May-Aug 2016 1
Officers and Committee Members CHAIRMAN
Matt Nichols ..........................07989 601774
VICE CHAIRMAN
Pete Hart ................................0117 9372611
TREASURER
Vickie Tubb ............................
COMPETITION SECRETARY
Paul Parker .............................01275 843478
SECRETARY
Paul Hemmings .....................0117 9566045
MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY
Zoë Tooth .............................01454 329231 49 Bowling Road, Chipping Sodbury BRISTOL BS37 6EP
MAGAZINE EDITOR PRESS & PUBLICITY
Scott Boulton ........................01454 852959 Kate Boulton .........................01454 852959 159 Long croft, Yate, BRISTOL BS37 7YN
SOCIAL SECRETARY
Andy Laurence ......................07825 953858
WEBMASTER & PRESIDENT
Allen Harris ...........................07970 198718
AWARDS SECRETARY
Dave Greenslade ..................07966 540842
LEAD MARSHAL
Mike Cole...............................07980 416075
CMSG REPRESENTATIVE
Mark Benstock ......................01454 311712
ASWMC REPRESENTATIVE
Mark Chater
CHILD PROTECTION OFFICER Richard Marsh .......................(after 6pm) 07786 068830 COMMITTEE
Chris Dymock.......................(after 6pm) 0117 9394265 Chris Buckley ........................07946 482169 Ady Taylor .............................07957 545432 Mark Tooth ...........................01454 329231
www.bristolmc.org.uk 2
_____________In_This_Issue______________ Page 4.
Chairman’s Chat Matt’s latest thoughts and insights.
Page 7.
The Welsh Connection Nick Revels goes the Lys Y Fran.
Page 8.
Llandow Sprint Reports and photos from our overseas sprint at Llandow Circuit.
Page 14. Chepstow AutoSolo Reports and photos from our summer AutoSolo at Chepstow Racecourse.
Page 18. Dick Mayo Sprint Reports and photos from our last sprint of 2016.
Page 30. Family Sports Car Day Zoë Tooth and Chris Dymock tell us about our annual Family Day.
Page 36. A Year With Dave Newman Dave tells about his year with the MX-5 Challenge.
Page 39. Bristol MX-5 Challenge A report and final standings of our MX-5 Challenge.
Page 40. Drive By Oh dear, poor Tiddles.
Page 43. Bristol Speed Championship The current table of our Speed Championship after the latest round
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Chairman’s Chat “Pretty Fly ForbyA White Guy” The Offspring
H
ello and welcome to this edition of Driving Mirror, my first role is to take you back to two successful events earlier in the year; the first at Llandow in May which enjoyed a strong entry at just shy of ninety competitors and more recently our summer AutoSOLO at Chepstow which attracted an entry of over thirty.
and yours truly (87.95). Although the latter I think only down to Brendon Jones’s Escort’s bottom hose falling in half. Or had it been sliced.
In June at Chepstow and Scott and Kate Boulton worked extremely hard to coordinate everything leading up to the day itself, despite Kate having only recently undergone surgery. At Llandow we filled key roles like; Entries Nick Rainbow duly picked up the main clerking Secretary (Zoë Tooth), Event Secretary role on the day, with his brother Julian ensuring (Andrew Meek), Deputy Clerk (Glyn Hopkins), car safety as scrutineer. Mark Benstock was Course Controller (Barrie Green) and Club Lead Marshal, his son Jeff Chief Observer, Steward (Paul Hemmings). We marshalled as Roger English Club Steward, his son-in-law Matt well (Mark Tooth was himself Chief Marshal) one of our timekeepers, alongside Andy with Mervyn Walters, Ady Taylor, Neil Laurence, Andrew O’Malley, Steve Conner and Peregrine-Morgan, Andrea Bartlett, Tim Adams Nick Chapman (Bath MC). and Mark Griffiths out on post. Mike Cole, in I have to also mention the very fine support his splendid orange attire, was without doubt team combining Kate Boulton, Jane Benstock the most visible from a competitor perspective and my good wife Julia (like I say, I have to in his role as part of the all-important start line mention) who duly punched all the results into crew. Rounding things off by taking pictures was the brilliant Allen Harris spreadsheet that club magazine editor and photographer Scott automatically produces everything you need to Boulton. A fine body of men and women I hope you’ll agree, and that’s before taking into account the valiant efforts out on track resulting in class wins for; Phil Tucker (88.65), Ellen Worthington (87.69), Matthew Bennett (82.52), Nick Green (86.40), Luke Trotman (76.27), Andy Laurence (73.80), Sandy Smith (89.38) “Where we’re going, we don’t need wheel alignment” 4
Club Nights
print and publish. Ady Taylor also gets a mention for assisting on the day and afterwards at stores, along with Dave Greenslade and Simon Clemow for helping with course set up at silly o’clock Sunday morning; all good stuff and many thanks to everyone involved. The weather stayed largely dry right up until the final runs and saw the following BMC members make the most of the mixed conditions to take class wins. Therefore massive congrats go to Rob Thomson (Class 2A), Dave Greenslade (Class 3A), Alex Millard (Class 4A) and Sandy Smith (Class 5B). Well done also to all other drivers present, including Sandy’s mum Helen no less, because as far as I can tell (as chief tea maker and bottle washer) the event did appear
6th September Club Night 4th October Club Night 1st November Club Night
Day in September, a re-investment if you like of some of the previous years’ spoils, we had worked just as hard if not harder than in 2014 but just didn’t get the same financial result, a shame and totally undeserving.
