Article by Jes Firth

On March 8th the regs and confirmation of the entry for the first event at North Weald dropped through the letter box.  The atmosphere in our household was great after a winter of preparation.  I showed the regs to my wife, my children, my wife again, then my children, even to the dog but by 9.00am the whole family was sick of me and I was sent to work.  Once in the office, the emails started flying round on the Speed Championship chat group; we were like small children the day before Christmas, the excitement was palpable.

The documents confirmed that there were 12 tvrs entered with Geoff Stallard’s Vixen, Aidan McConnons V8M, the Chimaeras of the Blacklees, Dave Jenkins, Hugh Davies and Mike Horn, Adrian and Jackie’s double driven Griff 500 complete with new engine, Coxy’s newly fettled V8S 500 and John Wilson’s and my matching Cerbs.  One disappointment was that none of this year’s new entrants managed to get an entry mainly because these events are heavily over-subscribed and you have to put in your entry as soon as they are released.

We were lucky that the event ran at all - Epping Forest Council had decided that North Weald market should run on Saturdays and Sundays and motorsport was to be cancelled completely.  However, through the hard work of our long-term friend Neil Benfield from Borough 19 Motor Club, the venue was saved and we went out to play after all. 

On paper most of us (except for Adrian) thought it was a different course using no parts of the old one.  Not for the first time though Adrian was right and everybody else was wrong; the course wasn’t different it’s the same but different if you get my meaning.

The 1.7km run commences with a short blast off the start line through a gentle left and brake hard into a right between the cones, drag the car further to the right to get a good line and turn left onto the runway.  This early part of the course is ideal for the lighter more nimble cars such as Geoff’s Vixen.  Then it’s foot to the floor for 400m and then jab the brakes, over the bumps before a long left hander and fight the steering wheel as the car jumps all over the place over the uneven surface.  The final element of the course is straight line grunt in first, second and third with heavy braking for the 2 180 degree turns around the cones and a blast through the finish line.  This latter part of the course would favour the more powerful cars.

Worryingly, the boundary fence was alarmingly close to the finish, which resulted in many of us backing off before the finish line to be sure of stopping in time on the first practice run!

This event is fantastic because it is an airfield with literally acres of run off so you can be utterly brutal with the car really pushing the limits without the fear of hitting something solid if you spin off.

A new course is always a great leveller and this was no exception with the cars tightly bunched during both the practice runs.  Coxy’s lunchtime check of the handicaps revealed that it would be a very close result.

The day wasn’t without incident.  Aidan had to be rescued by the RAC on the motorway before even arriving at the event, but they miraculously fitted a new rocker cover gasket enabling him to arrive on time.  Once he got to the event he had further engine gremlins but managed to complete his runs anyway.

My cooling system header tank developed a leak and David Jenkins spent an hour between runs trying to correct my mistakes as I panicked trying to fix it.  Dave is a great mechanic without whom I suspect many of us would never finish an event.  My starter motor then died giving the rest of the tvr guys plenty of exercise as they bump started my car for each run.

Coxy’s newly rebuilt engine had a tantrum and was not keen to rev properly.  Despite this he put in some quick times in practice and remained head to head with his old adversary Adrian.

The new course caused more than a little confusion with people overshooting the braking points and some of our number, the Ide Hill mob mostly, even using reverse on occasion.  There is a rumour that Mr Wilson may be trying out the autotest at Abingdon instead of the sprint.

In the afternoon the times continued to tumble as everyone got to grips with the new layout.  The results at this stage were just too close to call with an incredible battle for second place with 5 cars separated by just over 0.5 second.  Formula 1 eat your heart out. 

At the end of the day, I took the win on handicap with John Wilson, last years novice champion, 2nd in his Cerb.  Nick Blacklee was 3rd beating his father in his own car-never a popular move, Coxy was 4th, complete with a sick engine, and Mike Horn put in a career best by taking his first gong for 5th place.  Mike’s new Nitrons and the winter set up by Topcats Racing really seems to have paid dividends.

Adrian was 6th and Geoff did well to come 7th on a circuit that favours the more powerful cars.  Dave and Hugh were 0.1 sec apart in 8th and 9th  hotly pursued by Richard Blacklee.  Jackie continues to get quicker at every event and seems to be enjoying the additional power available from Adrian’s new engine.  Aidan completed the event despite engine problems, which is a significant improvement on 2005 and has plans for many new parts and more fettling before the next round.

It was good to see a number of potential new competitors who came along to meet the members of our kindergarten, chat about cars and see how the day runs.  Top Tip.  As soon as the event entry forms drop through the letter box, fill them in and get them posted to be sure of a place.

All in all it was a fantastic day’s motorsport.  We are all looking forward to Round 2 at Longcross on 23rd April.

Coxy’s footnote:
There was one other highlight on the day for me; Jes beat all 15 Ferraris, and John Wilson and I beat all but two.  You’ve got to smile.