MIDDLESEX COUNTY AUTOMOBILE CLUB LTD

MIDDLESEX COUNTY AUTOMOBILE CLUB LTD THE MIDDLESEX MAGAZINE www.mcac.co.uk Volume: ?+4 Issue: 15 November/December 2004 CLUB NIGHT IS EVERY WEDNESDAY AT GERRARDS CROSS SPORTS CLUB 7 Dukes Lane, off Dukes Wood Avenue, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, SL9 7TZ (off the A40, between the pillar box and pedestrian subway opposite The Apple Tree) Map Reference: 176/000875½ Telephone: 01753 886610 ============================================================================ FORTHCOMING EVENTS 24th November 1 December st Club Night Partner’s Club Night Club Night 20.30 NATTER AND NOGGIN. 20.30 PARTNER’S EVENING – TOM’S QUIZ. Tom is scouring the internet for some more quiz questions – but has promised that they will not be too difficult this time! 20.30 NATTER AND NOGGIN. Also, probably, some final preparations for the weekend’s big event at Rockingham Motor Speedway.. 10.00 PREPARATION FOR THE ROCKINGHAM STAGES. Can you help with setting up the stages ready for tomorrow? Your help would be much appreciated – even if you are competing. Pete Farmer (see last page) would like to hear from you. 09.15 ROCKINGHAM STAGES 2004. Our co-promoted event with Thame MSC and the first ever stage rally at the high speed oval. The entry list filled within 7 days and, with 8 stages of 8-9 miles each, we need lots of members to assist. Again Pete Farmer would like to hear from you. 20.30 VIDEO NIGHT. Last chance this year to catch up with the action on the small screen. 8th December 11th December Preparation 12th December Rally 15th December Club Night 1 22nd December Partner’s Christmas Club Night 20.30 CHRISTMAS BUFFET AND SOCIAL EVENING. Our usual pre-Christmas get-together and buffet. John promises the normal excellent buffet and, as usual, the cost is subsidized, so tickets are still only £2.50 each and are available from Tony Phillips. DON’T FORGET TO RETURN YOUR TROPHIES ETC TO JOHN ROSEBLADE! 20.30 NATTER AND NOGGIN. 20.30 PARTNER’S EVENING - THE FIRST CLUB NIGHT OF OUR CENTENARY YEAR - COLIN MCRAE RALLY. Andrew Stacey is bringing along a steering wheel for more authenticity this time around. Try your skill on some of the famous world rally stages. 20.30 NATTER AND NOGGIN. 20.30 VIDEO NIGHT. Get right up to date with the small screen action before the start of this year’s events. 20.00 JANUARY 12-CAR RALLY. We have the date penciled into the calendar, so all we need is a willing volunteer to run the event! Any offers of help to Rob Brook (see last page) as soon as possible. 20.30 NATTER AND NOGGIN. 18.30 CENTENARY DINNER AND PRESENTATION OF AWARDS, with guest speaker Stuart Turner, at the RAC Club, Pall Mall. Almost 130 members, friends and guests have already booked – have you? See separate page. 20.30 PARTNER’S EVENING – HAVE YOU THE KEYS TO THE QUIZ? Another of Chris Keys popular quizzes to keep you amused tonight. 09.00 CENTENARY OAKINGTON STAGES 2004. Back to Oakington for our first stage event of our Centenary year. We need some assistance with the organization - all offers of help gratefully accepted by Rob Brook (see last page). 29th December 5th January 2005 Club Night Partner’s Club Night 12th January 19 January 21st January th Club Night Club Night 12-Car Rally 26th January 29th January Club Night Centenary Dinner 2nd February Partner’s Club Night Rally 6th February ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ S O C I A L Nearly at the end of another year, which means that Christmas Buffet is next month. Again, ticket prices are subsidized, so book your place now. S C E N E full payment (£40.00 members, £60.00 guests) within the next couple of weeks, as we have to advise numbers by the end of November. Please refer to the separate article and ensure that I have your name on the list – and for the right number of tickets. Also, of course, it also means that we are fast approaching our centenary year and the Centenary Dinner (no dancing this year) and Awards Presentation at the RAC Club Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all th on 29 January. If you haven’t already Tony Phillips booked your place, I must have names and ============================================================================ Editor: Chris Keys. Published by MCAC Ltd. St. Joseph’s, Heronsgate, Rickmansworth, Herts. WD3 5DF Printed by RPM Reprographics. Cover: Jon Ralfs. Distribution and Advertising: Tony Phillips MIDDLESEX COUNTY AUTOMOBILE CLUB Ltd. is a member of ACSMC, AEMC, LCAMC & WAMC 2 W H A T ' S O N ? NOVEMBER 20/24th De Lacy MC Roger Albert Clark Rally (I) 25/27th Endurance Rally Association Lombard Revival Rally (I) DECEMBER 5th Oxford MC Carfax Stages, Longcross (B) 2004 MIDDX CAC/THAME MSC ROCKINGHAM STAGES, ROCKINGHAM (B) MIDDX 12th 28th Sutton & Cheam MC Longmoor Loco Stages, Longmoor Camp (B) 2005 JANUARY 2 or 9th Amman & DMC Red Kite Stages (B) WAMc 6/9th Autosport International Racing Car Show (-) 9th Cambridge CC Speedy Hire Cambridge Stages, Oakington (B) AE/LCAMC/Oak 21ST MIDDX COUNTY AC CENTENARY JANUARY 12-CAR RALLY (C) MIDDX 21/23rd AC de Monaco Monte Carlo Rally (I) WRC/JWRC 29TH MIDDX COUNTY AC CENTENARY DINNER CELEBRATION (E) FEBRUARY 6TH MIDDX COUNTY AC CENTENARY OAKINGTON STAGES (B) AE/LC/MX/Oak 11/13th Swedish Rally (I) WRC/PROD 19/20TH MIDDX COUNTY AC CENTENARY VALENTINE SCATTER (E) MIDDX 25/27th Rally of New Zealand (I) WRC MARCH 6th Australian GP (I) WC 11/13th Rally Mexico (I) WRC/JWRC 12/13th Robin Hood Forest Stages (B) BHC 20th Malaysian GP (I) WC 20TH MIDDX CAC/HarrowCC CENTENARY BRAKEFAST AUTOTESTS (B/C) MIDDX APRIL 3rd Bahrain GP (I) WC 8/10th Rally of New Zealand (I) WRC/PROD 9th Astra Historic Stages (B) BHC 9th BRC Live (E) BRC 10th SCCON Skulthorpe Stages (B) 17TH MIDDX COUNTY AC CENTENARY AUTOCROSS (B) MIDDX 17th French GP (I) WC 23/24th International Rally of Wales (I) BRC 24th San Marino GP (I) WC 29/1st Rally Italia Sardinia (I) WRCJWRC 30/1st Welsh Historic Stages (B) BHC MAY 8th Spanish GP (I) WC 13TH MIDDX COUNTY AC CENTENARY MAYHEM 12-CAR RALLY (E) MIDDX 13/15th Cyprus Rally (I) WRC/PROD 20/21st Pirelli International Rally (I) BRC 22nd AC de Monaco Monaco GP (I) WC 27/29th Rally of Turkey (I) WRC/PROD A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all members and friends 3 Ed’s Bit… I told you so. With over 4 weeks left to go, the entry list for the first Rockingham Stages is full. And so are the reserves….. Although I‟m not driving (that bloody 205 will be up and running soon – just a bit of wiring loom splicing left!), I‟ll be sitting alongside Mr Lush on the competition debut of his Toyota Corolla (yes, I know John Williams did 3,745 rallies in it, but it‟s been on a bit of a diet since then) – I can‟t wait. Andy Greenland has been working out every conceivable stage permutation, and he reckons that they should be cracking. If you want to see a bit of history made, come down and help marshal – you‟ll get the best view in the house, and it won‟t cost you a bean to get in….go on, it beats a windy airfield any day! I‟m sure there will be other articles about the event, but for most MCAC crews, the Tempest proved a little too tempestuous – Phil and Martin retired their Impreza WRC on the