Race Report by Andy Hodson:
After the summer (!)
break, the Classic FF brigade reconvened at this fantastic Lincolnshire circuit
on what would be a most pleasant September weekend. I must say the facilities
and track condition looked good (this being my first visit back here since 2003)
– clearly Mr Palmer has spent some money here. Even the bar stayed open on
Saturday evening (which it didn’t 5 years ago…)
My ‘call to arms’ had
had some effect, with a half decent 18 car entry. Amanda Whitaker was back
following her Croft outing (in fact, she was calling in at Cadwell on her way
home from the HSCC round at Brands on Saturday), and we welcomed back Colin
Williams and also fellow NWFF1600 driver Karl Leatherbarrow who was making his
first appearance with us. Providing the paddock entertainment was young Peter
Hackett, who surprised us all by announcing that he was due to move into a house
in a few weeks time – blimey Peter, if you carry on like that you’ll be getting
a normal job next .
Peter and Colin also
livened up proceedings in a Louth hotel on Saturday evening, when they booked
into the bridal suit, stating that they had undergone their ‘civil ceremony’
earlier that day (surely there are better places to spend the first night of
your honeymoon ?) Let’s hope they didn’t stain the sheets….
Anyway, back to
Cadwell and more pleasant thoughts. Several drivers had booked in for Friday
testing, a decision that some would come to regret. The weather on Friday was
standard British Summertime – ie rain, and more rain. Ian McMillan ran a couple
of sessions before wisely calling it a day (see below). But unfortunately, Alan
Fincham and James Gowens both went off on the run down to Coppice, where the
track had turned into a river. Both would spend most of the Saturday
straightening things out. And poor Andy Powell, out this weekend in the FF2000,
had a big one that removed three corners of the otherwise immaculate RF82. He
also spent all of the Saturday putting it all back together, and was able to
enjoy the racing on Sunday.
Also back this
weekend following his honeymoon (this one being real rather than pretend) was
David Penlington. Congratulations David, and to your new wife, who now joins
that merry bunch of women known as the MRWs (Motor Racing Widows).
Qualifying :
Perfect track conditions greeted the drivers as they ventured onto a totally dry
track at 9:30am (it was even dry under the trees round the twisty bits). Simon
Davey and Joe Walton were immediately on the pace in the 1 min 41s, with
everyone else taking a few laps to get up to speed. Sadly, Alan made it no
further than the first corner, with a drive shaft failure – a legacy of his
accident on Friday. He would take no further part in the session, and his second
attempt at qualifying later in the day also came to nought when a wire came off
his coil. He would join the rear of the grid though
Another non performer
was Steve Pearce, who also managed one slow lap with a failed master switch. He
was also on the back row. And new boy Karl Leatherbarrow also spent the session
sitting in the pits with an engine that refused to rev beyond 5000.
So we only had 15
cars out on circuit. Most got in 9 laps, and went fastest in the second half of
the session, once everything had warmed up and brains were fully engaged. Simon
went fastest on lap 7 with a 36.3, with Amanda replying on a 36.4 on lap 8, and
then Stuart Kestenbaum on a 36.7 also on lap 8. Just to confirm matters, Simon
popped in a 35.9 on his last flyer ! Paul Walton took 4th on a 37.0
on his last tour, with son Joe next up only a tenth adrift (most impressive
considering this was his first visit to Cadwell). Colin was pretty happy in
sixth on a 38.3, with Andrew Smith taking the Class B pole on a 38.4 (Amanda
Whitaker not scoring points). The 3 Davids (Penlington, Malpas and Lowe) were
followed by Jon Davis (another first timer at this circuit, and with no testing
!) and then James taking the Novice pole on a creditable 41.0, with Jeff Palmer
2 tenths adrift, Ian McMillan fairly unimpressed in 14th, with the
last runner Ben Hopton taking a cautious approach to this most difficult of
circuits.
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Amanda gets some 'Air' over the mountain |
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You wouldn't know it was Joe's first time at
Cadwell |
Race :
12 laps of the full circuit at Cadwell would mean virtually a 20 minute race,
so, for those that finished, they got decent value for money (8 minutes longer
than Mallory…)
Amanda took the lead
on lap 1, from Simon, Stuart, Joe, Colin, Andrew, Paul, David P, Dave M, Dave L,
James, Jon, Ian, Steve, Jeff, Ben and Alan. Karl had already called it a day,
with similar engine problems (despite changing virtually all the ancillaries
after practice) – so his day was definitely not value for money…better luck next
time Karl, hope to welcome you back next season when the engine is properly
sorted.
Another early bath
was newlywed David, who had fuel starvation problems.
Amanda maintained her
lead until lap 5 when a plug lead came loose, and the car spent the rest of the
race with an intermittent misfire. The fact that she was able to hold third (and
take the Class B win) despite this impediment was testament to her driving
skills.
