Brands Hatch CSMA Classic

[Tony Harman]

This coming weekend 19/20 May is the 3rd round of the BARC Classic Package. This meeting is sponsored by the CSMA. Races for all the CSSC Millers Saloon championships, Austin Healey's, Thoroughbred Sportscars, AMOC Intermarque, Classic Porsche, MG's, FF2000, FF1600, and of course Classic Clubmans. With the CSMA backing there's extra entertainment between races with Army Helicopter display, Red Arrows, RAF Falcons, Battle of Britain memorial flight and on track displays. The crowds last year were terrific due to the advertising and subsidised tickets from the CSMA, and it was gloriously sunny too. Let's hope the weather stays good for this one. See some of the 10/10ths racing team names in the entry list, no Slowcoach though. Do you think there's any chance we might get to meet up this time...? Maybe we should organise something at one of the meetings to all get together, how about doing something at Snet or Pembrey where people are more likely to be staying over. Anybody marshalling or spectating at this one ?
See you on the black stuff

[Slowcoach]

I will be there !! Subject to picking car up one evening this week with new driveshaft and crown wheel and pinion......ouch !! Racing starts about 10.00am tickets 10 quid in advance or 15 on the gate. Think us Thunder boys will be on about 4 pm - and 14 laps to boot....

[apguy]

Well I'll be there in Grp1 but I'm trying to get a late entry in for Classic Thunder as well :-)

I ran a trackday at Snett on Friday and decided to take my Sunbeam for a laugh. I've acquired some Michelin slicks on Sunbeam Ti alloys (5.5" wide - don't laugh). I've never run on slicks before and whoa what a difference. Coram is now flat in 4th with no lift :-) :-)
So I've decided to enter CT with my new (2nd hand) slicks.....

Cheers
Andrew
www.tintinracing.com

[Slowcoach]

Welcome to the Thunderdome Apguy - the more the merrier - you should get an entry no problem - we dont normally get much above 20 on the grid......lets hope its dry !!!

[Slowcoach]

Just a reminder to get it back to the top of the board. For those of you who find yourself at a loose end on Sunday.............

[Tony Harman]

Weather looks a bit iffy for Sunday, Saturday looks OK, Hope you got some wets as well as slicks AG - or do you just revert to normal tyres ?
What time are you on Slowcoach ?
Clubmans has "officially" got the area in the paddock next to the fence so we can see a bit of the racing - if there's any space left by Saturday morning...
See you on the black stuff - TH

[apguy]

For Grp1 we only have one tyre - a road treaded Dunlop D84 so wet or dry I use the same tyres. For my new foray into Classic Thunder I was going to use my new (2nd hand) slicks if it was dry and if it's wet I ws going to revert back to the treaded Dunlops.

CT is just a laugh for me, there are some serious machines out there and my Grp1 spec Sunbeam (even on slicks) is always going to be near the back. Although the Indy circuit suits my car as the handling's pretty good. If its wet then I stand a better chance as my car is a bit more nimble than some of the +3.5l bruisers.

I'll try and find you in the paddock this time Tony...

Cheers

[Slowcoach]

I do hope it doesn't rain - its tricky enough keeping the thing in a straight line in the dry let alone the wet !! I think , from memory prac. is mid afternoon and the race is scheduled about 16.15 on Sunday. See you on the grid apguy !

[Tony Harman]

A 3.5ltr SDI in the wet - woo hoo - I bet that's a bundle of laughs , Won't be able to watch the race as I have to dash off at lunchtime for work reasons, in fact if we hadn't have been an early race I couldn't have entered anyway. Will try to go paddock walkabout after practice Sat morning and say hello, so lets see, one White Sunbeam and one Unipart Rover - shouldn't be too difficult to find now should they... oh, and a Golf GTI of JvdP - anyone else I've missed ?
Looks like no 10/10ths viewing gang around, maybe for the next Classic I'll post it in Trackside.

[Slowcoach]

Actually ,if its wet its worse as its a 4.5l - I'll be keeping an eye out for the Haggismobile - I think Jos has a Sirocco now after the sad demise of the Golf at Cadwell! See you there !!

[Peter Mallett]

Good luck you lot.

[josvandeperre]

Scirocco it is - 1.8 - currently got lots of plastic panels - aiming for pre-90 spec for Snetterton - weather forecast seems to be improving - I'll bring my shorts anyway

[Tony Harman]

Oops sorry Jos - forgot about the reprofiling job at Cadwell, is it gonna be a 4am Friday night job to get it ready then ?
"I'll bring my shorts anyway" why - you trying to make it rain then Jos

Thanks for the wishes Pete - How's the Capri coming along - are we going to see the Mallettmobile out in July as promised do you reckon ?

[SL]

Just in case I make it please look out for me. I will be willing to wash windsreens in exchage for pit pass.