to do down really well with competitors pleased with seat time and course layouts. Also back in May’s club night/ AGM and newly appointed Treasurer Vicky Tubb dutifully read through the club’s financial results for 2015. Very well read they were too. 2015 was as Vicky explained challenging, where just about every event we ran saw a reduced return, meaning by the end of the year we were totally reliant on interest earned from savings to get us over the line. The thing is other than our deliberate part-funding of the Llandow Track
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Ady Taylor has since reviewed in detail our sprint entries and detected an emerging pattern. With the exception of possibly ASWMC, every championship we invite gives us fewer entries each year. That means as a strategy going forwards, just to stand still in sprints at least, we need to increase the number of championships we invite each year. Things are definitely tougher than before and combined with the other trend of people entering events ever later, organising committees have to hold their
nerve right up until a few days before. Needless to say we will be keeping a very close eye on things, although given the success of the Dick Mayo, which was over-subscribed, we don’t need to over egg championship invites either. Back to 2016 and more recently on Saturday 23rd July our Dick Mayo Sprint enjoyed a full entry of 155 which has already made a significant difference to the year. The event ran smoothly and was completed by 4:30pm which is testament to everyone involved, a terrific result. This was followed immediately on Sunday 24th by our Family Sports Car Day which again appeared to go off very well with record numbers of people turning up to enjoy everything on offer including the lunchtime bike rides. A massive thanks goes out to ZoÍ and the rest of the team for laying on such a fantastic day, the new for 2016 passenger lap rides in particular proving extremely popular (I can certainly vouch for the Bond Bug, going around Combe has never felt so engaging). Two weeks afterwards on 6th and 7th August and Andy Laurence led the charge for us at the South Glos Show where we once again organised an invitation grass AutoTest and competition car static display. Again a big thank you goes out to all involved. Andy estimates over 1000 laps of the course was driven, either by paid drives in the My Garage Clio, or by one of our passenger ride Stigs, great stuff. On the subject of recruitment and after having clearly scared everyone away by seeking Course Controllers we have decided to change tack slightly and seek Radio Controllers instead. This individual is once again located in the control tower but this time monitors radio traffic from marshals posts, before seeking clarification where needed and relaying key messages to the Course Controller and others as appropriate. Therefore anyone performing this role does not have the full weight of responsibility of actually pressing the button. If this sounds like you please let me know, as always an opportunity to shadow will be provided first as we think that is only right and fair. In a packed magazine this month you will find reports and photos from our Llandow and Dick Mayo sprints, the AutoSolo at Chepstow and our fantastic day at the Family Sports Car Day. Dave Newman also recounts his 2016 season with the MX-5 Challenge.
Matt Nichols
Date 3rd and 4th September 6th September 4th October 28th October 29th October 1st November 13th November 27th November 6th December
Event 5 Clubs Wiscombe Hillclimb Club Night Club Night Navscatter Supercar Saturday Club Night Roy Fedden Sporting Trial Allen Classic Trial EGM and Buffet 6
The Welsh Connection
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enjoyed Llandow (6th place in the Vincenzo MX-5 Challenge a definite PB) so much I went deeper into Wales over to Llys Y Fran hill climb the next day. I have a few pictures of the nice range of cars that were there. You need low end torque, and have to drop into first gear, which is interesting for the older cars without a synchromesh on first gear. It's probably the most scenic hill climb in the UK, starting with
“Thunderball� by Tom Jones
the run straight down (yes a down hill hill-climb) before several technical corners and a superb hairpin in front of the watching crowd - who cheered every spin, drift and one rollover round the corner, (driver and car ok).
Nick Revels
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“Green Green Grass Of Home” by Tom Jones wanted.
A
fter Rockingham and the mental oversteer at speed, we had to sort out the aero balance before Llandow. Rather optimistically, we decided to build an interim diffuser whilst we worked on the proper one in addition to fitting a new 4 element rear wing of larger chord, greater camber and 50% greater width. The diffuser mould started well, but we had air leaks in the mould, so the infusion couldn’t be started and we ran out of time before it was fixed.
Unfortunately, a noise from the gearbox worried us on the day. A trip to Mark Bailey Racing concluded that an errant washer in the differential that shouldn’t have been there was the cause. Luckily, we caught it before any damage was done.
Llandow was the first time Andrew had driven this season. It was a baptism of fire with the wet practice and Andrew was the first to experience driving through the puddles on slicks. In hindsight, wets were There was time to fit the rear wing though and it’s a monster. The mount is a bit messy, probably the better fitment. Andrew had a but is functional and some tuft testing proved massive moment in first practice that the wing is working, even if it’s a little canted knocked his confidence and he wasn’t back on the pace in the following runs. backwards. It’s only an interim solution though. Off the line, there’s very little in it between us, but I launched at huge revs in comparison. We were similar on pace through the Bus Stop section but I used far more throttle between the apexes. Andrew dragged the brake through the right hander after the Bus Stop, whilst I used my customary prod of the throttle mid-corner. Ideas on how to stop myself doing that appreciated! I was early on the throttle though and this gave a small advantage.
I kept on the throttle later into the right hander that leads into the back straight and a short lift with no brake gave me a 10mph advantage onto the back straight. I was later on the brakes into the chicane, holding the brakes until turning into the second apex of the chicane. I also got on the power straight away coming out of the chicane, holding full
Importantly, the wing really worked and you can see the massive rooster tail generated without the help of a floor. The car understeered massively at speed despite the introduction of vortex encapsulating end plates on the front wing. The end result was a new class record although not by as much as I
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throttle and a little more steering angle for a 6mph advantage. A short stab of the brakes coming into the final corner of the first lap allowed me to maintain a 5mph advantage through the corner and I was back at full throttle before Andrew was off the brakes. Andrew used more revs down the straight and was back on my pace by the end of the straight. I was later on the brakes and pressed much harder whilst Andrew took a few stabs at the brakes. That led to a maximum disparity of 25mph. I turned into the chicane far more aggressively, whilst Andrew fed in the wheel. This was probably different lines, but I was turning into the second apex of the chicane earlier as a result. Andrew had a fair amount of oversteer mid-corner and that might be why I straightened up earlier and managed to get full throttle before the final apex of the chicane and again afterwards. This gained me up to 9mph.
completely and dragged the brake a little, whilst I took a half-lift of the same period. You can see the understeer from the new rear wing in my increased steering angle. Coming into the chicane for the final time, I was later and harder on the brakes, but carried more speed through all 3 apexes. This led to a different line out of the chicane and that allowed Andrew to pick up to the same speed on the exit of the following righthander, despite less throttle because he’d chosen third gear instead of fifth. Andrew braked longer into the final corner giving an apex speed about 5mph lower and continued to drag the brakes through the corner beyond the point I was on full throttle. He exited in third gear whilst I used fifth, which allowed him to catch up by the finish line.
