Not that “Good-a-Friday”!

It’s definitely true that there’s never a dull moment when you race National Hot Rods.   There’s always something to do and even when you say the car is ready you always find just one thing to check or change, the list is literally endless.     I think you could spend all day, everyday working on the car and still find a job to do!    Unfortunately I’m not in that situation and like the rest of us have a job to go to during the day.   This means Hot Rod time is solely confined to the hours between dinner and bed, the latter varying greatly depending on how much needs to be done! 

After a good meeting at Aldershot it left us without much to do, just the usual ‘in between meeting’ things, and seeing as it was straight off to another small track we didn’t even need to change a diff.    Dad still wasn’t convinced that the engine was sorted so he arranged with Phil Spinks to run it on his dyno.   Once again, me not being able to tow the trailer proved to be a pain - with Dad getting up at 4am and heading down to Watford with the car, and leaving me to open up at work.   We both headed down after work to collect it again.   Phil had got a bit more power out of it, and having driven it since, you could really feel the difference it made.   It’s a pretty amazing set-up he’s got, with the dyno bolting straight onto the rear hubs of the car rather than having to drop the wheels down onto a rolling road.

I don’t want to tempt fate by saying this but the engine in my car really is a cracker.   It’s pretty old now and apart from it acting up the other day it’s given me very little trouble.   It smokes a bit when you put your foot down but I can’t see that from the driver’s seat so I’m not going to worry about it.

In amongst all my other ambitious - probably never get done – plans, is a 2.8 Capri.   I bought it at a good price, did 80% of the work on it then sat it back in my garage and promptly forgot about it.  But my “good” friend Jason Kew obviously has too much free time on his hands, and as well as running a National, enjoys going out and destroying good cars in the Bangers.   He had a pretty tidy Capri Special with some nice bits around it, so it seemed only right that I should relieve him of them and put them onto mine!  What started out as just a few bits soon turned into pretty much a complete strip, leaving me with a sprinter van load of bits to find a home for.    I think Jason quietly hoped a night down there with him would convert me into a Banger fan - but I’m afraid he has a long way to go yet!

With the car all set and the weather really nice, once again we set off to Northampton for the annual Good Friday meeting.    We left early to get to the front of the queue but when we arrived it seemed that everybody else had the same idea and the queue of transporters went nearly back to the road. We got in and parked next to Gavin, so it was already a foregone conclusion that there would be some sort of prank thrown my way, but everyone was well behaved and I got off lightly.   No doubt they’re saving it all up to get me with something big next time I see them!   We always have a good joke and it’s always meant in the best humour.   Makes life exciting and keeps me on my toes!

(Trevor Hill photo)

I can’t really work the meeting out if I’m honest; the car has been brilliant all year and for some reason completely unbeknown to any of us it didn’t feel as good.   Nothing had been altered or adjusted but it just didn’t feel right.    Luckily, Sonny was on hand and made the car better for every race.    The first race I came home just out of the points.  The second I had a tenth and the final was somewhere around fifteenth, so although not the points I had hoped for, it was still points nonetheless!   It could be those few points that make the difference between qualifying or not come July.

I don’t want it to come across as a ‘moaner’ or a ‘sore loser’ - I’m just a bit confused as to why the car was so different.   I still enjoyed every lap I drove - the weather was great, the atmosphere was good, and after all, I was still racing a National Hot Rod!    I’ve said it before . . . . as much as I would love to be on the grid in July and I’m going to give it 100% to make sure I am , I’m not going to let it ruin my life in the process - racing is meant to be enjoyed at the end of the day.

With the car looking a bit tatty, but still straight after the final it was loaded back in the trailer ready for the work to begin again.   We’re going to check everything is working as it should be, strip the brakes down and check them all over and spend some time with the paintbrush making it look somewhere near presentable again.   With only a week to go I’m sure the next meeting will be here in a flash!   Hednesford has never really been my favourite track but it has grown on me in recent months.   I’m looking forward to getting back out on what is definitely the fastest track we go to.   I’ll see you all there!

