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7th and 8th June – Northampton
7 points total, 5 and a bit races, and a little bit of damage.
The day started out colder than sometimes, so I was glad for the heavy lifting of the spare’s boxes, and the tyres (Dad edit – I don’t remember much help with it this time, you were too busy faffing!). We were then ready to head out, picking up a friend on the way – Hi Marsha! As it was a more local track, it didn’t take us long to get there, and we were soon in the queue to get scrutineered.
After a couple of hours of waiting, signing in, scrutineering and drivers briefing, it was finally time for the racing to start. Our first heat was race 4. At least it gave us some time to look at the track and guesstimate where or whereabouts the grip was. Then it was time for me to go out. I love shale tracks, as you can basically chuck the car in and then balance it on the throttle to keep the front pointing where you want it but also keep the rear end bouncing around a bit, so it just ends up being really good fun. There was no real chucking in of the car though, as it wasn’t as slippy as it sometimes can be.
Starting from the yellow grade this time, as we didn’t do enough meetings to maintain the blue roof, and it was off on the rolling lap we went. We somehow managed to get going on the first attempt, and I managed to get a really good start making up a couple of places. But then Archie got spun and rolled down the home straight, with Daniel also being rolled at turns 3 and 4, having not even made it to the green flag – oops. As it was the first lap a full restart was called, so we lined up for a second attempt.
By now it was properly raining, so it was starting to get a bit slick, but I made another good start. Heading down to turn one for the first time is the first real test of grip, and sure enough there was some, but also a bit of understeer too – need to brake later and heavier to try and get the tail to move. Lap four and Mia pushes me into the slop on the outside of turn four, slowing me down as I ride the fence, but manage to keep it going and set off after her and Boden who’s snuck through. Then a caution is called for as Amber’s found the fence at turn two and has been clobbered by another car, but is ok. This time we had done enough laps for it to only be a single file restart, not a full one. So off we go, bimbling around the track, a good restart and I’m doing well in about 10th place when Kai comes up the inside into turn 3 and punts me into the slop again. The car bogs down, but I managed to keep it going, just losing a lot of momentum. Back up to speed and we carried on, finally coming home in 15th place for a point.
Heat 2 was race 7 and the track conditions hadn’t changed all that much, it had continued to rain and had been doing that on and off all day, so it didn’t impact the handling of the car. Off we go on the rolling start again! I made an okay start again, and wasn’t losing ground to the people in front, or behind, but whilst I could get the car to turn in at the start of the corner it then washed wide mid corner, and I was coming out with armfuls of understeer. I got tapped a couple of times, which actually helped as it turned the back of the car, so thanks to whoever that was! I was doing quite well, until we came out of turn 2 to be raced with a spinning car. The car on the outside of me dived to the bottom of the track just as I got there, turning me onto the infield along with four others, but firing me into the side of Tommy who was also spinning out – sorry! A caution was called, and I had to rejoin at the back of the pack, having a good little race with a few others at the back until the chequered was waved, coming home in something like 18th. Oh well.
This is where stuff starts to get interesting though, it starts to absolutely chuck it down, and the people in charge of the meeting, Incarace/Spedeworth, decided to call a 30-minute break because of the track conditions, and after some further investigating, and by that, I mean going and looking at the track, we discovered that both corners had massive puddles. And I mean massive. Like whole corner size puddles. Thats what the 30-minute break was for then. They then called another wait for the track officials to make sure that the track conditions were okay, by pumping the water out of the puddles into a massive water tanker! Once they were happy for people to drive on they declared that the finals were going to be run on pure sludge. Dad tweaked the trye pressures to try and help get some grip by lowering them and in effect making the contact area wider. Fun! Out we go.
This time we were told to do five laps round before we could think about going any faster, which helped the drivers get used to the different conditions, warm the tyres up a bit, and try and bed the track in. By the end of the laps some drivers decided to pull off onto the centre, but there were still 24 or so to take the start. Green, green, green, and off we went. Cautiously. Too fast and you would have almost no control over your car, too slow however, and the car would just bog down. It was like driving on a mix of ice, water, mud and slurry. Fab. I think it was about half time when I glanced over at the infield, and saw perhaps half the cars had pulled off, and that only about 12 were still running. And based on the state of the cars that had passed me, I didn’t blame them, but I kept going because I was starting to enjoy myself, despite finding the fence a few times and giving it a glancing blow, but keeping up forwards momentum, and points are points. Finishing at all was good, but I finished in 8th for another 6 points. Yay!
But when I got back to the pits to a row of just solid brown cars, I realised what mine was going to look like. Dad was laughing so hard as I pulled up, and got a big surprise when removing the bonnet to water the radiator as it weighed about 10Kg more due to all the shale stuck to it! Getting out I looked about as brown as the car, and it's a good job Team Hardwick had their pressure washer with them. I must say a massive thanks to them for letting us, and I reckon about 75% of the field, borrow it and get hosed down, including the drivers! Madness, but great fun!
