Hillclimb news from Willem - Gurston Down 27th & 28th August.

Summary - Gurston

The Edwards Hospitality www.edwards-hospitality.co.uk team has its sights set on 2nd.   This weekend the championship went to Gurston Down.   Fast hill this one.   Phone calls warning of scary Armco on the final "straight" proved to be a slight exaggeration - the new safety addition looks to me like a genuine improvement to spectator and driver safety without being so close to the course that it changes things from the driving perspective.    Martin Groves, released from the need to secure the championship, was able to enjoy the driving and embarrassed us all again with another fine display of smooth control with a margin to the rest of us that is a bit on the large side - and new class and hill records.   For me personally it was another solid weekend's work towards second place in the championship but I did find it slightly frustrating not to push for the best time I felt I could achieve.    The need for points was probably the highest priority for the weekend and it kept me in check throughout.    I finished with two solid 3rd places (16 points) which strengthens my grip on second place as Roger Moran scored 11 points and Mike Dean 10 points - both had a bit of a nightmare as far as putting pressure on me for second is concerned.   Mike Dean was fast in qualifying but had problems in his key runs, while Roger was beaten in qualifying by son Scott (who's turning into a real pace setter this year) which disadvantaged him for the runoffs.    The small cushion I now have could so easily be thrown away with just one failure so consistent point scoring will be the order of the day for the remaining two British Meetings, if sanity prevails, of course.    Good meeting for Chris Merrick who beat me in the class runs and set some solid personal best times - and was 4th highest points scorer of the day with 13 points (behind Marin Groves, Scott Moran and myself).   Mixed meeting for the Tomlin family with Oliver qualifying well and scoring 3 solid points in the first runoff and with mother Sandra taking the ladies record in afternoon qualifying but with an oil leak in the engine preventing Oliver from taking more points in the final runoff of the day.    Championship "winners" on the day (other than Martin who's got nothing more to prove) were myself, Scott Moran who is consolidating his claim on 5th place, Paul Ranson who levels with Simon Durling in the battle over 6th and Chris Merrick who's virtually secured the No. 8 spot.

The Details - Gurston Down August 2005
(followed by runoff times and places, championship positions and for sale details)

Pictures from the event and then a copy of this report should appear soon on www.2t4t.co.uk and other pictures and results should appear on www.top12runoff.co.uk soon if they're not already there.

Next Event is at Prescott next weekend.   For those of you who live anywhere near Cheltenham, this is the last round of the Nicholson McLaren British Championship that you can see close to home so come along and have a peep.   See www.prescott-hillclimb.com

This is what we like to see, find a location inside the UK and a slot in the calendar where it rains in the week and the sun shines at the weekend - at Gurston this weekend that's pretty much what happened.   A nice relaxing one for many also as the bank holiday Monday takes the rush out of the departure.   Exciting too because, as the season approaches the finale, drivers are looking at what they'll be doing in the future.   Many hushed conversations around the paddock.  And to that end I have decided that I AM putting my car up for sale to see if there is any interest out there and to look at what options exist for other vehicles to step into......    If I can't find a good home for the Pilbeam then I know just what to do to make the car a bit faster next year so that at least I can continue to sneak the odd win away from all these Goulds - it's quite nice really being the different one as improvements made to the car are not so easily copied by those against whom I'm competing.   The odd thing is that few people believe that the car is a great one - which is great for my reputation as a complete lunatic but not good for adding value to the car.  However, a few people at the weekend did learn the secret of my phenomenal starts - oops .... they picked up the rear wing of the Pilbeam and nearly gave themselves hernias.  They say they now understand just where all the weight in the rear of the car is!  In fact, senior Nicholson McLaren people were there in part to look at my starts.   The mapping of their engine has been a bit of a problem for starts and it seems that they're taking this a bit more seriously as I really do gain bucket loads of time on them in the first few yards of each climb.   Pity as it will make things harder for next year.

