B final on board footage :-) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Dg8ROSBlucA final on board footage :-) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eML_H4UW9qY
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The Lydden bank holiday always promised to be a big one (a record entry, Steve from SG Haulage making his debut and the drifters and guys joining us) and it didn't disappoint. The racing as usual was fast, full of action and particularly competitive which left every driver full of adrenaline and trying to figure out which tactics would be useful in the next race - however this was not was not easy with such a mixture of drivers in each heat.
Heat one went well and we positioned 11th overall, heat 2 was better than this however and we found ourselves up in 7th. Ash Simpson, the usual winner was having a couple of difficulties and so we other drivers saw a chance of victory or at least close to it, especially Stuart Emery who had been battling with Ash all season. The finishing position in heat 3 would decide on the starting position for the finals. Heat three started well and a lot of speed was carried into the first corner where I was sure I'd seen a 'mini sized gap' and so squeezed alongside David Ewin in his fiesta - this gap, however, wasn't quite there and I ended up on two wheels along side him. I came out of this well and the race continued, but on the way out of the joker lap a slight fault meant that I missed the turning out and so Ewin continued ahead of me and I was unable to catch him. Unfortunately I finished 12th and this was not enough to make the a final, meaning I qualified 5th in the b final along side Ash Simpson (eeeeeeeek!). As suspected, Ash won closely followed by the rest of us. Unfortunately, a couple of mishaps meant I finished 3rd and didn't progress to the A final. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Steve from SG made a great first debut with consistent finishing positions in the first two heats (3rd) and continuously improving times and driving techniques and positions out on track. A slight tussle on track with Ken in the third heat caused a bent steering arm and so heat 3 was a DNF. Only the final stood between him and a trophy from his first ever meet, however it was not to be when a spin allowed Ken #23 who had been having mechanical issues all weekend to pass and take 3rd place. Well driven by all and a fantastic achievement for Steve. Round 6 of the Monster Energy Rallycross Championship is fast approaching and promises some fast, exhilarating racing with an astonishing 18 Super National entries (my work will certainly be cut out) with a few entries coming from drivers who I haven't yet seen race or competed against. Tied in with the rallycross there will be action from the drift, bmx and fmx competitors as part of the Mayhem festival, which will also prove to be intense, but enjoyable racing.
This two day round will also give me a chance to rewind after results day yesterday where I achieved all I needed in order to chase my dreams and hence was accepted onto the Motorsports Engineering course at Oxford Brookes. Due to the success of last years Euro Mini adventure, everyone here at Todd Crooks Motorsport decided that giving it a go for a second time wasn't in question; it simply had to happen - only this year, there was a twist; the Classic Mini's would be running alongside the British Championship in Maasmechelen and so I had two cars to drive.
The first weekend of the adventure was in Valkenswaard, Holland and at this event I drove the classic alone. The weekend started out well, despite being a little frosty due to being adjusted to driving the BMW. Heat 1 ended well, however heat 2 and 3 were not to go the same way with a couple of engine issues leaving us with two DNF's. The final was a different story, yet again, and I managed to catch hold of 3rd position and bring home this years second podium finish. The week in Holland was as exciting as last year, with Thursday being the best day. Not only was this the birthday of Richard Wakeling, but it was karting day (which I should be good at giving my past experience!!). The first heat started well and after shaking the cobwebs away I settled in at a reasonable 7th before going into the second heat. This second heat saw me post quicker times and I ended up 6th with a place in the A Final where I managed to finish in a reasonable 4th place - not quite a podium finish here. Next and final race of the adventure was in Maasmechelen - the track which caught me out on the joker last year (and again this year!!). Practice on Saturday evening went well in both cars, despite needing to rush out of the classic and into the Cooper S in order to have a practice. The practice in the Cooper S was needed, and despite being almost completely alone out on track it gave me the chance I needed to gain a feel of the circuit in the car which drives completely differently to the classic. Sunday morning started well; another free practice was had in both cars, along with timed practice in the Cooper S which determined my grid position for the first heat. This timed practice put me in 21st position. The first heat in both went well, fetching back respectable positions - this didn't alter my grid position in the classic and this was pre-determined, however it did affect the grid position for heat two in the Cooper S and despite finishing 21st overall again, heat 2 saw me racing with mostly different cars. This was also repeated in heat 3, where I actually finished 20th overall in the Cooper S. Heat 3 in the Classic however, didn't go as well - apparently Duncan didn't have enough work to do and hence I repeated last years mistake and clipped the inside of the joker lap which broke the drive shaft, steering arm and steering rack end. This was repaired by the final however and I went on to gain another 3rd place - the third of the year. In the Super National plus category A, B and C finals were run however only the first 20 cars were included in this and hence I missed out marginally (finishing 22 overall for the day) - this did secure me 3rd place in the British Championship and left Stuart Emery and Gary Dixon to fight for the win. Stuart Emery took this win, followed by Gary Dixon, myself and Gary Simpson. My second podium finish in the Super National category this year. I can't wait to continue in the British Championship and post more podium finishes. Although there didn't seem to be much change to the track from when we were at Mallory in April, there were massive changes in my finishing position in both the heats and the final. The day started out well with scrutineering and practice going smoothly and allowing the team to relax a little and enjoy the day. With the first heat came a lot of excitement as I finished 4th in my race and got 6th fastest time overall - knocking more than a second off my time from Mallory back in April with a fastest lap of 59.050 seconds. In the second heat I started in pole alongside some of the fastest in the class and improved on my fastest lap time by little less than two seconds (57.544) moving me up to fifth overall - we were on for a good position in the finals, but at this point it was unknown as to whether that place would be in the a or b final. In