Thanks as ever for reading

Mikey

A Sunday down south

Aldershot is probably the closest track for us, and it was nice not to have to get up really early to make sure we got there on time.   It was a glorious day and already pretty hot by the time we left home.   We spent 8 years racing all over the south of England when we had the Minis and the Saxo, so it seems a little strange only heading that way once a year these days.   I even raced my Mini at the old Fleet Motor Club track a few times, that track having gone to be replaced by the Spedeworth track we race on now.    Having said all that we still managed to get lost and ended up heading down some Aldershot one way back streets with the truck and trailer.   Luckily we eventually ended up back on the main road and were able to figure out the way we needed to go.  Cheers sat-nav!

It was one of those meetings that just seemed to fly by really fast.   It felt like we’d barely unloaded the car before driver’s briefing was called and then we went almost straight out to practice.   We got everything sorted and lined up to go out on track.   As the green flag dropped for practice and I floored the car I just saw the edge of the bonnet lift.   The next second it had flown right up into the air like a kite, and despite the best efforts of the officials to stop the practice and save it the inevitable happened and it had been run over . . . several times.    I’m not moaning though and we should have checked it was on properly before I headed onto the track.    Dad and I can’t decide whose fault it was, so have agreed to share the blame equally!

To say it’s knackered would be a bit of an understatement  - it’s in four bits and one corner is missing completely.   Luckily we weren’t in the first race so it gave us a bit of time to try and work a miracle. After begging some aluminium from Wully Hardie we set at it with the drill, some rivets and the world’s bluntest pair of snips, doing what can only be described as a quality bodge.   It wasn’t pretty but it worked and Dad even made a ‘T’ out of some tape so as not to mess up the signwriting too much!   It was a different colour to the rest of the letters and was stuck onto some yellow tape but never mind. . . . . . . . .

With it all finished and ready to go again we went out for our first race.    I was on the outside on the 3rd row of the grid.   I lost a couple of places on the line with cars zipping back up the inside of me but I managed to get back across onto the all important inside line without being “hung out to dry” completely.    The race was going quite well for the first few laps until we came round into the pit bend where a car had spun and as I went through we just caught each other.  Unfortunately, it caught  my wheel giving me what I thought was just a puncture, but after I pulled off it revealed a puncture, a bent wheel and a very bent axle casing!

With such little time between races it was always going to be a struggle but with the help of my Dad, a mildly hung over Ross, Jason Kew and his mechanic David, we got it done.   It was a bit of a panic but we sorted it, thanks chaps for all your help!   The axle was really bent, and with a bent half shaft to go with it, it was turning into an expensive day!

I was on the inside for the second race and got off to a good start from lap one.   It was just one of those races where it all seemed to fall into place and I found myself moving up a few places into second.   I never had any chance to breathe though as Dave Brooks was right on me every lap and even the smallest slip up would have seen him past me.    I managed to just about hold into it and cross the line in second, definitely made the panic changing the axle worth it.

The final saw me back on the outside and once again I was lucky and able to get back into the inside line before the first bend.     Thankfully everything seemed to fall into place and flow nicely and I found myself in second place once again.   Somehow I managed to make a bit of breathing space around me and was able to just drive the car as hard as I could for the next few laps.   It’s amazing how much of a rhythm you get into and I didn’t look in the mirrors and kept looking forward.    When the yellow flags came out for an incident and I did look back I was amazed at just how much of a gap there was.   I hate restarts, mainly because I’m usually pretty bad at them but luck really was with me and I managed to keep hold of my second.   Everything was much closer now though and Mark Paffey was making progress pretty quickly and as the laps counted down he got closer and closer until he was in a position to get past me.   There were only a couple of laps left to run when ‘it all happened’ down in the bottom bend with Chris’s oil pipe coming off and cars spinning everywhere so they yellow flagged it again and then went red.   This gave Ralph his third win of the day, and second final on the trot - with me in second, and Paff with third.

It just goes to show how a day can go from ‘bad to good’ very quickly and I really am grateful to everyone who helped us get back out on track.   It’s great that even though the competition on the track is so fierce, people will still help you in the pits.   Another added bonus is that the prize money paid for the new bonnet!

With the Good Friday meeting at Northampton now only a week away and another good entry of cars I’ll look forward to seeing you all there.

Thanks as ever for reading                               

Mikey.

Diffs in the dark!

