The newsletter of the Luffield Cars MGCC Speed Championship
Also available at the championship web site www.mgcars.org/mgccsc
As we reach the halfway point of the season, I hope you all are enjoying your sport. Through very
hung over eyes at Stowe corner, the Silverstone Sprint looked like good fun.
Rodders has a report on all the scoring and amalgamations; other matters following the informal drivers
meeting after the sprint at Silverstone centred around two issues - lack of column inches in
"Safety Fast" and the amount of rounds, distances to the rounds etc. On the first issue, there
appear to be many emails flying around - we await their outcome. If you can find the time, any
contributions in the form of reports or photos, would be welcome. Moving to the thorny issue of the
championship pleasing everyone at all times - one of our competitors, Torquil Nicolson, tried a few
weeks ago an email survey on venues. Only 20 of us replied! We will retry this in the next few days so
all those with an email address who have not informed us of it yet, please send it to danny@cusworth.net
. Please remember that without constructive input the championship will not grow. Finally, if anyone can
spare a few hours a month over a pint, we could do with a few new faces on the committee - please drop
us a line.
On to the reports………
Harewood Hillclimb 10th May
It was a brisk and sunny day for our first visit to Harewood this season. Those of you familiar with
the venue will know that this is not always the case, you can however see the rain approaching from
Harrogate and have time to get your coat on.
With a respectable MG presence of 15 cars, the usual suspects were in evidence. It was, however good to
see three new faces, Richard Clark and Anthony Collet in group 1 cars (1500-3000), Also a genial
Australian gent by the name of Nick Phillips in a group 3 "MGB". Nick has an obvious passion
for the colour Yellow and I wouldn't be in his shoes when the harvest flies are about.
Despite the good weather the track seemed slow with many drivers struggling to achieve their target
times.
After two practice and three timed runs class honours went to Jonathan Beresford, John Wilman, Allan
Inwood, Nick Phillips, Ian Bankhurst and James Thacker.
As we were loading cars back on trailers after the final run, the curse of Harewood struck and it
bucketed down. Just as the single seaters began their final run, shame.
John Wilman.
Anglesey Sprint Weekend 24th -25th May
Our first of two annual visits to North Wales was earlier than usual this year and the weather was
looking decidedly iffy as I crammed my midget full of camping equipment - I really must get a tow bar
fitted for September !. However, as I crossed the Menai the weather looked OK if not a bit windy. On
arrival, at 4pm on Friday afternoon, John Wilman attending the test day must have had enough swatting up
on the circuit as he had already packed up in search of the pub!
Following a very cold night braved by us few hardy idiots it was time for the traditional paddock
conversations with the B &(Full English) B folk - I really needed to be told about warm towels and
real ale. Anyway, an excellent day was had by most with plenty of runs on this very fast and challenging
circuit. The usual suspects were doing well (hello Terry) and a new face this year, Nick (fair dinkum)
Phillips from OZ in a well sorted, very yellow road mod B. The only casualties were John Rose's BV8
roadster suffering from a lack of oil pressure, Terry's now traditional throttle cable breakages and a
very dizzy John Wilman who had enough - was it the beer or Fridays lapping John?
Yet another cold night ensued after which we had another day of much the same sunny weather and
fantastic driving. In a desperate bid for me to beat Nick's times and, running out of Rodders Tricky
Tips, I tried one of my own, scalding my hand with boiling water from the radiator - it was the hottest
I got all weekend and worth about 1.5 seconds ( I kid you not!) but still a miserable 15 hundredths
behind my duck billed friend!
By all accounts the rematch in September should be well worth a trip over the bridge for.
Danny Cusworth
Barbon Manor Hillclimb
On paper, the Barbon Manor Hillclimb looks pretty simple. But, as the half dozen MGCCSC competitors
who ventured on to the slopes of this classic Cumbrian Venue found out, there's more to Barbon than
meets the eye.
880 yards long and consisting of only three bends, the first is just 15 yards from the start. The second
opens into a long "Straight", leading to a kink, prior to a hairpin and the finish line. Could
the first two bends be taken "Flat" was the question that needed answering.
