Article by Paul Moakes

For the 12th round of the TVRCC Speed Championship the intrepid tvr’s set out for the infamous and desolate Brecon Beacons. This was first time out at the Epynt Hill climb for the tvr’s and only the second year for the event.   Just eight tivs decided to try out this new venue with 3 V8S’s, 2 Chimaeras, a Griff, a Vixen and Paul Edwards’ T350.

The weather was kind but typical for Wales; (it’s usually wet in the West remember) so starting off grey and windy was not a surprise to those familiar with the principality. It did however stay dry but oh was it windy, certainly not a day for shorts and t-shirts!

The course was just over a mile long and part of a longer special rally stage, hence an entry list made up predominantly of stage rally cars; other rally clues were that no-one seemed bothered in the slightest by the sheep wandering around the course or by the spectators stood at the side of the roads we were racing on!

A large part of the notes provided by the Brecon Motor Club consisted of restrictions and rules and regulations as this event took place on MOD land.   Consequently we were strictly advised not to wander, not to stop the car, and to stick to the speed limits at all times.  These rules were soon tested as we discovered the paddock was some 6 miles off the main road - we did wonder if we’d missed a turning!  Also novel was the ‘return road’; this was at least 4 miles long, in fact, so long I wondered if Alan Bankhurst’s fuel tank would hold sufficient to get him back to the paddock. Certainly if we include this event in the calendar next year, and all the guys I talked with had a great time, we'll need to consider extra jerry cans!

Anyway, the Brecon virgins were off last as seems the norm, ala Loton Park, with the organisers hoping to get through 3 practices and 2 competition runs. However, no sooner had we got going than Alan’s luck ran out again as he sheared a front suspension trunion just 50 yards from the finish line.  To have some many mishaps in one season, Alan must be exactly the same age and star sign as Hillary Clinton.  The time taken to recover Alan’s car on the flat bed truck brought to an abrupt end any hope of 3 practice runs; also of course, Alan’s journey home started earlier than planned.

Fastest first practice was Paul Edwards in his T350 some 3 seconds clear of Steve Lyle; only these two were under the 70 second barrier, and this despite Paul’s anxiety that ‘he was running on 5’ or was it just a ruse?

The second practice run went through without incident thankfully with Alan Davies joining the other two lads under 70 seconds. John Carter bettered his first run by some 5 seconds but still was unhappy with his time with Dave Wilkins beating his first run by some 8 seconds.

So, lots of contemplation and consideration over a short lunch break and on with the action and the serious stuff.  Second up the hill was now Steve Lyle and he must have been really trying to lodge a ‘fast one’ as he totally missed the right-hander just before the finish line and scattered barriers, spectators and marshals as he missed the corner by ‘about a hundred yards’ he told me on his return to the paddock. Thankfully no damage and all resting on the final run for Steve.  Pete (roofs are for wimps) Watson limped back to the paddock with a ‘noise’ from the front nearside wheel. Pete did say he had "not quite" stayed on the tarmac towards the end of his run and on further inspection discovered his brief excursion into the scenery had resulted in two large dents to the inside of the wheel with the lead weights on the outside now rubbing on the brake calliper! With help from John Carter and a few others we convinced Pete the car was fine to give it a go for the final run. Paul Moakes managed to wipe off nearly 3 seconds in his third run and Paul Edwards pushed his time down to 64 and a bit seconds with Hugh, Pete and John really trying to catch him.

The final run passed without incident with most lads not quite matching the times of their third runs, nothing we could really explain, the exception being Pete Watson who took a further two seconds off his time to post his best of the day. Steve Lyle posted a great time of 67.11 on his last run, which was good enough to make him runner-up when the handicaps were applied. Paul Edwards and the T350 came third on handicap (but was fastest up the hill at 64.11) but the top prize and winner of the day on handicap was Alan Davies, just 0.57s ahead of Steve and a further 0.71s ahead of Paul Edwards.

As we awaited the awards we all stood around agreeing we’d had a great day on a new hill, our enjoyment further enhanced by some unexpected dry Welsh weather.  A return in 2009 seems on the cards.

Full and detailed results can be seen on our website
http://www.tvrspeedchampionship.co.uk/