third stage with a cambelt failure (I understand Dave Richards put a deposit down on a new Aston at hearing the news). Ouch. Guy and Dave retired on the first stage with suspension problems – these were quickly fixed, and they set several fastest stage times, only for them to roll the Mitsi on virtually the last hairpin on the last stage. Ouch Mk2. John and Nigel also went out with suspension problems, after the Mk 1‟s front wheel developed some interesting camber and castor angles. Ouch Mk3. Tom and Rob came over all boat like and got beached for ages, dropping them down to nowhere overall. Not much of an Ouch – more an Oh Arse really. Finally, a good bit of news – Polly and Holly (try and say that after a few) managed to get round without any real problems to grab the best MCAC pot! Well done – see you at the RAC club… (Oh yeah, and if you happen to see Mike Hurst, ask him about the time he nearly went off in front of Martins Lush & Moane and myself – and then ask him about when he did go off later!!). As you are no doubt more than aware, this is the last issue before our Centenary year. With a little over two months until our evening at the RAC, and a very full calendar of events planned for 2005, it should be quite a year….. We have a few articles about the club‟s RAC glory days in the early 70‟s lined up, that I promise you won‟t want to miss – watch this space….. Anyhow, as ever at this time of year, it only leaves me to wish all our members a Merry Christmas and, of course, during our Centenary year a very Happy and Prosperous 2005! P.S. There you go Mr Hopkinson, I never once mentioned your 40th birthday…. Important – PLEASE TAKE NOTE The editorial deadline for the next issue is the first Wednesday in January (so plenty of article writing time over Christmas…). E-mail me at: chris-keys@fsmail.net MCAC Online Shop Don‟t forget the MCAC on online shop - www.buy.at/MCAC. This is a gateway shop, where members clicking on to this address will find a page of online vendors who will donate a commission for all subsequent sales made through the website. This commission will then be passed to the club‟s nominated charity, the Linda Jackson Centre at Mount Vernon Hospital. The list of participating leading retailers is growing rapidly, and includes :Marks and Spencer, Comet, Oddbins, Virgin, Co-op Electricals, Blackwell`s Books, CD-wow, Travelselect & N4Sports 4 Chairmans Corner It‟s that time of the year again! The dark, misty mornings and the murky smokysmelling evenings tell you that autumn is here and, to anyone over about 30, that used to mean RAC Rally time. I used to think that there was a characteristic „RAC smell‟ to the air during the early part of November as one prepared the car and crew for the „big one‟. Well, now that that big one has turned into the „Tour of Cardiff‟ (thanks Andy!) we have to make do with lesser adventures these days. This year this took the form of the South of England Tempest Rally – to give it its full, grand title. This rally was running as a full International Rally for the first time and with all the razzamatazz in the service park, helicopters overhead and the grey drizzly weather it had almost the atmosphere of the 80‟s RAC. Rob Brook and I had decided to do the event as our last run of the season in the Proton in the Clubman‟s section of the Rally. There were about 50 entries in the International and 55 in the Clubman‟s so the turn-out was very good, a fitting reward for the effort and time put in by Barry Guess and his large team of helpers. We arrived at Noise Test and Scrutineering at just after 07.30 on Saturday morning expecting the usual queues and hanging around but were very pleasantly surprised to sail through and be all ready signed on, parked in the service area, ready to go by 08.30. Unfortunately our start time was 11.35 and we had three hours to kill so we wandered down to watch the first of the International cars through the arena stage. It‟s not often that you can watch cars doing a stage that you are going to do later yourself in the same event. The event itself ran very smoothly (which is more than you can say about some of the stages later in the day). We came across only one short hold-up of about 15 minutes at one stage-start and the rest of the time we were arriving at the stage, donning helmets and blasting off into the forest. The roadtiming was also well-judged since we had no hanging around at controls but we didn‟t have to race around the highway either. Even when we had our only puncture of the event 5 By Tom Ryan on the road-section, we were able to fix it and get to the next control without undue drama. We did have some drama, however, as we were coming to the end of the Longmoor stage. There was an artificial chicane about half-a-mile from the finish which had been very badly cut-up by passing cars such that there were huge trenches and lots of loose gravel on the driving line. We entered the chicane at decent pace but bounced into the trench and immediately came to a dead stop with the car well-and-truly „beached‟. It was resting firmly on the sump guard and the wheels had pretty-well no traction at all. There were about 10 spectators nearby and despite the best cowherding antics of Rob we could not get them all pulling or pushing in the same direction at the same time. Finally Rob was able to persuade a nearby marshal to back his car up to the edge of the stage and pull the Proton out backwards – but only because the said marshal‟s car had knobbly tyres and an LSD. It was touch-and-go. It cost us about five minutes and relegated us to the position of last overall at that point. There didn‟t seem to be much point in thrashing round at battle speed after that since the stages got worse and it was getting dark. We couldn‟t make up any serious time so we settled for last finisher, though it seems that there was one more car behind us in the final results. It has been many years since I did a UK forest rally and I was pretty pleased just to finish but I cannot say that it was a very pleasant experience overall. My last rally over gravel stages was the 2002 Midnight Sun to Red Sea Rally which included gravel stages in Sweden, Turkey and Jordan most of which were smooth, fast and flowing. Scrabbling through half-metre deep ruts and over mounds of loose gravel while negotiating a series of 90 degree turns through narrow gates is not really in the same league. I think the increasing popularity of the so-called „marathon‟ events (for example the forthcoming RAC Revival Rally) where there are no stages as such, just quick and interesting driving over longer distances, is an indication that I am not alone in my assessment. Off-Road Adventure In Iceland Ever since Jeremy Clarkson made that amazing programme a few years ago on motorsport in Iceland I had wanted to go there to see the country and an opportunity arose this summer whilst on holiday. Iceland is volcanic and although it is 300 miles wide and 180 miles from top to bottom, the majority of the population of just 350,000 live in the capital of Reykjavik, leaving the island very sparsely populated so no PR problems. For anyone that missed the programme, Iceland has