Rounds 15 & 16 - Loton Park, 6th-7th August
Snatch & Stiff
Loton Park Estate was mentioned in the Domesday Book as the ancestral home of the Leighton family. The estate has been modified over the centuries, with the current hall built in the early 1600s, with additions and extensions added in the 18th and 19th centuries. The rolling countryside of the estate is home to both a deer park, and a delightfully challenging speed hill climb track. It is rumoured that Guy Ritchie, famous for doing Snatch, Lock Stock and Madonna owns the estate. Further investigation indicates that his mother was briefly married to the now 11th Baronet, Sir Michael Leighton of Wattlesborough during the 70s, but there is no evidence of any further ties. |
Thankfully, the deer make themselves scarce during motorsport weekends. The only evidence of their presence is their obvious emissions dotted around the paddock and along the track. One of the benefits of the TVRs being in the later classes is that the other runners have cleared most of this “debris” away before we go up the hill.
On his journey north, Mark ‘Captain Chaos’ managed to snap a droplink on his rear ARB. On Saturday morning, he and co-driver Alan ‘AHD’ set about adjusting the suspension to compensate. To make sure he was doing it right, Chaos compared his settings with Moggy. I must say, it’s quite disconcerting hearing two middle aged men discussing how stiff they are, and how many notches are needed to stop their rear ends being too saggy!
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The hill climb is only just on the English side of the borders. Moggy and Barrowclough both decided an unplanned excursion into Wales was the order of the day, going straight on at Hall Corner and dutifully proffering their passports to the officials at the checkpoint.
With a new engine and a Class A entry of just one, Shunter suggested a class victory for StevieD was in the bag. Having failed from a similar position at Wiscombe, StevieD wasn’t counting his chickens just yet. An oil leak pointed towards history repeating itself, but this was apparently due to overfilling by the owner, rather than anything technical by John the engine builder. Excess oil removed, and class win secured for both days of the weekend. |
Some people proclaim that the handicap system employed by the Championship is complicated (it’s not, honestly; it’s just a simple power:weight ratio). Whether it is or not, it works! At the end of T1 on Saturday, eight competitors were within 1 handicap second. A half second improvement for Moggy in T2 was enough to see him jump to first place, with a bewildered Cole demoted to second and a jubilant Pack-Man picking up the last trophy.
Pete and Shelagh Ash take a more relaxed approach to double driving, with Pete behind the wheel on Saturday and Shelagh on Sunday. They had their own stiff battle, with their recently fettled yellow Griff; Peter getting within one second of his personal best, but Shelagh edging it by getting within half a second of hers.
The Chim 450 Richards (‘Blower’ Bream and ‘Normally Aspirated’ Blacklee) joined in the fun on Sunday. ‘NA’ was including an enjoyable day’s motorsport within a week’s holiday in the delightful Salopian countryside. Blower showed tremendous mental fortitude, getting to grips (and sometimes not) with this challenging hill climb in the space of just four runs. |
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Although top speeds of 80+mph do not seem time warping, arriving at the top of a very steep, very narrow Cedar (not) Straight to be faced with a more than 90⁰ left at Fallow catches out the skilled and not so skilled alike. Victims of this combination over the weekend included Blower, StevieD, Briars and Shunter (twice).
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In second practice, StevieD experimented with shortening the corners by taking to the grass at Loggerheads and Fletchers, finally concluding that a road car should really stay on the black stuff when he threw it off again at Triangle. He did his fastest run of the weekend in T2, by (mostly) staying on the tarmac.
Pack-Man demolished his PB on his first timed run, putting him into second position, ahead of stiff championship rival Barrowclough who also got his PB.
Completing the Chimaera 400 top 3 lockout for T1, AHD stood two places ahead of co-driver (and car owner) Captain Chaos. Getting beaten in your own car is apparently not the done thing – a ring of security guards was deployed around AHD whenever he and Chaos were in close proximity in the paddock. Stiff looks were only disguised by Top Gun style shades and snatched grimaces. Pride was only regained by achieving his PB in T2, enabling Mark to, quietly, invite AHD to double drive again! |
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On his (and the TVRs’) final run of the weekend, Dave befell the folly of Fallow, turning in just too fast and losing it on the exit. Instead of accepting the inevitable, he decided to thrash the Chim to within an inch of its life, but it snatched back after Museum and sent him into the wilderness. The tricky recovery from a 30⁰ angle gave him plenty of time to have a stiff word with himself before contemplating digging out the GRP repair kit when he got home.
On his final run, Moggy put in a PB to snatch victory, deserving of a stiff drink when he got home. Well done Steve. Go on, put some numbers on it. Shunter (Photos: Keith Knight, Coxypix, Bobbox, Shelagh Ash, Pete Ash, Peta Marshall, Shunter) |