My mum had very kindly come over to pick us up, and we got home not too soon after the final, (about 2 hours, including clean down 😊), after having left the car there ready for Sunday’s meeting, with the hope that it might be a bit dryer. I’ve got to say, before getting hosed down I went to say Hi as she was waiting in the car park, and her face was priceless when she saw the state of me. Dad had already shared a picture of the car, but not me!
We got there the next day after being dropped off by my Grampy, only to discover that while the outside of the car was dryer, but muckier than when we’d left it due to the continued rain overnight, the inside looked like it had been sat behind a muck spreader and was no dryer, and that I would be sitting in a rather wet seat. I don’t think I minded, as the heat from the exhaust soon dried it out a bit. So, after another quick check over, and signing in again, we were ready to go out and do it all over again.
Rolling lap, green, green, green, and away we went. The track was absolutely mint in this race, not too wet, and not too dry, perfect. The track staff really had worked wonders, starting at 6.30am to give us a pristine track – a massive thanks to them. I had a good start, gaining a place, and out-dragging Josh into the first corner, but 882 had other ideas and punted me sideways into turn one, holding it together I lost a couple of places while getting back up to speed. Coming down to turn one for the second time I was latching onto the back bumper of Mia, but 300 Coby came in at a high rate of speed and punted me sideways again, pushing me straight as he kept going, but causing me to slow down enough to be at the back of the pack. Then a caution was called for someone – can’t remember who, so we all set off again, when suddenly, the car in front of me stops dead for no apparent reason (turns out it was the domino effect if anyone knows it from motorway driving!), leaving me with no option but to stop using his rear bumper, hard. So hard, in fact, that the car wouldn’t refire. Great. So, I am shoved off track, waiting to get back to the pits with my fingers crossed that it's an easy fix. Luckily it was, as all that had happened was it had moved the dizzy cap, and flattened the little tab inside the rotor arm, causing the cars timing to be out, thus meaning the car wouldn't refire. Annoying. But soon fixed, and after refuelling, we were back out.
I had a good start in the second heat too, and was keeping up in my 7th place when, you'll never guess what happened, haha, CAUTION! Ughhhh. All sorted out and ready to go again. And go I did, at a very high rate of speed straight on into the corner, involuntarily. We’re given explicit instructions not to go before the green, stay in line, don’t push, etc. To say the reds and superstars jumped the start is an understatement – the pace car was still on track as they started to go! Marvellous. Didn't cost me a points finish at all! 7th going down the straight waiting for green and 18th coming out of turn 4. Dragged the car home in about 20th to the pits full of drivers complaining about the same thing. Nothing we could do though. First time I’ve seen Dad get really angry about racing.
Out in the last race of the day, and the grid was closed (no gaps), grade order, with points collected from previous Northampton's this year, so I was on the fourth row, inside line. I managed to somewhat escape the carnage that was the back of the pack with everyone tangling and fighting with each other, but entering turn one for the first time I was tagged by a blue top as we entered four wide (never ideal). Bearing in mind that at this point the racing line is literal tarmac, and the outside line is still wet shale, and he half spins me going into the bend, but because my rear wheels were on the sludge outside stuff, I had no hope in hell of saving the car, so ended up doing a quick 180 spin, and flicked me straight into the fence, backwards, at around 30 mph. Ouch! But it gets better, because I couldn’t seemingly find my gears, I was stranded in the very outside of the fence, where people who couldn't get on the nice smooth inside tar line were slipping and sliding straight towards me. One of them not quite managing to save it in time, and hitting me sideways on. Double ouch! I initially thought I was okay, until the adrenaline wore off, and EVERYTHING started to hurt at the same time. At which point the best thing I could do for myself was to get out of the position I was in. Second time in my racing career I have put a thumbs down. The forklift tractor ends up lifting me up, and taking me off track, where I tried, and failed, to work out what was wrong with the car.
I am towed back to the pits, and put straight onto the trailer, where I get out to a not so very straight inside rear wheel. Oops. At a guess the wheel was the thing that hit the fence, and the metalwork only took a glancing blow. After getting home and doing some further investigations, we realised that it has taken most of the rear suspension mount and shoved it into the rear of the driver's cab. Oh, and the positioning of the clutch slave cylinder mount has moved, meaning I can’t put the clutch pedal down. Not too bad for the impact it took! We think that’s it but will look more thoroughly once we’ve thoroughly cleaned it all off.
We're not out for a bit now due to other commitments and holidays, so won’t be on track til August 9th back at Northampton. If anything else exciting happens I’ll keep you updated.
Laters,
Sarah #18.
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24th + 25th May – Scottish Weekend
Two points finishes in five races. Not bad for two tracks I have never raced around before! And shall we say they’re a tad different to normal?
The day started out horribly. 4am start before a six-hour drive. I definitely have a new found respect for the Scottish spectators and drivers who regularly compete at the English tracks!
