?

[grantp]

Originally Posted by Alan Morgan

Is the third picture HairyDJ?

It's possible Alan. I seem to recall Iain enquiring at one of the BBQs so thought it best to leave ID to him.

[Chigley]

The third picture is in deed David Joyce or more commonly known as "Hairy DJ". A long standing and respected marshal who is a long time Silverstone stalwart and tenths member.

[grantp]

Originally Posted by Chigley

The third picture is in deed David Joyce or more commonly known as "Hairy DJ". A long standing and respected marshal who is a long time Silverstone stalwart and tenths member.

Well yes Ian, just so and that's what the name on the overalls says as well but even so ... I remember delta asking the question - much to DJ's amusement as I recall. So I thought an expert opinion would be worth having.

[HRSRWeb]

Hi Here is a link to the Historic Touring Cars (aka HRSR) race report and photos.
http://www.hrsr.co.uk/?page_id=2157

[bauble]

Originally Posted by Chigley

The third picture is in deed David Joyce or more commonly known as "Hairy DJ". A long standing and respected marshal who is a long time Silverstone stalwart and tenths member.

Voted Regional Marshal of the Year, at last night's AGM. Well done David.

PS; He did look posh in a collar and tie.

[apriliadriver]

Grant,
Ah ! the toolbox ! That's from Halfords circa 1966 and it's been racing with me since 1991. I once wrote an article just about the box, a paean of praise for its sturdy construction and almost infinite capacity. You can forget your wheely-bin Snap-On multi-storey productions. Racecars come and go, but as long as I can carry it, I am going racing.

Much to the relief of the neighbours, I took the Chev off to its winter quarters near Andover yesterday, via the VSCC Goodwood Sprint ... the weather was not kind in West Sussex yesterday.

Nick

[zefarelly]

I have a similar box, in black in the boot of the road Cortina . . . it has everything you need in it. I often wonder why I take a box I can barely lift with me to meetings. everything seems to have got so un necessarily complex and overblown in recent years.

7 P's springs to mind. . . . again.