Loton Park June 2006

This was our 2nd National meeting of the year at Loton.  As one of my favourite hills (and pretty local) I started the season here quite well.  I therefore hoped for more of the same!

1st practice was a bit iffy.  The weather seems now to be too hot!  We can't win.  The rear of the car was like a jelly and felt like I had a puncture or something falling off the car.  The time was reasonable so I just put it down to the high tyre temperature. 

2nd practice was the same.  At the top of the hill I asked Paul Ranson how his run went and thankfully he described the same symptoms that I was struggling with.

3rd practice was a little better.  Made sure the tyres weren't too hot and posted 3rd quickest time behind Martin G & Simon Durling.  Dad was 4th fastest.

Early Sunday morning and the weather was superb.  It was good to have some extra support as my Grandad was here with a friend who has been itching to see a hillclimb for a while.  They weren't disappointed as the weather and competition was good throughout the day.

A super run early on by Robert Kenrick broke his class record.  52.27 in a Caterham!!  Awesome!  Then a bit later, Sandra Tomlin took the Ladies record in the big Pilbeam.  Excellent!  Son Oliver was flying as well making the run off and scoring some useful points.

I was very pleased to out qualify Martin in the morning (by a huge margin of 100th of a second!)  I therefore was able to see his time before my run.  Dad was 2nd car up behind Paul who had posted a great time of 46.72.  Unfortunately for Paul, Dad went quicker on a 46.35.  On form Deryk Young qualified 3rd fastest but overcooked it and had a spin near the top of the hill.  Dad was still fastest.  Martin came to the line and set off on a mission.  His split time at Triangle was quick but word from the top was that he made a mistake at the last corner and lost some time.  He crossed the line on a 46.30, just in front of Dad.  Bugger!  I was quietly confident that I could beat the time but a big mistake at Triangle made me think differently!  Then, a big slide out of Fallow (much to the delight of Chris Merrick who for those who can remember used to love sliding his old Ralt V8 through Orchard at Prescott), I thought I'd over done it.  I kept calm through Museum and to the finish and posted a 45.94 a PB and a win.  Fandabbydosey!

The afternoon runs soon came round and a very impressive show was given firstly by Ken Evans and the rest of the roadgoing class.  Ken missed Trevor Willis' record by 7hundredths.  The most impressive show of the day came in the Mod Prod Saloon class.  During the 1st runs Andy Cooke had duffed the little Renault into the tyre wall at Museum.  He was then whisked off to hospital for a precautionary check over.  All was OK so he was back and ready to go again in the afternoon.  He then took the class lead from Martin Pyke in the beautiful Escort (who himself had not had an easy practice day).  Pyke then turned round and took it off Andy and won the class.  In the big saloon car class Roy Standley broke his class record in the Mitsubishi.  Fantastic competition.

Onto our afternoon runs and I manage to out qualify Martin again.  He seemed to be having an off day only posting 4th fastest time.  Simon was 2nd fastest with Chris Merrick 3rd.

Then came the run off.  Paul made a a bit of a mess of it with a spin at the top.  Apart from that small error Paul had a pretty good day.  Dad was next up and didn't have a good run, going slower than he had all day.  He had been a bit too quick into a few of the slower corners and overshot the exit therefore losing time coming out.  A great effort by Tim Wilson in the 1400cc OMS to qualify but sadly no points.

By the time Martin's run came round, Dad was still fastest.  He would end the day with a 3rd in the morning and 4th in the afternoon.  Some useful points. 

Grovesy was awesome, posting a great split time and then a near perfect run to the top with a 45.45.  A massive 2 seconds faster than his qualifying run.  I'm still not sure how he did it but it was another show of why he is the Champion.  Simon had another good run posting his PB of a 46.60 leaving him 3rd.  It was now my go.  I was very keen to have a go at Martin's time as I knew that I had mistakes in the morning.  As I exited the first corner I had a wheel on the grass, then did the same at Triangle.  Game over!  I went a little quicker than my morning run so was pretty pleased with my days efforts.  I had managed to peg the gap (for now at least) between Martin & I.   The car was in one piece and ready for Doune this coming weekend.  I enjoy Doune as it is a real challenge.  My past record there has not been too good so I'll be happy if I score some points.  Hope to see you there.

Scott.

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