Web site updates
12/01/07 20:29
On updating to the latest version of Rapidweaver, some of the web site became corrupted.
I think I have now fixed all the pages.
In the near future I intend to rebuild the web site to make navigation a little easier (even I can't navigate to some of the pages)!
My 1957 Triang 'Monte-Carlo' pedal car and my Brother's Triang 'Crusader'
I think I have now fixed all the pages.
In the near future I intend to rebuild the web site to make navigation a little easier (even I can't navigate to some of the pages)!
My 1957 Triang 'Monte-Carlo' pedal car and my Brother's Triang 'Crusader'
Forrestburn Hillclimb
03/07/06 10:34
Yesterday was the Monklands Sporting Car Club's Forrestburn Hillclimb.
The sun was shining brightly as we arrived, unloaded the cars and walked the track.
Whilst walking the track, I was speaking to one of the visiting drivers who was competing in the Northern Speed Championship.
He mentioned that they had had excellent weather at most of the events this year and that it looked like it would be another such day....
I forewarned him that Forrestburn acts as a weather magnet and looks could be deceptive.
Right enough - as the first cars prepared to practice the rain appeared from nowhere, soon the track was very wet.
The rain eased as the single seaters went out but it was pretty damp.
Photo: http://myles.fotopic.net/
For the second practice some of the single seater drivers switched to wet tyres as it was a bit wetter.
I stuck with the slicks as they appeared to have a reasonable amount of grip on the first run.
I improved my time by 3 seconds and did not appear to be at a disadvantage to the drivers who had switched to 'wets'.
Lunch was called and the rain duly stopped. On walking the track after lunch, the track was virtually dry.
The first timed runs got underway and it was clear that the track was fully dry as the times started to tumble.
The road and modified classes ran first and Gary Dickson put in a blistering time of 46.74 seconds, with his road-going Westfield, to better his existing record.
As the Sports Libre and single seater race cars lined up on the pit road, there were a few drops of rain, and by the time the cars came to the start line, it was raining heavily with thunder and lightning.
Needless to say, I drove up the hill very slowly as I could hardly see where I was going and the track was a lot wetter than before.
The rain never ceased after that so I called it a day and put the car back on the trailer.
Gary Dickson's first run gave him his first hillclimb FTD (Fastest Time of the Day)
Well done Gary!
Gary Dickson on his way to FTD
Photo: http://myles.fotopic.net/
The sun was shining brightly as we arrived, unloaded the cars and walked the track.
Whilst walking the track, I was speaking to one of the visiting drivers who was competing in the Northern Speed Championship.
He mentioned that they had had excellent weather at most of the events this year and that it looked like it would be another such day....
I forewarned him that Forrestburn acts as a weather magnet and looks could be deceptive.
Right enough - as the first cars prepared to practice the rain appeared from nowhere, soon the track was very wet.
The rain eased as the single seaters went out but it was pretty damp.
Photo: http://myles.fotopic.net/
For the second practice some of the single seater drivers switched to wet tyres as it was a bit wetter.
I stuck with the slicks as they appeared to have a reasonable amount of grip on the first run.
I improved my time by 3 seconds and did not appear to be at a disadvantage to the drivers who had switched to 'wets'.
Lunch was called and the rain duly stopped. On walking the track after lunch, the track was virtually dry.
The first timed runs got underway and it was clear that the track was fully dry as the times started to tumble.
The road and modified classes ran first and Gary Dickson put in a blistering time of 46.74 seconds, with his road-going Westfield, to better his existing record.
As the Sports Libre and single seater race cars lined up on the pit road, there were a few drops of rain, and by the time the cars came to the start line, it was raining heavily with thunder and lightning.
Needless to say, I drove up the hill very slowly as I could hardly see where I was going and the track was a lot wetter than before.
The rain never ceased after that so I called it a day and put the car back on the trailer.
Gary Dickson's first run gave him his first hillclimb FTD (Fastest Time of the Day)
Well done Gary!
Gary Dickson on his way to FTD
Photo: http://myles.fotopic.net/
Fastest Time of the Day
29/05/06 16:16
Amazing what the difference a few extra degrees of warmth will make...
On Sunday, at the Wigton Motor Club's sprint meeting at Kames,
my times were some two and a half seconds quicker than my times of the previous week.
The temperature was about 10 degrees warmer which seemed to suit my old tyres (or my old bones!).
Wigton managed to run two practice and four timed runs and were able to finish before 3:30pm - well done.
My time of 79.2 seconds was sufficient to take "Fastest time of the day".
The main opposition was Mark Hemingway in his Force HC single seater but he retired after suffering front aerofoil damage on his first timed run.
Michael Walton was a creditable second place, on his first visit to Kames, with his very early OMS single seater (the version which used Mini hubs).
(Picture by Ian Thomson)
The Hawke DL17 is now 30 years old but still has a bit of useful life left in it.
Several other 'vintage' racing cars were present at Kames - these included Vernon Williamson's Imp Ecosse and his Van Dieman FF1600.
Joe Johnston made his first appearance in another well known sprint/hillclimb car - a Phantom P75 Clubmans which was previously raced by Hugh Denham, Dave Smith and latterly Roy Napier (although it had not been seen on the tracks for several years). The Phantom sounded very crisp but suffered a few teething problems.
I'm sure that Joe will soon get to grips with his new toy.
On Sunday, at the Wigton Motor Club's sprint meeting at Kames,
my times were some two and a half seconds quicker than my times of the previous week.
The temperature was about 10 degrees warmer which seemed to suit my old tyres (or my old bones!).
Wigton managed to run two practice and four timed runs and were able to finish before 3:30pm - well done.
My time of 79.2 seconds was sufficient to take "Fastest time of the day".
