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MSA British
Hill Climb Championship |
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The Force www.forceracingcars.co.uk was with me (as Richard Dunn so eloquently put it) and I'm second! Hillclimb news from Willem - remember that if you wish to be removed from the circulation list please do let me know - similarly if you know of someone who'd like to be on the list please send me their email address. British Championship Finale at Doune, North of Stirling, Scotland - Summary END of British Championship Season (one Midland round to go) and with Our Edwards Hospitality www.edwards-hospitality.co.uk team I'm 2nd in the 2005 Nicholson McLaren British Hillclimb Championship - www.nicholsonmclaren.com <http://www.nicholsonmclaren.com/> YIPPEEE. My team mate, Rob Turnbull keeps a top 10 number (he's 9th) despite significant vehicle related problems this year and despite not attending all rounds. I didn't enjoy having to "take it easy" in recent meetings just to ensure I held on to that place but this one was, after a slightly shaky start in practice, actually quite good fun. I took my personal best time down from 40.00 seconds to 37.65 seconds - the steps were quite big! The championship finishes with Martin Groves winning, me 2nd, Roger Moran 3rd (I beat him mainly because only your best 28 scores count), Mike Dean 4th only one point behind if my maths is correct - what an effort he put in this weekend, Scott Moran 5th (that will make dual driving next year a bit harder), Simon Durling 6th (great result with a lower powered car - 2.65 litre), Paul Ranson 7th and wins the YGelli challenge (best rookey sort of), Chris Merrick 8th, Rob Turnbull 9th and Karl Davison 10th thanks to his win at Harewood early in the year. Paul Haimes finishes 11th with the same points as Karl and Trevor Willis 12th. The battle for 10th was exciting as neither Karl nor Paul H were at Doune to defend their positions but Trevor was there doing a serious rain dance (he's got less of a power disadvantage with his 2 litre engined car in the rain). Trevor scored exactly half of what he needed in the morning runoff (4 points for 7th place) but didn't quite get it all together in a very fast afternoon runoff. Graeme Wight Jnr. had an equal second place in the morning for a superb start to the day and then topped the time to really put pressure on the final 2 runners (Deano and Martin Groves). Results should be available on www.top12runoff.co.uk by Monday evening. Keep an eye open on www.2t4t.co.uk for photos and for information about he championship DVD's. They'll have my brush with the barriers (oh yes I had a "wee moment") and have the record - again - onboard and off board. I've kept my tape for the on board stuff and will download it at home prior to sending it on to Richard and Georgia. Doune the Details (followed by the runoff results and the final Championship positions) Practice went well despite wet or damp conditions (depending on the time of day) once I'd got my first run nerves out of the way. The lads really gave blood for me at this meeting which was great so I was mightily relieved to give them a great result. I was as tense as anything for first practice but relaxed after that and actually started to get the feel of the place. There wasn't a huge entry and we even managed 4 practice runs on the Saturday. With the gearbox problems we'd had at Shelsley fixed and the diff replaced (while checking we'd found that it was badly cracked) we really needed to run in the diff. The slippery conditions suited circumstances well in terms of running in the new diff. We managed a couple of minutes of running the car with the rear wheels in the air but having wet conditions helped us not strain the diff too much in the early runs. Sunday morning brought slightly better conditions and we took advantage of them to go a little quicker - step by step and no heroics (just to prove that I really am learning). For this visit to Scotland we left home later than I've ever left home before to up to Doune. We left at about 6:15pm or so (Friday) but had a better run than I've had before and managed to get to bed by about midnight. When we arrived the ice warning on the car warned me it was about 2.5 degrees - summer is definitely over!!! I felt cold almost all night so did something about it for Saturday night!!! I say WE because David Grace decided to come up with me which was good from the perspective of the company en route but also from the perspective of getting great advice from a real expert (5 times champion) on where and how to place the car on this quite daunting hill. The advice gave me confidence and I got myself gradually closer to the pace during practice. We were quite "mob handed" here for once. Bill drove up in the truck but Colin and Steve flew up on Saturday morning so with David I had 4 people helping me! Amazing to have so much help so far from home and testament to the friendship we've all formed despite (or perhaps because of) our very different personalities (I have been know to be a bit