A big number, a long trip and a very wet day!

According to my calculations this is my 100th blog.  It doesn’t seem like I’ve been doing them that long but when I look back the first one was in November 2010 - so thank you to everyone who has read them for the best part of four years.  There have been plenty of good times, two World Finals, countless crashes, thousands of miles travelled, lots of new friends made and far too many hangovers along the way!

I can’t think of any better way to celebrate the 100th milestone than with a trip to Lochgelly for the European Championship.  Now, my last attempt at the European was Tipperary in 2011 when I took the journey over to Ireland with Gavin Murray.  It was a complete disaster of a weekend ending with me ripping a wheel off in the final and leaving us chasing our tails to make it back to the ferry on time!

Before I could even set off this time I had a problem though as Dad wasn’t coming and my pickup was for sale at a friend’s garage - so I had no way of actually getting there.  It was getting to the point where I was considering taking the work Transit!  Those of you ‘in the know’ will understand why I wasn’t exactly excited at this idea!  Luckily I had the call just in time to say the new car was ready so it was a quick trip to Exeter to collect it before quite literally folding the seats down and loading it with spares, and hitching the Hot Rod and trailer on the back.  Criminal I know, but all part of the things we do for Hot Rod racing!

My plan was to leave around lunch time on Thursday and take a slow trip up the road arriving around 7pm.  This wasn’t the case though after I was running late anyway and then found I had no lights on the trailer.  I finally managed to leave around 3pm causing me a very slow trip up because of the traffic, finally arriving around 10.30pm.  It’s a long trek at the best of times, but on your own - and with a trailer - it seemed never-ending and I have never been so glad to pull up outside John’s workshop as I was that night.

The next morning I was up early to go and pick up my friends Chris (Lehec) and Steve from the airport - they were flying up for the weekend to sample the Scottish beer and somehow got roped into helping me the entire time.  Thanks guys, it was much appreciated.  From the airport it was straight back to John’s to get sorted ready for practice.  My car was ready but John was as disorganised as ever and we still had a few things to do before we could go.

Although I have been to Lochgelly many times before it was actually the first time I had driven a car around the track.  It was a horrible day and the track couldn’t quite decide if it was wet or dry, and the car couldn’t quite decide which way it wanted to point, so after a few tense laps I decided a few changes were in order and pulled off into the middle.  We made these changes and I had a few more practices until the car started to feel a bit better.  John didn’t have a great afternoon either ending it with a half shaft snapped in the diff.

We’d arranged a trip to the Speedway on the Friday night with a bus picking everyone up from their hotels and the track, but just as they arrived the racing was cancelled due to the rain so the only option left was for everyone to go to the pub!  This was never going to end well and although I left feeling a little worse for wear I can guarantee I felt a lot better the next morning than Deane Wood!  It was a good night though and I enjoyed chatting and catching up with everyone.

The weather for the next day looked horrendous and everyone seemed to be waiting for the inevitable downpour.  Thankfully it never came and although it constantly threatened the track actually stayed dry for the entire weekend.  Now I’ll just add before I go any further just how good a track and venue Lochgelly actually is.  Mix this with what can only be described as the best drivers in National Hot Rods (plus me!) and you were always going to be left with a really great meeting . . . as Graham Brown said “Possibly the best of the decade.”

If I’m honest I was a little out of my depth and struggled all weekend.  I had a mid-pack draw and although I finished both heats I think they were both in around 14th place.  I was getting frustrated with myself though as I felt I was trying but just couldn’t get it to come together.  However, the two finishes were enough for me to qualify 15th for the European.  Now I must admit the buzz before any big race is amazing but the parade lap on Saturday under the lights was electrifying.  It was worth the drive up just for the atmosphere of driving round on the two rolling laps before the green flag dropped.  Although not an exciting race for me, the 45 laps seemed to fly by and I was just happy to get to the end in one piece and tick it off the list of championships I have finished.  Massive congratulations to John Christie on his win, and 10 out of 10 for commitment to Robert McDonald!

