Classical Gas

What to do the day before the Ilkley Trial?

Bad News and Good News (I hope it is!)

Kensworth is off this weekend

Snouts in the Trough - The Wicked Witch has Published her Book Today

Biking over Bromham Ridge this Morning

Computers can be irritating!

There's a lot happening this weekend

Ilkley Classic Trial - Entry List now available

Here it is!

Michael has a new Trials Car!

A busy day at Chaos Manor

More Stoneleigh Stuff

Stoneleigh Kit Car Show - The Tempest is Back

Bovey Downs Trial Notes from Anne Whellock

Added more Snetterton Pictures

Snetterton Report Finished

Snetterton Pictures

Draft Snetterton Group 1 Report

Draft Snetterton PHTC report

Brıan Stevens takes another wın ın Group 1

Photo Album: Worth Valley Railway 17 May 2006

Photo Album: Blog Images

Photo Album: Stoneleigh Kit Car Show 4 May 2008

Photo Album: Alistair Bray Testing his Junior Rotax Tony Kart at Rye House on 2 April 2008

Photo Album: Edlesborough Trial 30 March 2008

Photo Album: Sweden in the snow March 2008

Photo Album: Stoneleigh Historic Motorsport Show 14 March 2008

Photo Album: March Hare Trial 9 March 2008

Photo Album: Northern Trial 16 February 2008

Photo Album: Karting at Wilton Mill 11 Feb 2008

Photo Album: Cotswold Clouds 3 Feb 2008 by Claire Oakes

Photo Album: Clee Hills Trial 20 January 2008

Photo Album: Autosport International Show Birmingham NEC 11 January 2008

Photo Album: Blog Images

Photo Album: Clearing the fallen tree at Brickhill 16 December 2007

Pole sitter Brian Stevens had a narrow win in a closely fought PHTC race, coming over the line just in front of Nigel Garrett. David Howard had dominated the early stages of the race, despite a poor start. However, Brian slowly closed the gap until they had a coming together at the chicane, resulting in David spinning off. Neil finished seventh, dropping back a couple of places after he to spun at the chicane.

Sat, 17 May 2008 17:42:02 GMT

Visit the Worth Valley Railway, made famous by "The Railway Children" and take in the 40's weekend at Haworth.

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Fri, 16 May 2008 20:43:40 GMT

I am already up in Yorkshire ready for the Ilkley on Sunday
I have my MacBook with me and the hotel has free WiFi

Thu, 15 May 2008 21:27:25 GMT

Just heard from Mike Hayward that Falcons Autotest planned for Kensworth this Sunday will not take place.

Thu, 15 May 2008 09:38:27 GMT

Amazon.co.uk: Speaking for Myself: Cherie Blair: Books

Wed, 14 May 2008 11:43:50 GMT

About two miles away from home. Lots of Oil Seed Rape and nesting Skylarks in the fields. I have worked out a route of about seven or eight miles with 80% off road. Some of its a bit rough so it takes just over an hour. Had a variation this morning as I would like to expand it to about 15 miles with alternatives possible.

Wed, 14 May 2008 10:57:48 GMT

OK, I guess many of you came to that conclusion a long time ago! The situation is that the new Dell at Chaos Manor is functioning OK after the Raid 1 drama. In fact it seems to a very nice computer, but....

It has Vista of course, which I like. Lots of ways to personalise it, including being able to set a nice display of your pictures as a screen saver. But I have found when I use this the sleep feature doesn't function. That's important as I am one of these people who doesn't switch their computer off, so I rely on "sleep" to make some modest energy savings! Searched all over the net and discovered that's one of the joys of Vista!

My MacBook allows you to use photos from your hard drive as an ever changing desktop. But that doesn't seem available in Vista.

Tue, 13 May 2008 20:58:52 GMT

Falcons Autotest at Kensworth
Neil racing with CTCRC at Mallory
Ilkley Classic Trial

I will be driving on the Ilkley. However, with the hope of technology, and my mates, I should be able to report on all three.