intense at times...... and Bill is relatively relaxed - like our mate Mick H). Exciting too because we've been discussing next year as well..... but then I can't say anything about that now can I? So far, despite a really very competitive price there really hasn't been that much interest on the sale of the Pilbeam. The truth is if I did sell it I still couldn't afford to buy a new car so would rely on finding someone with whom to go halves and that's not something that's all that close either.... Hence we may have to "Force" the Pilbeam again next year with the same basic package of car, driver and team. We could do a lot worse given what we've achieved this year..... Anyway Sunday Qualified 6th for the first runoff with a personal best time. Came sixth in the first runoff with another personal best time but with Roger finishing 4th that tied up 2nd in the championship. Had a slight moment at "Oak tree" where it oversteered turning in (I'd carried too much speed, backed off the throttle too far and was also slightly off line) which bent a wheel (on the rear) on my best set of tyres. We fitted the practice set for qualifying and the second best set for the runoff. Qualified 5th fastest with yet another personal best time which was particularly pleasing and we prepared for the runoff. Will Mason did a time that was just about equal to my qualifying time so as I prepared myself for the runoff I thought - well if he can do that in a 2 litre then if I put together a smooth run I can do better. I did and hence I did - 4th personal best of the day! Not bad. I only came 5th but that's good enough at Doune with that car and pressure to keep it in one piece for the last Midland and very last meeting for me of the year at Prescott. On Board Camera. I have to admit to not fitting the camera for the wet practice runs on Saturday. We did however run it on Sunday with a repeat of the camera facing the driver for the morning runs as this seemed to be popular last time - It does give a feel for how intense things are...... It will be interesting to see if you can see the impact with the barrier from the onboard camera. For the afternoon we fitted the camera on the engine cover pointing forward to give a reminder of what an amazing place this is to drive. This footage will form part of the Doune DVD which will come out late this year (or perhaps early next......) - see www.2t4t.co.uk . I am also planning, if I can convince Richard and Georgia to help me, a special "Willem" DVD which I'll produce as a record of the year with its highs and lows.... Watch this space (I'm only the 4th driver to ask them so far....)..... Next meeting is the very last one that I will do this year. It's a Midland round at Prescott - see www.prescott-hillclimb.com . If you're in the midlands area this is the very last chance to see these incredible cars this year...... I'm still leading the Midland Avon BMTR top 10 challenge www.bmtr.co.uk <http://www.bmtr.co.uk/> but it will be hard to hang on to that top spot (given how strong the Morans are at present - especially at Prescott). Note that my car is for Sale if the price is reasonable - Anyone interested should have a look on www.2t4t.co.uk <http://www.2t4t.co.uk/> . I'm not desperate to sell as I don't have a great alternative for next year and know just what to do to make this one faster..... However knowing what the car is worth helps me to assess what options are available to me in the future. I'm even more serious about selling the engine despite it being a brilliant piece of machinery - I want to experiment with something a bit lighter weight and to pay for it......... More information on request. I had forced www.forceracingcars.co.uk help this year and hence a really massive thanks again throughout the season to Bill, Colin, Tony, Steve B, Steve C, David, Dave, Lloyd, Kelvin and Martin E (weekend work) as well as to Sue for putting up with all that intensity and that loneliness as I disappear to play most weekends in late spring, summer and early autumn. A really grateful big thanks to Paul Edwards www.edwards-hospitality.co.uk for his very real financial as well as moral support - thank you Paul without your help we'd have struggled. Huge thanks too to Mike Pilbeam Mick H and all at Pilbeams www.pilbeamracing.co.uk for a great car. Thanks too to Martin Elsmore, Jamie and David Grace, and to Richard and Georgia Dunn www.2t4t.co.uk for the help they've given and the way they've upped the sports ability to show itself off to the world, and then there are so many who helped I can't list you all but thanks a million. I'll now spend many a weekend making up for it all at work so the poor girl gets the raw deal again (ouch)! Next bit of play will be the nice long break to Australia, to which we're both really looking forward. We're on the hunt to change a few things next year and the plan is to frighten as many of our fellow competitors as we can - but you'll all have to wait and see what we do........... All the best to you all Willem Runoff Positions |
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