The view from the box

Well that’s another meeting been and gone.  Like I said before time seems to be moving very quickly at the moment and it’s hard to believe that we’ve done two meetings already.   Before we know it, Spedeweekend will have happened and we’ll be starting the mad points race all over again!

It turned out to be a meeting that can best be described as average and mildly damp!   The weather was lovely as we left home and the sun kept on shining all the way to Colchester, where the heavens promptly opened and the rain set in.   The rain followed us to the track and by the time we had the car unloaded it looked pretty set for the night.   We put four wets on the car for practice and I headed off into the truck to put on my super stylish purple Hoosier waterproofs!    Once again the car felt really good and I headed back off to the pits happy.

I’d been put in heats one and three, and by the time the first race came around it was still raining and generally pretty manky.     I love racing no matter what the weather, and a bit of rain never puts me off, but it can be pretty bleak when you’re stood around in the freezing cold getting soaked.   It’s always nice when you’re getting strapped into the car in the rain as the heat coming off the exhaust warms everything around you up!

 I was starting the heats from the back of the first group and considering the weather everything started off quite uneventfully.    I managed to make up a few places and it was all going well.   The cars behind were getting closer each lap though and by about mid-race I was really in the thick of it. Don’t really know what happened next, but as we entered the scoreboard bend I felt someone hit me and round the car went.    I was lucky as all the other cars missed me but I was at the very back and out of the points so called it a day and pulled off.

I wasn’t in the second heat and the officials have been asking for a driver to go into the box and give them a hand watching the race.   They asked me if I would go up for the race and as I had nothing to do to the car I willingly agreed.   The rain had stopped and the track was drying and that created one of those situations where choosing the right tyres was so important.   Quite a few people had opted for two and two, whilst others played safe and left four wets on.     I hate being in that situation and like it to be either soaking wet or bone dry!   I had never been into the box before let alone watched a race from it.    It does give you a different perspective to watching from the terraces and you can see a lot more of what’s going on.    Luckily it was a clean race and no one did anything wrong so I got off pretty lightly.   When you’re racing you don’t think about what’s going on behind the scenes and there’re a lot of people working hard to make it happen.   With all the radios and equipment the box could easily be compared to an aeroplane control tower!

We played it safe for the next race and left the car on four wets.   Even on the line you could see cars around had slicks on so it was really going to be a case of ‘go for it’ and see what happened.    For the first few laps the car was great and had loads of grip and was keeping up with everyone else.   But as the laps went by and the track dried it started to go off.     I managed to hold onto 5th position right until the very last bend where I decided to try a move on the outside and hopefully move up into 4th^.    I thought I was going to make it work but the car lost grip and a couple of cars came up my inside moving me into 8th - but never mind, it’s racing, you have to try these things!

For the final I was on the front row of the second group and by now the track was dry and we were running four slicks.   The car started off well but it seemed really down on power.   It was running fine but was just very slow and I was going backwards quickly.    At the restart I found myself last!      I kept going though, and then all of a sudden it seemed to clear and the car was flying again.  Unfortunately it was too late and the damage had been done but I managed to make up a few places and with all the retirements finished in 14th, not brilliant but points nonetheless.

Looking back it had been a good meeting really, no major damage and a car that was going well and most importantly it had been fun.   That is the point after all.   Once we had loaded up and left it was already nearly eleven, and with the clocks changing too it was always going to be a late night.   What we didn’t bank on however was the road being closed and no detour signs in place.   After turning the truck and trailer round on a particularly dark dead end road we decided to ask the truck behind if they knew the way back to the dual carriage way.   Turned out to be David O’Regan following us - hoping we knew where we were going!    After some good map reading from Ross, we ended up going the right direction again, and found ourselves getting home just before 4am 

The car’s now back in the workshop and work has begun ready for the next meeting.   Looks like there’s going to be quite a lot happening over the next few days so I’ll be sure to tell you all about it next time.

Thanks as ever for reading

Mikey

Straight back into it...