The Andyroos
As a result of my extra speed out of the Bus Stop, I needed to hop on the brakes coming into the right-hander that follows, but only a short stab. Andrew balanced the car much more neatly as shown by the lesser steering angle into the corner. I was back hard on the throttle on the exit, which gave me a few mph into the next corner where we lifted at the same time. Andrew was off the throttle
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Photos by Scott Boulton (www.jackflashphotography.co.uk)
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W
ell my weather voodoo almost worked all day! After a few wetish practice runs my times were well down on the test days results, some of you may have noticed some new tyre marks near glue pot, Um, yes that was me on Friday, nearly in the tyres again. My first timed run was in the dry, so I felt confident I would do much better than practice, I did, but not as good as Sandy Smith, Garry Hendy, David Newman and Louis Ruff.
cone, I calmed down and focused my frustration towards the next run. It almost worked!! I just missed out on third by 2 tenths, fair play Louis my hat off to you. Well it was nearly a pot but not quite. More car time required I think before another go next year. Congrats to Sandy, Dave and Louis.
Phil Oliver
(Excuse alert) What put me off was someone had moved a cone at the chicane, so I was a little shocked when I saw it and had to change my lines at the last moment. This nearly led to me landing it in the tyres. After a lot of ******* ***** and left lock, right lock and back again I was still heading for glue pot facing the right way. After my ranting and stomping about the
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The moment you realise that you’ve bought a TVR
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Chepstow AutoSolo
W
e arrived at Chepstow on Sunday morning with a very sick sounding Westfield which cut out every time it was off-throttle. Dave parked it up on a slope for 5 mins while we signed on, and I decided it was a dirty fuel issue and decided to take it back out on the road for a few mins to bounce over a few cat's eyes to shake out the crap. I got in, started it - problem had cleared! Very pleased to say it then ran faultlessly all day, double-driven with Dave. This was my first AutoSolo and my first competition in the Westfield since my last AutoTest in 2006. I really enjoyed the buzz! The variety of cars was great to watch - from classic Mini through MX5, to mentally quick Rover to Imprezza and finally an evil-looking Mitsubishi Lancer. What a fantastic way to enjoy these cars! Bristol Motor Club had laid out some fast, rewarding courses, really exploiting all of the features available at Chepstow Race Course with the mixture of surfaces, slopes and transitions. In terms of our driving, Dave is still learning the car and enjoyed his day, making good progress. My own learning process
involves unlearning my dependence on the combine-harvester steering knob that was on the car from 1987 - 2006! My day started steadily, with lots of flailing hands, progressing through the tyre-shredding
sideways too-much-fun phase after lunch to the final round which was less fun but quicker. Oh, and I actually got my left hand away from the handbrake and onto the steering wheel - for some of the time! So, the result was OK, The car is capable of better, I am really pleased with what I learned during the day - and it was great craic!
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John Wilson
A massive thank you to everyone at Bristol motor club who are involved in organising the Autosolo. It was yet another fantastic event by yourselves and a really enjoyable days Motorsport!
Tom Moore
Can't wait to do it again next year!
Photos by Scott Boulton (www.jackflashphotography.co.uk)
Thank you for a good day out the event was well run and flowed through out the day, shame about the rain.
Mark Baker
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Sandy Smith’s mum, she even brought him a packed lunch.
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“Speed Demon� by Michael Jackson
I
t was all to play for in last event of the BMC mx5 challenge, although the winner had been decided it was between 3 of us for the runners up position, I needed to beat Louis and needed Dave to not win! As I set off to Combe the weather didn't seem to be what I had ordered, my voodoo hadn't worked. Ah but as usual by the time first practice had taken place the sun had appeared. I had a new setup on my 5 and wasn't sure how it would fair, so I was a little nervous on my first practice.
Maybe it was the recent knock to my head that had removed 2 seconds from my normal time! (One for the book Andy). The first timed run was better but still a second of my best. Louis was still in front of me and Sandy had messed up. Well when the final results were in I hadn't found the time I hoped for. Congrats to Sandy on his win and also to Dave and Louis, it's been a battle all year and I've enjoyed it all.
Phil Oliver
That didn't go as well as I hoped and neither did the second.
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Thank you for an exceptionally well run event. I thought it was maybe a bit ambitious to run a field that big but it flowed nicely and went like clockwork. Well done to the Team!
Clive Wooster
Thanks for the day's event. I have attended a few events around the UK and have to say that it was one of the most well organised and run events I have been to. I also got a PB which was even better !
Simon Leeming
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Brilliant event ,run with superb precision. Paddock Coms. via P.A. were terrific. A great credit to all at Bristol Motor Club. Very many thanks.
Charles Alexander
A well organised & run sprint meeting. Facilities excellent. Everyone so friendly & helpful (a pleasure to do "business" with you all). My only comment would be that like other "circuits" I would like to see the timing company give us sector times next year as the course is so quick, a bit more information to compare would be a real bonus. No complaints whatsoever.
Dave Hampton
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What a fantastic day out at the Dick Mayo Sprint meeting. Lots of great cars, a relaxing holiday atmosphere with several families camping overnight and a wonderfully organised pit lane start. Thoroughly enjoyed myself, though I didn’t break any records I valued the track time and a chance to test myself. Many thanks to you and all your team of marshals, time keepers, etc.
Don Peach
Thanks for a great event. I won our class in the 260 cup, even with my Ms and the time was pretty good.