Not sure about live reports though as last time I tried it it didn't work!

Sat, 10 May 2008 22:16:45 GMT

Click here for Ilkley Classic Trial Entry List (may take time to load)

Fri, 09 May 2008 06:07:47 GMT

Hadn't actually decided when this picture was taken but a few minutes later and the deal was done. Many thanks to Don Stringer for coming up to Yorkshire and looking at it with me. It's still there at the moment so I have to sort getting it back to Chaos Manor. Hasn't been used for six or seven years so will need a good check over.

Thu, 08 May 2008 20:06:03 GMT

Its an Austin Seven. More soon.

Wed, 07 May 2008 18:13:09 GMT

The plan had been to take an early morning bike ride. Started biking again yesterday. A nice eight mile route along Bromham ridge and back through Stagsden. All but a couple of miles off road. There was to be no biking this morning though.

It all started to go wrong on Tuesday night when there was a power cut from around 9pm through to the early hours. Restarting the computers, yes there is more than one here now, I immediately noticed the the Raid on the new Dell wasn't initialising.

OK lets talk about Raid. I specified Raid 1 on the new Dell. It has two 750GB hard drives that Mirror each other. So if one goes down you can just carry on working using the one remaining as they are exact copies. Then when you fit a replacement drive it rebuilds the data on the replacement, from the good one, all by itself.

Back to this morning. What to do? Answer panic! Looking at the Disks I could see that both were there, working and apparently OK. call Dell. Lets start with the weather. "It's always Sunny here in Bangalore". OK sarcasm aside I have found Dells Phone Support un-failing helpful. I gave them remote access to the computer and they checked everything and said it was OK.

But no Raid 1! They said that the Hitachi Drives should rebuild themselves and they would ring in two days to see all was well. The computer still worked so lets try. The drives churned away, the disc light flashed and three hours later it initialised the Raid configuration and all seems to be well.

I can only think that the power outage sparked some data loss, Raid 1 recognised it and set to work. nervy time though. I think I will invest in a UPS and a 1 TB USB Drive to provide extra insurance.

No biking tomorrow. I am off to Yorkshire to look at a possible new trials car!!

Wed, 07 May 2008 06:19:21 GMT

Had a note from Brian Colman which I am sure he won't mind me publishing here:-

John Rhodes and I were at Stoneleigh too yesterday - but in my yellow Caterham, rather than the Yeller Dutton. It cruises a little faster and more comfortably!

We too saw the Tempest, but didn't actually realise it was back in production. We spent a little longer looking at the Chinese made off-roader on the Pipercross stand - road legal, loads of suspension travel . . . but which class would it go into? Not a special in the true sense as I bet they've made 100's of them worldwide, and probably not quite a production car . . .

You weren't looking hard enough at the Marlin club stand - or at the wrong time. There was a red Marlin, complete with 14" wheels, body damage, jacked up suspension and loads of dried on mud under the arches, towing a rolling chassis/body on 13" wheels which was for sale . . . John likes the idea of doors, so we looked at it, but not very hard. Now if only I was allowed to use a Ford axle . . .

Did you spot the RS200 replicas outside - a sawn off Subaru Impreza with GRP bits stuck on top. Not too sure about the engineering in that one, so we moved swiftly on, straight past the four quid for a baguette stands - it's the first time I've know John baulk at buying food ;-)

I first went to the show about 20 yrs ago - and the main row of sheds was FULL all the way down - although the custom vans right at the bottom weren't quite my thing then - or now! Either I've grown up, or I've too much junk already, but I find I don't need to look in every box on every stand anymore - still, a relatively good day out - only rained on the way home and we were travelling fast enough for it to go over head.

Sun, 04 May 2008 16:26:31 GMT

Mike Hayward talking to John Melody who has bought the rights for the Tempest. He has all the jigs and moulds and a stock of brand new, galvenised Kitten chassis! Click Here for the new Tempest Website.

