ALSO IN THIS ISSUE MSA updates Event reports: Aintree, Scammonden and Harewood SEPTEMBER 2018 Issue 81 Bulletin Editor: Geoff Ward Email: editor@longton-dmc.co.uk A LAST BLAST AROUND ANGLESEY ROUNDS OFF THE SEASON FOR LONGTON COMPETITORS The end of the season is rapidly approaching, with just Curborough and Anglesey to come. It appears few people are taking up the option of a day in Staffordshire, so it looks like Longton s final weekend in Wales on October 6 and 7 will decide the shape of the 2018 championships. The good news for those chasing points, or drivers who just fancy some high-speed action before hanging up their Nomex for the winter, is that there is still time to enter the Anglesey event, which will follow the established LDMC format of a one-lapper round the National circuit on Saturday and the International layout on Sunday. Championship leaders: Nigel Fox, Northern Speed, and Gary Bunn, Longton Sprint Series The Northern Speed Championship looks to have been pretty well sewn up by Caterham driver Nigel Fox, who at the beginning of the month had what looks like an unassailable lead of 22 points. Things are a little closer in the battle for second with John Wadsworth presently ahead of Robert Holt by three points. It s a bit tighter at the top in the Sprint Series where Gary Bunn, Geoff Ward and Gary s car sharer Derek Hodder are separated by 2.52 points. The final Longton series Champion of Three Sisters has already been decided. It was won (to his surprise) by the Bulletin s editor, Geoff Ward.
Event report THREE SISTERS September 2 A round of the Champion of Three Sisters Report and pictures by DENISE MOORE The day started out overcast and breezy but warm, and more importantly, dry. A total of 67 drivers, eight of which were car-sharers, turned out to enjoy the two-lap format. It soon became obvious that some drivers had not paid attention to the mantra of practice means practice, or maybe it was just the temptation of letting rip on a re-surfaced track, but there were quite a few interesting moments and also some spatial confusion for a couple of drivers who were entirely unsure whether they needed to turn right or go straight on the second lap! However, the prize for ruining one s own day in first practice must go to Chris Taylor in his red HiTech. He stormed down the pit straight, braked too late, locked up the wheels and unfortunately ploughed right into the barrier at the side of the paddock with such force he sent tyres up into the fence. The recovery unit and ambulance both attended Chris was OK but the car sadly was not. That was not only the end of his day but also that of his son who was sharing the car. Stephen Wilson in his Lotus Elise S2 The unfortunate Chris Taylor in the tyre wall Ian Medcalf in his Fiat 500 Special Saloon spun into the entrance to the Esses and then spun again into the entrance to Luna. A few others were also caught out in the S bends and did the same, scattering gravel and dirt all over the track. Eve Whitehead starting out sharing Geoffrey Cowell s HiTech but their day came to an end when the engine started playing up on the second lap and came over the finishing line smoking before briefly catching fire as she drove back into the pits. The flames did no real damage but the top end of the engine was clearly seriously deranged. Fortunately, Eve was able to continue as a double drive with Craig Powers in his OMS. Paul Medcalf in his red Rover Mini was slow through Luna attracting a red flag before finding the required gear and carrying on. All this and it was only first practice!