With the new Armco in place up the final straight the speeds shown on the speed trap seemed miraculously to be closer to their true figure although judging by the difference between our wheel speeds and the trap speeds the traps must have been re-set for the afternoon runs as the speeds were relatively slower in the afternoon (relative to our on board wheels speeds).   149 was the highest official speed which was for Paul Ranson and Martin Groves.   I recorded 144 with my low drag Gurston setup although my car was geared for 152 and on the limiter over the finish on the last run.    The safety of one of the latest small hillclimb chassis was tested to the limit again giving constructor Steve Owen another fright (just as Todd Fleetwood did last year) and another positive end result as the driver walked away again.   It's good to see that the seriousness with which everyone is taking safety is paying off when we human drivers make mistakes or when (inevitably) things fail (this was driver error I believe).

For Sale  Pilbeam MP88 Judd 4.0 -       £49,950 ono

Pilbeam MP88 with latest carbon chassis (new beginning of 2004).   Judd EV 4.0 litre engine and FGC gearbox.   Suspension geometry optimised (didn't get it "right" first time) for Radial Tyres.   This car has quite simply the most drivable engine in hillclimbing with spectacular and usable torque from 2,500 rpm to 11,000 rpm.

Some data logging including wheel speeds included.   Stack Dash and MoTeC Ecu.   Traction control is available but I don't get on with it all that well so I have used it only rarely.   Crushable nose section made using F1 techniques and materials created for the purposes of both aerodynamics and safety.  

For Sale Pilbeam MP88 cont.

Many will tell you that "only Willem" can extract the sort of performance I've extracted from the car, but I quite simply don't believe that.   It's taken me three years to get myself and the car to this stage but Ben Butterfield got quite close last year despite only having a few drives in the car and Martin Elsmore, whose approach is very cautious by nature and who's only done a few meetings, is getting closer with every outing and even managed to score runoff points ahead of some of the regulars in Ireland.   Why is the car so good this year compared to last? - setup and driving and the setup part you will get.    I honestly believe that this is about the lowest cost package that you could buy that's capable of getting a top 10 number without having to be a hero when driving it.   It is a low hassle car as you can drive it around the pits and in the wet with ease.   It does the best starts in hillclimbing and does them absolutely fuss free.

Included in the package provided any offer is acceptable.
Complete car.
Wheels on the car and 3 spare sets of wheels all with tyres (each tyre's history has been recorded and some will be next to brand new)

Spare gear ratios (to cover the range used on the hills including 3 spare double width 1^st gears and a spare CWP).   Long socket for gearbox main nuts.

Wheel spanner with support (to hold it at rear wheel height)
Lightweight "runoff" battery
Some suspension parts, a drive shaft, some worn disks and a slightly damaged but usable radiator
Design information for the nose and wing mount plates (so more can be made in the long term future) - Pilbeams have the mould and can make parts but they aren't exactly the same.

Full vehicle setup information (wings, suspension, gears etc.) for every UK hill we've been to (all in the British Championship).

As much as you want of my 3 years' worth of data with the MP72 and MP88.
MoTeC computer programs.
A list of key contacts for getting things done (and my number for if you get stuck).
Nothing will be removed from the package or changed - what I've been racing you will get - including information about how to look after your tyres.

A few suggestions on how to improve the car further - in other words what I would do next - the search for performance is continuous and there are always ways to make something better..... 

Other spares available by separate negotiation - they should really go to the person buying the car as they're potentially useful parts.

Spare nose cone (also F1 quality) pre-fitted, painted and complete with wing which will swap straight onto the car (new cost over £4k)

Lightweight engine cover (not yet run on the car)
Crank and parts removed when the engine was converted from 3.5 litre (for conversion back to F1 spec if that's ever desirable)

Other parts for sale
Older MP72 chassis with quite a few suspension parts, nose cones, bodywork, steering rack etc.
4:2:1 exhaust system used when the engine ran in the MP72 (has even more torque but less top end)
3 piece alloy Pilbeam rear wheels with 14inch wide and 16 inch wide options
4 pairs of welded front wheels which could be adapted to suit the Pilbeam - not cheap and sold at purchaser's risk

Contact Willem at the car (no 4) or via phone or email

Phone
Mobile          07801 509456
Home            01295 710085 (with answer phone and fax)
Work            01280 844358 (direct with answer phone)

wtoet@barhondaf1.com

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