Obviously, we had loaded the car onto the trailer the night before, so all that we needed to do was load the tools and spares on board the tow vehicle. Good job really as I think I could have fallen asleep standing up! Luckily it didn't take much longer than usual, although we were taking every spare we had so took over the rear seat of the tow car too! On the road by about 5:20am. All seeming like a normal meeting, until I looked down at the time and saw that we were still in the ridiculously early hours of the morning! My mum and little sister were in the other car with overnight bits, so thanks to them for putting up with the early start too!
I won’t bore you with the details of the drive, but I will tell you that 200+ miles on the M6 is not fun. Like, at ALL. So after what felt like an eternity, we had finally arrived at the first circuit. Knockhill Raceway. Yes, the full race circuit just North of Edinburgh, but we were going to be using what’s called the tri-oval. Basically the last hairpin and a link road.
We arrived at about 11:30, so not bad for a 300+ mile drive, and still had time to book in and get scrutineered before the meeting started. All that being completed, it was soon time for practice. Ten minutes per formula (there were three). On the track going round on the rolling lap gave away just how steep the drop for the hairpin was. One minute you're driving on a relatively light downhill slope, and the next you're hugging the inside kerb to flick you round and down at a fairly high rate of speed, then going along the back, fairly flat, straight before barely lifting off the throttle to maintain speed up the steep hill back up to the home straight. Very different, and only 3 corners! Oh, and the track had a gravel trap at the hairpin and on the exit, a concrete wall at the exit of turn 2 and grass run off on turn 3. Fingers crossed I don’t encounter the gravel as once in that’s it, unless you get really lucky and manage to skip over it. Oh well, let’s see.
With practice out the way and it was soon time to line up for my first heat. They decided to line us up in grid order before we got out on track to make their lives easier, which wasn’t a bad idea.
I managed to make the first race incident free at this very different experience. So much speed and wide open space, and yet we still managed to keep tripping over each other, with about 6 embedded in the gravel. I mean, there was the odd occasion where I steered round the hairpin, before my arms went, nope, and gave up, so I ended up fishtailing the car through the edge of the gravel, but it's fine. My next heat was after two races, one of each formula, so I had a few minutes to give my arms a break.
Out for the next heat and it was more of the same. Except for being spun entering turn one, the hairpin, but locking up whilst travelling backwards managed to just miss the gravel. Other than that, minimal damage, and some gravel tracking again. Aaaaand achy arms. Marvellous.
Same break again, as this schedule was consistent, so more time to let my arms rest. I will say now that I was very definitely humbled about my strength after these races. But never mind. More of the same in the third heat. My arms still hurt and everything! By this point however, I was starting to notice something was off with the inside rear suspension. The car still handled fairly okay though, so off I went for the meeting Final, the last mini race of the evening. Having a good battle until entered turn 2 three wide and I ended up brushing the wall and half spinning before grass tracking up the hill and rejoining on the home straight losing out to the final points position. Oops. Again, I came off the track with no complaints, and feeling very impressed that my arms hadn’t given way in the middle of the race!
Happy to come away with a points finish in at least one race, with no damage, it was time to load up and move over to Cowdenbeath for the overnight stop. Cowdenbeath Racewall. Yeah, raceWALL. Given that name for a reason. A track armed with a menacing-looking fence, steel plate, backed by about 4 feet of concrete. Not something that I was in a hurry to hit. Although I’ve never raced this track before I’ve spectated and seen some of the very severe damage the fence can do. After having slept for not long enough, we returned to the track from our hotel overnight stop, where we repeated the actions of the previous day, but without practice. Mmm, not sure about that.
Time for race 1. Now, when I tell you that this race was the MOST brutal and most destructive race I have ever gotten myself into, I want you to believe me. 24 cars entered, only 10 were then capable of driving themselves back to the pits. 10. Of 24. Crazy. Luckily (I think) I was one of the ten that finished. Somehow, considering the fact that my rear suspension was now making a considerable difference to the handling of the car by trying to spit me into the fence at every opportunity, and that someone had blown their engine up around halfway through the race, but had then continued to do another lap, thus meaning that there was now oil EVERWHERE, and the track was really slippy.
After getting back to the pits and taking a further look at my rear suspension, we didn’t really get very far as there was nothing obviously wrong – we’d even changed dampers on the run up to the meeting as we thought one had gone soft, but having watched the footage of the first race back, and felt the cars handling, or lack thereof, we decided it would be best to call it quits. Sad, I know, but I didn’t feel like battling the car round for a couple of laps, before pulling off because it was too much anyway. Baring in mind that of the multiple cars that didn’t make it to the finish there were several with wheels hanging off, or detached completely, bent axles, shattered brake discs and hubs, ball joints split and metal bent. Yes I know it’s stock car racing, and a contact sport, but when more than 50% of the field doesn’t come back it’s not a good thing. The margin for error is so small with the racing line around the track I didn’t want to cause myself or anyone else damage by not being on the pace.
So we spectated for a bit before deciding to get a head start, with three races left to run, on the six-hour journey home. All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable experience on Saturday, and with a better handling car under me I probably would have enjoyed Sunday more too. But such is life with a race car. As it was bank holiday, Monday was spent stripping down the rear suspension to try and sort it out, which we think we now have done, cleaning the car down, and swapping over to shale spec for our next outing.