Grayham Parker
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The Dick mayo Sprint was the last round of the MX5 challenge, having won the first 4 rounds and with only 4 scores counting I didn't really need to turn up, but I was able to fit it in my calendar last minute and thought it would be cool to take them all. I also thought I could better the run I had done at the Great Western Sprint which was 72.2 on the INT time, which is the same section used for the DMS. Looking at my videos I could see there was time out there, I just had to go out and get it, I set myself a target of 71.5s
the first timed run, span and came in last, not good, this made the last run very important. I did what I could but just couldn't find the pace, put in a 73.59s run, nowhere near target or as quick I have done before. I was not as confident under braking, braking too early and too much, knocking a few mph off of corner speeds. Doesn't sound a lot but the car has no straight line pace to make it up. Still a good day was had, event ran smoothly so well done to organisers and marshals who handled the amount of entrants well. I came in second to David Newman which isn't terrible, but let's hope it's not a dip in form, I Went out in first practice and got a 73.91, OK still have to catch Dave in the HSA :) for a warm up, brakes were a bit grabby making the car unsettled. Second run a little better with a 73.37 but just not finding the time I needed. I had a momentary lapse on
Sandy Smith
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Unfortunately another Force saga for Dave and I. We got the engine back with it's new clutch at 6.00 on Friday. After a session fitting it we had it fired up by midnight and thought we were on track for Saturday. We tested the clutch which is where disaster struck, one of the long M6 bolts holding the slave cylinder must have been fatigued and sheared off in the block when the slave cylinder was used. Even with a sterling effort at 2.30am with easi-outs and tapping a battery clamp from
Dave's Honda we were thwarted. Anyway, we got to Combe at 7am on Saturday, a little tired, and with the mighty Lancer, and had a great day battling in A3. Dave took 3rd and I took 4th 1.6sec behind him, I'm getting closer! Thanks to all the organisers and marshals because this was one of the smoothest running events with such a large entry I've been to, thoroughly enjoyable day!
Simon Clemow
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The Dick Mayo Sprint would be my first event in our new car, an ex-circuit Elise Cup race car. I had driven it before at Llandow and Blyton, so had some idea of what to expect. Compared to Katie (my Mini), not having to have a wrestling match with the steering wheel is good, getting used to a lot more power and rear wheel drive would be the biggest challenge. It was also the first time since I started competing that I had a realistic chance of a good result. Whilst Katie is fantastic fun, she could never compete with the front runners in A1. I was a little nervous before the start, not
helped by Jon Lannon going off at Quarry in first practice while I was queuing for the start. However, I got progressively faster throughout the day and managed to finish within a few seconds of the front runners, so a pleasing result. Many thanks to the marshals and officials for a super slick day.
Thanks for a great event. I had fun!!
Matt Rumney
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Claire Tooth
Thanks for a really good event. I think you had it about spot on , timings , throughput etc. Scrutineering in the paddock positions works well. It was very helpful to have the PA running to keep us in touch with what was going on and to get to the starts in time without too much waiting in the heat. See you next year.
Rod Warner
Your Dick Mayo Sprint meeting was so smoothly run, with a balance limited workable number of competitors. I very much appreciated your very kind award of ÂŁ50 awards participants drawn from the hat by no other than June Matty, our Paul Matty Lotus Sportscar Championship companion. Who else could have picked 3 Lotus drivers names out of the hat!!!! Many thanks to all the Marshals, Organisers and MSA officials in making such a wonderful competitive days sport.
Malcolm Thorne
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Since the last event at Abingdon, a pool of gearbox oil had accumulated under the car. The gearbox was duly removed with the oil lines still connected to the engine (the sump sits in the gearbox) and the input shaft seal was found to be leaking. A new seal was ordered and fitted on the Monday before the event. With the whole rear end of the car held together by the gearbox, putting it back together was more than a 30 minute job. Since the last event, the alternator had been relocated to the front of the engine from its location where it was previously spun by the right hand driveshaft. This had meant the car ran total loss until it reached about 50mph and led to a couple of events this year where a discharged battery had put the ECU into limp home mode. The final modifications were aerodynamic with new vortex encapsulating footplates on the front wing end plates and a new diffuser, which I crafted from scrap aluminium in the garage on the Friday night in a desperate act to find more time.
record by 4 tenths. It was also eye-opening the difference that the barn door wing and diffuser were making to cornering performance. Wow! Andrew and I were wide-eyed.
Second practice knocked a further tenth off, whilst Andrew set a PB. In the afternoon timed runs, I managed to find another tenth, but Andrew reported a misfire, which he put down to buzzing the rev limiter. In the final run, it was clear that he'd not been on the limiter as both he and I experienced a misfire and I had messages from two marshals about the misfire in case I'd not heard or felt it. It cost a second, but as the only two in the class, it didn't change my position. We were 5 seconds off FTD, which was disappointing, and the data showed why. The car was 8mph slower up Avon Rise, but managed to pull all that back in addition to a further 6 tenths in the corners. We don't have the power to drag that massive wing around Castle Combe, even though it's probably quicker at Crystal Palace and other low speed venues. We have a more First practice came around and Andrew was efficient aero package with a smaller wing in tyre warming for me. He put in a solid banker the pipeline, which should be fitted in time and I hopped in. Clouds of smoke billowed for the Great Western Sprint in March, where out of the car and I panicked, reaching for the drag is even more important on the flying lap. ignition and extinguisher whilst shouting at The event, despite the smoke and misfire, Andrew about whether the car was on was superb. That it finished so early was fire. His shrug was hardly reassuring but the down to the brilliant organisation and us smoke cleared before I hopped out and the competitors mainly staying on track. Thanks smell of burning rubber suggested it was the to all of you who assisted. alternator belt that needed adjustment. Still a little startled, I headed off on my first practice run. It was a PB and under my previous class
Andy Laurence
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I would like to thank everyone for their part in ensuring we all had a great day. The organisation was really excellent. Well done!!
Kevin Rowe
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A very enjoyable day overall. The event was managed very efficiently, the sun was shining and Paul even managed to make the driver's briefing entertaining. Many thanks.
Trevor Hartland
Photos by Scott Boulton (www.jackflashphotography.co.uk)
Please pass on my thanks to all the team - one of the best events I have competed in! Many thanks.