Something tells me it will be hot & sunny with loads of windscreen clogging bugs around.

Simon

[Slowcoach]

So Tony how did you get on - I got back too late to see your race I'm afraid . Good to meet you and apguy .
As far as my weekend went - talk about the highs and lows of Motorsport - Saturday the prop snapped during practice , managed to qualify 11th before it let go - so basically loaded up and went home thinking my w/e was over and having sworn to retire for the rest of the season . Until......a friend came round at about 5.30pm and asked why I hadnt fitted the spare prop? I explained despondantly that it was a different length and that it needed to be fitted with the 'other' gearbox that I had in the garage ......... At which he promptly jacked the car up and said 'well let's do it then *!"£% ! So he did .... he changed the gearbox on my front drive on his own (I am only good for making tea) - finished at midnight and made it onto the grid the next day !- Had a fantastic race and finished 6th - paid the price of getting stuck behind a very , very wide Anglia early on otherwise who knows I could have sneaked another place or possibly 2 . Took the chequered flag alongside 5th place car but about just failed to get my bonnet infront !
Highlights of the race for me were 1) At the start getting in between the two cars infront of me on the grid and going 3 abreast round Paddock and upto Druids and 2)The Anglia and I side by side thru Paddock again and then going either side of a backmarker as we went up the hill and being back alongside each other round Druids !!!!!!!!!

[Chris Gamlin]

Hi Slowcoach, Tony's gone out to Madrid for a week or so on business, and I'm not sure if he's online (are you there Tony??), so you will have to make do with me (I'm his mechanic/general dogs-body by the way!).

Classic Clubmans had quite an eventful (and expensive for some) weekend at Brands.....
In qualifying, we qualified a season's best 9th, so Tony was pretty happy with that, especially as the session had to be stopped half way through when Mike Hickson was forced onto the grass on the exit of Clearways by a slower car, which ended with him going nose first heavily into the pit wall! This left Mike with a severely damaged car, though thankfully no injuries.
Preparation for the race didn't go too well, firstly with a temperature gauge fault, and secondly when an SD1 (it wasn't you, it was red!) drove through the assembly area to do a sighting lap between races and proceeded to try and squeeze past us (we were in slot 9 by the gate), only to totally misjudge the gap and clip our front wing whilst attempting to get through. Luckily after a bit of shouting, swearing and reversing, there was no damage done, and it certainly got Tony fired up, so may have helped in the end!!
The race started pretty well and Tony got up to 7th by the end of the first lap. After this he had quite a lonely race, slowly closing in on the guy in front (but not by enough!) and keeping the car behind a couple of seconds back. 7th place turned into 6th (5th in class, so a couple of points) on about the 4th lap when David Childs, in 2nd place at the time, tried to go between two backmarkers going into Clearways, but the gap closed up as he went through. David ended up clipping one backmaker, launching him into a barrel roll (yes roll!!) which ended up with his car back upright and backwards in the tyre wall on the outside of Clearways. David thankfully walked away from the crash, but again another extensively damaged Classic Clubmans car to fix!
I stayed on and watched some of the racing but had to get home and left after the InterMarque race (drool!) to avoid the traffic, so sadly didn't see your race. Hopefully see you at Snetterton.

Chris

[Tony Harman]

Blimey - Since I moved to Clubmans from FF the team has rejuvinated, not only are they more enthusiastic about the car, (they come to the meetings...) they're even writing my postings for me now ! - Just eluding to a thread that was going on in Racers forum for a moment about one man race teams. I have got to say that having enthusiastic help is a big plus - I am sure that the level of enthusaism in the team for the car and formula is definitely reflected in the results we're achieving right now, so right here, in public I'll say A BIG THANKYOU to Karen, Chris & Nigel for all your help at the weekend.
So thanks for the race report Chris - yep I'm in Madrid this week but that doesn't stop me looking at 10/10ths. Good to catch up with you Slocoach, sounds like you learn't the value of help at the weekend too, congrats on a good race, did come up to see you on Sunday but your car wasn't there. We were parked almost opposite Jos's Scirroco but never got to see him, was never around when we wandered over, This time saw the TinTin mobile come in on the trailer on Sat, never did find you in the Paddock AG - maybe Snett eh?
As Chris said a good solid if uneventful race for me, very pleased again as I was closer to pole man in qualifying and am starting to explore the limits of the car now, no major dramas apart from Water temp being faulty in the race. Only the second time at Brands and first time in the dry, Paddock was pretty difficult, don't know what it's like in a tin top but in my car you can't see the corner until after the turn in point which is tricky, and every time I went through I realised I had lost too much speed, try and remember that for next year.
So all off to Snet next, we're going up Friday night so 2 nights in the MutleyMotorsport hospitality facility (tent) Try to catch up with you all again, anybody testing on the Friday ?
See you on the Black Stuff. TH