After that long two-day meeting, our next meeting(s) are at Northampton on the 7th and 8th of June – thankfully a little closer to home! And back on my preferred track surface of shale. This time we’re on with the BriSCA F1 and F2 peeps who’ll be racing for their European Championship.
Look out for the next exciting instalment of my racing diary, and we’ll keep you posted.
Laters,
Sarah #18.
10th May – Skegness
Well, that could have gone better!
The day started out really nice, blue sky, nice and warm, I was really looking forward to racing. We loaded up and then headed off slightly earlier as it was tarmac, and I wanted to get some practice in since I’ve not raced the hard stuff since last October.
Skegness always seems like a long drag as it’s a two-and-a-half-hour drive over there, but it’s always good racing!
We went to get signed in and then came back to find Gary Maynard (Chairman of NMSC) scrutineering the car next to us, so we managed to get scrutineered straight away too. Then it was off to line up for practice.
As I haven’t raced on tarmac since October last year, the first practice wasn’t great, as I wasn’t pushing hard enough as I was getting used to the car set up again, and although I was fast out the corners and down the straights people were gaining too much time on me entering the corners. But next time out I felt more comfortable and I was braking later and harder to get the weight transfer that’s ideal for racing on tarmac. This time I could feel the car start to work under me, and I could hear the squeals of the tyres and feel the car balancing on the edge of grip, with me feathering the throttle to balance the back end movement.
I got back the pits, and dad did a quick look around as I was still in the car waiting to be re-fuelled and sent back out, when he told me that he wanted to swap the front outside tyre to the rear, as it was getting nicely worn in, and wanted to get the rear the same. However, as he was undoing the rear wheel, one of the studs snapped. Normally they go when tightening them, but hey. Never mind, we managed to swap it out with one of our spares and then away I went again.
This time, I managed to escape with no damage to the car.
So I turned around and waited to go back out again. This time, I wasn’t so lucky. I was in the middle of a good race with #115, both of us seemingly able to position our cars wherever we wanted, so when the other made a mistake we could get a better drive out on a tighter line, when with one lap to go, all of a sudden with no warning, the outside front wheel escaped, dumping the front corner onto the tarmac and skittering me to the fence. Excuse you! I sat there until the red flag dropped and was then rescued by a tractor and taken back to the pits where we sat, confused at the outside wheel having come off with no obvious damage other than another broken stud. Oh, and the tyre has a huge slit in it. Not had one stud fail before and now we’ve had two in quick succession.
Luckily the bottom balljoint sacrificed itself and saved the brake disk from damage, and we set to repairs it with a spare stud from Team Hardwick – thanks!
Having fixed the car, and done a quick brake check in the pits, I went back to Dad and he asked if I wanted to go out one final time, but we then noticed that one of the bumper supports had been torn off when the tractor dragged me back, so we quickly found Team Holcroft who welded it back up for us – thanks!
After our driver briefing it was now time for heat 1 – woohoo!
First time out as a blue roof and I had not a clue where to line up, so I went round to where I thought it was and followed another blue top to the final position. I made a good start, and was holding my own with everyone in front, whilst staying ahead of those behind. I was getting stuck in left right and centre and having a really good time. Until I wasn’t. Entering turn 3 on lap 4 and two other cars got tangled together immediately in front of me, and with nowhere to go but a small gap to the outside of them, I hoped I’d get through. Trouble was Taylor was already embedded in the fence just beyond the two cars. There was no room up the inside of the two cars, and no time to get there, so I had to go round the outside. However, because the two cars were still moving, my gap closed and I ended up not making it through and taking my cars front end off on the rear end of the car in the fence, and with damaged steering and a lot of forwards momentum I ended up clattering into the fence too. Dammit. I tried several times to get a gear, but the car was making an awful rattly noise, so I switched off and hoped no-one else came in to join the two of us.
What I didn’t know, was the extent of the damage until I got back to the pits. The inside wheel was hanging down as I assume I’d destroyed the top balljoint on the spinning cars, but the worst damage was to the outside, with the wheel rammed into the bulkhead and end of the side plate, which itself was also folded and bent. Oops. Dad started to survey the damage while I went to calm down (I don’t take it well when my car’s damaged), and by the time I got back he’d already set to and changed the balljoint to get the inside wheel pointing in the right direction. Of more concern was the outside though, as expected. Taylor’s rear corner had pretty much acted as a guillotine on the front of mine and had torn very cleanly through the front bumper support bar, pushed the wheel back to the bulkhead, splitting the wheel and tyre, taking the end of the steering rack with it, and had yanked the axle clean out of it’s joints at both ends (I’d also done the inside joint on the inside axle too) and as we don’t (or didn’t) carry spare axles that was it done. Oh, one of the engine mounts had bent like a banana too. We put the car back together as much as we could to get it on the trailer ready to go home. At least the engine still sounded healthy.