Anthony Shute
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Photo supplied by Shaun West
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The Family Sports Car Day
T
his year the Family Sports Car Day held at Castle Combe on Sunday 24 July featured Lotus Sports Cars, being the anniversary of three of their models – the Europa, Esprit & Elise. We were lucky enough to have examples of all three at the event. In addition to the Lotus cars there was an impressive selection of different marques from as early as 1930 up to the present day, including fine examples of Aston Martins, Jaguars, Austin Healeys, Morgans, Cobra replicas – the list goes on and on. There was a record entry this year comprising 195 cars taking to the track and an additional 70+ display cars, with exhibitors travelling from Suffolk, Kent and Dorset to attend.
“Summertime” by Fresh Prince
laps of the paddock in his electric Jeep! The sunshine prompted David and Mandy in the Tavern to fire up the barbeque, tempting many people to dine on the delicious burgers. However it then started to cloud over and the light drizzle became heavier rain, enough to make some of the open cars leave for home. A lesser number of cars participated in the remaining on track sessions with the pace being a bit slower due to the slippery conditions, but those who took part seemed to have a great time, as usual.
For the past seven years BMC has been raising money for the Stroke Association at Supercar Saturday and since last year the ladies from the charity have attended the The first exhibitor, in his beautiful 1954 Family Sports Car Day to promote awareness Jaguar XK140, was waiting at the gate at of their good work. As an additional 7.30am, obviously keen to get a good spot in attraction this year we decided to raise some the paddock! As the rest of the entrants more money for the charity by offering began to arrive the weather started to passenger rides around the track in BMC improve, with the sun making an appearance members’ cars, in return for a small donation in time for the first on track sessions at 11am. to the Stroke Association. As a new venture at The spectators also started to arrive, this event it was difficult to anticipate the including many families, giving the paddock a take-up but once commentator Chris Dymock real family atmosphere. This was good news had publicised it a few times over the PA for face painter and balloon modeller Mister system people started to sign up for Mural and his assistant who produced some passenger rides, with an excellent total of 52 beautiful artwork on the faces of some of the rides being given in a variety of cars ranging children present. Lunchtime saw the largest from an original Mini to a brand new Porsche number of cyclists (and scooters) so far take 911, although Dave Greenslade’s Noble to the track, some coming to the circuit proved to be the most popular! More specifically for this activity, whilst young Sam importantly the rides raised a total of £230 Rumney had great fun completing his own for the Stroke Association which will be 30
doubled, thanks to the Royal Mail’s matching scheme secured by BMC member and employee Nick Rainbow. At 4pm the winner of the Favourite Car was announced. This year the bottle of bubbly was won by Richard Watkins in his wonderfully original 1950 Morgan Three-wheeler F4. The day concluded with the three young lady competition winners, Tilly, Gabriella and Claire (and families) being treated to some laps of the circuit in the pace cars of Peter and Les. Since the winner of the adult ‘People’s Choice’ car competition had already gone home due to the wet weather I was quite happy to take their prize laps with Peter instead, since it was my only opportunity to get out on track. Many thanks to all the exhibitors who came to the event, everyone who attended as a spectator, to Peter Mowlam and Les Rawlings of Castle Come circuit for driving the pace
cars, and finally to all the Bristol Motor Club members (and some non-members) who helped to make the event such a great success. Judging by the positive remarks on the day and numerous complimentary emails received since everyone had a fantastic time and can’t wait to return next year. As organiser of this event I’m kept busy in the Strawford Centre throughout the day which unfortunately means I never have an opportunity to look around the cars or speak to the exhibitors. It’s lucky that there are many super photos of the day enabling me to browse through them and see what I’ve missed, so thanks particularly to official photographers Jim and Scott. I know I say it every year and it never happens, but next time I really WILL get out more! Perhaps it might even be sunny for the whole day too.
Zoë Tooth
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Photos on this page are courtesy of Jim Gaisford (tel: 01225 743400 / 07778 389257)
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Photos by Scott Boulton (www.jackflashphotography.co.uk)
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I
genuinely enjoy Bristol Motor Club’s annual July weekend double-header, and this year’s events didn’t disappoint. With a fine summer’s day lending a helping hand, this year’s Dick Mayo Sprint saw us with 155 competitors signed on, and with the BMC organising team quickly finding its rhythm and the competitors being right on the button with getting promptly to the assembly area when called, we were all done by 4.30pm and I had great fun helping dish out the medals a little later. As I have a keen interest in classic cars, our Family Sports Car Day is a firm favourite in my calendar and my fingers were crossed that we were hopefully not going to suffer a repeat of last year’s somewhat biblically wet conditions. Thankfully, aided by a lovely summer morning, we had around 250 classics gathered in the paddock by 10.00am The sheer variety of cars that join us every year is faintly staggering, and in addition to some of our event stalwarts - step forward the Aston Martins, Cobras, Morgans and Marcos’, to name but a few – we always seem to attract some real rarities, and this year saw a welcome return of the Tornado Talisman and my first ever sighting of an Intermeccanica outside of a printed publication. Of course, our UPS for this event is the availability of the track itself. We must have had nearly 200 cars in their various groups out on circuit enjoying some spirited parade laps behind the Castle Combe pace car and which for a total cost of just £15 per car for three such sessions - and no charge at all for
visitors or to put a car on display only - must make the BMC Family Sports Car Day one of the most cost effective classic car events to attend in the country. This year also saw some club members offering passenger rides in their own cars in exchange for a donation to our chosen charity, The Stroke Association. With visitors being able to choose from a ride in Dave Greenslade’s Noble M12, Chris Buckley’s Porsche 997 Cabriolet, Paul Hemmings’ Porsche Boxster, Pete Hart’s Morgan Plus 8 or even Ady Taylor’s Bond Bug, among others, the passenger rides proved immensely popular and I heard a report that although the suggestion was for just a £2 donation from passengers, the donations almost always exceeded this modest request. Add in the fact that the Royal Mail had generously agreed to match whatever we raised pound-for-pound, and not only did we all have a really enjoyable day, we also did a heck of a lot of good for a very worthwhile cause; says the middle aged man whose current idea of exercise is walking 300 yards (yes, British yards again, thank you Brexit) to a rather good Chinese takeaway… Although the BMC Family Sports Car Day is fairly relaxed and isn’t as anywhere as intensive to run as a competitive sprint event it still requires a lot or organisation, and a deserved ‘well done’ must go to all involved with a special mention for Zoë Tooth for all her hard work in getting the message out to the classic car fraternity and sorting out such a large number of entries. Even allowing for the forecasted drizzle which
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joined us for the afternoon and meaning an early finish for some of our guests, the day was most certainly a great success and one of which the club can be rightly proud.