The show didn't seem as comprehensive as in the past. Not so many cars and far fewer trade and autojumble stands.

Only trials cars I saw were the Leiges which were in one of the covered areas. At least six so I guess there was a Legion of Leige's!

Lots of Marlins but no trials versions although I did meet Mike Hobbs brother who is a regular marshal at the foot of Axe.

More pictures below or Click Here for the full Stoneleigh Photo Album.

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Fri, 02 May 2008 11:48:42 GMT

39 entries. Four withdrew before the closing date due to various post Lands End, Kyrle maladies. So 35 entrants representing a good range of novice, expert, saloon and sports cars enjoyed a day out in the woods. The weather was kind to us and only rained at the end on those who were loading up their trials cars on to trailers for the journey home. Tim Whellock showed he still has a competitive streak left and took the overall win. Dudley Sterry won Class 8. He lost one of the blower belts on flint ridden Marilyn. Time for some new belts!

Roger Ugalde also still has a competitive streak and won Class 7 in the Allard J1. Mark Wills from Leicester in a Marlin came fourth overall and highest scoring novice. Mark's experience of driving classic trials amounts to 3 MCC trials when he has managed to get a finisher's certificate on all three. Class 1 was won by local man Nick Cleal in a Peugeot 205. Another local - Nick Farmer took Class 3 in his BMW318is hotly pursued by Terry Flay in Emma's Escort and Simon Groves.

Tony Lee won Class 4 in a VW Beetle. Tony's first trial. And Brian Alexander abandoned his Fiat to take Class 5 in a Suzuki X90.

Windwhistle Motor Club would like to thank all entrants for their support. And all marshals for their diligence. 26 sections for £25.00 must be the bargain of the year.

If anyone has any photos perhaps they could send some in to Pat Toulmin for Restart magazine.

Click here for Full Results

Videos found on YouTube Click here for the playlist where you can read notes etc

Thu, 01 May 2008 10:36:54 GMT

Alistair's Post Historic and Group 1 Pictures added. Click Here to see them

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:06:30 GMT

Click here for Snetterton Report

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 18:02:07 GMT

Click Here

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 07:48:14 GMT

Brian makes it Two

Brian Stevens won a rain influenced Group 1 race from Roger Stanford’s BMW after challengers Jim McLouglin, Mark Fowler and David Howard fell out or fell back. Neil was the only starter in his class, finishing seventh overall after overtaking faster cars when the rain came down.

There was rain in the air as Group 1 gathered in the assembly area. Neverless it was still dry when the lights went out and Jim McLoughlin stormed into the lead from his second row slot. It wasn’t too last as Jim’s Capri first slowed, then pulled off, at The Esses. So it was the two mighty Jaguar XJ12’s of Brian Stevens and David Howard that thundered past the line at the end of the first lap. Doubtless both hoping they could avoid contact this time! They were followed by Mark Fowler, his Capri flying as usual; Roger Stanford, back in his 2 litre BMW and Adrian Fuller, returning to the circuits after a break with a real tiger in his Capri’s tank.

The Capri’s of David’s Weir and Margalies had both started at the back of the grid. David Margalies after problems during qualifying and David Weir as he had too work on Saturday. They were both flying and carving their way through the field, David Margalies getting up to seventh at the end of the first lap, just in front of Neil.

It was clear that Brian Stevens’ XJ12 was faster in a straight line than David Howard’s, but the man from Newbury managed to get by under braking and take the lead on the second lap. This made the order Howard (XJ12) - Stevens (XJ12) - Fowler (Capri) - Stanford (BMW 2002) - Fuller (Capri) - Hickton (Opel Asona) - Margalies (Capri) - Roper (Rover Vitesse) - Weir (Capri) - Bray (Fiesta) - Jenkins (BMW CSL).

Neil had slipped further back and was now in tenth as first David Weir’s Capri, then Alan Ropers Rover Vitessse powered past the Fiesta. By lap five David Margalies had pulled into the pits to retire and William Jenkins had slipped his BMW CSL by Neil. Up at the front Mark Fowler had briefly taken over in second place, but only for a lap before Brian Stevens retook the place.