Sunday afternoon was spent repairing and reassembling what we could, and seeing if there was any further damage to the car. We stripped the axles out and then found out the front outside brake disk had cracked where it joins the hub carrier, so we fitted an old spare just to ferry it around for now. And the calliper bracket is stripped, so doesn’t tighten up properly.
Monday night we rebuilt the old axles from spares and then tonight (Tuesday) we refitted them, fired up the car and ran it though the gears with no nasty sounds, so fingers crossed we’ve sorted it.
Dad’s now got a list of spares to order to replace our used ones, two brake discs and a new hub to fit when they arrive, and a front corner to reweld, oh and the throttle cable’s nearly sheared through too, so that needs to be changed.
However, at least we can take away the fact the car’s got good speed, and the driver hasn’t forgotten how to race on tarmac – just needs to aim for bigger gaps!
A couple of photos and some onboard footage in the gallery as usual.
Next time out is the Scottish weekend on 24th and 25th May. We’ll see you there.
Laters,
Sarah #18.
27th April - Update
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Well, it's amazing what a better run of luck, and a new attitude at the start of the year can do for you, but the points are out after the first grading period. For the first time in my racing career I've made it out of the white grades, bypassed the yellows completely and jumped straight in to Blue roof territory.
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Slightly terrified if I'm honest as blue is the most difficult grade to race from - ask any short oval racer. But I've finally achieved my aim of losing the white roof, so Woohoo!
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Oh well, best get on with it then and get them elbows sharpened up and ready for pushing!
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See you at Skegness on the 10th of May!
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21st April – Bradford
Well, its safe to say that we did not learn from the last time we went to a wet Bradford. Never mind, we went for the points, and gained some points, so not all bad!
As it was a half past twelve start time, we had to be up at around 7 to leave for 8, so you can imagine it was rather cold. Time to get my heavy lifting in! Loaded up and off we went.
We arrived at about 10:30, just as the rain started. Typical British Easter Bank Holiday weather! We still had a couple hours to kill whilst also attempting to stay dry, so off to sign in it was. This time the scrutineers came to us, so we just had to dry down a space on the roof for the sticker they give us to reassure marshals that were not trying to go on track without being scrutineered first!
After making sure that the car didn’t roll down the hill whilst waiting to go on track, it was finally time to line up and get going. Good job as well as it was really quite cold just being sat there looking decorative! After looking at the state of the V8’s coming off the track, I was dreading going on, but it didn't look toooo bad, then again, you should never judge a book by its cover.
On the rolling lap we went, this one only taking one attempt, and we were off. Well, sort of. The track was very slippy, and entering turns three and four was not fun, as there was seemingly no grip until you hit the fence. But dad did tell me that there was some to try and look for on the very inside line, so here I go. After being shunted into the fence by various things, such as other cars and lack of grip, I managed to make it round fairly incident free, finishing in 13th place out of 20 starters, for one point. I got back to the pits and climbed out the car to assess the damage the shale had done. It wasn’t bad at all compared to what I was expecting. So I went out and gave it another go.
This time the V8’s coming off the track looked considerably worse and plastered in the orange sludge, sorry, shale, of the track. Oh well. Round to grid places and off we set. This time it took three attempts to go for a start as the yellows and reds kept jumping the starts, but hey. Guess who couldn’t even get a look in because she got shoved into the fence on the first lap! Me. Not today Satan. Trouble was I got pushed into the sludge which overpowered the engine and forward momentum causing the engine to stall, but in all the fun and games it takes a couple of seconds to realise this, despite the huge red light I have on the dashboard to remind me – oops! Anyway, refiring and I set off after the pack. The red mist had descended and I was gaining and passing cars as the laps counted down, finding a decent line that kept me out of the majority of the sludge, and allowed me to be faster through the corners. That’s better! I followed that line to the end of the race and finished in 11th place. Getting better.
Got back to the pits only to realise that the first race had led us into a false sense of security, as the car was now covered in orange Bradford goo. And to think I was driving in said car. Gross. After scraping the shale out from the wheel arches and out of the wheels that it was doing a marvellous job of clogging, we realised that it was almost time for me to go out again. It's okay, at least the thick layer of shale on my bumpers and nerfs should protect me if anyone else decides to shove me into the fence again.
I really wish that the V8’s would stop being the race before me. I already know what I’m about to drive myself into and I don’t need their reminder as well! Oh well, due to being outside the top 7 in both heats I hadn’t qualified, so started at the back of the grid with the other non-qualifiers, and with Superstar Boden in 425 being hungry as he’d blown his engine up in heat 1, managing to change it in time for heat 2 (yes, they just happen to have spare engines knocking around!) and only being four cars behind me I figured the start might be fun! I was right as coming into turn 3 for the green and Boden was on a mission, and I just happened to be in his way. An almightly belt into the fence caused the car to stutter and one of the other non-qualifiers smacked into me too, OW that hurt, but I gathered it up and set off after them again. With a clear track behind me I got to toy around with a few different lines and play around with different speeds entering the corners, and as we were all struggling I was quite happy to finish having caught and passed a few blues and reds in the last few laps, managing to cross the line in 12th place! So, all in all I achieved myself a total of 4 points I believe.