Well it’s been another hectic few days here with work still busy and lots happening in the garage.   As I said last week, the car felt a bit down on power in the final so our major priority was finding out why this was.   The fuel system was the obvious place to start so Dad set about stripping it down and looking for any problems; dirt, blockages, that kind of thing.   When he lifted the top off one of the carburettors it revealed a small stone in the chamber.   The cause of our problem!   This was quickly removed and all the filters cleaned and put back together and it seemed to be running fine in the workshop.

The dirt after a wet meeting seems to get everywhere, and even after it’s been washed you still keep finding more hidden away in the awkward places, so Ross and I spent an evening with cloths just wiping it all down and cleaning everything.   As well as the mess it leaves, there’s the weight of dirt to be taken into consideration.   It’s amazing how much it does actually weigh - and with weight being so important, you can’t afford to have too much extra.

A friend of mine, Daryl Harris who races a V8 Stock Car, put me in touch with a chap called Roy Scorer who designs and creates technical illustrations of racing cars.   He did the artwork of Jason’s Hot Rod and Daryl’s Stock Car that were on display at the NEC a couple of years ago, and can be seen on the wall in the diner at Ipswich.   He also does a lot of work with the BriSCA F1’s.   I think his work is amazing, and you have to really look twice to see that it’s not a photo.   The details and colours are so accurate - right down to the reflections on the signwriting.   He agreed to come and take some photos of my Tigra and see what he could do with it.

Considering it had been a pretty rough meeting at Ipswich and the car was looking a bit tatty I thought I’d best do something to tidy it up a bit . . . . so out came my little paintbrush and the blue paint.   An hour later it looked a bit more presentable, then another hour spent making the door fit again and it was ready for the cameras!    Roy had arranged to come at 3.30 and seeing as I don’t usually finish work until after 6.30, three hours off seemed to be a bit of a result and meant I could spend some time on the car after he had gone, rather than stay out in the garage half the night doing it!    He spent a good half an hour going round the car taking photos with some high-tech looking camera equipment.   All the work is done in his spare time, and each car takes about 30 hours from start to finish.   He told me it would take about a month and I’m really looking forward to seeing the end result.    For anyone that’s interested in his existing work check out his website www.racecartshirts.co.uk   and see for yourself how good it is.

When Roy had gone I thought I’d get on and change the diff.    I’d got the car up on the ramp and while the oil was draining I headed off to get some tools.    Just as I was going underneath to start work the electric in the workshop went off!    I checked the trip and everything seemed fine but it turned out to be a power cut as there was no electric in the house or any of the houses round about.    I never have chance to work on the car during the day and it was an opportunity I didn’t really want to waste so after finding some torches and lead lamps I set about changing the diff anyway.   It’s no different to doing it on a dark Saturday night at a meeting after all!    Annoyingly, after I had removed it and got back out from underneath the car all the electric came back on - typical!

In the pub the other night, Jason Kew told me he was testing at Northampton on Wednesday, and asked if I wanted to go along.    Seeing as we had the problem with the engine it seemed like a good idea.    There were a couple of things we wanted to try out, so we set about getting the car all sorted and ready to go.   This meant finding a spare set of wheels to take - and as you know wheels are not my strong point - and after much searching followed by much swearing we found a set and got the tyres fitted and not leaking!

We got to the track and it was the hottest day of the year so far, and one of the rare times when the track was dry - I’m sure the place is jinxed as it always seems to rain when a National Hot Rod goes anywhere near.

Jason and myself had a blast around together for a few laps before he set off to do a feature with Paul Hines for Oval Racing News magazine.    I’ll leave that for him to tell you about but I’m sure you will be able to read it in his column soon.   Martin Kingston from http://www.mkpics.net/ was also there and you can see his photos in the nationalhotrod.com gallery.  The car seemed to be flying, and the lack of power was well and truly cured.   I spent the rest of the morning trying a few things we have been talking about for ages before loading it back into the trailer satisfied with the day’s achievements.

The car is back in the workshop now, and after a few checks it will be ready to race on Sunday.   I think there’s a leak coming from the gearbox that needs looking at and some new stickers to fit and of course, the usual set-up stuff.   The tyres are sorted already so it saves us that nightmare.

With things still being so close in the points it looks as if it’s going to be another exciting meeting!   I’ll see you all there.

Thanks as ever for reading

Mikey

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