Then half way trough the race it started to spit with rain and lap times started to slow. The slippery conditions allowed Neil to pass both Alan Roper and David Weir and he gained another place when William spun his beautiful BMW. He wasn’t the only one who couldn’t keep it on the island. David Howard gave way to Brian Stevens pressure and spun at the Russell chicane. The slippery conditions also played into the hands of Roger Stanford who passed Mark Folwer to take second place. David Howard regained the circuit to cross the line in fourth place. Then came Adrian Fuller, who had dropped back when the rain came. David Hickton bought his Opel Ascona home on sixth after a lonely race. Neil ended up in seventh. If only it had rained sooner as he was the second fastest car on the track once the rain came down!

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 06:41:50 GMT

David Howard didn’t get away from the grid very well, but still took the lead during the first lap. David’s XJ12 was going much better, after he found a rag that he had put into the carbs to keep the water out at the Jet Wash! At the end of the first lap the order was David Howard (Jaguar XJ12), Brian Stevens (Jaguar XJ12), Nigel Garrett (Dolomite Sprint), Tony Crudgington (Dolomite Sprint), Steve Primett (Escort RS2000), Neil Bray (Ford Capri), Mark Lucock (RS 2000), Roger Stanford (Lotus Cortina), Len Allgood (Escort RS2000), Mark Osborne (Dolomote Sprint).

Steve Primett was fortunate to be there, as he had lost 3rd and 4th gear in practice. Steve was pretty annoyed about this as he had just paid for an expensive rebuild to the box after Lydden. However, Jason Christie lent him his spare so Steve could take his place on the grid. It was nice to see Jason back on the circuit, debuting his very smart silver and blue RS2000, more or less a new car after his accident at Donnington back in 2006. Brother James wasn’t so lucky, as his Avengers head gasket went in qualifying. The same fate befell Tony Crates’ Lotus Cortina and neither started.

By lap five Brian Stevens was right on David Howards tail. Coming into the chicane they were side by side. They touched and David ended up sideways across the track, restarting behind Roger Stanford.

The order was now Stevens, Garrett, Primett (who had passed Tony Crudgington on lap 4), Crudgington, Bray, Lucock, Stanford, Howard, Allgood, Jenkins. Things didn’t stay that way for long, as the next lap Neil went wide at the chicane and went on the grass. This allowed Mark Lucock past but suddenly he was out when a new clutch cable parted.

David Howard was wound up again, passing Roger Stanford and then catching both Neil and Jason Christie to finish fifth. Up front Brian Stevens won, but only just, as the neat and tidy Nigel Garrett had started to pull alongside as they crossed the line. Steve Primett was third, happy his borrowed box had stayed together. Steve was only just ahead of Tony Crudgington, another whose mechanical luck hasn't been good lately. Then came David Howard in 5th, Jason Christie 6th, Neil 7th Roger Stanford 8th, Len Allgood 9th, William Jenkins 10th.

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 14:01:30 GMT

1. Brıan Stevens XJ12
2. Roger Stanford BMW
3. Mark Fowler Caprı
4. Davıd Howard XJ12
5. Adrıan Fuller Caprı
6. Davıd Hıckton Opel Ascona
7. Neıl Bray Fıesta
8. Davıd Weır Caprı
9. Alan Roper Rover
10. Tım SA Rover

Sat, 17 May 2008 17:34:49 GMT

Worth Valley Railway 17 May 2006

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Wed, 14 May 2008 11:36:47 GMT

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Sun, 04 May 2008 16:23:05 GMT

Stoneleigh Kit Car Show 4 May 2008

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Thu, 03 Apr 2008 11:14:18 GMT

Alistair Bray Testing his Junior Rotax Tony Kart at Rye House on 2 April 2008

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Tue, 01 Apr 2008 15:28:49 GMT

Edlesborough Trial 30 March 2008

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Fri, 21 Mar 2008 07:39:38 GMT

Sweden in the snow March 2008

Back home the stream was running high

Over in Sweden there was no snow on the road but plenty in the fields

Thats the Passat hire car outside the hotel the next mrning

Studded tyres

Lets skip the work bit. Concentrating on the way back to the airport

It started to snow

Dump the car and get inside.

