With the August bank holiday weekend fast approaching it was time to put the finishing touches to the RWD ready for the long trip down to Lydden Hill for the traditional Bank Holiday Monday meeting. Peter had sorted out the clutch problem that plagued the last outing at Pembrey, and also discovered why the exhaust gasses were finding their way into the car, and solved that problem too.
All that was left to do was load up and set off on the 360-mile journey, but with news of a collapsed bridge on the M20 and the resulting travel chaos there was a sense of foreboding as we left, not knowing how long it would take us to get there. As it happened we needn’t have worried as the road was reopened and the traffic had eased by the time we got there, so at 10.30pm after an uneventful trip we arrived at the circuit, parked up next to the Todd Crooks Motorsport Team, and settled down for the night.
Race day morning dawned bright and clear, and after the formalities of signing on and scrutineering it was time for a bite of breakfast before heading out for practice.
As I hadn’t raced at Lydden for a couple of years I wasn’t sure in what condition I would find the track, but I was pleasantly surprised. A couple of new bits of tarmac on the entry to Chessons & Paddock, and the regrading of the loose around Chessons meant the surface was smoother than I had known it for a long time. Also the joker section was more open than the last time I was there, so on the whole it was a thumbs up for the track, and the car seemed to be handling well so I was looking forward to the racing.
I was in the second of the Supernational heats, on the second row with the ex Michael Boak Audi TT, now in the hands of Brian Jukes, and the RWD Renault Clio V6 of Steve Cozens in front of me. The start light procedure for the British Championship is, as soon as the lights come on you go, so as soon as I saw the red light I dropped the clutch and went, although part of me was thinking, I thought the lights should have been green, was that a jump start?
Those thoughts soon disappeared as Brian and Steve had also gone, I went around the outside of Brain and slotted in behind the Clio as we went around Chessons Drift, but as we exited the loose section the superior grip of the TT meant that Brian passed me going down the Dover Slope. We started to climb Hairy Hill and spotted the red flag from the marshals post. It had been a jump start, so we made our way back around to the start grid ready for a restart.
Whether I had fewer revs than I should have, or whether the warm tyres had more grip than I expected I am not sure, but suffice to say I made a mess of the restart and bogged down when the lights flashed on. As everyone came passed me I decided to take the joker early and see if I could catch them up. As I came back onto the main circuit I was in last place but I could see Phil Chicken and Alan Tapscott ahead of me, so I set about trying to close the gap.
I was making some progress but as we went around Chessons on the second lap I could see brake lights ahead of me, and all of a sudden I spotted Stuart Emery’s stranded Peugeot 206 across the track in front of me. I threw my car into a spin to avoid making contact with Stuart, and once I had stopped I gathered myself up and set off at a steady pace, fully expecting tosee a red flag because of the dangerous position of the stranded 206. However I soon saw the leaders at full speed heading down Hairy Hill, so I hit the throttle and got back up to speed, by now half a lap down. As I went round Chessons on the third lap I saw the green TT of Jukes had joined Emery’s 206, so we now had two cars stranded at the same place, still no red flag so I kept on in hot pursuit, on exiting The Devils Elbow and climbing Hairy Hill I spotted the C2 of Phil Chicken also stopped, but by now the red flags were out the race was stopped and we were all directed back to the paddock.
By now the car was very warm and I would have liked the chance to cool the radiator down, but we were called straight back around for a complete rerun of the heat. Once I was down on the dummy grid we were told there was going to be a couple of races before us, so I set about looking for some water to pour over the radiator to try to cool it down. Thankfully Rob Gibson came to my rescue with a drum of cold water which he poured on the radiator and intercooler bringing the temperature right down.
