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17 Dec 2017, 14:15 (Ref:3787628) | #1 | ||
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DIX MILLES TOURS DU CASTELLET
Peter Auto visit to the poshed up (for 2018 French GP) circuit.
Includes Group C. |
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7 Aug 2018, 05:28 (Ref:3841991) | #2 | ||
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Although not on the website yet, 75 entries for 60s Endurance, 37 for HTC (including many CSLs and 635s) and 21 GpC. I won’t mention F2....
Apparently the normal route from Autoroute to the circuit now has a weight restriction, so trucks have to take a longer route. Fall out from the F1 circus visit.... A month earlier than usual, so expect it to be hot. At least we should be used to it by now. |
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7 Aug 2018, 06:46 (Ref:3842000) | #3 | ||
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....I did think PA would have given up with F2....9 cars round the circuit is not going to be much fun for drivers or spectators!
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Will Stephens 60s endurance 1965 356sc #49 Mag 7's #60 |
7 Aug 2018, 06:52 (Ref:3842001) | #4 | ||
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Entry list for the other series...
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Will Stephens 60s endurance 1965 356sc #49 Mag 7's #60 |
7 Aug 2018, 06:54 (Ref:3842002) | #5 | ||
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Final two....
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Will Stephens 60s endurance 1965 356sc #49 Mag 7's #60 |
29 Aug 2018, 15:42 (Ref:3846906) | #6 | ||
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As a result of (or maybe because it was happening) the French GP was held at Circuit du Castellet earlier this year, the normal route from the Autoroute, which passes through 2 villages, now has a weight restriction that excludes all artics, and a lot of rigids! Great little earner for the local gendarmes, pulling trucks today and issuing €90 fines..... (Not me )
The designated truck truck route now involves having to drive many Km further on the Autoroute, before turning off and ultimately approaching the circuit from the East rather than West. It passes through another village which is a heck of a lot more difficult to thread a truck through than before! Maybe the locals had less influence when the decision was made...... No wonder the spectator traffic for the GP descended into complete chaos...... |
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30 Aug 2018, 06:04 (Ref:3847016) | #7 | ||
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Cool you both arrived safe. Mike, I already told you France is underdeveloped in many respects! Only solution to live happy is to join, find one who has the toilets and the shower and suggest you can buy a beer. Caution: dont play mix and match, sinon… c'est la merde !
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31 Aug 2018, 14:14 (Ref:3847249) | #8 | ||
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C'on, Mike, an Iphone dropped into a pedal box of a Morgan, did you ever heard about that? Should we see a dispute between Apple and Morgan… Next time it will be a pigeon or may be a carrot!
The 356 is fast again, congrats! |
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31 Aug 2018, 16:34 (Ref:3847272) | #9 | ||
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First in class for Q. Is worth a selfie from driver's feet
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31 Aug 2018, 18:15 (Ref:3847285) | #10 | ||
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You know that class structure in PA events isn’t always logical! We’re looking at ‘under 2.5 litre’ results as they are what season will be based on. That means we have to beat GT2 cars as well as GT3...... One ‘new’ 911 quicker than regulars, which will no doubt attract attention!
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1 Sep 2018, 04:42 (Ref:3847346) | #11 | ||
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So far has been a very relaxing event....356 going well with no major dramas, although did run wide at turn 2 and “kissed” one of the floppies, so need to dig out the t cut to get rid of the marks down the sill....if that is all we need to do though I can live with that!
Race is not till 7.30 tonight, so plenty of time for wandering around to see what is here....might even actually watch some racing!! |
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Will Stephens 60s endurance 1965 356sc #49 Mag 7's #60 |
1 Sep 2018, 05:53 (Ref:3847350) | #12 | ||
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We had a good endurance championship in France, VdeV, serious and relaxed ambiance. This lasts for a long time, lets say from 1998 up to 2008. The car to win the championship was either a GT40 or a 911. One of the key of the success was the kind of free survey we had, each team discussing with the others. We had a dedicated scrutineer and we explained him not to be focused on engines only. This is why some "friends" went far away with long wheel base or ultra wide track.
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1 Sep 2018, 05:56 (Ref:3847351) | #13 | ||
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Oooops, seems my friend Jean-Marc is in trouble. The little "tickle, tickle" heard under the bonnet of his E after LMC is getting worse… He is not very happy, of course. May be I shouldn't have tell him to fire the team manager… How to lose a friend, lesson #1: say what you think is the truth!!
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1 Sep 2018, 06:12 (Ref:3847352) | #14 | ||
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Talking of scrutineering, we approached the formality yesterday with a certain amount of trepidation, due to having been picked up on a small point last time. This time, after the usual hand shaking, ‘Bonjour’ and ‘Ca va?’, then followed a straightforward question on whether we had attended to the issue. When I confirmed ‘Oui’, that was scrutineering over........
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1 Sep 2018, 08:15 (Ref:3847356) | #15 | ||
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Did you polish your rad? I find this refreshing attitude very good, they know their people. If you make a file of competitors, you'll see that its always the same who try to have scrutineers "swallow" strange stories. The others, like you, are respected because they show respect to the rules and people in charge. Speaking French also helps, of course!
