What should have been a triumphant role for Golfy with its new red stripe and 888's turned into a bag of crap at roughly 9.30am. I'd already dropped Pete's Destroyer at the track, joked with the marshalls about the evening event as they felt that we BigPower boys should be racing the F3's that were testing there during the day (They were lapping in the 1'01's by the way) and made my way to sunny Langham to collect Torchboys Flouo Orange S13.
I had agreed to get 40 litres of Vpower for Garetgax and another 20 for Torchboy, silly me. Four garages later and I had secured the necessary quantities. Phew!!
I had hoped that the GBH spare trailer would be there and that Bladeys car would be ready for loading...........er NO. For good reasons the trailer wasn't so after a 40 minute delay, I made the round trip to get it and arrived back at the HQ to get it loaded. Now James' car is a bit on the low side but between us it was loaded up in good time (circa 10 minutes) and off I toddled to Norfolkcestershire for Dr Hayward to power run and check. En route I sampled Daisy Dukes road side Diner on the A140, a bright note on an appalling dull road.
I was asked to defer my arrival at APT for politically sensitive reasons so I got there for 12.45 and got the car off. Getting the Orange onto the dyno was slightly more awkward. I had removed the front bumper to aid getting it on, but that on its own wasn't enough so we improvised in a way that the A-team would have been proud of, and that was that. Topped up with the twenty litres of Vpower and the runs could commence.
At this point I decided my time could be better spent elsewhere so I got Kevs 200 loaded and drove to Snett. Kevs car runs a far more regular ride height than our aforementioned spherically proportioned sideways loving Torchboy, so unloading it was easy apart from having no battery to start it or get the window down and no steering lock
Oh well, in the scheme of things all was good and that was car number two safely delivered. Time now 2.30pmBack to APT with the empty trailer and I arrived to see Bladey had beat me there, the car had been run (good figures for what it is, rather than what it isn't eh boys
) and after a brief de-brief twixt the owner and the Doctor, Orange could be reloaded and fired up the road by yours truly back to Snett.Time was marching on at this point and at 3.45pm we left Garys. My 15mpg Explorer was starting to wilt at this point after 230 miles of towing, but not as quickly as the trailer. My fuel light was on but it normally gives a 30 mile reserve so I was confident I may just get away with it. Bladey stopped for more fuel on the A11 and I kept plodding on. Just passed Attleborough I could see smoke from the back of the trailer......was this a premonition of Torchboys antics later that night?? Anyway I slowed to 30 odd and the smoke disipated, so I built my speed back up and for a mile or two, things were peachy. A little closer to the track, things went a bit tits up. Smoke plumed from the rear wheels on the trailer and it started getting very wibbly wobbly, not ideal with 1200kg+ of car on the back. I pulled over at this point to see the smoke pouring off of the offside rear as the wheel bearing looked to have collapsed
A few minutes later Bladey caught me up and I showed him what had happened. Both a bit unsure we made very slow progress for the last few yards onto Snettertons hallowed grounds and we gingerly made our way, limping the trailer to the paddock. After a few slightly stressed phone calls to Dunk (no answer), Jamie at the circuit, Pete with the Sierra and about twenty other people asking about the night, we got there. Time now 4.40pm!!
At this point I started getting the Orange undone, had a quick word with Dunk and Ben, moved Petes car out so he could unload it and then went home to get the Golf, my suit/helmet/gloves etc and also to collect Bryans splitter and Eddies rear lights from the unit. Remember my fuel guzzling Explorer with no fuel in it? It seems I didn't :lol: Two miles from the circuit I ran out of fuel!! Can you imagine the colour of the air as I commented on the glory of the day, thanking those involved with my good luck :pmsl: Fuel sourced I bimbled home and, for the first time that day, sat down to consider events. Time now 5.15pm
I reluctantly grabbed my gear (forgetting to go the unit, sorry Bryan and Eddie) and trudged to the track a bit 'beaten' in honesty. I arrived at 5.40pm and my spirits were lifted when I saw a packed paddock and what seemed like hundreds of BigPower guys and girls all buzzing.......gorgeous modified cars were everywhere almost like God had decided to empty his automotive toy box in our designated parking area. The throb of engines being warmed, the cacophony of noise as the excited drivers blipped throttles. Mostly unnecessary as we all know, but it's like a mating call for petrolheads
I got signed in, had a briefing with circuit management and watched Gary conducting some sighting laps in his Evo for the virgins. Then it was the advanced groups go. At this point I had met up with Garetgax (Graham) and his wife. I grabbed their 40 litres (another job ticked off) and apologised to him for missing his induction laps. We had discussed me coming out with him to get a feel for the circuit to try and ease some nerves, but the next best thing was for him to come out in the Golf.