For the third time we were back on the startline for the first heat, and once again the engine revs rose as we anticipated the start lights. As the lights flashed green I dropped the clutch. This time I got a good start and followed the blisteringly quick Clio into Chessons for the first lap. As I approached The Devils Elbow I could hear the Super 1600 Vauxhall Corsa of Paul Coney close behind, and I braked a bit later than I should have going a little wide and losing the rear of the car on the marbles almost spinning, but the front of the Corsa clipped my front corner as he went through and overtook me. Once I had the fiesta back under control I followed up the hill, but going round North Bend there seemed to be a misfire, it cleared so I carried on and decided to take my joker lap this time round and see where I came out with two laps to go. As I went around North Bend the next time the misfire reappeared, but this time worse and the engine stalled, so I coasted down the hill to the dummy grid thinking I had run out of fuel.
After getting back to the paddock it was clear that although the tank was low, it was still quite a way from running out, and after filling it the car was behaving normally, so after a clean of the windows and a check around it was soon time to head back down to the dummy grid for second runs.
Once again I was on the second row of the grid with Gary Dixon, Mike Howlin and Vince Bristow on the front, and Stuart Emery and Paul Maybourne behind. This time when the lights came on it was a clean getaway first time with Vince, Stuart myself and Paul taking the joker on the first lap. All was going well and I was hanging onto the coat tails of Stuarts 206 when the Fiesta of Howlin came out of the joker lap and started fighting for the lead with Bristow’s BMW. On the next lap Gary Dixon’s Astra popped out of the joker lap just in front of Stuart and the battle was on. Could I pick up a few places if those in front started falling over each other? Sadly I was not to find out as the mysterious misfire returned and I lost touch with the pack.
Fortunately, it was not as bad as it had been on first runs and I managed to make the finish line, and also keep Maybourne’s Renault Clio behind me, and most importantly I had a qualifying time in the bag.
It was now the lunchbreak, so I used this time to try to get to the problem of the misfire. I narrowed it down to fuel starvation, but why was it happening? After much thought I decided that it was most likely to be fuel vaporization due to the fact it was a very hot day and the car was getting very warm. With that in mind I tried to cool the fuel cell, swirl pot and pipes as much as possible before the third heats.
For third runs I was on the front row alongside Gary Dixon’s Astra. The lights went green and we were off. As we went into Chessons Gary had his nose in front, but I kept my foot hard on the throttle until the last moment and just sneaked in front by the apex of the corner. I was in the lead with Gary right behind me, but I didn’t know how many of the others had taken the joker. As we rounded North Bend for the first time I went a little bit sideways allowing Gary Simpson in his BMW E36 to get the drop on me going down the hill, he had obviously got past the other Gary at some point going up the hill.
We held this position for another lap, and we both decided to take the joker on lap three, but where would we be when we rejoined the main circuit again. As it happened we had both come out in the same position as we went in, managing to keep Dixon back in third place, and that is how it stayed for the final lap. Apart from one small cough at the top of Hairy Hill on the last lap the misfire seemed to have gone away, so that was an extra bonus.
Once I had refueled, checked over the car, and cooled down the fuel cell, it was time to head down to the dummy grid for the semi finals. I had qualified 5th for semi number 2, and with the top four going through to the final everything was to play for.
Once the lights had gone green and we had set off it was obvious that the two cars in front of me, Mike Howlin in the RWD Mk6 Fiesta, and Alan Tapscott in his RWD Vauxhall Corsa were going for the joker lap, so I decided to keep on the main circuit and slotted inbetween leader Steve Cozens and Stuart Emery. As we reached the top of the hill I got a nudge from an understeering Emery sending me into a 360 degree spin (pictures of which are in gallery). When the car was pointing in the right direction again I carried on, but unfortunately I had dropped back into last place.
I was determined to try to catch up. My eagerness to get on to the back of the field led me to push too hard and start over-driving, I was making mistakes and getting no nearer, but I still kept pushing. That was until a puff of steam from under the bonnet told me there was a problem, and a sudden gush of water into the passenger footwell confirmed that thought. It seems a water pipe had blown off and all the coolant had gone.
In order to look after the engine the only course open to me was to retire from the race and bring my meeting to a close.
It had been another cracking day at the home of rallycross, and I was relatively pleased with the car, and my performance, especially when I checked the times from my last visit to Lydden, and I had knocked 10 seconds a lap off my previous times.