Today was spent cleaning everything down, including front and rear suspension and brakes as the goo gets into everything. Fun times! But at least we’ve now swapped to tarmac mode ready for next time out at Skegness on 10th May – my first tarmac racing of the year, as a warm up to the Scottish weekend at the end of May.
As usual there’re a few pics in the gallery.
Stay tuned for that one, and I’ll keep you updated.
Laters,
Sarah #18.
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13th April - Northampton
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Well, not quite as good as Kings Lynn, and also not quite what I had in mind, but the car is still in one piece, so I’ll take it.
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A Sunday meeting for a change (for me), so we started slightly earlier, and slightly cooler loading up, but the heavy lifting soon warmed me up, and soon enough we were on the way, this time with my mum riding shotgun. Sorry Mum!
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We arrived at 10:30am, and the meeting didn’t start until 1pm, so we had plenty of time to get booked in and scrutineered. All that being out the way, we went for a wander round the pits surveying the damage from the night before (the F1’s and 2’s had been at Mildenhall) and got started on filling my little sisters brand new autograph book with signatures, catching up with a few mates and sponsors along the way, but before we all knew it, it was time to head off, and watch the first few races before my first heat.
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Two F2 and F1 races later, and I was on track. Outside front row, on what seemed to be a very wet Northampton track. Let’s see how this goes! First attempt at a start and as usual the eds were keen to get going before they should, but it was the yellows that were pushing us whites before we got to turn 3 on the rolling lap that caused the first start to be aborted, so round we went again.
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This time we managed to get away cleanly on what was a very slippy track, and I couldn’t find any grip until about a car and a half width’s out from the inside fence. Luckily, I managed to keep the car – mostly – under control. And by lap 5 I was still in the lead, until Danny Bonner came up behind me. I’d passed him whilst he was in the fence, so he was a lap down, but as I came out of turn 4 to cross under the hallway flag I lost the back end and instead of giving room he piled into me, spinning me to the infield. By the time I’d recovered I’d dropped back to 17th and last. Dammit! I caught and passed a red top on the last bend (not bad for a white top), but he was already a lap down, so 17th place it was. I got back to the pits and celebrated by scraping the shale off the car.
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Two races later and I was back out, determined to do better. This time only one attempt at a start and we were away. I got a better start this time and led up until halfway when I made a mistake and tried to drive round the outside of someone, but I got sucked into a wider line than intended, leaving the door open for Mason Whittle to sneak through. A couple of laps later and one of the many Hardwick brothers caught me and we rubbed side by side down the home straight, before he got a punt from Boden into turn 1 putting me too wide again and I lost a little bit of ground to them both. As the laps counted down another couple of reds caught and passed me, eventually coming home in 6th place. That's better! This time I celebrated with an ice cream 😊. Thanks Mum!
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Two more races later and I was back out for the Final. I had qualified and was running off the front row as the only white top. Let’s see how it goes. I made a good start, but the back of the car was very loose and I was wagging all over the track, almost allowing 103 to get up the inside. Coming out of 2 and it did it again, but there were waved yellows for an incident at the other end of the track, and a full restart was called for. Off we set again, and again I led into turn 2, but this time a caution was called as George had rolled on the back straight. So, another full restart. Aaaaaand we’re finally off! I led for a couple of laps, but the loose back end was catching me out at turn 4 and I was passed first by 103, then on the next lap 103. A couple more slipped through and I was holding position in 5th place until 174 came out alongside me out of turn 2. He had Hanson on the other side of him though and as we ran down the back straight we ran out of room, with Kew squeezing me into the fence. I bounced back into the side of him causing him to turn and slap the fence too. This impact caused the car to pop out of gear, and it refused to go back in until I was stationary, which took me until I was a lap down. Great! I somewhat managed to catch up, but I wasn’t close enough to redeem myself. At least Kew picked the lesser of two evils, as I’m fairly certain the other option would have left Hanson spinning in front of us, causing all three of us more damage than necessary.
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Well, I got back to the pits, and a watering can down later, we were inspecting the car for damage. All good apart from the front corner has been completely squashed, and the box section split. Never mind, could have been a lot worse. At the end of the day, I bought it home in one piece, granted one piece that’s not in A1 condition, but it’s in one piece, and we got a 6th. So, like I said before, not as good as Kings Lynn, and not what I had in mind.
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Hopefully next time out is Bradford on Easter Monday, subject to Dad getting time to repair the car as the brakes need to be looked at too. Anyway, stay tuned for the next one and we’ll keep you updated!
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Laters,
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Sarah #18.
15th March - Kings Lynn
Well, I told you I’d see you in the next one and here I am! Back out again after Northampton’s success, and it's safe to say I’ve done a good job.
Started the day the same way as normal, loading up the cars. It was slightly colder than last weekend, so I was happy to do this because all the heavy lifting warmed me up!
