Thruxton May 6th CTRCC anyone going?

[Al Weyman]

I will be there, entered my pre 74 Post Historic 2nd gen Camaro anyone else here going should be a good meeting.

[Ian Sowman]

I'll be there, covering the FF1600 and FF2000.

[Al Weyman]

Well thats you and me going Ian, I'll see you there!

Is that the Historic FF? A competitor who literally lives yards from my shop who I met at Pembrey as we stayed in the same guest house by coincidence should be there in that case.

[Ian Sowman]

Classic FF1600 (the Pre 1981 and Pre 1974 classes) which is what you would have had at Pembrey. (Historics is the HSCC-run championship.)

[Al Weyman]

yes thats the one.

[Stacy]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

I will be there, entered my pre 74 Post Historic 2nd gen Camaro anyone else here going should be a good meeting.

I'll be there with the RX7 in Pre-83, and to try my hand at Pre-93. Grids were over 20 two weeks ago in both, so looks good.

Although BARC seem to have me listed in the Pre-66 race in a Lotus Cortina in the on-line entries. Unfortunately there isn't a Pre-66 race then, but the thought was there, which is nice.

I believe JW will be running his M3 in Pre-93 and Classic Thunder too.

Hope the weather holds out..

Stacy

[Al Weyman]

See you there Stacy, where are the BARC online entries to be found?

[carrera]

May pop down depending on weather and the ability to scrounge a couple of tickets.

[Al Weyman]

I'll let you know if I have any spares, you know what its like, anything further than Brands or Silverstone the helpers are suddenly 'otherwise engaged'!

[carsreunited]

I've got to give this a miss due to four kids and no baby-sitter.

I'll be at Brands though so hope to see you all soon.

Scott

[Al Weyman]

I take me hat off to you Scott, I raised three kids and somehow (maybe somewhat selfishly if I'm honest) managed to carry on racing and it ain't easy, see you at Brands.

Weather looks a bit unsettled though saying cloudy but dry on the BBC weather, if it rains (again) that will be every meeting I have attended since I came back to racing last year that has been wet! Who wants to pay me to stay away and where do I get that anti-mist stuff so I can see out the window or any other tips:-)

[Al Weyman]

Still have not got my Final instructions through yet, has anyone else? All cutting it a bit fine. I may have a spare pass(s) if they ever get here Carrera.

[nevwheeler]

will be there as a spectator been looking forward to action at thruxton all through the winter. By far the best circuit to view and post historics are great. I will be taking my children and they have already filled the car with a load of their friends too. Going tobe great day out I am sure

[carrera]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

Still have not got my Final instructions through yet, has anyone else? All cutting it a bit fine. I may have a spare pass(s) if they ever get here Carrera.

Thanks for the offer Al, unfortunately the boss has other ideas. I best not disobey, she may not let me out for Snetterton next week.

[Al Weyman]

I'll have a spare ticket if anyone wants to find me in the paddock

[capri53b]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

I will be there, entered my pre 74 Post Historic 2nd gen Camaro anyone else here going should be a good meeting.

I would love to go but no money c u at brands

[thebullet]

Wonder if its going to be a bigger turn out than Mallory?

[R59]

What happend Al?

I see Master Primett flew away. That's one sorted RS2000, the guy who built is very very good - just a shame that I can't get him to built any more - he's busy restoring a Dodge Charger which has turned out to be a lot bigger job that he'd thought - but it'll be so clean you can eat your dinner off of it, and it'll be the mutts nuts.

Rob.

[Al Weyman]

Ha Ha, I won Class A believe it or not!

Well thats the fact of the matter unfortunately the truth is not quite so exciting but an extrodinary day all the same.

Its started off when I unloaded the car from the trailer and the footbrake went straight to the floor. Tried to have a bleed off of the brakes butthe fronts wre not bleeding right then I noticed fluid streaming down the rear of the master cylinder, it had shot its bolt. Anyhow the brakes came up a little but no way confidence inspiring so I decided to take it out in practice for a slow run around as I wanted to check the head gaskets and oil leaks (they were perfect as it transpires).