The drivers were much more circumspect in second practice although there was a slight delay when one of the cars leaked fluid onto the track and some clean-up was required. Geoff Ward spun his Swift Formula Ford harmlessly at Luna and Max Appleby in the Caterham Super Seven got it all wrong coming out of Paddock Bend and ended up facing the wrong way before collecting himself up and continuing. First timed runs began just after noon. Gary Almond in the Westfield Aerorace found himself travelling cross-country after approaching the Esses too fast on his second lap. He managed to get re-started but the following cars were red flagged and had to have reruns. Ivan Pullen in his Caterham Seven Roadsport spun at Paddock Bend but got restarted again. Michael Thomson in his blue Honda S2000 spun 180degrees at the bottom of the hill but restarted to finish. The Mazda MX5 of John Wadsworth Jeremy Davies in his Caterham R300 The unusual Pulsar 919 of Martin Chittenden Colin Duncalf in his MG ZR The second timed runs began after lunch. The only minor hold-up was a small timing issue which necessitated a few cars having a rerun. By this time most of the drivers had the measure of the track and there were only a few incidents: Max Appleby in his Caterham garnered a ripple of applause for just managing to hold it together round Luna after a very dicey entry, Crispin Scott in his Caterham ended up facing the wrong way in Luna but recovered, and Martin Rowe in the Honda 2000 took off across the grass down Pit Straight after applying too much power out of the hairpin. T5 was the final run of the day and to be fair, quite a lot of people were already packing to go home. The track was mostly left to a few diehards and the Caterhams who were out for some serious fun (drift racing anyone?). Longton and District Motor Club would like to thank drivers, officials and especially the marshals for all their help and support on the day. Full results are on the LDMC website Longton-dmc.co.uk
The Renault Clio of David Goodlad David Taylor s classic Morris Cooper S Craig Powers blasts his OMS out of Lunar John Loudon in his Westfield SE Ivan Pullen performs a neat spin in his Caterham Martin Rowe goes topless in the Honda S2000 The racy Nissan 350Z GT of Gordon Peters Crispin Scott in his Caterham 7 Roadsport Continued
MSA updates Seat and harness rules relaxed Safety training... New chief executive The MSA seems to be developing a sense of proportion on safety regulations. Earlier this month they announced a review over the next two years of ideas to reduce the burden on club competitors of unnecessary seat and harness replacement. A cornerstone of the new approach is to throw more responsibility on to competitors to maintain their own equipment above an MSA minimum standard. What this seems to come down to is that the MSA will no longer slavishly apply FIA standards for professional and international motor sport to national club competition. The immediate effects are: In stage rallying, seats homologated to the FIA 8855-1999 standard are granted a two-year extension at the end of their initial five-year life Across disciplines requiring a homologated harness, the MSA will recognise a ten-year life for harnesses homologated to the latest FIA 8853-2016 standard. This homologation is for six-point harnesses as a minimum and is tested with higher loadings than the previous standard. There will be new guidance for drivers but alongside this comes additional training for scrutineers to use their powers to refuse equipment they deem dodgy. Maybe all this is a reflection of having an MSA chairman who began his motorsport involvement in club rallying. David Richards is quoted as saying: one of our principal roles is to grow motorsport at grassroots level while promoting safety within the sport at a realistic cost for competitors. Thank you, Mr Richards. Something we all benefit from when we lash out dosh to the MSA is their free safety training courses. These obviously centre on marshals, the vital volunteers us competitors depend on to promptly and safely extract us from dangerous situations. Whilst marshals (hopefully!) take full advantage of the courses on offer in the regions it s likely drivers are less aware of them. Yet, we might all have to deal with a car on fire, even in the paddock, or arrive on the scene of an incident. So perhaps especially important is taking advantage of the basic First on scene training. One of these courses is available on December 1 at Blackburn Services. For details, and to book, go to <northwest@gomotorsport.net> A new Chief Executive has been appointed by the MSA and will take over on November 1. He is Hugh Chambers who has worked in senior roles for sports organisations, including sailing, Team Sky and the British Olympic Association. Mr Chambers is also no stranger to motor sport. He held management jobs in WRC, Le Mans and Formula One with BAR Honda. Continued
