Scammonden Dam & Loton 1,2,3

Its been a busy few weeks with racing and with work being very busy I've not had chance to update the blog. Three events have been run since the last update, one at Scammonden and a double header at Loton Park.

Scammonden (22nd July)

The first return to Scammonden after the scorching first round there (temperature and pedalling). Previously I set an unofficial new record there, and was determined to obtain an official time. With all to play for again, the event saw the return of the usual S2000 group plus Lee for his first English event / Hill climb in a year.

Practice was certainly practice, with some frustrating times being set. Quick but not quite on the pace of before. Adjusting all the suspension to suit the conditions I found that the NSR shocker was wound tight compared to the others. I changed these settings blind at Aintree in weeks previous, and obviously got it the wrong way around. At Loton (14th July) I noted the car was stepping out a lot which I couldn't calm down. Ray said it was just me driving the car hard and that's the limits, but I wasn't convinced. Turns out I was a plonker setting it wrong, not entirely down to my driving. 

In the run previous to my setting adjustments, Mr Rowe had beaten his previous PB and hill record by a few hundredths. With the car set right off we went again. Absolutely belting lap, it felt good but not sure if its was record worthy. Timing board shinning and fist pump in the air, 27.18s. I'd managed to replicate my previous time and set a new hill record, or so I thought.  The time set won the day. At the awards several new records were set and mentioned, however nothing was said when collecting my award. A day later the results came through and apparently my original record stood. Discussing with the organisers and time keepers, they are confident the time was correct and is official. Turns out I already had the record and didn't beat it again. Oh well, next time Scammy, next time. 

Should of probably looked closer at the official time sheet on the day

Loton One (14th July)

Meanwhile.....

After Aintree and before Scammonden on the 22nd July, we decided to sneak in a extra Loton for practice. Loton is an amazing climb and is known to take years to perfect. We thought we best take that warning and practice. Practice a lot. 

With a large class and some excellent cars to contend with, we knew it would be a difficult day. In our class was an incredibly quick MK3 MX5 driven by Duncan Morgan. A veteran on the hill, he was showing exactly how fast a MX5 can be in the right hands. His sector times were astonishing, showing there's lots of time to be had everywhere.

Pushing on managed to finally pip Duncan in the final timed run, winning the class for the day. Very chuffed with my first win at Loton, especially given the great competition. It was a pleasure to meet Duncan, another great competitor who is happy to shake you hand and say well done. I really enjoy this community of people.

Loton Two/Three (4th/5th August )

August 4th was the start of the big double header weekend. An important weekend being two rounds of the ANWCC championship, with only one round left. Having already had a dropped score due to missing the second round at Barbon Manor, a poor score here would mean vital points being lost.

Straight out the gate a ruck of sloppy runs and grass tracking ensued. I don't know if there was something in the water, but it seemed everyone was pushing and probably a bit too hard. I certainly had a few moments on the drifting bends, whilst Ray and other decided to rally the course. 

Picture from Loton Photographer - Ian Mellor (Thanks for the awesome shot dude)

Pressing on and deciding to keep it clean was the answer. Timed run 2 resulted in a new PB 61.91. Absolutely over the moon, broke into the 61's as I set out to do. This secured my second win at Loton park, pipping a gorgeous MK2 Escort and Duncan in the MX5.

Rest bite in a gorgeous BnB with some snap at the local, we were up bright and early to have another crack at the hill.

The day seemed like a blur. After the Saturday, clearly some intentions were set as times were getting quicker and again more cars exiting the circuit. Martin Rowe, Roger Fish & Phil Ludbrook were in the Classic Marques class. These chaps are veteran S2000 peddlers. The times they achieve are a great benchmark to be aiming towards. Even they were having difficulty in keeping things tarmac based during the day. I think maybe a combination of two days sun and beer the night before was effecting everyone. It was great to see all of us achieving comparable times, especially on the same day in the same conditions. It’s difficult to gauge times against different days, as sometimes the circuit and the car have better days.

