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The 2019 Bailey Sprint at Goodwood was organised by the Brighton and Hove Motor Club on Saturday 11th May. It was a lovely day out and enjoyed by around 140 competitors and a smattering of spectators. The entry included an excellent showing of six TVRs, the biggest turnout of the year to date. During a chilly early morning track walk we reflected on the motorcar being a most marvellous invention. It takes a pedestrian some forty-five minutes to walk the two-and-a-half-mile circuit. A car can complete the course in under two minutes and is much more fun. |
We needed to pay attention at the driver’s briefing as each organising club has its own ideas on the start and finish arrangements, the use of flags, and the number of practice and timed runs, etc. For this event we started in the pit lane and finished at the finishing line a lap later. There was one timed practice run comprising a single lap, followed by three single lap timed runs. We were asked to try to remember to brake smartly after the finish to avoid running over two yellow flag waving marshals standing in the middle of the road, guiding us back into the paddock.
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Taking the TVR entries in numerical order, we had 134, James Howell in a Cerbera, 136 Alan Davies in a 4300cc Griffith, 138 Richard Blacklee in a 4500cc Chimaera,139 Steve Hunter 4500cc Chimaera (co driven by 1139 Jo Briars), 140 Mark Everett 5000cc Griffith and 141 Trevor McMaster in a 4500cc Chimaera. Mark Harris was entered at number 135 but had to switch to using his MX5 in the Classic Marques class due to problems with his Cerbera. Trevor had entered his Ginetta G32 as number 118 but that car also had problems, and he was reallocated number 141 for his TVR Chimaera. The start line marshals did a sterling job sorting that lot out, and trying to juggle the batches of five cars on track to minimise the risk of baulking.
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It was good to see Tony Bradfield and Steve Cox who came along to spectate, as well as our chums from Classic Marques. During a break for meat pies and hard-boiled eggs, Naafi coffee and chocolate chip cookies, we sympathised with Claire Giles whose Austin Healey 3000 was engulfed by fire and destroyed on her way back home from her last event. We wish Claire and her husband the best of luck with the rebuild.
There was a spot of rain after practice but our class were not affected as we were safely tucked up in our garages. For the rest of the day a steady breeze kept the temperature reasonable and afforded a tail wind boost along the Lavant straight. |
Results were unsurprising at the top of the order with Mark (Captain Chaos) Everett taking the win. Mark’s best time was on his ‘practice’ run when he was only half a second off his personal best. Other Goodwood regulars did what one is supposed to do on a practice run, practice, and were around four seconds off their PBs. Mark said that as he is only doing eight rounds this year he couldn’t afford to make any mistakes and needed to rein in his enthusiasm. He slowed down marginally for the timed runs, but still no one could get close to him. Alan remained in second place all day, a testament to the performance of the Uniroyal Rainsport 3s both he and Mark were using. Jo and Steve finished in third and fourth spots.
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Trevor drove well in his Chimaera to take fifth despite struggling for grip on old 1A tyres. James proved a quick learner on his first visit to this ultra-fast circuit of double apex bends. His first timed run was eight seconds quicker than his practice lap. A ‘welcome to Goodwood’ sideways moment through Fordwater lost him a little time on his second timed run. Richard might have enjoyed relearning Goodwood after an absence of many years if he had not been hanging on for dear life through the fast bits due to wobbly steering. It transpired afterwards that someone at Dunlop Motorsport in Daventry had incorrectly fitted 50g balance weights to the front wheels. They were fitted 180 degrees from where they should have been!
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The only other mechanical problems reported were caused by car radios! Trevor had the front of his radio pop out as he changed into fifth. Alan was alarmed by a voice emanating from the speakers at an inconvenient time. He had turned the volume right down but was surprised by a traffic announcement. The vibration at high speed in Richard’s car resulted in the driver’s side door speaker falling off and dangling by the wires in the footwell.
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Jo and Steve both desperately wanted to break the 100second barrier and managed it on their final runs, both securing new personal bests. Indeed, Jo’s 98.81 was quickest of the all TVRs on our last lap, earning her a trophy for second place on scratch. Unfortunately, she had to relinquish the prize to Alan for beating her by half a second on handicap.
Mark now tops the averages with three wins in three rounds. Well done to Mark! Next stop Coventry Motofest where it is looking like we have a good entry list! Richard Blacklee Photography: Shunter, Steve Cox - Classic Marques |