Chris Dymock
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“Days Of Our Lives” by Queen
H
ere we are just in to August and it seems as though the club motorsport season has nearly finished already!
having been well used already I found the experience a bit like driving on ice… Sandy Smith had turned up for the test afternoon too, so we chased each other around Combe, The BMC MX5 challenge finished on the 23rd though I spent most of my time sideways on of July with the Dick Mayo sprint but more on just about every corner trying to keep up with that one later. him. Still, it was too late now to get new tyres The season opener for me in this season’s so I just had to persevere with them. As the MX5 challenge was the Great Western Sprint. afternoon wore on I modified my driving style This is always a great event with the 1 and ¾ a little and started to feel a little more laps of Castle Combe making a fast and confident with them but not a lot. challenging event.
Having won the championship overall last year I was keen to put in a good effort to tally a good points haul for the season opener, However there had been a regulation change with respect to tyres for this season’s championship. In order to try and level the playing field all participating Mazdas were required to compete on list 1A road tyres. Whilst fully agreeing the sentiment behind the reg change it was causing me some concern never having competed on ‘road rubber’ before.
A couple of days later I turned up for the Great Western sprint feeling more than a little anxious that I wasn’t going to be able to perform at the required level in what has become an extremely competitive group. It was good to catch up with everybody in the paddock after the long winter months. As ever despite the competitive rivalry it’s an extremely friendly and helpful group.
Foolishly, not possessing any road tyres I thought I would get some cheap part used tyres from the Ginetta championship. These were duly fitted ready for a test afternoon at Castle Combe a day or so before the Great Western event. Well, I was in for a shock. Partly as I tried to drive on them in the same way as I had my Khumo V700 list 1B tyres and Practice commenced and as I suspected partly because they were probably a bit hard things didn’t go well and by the end of
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practice I was sitting in 4th place with Louis, Gary and Sandy all in front. Sandy was really on form and pulled out about a 4 second lead! So on to the timed runs and a bit more focus required! So I went off and had a kip over lunch time to try and clear my head ready for the afternoon’s battle.
treat his car gently, although I don’t think he believed me when he heard his tyres protesting loudly around the ‘bus stop chicane’. Mind you he still bought me a pint when we went out for something to eat that evening so he couldn’t have been too worried!
Feeling a little more confident the next day I turned up at the event and after the usual Again it was tight at the top but at least I paddock banter we were soon off out for managed to climb up to 3rd by the end if the practice. The testing from the previous day with only 10ths of seconds between afternoon seemed to have paid off as practice myself and Gary who finished second, though finished with myself in 2nd place and Sandy in in 1st place Sandy put in an incredible 156.2s 1st on a damp track. Fingers crossed come against my 160.9s, quite a result! the afternoon with the sun starting to shine Next up on the MX5 challenge calendar was maybe I could just nudge out in front to Llandow sprint. Having learned my lesson snatch victory. with used tyres I had purchased some nice Competitive runs started soon after lunch new Michelin PS3’s. In order to scrub them in and my 1st timed run felt good but not quite a bit plus build some confidence I met up good enough to win. Lined up for the second with Phil Oliver for a test afternoon on timed run just about to go and the red flag Llandow track the day before the event. had come out, Sandy had spun off the track, yeah! I mean what a shame… This could be my chance to get ahead. I gave it my best shot, and it felt good, but was it good enough. A quick check on the times showed that my run was within 2 tenths of Sandy but not quite enough to clinch 1st. The battle for 3rd and 4th place was equally tight with just over a 10th between Louis in 3rd and Phil in 4th . A great day and very competitive.
We had a quite a laugh chasing each other around the circuit and even swapped cars for half an hour or so. I promised Phil I would
On to my 3rd event of the 5 event championship, the Chepstow Autosolo. Having dropped the Autosolo in March I really needed to be more successful at this Autosolo lark than I was last year. You would 37
think that following a course of 35 or so numbered cones would be easy, for most it probably is, but I was never much good at doing 2 things at once, i.e. counting cones and driving… So suffice to say I think I got more wrong test results than correct ones, and came pretty much last - doh!
Let battle commence. During practice I achieved 3rd place but the margin was only around a second between all top three places so I felt there was an opportunity despite tough competition from Shaun in his BBR 200 mk3 MX5, I just needed to push a little harder to get a good result. So on to the competitive runs and with all to play for I drove faster than I thought road tyres could cope with and finally pulled it off, my first 1st in class in this years challenge which earned me enough points for a 2nd overall in the championship, a great result after a shaky start at the beginning of the season.
My overall championship points tally wasn’t looking good by this point. I was laying forth overall in the championship and with Sandy already a clear winner, it was left to myself, Phil and Louis to fight for second place overall at the final MX5 event of the season, the Dick Mayo Sprint.
Initially Sandy hadn’t planned to do this one as he was the clear winner of the championship already, that gave me some hope of a good result, but then plans changed and at the last moment Sandy popped in an entry. Now the only way for me to get the position I wanted was to beat him, along with the other top three contenders. I knew that Louis was pretty handy around Castle Combe and with this being only the three quarter lap sprint the margins for error were extremely low.
So the MX5 challenge cup is going back to Bristol from Poole to a very deserving championship winner after a thoroughly enjoyable seasons’ competitive racing with a great bunch of lads. Sadly this will be my last MX5 challenge but thanks to Andy Laurence for making the challenge possible over the last couple of years, its been a blast!
