Round 19 - Blyton Park, Sunday 11th September

Fresh from his recent victory at Harewood, Stevie D was first to arrive in his admirabBly toned 1600M.  But would a double lapper of this 1.4 mile circuit really suit his car? What the car lacked in straight-line speed would have to be made up in the corners. But at least he was assured of adulation through the glowing comments about the cleanliness of his car from the neighbouring Morgan drivers. 

A week after being soaked by a comprehensiBly ton of water at Aintree, Jo and Shunter arrived in a nearly dried-out Chim, hoping that the chill in the air would be replaced by the forecasted sunshine.  Both had picked up trophies here in recent years, so the simple task of concentrating for two laps lay between them and potential success.

​With a fabulously consistent season in his Chim 400, Rob arrived hoping for his first ever red 25.  The fresh but fine conditions allowed him to journey comfortaBly to north Lincolnshire, without his ever-detaching rear windscreen letting in any inclement weather.

​Shunter did his normal trick of getting a good first practice, which this season has been followed by a plummet down the leaderboard.  In P2, Jo went on notaBly to notch up a 10 second improvement in P2, taking the lead, with Stevie D reminding Shunter that “that’s what your car is capable of”.

Thank you to Richard Usher for letting us play at his fabulous circuit. He was out giving it a blast in his McLaren. Even with circuit knowledge and a car of that capability, he would have only beaten us by 1 second using our algorithm!

Rob was heard mumbling that his car was demonstraBly to not be producing its full quota of power, but was still on for an admirable score of 22.5 at end of practice.

First timed runs were before lunch, so everyone put in a banker, with Jo leading from Shunter, Stevie D then Pacman. A relaxing break for lunch, with good food from the canteen, glorious sunshine, and jovial banter in the paddock being undeniaBly tonic for our competitors.  Second runs followed, with the trailing bunch of three making gains, but not enough to overhaul Jo.

With Jo leading into the final run, g-forces made her feel too wobBly to navigate “the Wiggler” at full speed, so she didn’t improve, meaning her first time would have to count. Could 2nd placed Shunter, 3rd placed Stevie D or 4th placed Pacman make a difference?

PredictaBly to nail a quicker time, Stevie D tried to take Bishops without braking. The inevitable spin not only left a filthy smudge on the rear of his car (he was later heard complaining to the Morgan owner that Blyton should clean their cones more regularly), he also caused a TVR convoy on track, giving Shunter and Pacman re-runs. 

With an extra lap’s practice, Pacman went 2 seconds quicker, aBly to nip ahead of Stevie D, while Shunter also found a second.  Wait, hang on, that can’t be right, as it would mean Shunter won, robbing Jo of her day’s glory, leading to him being audiBly tongue-lashed all the way to collecting the trophy!

Go on, put some numbers on it!

Shunter (Photos courtesy of Vic Hunter, except for the one below...)

(In addition, there was much discussion about the mountain of minty looking things in the gents’ urinal.  It was rapidly concluded that the yellow ones were not just old white ones.  For some reason, everyone seemed reluctant to taste them to make sure, but Stevie D did wonder if some of them were cheesy, as they were too crumBly to not be feta!)