rallying with no shortage of stage mileage and their own version of hillclimbing which involves monstrously powerful V8 buggies with special tyres climbing near vertical cliffs. You either reach the top or tip over backwards and tumble the100 feet or so to the bottom! In winter they drive their 4x4's over the glaciers but during the summer months the trips are across the barren areas and glacial rivers. A full days trip was planned with a convoy of four vehicles being a mix of a longwheelbase Nissan Patrol which I was in, Land Rovers and a Toyota Land Cruiser. All were fitted with huge 38 inch tyres and hirise suspension giving incredible ground clearance, almost needing steps to get up into. A few have the even larger 44's. The winches go on for winter. Standard equipment inside seemed to include hands free radios so the guide in the lead vehicle could talk to everyone as we toured round as well a back up and proper sat-nav units with roof mounted aerials. We set off using the A1, which is the one main tarmac road going around the country, to head south through the small town of Hella, before turning off on the dirt roads towards Porsmork at the foot of Mount Hekla. It was at this point we stopped for the drivers to let the tyre pressures down to just 5psi. Until then the scenery had been quite flat and surprisingly green, but now changed By Gordon Phillips to being rocky and barren with the tracks winding their way through the lava landscape. Reducing the tyre pressures made all the difference, as you hardly noticed the ridges and potholes in the rough surface, whilst still keeping up a fair speed. To cross the glaciers in winter the tyres are deflated to only a couple of pounds, but they run the risk of the tyre pulling off the rim, in which case lighter fuel is sprayed inside the tyre and ignited! The area we were driving in was where they had the eruption in 2000, with the lava rising under the glacier resulting in simply millions of tons of melt water / mud slurry pouring from under the ice washing everything in its path towards the sea, leaving a maze of rivers and gulleys to drive through. Only the experience of the drivers could tell whether we were about to go through 6 inches or 4 feet of water. One crossing was very deep with the wheels of the lead Land Rover disappearing from view! Anxious moments passed and it climbed the bank on the far side. We were next, so with another gear lever having been twiddled, made our way slowly across with the water halfway up the doors. Had they ever got stuck and needed towing out? Oh yes, said he. Lunch was after a walk through a valley, not rocky and lava strewn, but of long grass, heather, spring flowers and lots of trees! Very strange. The Icelandics say it is Greenland that should have been named Iceland and vice versa as that is 90% permanent snow cover whereas Iceland only has snow for four months a year, is much greener and milder. Super trip and there is still more of Iceland yet to see. Strangely, the only 4x4's we saw in Iceland were those used for these trips, not for going to the supermarket or on the school run. Even so, I reckon that Maria's little 3 door RAV would like quite interesting on 38 inch tyres; same rim size as the Nissan! 6 Centenary Dinner and Presentation of Awards – 29th January 2005 The Centenary Dinner is fast approaching and, if you haven’t yet reserved your tickets, NOW is the time to put your name down. The cost for members is £40.00 and guests (max 2) are £60.00 each. We have to advise the RAC Club of numbers early in December, so I need names and full payment by the end of November. Below is the full list of names advised TO ME so far, together with a note of the balances outstanding. If your name is not on that list, YOU HAVEN’T GOT A TICKET – even if you have reserved a room with Kathleen or advised someone that you are attending! Please check the list, let me know of any errors or omissions, and forward your payment (cheques payable to MCAC Ltd) to me before the end of November. Please also let me know if you (or anyone in your party) are vegetarian or have any special dietary requirements. If you do not advise in advance only the ‘standard’ meal can be provided! Tables are for 10, so if you have a preference as to who you would like to sit with, please let me know – it will be too late on the night! Tony Phillips Tickets booked and balances outstanding – as at 15.11.04 Name Guy Anderson and guest Pat Anderson and guest Alan Armstrong and guest Nigel Banks and guest Paul Benning and guest Andy Blair and guest Rob and John Brook Pip Carrotte and guest Declan Casbon and 3 guests Mike Cawthra and guest Keith Chamberlain and guest Peter and Fiona Cook Peter Cox and guest Kathleen Dawson and guest Kevin Dawson and guest Anne Emblem and guest Peter Farmer and guest John Gibson and guest Ray Gilkes Simon Gudgeon and guest Paul and Hazel Hopkinson Gaynor Hounslow and guest Keith Hounslow and guest Helen Halsey and 2 guests Mike Hurst and 2 guests Andy Inskip Sav Johal and guest David Johnson and guest Balance o/s 80.00 60.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 80.00 100.00 220.00 100.00 60.00 80.00 100.00 50.00 60.00 40.00 40.00 80.00 50.00 50.00 160.00 160.00 70.00 60.00 7 Name Balance o/s Chris Keys and guest Adrian L'Estrange and guest 100.00 Chris L'Estrange and guest 100.00 Martin Lush and guest 50.00 Martin Moane and guest 80.00 Phillip Morgan and guest 100.00 Gus Morison and guest 50.00 Polli Patti and guest 60.00 Tony and Valerie Phillips 80.00 Gordon and Maria Phillips 80.00 David Poole and 2 guests 60.00 Christine and Joseph Poxon Jon Ralfs and guest 100.00 John Roseblade and guest 100.00 Tom Ryan and 3 guests 220.00 Clare Samuel and guest Graham Samuel and guest Pam Samuel and guest Martin Sherlock and guest 60.00 Andrew Stacey and 3 guests 200.00 Peter Stoakley and guest 100.00 Dave Taylor and guest 100.00 Mike Trim and guest 60.00 Mike and Karen Vince 80.00 Mike Vysoudil and Sue Jones Judith Watts 40.00 Andrew Williamson and guest 60.00 Pete’s Patch - The Championship Tables As we near the end of another year‟s competitions, it is disappointing to see that many of the club trophies may be going to people who did not come top in the tables. On many occasions, it has been mentioned that, to receive an award, you MUST have marshalled on an event and written a magazine article. I have to report that of the ten different tables, the person coming top in seven of them has not qualified to receive their award. You have until the end of November to rectify this. Another sad point to note is that with 32 drivers competing in 17 events and 32 co drivers competing in 19 events, we only have 16 names from 9 events in the service tables. In view of this, it has been decided to hold a points amnesty for service crews only. You have until 5 th December to claim for any missing points. Leading points scorers for the various tables are as follows, (an asterisk after a name indicates that the person is not yet eligible for an award. Any disagreements about this should be passed to me by 5th December. After that it will be too late! 1 2 3= 3= 1 2 3= 3= 1 2= 2= 2= 1 2 3 4 1= 1= 3= 3= Road Rally Driver