Final run of the weekend was upon us. I was currently leading the class but wanted to set a low 61. Ray wanted to set an official 62 second time, which he had seen in practice but felt it didn’t count. In a huge plume of smoke, Ray’s burnout was tremendous to watch. Launching the car in 2.3 seconds, he smashed his PB with only 4/100ths of a 61 second time at 62.04. This secured Ray 2^nd place on the day with an excellent time. My last run was clean and tidy and a lot of fun. To my surprise I snipped off several more tenths settings at 61.30.

Absolutely bowled over with the time. I also know there’s more time in the car and my driving, plenty of improvements to be made. This capped off an excellent weekend with 2 x 1^st , a 2^nd  and 2 x PB targets achieved. What an amazing weekend. Big thank you again to everyone who came to support and to all the new friends we met. The competition is fierce on times, but not in person. I’m always amazed at how friendly the community is despite it being competitive. Next pedal is Scammonden for the final round of the ANWCC hill climb championship. 

Loton Park Hill Climb - 14th April 2018

Yesterday marked our first championship outing under the ANWCC and our first competitive climb at Loton. A couple of years ago we attended a school day here as we were beginning our racing lives and fell in love with the place. Its a shame it took so long for us to return for an event, but it was most certainly worth the wait.

We arrived (as usual) early to the track so we could walk to course and get a feel for grip/corners. Walking up the hill it reminded us of how tight the course is and any mistakes into the scenery would likely involve a tow truck home. There is barely any room for error and in most places you could lay down and touch both ends of the tarmac. Under foot we could feel the wet conditions hadn't lifted over night, leaving a very greasy tree sap covered surface. 

Back down the hill we gathered ourselves and headed out for the new drivers briefing. Usual stuff, be safe, red means stop and oh yeah this is probably the UK's most demanding hill climb. Oh tits. As we discovered heading out on our first practice, what a scary place. The greasy conditions meant no grip and plenty of tail action on an already limited width. The launch felt fairly clean with an expected amount of slip but as soon as I hit the brakes for the 1st turn, I thought I was going to have to use the bailout gate. It just whistled on with the ABS going crazy making sure I was awake. Surprisingly at this point me and Ray were splitting the pack. I expected the FWD cars in this condition to slaughter us (also regulars at Loton), but we were holding our own. 

Que practice two with drying conditions from plenty of cars covering the track with accompanying sunshine, we both shaved a healthy amount of time of practice one. Ray chipped off nearly 5 seconds and with me seeing 7 seconds of the first outing putting me in 4th in class. Nerves bubbled over dinner waiting to start the first timed runs. Sat on the start line for the first timed run, I was nervous. Given the changes between practices, I wasn't sure where the grip was going to be or how/where to attack. Well this is how it looked.....

Amazing I had managed to squeak into 2nd placed just a head of a very fast MK3 MX5 by 0.05s. The fiesta had a blistering run setting a 62.68 (a PB I overheard, may be wrong). The super fast clio had a bad run, going off circuit. At this point I was expecting the MX5 and Clio to put in a solid second run, pushing me out of the top spots. Sun continued to bless the track, leaving a mostly warm and dry surface. Lining up for run 2 I was thinking the other chaps were going to push me out so try just push a little and learn more about the course. I again exceeded the first corner braking point as maximum grip had clearly not arrived yet on that bend. The rest of the pedal felt a bit scruffy, but surprisingly I shaved off nearly 2/10ths. Ray had a cracking final pedal apart from a mystery gear change we he felt robbed him of a 63s lap. Overall he managed to chip away a set 64.34 putting him in the 8th out of 18 cars. The spread for the top 8 was very tight over about a 1s difference. Unfortunately the other chaps failed to improve on 1st timings, meaning I took 2nd place in my first ever attempt at Loton. Chuffed is an understatement.

 I'm really happy with the days events and bowled over with the results. We both had a cracking pedal and its been a joy to final climb Loton. We both now have some datum points to work from and try improve over the coming years. I want to say a massive thank you to Ray for helping get the car prepared and making it such a fun and exciting day. Big cheers to my Dad for coming along to support as well as the usual reprobates (Lee, Alex & G). Thanks to Lee for the action snaps.