Under the gaze of a sizeable crowd, and on a beautiful warm and sunny day, the MG saloons got the ball
rolling. Helen Waddington in the ZR was, like most, on her first visit to the venue. Again, like most,
the first of her two timed runs was the one that counted. Helen stopping the clock at 36.36. Next came
Steve Moore (35.64) running in a new engine in the Metro. Rattling tappets on the final run cast doubts
over Steve's appearance at Silverstone the following week.
A trio of Midgets followed, with my car just half a second behind John Wilman on 32.72. Despite a broken
throttle cable on his second timed run John's previous Barbon experience obviously tipped the balance in
his favour, even if that experience was gained back in 1962 in an MGA!
Midget versus B battles are a feature of most MGCCSC events, and Barbon was no exception. Narrowly
avoiding an off, Jim Garvey discovered that the second bend isn't 'flat' and was beaten by Nick Philips,
after a fine drive in an ex Anglia Phoenix class winning 'B'. Nicks time of 30.96 beat Jim by exactly 1
second.
D. Coulthard
Ramblings From the Roddery
Speed Committee Meetings 27th May / 24th June 2003
Hi All, Combined ramblings again, Sorry for the delay in info. Results etc. Basically the
amalgamations were only firmed up at the last meeting and so results published before that point would
have been approximate at best. A more regular result service should follow. Hamish Cruickshank has asked
to stand down from the Speed Com due to increasing work commitments. He will be greatly missed for his
outstanding contribution to the Championship Regulations and Sprint Marshalling. He will remain a
Steward of the Championship and we hope to be able to co-opt him for special projects in the future,
Thank you Hamish.
We are up to 94 registrations at present split roughly 50/50 north, south.
The main items discussed at the Speed Com, was the amalgamations, which are detailed in the results
sheets. This has followed our normal practice of amalgamating upwards in capacity / modification until a
viable class size is reached. It may appear slightly unfair to some and for that we apologise but we try
to run classes for every size, type and level of modification of MG available. At some stage we have to
boil these 18 classes down to a viable class size (3 or more) and some compromises may have to be made.
Each car that is amalgamated will still be competing against its original target times and the relevant
percentage is worked out. This percentage is then used in the new amalgamated class to work out class
position. In theory this is the fairest system we can come up with, although until we have valid records
for every car at every venue some anomalies may exist. I apologise for the various layouts used.
Generous contributions of results in varying formats are the reason. I hope a standard format will soon
be available for contributors to fill in. I'm a novice at Excel Scrambling and hope to rework this info
shortly. You will also find enclosed Jim's latest version of the target times complete with the Std
Maestro 1600 fudge factor included. If you have quiet hour or three I would be grateful if you could
point out any errors or omissions in your own results. I cannot guarantee that an odd error in 17 event
results has not crept in.
Thanks to DC, John Wilman, Alan Inwood etc, for their contributions, Further Event Reports / Results
greatly appreciated via E mither to Lawrie Please.
Word to the Wise At Anglsey Terry V8 Piggot was caught short just before (7-8 Cars) his final run of the
day and returned to the paddock (The MG Classes being last of the batch). He was back in 3-4 mins, but
by then the last car had completed his run and was back in the paddock. Despite our best efforts we
could not get the course re-opened and so Terry missed his last run. If this happens to you at the end
of a meeting please tell the start line marshals who then stand a chance of keeping the course open.
Once the course is shut and results are being compiled nothing can be done.
Rodders Tricky Tip
Just a quick one. Did you realise that at the start line, if you did not manage to hook up your 250+
horses for that perfect 20% wheel-spin start. And instead kangaroo off in third, carbs spluttering. If
you manage to stop the old chariot before the rear wheels cross the start line you can have another try,
FOC. (Blue Book, Section L 9.4.5 "May be Permitted a Re-Run") However I would only use this
ploy on timed runs when a pot / class was up for grabs, Abusing the start marshals kindness could land
you with a good B**oc**ng from the Clerk of Course and a reluctance to allow you to play there again. PS
Practice runs Don't have to be timed!!.They are just for practice and form no part of the competition.
All The Best, Regards, Rodders