It was now time to head home and get the car ready for its next outing at Pembrey in September.
All that was left to do was load up and set off on the 360-mile journey, but with news of a collapsed bridge on the M20 and the resulting travel chaos there was a sense of foreboding as we left, not knowing how long it would take us to get there. As it happened we needn’t have worried as the road was reopened and the traffic had eased by the time we got there, so at 10.30pm after an uneventful trip we arrived at the circuit, parked up next to the Todd Crooks Motorsport Team, and settled down for the night.
Race day morning dawned bright and clear, and after the formalities of signing on and scrutineering it was time for a bite of breakfast before heading out for practice.
As I hadn’t raced at Lydden for a couple of years I wasn’t sure in what condition I would find the track, but I was pleasantly surprised. A couple of new bits of tarmac on the entry to Chessons & Paddock, and the regrading of the loose around Chessons meant the surface was smoother than I had known it for a long time. Also the joker section was more open than the last time I was there, so on the whole it was a thumbs up for the track, and the car seemed to be handling well so I was looking forward to the racing.
I was in the second of the Supernational heats, on the second row with the ex Michael Boak Audi TT, now in the hands of Brian Jukes, and the RWD Renault Clio V6 of Steve Cozens in front of me. The start light procedure for the British Championship is, as soon as the lights come on you go, so as soon as I saw the red light I dropped the clutch and went, although part of me was thinking, I thought the lights should have been green, was that a jump start?
Those thoughts soon disappeared as Brian and Steve had also gone, I went around the outside of Brain and slotted in behind the Clio as we went around Chessons Drift, but as we exited the loose section the superior grip of the TT meant that Brian passed me going down the Dover Slope. We started to climb Hairy Hill and spotted the red flag from the marshals post. It had been a jump start, so we made our way back around to the start grid ready for a restart.
Whether I had fewer revs than I should have, or whether the warm tyres had more grip than I expected I am not sure, but suffice to say I made a mess of the restart and bogged down when the lights flashed on. As everyone came passed me I decided to take the joker early and see if I could catch them up. As I came back onto the main circuit I was in last place but I could see Phil Chicken and Alan Tapscott ahead of me, so I set about trying to close the gap.
I was making some progress but as we went around Chessons on the second lap I could see brake lights ahead of me, and all of a sudden I spotted Stuart Emery’s stranded Peugeot 206 across the track in front of me. I threw my car into a spin to avoid making contact with Stuart, and once I had stopped I gathered myself up and set off at a steady pace, fully expecting tosee a red flag because of the dangerous position of the stranded 206. However I soon saw the leaders at full speed heading down Hairy Hill, so I hit the throttle and got back up to speed, by now half a lap down. As I went round Chessons on the third lap I saw the green TT of Jukes had joined Emery’s 206, so we now had two cars stranded at the same place, still no red flag so I kept on in hot pursuit, on exiting The Devils Elbow and climbing Hairy Hill I spotted the C2 of Phil Chicken also stopped, but by now the red flags were out the race was stopped and we were all directed back to the paddock.
By now the car was very warm and I would have liked the chance to cool the radiator down, but we were called straight back around for a complete rerun of the heat. Once I was down on the dummy grid we were told there was going to be a couple of races before us, so I set about looking for some water to pour over the radiator to try to cool it down. Thankfully Rob Gibson came to my rescue with a drum of cold water which he poured on the radiator and intercooler bringing the temperature right down.
For the third time we were back on the startline for the first heat, and once again the engine revs rose as we anticipated the start lights. As the lights flashed green I dropped the clutch. This time I got a good start and followed the blisteringly quick Clio into Chessons for the first lap. As I approached The Devils Elbow I could hear the Super 1600 Vauxhall Corsa of Paul Coney close behind, and I braked a bit later than I should have going a little wide and losing the rear of the car on the marbles almost spinning, but the front of the Corsa clipped my front corner as he went through and overtook me. Once I had the fiesta back under control I followed up the hill, but going round North Bend there seemed to be a misfire, it cleared so I carried on and decided to take my joker lap this time round and see where I came out with two laps to go. As I went around North Bend the next time the misfire reappeared, but this time worse and the engine stalled, so I coasted down the hill to the dummy grid thinking I had run out of fuel.