Simon thereafter took
control at the front, but he had his work cut out as Joe was snapping at his
gearbox, only to make a slight mistake on lap 8 to allow Simon to pull away by a
couple of seconds. Simon was relieved to hold on in front, despite the loss of a
throttle return spring mid distance, which required switching off the engine on
the entry into The Mountain for several laps…
With Simon, Joe and
Amanda taking the first three places, Stuart came in 4th, a position
he held from lap 2. Thereafter, a mighty scrap between Andrew, Paul and Colin
for 5th lasted most of the race, until Andrew spun at the Gooseneck
on lap 10, nudging the barrier in the process. He was shocked to see Paul spin
in avoidance at a scary place, so he continued round the next lap to see whether
Paul had managed to get going again. He had, and, satisfied that all was well
with Mr Walton, Andrew pulled off, fearing broken suspension. This gave Colin a
breathing space to Dave L, both circulating the final 2 laps to 5th
and 6th respectively (with Dave taking Class B honours in view of
Amanda’s non scoring).
Jon enjoyed a race
long duel with Dave L, and, mindful of the Championship, wisely decided to make
no rash moves. He finished 7th overall, 2nd in Class B,
and with Andrew’s non finish, he took the Class B crown with 2 rounds to spare.
The first man to congratulate him was Smithy. Well done Jon, you deserve it !
Some superb driving this season sir.
Dave M also took part
in the battle for 6th, only falling away on lap 10, to take 8th
overall. Steve Pearce hauled himself up from the back row to 9th,
with a loose nosecone sending clouds of fibreglass into the visor of the
following James and Ian (see below) – does this mean that the RF80 will be
treated to a new one come Silverstone Steve ?
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Steve, with nosecone intact |
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Stuart leads a chasing pack |
Paul recovered from
his spin, and overtook Steve on the final lap to earn 10th place (7th
in Class).
Ian and James had a
good dice for the Novice win, their positions changing several times throughout
the race, with Ian taking the win after James spun on lap 10. Atleast a finish
was some reward for James and his dad, who had endured a difficult weekend. The
novice battle would go down to the wire at Silverstone.
Ben circulated
towards the back, but went faster every lap, so much so that by race end he did
a 40.0, some 10 seconds quicker than in qualifying. Jeff was the last runner,
loosing a place to Ben on lap 10 with a spin. And poor old Alan, who had been
running last, failed to finish when the driveshaft gave up once again….after the
highs of Snetterton (where he had finished in the top ten), this was a definite
low….
And so to
Silverstone. Our final meeting of the season sees a double header, with races on
both days. The Class A Championship remains to be decided, Jon can relax as the
pressure is off, and Ian and James battle it out to win the Novice engine
rebuild. The AGM will be on the Saturday early evening, with a barbeque
afterwards. We need 23 cars on the grid to be safe (from a 2009 yellow card),
so, for anyone out there who isn’t aware, if you have a Classic FF1600 sitting
in the garage, your attendance at Silverstone would be much appreciated !
ADH
'Novice
ramblings' from Ian McMillan
After missing Snetterton it seemed like a great
idea to put in half a day practicing at Cadwell to set things up and get back in
the car. I was really looking forward to running around the full circuit. I had
been kidding myself that some track knowledge of club racing a bike there 25
years ago would give me untold advantage. WRONG, as usual. In fact the opposite
happened as I tried too hard to follow bike racing braking and peeling in
points. Well the Friday practice turned out to be a real waste of time. I would
have had the same experience staying at home and screwing up a bunch of £20
notes and setting them on fire in the back garden, throwing a load of dirt and
mud over the car and putting a hose pipe down the front of my race suit [with me
in it] for 2 hours.
However, race day was a completely different
matter as I emerged still tired and very uncomfortable after another night
sleeping in the back of my Kangoo van dawn brought a typical Lincolnshire
morning of dew and the promise of sunshine. Qualifying was far too cautious and
14th on the grid was a bit disappointing to say the least. The race
was a bit better and I improved on my times by about 3 seconds a lap, getting
into the 1 min 39 seconds. I also had a fantastic race for about 7 or 8 laps
with James Gowans and Jeff Palmer. I managed to squeak a bit of a break on them
on about lap 9 and pull away a bit only to catch up to Steve Pearce who’s car
had fallen apart on lap 6. I was so intrigued at what was going on with his car
that I followed him for a couple of laps waiting for whatever was wrong to make
him pull over. But no, Steve persevered till the end with his nose cone creating
enough fumes in his car to sedate a donkey and enough shards of fibreglass
flaying out from under his car to pebble dash a small bungalow.
How good is Cadwell park full circuit? What a
privilege it was to race there and what a well organised day all round. I was
really mortified to see Alan Fincham at the side of the track again in the race.
The poor chap had all sorts of silly problems all weekend and I missed him at
the end to find out what gremlin had hit this time. I am really looking forward
to Silverstone and hope to see you all there. Well done to Jonathan for
clinching the class B championship and many thanks to Andy Hodson for all his
work over the weekend. It was also really good to meet two young chaps who are
keen to race in next years championship.