This time off on the 2-hour trek to Kings Lynn. Not the most exciting drive but I can’t complain. Before I knew it, we were there anyway! Well, we weren’t exactly THERE, as we joined the back of the queue that started before the main bend to the pits was actually in view! Oh well, only took half an hour, and there was still plenty of time to get scrutineered.
One trip to the scrutineers and a sticker and a half later, we had some visitors. One of my mates who races in the v8’s, Dannie, and a couple of friends who we met through spectating. We had a quick natter to them, before they announced that the mini’s needed to line up for their first race. Time flies when you’re having fun!
Belted into my comfort zone again, and getting some heat into the car, they called us onto the track. Everyone pulled round to their grid places, where we were told to turn our engines off because we still had five minutes before the race began. Slowest five minutes of my life that was! Finally, said five minutes had passed, and we were on the rolling lap. The first of three that is. The first attempt, the reds and supers had jumped, second attempt, the reds and supers had jumped, third attempt, we just about managed to get it right, and we were underway with the green, green, green, in our ears. Now, I had managed to make quite a good start, and was about a corner ahead of anyone else. So I was just racing away to my heart's content, waiting for at least one person to overtake me. But then the lapboards started coming out, and then the one lap left lap board came out and I was still in the lead, and so I looked in my mirror, only to see that there was one car a little way behind me. So here I am, on the last corner, of the last lap, of the first race, still in the lead. I see the car behind me attempt a last bend lunge, but miss. But what I also watch, is the starter, waving the chequered flag over the top of my car, which was still in first. This is where the reality starts to kick in, because over my raceceiver, I hear them announce the top three from the race, one of the numbers being mine. I pulled up on the centre green and started to undo my belts, and take my helmet off, stopping halfway to give Colin Casserley a thumbs up for a photo. I climbed out my car and before I could do anything else, I heard my dad yelling at me from the other side of the catch fencing. I look up, and there he is, a grin rivalling a cheshire cat spread across his face, crossed with the proudest look I’ve ever seen in my life. Then the third-place driver comes over to shake my hand, along with the second-place driver, and we proceed to have a little chat. They both tell me how much I put my foot down, before the chequered flag is handed to me and we climb aboard the pace car for our lap of honour. Waving to the crowd, seeing all the people clapping and waving back is such an amazing feeling. That all being very well done, we were presented with the trophies, and interviewed for a bit, before we all climbed back in the cars, and headed back to the pits. Dannie was already there, along with my Grampy, and my dad wasn't far behind. Dannie took the trophy while I got out the car and sorted myself and my stuff out, by which point my dad had returned, and have me a congratulatory hug, before taking a picture, and sending it to my mum.
Well, eventful first race, let's see what we can pull in the second. Dad says I need to prove it wasn’t a fluke, so need to go and do it all again – no pressure! Back out, in the comfort zone, and on the first rolling lap, somebody's car didn’t go. On the second rolling lap, somebody's car went a bit too soon. On the third rolling lap, I managed to get a good start again. I led for the first 3 laps, before #754 had caught up to me and had overtaken me into the lead. However, there was still a massive gap between me and the third-place car, so we were safe. Trying to keep up with the new leader I did an ok job, but he’s just faster than me into the corner. Soon the laps counted down and I still had a good gap to 2nd, so I finished the race with another podium finish. Not bad going! One trophy presentation and another ride on the pace truck later, and I was back in the pits with a second-place trophy in the back seat of the tow car 😊.
There were only three races as there were only 27 cars booked in, and all the races were all in car wise, meaning that there was only the final left. Because I had qualified, I was at the front of the pack as the only white top. Now I knew that i could keep up with everyone, and keep ahead of everyone. This time, it only took two attempts at the start, one people jumped and another someone rolled! But we were soon underway again. I managed to stay ahead for the first 4 laps before succumbing to #754 again, then a couple of laps later a couple of yellows caught up to me. By halfway I was still running in 5th, and then I was just engulfed by a group of reds and superstars. I wasn’t mad at my place as I finally brought it home in 11th, gaining one final position on the last bend, and just staying ahead with a drag race to the line with #507, Dara, by .073 of a second!, but it wasn't the greatest compared to the 1st and 2nd I’d received earlier. However, being engulfed earlier, meant I had more time to play with the car a bit more, which also meant that at one point, I entered the corner sideways. I managed to hold it though! I also realised that I could keep up with quite literally everyone else, as #507 came up beside me for an overtake, and I kept with him the whole way down the straight, mostly into the corner, and out of the corner again. Which, not to toot my own horn or anything, is not bad at all.
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So how about that, second meeting back and I've got a win and a 2nd under my belt. I’d say that’s pretty good. And I’ve scored more in the first two meetings than my previous three years!
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We have a few weeks off now, but keep an eye out for the next report from Northampton on April 13th.
Laters,
Sarah #18.
March 8th 2025 - Northampton
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First meeting out since October 2024, and I managed to survive with minimal damage – always a good day at the office! Two heats and a final, all in as there were only 25 cars there, and it's safe to say I’ve missed it.
