Round 1 - Rockingham, Sunday 26th March

Clock Around the Rock

The first event of the year on the morning the clocks went forward - That’ll Be The Day!  Before we knew it, it was time to Wake Up Little Susie, and Hit The Road Jack.

As we stumbled into semi-consciousness, we were greeted by a sky resplendent in hues of red and scarlet – now how does that rhyme go?  ‘Red sky at night…’  Did the omens lean towards inclement weather? Indeed not! We had the best day of the year with long spells of sunshine and temperatures peaked at Sweet Little Sixteen.

With the warm weather came warm welcomes to two newbies: Mark “Hank” Hankins in his stunning 2500; and Jim York sharing Mr Blacklee’s long-campaigned 450 Chimaera.

Richard “Blower” Bream rocked up sporting rear tyres that had used Malaysia’s entire annual rubber production to improve the traction from his monstrous supercharged Chimaera.

Practice, as they say, is for practice.  This didn’t stop two of our artists spinning like 45s.  “Little” Richard Blacklee got All Shook Up on the rumble strips and failed to warm the tyres for his double driver.  Said double-driver, Jim “The Spin” York, then produced an even more flamboyant performance, with a visit to the infield. 

Little Richard improved with every subsequent run, picking up a healthy 21 points.  Jim got a clean run in second practice, but span again on both timed runs – welcome to the world of TVRs Jim!  Only pride was damaged, but there will be plenty of Muddy Waters on the drive when Jim The Spin has finished cleaning the car.

Blower quickly found the limits of adhesion and was Slippin’ And Slidin’ in second practice, but tamed the beast in the afternoon to secure 21 points.

Gerald “Lee Lewis” Simonds pushed hard enough to suffer fuel starvation round this mostly left handed circuit.  He was certain he wasn’t Running On Empty, but got good points for his first time at this challenging circuit.

The Cerbera of new dad James Howell (congratulations Imogen, welcome Freddie) was Poetry In Motion, earning him a personal best and over 20 points.

Hank’s delightfully restored 2500 in A Whiter Shade Of Pale is a pleasure to behold.  Some novices take a while to find their way round, but Hank went Farther Up The Road than most, bringing home a massively respectful 22 points. 

There was no lazing on this Sunny Afternoon.  With one timed run under their belts, Shunter was ahead of Jo by a mere 3 hundredths. Proving she has Great Balls Of Fire, Jo went half a second quicker.  Shunter was told “Don’t Be Cruel”, but he also improved to beat her by 4 hunds. 

To combat the Summertime Blues, Rob Pack has made two changes this season. One planned, in order to keep the rain off – a new lower seat allows him run with the roof on (no helmet bulges on a Chimaera). One unplanned – in first practice his barely attached rear screen freed itself some more, flapping around his head, resulting in free air-conditioning! Despite this, Rob was Leader Of The Pack from the start, and even with a slightly slower second timed run, he had done enough to secure his first ever event win.

Well done Rob – Let The Good Times Roll.

Shunter
C’mon Everybody, put some numbers on it.
(Photography: Howard Barnard, Richard Blacklee, George Haydon, Tim Morgan)