2CV 24 Hours

[rdjones]

I see that it is the 2CV 24 Hours at Snetterton this weekend at present the top 10 looks like this:-

1 - 2CV
2 - 2CV
3 - 2CV
4 - 2CV
5 - 2CV
6 - 2CV
7 - 2CV
8 - 2CV
9 - 2CV
10 - 2CV

I'll update the top 10 later..........

[G Halls]

lol
Am going over later to watch for a giggle

[rdjones]

Quick update it is still 2CV's filing the first 10 places ! ! !

[redshoes]

And your point is ?

[graeme]

Any news - I can't get the MST website to show any results (assuming they are timing...?)

[redshoes]

Dead End Racing blitzed everyone. 740 laps, nearest challenger was 17 laps down. They were I believe the only team not to change an engine. There were loads of blown engines, with most fingers being pointed at the new camshafts being used this year.

Team Stinky, featuring Christine (who posts here as Stinky), brother Neil and our Chris Y finished 12th.

[redshoes]

Try http://www.mst-group.co.uk/result.as...snetterton.gif

[graeme]

Ta - it's working okay now - maybe they were uploading results earlier. Seems the new camshaft has made the cars more unreliable and, looking at best laps, made a greater difference from the front to the back of the grid!!!

[Chris Y]

Not quite so.. It's a long story (and my arms are way to tired to type - just got back!) but basically there were a few less experienced drivers/teams this year, the weather was not quite so good, and the uncertainty of the camshafts meant that a lot of people were conserving revs on their engines. For our part, we were capable of running in the very low 1:50s, and into the 49s in qualifying, but we changed to a 'safe' engine for the race, which decided to blow up anyway ( ) and after that we were very careful with it.

We're still not sure what the problem is/was, but the camshafts (all ground by Kent Cams by the way - not an amateur effort) have been in use all this season, and not really thrown up a problem until Snett. The really confusing thing is that all the blown engines broke in exactly the same way - offside inlet valve breaking off and destroying piston and most of the rest of the engine. Lots of teams had displays of broken engine(s) at the back of the garages this weekend!

[redshoes]

Odd that it's all the same cylinder than went. Wonder if it's an effect of a circuit with mostly right hand bends.

Either way, when valve meets piston there can be only one result. As Chris says, this was a common sight by Sun afternoon.

[Alan Green]

Well done Dead End racing, Gadget (Stancombe), Stinky and all the teams involved. 24 hours of super entertainment, much dicing and action, and all round fun. This is what we go marshalling for, not corporate advertising hoardings following each other for 20 minutes.

Thanks to all involved on track from all the marshals.
Al.

[Adam43]

Well done Chris, sounds fun. If you hear of any spaces free for next year...

Did you have fun. How close were the runners near you? Which stints did you do and how long were they?

That is odd about the engine, but very intriguing...

[Alan Green]

Adam,
The Jag might look out of place on the grid

[Suzy]

And, in return, thanks to all the marshals too. You worked long hours over that weekend in some dreadful conditions as well as all through the night... and were still smiling at the end of it!

[Chris Y]

Yes, BIG thanks to the marshals - hope we were able to make the racing entertaining enough to reward your efforts!, and I should really thank all the other people that are involved in organising this sort of event - the organisers, the stewards, the timekeepers (thanks for sorting the transponders!), everyone else who made it happen, and to all the spectators who braved the uncertain weather to cheer us all round. Well done to all

Some damn good pictures here, courtesy of Gforce Images: http://www.gforceimages.co.uk/galler...?exhibition=44

[snetmarshal]

Just to sayanother top race weekend. Weather not a match for last year, but entertaining for 24 hours. 12 - 4 AM at Bombhole, was pure entertainment, watching these "nutters exiting the esses on various lines and then trying to see how many cars could get through bombhole together. One example, when we arrived for this shift, we were greeted with a 16 car train!! later on I swear they were trying to get 5 cars wide heading to bombhole! Brilliant fun, racing and great atmo. PLease comeback next year, If i could only do one meeting a year, would be this one. Congrats to everyon e involved

[Kicking-back]

Anyone know if any of the shows like "Motor Sports World" on Sky will have a feature on this?

[MightyMiniMan]

They gave it a brief mention and showed some footage on Speed Sunday on ITV on Sunday.

[Chris Y]

Welcome to the forum MightyMiniMan

snetmarshal - it's really great to see such depth of feeling for the 24hour race - these last two years have been very difficult for it... Without going into too much detail, last year was the 'big move' from Mondello to Snetterton, and we had the timing system fail. This year there's been a bit of a stink about the 'control' camshafts (possibly) causing inlet valve failure on several engines.

In order to make the meeting profitable this year, it was deemed necessary to have 40 cars on the grid, and a month before the race, it looked like there would be 41, however a few teams dropped out before sending in the entry fees. There were various reasons for this; some drivers couldn't raise the money, some may not have had the time to organise a team, and some probably struggled with preparing their cars. Also, there was a 10th anniversary celebration for one of the teams, and a few of the drivers in that team would normally have run another car.