With the first meeting been and gone, and the second rapidly approaching, it already seems like the winter break is a distant memory.  Add the better weather coming, lots to do at work and the Tigra to keep going, it looks like it’s going to be a jam-packed few months for sure!

After luckily avoiding too much damage at Northampton, we unloaded the car on Monday and pushed it into the workshop ready to have a closer look at it.   Although it was looking pretty sorry for itself it was all superficial - a few chips out of the panels and some paint missing, along with a nice slippery coating of oil covering the front end!    We had picked up a bit of damage underneath and the rear quarter was all hanging down and broken, along with the bent wheel I mentioned last week. 

I put my best body-working skills into action and cut a plate to put inside the quarter panel, then riveted it up through from the outside to put some strength back into it all.   You would have to lie on the floor and look underneath to even notice it.  This is pretty lucky really, as my repairs are not renowned for being very pretty.

As the weather was so nice over the weekend I pushed the car outside and gave it a wash, then rubbed all the marks off with some thinners before going round it all and touching up the paint.  It’s not perfect, but it looks much tidier!

For some reason unknown to me we didn’t have a diff built up for Ipswich, so dad spent an evening building one as this is definitely too technical for me.   I can fit it into the car, but putting it together is a big no! 

Having spent the last few years taking all the tyres to work to fit them, I’ve splashed out and bought a new tyre machine for the workshop at home.   Although loading them in the van and taking them to work was no major hardship, this just makes life so much easier - you can just fit them on in an evening between other jobs and you don’t lose any time waiting for them.   It also means we can swap them about whenever we want so we get them on the right place on the car.

We found ourselves doing quite a lot more work on the workshop, and although I said it was done before, we have quite a list of bits we want to do it there again now.    Although after a couple of nights working on it, the list is getting much shorter again.   It’s definitely much better having somewhere to works that’s tidy and properly laid out.   Just hope it lasts, and things don’t revert back to the old way!

All the other work on the car is just the normal between-meeting stuff; checking all the oil levels, running round everything with a spanner, that sort of thing.  All jobs you take for granted, but really need to do to keep the car reliable.    There is nothing more annoying than a breakdown that could have been prevented.   It only takes ten minutes to take the transmission tunnel out and check the gear oil for example, and as well as reliability it can end up saving you money.    Parts for Hot Rods, as we all know, can be very expensive…

We had a nice surprise when the points came out to find we have climbed up to 17th place after what was really a pretty bad last meeting.   We had been expecting to have dropped several places, not climbed up one.  Saying that, the points are all so close and one race can change so many things for so many drivers - and there is a long way to go yet!    In my opinion this can only be a good thing as it makes it all the more exciting for everyone.   I’m sure a lot of people won’t agree with this, and say that the “good old days” were the best years of Hot Rod racing, but I personally think that now - with the massive grids and so many really good cars and top drivers seemingly getting more professional with every meeting - that the sport really is the best it ever has been!   Maybe there was a bit of carnage last meeting but nothing in life is perfect.

I’m sorry there’s nothing more exciting to write about this week, but looking at the entry list for Ipswich I’m sure that next week I’ll have much more to tell you!   It’s looking more like International Hot Rods at the moment!   As ever, I can’t wait to race, and am counting down the days until it all happens.  I look forward to seeing you all there.

Thanks for reading.

Mikey

In at the deep end

So that’s it, the first meeting of 2011 over and what a meeting it turned out to be!   With rain plaguing us the whole of the journey up it looked as if it was going to be the usual wet meeting at Northampton, but as soon as we unloaded the car it stopped, not to be seen again for the whole meeting.   The sun even shone in the afternoon.

It was all the usual first meeting chatting and catching up in the pits and the atmosphere felt good.   Everyone was friendly and just looking forward to racing.   We were very organised and got everything done when we first got there.   By the time practice came the track was starting to dry nicely but still had several wet patches around it.   Once the tyres had warmed up the car felt really good so I returned to the pits happy.    That’s always a good way to start the season.

I was in heat 2 and 3 so I got to watch the first heat.   It was a bit rough with lots of banging and tapping through the bends and by now the track was dry and the racing was really quick. 