Saturday night was very tame really by Scottish standards, and although I didn’t go to sleep very early, very little beer was consumed.  In hindsight this was probably a good thing as I woke up feeling fresh and ready to go the next day.  Once again the weather was being kind but it was very quickly going to turn into the wettest race meeting of my life!  Looking back I wondered why I was getting so many funny looks as I went to sign on . . .  Just as I walked out of the office Deane pounced and emptied a large and freezing cold fire extinguisher over me.  It turns out I was the only person who didn’t know about this planned revenge attack dating back to South Africa, and now we’re square it looks like the race is on to see who can get the other first.  If you see either of us with water over the next few months it’s probably best to avoid us . . . and I must remember to take spare clothes racing with me for a while as I know this isn’t over yet!

After that incident I was going to be soggy all day so it was time to get unloaded and get back on with it.  Once again I had a mid-pack draw and had very similar results to the night before.  For some reason I just couldn’t get it to come together at all.  The car is brilliant at the moment so the only other option is down to driver error!  Once again two finishes saw me qualify 12th for the Scottish Open, and I think out of all the 6 races this was my best one.  I finished 11th and was happy knowing I had a complete car to take home with me.  Robert was totally in a league of his own and flew round on his way to victory.

I decided to stay the Sunday night, get some sleep, then head for home at 4am on Monday morning and go straight to work.  The drive home didn’t seem any quicker and I have huge respect for the guys and girls who come down week in, week out either racing or supporting - it’s a huge amount of commitment, let alone a gargantuan fuel bill!

Scotland is like a second home to me and although I didn’t do very well it was great to get up there and race.  I want to thank all my friends for their hospitality and help, especially John and Kylie who I’m sure will be changing the locks to keep me out soon!  Also thanks to Chris and Steve for travelling such a long way and helping me, especially when they had such a mammoth car re-building task on back at home.

I still enjoy my racing as much now as when I started writing these blogs and have no intention of packing in just yet.  A huge “Thank You” to everyone who takes the time to read them and share in my hectic little life.  Here’s to the next hundred!

Until next time

Mikey

Plenty to report - part 2

So here I am back again, and this time I’m going to bring you bang up to date with what’s happening and how things have been going for me over the recent weeks.

After Birmingham there wasn’t a great deal to do to the car besides all the usual things, but there were a few tweaks we wanted to try on the suspension and spent quite a long time fiddling with it until we got it how we felt was right.  It’s amazing how long all these things take though and even what you think will be a simple job can end up taking the entire evening.

Seeing as I had no racing I decided to head up to Scotland for John (Sibbald)’s first meeting of the year.  Besty and Norden were heading over from Northern Ireland too so we made a road trip of it.  I picked them up from Birmingham Airport at 8pm on the Friday and we drove up through the night.  It was easily one of the funniest journeys of my life.  It took me ten minutes to get a sentence out at one point - I just couldn’t talk from laughing so much!

Saturday night saw my first trip to the Racewall at Cowdenbeath to watch the Stock Cars and Saloons.  I don’t know what it is about that place but I absolutely love it.  There isn’t an atmosphere to match it anywhere and the racing is first class as well.  It would have been rude not to go out after the racing so once the clothes had been changed it was back out the door and time to sample some of the legendary Scottish night life.  It’s a long story as to what happened but I ended up in the pub until 6am after everyone got split up!

Regardless of a pretty severe headache the next morning no doubt due to some bad ice or an iffy kebab eaten the night before, it was time to get down to the serious business of John’s first meeting of 2014 at Lochgelly.  After all the work from everyone over the winter it was great to see it all pay off with John not only winning a heat but the final too!  The car looked good all day and I gradually started feeling better too!  It was a great weekend and brilliant to see everyone.  It really left me buzzing to get back up for the European!  HRP have a great complex and I can’t wait to try both the track and the new bar out for myself!

It’s fair to say the trip home was more subdued than the one up and it seemed to go on and on but we got back safe and seeing as the lads didn’t go home until Tuesday evening I managed to get a couple of days work out of them driving the truck and picking up a few scrap cars.  Cheers guys - I’ll make sure I buy you a few beers!