After one slow lap I spun off on the wet at the chicane as the old bus was oversteering a bit in the wet (maybe gone over the top with me blingy gold anodised rear anti-roll bar), but I spun because I was haveing trouble sellecting gears then it got stuck in ruddy gear and the upshot was I had to sit out the practise and had ocassion to sample the superb full lift truck operated at the circuit, very nice operation. Oh and thanks to that nice marshall who let me share his doughnuts.

So back to the pits I can't engage gear when the engine is running as the clutch won't disengage. After plenty of messing around and lying in a puddle of water I managed to get a bit more throw on the clutch but the only way I could engage gear was to start it up in gear so to get our David Howard an extra point (more Class A starters) I decide to take it out and try to start, knackered master cylinder and clutch not disengaging.

Anyhow poor old David never made the race with an oil line problem so starting at the back of the grid I held it in gear at the start and off we went, me now the only Class A runner, I had to double d clutch to change gear (I knew working on those old ex-Army Commer trucks in the 60's would come in useful) for most of the race and to be honest the brakes although working better were not right so I thought better than trying to mix it and risk ramming some hapless competitor with 1500kgs of yank tank with no brakes I would just poodle around and have the points which I did and amazingly although I finished last I won the class and a nice little trophy (bit embarassing really but you know what they say, to win you have to finish!)

Oh one more thing when I took it off the trailer tonight would you believe it slipped straight into gear and drove no problem, I am wondering now if the clutch got oil on it and it was causing it to drag and the race and holding it on the line may have burnt the oil off, racecars can you believe them!

[R59]

I thought we were supposed to double-de-clutch our V8's - Steve McQueen did with the Mustang in Bullitt!

It'll come right next time by the sound of it. At least your headgaskets are sorted.

And the master cylinder / clutch problems should be straightforward to fix.

Rob.

[Eddy V]

I'd better stay home then, eh?

[craig j]

Enjoyed a great day of racing yesterday at Thruxton. My first time racing on the track and it really has some great character. On a more disappointing note, I really couldn't believe that on such a wet and miserable day the BARC were trying to charge £7 for entry into their stand at the chicanes. This included all BARC members/racers and their very ****ed [mod]please don't avoid the autocensor[/mod] off loved ones who were soaked through. Do we not pay enough within our entry fee to cover the cost of sitting in a dry stand at a club racing event? I couldn't believe the sight as I came through the chicane to see an empty stand followed by an embankment full of people getting soaked (note to self, must pay more attention to my driving!). Apart from that, thought it was an excellent meeting and everyone was extremely friendly and helpful. See you next season.

[Az]

A cracking days racing, really enjoyed the variety of cars, especially both of the 205 GTi's - I own a 1.9 myself Sadly the both ended up broken though

Here's a few photos I took - http://www.ae-photography.co.uk/060506.html

Cheers!

[Al Weyman]

Craig I wholeheartedly agree with your sentiments there as I too was standing on that bank watching some of the racing while looking at the nearly empty grandstand. I said to my family don't bother to go to the grandsatnd as it will cost you a fiver to get in but £7!!!!!!!!!!! that is ridicoulous. I really do think the BARC need to learn some lessons from Mr. Palmer as the race I did at Brands at Easter the excellent stands were open and free to the PAYING spectator and competitor alike and surely that is the way it should be if we are ever going to get this motorsport thing back on track as a spectator sport. Also as an aside I would say the coffee and food at Brands is now excellent and I tried three different food outlets there so far this year (I am a bit of a gannet) the coffee at Thruxton I am afraid to say was akin to warm dishwater. It is little things like this that keep crowds away IMHO especially when the wives and kids start moaning, thats it!

No Yellow Yank Tank pictures there AZ, I must have been going to fast for you to capture it! :-)

[Boggy]

Having been doing other things so it was great to see that "club" level racing still has that certain paddock atmosphere that is lost further up the ladder.
Great racing aswell, congrats Al on a class win (not quick enough for me to miss!!!).
Agree about Brands having got it act together regarding the paying public, some lead and others follow or you go out of business. Maybe the organisers should be told to try and apply some pressure to open up seating to attract more people. Just an idea.
Boggy