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We started with a normal race day morning, loading up the cars, fitting the shale guard, checking tyre pressures etc.
About an hour down the road to the track and we were there. I’d forgotten how fast the drive to Northampton was! We arrived at about 3.30, and the meeting didn’t start until 5pm. Plenty of time to get booked in, scrutineered, and have a catch up! It was great to see so many old friends over the course of the evening.
Fast forward to 5pm and we were race ready, on the track, belted into my comfort zone, and waiting for the rolling lap to begin. I am currently top white roof, so I was on the outside row of the two white tops that were booked in for that day. The green flag dropped and I managed to get a good start, but as the minis were the first race out, the track was still freshly watered and rather slippy, so in about 2 laps, the yellow tops had caught up to me, nothing to do with the fact that they had jumped the start! So I dropped back a few places. Then about 5 laps in, the superstars started to catch up to me, so I dropped back even more. But by this point, I was starting to get back into the rhythm, so they didn’t exactly pull off into the distance! Sadly though, before I knew it, the race was over, and we were all heading back to the pits.
Back to the pits and a watering can full later, my dad informed me that I had come about 17th - turns out it was 15th! Not too bad for 6 months off 😊. We had four races in between my first heat and my second heat, so we refuelled ourselves and the car, checked for any damage, and waited for the bangers to finish destroying themselves.
Four races later and it had started to go dark, which is all very well and good until your trying to get belted in but can’t see a thing you're doing! I just about managed to do it, and got dad to tighten them all, and then it was time to wait some more.
On track for the second time now, and I was definitely starting to realise just how much I’d missed this feeling. But I didn’t have time to dwell on it as the green flag was being waved and we were underway again. I had managed to make a good start again, and led the race for a few laps, eventually dropping down to second for a few more laps, then got forced wide by a group meaning I was running fifth with three laps to go until some red tops and superstars came up behind me. Boden made it passed, with me now running in 6th with 3 to go. Then one of the superstars behind gave me a good whack coming onto the home straight, which popped my car out of gear. I managed to slot it back into gear and go for about half a second before another superstar hit me going down the straight, which popped the car out of gear again! This time it baulked going into gear again, so I pulled over to the fence, rammed the gearstick into first, pulled away, shoved it into second, and I was off again. At the back of the pack with one and a half laps to go. Ugh. Never mind, I was still on the lead one, so I’ll take it!
Back to the pits, another watering can down, and dad informed me that I had come 17th or 18th. Annoyed, but not a bad result, but not good either. Then, upon further inspection of the car, we also discovered that one of the hits had been enough force to split the rear bumper steel! Not to worry though, because we remembered that Jonna Murfin (Boden Murfin’s dad) normally carried around welding kit. So we ran over there and asked him about it, and he agreed to weld it up! Thanks Jonna!
Back to our trailer with a freshly welded up corner, and we still had some time left before my next race, so we filled up the fuel tank, and did some more damage inspections, before coming to the conclusion that the car was fine. We then wandered over to the board and looked at where I was situated on the final grid. Midpack, at the start of the non-qualifiers, and the back of the qualifiers. Fun times!
Back on track for the third time, and I followed the red top I was behind on the grid round to my place and waited again for the rolling lap to begin. Green flag dropped, and we were away again. I managed to keep up with the people ahead, and ahead of the people behind. Eventually they caught up, and I was then following them. It was a good race, with six of us in a line all jostling for the same piece of track. I knew I could keep up with them and that they couldn’t get away from me, as we were all similarly paced, and had pretty much the same technique. So we all kept up and did our thing. Then somewhere along the line, all hell broke loose. A blue top that was a car ahead of me had turned in too aggressively, losing the back end, and as a result hit the inside curb and went literally flying up through the air. All four wheels were off the ground, and he did at least two barrel rolls before coming to a halt on his side. Now ladies and gentlemen, what I failed to mention, was that, in the midst of his barrel rolls, he pretty much did this immediately in front of me, just clearing the space I needed as I got there. Safe to say there was a caution! Video in the gallery!
It took them a few minutes to get the driver out and the car righted again, but in little time we were back underway. I was keeping with the same, by now five cars, and still thoroughly enjoying myself until passing under the chequered flag to finish the race.
Back into the pits, and yet another watering can down, dad came over an informed me that I had come 14th. Best result came from the most chaotic of races. Seems about right! We got the car loaded up, checked to see if the driver who barrel rolled was okay, and then went home.
So, first meeting back and I have achieved a 17th place, an 18th (I think) place and a split rear bumper, and a 13th place. Not too bad!
Today was spent hoovering, cleaning and repairing the car ready for next time out.
Stay tuned for next weekend's meeting at King’s Lynn and I’ll see you in the next meeting report.
Laters,
Sarah #18.
January 2025 – Pre-season catchup.
Well, we're getting there. Mechanical bits have been gone over. New inside nerf, new front bumper, new paint, new stickers, new attitude :-)
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Still work to do, but nearly done. Good job as practice is on 23rd Feb!
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Laters,
Sarah #18.