Anyway, there has been doubt cast over the 2005 race, quite simply because the race is held at Snetterton, which is an MSV circuit, and Dr. Jonathan Palmer has stated quite clearly that events held at his circuits must make a profit. To really assure the future of the race, we needed to get 40 cars on the grid this year, and that didn't quite materialise (there were 32), but we hope that the event's popularity with the drivers, spectators, marshals, commentators, officials and stewards, will mean the event does not die out.

If any of you had a look at the snet24 site before the race, you may have seen that the entry list was filled with people wanting a seat for the race, and there was plenty of cars that were not used. Additionally there were quite a lot of mechanics and team members sat on the sidelines. In short, there was the potential there for a 46 car grid I believe - the maximum permissable at Snetterton by the MSA. If everyone plans carefully for next year, the event could be made a massive success. I'd certainly like to be a part of that.

Sadly, what we may be lacking next year is an organiser.. Martin Harrold has been involved for a number of years in the commercial side of the race, but over the last couple of years has taken control over the bulk of the organisation, and has done a fantastic job - it's not an easy thing to organise a 24 hour car race - the only one in the UK, and can be quite a thankless task, particularly if the event does not run smoothly. However, Martin has decided to step down from organising the next one, but I'm sure everyone would like to thank him for his efforts thus far - thanks Martin!

[MattyR]

I'd just like to add thanks to everyone involved in the organisation and running of the race. We had a great time - our engine was pretty slow but lasted the duration of the race so our enforced 'tortoise and hare' strategy worked a treat. Our fastest lap in the race was 23rd and yet we finished 6th.

On the more general subject of races having to make a profit, is there any reason why some of the financial risk of putting on any race should not be passed on to us competitors? This year's entry fee for the 24 hour race was £1275. Why could the fee not have been, say, £1,700 but on the proviso that teams would receive start money on a sliding scale based on the number of entrants? 30 x £1,700 would have broken even. If we had ended up with 40 entries everyone could have received back £425 start money and a break-even position would still have been achieved. The prospect of the start money would certainly be an incentive for teams to encourage and help with getting other cars on to the grid. It's just an idea and I'm not fully convinced by it myself yet - I'm sure there would be a danger of setting the initial fee too high and so still getting too few entries - but if it could make the difference between the race actually happening or not then it may be worth considering?

[Asp]

A big well done and thanks to everyone over the 24 hours - I had a great time marshalling: a pack of about 10 cars coming into Russell at 1am in the morning was a sight to behold.
Thanks of course to everyone at Team Stinky too - great to meet up with you guys!
Congratulations to everyone that battled through the race to keep the cars out there - drivers and mechanics; and let's hope there's going to be a race next year

[Spinner]

Yeah a big thanks to the marshalls. Was my first time out in the 2CV, it was possibly the most fun I have ever had! Just found out though that I was racing with a broken Metertarsal, (hope its spelt right!) So I am definately feeling the pain now though! Will be back next year with an allstar line up!

[Suzy]

Okay, so who is who in real life?

I know that Stinky is Christine Thompson

Chris Y is self-explanatory - although you may have heard one of the commentators refer to him as Christine Yates on Saturday afternoon (was that you Alan Hyde?)

MattyR - I believe I've identified you as Mat Riley

Now, who is Spinner? And sorry to hear you were in so much pain during the race.

[Asp]

For anyone that is free, the 2CVs will be a topic for discussion in this weeks "Weekly Chat" in the Chat Room - a chance to debrief now we're more talkative and not quite as tired after the race!
If you are online, pop in on Wednesday from 8pm BST and I'll see you there!
Connect via the button at the top of your page, parcferme or Non-Java link if you have problems with the other two!

[Chris Y]

Okay, I'll try and answer a few points if I may

Matt, welcome to ten-tenths I think £1,700 may be a bit much for an entry, particularly since the Mondello years are still fresh in people's minds, where the entry fee was more around £1000. (Yes, travelling across by ferry cost more, but people often don't stop to consider points like that). Even if you do get some money back, the £1700 is like a big brick wall to some people, and they don't look around it to find the door.

Still, £1700 is roughly £566 per driver for a 3 car team, or £425 for a 4 driver team. That's a hike of £150 per driver shared between 3, or £112.50 shared between 4. It's managable, but when everything else is added up, like fuel, oil, tyres, food and other consumables (like engines, *gulp*) it starts to really mount up, and may look unattractive to potential competitors.

I don't have all the answers, but maybe a deposit to secure a grid place would help, and maybe some more media interest would generate more entries and possibly make it easier to find sponsors..?

Spinner - Metatarsals - aren't they the little bones in your feet/toes? If so, ouch.. But, I'm glad you enjoyed your stay in 2CV racing - you'll never leave!

Nice to meet you Asp - hope to get into the chat room at some point

I still can't drive my road car... I keep looking for the wiper switch behind the steering wheel, and the gearchange isn't an umbrella handle on the dashboard where it should be