Tony Phillips 27 pts Tom Ryan 25 pts Fi Keys * 15 pts Mike Vince * 15 pts Stage Rally Driver Graham Samuel * 63 pts Tim Clark * 39 pts Guy Anderson * 32 pts Tom Ryan 32 pts Organiser Andy Greenland * 16 pts Kathleen Dawson 12 pts Kevin Dawson 12 pts Paul Hopkinson * 12 pts Off Road Driver Peter Cox 79 pts John Roseblade * 54.5 pts Tom Ryan 35 pts Chris Keys 20 pts Night Trial Driver Martin Sherlock * 8 pts Peter Cox 8 pts Mike Wooster * 5 pts Tony Phillips 5 pts 1 2= 2= 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2= 2= 2= 1= 1= 3= 3= Road Rally Co-Driver Karen Vince * Chris Keys Rob Brook Val Phillips * Stage Rally Co-Driver Dave Taylor * Tony Phillips Rob Brook John Roseblade * Marshal Kevin Dawson Kathleen Dawson Rob Brook Mike Cawthra * Service Peter Cook * Gordon Phillips Dave Johnson*/ Martin Lush * Paul Benning* / Mike Hurst* 27 Pts 24 pts 24 pts 15 pts 115 pts 63 pts 32pts 30 pts 41 pts 38 pts 30 pts 15 pts 8 pts 4 pts 4 pts 4 pts 8 pts 8 pts 5 pts 5 pts Night Trial Navigator Alan Armstrong Simon Cox Gordon Phillips John Wilson * Oakington Stages Valentine Scatter Brakefast Autotest Barbados Int Rally Bomb-Along Stages 12 Car Best MCAC Tom Ryan Peter Cox Tom Ryan Graham Samuel * Garry Elswood * Dave Johnson * Rob Brook Simon Cox * Tony Phillips Andy Greenland * Keith Hounslow * If you have not marshalled or written a magazine article you only have until 30 November to do so. Magazine articles received by then will be included in the Jan / Feb 2005 issue. 8 Miss M E Stephens – An Obituary By Kathleen Dawson Miss M E Stephens (always known as Eileen) was born in 1912. In 1933, she was given an Austin 10 car for her 21st Birthday. She was given a few lessons by a garage owner, and embarked on a 71 year motoring career. She joined MCAC soon after she got the car, and took part in various tests of driving skills, with considerable success. In 1933, she won Silver tea forks for the Special Competition and the 100 miles reliability trail. In 1934 she won the Oates cup and silver tea forks for the speed Judging competition. In 1935, she completed her cutlery set by tying for the Alexander Trophy and winning the speed judging competition and the 100 mile trail. In all, she had six each of solid silver knives forks and spoons, plus a cigarette box miniature of the Alexander Trophy, all marked with the club crest. We are hoping to be able to display these at the centenary dinner, together with the programmes for the dinners at which they were awarded and some of the regulations for the events. She never took a driving test, and on one of her early trips, she got lost and had to ask a policemen for directions. He told her to reverse. “Reverse?” she replied, “But I do not know how”. The policeman‟s response was “Don‟t worry, I‟ll help you. First I will hold up the traffic and you can make a full turn without having to reverse.” She died in September this year. She had fond memories of her time competing with MCAC, and was proud to be a life member of the club. Motoring changed considerably during her lifetime, but she always kept up her membership of the club which she described as “a very happy, informal club”. Let us hope that we continue that tradition. The MCAC Centenary By Kathleen Dawson Arrangements for the dinner are coming together. The tickets should be issued by the end of November. Just to remind people, it will be a “black tie” event, with speeches and prize giving. All the rooms that the RAC made available to us have been reserved, the menu has been chosen. If anyone who has booked a place has any special dietary requirements, or would prefer a vegetarian meal, could they please let either Tony Phillips or Kathleen Dawson know as soon as possible. Membership Matters By Brian Catt Welcome to numerous members enrolled (or re-joined) since the last magazine. We hope they have a long lasting membership of the club and, of course, association with Motorsport: Welcome to Dave Edmunds, Dave Malpas, Mike Nobles, Stuart Williams, Dmytro Bachyk, Gary Lewis, Darren Edwards, Richard Naylor, Ian Bailey, Paul Harris, John Rabôt, William Swatton, David Bamford, Anthony White, Andrew Davison, Sam Fairchild, John Brook, Jon Ralfs, Deepak Khanchandani, Polly Patti and Gary Buckingham. The MCAC Membership Card gives access to events where entries are invited from members of the London Counties, Eastern, Central Southern and Welsh Associations, and all events thus entered are “points scorers” in the Club Championships. Only events organised, or co-organised, by MCAC count towards the Middlesex Challenge. Please note that you may be asked to produce your membership card at the start of any event, the excuse that you have moved and have not yet informed the Membership Secretary of your new address will only work with a lot of pleading! Just ask Rob Brook……. 9 Again as last month, a bit late, but here’s the last part of Garry’s 2003 update! Ed Rallye De Sombreffe 18/19 Oct 2003 After the disappointment of not doing Le Touquet we tried to cheer ourselves up by entering the Sombreffe rally in Belgium the following weekend. This was a new event for us and we set off as usual on Friday night with a new support crew recruited at the eleventh hour. We went straight to Sombreffe and dozed in the car until the HQ opened at 8am. Signing on was a bit muddled but we eventually collected our road book and saw where the stages were. There were 5 with 3 passes of each totalling 15 stages in all. The stage sequence meant that there was slightly more road mileage than the Braine rally but it was obviously done to get the cars passing through the town as many times as possible to keep the sponsors happy. We had completed the pace notes by about 3.30pm; doing at least 2 passes on each. Whilst this was a tarmac rally there were some awesome stretches of cobbled roads and broken farm tracks which made tyre choice difficult. Most of the local cars were running on intermediates with additional cuts when we looked at them during scrutineering. We however were not so well equipped so we went for ordinary inters. The Saxo passed the scrutineering in record time and was left in parc ferme overnight whilst we headed for Nivelles where a comfy hotel awaited. A great meal in a local restaurant was followed by 1 or 2 beers back in the hotel bar, ensuring a good night‟s sleep. Sunday morning arrived with minus 2.5 C temperatures but a dry prospect thank goodness. After breakfast we returned to Sombreffe and scraped the ice off the Saxo‟s glass and discovered that the heated rear screen didn‟t work, but no matter. The first stage was all tarmac consisting of a large triangle of roads which had to be lapped 3 times before heading off to the flying finish. The start involved loads more wheel spin than expected, especially after fitting the Quaife diff. signs of trouble ahead. After a very scrappy run we set off for stage 2 undecided about tyre choice. Stage 2 had some concrete road, cobbles and farm track, which by the end had 10 By Garry Elswood convinced me we were on the wrong tyres! The car just wasn‟t behaving well, after flying around the airfield at Oakington some weeks before I was very disappointed in the