This was the beginning of the end for the fun element, brief as it was (7 LAPS IN ALL!!) I allowed the heat to build up in the tyres, superb by the way transforming the grip levels, and started to press on a bit, describing apices, manhole covers, kerbs to jump and kerbs to avoid and then realised that that was it. The Golf was flat out (or as near as I dare with a suspect engine) and dull as hell. Ok, it's fun enough showing a glimmer of speed turning into Riches at 80 odd and lifting an inside wheel just about everywhere but when the acceleration is such that you can take your harnesses off, open the door, get out and run faster, it's time to come in for the night. So I did.
I was fortunate enough to see James' car on fire on the back straight. I have often wanted to do that to his car in the last few weeks myself. James was fine and showed great presence of mind to get his passenger out safely and the damage looks to be superficial at this stage. The fire was due to too much fuel, an fuel tank of insufficient quality and not allowing for the fact that when you cause tremendous loads on your fuel (ie drifitng) it may cause that fuel to overflow and go on your very hot exhaust :roll:
Torchboy was just the first of more incidents in one track night than a omnibus of Hollyoaks. We had tyres coming off, misfires, tyre wall interfaces and even a poor unfortunate rolling his car BEFORE he had got into the circuit, let alone on it.
In one of the funniest dead pan moments that I have heard in years, someone quipped to the driver 'Did it just get away from you then?'
Anyway, there I was. Deflated with the Golf, disillusioned with a dead trailer, emotive over a deep fried S13 I decided the next thing to do was to be constructive. I made the decision to get Kevs 200 over to the lock up so I jumped in and drove the single largest nail into the Golfs coffin. I decided to drive Kevs track prepped S14a and man........that thing is gorgeous. Tight, responsive, wooshes, pops, flutters. All of the noises and sensations that I miss so much driving a 20 year old 142k munter
Time now 7.45pm
Kev and I returned to the track and immediately I set about trying to get Bladeys S13 and the stricken trailer back to the unit. The car had been reloaded by the guys at GBH so we limped the car to the lock up at walking speeds. The plan was for me to meet up with Geoff (one of the partners in the firm) in the morning so that we could get James' car off of the damaged trailer and onto a working one, then tow both back to Langham today.
James and I arrived back at the circuit at 10.15pm to find the car park all but deserted, the bar and restaurant shut and things looked like a ghost town. After 10 minutes of commiserating Gerry (arrived too late to take part), Torchboy( fried car), Dunk (more to follow from him) I really had had enough. I trudged off with my Golf, my ears ringing with the thoughts of the day. Hungry, tired and thoroughly pissed off I grabbed some takeaway and arrived at my retreat at 10.45pm
Normally I get in after one of our events and boot the laptop up immediately. Last night, I did so with a fair degree of trepidation. I just hoped that other peoples nights had gone well and that my doom and gloom thoughts were just my own.The forums seemed positive but better than that, an MSN window popped up straight away. It was Gary from APT. Poor old Gary had left the circuit on Jasons flatbed as his engine seemed to have waved the white flag. I was gutted as I have been there following the ups and downs of his season, much as I have done with James. For Gary to kill the engine so close to Oulton was a cruel blow.
Garys excited and upbeat messages were unreal. Yes, he had done some damage but he was confident it can be sorted in time but he was bubbling over with excitement as he'd logged well over 150mph on the straights and matched or exceeded many other top level cars all night. This attitude did make me look at my own 'woes' and think that there are always some positive things that can come out of the deepest pile of shit
Onwards and upwards guys. I look forward to the next event with you all. I will be organising all night instead of taking part, that is unless I can get the BM done in which case you won't see me for dust
:thumb:
....I used to be average, now I reminisce !!!