The main opposition was Mark Hemingway in his Force HC single seater but he retired after suffering front aerofoil damage on his first timed run.
Michael Walton was a creditable second place, on his first visit to Kames, with his very early OMS single seater (the version which used Mini hubs).
(Picture by Ian Thomson)
The Hawke DL17 is now 30 years old but still has a bit of useful life left in it.
Several other 'vintage' racing cars were present at Kames - these included Vernon Williamson's Imp Ecosse and his Van Dieman FF1600.
Joe Johnston made his first appearance in another well known sprint/hillclimb car - a Phantom P75 Clubmans which was previously raced by Hugh Denham, Dave Smith and latterly Roy Napier (although it had not been seen on the tracks for several years). The Phantom sounded very crisp but suffered a few teething problems.
I'm sure that Joe will soon get to grips with his new toy.
Good & bad results
26/05/06 09:09
First the bad....
At the Fintray Hillclimb on Sat. 13th May, first run, first corner - left the braking a bit late and ended up with my Hawke DL17 taking a rough ride up and over the banking at "ruin" corner.
I damaged both ends of the car so had to use the Hawke DL22 on Sunday. The Sunday event was a lot less dramatic (for me), I was 4th in class and 6th overall.
The next week was spent rebuilding my Hawke DL17. I had to replace most of the rod end joints and mounting bolts in the right-hand rear suspension, and had to fabricate a new front, upper wishbone as well as straightening the front aerofoils.
On 20/21 May, I took the repaired Hawke DL17 to the Kames sprint circuit. The car seemed to handle well (despite the very cold weather).
I was 5th overall on the Saturday and 4th overall on the Sunday. My times were about a second slower than last year but this was down to the very low track temperatures and year old slicks. The DL17 will be running new tyres for the Golspie sprint in two weeks time.
Good news.... After the reasonable showing of the Hawke DL22 at Fintray, I had a call from a fellow competitor and as a result he bought the car last Monday.
The covered race car transporter is progressing, most of the metalwork is in place. Just the rear door and a few fitting to add, then it will be ready for paint before the floors and panelling are added.
At the Fintray Hillclimb on Sat. 13th May, first run, first corner - left the braking a bit late and ended up with my Hawke DL17 taking a rough ride up and over the banking at "ruin" corner.
I damaged both ends of the car so had to use the Hawke DL22 on Sunday. The Sunday event was a lot less dramatic (for me), I was 4th in class and 6th overall.
The next week was spent rebuilding my Hawke DL17. I had to replace most of the rod end joints and mounting bolts in the right-hand rear suspension, and had to fabricate a new front, upper wishbone as well as straightening the front aerofoils.
On 20/21 May, I took the repaired Hawke DL17 to the Kames sprint circuit. The car seemed to handle well (despite the very cold weather).
I was 5th overall on the Saturday and 4th overall on the Sunday. My times were about a second slower than last year but this was down to the very low track temperatures and year old slicks. The DL17 will be running new tyres for the Golspie sprint in two weeks time.
Good news.... After the reasonable showing of the Hawke DL22 at Fintray, I had a call from a fellow competitor and as a result he bought the car last Monday.
The covered race car transporter is progressing, most of the metalwork is in place. Just the rear door and a few fitting to add, then it will be ready for paint before the floors and panelling are added.
Hillclimbing & Sprinting
07/05/06 16:05
The 2006 Speed Hillclimb and Sprint championships are now well under way.
This year I am competing in the Highland Speed Championship and the Northern Speed Championship as well as the Scottish Hillclimb and the Scottish Sprint Championships.
The Northern Speed Championship (north of England that is) has several rounds in southern Scotland.
The first Scottish round was held yesterday at the Knockhill racing circuit in Fife.
The weather was reasonably kind to us - only a very light rain shower before our first timed run, otherwise the track was in great condition.
Due to the excessively long time it took to get through the first practice run - the second practice was cancelled.
One practice and two timed runs is very poor value for money - even more so for drivers who came from as far afield as the south of England.
My Hawke DL17 single seater race car was running very well and I managed to improve my best time by 3 seconds since my last visit.
I had my first sprint outing of the year, at the Teesside Autodrome in Middlesbrough, on the 14th April.
I was using my Hawke DL22 for the first time and managed 4th place overall.
Last week I took part in the Forrestburn Hillclimb and was 3rd overall.
Next weekend it is off to the Fintray Hillclimb (near Aberdeen) for rounds on the Saturday and Sunday.
Workwise, I am still fabricating a covered race car transporter - the basic rolling chassis has been constructed, now needs the deck and superstructure completed.
This year I am competing in the Highland Speed Championship and the Northern Speed Championship as well as the Scottish Hillclimb and the Scottish Sprint Championships.
The Northern Speed Championship (north of England that is) has several rounds in southern Scotland.
The first Scottish round was held yesterday at the Knockhill racing circuit in Fife.
The weather was reasonably kind to us - only a very light rain shower before our first timed run, otherwise the track was in great condition.
Due to the excessively long time it took to get through the first practice run - the second practice was cancelled.
One practice and two timed runs is very poor value for money - even more so for drivers who came from as far afield as the south of England.
My Hawke DL17 single seater race car was running very well and I managed to improve my best time by 3 seconds since my last visit.
I had my first sprint outing of the year, at the Teesside Autodrome in Middlesbrough, on the 14th April.
I was using my Hawke DL22 for the first time and managed 4th place overall.
Last week I took part in the Forrestburn Hillclimb and was 3rd overall.
Next weekend it is off to the Fintray Hillclimb (near Aberdeen) for rounds on the Saturday and Sunday.
Workwise, I am still fabricating a covered race car transporter - the basic rolling chassis has been constructed, now needs the deck and superstructure completed.