performance which I knew could be much better. Pulling into service at the end of stage 2 I asked for slicks to be fitted but our crew had not had time to pick them up from main service and only had more inters with them! So into stage 3 with similar surfaces to 2, result couldn‟t stop on polished cobbles at a 90 right and went on into flat field of root crops. In true tradition right foot remained on pedal and after about 100m we dropped back onto track with a few seconds lost. Pulling into service at the end of the stage the crew removed copious amounts of green stuff from the grill and sump guard. No damage though. Fortunately they had been able to return and fetch the other tyres which were fitted much to my relief. During the road section on the way to stage 4 we heard loads of hard metal noises on the overrun from the gearbox. The drive seemed OK so we pressed on and started stage 4. The grip was certainly better on the straights but strange things were happening in the corners. The car jumped side ways when powering out of a corner and the noise from the gearbox pointed to an early bath. We couldn‟t see or find any problems at the next service so we decided to tackle stage 5 and then review our situation. This stage ran through a small village built on one of the few hills in Belgium and I was really looking forward to giving it all round the streets and houses. But it was not to be as halfway round all forward drive was lost when the power was put on. The car would still drive at about 40mph but no faster, making expensive sounds from the gearbox all the time. We cruised through the remaining half and retired pretty chuffed off. Well making the best of a bad job we returned the Saxo to main service and went back to the village stage to watch the big boys go through on their second run. Fantastic! Loads of villagers and spectators out, beer and hot food and a sunny afternoon watching some of the fastest cars in Belgium. We managed to catch an earlier ferry than planned and were back home by about 1am Monday morning. The gearbox was removed the next weekend and the troubled spotted, watch this space for the full story. ******************************************************************* Believe It , It's True Top Gear magazine for October has a article on Jeep who organise off-tarmac excursions for their customers. The owners take their own cars over to Ireland, but as the emphasis is on being nondamaging, the organisers change the wheels as well as covering the corners and wheel arches of the cars in sheets of thick plastic before they go off road on some dried mud tracks. A support vehicle goes along as well to prune any twigs and branches that might get in the way. New out is 'Roundabouts of Great Britain' said to be the first ever book on the popular hobby of roundabout spotting; the history of the traffic island and over 80 favourites in full colour. ************************************************************************************************* Travels In Newfoundland By Bob ‘Twiz’ Trinder Hi, Well after talking about it since last Christmas it all came together and East met West at the Targa Newfoundland in September. The first surprise was on standing at mile one on the Trans Canada Highway and realising that I had travelled considerably further than Tom & Co with the Darrian; 3,100 kms for them vs. 5,100 kms across from Vancouver for me, more time zones as well! I'm sure Tom or Ian (Tom Lambert & Ian Crammond) will write a report on the rally itself so I'm just going to bore you with some odd anecdotes that happened along the way. What other place in the world would not only let in and register a car that was totally non complying but go out of their way to get customs to track Tom down and stay open late so he could extract his car from the dock's late on a Friday night! The friendliness of the people was fantastic, when we needed some welding an unknown local must have made 15 calls on his cell phone to track down and get another local to open up his shop to fix our rear suspension all for $20.00!! Similar acts happened to Tom when he twice needed aluminium welding carried out late at night. Where else would declare a public holiday just because a rally was coming through. Not only that, but then everyone came out and watched. Spectators were everywhere. I can confirm that spinning whilst on the rev limiter in 5th is quite exciting!! We all got cramp signing autographs as lots of the lunch stops were at schools and community centres. 11 - - - - The food matches what the weather must be like in the winter, ie. Lousy For service Tom took Brian Curd and we took Steve our trusty mechanic from 2 previous marathons, they kept us in hysterics with their inability to communicate with each other, they spoke a completely different language and usually the request for something was followed by a blank look from the other before the light dawned and they figured out that a torch was a flash light, mole grips = vice grips, crescent wrench - adjustable spanner, etc. etc. This went on all week. Now talking of skilled mechanics, these two managed to replace my steering, (after I had smashed it on a large pot hole) with no problem in about 1/2 hour during the lunch break. But, now I'm only a mere driver and obviously not qualified to make judgments on these things - but I would have thought that the next hour spent trying to re track the car could have been done much easier and quicker if they had done up the wheel nuts first!!?? Overall the event was great, the scenery is fantastic, Tom's car caused a stir wherever it went, there is definitely nothing quite like that over here. We all had a chance of winning, both Tom and Pete, Adam and me were leading our classes when the gremlins crept in but, hey, that's rallying. Overall 10 days of great Motorsport and fun. Can recommend it to anyone. - - Twiz – Vancouver, Canada %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Rob’s Phone Number (for all 12-car enthusiasts) By Tom Ryan I heard that some of the entrants in the recent 12-car rally organized by Rob Brook had some trouble in deciphering the Roman Numerals question. In order to assist those who could not work it out Rob has agreed to explain the Roman numerals system. He can be contacted by phoning MMMMCCCCVII DCCCLXX DXCII DCVIII. Roman Quiz What is the answer to the following roman riddle: a,b or c MXVII – MXV – M = ? Answer at the back of the mag….. a) DXII b) M c) XXXV Attention All 2003 Award Winners Would all Members who won Annual Trophies in 2003, please get them out of cupboards, lofts etc. and give them a polish prior to returning them to me as soon as possible. We need to get them checked and to the engravers during December. If you have a Trophy that needs a repair would you please let me know. Collection point is Wednesday Club nights (myself, Tony Phillips or the Ed) or by arrangement. John Roseblade 01296 641326 or Mobile 07889 395385 12 Roadside Assistance Due to changes in insurance legislation, we are no longer able to “recommend” roadside assistance providers. We can, however, inform members of telephone numbers where these people may be found. Although we can mention “RAC” we cannot, under any circumstances mention “**” ( hint, the first letter of the alphabet times 2! Ed), the other major provider, until their lawyers have worked out a form of wording that we can use, without falling foul of this new legislation! For Rent Sutton and Cheam Motor Club have had two spaces become available for rent in a building that they rent close to Mike Cawthra's house, on a farm near Farnham. Ideal storage for rally car, restoration project or similar. Contact Mike (numbers at the back of the mag) for more details. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Bomb-Along Thanks…. Mike / Tony / Brian et al, Just a quick note to say a big THANK YOU for Sunday‟s Bomb-Along, on behalf of Keith Davison and myself. Particularly for all the effort that went into making the day run so smoothly for everyone. Please pass on our thanks to anyone I‟ve missed off the list (e.g. Nigel Banks for the results – although I‟ll be seeing him myself in two weeks on the Plains). Perhaps this could be printed in the MCAC mag? So the people who were marshalling the outfield can be thanked also? It must have been as big a disappointment to you guys when there were so many retirements as it was to us! The day was shaping up well for us, developing into a battle between the two Darrians, once we had established a buffer between the two of us and the pair of Cosworths of Dave Nutt and Dick Mauger. Despite our efforts to bluff them into backing off by saying our stage 2 & 3 times were 10 seconds slower than they were – Chris Davis and Branden Parker saw through our ruse straight away and were taking time from us once they‟d settled in. We were wondering how we were going to counter their torque advantage through the complex with their extra 500cc, when their 13 gearbox gave way. Keith‟s comment to Chris at the start of stage 4 was “How long can the two of us keep up this pace before one of us breaks?” Prophetic that in fact we both ended up broken – and at exactly the same spot!! Albeit our breakage came two stages after car 10. This was my first visit to Oakington from the perspective of sitting in a competing car, or should that read “lying” in a Darrian? I must say I did enjoy the experience. Especially the stretches round the outfield and the flat out gforces round those long sweeping corners – real “big gonads” stuff! We particularly appreciated the outfield chicanes. Those were well placed to help safety, e.g. at the gates, without being too tight. From the position of an under-powered car, all that tight chicanes do is favour “point and squirt” power (and I say this as a person who used to crew a 6R4!). Whereas the chicane layouts on Sunday where just enough in the right places to reduce averages without negating the advantage a good handling car with a brave driver can gain by keeping “flat” through places where the codriver might prefer to keep his eyes shut!! In theory chicanes also provide an overtaking opportunity – but only where the approach is wide enough to enable two cars to actually run side by side. I nearly didn‟t say that on stage 3 when we came out of the merge for our second lap about 150m behind car 14. We managed to get our nose alongside him approaching the “flat” bales at the first outfield barrier, but he (entirely justifiably!) held his line and forced us to back off and tuck in behind him through the bales. Revenge came soon though, after a “Monster Montoya” style wheel to wheel, side by side run though first the flat out “60 left tightens”, then the following “long 45 right” enabled us to utilise the Darrian‟s low C of G and frontal area, to gain position approaching the gate chicane and out-brake said Peugeot into that! Makes my point about the layouts being “just right” to exploit the attributes of the venue. We thanked the crew of Car 9 personally, after they spotted us low in their mirrors on stage 2. We could just match them on the drag out of slower corners on the runway section, but made ground under braking each time. Entering the complex we thought we might have to stay tucked under their Cosworth‟s rear wing, but they moved over just as we actually caught them. Perfect gentlemen! OK, so overtaking isn‟t supposed to be a requisite of a rally event as distinct from a race. But with multi-laps and 30 second starts some “catching up” is inevitable. A good layout enables that to happen safely. This was seen to be the case when we caught the class 2 leading Civic of Dave Edmunds as he approached the gate entering the complex from the South West side on stage 3. I hope he didn‟t feel pressurised into his spin as we hadn‟t quite got into his slipstream at that point. There was a lot of loose gravel at that tyre and cone chicane after all, and he was on his first lap to encounter it. Had we been forced to follow his wheel tracks exactly, in the alternative solid bale layout, then an accident would have been inevitable. As it was, we were able to take avoiding action round the apex cone and so avoid car to car contact. Safety objective achieved by sensible use of cones vs. bales! (And a quick-acting driver helped too!) When the studs sheared from our right rear wheel on stage 6 then, I was particularly relieved this happened on a slow “90 left” in the complex, not on the aforesaid outfield section! Disappointing to have to hand the lead over after travelling so far, but after recalling competing against Dick Mauger in late 70‟s Central Southern area road rallies, then the inheritance was deserved – testimony to such a well presented car! Reflecting on organisational decisions taken during the day: In my (humble) opinion it was totally justifiable to truncate the running of Stage 3 after the delay caused by an incident. Best decision to keep the event on schedule. Same decision would have been taken on any International. Didn‟t hear any dissent in our end of the paddock? I hope we played our own small part in the schedule objective by accepting “next whole minute” after arrival time at stage starts after SS1, rather than enforce the 3 minutes guidance suggested elsewhere. Cumulatively that could have added nearly 15 minutes to the day? Similarly I support the decision over Car 3, when they were forced to seek assistance from their service van after booking into SSA5. A discussion concerning this action amongst surrounding crews resulted in a unanimous vote that, should the crew proved able to continue, then their action would not be queried for “sporting” reasons. In the end this was not put to test, but I‟m sure this feeling was promoted by the “sensible” attitude taken by Peter Cox to stage arrivals in general – applying the best spirit of the “guidelines” rather than blind adherence. Thus ensuring the competition took place on the stages, not in the results room! Same complement applies to the stage finish crew – especially after we crossed the SS2 flying finish backwards in the middle of a rather lurid spin! I‟m sure I saw the fence flinch at the prospect of catching a Darrian in its netting? Apologies if I was still slightly short of breath at the stop line. I‟d only just removed my heart from my mouth! Super day. Wrong result for us. Well done