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Dave Newman
Bristol MX-5 Challenge
M
ist covered the paddock at Castle Combe Circuit for the final round of the Vincenzo & Son Bristol MX5 Challenge. It soon cleared and the engines warmed for first practice. Sandy Smith of Mangotsfield had won every round of the championship so far and had already sealed the championship win. Everyone else wanted to win the final round, but Sandy wanted a clean sweep. First practice went well with Sandy fastest by 0.7 seconds from last year's champion, Dave Newman. Louis Ruff of Pucklechurch was in third place, just ahead of Phil Oliver and James Hurford of Downend. Dave, Louis and Phil were in a tight battle for second place in the championship. Dave had to win, whilst Louis and Phil just needed to beat each other. In second practice, Sandy went half a second quicker, whilst the others all improved marginally, except for Shaun West who jumped from 6th place into 2nd. After the lunch break, it was time for the competitive runs and Shaun continued his form, leading by 0.02 seconds from Dave with Louis, Phil and James all improving. Sandy's time was noticeably slower after a spin at The Esses and he was last. It was all down to the last run of the day and Dave pulled a corker out of the bag, smashing the existing class record to take the win and seal second place in the championship. Sandy also broke the class record to finish just behind Dave. Louis sealed 3rd in the championship with a 3rd place finish and Phil didn't quite have the pace to beat Shaun, finishing in 5th place and ending the championship in 4th place. James didn't manage to improve on the final run and finished 6th.
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Drive By “Something wicked this way comes...” ‘Screeech’ What the? ‘Kaarump’. Ouch! Oh crap…
“Crash Boom Bang” by Roxette
one…) and come to a halt in the second lane at the back of the next holdup, as did the chap in the Audi behind me and the lady in the Nissan Joke – sorry, Juke – behind him; no problem, easy-peasy and hunky-dory.
Unfortunately, what happened next turned out to be an object lesson in the result of not ep, sorry folks, it’s bad news time; paying attention, as, with the briefest of Tiddles the S-Type has been the accompanying tyre screeching, there was the innocent victim of a physical assault so almightiest sound of what is best described as horrendous that the current prognosis is the some sort of explosion, followed a split damage is likely to be terminal, bugger. So second later by Tiddles being impacted so what happened? hard from behind that we were punted My evening commute home involves pootling forward nearly fifteen feet despite the brakes back into Bristol during the rush hour (you’d being fully applied and, even though I was wearing my seatbelt, I came within an inch or have thought we could have created a far more accurate term for the busiest times of two of remodelling both my face and the centre of the steering wheel before Tiddles road use by now?) on the M32. eventually came to a stop and my being Which - by a devilish combination of speed limited roadworks, a local council that hasn’t slammed not so gently back into my seat. quite come to terms with the abject failure of “Jesus Christ, what the…” communism and that prioritises every other The shock of the impact lasted for several form of transport, however rubbish, over seconds as I tried to comprehend what had private cars, and some genius thinking back in just transpired, given that I had checked the 1970s that a two-lane carriageway would behind as I joined the rear of the queue and be perfectly adequate as the main arterial link had noted the Audi coming to a stop? For a for a major city of half a million people and moment I struggled to open the driver’s door the motorway network - usually resembles and did wonder if the central locking system some sort of unworldly arthritic mechanical had been damaged in the impact as the doors caterpillar, gently undulating between slow auto-lock once you’re underway and only and dead stop as it wends on its inexorable unlock again when you open one of the journey delivering the city’s workforce to doors from inside when the Jaag is static? their homes and families. However, after several unsuccessful attempts This daily process poses no undue problems at using the door handle, giving the door one to anyone who is paying attention and who is of my best rugby shoulder barges soon solved bright enough to hold a current driving that particular problem. licence and you just move and stop as the And the sight that met my eyes immediately flow demands. Easy enough, and on the answered my question as to the reason for fateful day in question I had just entered the the smash and was a scene of utter carnage, speed limited area of the roadworks for the resembling the aftermath of some Sci-Fi new Metrobus lane (don’t start me on that automotive battle – ‘Carmageddon’.
Y
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A Mercedes Sprinter van – yep, the REALLY big version – had obviously driven into the back of the Nissan Juke at speed, and with barely any effort at braking before making contact, and had caused a concertina accident with yours truly at the front.
outwards over each rear wheel arch and making contact with the rear doors. In addition, both front doors were now slightly proud at the top and all four doors were sticking in their frames when you tried to open them.
I can only imagine what prevented me from adding the vehicle in front to this impressive tally of automotive destruction was a combination of the space I usually leave to the car in front in traffic queues and the queue possibly moving forward at the moment of impact, thus creating just enough of a gap for me to avoid ruining someone else’s dinner plans. Fortunately everyone involved were okay, if a little sore, and the police soon rocked up to sort out the mess. The boys in blue quickly got a grip of the situation and, as Tiddles was still drivable, I was asked to move onto the hard shoulder once they had moved the cones out of the way. “Take your car over there and leave enough space for us to park the other vehicles behind you” says the very understanding police officer, which I duly did. As it turns out, Tiddles was the only vehicle still mobile and I spent the next quarter of an hour on my own as they sorted out the others which gave me time to take stock of the damage.
Most worryingly though, was that the driver’s seat was twisted from its original position and had dropped appreciably on its right hand side, which probably accounted for my subsequent aches and pains which were already becoming apparent and which were really making themselves felt the following day.
Eventually the police officer came over to see me and introduced himself, stating he was from the Tactical Firearms Unit stationed at Almondsbury – which, I have to admit, did elicit one of my world famous humorous quips; in this instance relating to the clarity of police thinking nowadays and could I be The Audi that had been behind me had present for the public execution of the van impacted squarely into the back of Tiddles driver… After a quick breath test – all parties and the rear bumper, the structural steel blew a negative result – they gave me the all panel behind it and the boot lid were all badly clear to proceed home and that they would crumpled although, somewhat surprisingly, email the insurance details etc of the other both rear lights were intact? Further parties involved for my insurance purposes. investigation yielded a crumpled boot floor The following morning I arrived at work in and both rear wings were creased, bent Ah, the butcher’s bill. As I started to compile a list of the damage, it quickly became apparent that it was likely Tiddles had been mortally wounded and would be departing sometime in the near future for that great Jaag carpark in the sky, bless.