Did you see Jean Marc, E Type # 138? Considering his engine can't make more than 6 K RPM (instead of 7 or more), his 2'40"33 is not bad. Hope he can race tonight. |
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1 Sep 2018, 17:48 (Ref:3847418) | #16 | ||
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Sadly, Jean Marc'E will not race. Too many issues to be fixed on the field, probably scares from LMC… He learns on the hard way.
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1 Sep 2018, 19:51 (Ref:3847436) | #17 | |||
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Stories to be told but P13 and 1st under 2.5l car! Great result for the Stephens family as well, so altogether a good evening for tenthers...... |
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2 Sep 2018, 06:18 (Ref:3847523) | #18 | ||
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Correction! 2nd in under 2.5l class.... They found another fast car to include, this time a French owned 904/6, capable of lapping here 7 seconds quicker than anything else with a similar engine capacity. Some meetings it’s not in the class- then suddenly it is again.....
43 finishers from nigh-on 70 starters. Quite a high attrition rate, but can’t blame a hot ambient temperature for a change. All the Elans, which can be a lot quicker than the Morgan in some driver’s hands, retired, as did the two fastest 911s- one being the ’new’ very quick one. Good start by Bill and he pulled out a gap on all the cars we thought we were competing against. (The 904 was well in front.) Then the Safety Car was deployed just as we were readying a for pit stop and driver change, the pit window opening just seconds before. The cause was a car minus rear hub and wheel in the middle of the track at the last corner, and Bill was first on the scene, so shot straight into the pit lane. This opportunism jumped us up the order several places by the time everyone had done their compulsory stop, and at one time up the Morgan was up to P8. Realistically we knew a few faster cars would get past again before race end, but looked good on the screen for a while! After a few laps of his stint John suddenly dived into the pits with a damaged left rear quarter- result of a misunderstanding with a car he was lapping. (BTW it was completely dark by now....) 10 seconds to pull the wing away from the tyre and he was out again. The joys of soft aluminium! The time lost only cost us 1 place at the end of the day, luckily. With about 30 minutes left, the SC was deployed again, and the two 911s we had gapped by 1.5 minutes were suddenly close behind again. John, however, was lapping as quickly in the dark as in daylight, so unless there was an issue, we were confident that they wouldn’t get any closer. They didn’t. With the next car in the Under 2.5l season points standing not finishing, and one race at Imola to do, fingers crossed for a great end to the year..... Will, Bill and Anita Stephens also had a great result in the family 356, finishing P23 with Will putting in an amazing lap at the end (in the dark) of 2min 50sec- faster than most of the 911s..... CER race with the B19 late this afternoon, so hopefully we get a better result than in its last two races. Crash at Spa and engine blow up at LMC.... fingers well and truly crossed! |
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2 Sep 2018, 08:45 (Ref:3847541) | #19 | ||
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2 Sep 2018, 09:10 (Ref:3847543) | #20 | |||
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The rad header tank overflow pushed a little water out, as the driver forgot the rule about leaving the fan running...... |
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2 Sep 2018, 09:56 (Ref:3847556) | #21 | ||
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No worry, Mike, was just for the smile. We know those moments. Keep the fan running with engine out or engine on, another debate! If my memory serves, TR engines as well as E Type dont appreciate too much idling below the 2 K or 2.5 K mark. And 5 minutes idling can kill them!
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2 Sep 2018, 07:04 (Ref:3847527) | #22 | ||
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Nice report, thanks Mike. All in all, a very good result seeing the cars in front of your Morgan which are E Type's, Cobra's and a TVR. When I was young, my preparer had a civilized version of a 904/6, fitted with a full 2.7 RS trim. What a chassis!
Good luck in CER! |
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2 Sep 2018, 15:46 (Ref:3847665) | #23 | ||
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5th overall, 4th in class could have been 4 and 3rd, Romain being so close! At last a checkered flag with no issue. Did you enjoy it, Mike?
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2 Sep 2018, 17:29 (Ref:3847677) | #24 | |||
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Great weekend, and have to say that the circuit and staff seem to be more welcoming and accommodating than they used to be. And to come away with those results, we can’t help but be happy! What happened to your mate Claude in his Escort? I saw him pull into the pits.... |
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2 Sep 2018, 17:52 (Ref:3847682) | #25 | ||
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Yes, I saw you were at Romain's door! In this category under 2 litre, the lap times are really close and the competition is really hard. We use to say so to flatter people, but its a matter of fact this time.
Claude is insisting on getting as much HP running on carbs as with injection. If you know the Escort batch, and I'm sure you do know it quite well, there are not less than 4 or 5 ex-Claude's cars on the grid. And they are doing better than this one, bought in hurry in England, built for rallye. That's why I didn't want to co-drive it. It was bought "better than new" but they already rebuilt it three times. In addition, his team mate is not as fast as him. The poor results speak for themselves. May be the staff realizes that they have to be friendly to keep on attracting people who have to cross The Channel!! |
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