all involved nonetheless. Henry Richardson 14 I’ve Never Been In A Tube Of Smarties Before! It‟s official; a convoy of Smart cars is called a Tube! Well, it stands to reason, doesn‟t it! 8:30am on Sunday 26th September found Hazel & Gaynor Hounslow eating breakfast at Sandown Racecourse whilst watching Smarty after Smarty drive into the venue! Hazel was busy kicking herself that she couldn‟t find her camera. Smartypants had somehow managed to get parked at the front of one of the “tubes” and was very happy talking to another red Passion to her right and a red & black Tiger striped Pulse on her left. After scouring the Smartclub website I actually found a shot of Smarty and her friends! (I hope it‟s included in the mag)… At 10am the claxon sounded and that was the signal for the tube to get underway for the 3rd London to Brighton Smartcar Run…. Smartypants went over the start line at about 10:30. It was good fun driving along, smiling & waving at absolutely everybody and have them smile and wave back. We‟re a very friendly bunch of car drivers you know! We managed to attract “a lone driver” in a little Orange Smart who seemed to be intent of sticking with us for most of the journey, but we “lost” him when we made a stop at Pease Pottage Services for some Go-AlongJuice and a disposable camera. We pulled into the services car park and there were Smarts all over the place, Roadsters, Crossblades, ForFour‟s (they‟re the new 4 door ones) cabriolet‟s and of course coupe‟s. One was called Sweet Pea - she was Green with dark green dots all over the green panels and the pilot had matching attire of course! There was a cute cabriolet, which had a black & white Psychedelic theme, with of course matching T-shirt. Jungle Bunnies was a Blue Numeric, with everything inside covered in leopard spots, the back shelf was full of jungle animals (soft toys not real ones) and when the tailgate was down you could see their little legs dangling over the edge! There was a very slow queue once we pulled off the A27 to get to Brighton. Not only was the Labour Party Conference on, 15 By Hazel Hopkinson but a “rally” for Fair Trade had been organised along Madeira Drive also, so the traffic was heavier than expected, but as the website pointed out, it wasn‟t a race - there was no rush! By the time we got to the racecourse we couldn‟t drive over the “Finish” line but had to drive past it to park up, must admit we felt a bit cheated that we couldn‟t finish the run properly…. We met up with our friends who had driven down in their new Alfa GTV - though they parked out on the street - they felt a little intimidated I think! There were quite a few things organised at the venue, trade stands, competitions, Egg & Spoon test and everything else Smart related. Tiff Needell was the guest celebrity who was part of the judging panel for the competitions! Our favourite of all the dressed up smarts had to be “Fluff”. As the name would suggest, Fluff was the theme - blue with pink spots to be exact - inside, as well as out! Yes, Blue fluffy body panels, Blue fluffy dashboard, Blue fluffy head rests, Blue fluffy toys! I was expecting to see the pilot dressed in a matching outfit, but they must have used up the world‟s supply of blue fluff on the car! I took a photo as you‟ve got to see it to believe it! (the photo’s below, but black and white doesn’t do it justice – see the website for the full technicolour effect! – Ed) There was a roadster dressed as a shark, with what looked to be an aquarium in side. A Red Pulse dressed as a ladybird, with everything ladybird related. We did feel slightly underdressed I must admit, though there were more of us that didn‟t dress up! Maybe next year we‟ll do something a little bit silly! But only a little bit! I love my little Smarty just the way she is! The customized paint jobs were amazing, one looked like it had Pot-Riveted panels all over it - just fantastic! So far the count was 1570 smarts at Brighton Racecourse, but that‟s expected to be nearer 2000 in the end! What a turnout of a single make of car! Here‟s to next year - apparently Paul wants to come this time! Gaynor, you‟ll have to get your own Smart ;-) But I want the V6 BiTurbo Brabus Roadster!!  I think I‟ve said before, it‟s fun being a Smarty! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Chiltern 12-Car Rally – 24th Sept 2004 Having been in ‘retirement’ since having the kids, I jumped at the chance to use my grey matter again and navigate for dad on the 12-Car. Mum volunteered (??) to babysit the children as Mike was out for the evening on another work jolly! We arrived at Marlow Common for the start and it was cold! You can tell Kevin Dawson is a northerner as he stood there in his t-shirt, while my teeth were chattering – and I was wearing a fleece. There was a full entry of 12 cars (bit different to previous 3 or 4 cars!) and at 8’ish the first bit of navigation was 16 distributed at minute intervals through the car windows and we were off. Now I thought I’d be able to plot the route and then we’d start motoring but no such luck! Dad was off and asking which way to turn at the first junction. I managed to quickly get into the stride of things and we proceeded to the first control, passing some of the expert crews on the way. We waited for our time, then we were off again, plotting the herringbone, tulips, narrative and other navigation passed in through the window. Along the route we picked up the answers from the various code boards, cunningly positioned so that you had to stop and read the back of the boards to find the answers, and got to all the time controls on time. Both dad and I like to do well and we were pleased to finally get to the finish with a full set of answers and without dropping any time – a ‘clean sheet’. Not bad for my first ever road rally! As car 6, we were also surprised that we were the first car to get to the finish, although we were closely followed by 3 of the experts. Dave Johnson/Keith Hounslow also managed a clean sheet, having followed us through some of the more difficult sections, thus winning the event. As ‘Novices/Beginners’ were given slightly easier navigation, we could not win outright – only the class. Thanks to Rob Brook for organising a great event and to the marshals for turning out so that we could enjoy ourselves. See you on the next one! Karen Vince ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Provisional MCAC Dates for 2005 21st Jan 29th Jan 6th Feb 19th Feb 20th Mar 17th Apr 20th Apr 13th May Centenary January 12-Car Rally Centenary Dinner at RAC Club Centenary Oakington Stages Centenary Valentine Scatter Centenary Brakefast Autotests Centenary Autocross Annual General Meeting at Club Centenary Mayhem 12-Car Rally ???? Centenary Porlock Hill Climb th 17 Jul Centenary Uxbridge Autotests 7th Aug Centenary Fun Run and BBQ 11th Sep Centenary Bomb-Along Stages 23rd Sep Centenary September 12-Car 15th Oct Centenary Hunters Night Trial 4/5th Nov South of England Tempest Rally 11th Dec Centenary Rockingham Stages Although we have these dates ‘pencilled’ into the calendar, we still need volunteers to organise many of the events. If you would like to volunteer, please