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my new short-wheelbase Jaag to find the promised email, excellent, only to read that the van driver was…? Uninsured. Now, this wouldn’t be a problem if you have fully comprehensive insurance, but my policy is only third party, fire and theft in an effort to keep my outgoings minimal and working on the not unreasonable assumption that if I prang my car it’s my cost to get it sorted, and if someone else hits me I will claim it against their insurance. Perfect thinking until you meet an litre 2002 SE model in a rather fetching shade idiot that has decided car insurance is not for of metallic blue. them. For previous car purchases I’ve usually let But surely you claim against the person who you have my nickname for my latest actually hit you? You’d think so wouldn’t you, transport at the end of all the pertinent but no, the insurance companies pass the details, but I’m going to tell you now as it responsibility along the line and if the makes what follows just so much more fun. I accident instigator is uninsured it all stalls and derive the nicknames from one of the car’s you’re back to square one. Which is why I’ve attributes, maybe the colour – remember my now engaged a specialist solicitor and metallic brown Vectra, ‘the Flying Turd’ – or pursuing a claim for uninsured loss through perhaps the manufacturer, hence the MIB; that’s the Motor Insurance Bureau, ‘Dymlyuberpanzerwagen’ for my very not the Men In Black, although… German C class Mercedes. This time the job Of course, with Tiddles now being somewhat has already been done for me by those lovely less than legally driveable and no viable means people at the DVLA, as the X-Type’s of recovering the cost of hiring a car, this registration plate begins FL02 – Flo! meant I was facing a mild-level dilemma Flo still has quite a decent body despite her regarding transport for my thirty mile daily age and you get the feeling she’s going to be a commute to work. reasonably faithful companion despite her Which is why, just 24 hours after being visited by the Jaguar S-Type Grim Reaper, I was the proud (I could really use your sympathy vote for the remainder of this article…) owner of? Yep, another Jaaag of course! More by default than design, I would hasten to add, as it was the cheapest car on the local car sales lot and, with an indicted 76,000 miles and a full Jaguar dealer service history, at least represented a minimal risk compared to the rest of the automotive fodder on offer. Well, no way of avoiding it any longer I suppose – yes, I’ve bought an X-Type; a 2.1
being the product of a much more humble start in life (based on the contemporary Ford Mondeo) than the S-Type’s superior breeding, although she has all the same gadgets to have a friendly twiddle with when the mood takes. However, as the old adage says, ‘you can’t hide the mileage’, and although she has quite reasonable manners, Flo still insists on constantly moaning and groaning the minute you ask her to get on with the job. Fortunately, Flo also has far less of an expensive drinking habit than her posh relative as she’s only possessed of a much 42
have an update regarding the ongoing insurance saga and I have a most unexpected So does she have any redeeming features? Oh yes, you bet your boots she does - take a firm twist to this tale to share with you… hold of Flo and administer a damn good Finally, the answer to a question I’ve recently spanking and she makes the most spent an unreasonable amount of time extraordinary noises! Yep, you can’t beat a pondering. What’s yellow and looks good on buttery smooth, small capacity V6 coupled to Mercedes Sprinter van drivers? A Hi-Vis vest, a manual box for sheer entertainment value perhaps? and, as this engine only puts out around Nope, a JCB… 155bhp and not very much torque, you can enjoy a mini-Le Mans soundtrack in second and third gears on every journey at zero risk to your driving licence. smaller heart.
Chris Dymock.
For my next ‘Drive By’ ramblings I should
Bristol Speed Championship
C
oming into the third round of the Bristol Speed Championship, Sandy Smith had a small lead over Jon Lannon, Matthew Bennett and Simon Clemow. For the top two, it all went wrong as Sandy was beaten into second place by outgoing Vincenzo & Son Bristol MX5 Champion, Dave Newman. Despite both breaking the class record, it was Sandy who walked away with 20 points. Jon Lannon had a worse day when he hit the barriers in first practice and a punctured radiator put an end to his day. Matthew Bennett was in brilliant form though, knocking half a second off the class record. Simon Clemow was again in the "Evo Half" Lancer with Dave Greenslade following a broken clutch in the Force and, despite the parts arriving the previous day, a stripped crank thread at 0200 on the morning of the event led to a shortage of sleep and a start in the backup car.
Andy Laurence, Bob Bellerby and Tony Booth battled it out for the Best Bristol award with Andy just taking the win, knocking two thirds of a second off the unlimited single seater record in the process. Next up Wiscombe - can Sandy Smith seal the Bristol Speed Championship as well as the Vincenzo & Son Bristol MX5 Challenge?
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OFFICERS & COMMITTEE MEMBERS’ EMAIL Pete Hart Paul Hemmings Chris Dymock Richard Marsh Paul Parker Mark Benstock Vickie Tubb Matt Nichols Mark Tooth ZoÍ Tooth Allen Harris Andy Laurence Dave Greenslade Kate Boulton Mark Chater Ady Taylor Mike Cole Scott Boulton Chris Buckley
peter.j.hart@btinternet.com paul@phemmings.freeserve.co.uk chris.dymock@intoheat.co.uk r_marshy22@yahoo.co.uk britishsprint@paulparker.f9.co.uk benstock.mark@yahoo.co.uk vickie.tubb@hotmail.co.uk matt@classiccarsdriven.com mark.tooth@tiscali.co.uk membership@bristolmc.org.uk allen@harris-bristol.com andy@andylaurence.co.uk davegreenslade@zoho.com kate-boulton@virginmedia.com mark@chater.demon.co.uk ady_tayloruk@yahoo.com cole.mike@btinternet.com scott_boulton@btinternet.com cbuckley@slb.com 44