After getting back to the paddock it was clear that although the tank was low, it was still quite a way from running out, and after filling it the car was behaving normally, so after a clean of the windows and a check around it was soon time to head back down to the dummy grid for second runs.
Once again I was on the second row of the grid with Gary Dixon, Mike Howlin and Vince Bristow on the front, and Stuart Emery and Paul Maybourne behind. This time when the lights came on it was a clean getaway first time with Vince, Stuart myself and Paul taking the joker on the first lap. All was going well and I was hanging onto the coat tails of Stuarts 206 when the Fiesta of Howlin came out of the joker lap and started fighting for the lead with Bristow’s BMW. On the next lap Gary Dixon’s Astra popped out of the joker lap just in front of Stuart and the battle was on. Could I pick up a few places if those in front started falling over each other? Sadly I was not to find out as the mysterious misfire returned and I lost touch with the pack.
Fortunately, it was not as bad as it had been on first runs and I managed to make the finish line, and also keep Maybourne’s Renault Clio behind me, and most importantly I had a qualifying time in the bag.
It was now the lunchbreak, so I used this time to try to get to the problem of the misfire. I narrowed it down to fuel starvation, but why was it happening? After much thought I decided that it was most likely to be fuel vaporization due to the fact it was a very hot day and the car was getting very warm. With that in mind I tried to cool the fuel cell, swirl pot and pipes as much as possible before the third heats.
For third runs I was on the front row alongside Gary Dixon’s Astra. The lights went green and we were off. As we went into Chessons Gary had his nose in front, but I kept my foot hard on the throttle until the last moment and just sneaked in front by the apex of the corner. I was in the lead with Gary right behind me, but I didn’t know how many of the others had taken the joker. As we rounded North Bend for the first time I went a little bit sideways allowing Gary Simpson in his BMW E36 to get the drop on me going down the hill, he had obviously got past the other Gary at some point going up the hill.
We held this position for another lap, and we both decided to take the joker on lap three, but where would we be when we rejoined the main circuit again. As it happened we had both come out in the same position as we went in, managing to keep Dixon back in third place, and that is how it stayed for the final lap. Apart from one small cough at the top of Hairy Hill on the last lap the misfire seemed to have gone away, so that was an extra bonus.
Once I had refueled, checked over the car, and cooled down the fuel cell, it was time to head down to the dummy grid for the semi finals. I had qualified 5th for semi number 2, and with the top four going through to the final everything was to play for.
Once the lights had gone green and we had set off it was obvious that the two cars in front of me, Mike Howlin in the RWD Mk6 Fiesta, and Alan Tapscott in his RWD Vauxhall Corsa were going for the joker lap, so I decided to keep on the main circuit and slotted inbetween leader Steve Cozens and Stuart Emery. As we reached the top of the hill I got a nudge from an understeering Emery sending me into a 360 degree spin (pictures of which are in gallery). When the car was pointing in the right direction again I carried on, but unfortunately I had dropped back into last place.
I was determined to try to catch up. My eagerness to get on to the back of the field led me to push too hard and start over-driving, I was making mistakes and getting no nearer, but I still kept pushing. That was until a puff of steam from under the bonnet told me there was a problem, and a sudden gush of water into the passenger footwell confirmed that thought. It seems a water pipe had blown off and all the coolant had gone.
In order to look after the engine the only course open to me was to retire from the race and bring my meeting to a close.
It had been another cracking day at the home of rallycross, and I was relatively pleased with the car, and my performance, especially when I checked the times from my last visit to Lydden, and I had knocked 10 seconds a lap off my previous times.
It was now time to head home and get the car ready for its next outing at Pembrey in September.