I was starting in the second group for my races all day and the first race saw me on the outside between the turns.   I dropped a couple of places off the start but managed to get back in onto the racing line and get stuck into the race.   It was a good race to be fair although there was a lot of contact again.   I managed to make up a few places but then dropped back again due to the quicker cars behind me getting past, but after some very hectic laps I finished with an 8^th.  Good points and a straight car so once again I was happy.

I was starting on the inside for my next race and once again lost a place off the line this time to a very fast moving Graham Luscombe.   It was all going well until I braked just a fraction too late leaving a bit of a gap up my inside and the next thing I know I was launching onto the centre green!  I was at the back by this point and a lap down so there seemed very little point in rejoining the race -probably a good move in hindsight because from where I was sitting it looked even rougher than the first heat!

We made several small changes to the car for the final.  This time I was starting on the outside at the front of group 2.    Straight away the car felt much better and was easier to drive.   I managed to get a better start and stay in front of the rest of the group.    The racing was quite rough again and really fast and I had started to make a bit of progress getting past a couple of cars.   I don’t really know what happened next but it all went wrong for a lot of people.   There was oil everywhere and I found myself sliding on it.   Thankfully I’d slowed down and just touched the wall - then it all happened behind me with cars going everywhere and all sorts of crashes and bangs!   Luckily I had missed it all and was able to drive away but was told I was unable to restart . . . . Unfortunate, but just one of those things I guess!

This was never meant to be about politics and I’m not into the whole “Who took out who” thing but it was definitely one of the roughest meetings I’ve raced in a long time.   I’m lucky to be taking the car home in one piece ready to fight another day!    Considering all that went on we really don’t have that much to do, just a diff change, a check over and a bit of a tidy up.   I did manage to bend a wheel - one that had only been repaired two days earlier, and as I’m sure most of you now know by now, repairing them is not my favourite job.   I’m going to hide it in the back of the workshop and forget about it until I’ve run out of straight ones again!

Just before I go I want to say thanks to everyone who stopped to chat and say they’ve been reading this every week - it’s the people you meet and get to know that make the racing as good as it is.

The first meeting definitely heralded the year in with a “bang” - albeit not the best kind!

 Thanks as ever for reading.

Mikey

Testing times

This year has seen us do more testing than ever before with three sessions all within a couple of days of each other.   As the car needed so little work doing to it after the NEC it seemed an ideal time to get out and have some track time with it.

The first session was a trip to a very wet Northampton last Wednesday.   There were several things Dad wanted to try on the car, and as he wasn’t going with me to the other two sessions this was going to be our only chance to do it.   We loaded the car into the trailer and Dad, Ross, my cousin Eddie and I all set off for Northampton hoping the weather would improve as we got closer.   It didn’t!   It rained from the minute we left home until the second we left the track.   Just as we left, the sun poked its head through the clouds and tried to shine . . . typical!   The track was obviously soaking and seeing as everything Dad wanted to try was for the dry this meant we couldn’t do any of it - but we were there so decided to go out on track nonetheless.

There were no other cars out there so we decided to see how the car would run in the rain on slicks, just in case we get caught out in a race one day.   Initially it was going okay - it was very slippery and you had to be so gentle with the throttle and brakes; overdo it the tiniest bit and you were all over the place with lots of wheelspin.    After a few laps I came back in and checked everything over and headed back out.   This time wasn’t going to go so smoothly.    I did a couple of laps and as I got faster I found myself struggling with the car.    As I came into the bottom bend I braked a bit hard and locked the front wheel making the car push on and slide straight at the Armco.   Luckily I wasn’t going very fast so it was only a low speed impact but it was enough to take a couple of lumps out of the panels and worst of all bent the lower compression strut.   We didn’t have any spares at all so had to borrow a steel tube, put the compression strut in the vice and hope it didn’t split as we straightened it.   Luckily it came straight again and Jay was on hand with a spare rose joint, so that was everything to get us going again.

