Article by Simon Smith

On Easter Sunday our thoughts turned to whether or not the next day’s sprint would take place, as most of us in the north were snowed-in. The forecast left as much to the imagination as usual so the brave and faithful braced themselves for a risky trip up the M1. As things turned out the sun shone brightly from daybreak and lulled us in to a false sense of security.

With the rituals of setting up camp in the pits area completed and extraneous items removed from the cars it was time for scrutineering, always a worrying time as each scrutineer has their own foibles, however nothing to worry about this time. With 174 cars to inspect, 11 of which were Trev’s, in a short space of time Darlington & District MC did a stalwort job. The tvr speed championship now contended by nearly 50 drivers shows how popular the sport has become. After all, it is a comparatively low cost and low risk form of motorsport that can be entered with a pretty standard car.

So with that number of cars to get started the waiting time for our slot was going to be considerable, not helped by a timing fault that delayed proceedings by about 20 minutes. So at about 11.30 our band of heroes lined up with blizzards now crossing the track for 1st practice. That’s when the fun started, with the wind providing a chill factor of about -20 degrees, tyres turned into lumps of wood and provided as much grip, as we found out at the 1st corner.

A long blast away from the start line gave an entry speed far too quick for the conditions and the slightest application of brakes removed what grip there was providing trouser warming moments for most of us.

Croft is a very quick track and took bravery to traverse at anything more than a sedate pace in the conditions, especially for us 1st timers, Matthew Oakley proving the exception to the rule putting in a first qualifying run some 5 seconds quicker than anyone else in our group could muster (a lifetime in sprinting).  Unfortunately he just got quicker as the day progressed and we could only put some of his speed down to the car, the rest was a master class in driving.  The only entry that could have given him a run for his money was Simon Cole (last year’s champion) who withdrew due to Rally commitments on the same weekend. However he did come and provide moral support, his exploits into the rally scene not quite as rewarding from a result point of view as he came 6th out of a class of 12 and collected front & rear damage to his BMW at the same time.  Still the rally world has yet to see his full potential.

More excitement ensued when the timing gremlins re-occurred with further delays to the proceedings.  It was decided to run the timed runs proper using a mathematical equation to correct the timing as the clocks were running 40 seconds out, no 30 seconds out, no make that 51 seconds out!  We were all confused at this stage, as sprinting is all about split second timing.  It was decided to seek guidance from coordinator Steve Cox who was nice and warm at home down south. A resolution was thrashed out that also enabled our handicap system to be applied and results were declared by e-mail later that day.

Stories from the day (in finish order):-
Mathew Oakley (Griff 500) proved pretty boring, had no reportable incidents and just got quicker.
Mike Roe (Vixen S4) apart from a lack of grip and running out of polish had a good day.
Stewart Lobley (Vixen S4) suffered half spins but managed to hold on for a good result.
Ian Bannister (3000S) had to take the bravery award for driving to and from the event with no roof on!! That’s tough for you.
Steve Dennis (Vixen S2) was suffering from a bad case of man flu, his car was also under the weather and ran out of sparks on the last run (alternator problem), all that engine management I suspect, thought Vixens were simple!
Jeff Allan (Cerbera 4.5) was having a pretty trouble free day until the last run where he spun to a halt and had to restart the engine whist in a compromising position (just off the track!).
Simon Smith, that’s me (Beautiful Tamora 3.6) Apart from a couple tank slappers and having to run with the roof down (because I couldn’t get my helmet on! Duh) had a great day coming second to Matthew on pure time, still 8.49 seconds away from the master, still he and I were the only ones to break the 100 second barrier.
Steve Broscombe (T350) ran well and was too close for comfort.
Peter Watson (Griff 4.6) had an off during 2nd practice but wrung all he could from his steed his times within a second or two all day.
Dave Chant (Tasmin racer) A sprinting virgin, wondered what was going on as his car wouldn’t handle like he wanted it to (something to do with the sub zero temps. perhaps).
Dave Wilkins (Best Chimera award 2007) went grass cutting once more and picked up a fail on 2nd practice but put in two times within a second of one another.
Roger Carden (3000M) was out in the car for the 1st time, no really, it had not turned a wheel until sprint day after a 18 month rebuild from a ‘pile of bits’, still the end result looked well with only an annoying fuel starvation marring practice sessions. This was cured when the fuel return pipe was restricted with a cable tie (must trim the tail off for a proper job).

Roll on round 3 Loton Park!

Happy Sprinting,

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