Event report AINTREE September 1 A round of the LDMC Northern Speed Championship The September Anglesey-Three Sisters sprint weekend began at the Liverpool venue under overcast skies. Compared to the usual large field there was a relatively low entry, so drivers were looking forwards to plenty of track time at the high-speed circuit. They weren t disappointed with five timed runs and a sensible finishing time for those preparing for the following day s contrasting event at Three Sisters with lower top speeds but 14 corners, instead of three, each run. Things proceeded with their usual efficiency in increasingly warm conditions, although many drivers felt the track was not offering as much grip as usual. The only major hiccup came in the first timed run when the unfortunate Robert Bailey pulled off at Beechers after a split oil line in his immaculate Empire Evo started a fire in the engine bay. He leapt out, unhurt, with some rapidity and fire marshals were quickly on the scene to smother the car in powder as the fire threatened to spread to the fuel tank when the sight gauge failed in the heat. Hopefully, the damage was not too bad, a reward for the prompt and gentlemanly way he got off the tarmac without leaving oil on track. As has become the norm, John Graham turned up with his British Sprint Championship Gould to have another crack at the outright track record. Although he was sorting out some issues with the car his speed of up to 175mph over the finish line was as jaw-dropping as usual and he took FTD at 37.53, a time he set in both his first and second runs. Results for Longton contenders Class SA: Colin Duncalf, 2 nd, 62.68; 1B: Russell Thorpe, 1 st, 52.52, Russell Herring, 4 th, 55.75, John Early, 5 th, 57.78; 1C: Peter Sherratt, 3 rd, 51.79; 1D: Martin Rowe, 2 nd, 52.39; 1E: Gordon Peters, 2 nd, 50.95, Paul Collier, 3 rd, 55.44; 1F: Steve Wilson, 1 st, 54.95; 2B: Nigel Fox, 1 st, 47.83, Sean Bourn, 2 nd, 49.84; 2D: Rob Holt, 2 nd, 55.97; 3B: Chris Boyd, 2 nd, 55.54; 3F: John Loudon, 1 st, 45.23 n/r; 5A: Craig Powers, 1 st, 43.01, Eve Whitehead, 2 nd, 43.57, Peter Brogden, 4 th, 49.73; 5B: Geoff Ward, 1 st, 49.50; TVR: William Campion, 2 nd, 57.04. Event report SCAMMONDEN DAM August 18 A round of the LDMC Northern Speed Championship With ten timed runs, Pendle Motor Club s event at Scammonden must have been one of the best value hillclimbs ever! The less impressive side of this equation was the tiny entry, just 23 competitors. FTD and a new class record went to James Baxter who managed to thread his bulky Gould GR55 through the tight twists and turns in 21.26 seconds. Not far behind in outright pace was David Tatham in his more nimble, but less powerful, OMS Hornet. His time of 21.81 was also a class record. Longton competitors included - Class SC: John Wadsworth, 1 st, 30.64; 1E: Paul Collier, 2 nd, 29.64; 2A: Michael Bellerby, 1 st, 29.24; 2B: Nigel Fox, 1 st, 25.33; 2D: Robert Holt, 1 st, 29.33;
Event reports HAREWOOD HILLCLIMB August 26, September 15 and 16 Rounds of the LDMC Northern Speed Championship The massed ranks of cars and bikes got together for the busy Harewood August meeting. Judging by the times the two competitive runs on offer must have been conducted in slippery conditions. Longton competitors included Classic marques: Roger Fish, 4 th, 73.02, Martin Rowe, 5 th, 74.56; Class 1B: Russell Thorpe, 4 th, 73.06; 2A: Michael Bellerby, 1 st, 74.48, Leon Franks, 3 nd, 76.16; 3C: Chris Edwards, 1 st, 67.10; 5E: James Baxter, 1 st, 65.67. Conditions were clearly better for the final Harewood weekend in September and, despite an entry nudging 130, drivers got three timed runs. There was an interesting car-sharers battle in the small racing car class where Eve Whitehead came in behind car owner Craig Powers on the first day and then beat him by 100 th of a second on Sunday. Longton competitors included : Saturday Class 1B: Martin Rowe, 9 th, 67.85, Keith Rose, 13 th, 70.58; 3F: Harry Moody, 3 rd, 61.92, Chris Boyd, 4 th, 62.33; 3G: Nigel Fox,3 rd, 62.57, Mark Davenport, 5 th 64.33; 5A: Craig Powers, 2 nd, 60.14, Eve Whitehead, 3 rd, 62.14; 5E: James Baxter, 2 nd, 52.25; 6C: Rob Kenna, 4 th, 84.56. Sunday Class 1B: Martin Rowe, 7 th, 66.08, Keith Rose, 15 th, 70.25; 3C: Chris Edwards, 2 nd, 62.15; 3F: Harry Moody, 3 rd, 59.90, Chris Boyd, 4 th, 61.47; 3G: Nigel Fox,4 th, 61.98; 5A: Eve Whitehead, 2 nd, 58.67, Craig Powers, 3 rd, 58.68; 5E: James Baxter, 1 st, 51.82; 6C: Rob Kenna, 4 th, 84.56.