Race results 2004

March 04

M u d  f e s t    *SPLAT***

Its a bit of a gamble starting to race in March. You could get some nice spring sunshine, or if you are Blitz Racing you could get 60mph winds and horizontal rain. ... but undaunted we still set up to the race as the weather worsened.

     There where a couple of new members in the shape of Darrell Collins with a Mini Fiat hybrid, and 14 year old Daniel Thomas who had bought the Fiat Bis car from Dean Ford. Keith McCormick had a new 2 seater Mini powered car in a lovely shade of pink and  Dean Ford now had the rebuilt Mini powered car once owned by Richard Baron for a bit more power.   The  old Fiat favorites from last year of car 5 and 9 both where sporting new exhaust systems  and going very well and  Simon Herbert's car was unmodified from last year. 

    The weather was already proving so bad that little time was spent admiring each others cars, and practice showed the track had become a skid pan. It was so slippery that an uphill S bend had to be removed as the cars had already got stuck in practice. The qualifying laps where missed out, as it was apparent that any real racing was going to be an impossibility. As the lights changed to green at the start of the race, the cars hardly moved in the chalk clay mix, and once moving the clay stuck to the cars and drivers until  any visibility was lost.

 The conditions proved hard on the engines, causing overheating with clogged radiators, a broken diff', and lost oil pressure problems on the Mini powered cars. The air cooled Fiats kept going, but would not pull third as the cars got heavier and heavier. The BIS powered car was having a few clutch problems as well with the extra load. After 2 races we called it a day, much to everyone's relieve. And then of course every car had to be towed out of the field as everyone was stuck. 

April 24th.

A wet week had cleared to 20'c sunshine and near perfect race conditions with a good turnout of 10 cars, with a good mix of Fiat and Mini based cars. New to racing this year was James Cohen, with the well prepared ex- Hobley Mini based car. Dean Fords new Mini based car was also looking very smart with extra metal plating and the latest in "ship to shore" radio to allow constant monitoring from the support team. Blitz racing is getting hi tech this year with a couple of cars also carrying cam-corders.

    James Green had traveled down from Stoke on Trent for his first meeting this year with his car now fitted with the 700cc Lancia "Bis" engine but had not quite had time to sort all the bugs out. Darrel Collins having endured the last race's appalling conditions had returned with his Mini Fiat hybrid, so we obviously hadn't put him off. Ben Wilde had just got his car "ready" but it sounded terrible when it came off the trailer, (although the racing proved it was not so sick !)  and Simon Herbert had also been burning the midnight oil and was also only just ready with a somewhat poorly  engine. The older air cooled Fiat based cars had not been touched, as they had proved reliable for once !

First instance in practice saw Dean Fords introduction to the Blitz's ability to roll without too much provocation on a sharp corner. Luckily no major damage was done and the car was straightened ready to race.

Qualifying saw Dean  quickest by .5 of a second, with the whole grid only separated by 6 seconds from fastest to slowest.

The racing was all pretty close with most cars holding up well. Kevin Archibald failed to release his handbrake on the first race causing the rear brakes to cook and bind on. This was to dog him for the remaining races as they continued to bind and slow what should be a quick car. Simon Herbert's cars engine was starting to fail, causing him to be slower than normal and  James Greens car had problems with dirt in the carb, so not managing to get a race until the third race. Pete Cowens car, normally pretty quick was refusing to engage 2nd gear for no apparently good reason and race 4 saw James Cohen come off on a tight corner so the race was stopped after 7 laps. Darrel Collin's Mini Fiat hybrid proved reliable for a new build, completing all 4 races.

 A  full grid of 10 cars, including new member Darrell Harris with his Mk 2 Blitz, and return of Paul Herbert with a rebuilt car after last years sub frame bending antics after being hit by his Son Simon. Dean Ford had the misfortune of an electrical failure in practice that cost him both qualifying and the first race before the car was running again. Ben Wilde went on to experience his first roll in race one, cutting the overall race short as it was red flagged. All the cars had survived for race 2 when Dean joined the proceedings, with all  cars making it to the end. By the end of race 3 the field was down to 5 cars as Kevin Archibald had rolled badly in car 5, and having landed back on his wheels and thought he had got away with it, was then  hit broadside at speed by Darrel Harris who's brake hydraulics had been severed by a stone so he could not stop. Darrel's car lost a front tyre after the impact so had to retire and  Keith had ongoing damper mounting problems leaving his car like a kangaroo. Simon Herbert had been in the thick of it catching  and knocking out Dean Fords rear suspension, much to his annoyance after the long haul from South Wales and the missed race with electrical problems. Pete Cowan was a little off performance in car 99 with a sheared damper leading to some dodgy handling, but all three Fiat based cars now tuned to the same level still had some very close racing. By the last race the 3 Fiats where still running and with the  car 5 having had a new wheel fitted was re raced by Pete Cowen as Kev Archibald took it easy after the crash. A damper then sheared on this car, so he was no better off than with car 99. Car 9 then  sheared its alternator mountings and threw its fan belt and cooked itself but still completed the race. The remaining two 2 surviving Mini based cars where of Paul Herbert and Ben Wilde. 

Unfortunately due to the loss of our venue, we have been unable to carry on racing for 2004. There may be some chance to relocate the club to a suitable area, so if your are interested in running a racing club and have some land drop us a line under regional contacts.