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 17:34:30 GMT

Stoneleigh Historic Motorsport Show 14 March 2008

Richard Neil and Adrian on the CTCRC stand

Julie and Verdun looking round the show after setting up the rally stage

Neil with good old Number Two

Duncan Stephens Crossle complete with bent side member

Nice Norton Chair

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 19:05:27 GMT

March Hare Trial 9 March 2008

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Mon, 18 Feb 2008 14:36:51 GMT

Northern Trial 16 February 2008

Thomas Aldrian working on his carb

Harvey Waters clearing Widow Hause. The reverse back down was rather hairy and Edward Broom was one coming close to rolling over

Chris still on Gate Duty

Beetles at Rest before the final round of forest sections

Tony Young exiting Lowthwaite Side

Thomas Aldrian on Lowthwaite Side

Overall winner Giles Greenslade exits Lowthwaite Side

Tony Young on Lowthwaite Side

Michael at Bassenthwaite Lake

Hal Branson talking to Jonathan Toulmin with Tony behind

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Thu, 14 Feb 2008 22:09:59 GMT

Karting at Wilton Mill 11 Feb 2008

Jade checking the tyre pressures on Alistairs Kart

Alistair offers Neil some advise

Jade checking out Alistairs Kart

Neil on a Pro Kart with two Honda engines

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Jade and Alistair

Father and son

Alistair on his Junior Rotax Kosmic Kart

Alistair coming into the pits

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Sat, 09 Feb 2008 09:09:08 GMT

Cotswold Clouds 3 Feb 2008 by Claire Oakes

Waiting for Godot

Hold control at Crooked Mustard. As you will see Michael, it was a long queue & wait.From here to the next section "Axe" took 1 hour 30 min's. Also here we saw for the first time a road sweeping vehicle that cleaned after each section. What a brilliant idea to keep the locals happy

Ham Mill holding control

Nicola Wainwright deservedly still looking pleased with her self at Nailsworth Ladder hold control after clearing Crooked Mustard

Simon Groves in fine form

Station Lane. After nearly an hour wait, we attempted the last two sections in the last glimmer of day light. Goodness knows what it was like for the latter cars, as personally I think these two hills are not safe for night driving. I found it difficult to follow the track in the little light we had. In the picture out of shot is Peter Mountains damaged front off side wing. We collected injurers to our rear near side wing, on Station Lane or Cowcombe

Sticker Martin up the creak without a paddle at New Sawmills, until help arrived. We saw Sticker at Wicked Juniper just after he had completed an hour repairs to the anti-roll bar. So, I was astonished to see him at Station Lane when he said the crown wheel was broken. You will hear why I was amazed if you look at " You Tube " The Ford Escort sounded like a steam train in a shunting yard!

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 09:44:49 GMT

Clee Hills Trial 20 January 2008

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Mon, 14 Jan 2008 20:41:11 GMT

Autosport International Show Birmingham NEC 11 January 2008

Tony Crudgington's Dolomite in a special edition of Motorsport News

Michael and Tony Crudgingtons Dolomite

Alistair and Neil talk Tracking Gauges

Love the Blower

Shame their isn't more ground clearance

Alistairs Shrunk

Lands End Trial anyone

Sun, 13 Jan 2008 21:06:20 GMT

Blog Images

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Sun, 16 Dec 2007 23:38:13 GMT

Clearing the fallen tree at Brickhill 16 December 2007

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The Landrover was there setting up for a 4x4 event the next day. Tim was an ex-SODC member and helped drag the logs out. 15122007(010).jpg

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