Round 8 - Prescott, Saturday 28th MayA moment frozen in time, Prescott represents all that is traditional in motorsport. And with the forecasted showers not materialising, a more fascinating day’s motorsport in glorious sunshine cannot be imagined.
Our planned group of 20 was already diminished as Jeff Ames was unable to make his debut this year, and Admiral Simonds was struck by the lurgy. |
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After a winter fettling away in the garage, a very paisty looking Warwick emerged squinting in the sunshine in his Cerbera, replete with newly fitted clutch. A bit ring-rusty, and a minor spin on his first timed run, he would have plenty of time to get his eye in. Parking up in the paddock, he told everyone not to worry about the steam coming from under the bonnet, but closer inspection identified a separated clutch which had pulled a hose off. More fettling required, and a day’s spectating rather than competing – couldn’t have picked a better venue for it.
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A warm welcome to our two newbies, neither of whom are new to motorsport. Tim Kirkham has picked up a very nice Griff 400 to replace his various MGs – he spent his day learning the car at what is a reasonably familiar course. Mike Luck was double driving Pete Ash’s car – he’s done motorsport in many forms (including the Dunlop Challenge) but had never hillclimbed before; demonstrating his ability with 6th place at a new track, with an unfamiliar car.
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Competing here for the first time, Blower Richard improved all day, despite being the tallest in the paddock with the clearest view of the infamously scary Semi-Circle bend.
Ian overcooked it through the Esses, elegantly thwacking the flapper board as his rear end came round. They’re long those Cerberas, requiring a 12-point turn, but he got going again already planning a clean ascent in run two. “Harry” of Arabia had just returned from Marrakech and spent the day trying not to ride his Cerbera like a camel. A hairy oversteer exiting the Esses saw Everett lose 0.2 secs on his best practice time, but surely the second timed run would be better. |
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Peters Ash and Watson, in two very different Griff 500s, have a great affection for this hill, with 3 Nuts Watson edging it this time, while double driver Mike had pushed Mr Ash to his best time here in four years.
Ames’s absence guaranteed StevieD another Class A win, but his form is clearly slipping, with “only” 23 points taken away this weekend. |
Then the announcement: “can all the drivers come to the office for a briefing?” Default driver setting: what have we done wrong now? But no, there was a problem with the timing gear. The string and pulleys system that would evoke gasps as the value is declared on Antiques Roadshow had finally given up the ghost. The spares were at least an hour away, so the chances of a second timed run before the curfew were very slim.
Moakes, Smith, Blacklee and Howell decided there was no point hanging around ‘just in case’ and packed up. The guys in contention of the win loitered in the slim hope of bettering their times. Others decided their time was better spent sampling the local ale available in the rather luxurious club house above the Prescott start line.
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A final announcement confirming no second run hastened the exodus to the bar, and results were declared on the one and only timed runs. No chance for improvement for the spinners and wobblers.
At one third of the way through the season, the Championship is developing into one of the most open of recent years. The event attracted three previous champions, four different maximum points scorers so far this year, and with Prescott maestro HoBo having deserted us for the dark side of MX5 competition, predicting the winner here was going to be tricky.
At one third of the way through the season, the Championship is developing into one of the most open of recent years. The event attracted three previous champions, four different maximum points scorers so far this year, and with Prescott maestro HoBo having deserted us for the dark side of MX5 competition, predicting the winner here was going to be tricky.
Thanks to all the local regions for coming to support us in vast numbers. We hope the lack of competitive runs up the hill was offset by the demonstrations of various exotica including F1, Veyron, Lambos, Vespa and of course the 28 litre Fiat “Beast”. We hope to see you all back next year, maybe with some numbers on it?
Shunter (Photos: Bobox (good ones) & Shunter (cr@p ones)) |