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July 01 Classics in the Walled Garden at Luton Hoo Went in the Y which got there and back with no sign of overheating. Good stuff with todays hot weather considering it doesn't have such luxurys as a water pump (or a temperature gauge come to that). The do was organised by John Madden who used to run Classics on the Common. Mike was there, Roger Dudley, my old mate Jack Taylor and Graham Miles who knew all about the Y. Nice do, much smaller and more intimate than Classics on the Common but then I think that was the idea. Snetterton – Sunday Draft ReportClassic Touring Car Racing Club – BARC Championship Meeting – 28 June 2009 – Draft Reports from Sundays racing, the second day of a double header. Click Here for Full Results at TSL Timing Brian Stevens comes through from the back of the grid to win Second Post Historic race Race 1 winner Tony Crudgington was on pole in his Triumph Dolomite, and must have been feeling pretty confident with three of his main rivals at the back of the grid after their problems first time out. However, it was Mark Osborne who was first away in his Dolomite, followed by Brian Stevens, who sliced his XJ12 up the inside from the back, with Jason Christie (Escort RS2000) tucked in behind. On lap 2 Brian powered past Mark into the lead and the order was Brian Stevens – Mark Osborne – Tony Crudgington – Jason Christie – Steve Primett (RS 2000). Then a sizeable gap before the rest of the field came by, headed by William Jenkins in his repaired BMW 3.0 CSL. Reigning champion Steve Primett harried Jason mercilessly before getting past on the fourth lap, but could not pass Tony. This enabled Jason to stay in touch and the three of them were either nose to tail or side by side for the remainder of the race, although they always crossed the strip in that order until Tony spun coming out of the Russell Chicane on the very last lap. There were two retirements, James Christie when his Avenger shed a fan belt and Tony Crates whose clutch gave out.
Mark Fowler headed Jim McLoughlin off the line. The two Capri’s followed by Brian Stevens in his Jaguar XJ12. Then on the second lap all hell broke loose in the Bomb Hole. Jim and Mark had gone through The Esses side-by-side, they touched and both went pirouetting across the grass, taking Brian with them when he tried to take evasive action. Jim was soon going again, at the front of the field. Brian rejoined in seventh but it took Mark nearly a lap to restart, a firm last. So the order at the end of lap two was Jim McLoughlin – William Jenkins – Tim Scott Andrews (Rover Vitesse) – Mark Lucock (Triumph Dolomite) – Matt Irons (BMW 323). Tim was soon past William and they soon had Brian right behind as he recovered lost time. William was back up to second when Tim spun on the exit from Russell but this didn’t last long when Brian powered the Jaguar past the BMW. Then Brian found himself taking the chequered flag when Jim was black flagged for the bodywork allegedly rubbing on a tyre, although this was later revealed to be a rather imaginative ruling. Neil had a good first lap before running wide at Russell, letting three or four cars past and had a lonely time for the rest of the race.
June 27 Snetterton – Saturday Draft ReportClassic Touring Car Racing Club – BARC Championship Meeting – 27 June 2009 – Draft Reports from Saturdays racing, the first day of a double header. Click Here for Full Results at TSL Timing
Tony Crudgington took some unusual lines on his way to winning the Post Historic Race Tony Crudgington wins thrilling Post Historic Race Neil hadn't entered this one as No1 Capri is still not repaired after Oulton Park. No David Howard either, as the engine he damaged at Silverstone will not be back together until Lydden. So it was Brian Stevens on pole, in his Jaguar XJ12, with Jason Christie and Steve Primett second and third fastest in their RS2000’s. It was a dramatic first lap. First pole man Brian Stevens disappeared with something amiss in his recently rolling roaded engine. Steve Primett hadn’t made a good start so this left Jason Christie and Tony Crudgingon (Triumph Dolomite Sprint) fighting for the lead. They came round the Coram Curve side by side and they were still that way when they put the anchors on for the Russell Chicane. Who locked up first it was hard to say but they both spun off the circuit, albeit without touching. Tony ended up on the inside, restarting in seventh place behind Len Allgood (RS 2000). Jason finished up on the grass on the outside and try as he may he couldn’t get the motor to fire, bringing out the safety car for a lap while the marshals helped him push it away. So we had the familiar sight of Steve Primett’s white RS2000 in first place when the race restarted, followed by John Wright (RS 2000) and Mark Osborne (Dolomite). Tony Crudgington was on fire though, charging through the field towards the front. By lap seven he was up to third, behind Mark Osborne. Steve was still in front but not for long as his engine was down to three cylinders when something broke in the top end. Steve dropped back through the field before retiring, elevating Tony to second, not for long though as he charged by into a lead he held to the flag. While all this was going on at the front there were battles all through the field making the race a super spectacle for the spectators. Jim McLoughlin dominates Group 1 Reigning Group 1 champion Jim McLoughlin dominated proceedings in Group 1. Putting his immaculate Capri on pole and leading the race from flag to flag. Jim was pursued throughout by Mark Fowler, his similar Capri having been re-engined a few days before. However, although he posted the fastest lap Mark was not consistent enough to beat flying Jim, as could be seen by the flurries of dust as he grazed the grass all the way round the circuit. Brian Stevens had a lonely third place, having cured his earlier engine problems. Tim