Almost as soon as Besty had gone home it was time for him to come back.  My parents were heading away for the week and he flew over to give me a hand at work whilst they were away.  Before any work was done though, we had the small matter of a meeting at Ipswich to deal with.  After driving John’s car there a few weeks before it was great to get out in my own and do a few laps.  As soon as I did a lap in practice I knew all the changes we’d made to the set up had worked.

The first race was pretty uneventful.  After trying the outside for the lead I ended up getting rail-roaded back a few places and finishing somewhere mid-pack.  The second race was brilliant though, and after making a pass stick on the outside I managed to hold on to the lead and take the win - my first in over 18 months and my first with the Duratech under the bonnet.  I love my racing no matter what, but taking a win after so long felt good and made all the work we’ve put into the car worthwhile.  I have always had faith in John Toovey and the Duratech and it was nice when it all fell into place and worked.

The final was another good race and although I didn’t perform any miracles I really enjoyed it.  I scored points in every race, the car wasn’t damaged and I managed to take a trophy and some prize money home!  All in all it was a very good night out!

Besty bought us tickets for Brands Hatch to watch the first round of the Touring Cars the day after getting home from Foxhall at 3am, so the idea of getting up again at 7am and driving two hours to get there didn’t exactly fill me with enthusiasm…  But I’m glad we did, and I really enjoyed my first taste of circuit racing.  The facilities are great but the prices are frighteningly expensive!  I was also shocked at how many people we knew there - we even heard Dave Longhurst being interviewed at one point!  The racing was great and the sound of the Touring Cars is something else - it just doesn’t have the closeness and excitement of oval racing though so don’t panic, I won’t be jumping ship just yet.

With my parents being away I actually had to take some responsibility at work and it wasn’t the week long party you would expect from Besty and me. We did some long days and had a fair few problems to deal with so when Saturday evening arrived it was time to go wild and live up to our reputations!  Kym and Smiffy drove up to join us and we headed out into Oxford to see what we could get up to.  The random disorganised nights always turn into the best ones though and although we visited what seemed like every bar and club in the city, it turned into a great night out!

Once again after Ipswich we didn’t have much to do to the car.  The gearbox had to come out and go back for some changes and once again we decided to play with the suspension.  A slight delay with the gearbox left us rushing around trying to get finished though, and the now traditional late night before the meeting and loading up ten minutes before we leave didn’t fail to disappoint.

After a few practice laps the car didn’t feel as good as it had for the last few meetings but after a couple of ideas from my dad and Kym it was sorted and feeling good for the second race.   Due to a higher average I had been moved back to the yellow grade.   The first race got off badly with me having a terrible start but I got going ok after that and I managed to get the car home in one piece and score a few points.

The second race seemed just too good to be true.  The track was terrible where oil had been spilt and there was literally no grip.  Eventually it all seemed to come together though and I managed to sneak through and collect another win.  After waiting 18 months, to get two within three weeks felt amazing!

In truth after such a good second race I just wanted to survive the final and make it to the end with a straight car.  Luckily I got my wish and after one of the most chaotic races I have ever seen I managed to complete the 35 laps and pick up a fifth in the process.  I breathed a sigh of relief that I survived the carnage and got home in one piece.  I just want to say well done to my mate Shaun on a long overdue and much deserved win in the final and bad luck to my other mate Chris who had a huge accident in practice after his throttle jammed open.  I was just pleased to see you with a beer in hand afterwards!

All in all it has been two great meetings for me and I want to thank everyone for all their kind words.  Going back to racing purely for fun has been the best decision I ever made - I have no stress or worries and am going out and just enjoying every single lap.

It’s now time to get the car sorted for Lochgelly next weekend.  After countless trips to Scotland this will be my first time racing and I cannot wait.  Unfortunately I’ll be flying solo though as Dad has to stay home and work.  I’m looking forward to seeing everyone and I just know it will be a cracking weekend.

Thanks as ever for reading.

Until next time.

Mikey