We decided that it was just too wet for slicks so headed back out again on a set of wets.   As you would expect, this totally transformed the car, turning it into something you could control and was actually enjoyable to drive.   I did a few sessions on the wets, making a few changes and improving it as I went.    I suggested Jay take it out for a few laps to tell me what he thought of it.   It was nice watching someone else have a go in the car and seeing how it reacts through the bends.   When he came back in he said I should have a few laps in his new Oval Legend to see what I thought of it.    I literally had to squeeze myself into the seat but I got in and belted up and set off turning left for the first time on an oval.    In fairness it is a quick little car but I wasn’t going fast enough to show it.   The Ministox were probably going faster than me!   Jay was really flying round in it and there was me pottering round fearing for my life.  Certainly more of a handful than the National!    After surviving the Legend experience it was back into the Tigra for one final run, before heading home to get the car cleaned and checked ready for Friday.

Friday was the Haird Motorsport test day and seeing as Dad had to work, my friend Terry dropped me at the track and Gav Murray said I could stay with him Friday night and then he’d take me to Ipswich on Saturday.    Mum and Dad were coming up after work on Saturday afternoon with the trailer to fetch me home.   I really need a trailer licence now!

Friday saw eight cars take to the track on a nice dry day.   Without Dad there, I was reluctant to make any changes, and in truth was really happy with the way the car was performing - especially as it still had the bent compression strut fitted.    I didn’t time any laps but the car felt good and Jason Cooper and myself had a good thrash round at one point, nearly trading paint on several occasions.   It was a really good atmosphere at the track and it was great seeing all my friends and having a catch up.  Sonny Howard was there too and it was good to meet him and have a chat.   He has so much knowledge and experience with Hot Rods and I’m sure it will be a good thing to have him back involved with the Nationals.   I’ve said it before but I enjoy the social life as much as racing and this was just one of those sociable-kind of days.   The car did quite a few laps through the day with various drivers and when we loaded it back into the trailer at the end of the day I was really happy with how it felt.   There were some quick cars out on track, and George Turiccki is certainly going to be one to watch in the ex-world-winning car, as is Jason in his new Tigra.

The plan was to go from the track back to David’s house, head out for a meal, then go to Gavin’s for the night.   We went for a Turkish meal in Newmarket, and although I was unsure what it would be like it turned out to be really nice.   Yes, there was a belly dancer. . . I’m sure half the world has seen the pictures on Facebook.  Thanks Chris! Going out with Hairds and the Murrays is always a good laugh - albeit with most of the jokes usually aimed at me.   It’s all in good humour though and I’m storing it all up until the day I get them back with some ingenious prank!

We spent Saturday morning in Gav’s workshop changing diffs and getting the cars sorted for Ipswich.   It had been raining when we got up and didn’t show any signs of stopping but being optimists we both took our cars to the track on slicks!   When we got there it soon became apparent that we needed outboard motors rather than slicks.  The scoreboard bend was completely flooded and there was a river running through the pits right under my car.  The set of wets I had in the trailer were far from perfect but I bolted them on the car anyway and set out for the first session of the night.   It was still raining but a lot of water had been swept off the track.   The car felt really good and everything was going well except for the amount of spray coming up at me.   I was pulling the film on my goggles every lap and after a handful of laps they jammed up as they ran out of film.   I left it a few laps but visibility got worse and worse so I decided to pull off - it was only practice after all.

My Dad arrived in time for the second session and after sorting my goggles and making a few small changes I set off for another go.   It was still raining, but this time I could see!   Again the car seemed to be really good and went exactly where I put it.   I was a long way off being the fastest car but everything was working as it should.  When I returned to the pits I was wet and cold so decided to call it a night and put the car away.

All in all it had been a brilliant weekend with some good friends and the car had been great.  Thanks to everyone who helped me out and made it possible to do it.

We are now getting the car ready for the first meeting next weekend.  It’s come round so quickly and I must say I’m looking forward to getting out on track again and seeing everyone.  I’ve enjoyed writing this blog through the winter and intend to keep doing it.   Thanks to everyone who says they enjoy reading it; that makes it all worthwhile.   See you next weekend.

Mikey