Scott Andrews was pleased with fourth place in his Rover fighting off an early challenge from Alan Roper in his similar machine. Later in the race Alan had a coming together with William Jenkins, leaving the latter's beautiful BMW 3.0 CSL rather battle scared. Neil Bray was pleased with the improvements to his 1300 Fiesta. The car had been very slow at Thruxton and Oulton. However, after a lot of head scratching and burning midnight oil some extra horses had been found. This moved Neil ahead 0f class rival in qualifying. Neil got a good start and was drawing ahead of Brian when his similar Fiesta has an engine failure on the last lap. June 25 Neil racing at Snetterton this weekend Just the Fiesta this weekend. Lots of work on the engine (1300 this season) since the last race at Thruxon so we are hopeful of a better run. Lets see! Its a double header, with a races on Saturday and Sunday. Click here for Timetable June 24 Land Rover Experience Went on a Land Rover Experience session this morning. Drove a Discovery, although I have no plans to buy one, just maybe a Freelander? It was dry of course, which was a shame, but neverless it was a super experience. What a vehicle, such a shame that 99% of them never get to do what they were designed for! It was very electronic, sensing this that and the other, adjusting ride height, diffs power steering brakes, throttle and goodness what else. If you wanted to go somewhere in it you just pointed the thing at it, drove slowly towards it and up it went. Mount Everest? No problem? The people were nice, great fun. Today came couresey of Land Rover after I bitched about their s****y dealer. Next week we are going back to try a Freelander, courtesey of the s****y dealer! June 22 Taken the feeds to the blog and Twitter out of the main site The main site had become very slow to load. Problem seemd to have been the RSS feeds to this Blog and Twitter. I think the problem lies with Feedzilla, the RSS feed reader. This isn't the first time we have had this problem and the only way out was to patch the feeds out. So to goto the Blog or Twitter you will have to go to them directly. June 15 The new toy
Michael’s new 1933 Short Rad Model Y pictured at The Luton Festival of Transport by Roger Dudley I had wanted one every since going on The Y & C registers 2006 Tour of Holland. I put an ad in the club magazine, it took a year but earlier this month a suitable car came up. Its a Short Rad, built in May 1933, just 10 months after Ford opened their Dagenham factory. It came from East Anglia, arriving in Bedfordshire on a trailer. So far I have been to a family meal in nearby Hockliffe and took it to The Luton Festival of Transport on Sunday. It’s all very basic. 6 volt battery, not even a water temperature gauge. A different sort of challenge! June 04 MG Do at Silverstone 10 – 12 JulyFrom Brian Osborn The Midland Centre will be in attendance at the MGCC’s big Silverstone weekend over 10-12th July 2009. Where they will be looking after the camping and having a stand/table in the main marquee. All our classic car and Old Fart Luncheon Club friends are welcome to drop by and see us or join in our B-B-Q on the Friday evening. A few of our members usually have a moan about the charges, but just have a look at the following comparisons of similar weekend events to see what a bargain it is. Event MG Live* Upton Jazz Fest S’stone Classic Goodwood FoS/Rev 10-12/07 26-28/06 24-26/07 4-5/07 & 18-20/09/09 W/end £28/35(40) £50 advance £83 £103 Fri £15/20(25) £17 £28 £33 Sat £15/20(25) £25 £38 £48 Sun Do £21 £38 £48 Camping £15(20)/tent £20 pp no no Cara/camper £20(25)/van £20 pp *MG prices are:- MGCC members/non members in advance (on day). If interested go to the website www.mglive.com for more info. See you there, Boyce and I will be around and about but mainly at camping control at the General Camping site. May 27 Enfield PageantThe last few years Chris Mike and I have gone with Neil in one of his old Fords and displayed them in the Y&C Register area. With Neil at the Indy 500 this year we went in a daily driver. The weather was good but both the displays and the autojumble get smaller each year. Although smaller the autojumble was quite good quality, with more old stuff and less CCC (Cheap Chinese Crap). No beer tent or Fish and Chip van. Apparantly a load of yobs, who were ther as exhibitors, came out of the beer tent well and truly plastered last year, found the fish and chip van was closing up and set fire to it! Managed to get a job lot of some nice old tyre levers (that I wanted) and a Stenor (which I didn’t as I have one already so it was up for sale but has gone already).
This Borg Warner Torque Converter took me back a few years. Thats where I served my apprentiship and later they funded my higher education. Click here for More Pictures May 26 The Beetles Tyres after the Bovey Trial and adjusting the tracking on the backThe organisers warned that tyres would take a hammering on the flints and stones in Bovey Woods, so I used some re-moulds that were about a quarter worn. For a long time I have noticed that t he tyres wore more on the the inside and this outing proved it. Checking the rear tracking back at Chaos Manor I found about 2 deg toe out. After the adjustments I think its somewhere between 15’ toe out and neutral. Looking at the tyres I used to drive up to Ilkley and back the inside doesn’t look as if its worn more than the outside so it looks like job done. Regarding the Bovey, good day, we will be back next year to destroy another set of re-moulds.
These Motorway remoulds were about a quarter worn . This is what they were like after driving down to Devon, doing the trial and driving back. The inside tread has gone, thanks to all that toe out. Below you can see the chunks of rubber torn from the treads on the flints and stones. Wonder if this would have happened to new tyres?
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