the third heat, there was some friendly competition with David Ewin (#17) as we fought for second place. David put up quite a fight, but with a mistake on the loose right before the chequered flag I grabbed second place from him and held it, finishing only behind Ash Simpson (#16) in his Lotus. Better still, we went up another place in the overall times meaning we finished the heat in fourth - this meaning we were now in the A final starting middle right (4th place) which was another improvement on our last time out. At this point, the final place in the A final was undecided and would be until the end of the B final where David Ewin (#17) which perhaps meant more fighting for positions in the A final. On the approach to the grid we lost the BMW of Gary Simpson (#52) and so started with only 7. As the race began we fell to the back of the pack, however soon moved up the pack due to various misfortunes of other drivers - Stuart Emery (#71) ended up with a broken drive shaft and Paul Wakeling (#77) suffered some crucial damage which led to a red flag. I finished the start of the race with a missing passenger side window which was shattered by a rather large stone, so I was in for a nice breeze during the restart (if I could see ok due to the badly chipped windscreen). In the restart the fight for third was between myself and David Ewin (#17) and it began to look as though he had this one in the bag - that was until he suffered a puncture and made some contact with the armco leaving only four of us in the race - myself, Ash Simspon (#16), Gary Cook (#21) and Simon Horton (#4). At this point I was holding a strong third position with Ash (#16) taking the lead and Gary (#21) in pursuit - the fight for third was now between myself and Simon Horton (#4) who unforutnately was having some difficulties with car control and spun out once or twice. As we crossed the finishing line and the chequered flag I had secured third place with my fastest lap time being 58.534 seconds - the team, the new car and I had our first podium finish at our second rallycross meet (wow!). Overall, this was a fanstastic racing weekend and a big thanks goes out to Duncan (mechanic), Steve (SG HAULAGE LTD.) and the rest of the team for allowing the weekend to go ahead. You can find all times from the weekend by going to 'results' -> 'timings' -> 'Mallory Park - June 2nd 2013'. Round two of the British Rallycross Championship at Mallory Park was our round one! With the car finished just in time for the weekend, there was no time for testing and so it was completely new to me (as were the slick tyres), but it didn't fail to please! As the weekend progressed, my confidence with the car grew and was very promising. The racing with the other Super Nationals proved challenging, yet exciting and the adrenaline was certainly flowing. I've still to adjust to the car completely, but that shall come with time and experience - our next event is at Blyton Raceway on May 19th. Hopefully the car will be even quicker by then too!
Unfortunately the car was not ready in time for round one at Lydden Hill this last weekend (16th / 17th March), but it was good to get down to the track and review the competition for the following season. The average lap time for the Super National class was around the 1 minute mark, with the winner setting lap times of just over 50 seconds - intense racing.
I can't wait to get back into a racing car and I'm currently looking forward to my debut round at Mallory Park on April 14th, where I'll be eager to impress not only the spectators, but also our new sponsors SG Haulage - who will be the main feature in our new livery. The racing on a whole over the course of the day was very impressive - the supercars putting on a spectacular show as expected. The most exciting race of the day however was provided by the retro final - with only 3 cars finishing, but the mishaps were not the main cause for my excitement. The battle between the mini and the 6R4 are what kept me on my toes and of course, the mini came out first - yet more evidence to prove how wonderful these machines are! I'll keep you posted regarding the progress of the car and will provide a confirmation of my attendance to the Mallory round - hopefully my name will be in the program with reason this time!! You can find more on this weekend at http://www.speedhunters.com/2013/04/iamthespeedhunter-british-rx-by-steve-white/ All the best for the racing season, Todd There is now just over a week until the final round of this years championship and, as if that wasn't exciting enough, there is also double points available. As I'm currently sitting in second place on the points table it is essential that I perform well at Pembrey and manage to gain as many points as possible (i ideally need the win!).
Check back here on the 7th October for updates! :D Today, I joined many of the other minicross guys, along with various other members of the MDA and drivers at Blyton Park Driving centre for a test / track day on the newly built and tarmaced track - it's not very often I get to drive on a fully tarmac circuit, but it was good practice for the day at Brands in a couple of weeks!
Along with setting some hot laps in my mini (448, not the road one!), I gave some passenger rides in the MDA's two seater, which is also the hire car if you are interested and got the chance to get behind the wheel of bigger and more powerful machinery than what I'm used to, in the form of a 320bhp Audi engined, BMW mini (the newer shape!). I even managed to set lap times which were a second off the owners personal best - not bad for a first attempt. After today, I'm looking forward to the meeting at Brands on the 22nd September with the SEMSEC guys to try out circuit racing and compare it to the rallycross which I'm used to and have grown to love. After this is the last round of this years championship at Pembrey in Wales, where double points are available! Our day at Mallory Park started with a very exciting race between myself and Richard Wakeling for the first place position - unfortunately he achieved first and I finished in a respectable second place in front of Mark Griffin, Mark Day and Mark O'Flanagan. The second heat wasn't quite as successful but I still managed to gain a fourth place.
It was from this point that the day in terms of racing went down hill. In heat three, I caught the back of another mini and managed to cause the car to stop - so a DNF in heat three. The final was next, we'd worked hard and got the car repaired so we were all set out with the aim of winning. I continued to drive my hardest moving up a couple of positions from the start within the first lap, however whilst chasing Mark Griffin something went wrong and I hit a large stack of tires with some force, causing another DNF for the day, along with no / very few points towards winning the championship! Hopefully we'll have a better day on the 9th September when we have a track / test day at Blyton Park and also on the 22nd September when I hope to be competing at Brands Hatch with the semsec guys! Also, for those of you who are interested: 1st: Richard Wakeling 2nd: Tommi Edwardes 3rd: Mark Griffin |
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October 2020
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