contact Tom Ryan, Dave Taylor or Tony Phillips as soon as possible, so that we can be sure the event will run. ££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££ FOR SALE Fully synthetic, top-quality MOTOR OIL 5W-40 Protect your performance engine either in your road car or rally car by using the best available oil but at a bargain price. Fully synthetic oil has practically unlimited life under most normal and abnormal use conditions so oil change intervals can be safely extended. Don‟t pay £8 plus per litre at your local spares shop– get it at Performance & Competition Development for just £5.00 per litre. Available in sealed 1 litre packs or cartons containing 18 x 1 litre graduated bottles. Call Pete Cook on 07711 627616 17 A Track Day At Spa Interesting to read the account by Mike Cawthra on his experience at a track day. It just goes to show that you can have a fun day without spending a shed load of money on a rally car to then throw it at the trees! I had this great idea of going back to rallying this year which lasted until the Race/Rally Car show at the NEC in January. Plenty of extra large race suits they had; duvet size they didn't. Must lose weight. The last track day I entered was back in the early 90's, when the average car being used was a Golf Gti or maybe a Sierra Cosworth, and there were very few companies organising them. Now, there are several events on each week somewhere around the country and whilst the standard of organising varies, so does the price. We had the chance to book a 3 day trip away for Spa Circuit in September but thought it might be an idea to try a couple of track days before hand. We still have our old TVR which in recent years has been refurbished with all new suspension, brakes, bushes etc., so it was this we took up to Bedford Autodrome the day before the Uxbridge autoshow. Bedford is flat and featureless but we were able to use the full circuit of nearly 4 miles. The track day game has certainly moved on over the years, and how! Lots of lightweight Caterhams being unloaded off trailers and enough Porsche GT3's to have their own traffic jam. An open pit lane was being run, which meant you could go out when you wanted, but we opted for quieter times. Three good laps on the winding circuit and the tyres were overheating giving masses of understeer. Most of the others had brought track day tyres, which makes all the difference. But support cars for a track day? We could stay with the Elises on the straight but under braking and round the corners they were well away. We met up with John Roseblade and Simon Galliford who had come with Ian Gatt to test his 306 Gti6 Rally car and Maria and I were both treated to a couple of laps as passenger. Incredible; it 18 By Gordon Phillips turns in like a go kart and John was catching the Lotuses under braking. Then came the Spa trip and a great run down in what was to be that superb week of weather we had at the start of September. Our hotel was in the middle of Spa town, so about a 7 mile run to the circuit for early morning briefing. We had been told that instructors would be on hand for advice/ tuition, but we were hardly expecting Historic racers Dickie Attwood and Barrie 'Whizzo' Williams, who had both been competing a few days earlier at the Goodwood Revival, as well as former world sports car champion Mike Wilds and, last but not least, Tony Dron! Well over 100 years of motorsport experience. To familiarise us with the circuit we all drove slowly from corner to corner to look at the track for the best lines. Having gone downhill from the pit exit at La Source hairpin you then go through the famous Eau Rouge, left/right kink going uphill, followed by a very long straight still climbing (205 mph in an F1 car). No matter how many times you see this on television or in pictures, nothing prepares you for how steep the climb is coming out of the corner. Standing at the top looking back down to the pits the track just drops away. The rest of the circuit was looked at just as thoroughly, but is mainly a very long and fast descent through a variety of corners, winding its way back down to the long left hander of Blanchimont prior to Bus Stop, which had been substantially altered for the Grand Prix a fortnight before. Even in a modestly powerful car like the TVR the descent was fiercely quick, and all too easy to overcook, as one guy found out when his new Audi TT got onto the grass and wrote itself off on the tyres/armco barrier. Brakes and tyres which seem plenty big enough for road use suddenly become rather puny! There was a fair assortment of cars including the usual Lotus Elises, which are perfect for track days, a SuperCup 911 but also number of older 911's, a BMW touring car, an Ecurie Ecosse lightweight E-type, an Ultima GTR, Noble and an Alfa 147. Only one Caterham which had been driven over by father and son, having just been built by them from new, only to suffer valve engine failure during the morning. An open pit lane was being run instead of driver graded sessions but emphasis would be on the slower cars for the first half of the hour, 'like the Caterham and Lotuses' he said. It really didn't matter as the circuit is sufficiently long and wide no-one need hold anyone else up but we stuck to what they said, especially when you had seen and heard the big ones go round. Spectacular! Tony Dron took the Noble round for some hot laps with the owner sitting in but they were back in a couple of laps as it was too hot! We had a great time, but for the run at Bedford Autodrome a few weeks previously, the TVR really hadn't been given a run like this for years. To hear the howl of the V8 coming off the pit buildings on the fast descent to Eau Rouge was worth doing another lap for; and another. It is only when you reach the left /right kink do you appreciate the track climbing up out of it is like going up a wall. Once tried, never forgotten. Tyres were fine as the bends do flow so overheating wasn't a problem. At lunch time they held a brief wives/partners session but Maria didn't want to have a go. We went out several times but took a break mid afternoon, as it was a scorcher, to wander round and found out that the next day they would be having the practice for the forthcoming weekends 1000kms FIA GT /Sports car race. The transporters were already arriving. And we were going to be heading back for Oakington! Crazy or what. Bridge Motorsport Rally car preparation - Complete builds – Fabrication – Welding - Bespoke exhaust systems Four wheel alignment - Rallycar MOT's - KD induction filters - Magnum seats Affordable Rally car hire for Stage and Enduro events, including the Evo 2 that came 3rd overall on the recent Essex Charity Stages. On event support, equipped van & trailer - Single vehicle collection/delivery Dave Johnson Unit C Bridge Garage,Riversend Road Hemel Hempstead, Herts, HP3 9AJ 01442-236310 www.bridgemotorsport.co.uk Bridge Motorsport Rob’s Phone Number – Answer! All three answers are correct! The question translates to:7,000 (1,000 X 7) minus 5,000 (1,000 X 5) minus 1,000 equals 1,000 which can be made up as 500 X 2 = 1,000 or M = 1,000 or 20 X 5 = 1,000 (That‟s enough roman rubbish…! Ed) 19