Lydden - 23rd October 2010

The last round of the year took place at Lydden Hill on 23rd October and promised to be another damp horrible day.

As expected the day was very grey but I really hadn't expect the circuit to be a slippery as it was, far worse than the wet day we'd had earlier in the year.

I really struggled to get any temperature into the R888's and as a result had quite bad traction issues with the car constantly feeling like the back end was going to brake away.

A spin on the practise run and seeing the fairly large dent in a skyline after the first timed runs resulted in a slight lack of confidence as I wasn't intending on taking the car home on the back of a recovery lorry so I held back from pushing the car too hard.

Result was some disappointing times, around 13s off of my best at Lydden this year in the Honda and a fair few seconds off of the wet times in the summer.

At least most others seam to be struggling as well so I ended up 5th out of 9 starters in my class which wasn't too bad and won the best Tunbridge Wells Motor Club member.

I believe the result leaves me 2nd overall in the Tunbridge wells motor club all circuits championship which was the only championship result which was yet to be decided going into the last round.

A huge thanks to all the organisers, clubs and marshall who have made this years sprinting possible, fingers crossed I'll be back next year, probably in a new car but not sure what as yet

Debden - 3rd October 2010

Arrived at Debden under some very grey clouds expecting heavy rain. A good turn out of 15 cars in class meant there should be some close racing.

The first practice run took place on a damp track which as always proved entertaining in the S2000 on R888's

Luckily the track tried for the second practice and first times runs where my times were 75.26 and 76.62 respectively.

After the first run I was in third place in class and looking forward to a more attacking 2nd timed run, however the weather stopped that as it started to rain.

Ended the day 3rd in class and 27th/86 Overall.

The result today meant I had managed to win the Sevenoaks & district motor clubs speed league and come first in class and 2nd over all in the Association of central southern motor clubs speed championship.

Just the TWMC all circuits sprint championship to be decided at Lydden on 23rd October. I'm currently in second place overall with the class win already decided. The overall championship is still achievable so all to play for at the end of the month, fingers crossed for dry weather.

Brands Hatch - 12th August 2010

Another fairly eventful start to a sprint when I had to spend most of the evening before repairing the front wing to the point I could compete having hit a deer on the way home from the Brighton speed trials the day before.

Arrived at brands hatch slightly concerned that the organisers would be less than impressed with my taped up front wing, but luckily they were fine and the first obstacle was overcome. Having read the provisional entry list I was not expecting to do all that well as there was a Lotus elise and the modified S2000 of Matt Carter in my class.

As it happens Matt who I was sure would have beaten me around Brands Hatch had also managed to have an altercation with an animal in the form of a cow and wasn't able to compete, therefore leaving the competition wide open.

by the end of the sprint I finished 1st in class which was a very welcome result and not expected with a time of 98.96s which was a good improvement over the previous years event in the Integra type R and achieved my goal of a sub 100 second run.

Brighton Speed Trials - 11th August 2010

Not really the ideal event for the S2000 but the 1/4 mile run down Madeira Drive, Brighton is an event I've fancied having a go at for a while.

Due to license restrictions I was only able to run in the handicap class which meant just one practise and one timed run. Managed a 1/4 mile time of 15.48s which is about what I expected leaving me 30th out of 56 in the handicap class.

North Weald - 29th August 2010

The 29th August saw anther trip back to North Weald for the Sevenoaks motor club's sprint. Unlike the last attempt at this event I thankfully managed to have a less eventful journey to the venue, avoid the local wildlife.

Due to the poor surface and being a tight git I opted to run on the standard road tyres rather than the Toyo R888's which were likely to suffer from significant wear on the old concrete parts of the course.

The predicted rain managed to stay away until the beginning of the third timed run, but for some reason my times rather than improving where dropping off slightly over the 3 timed runs.

By the end of the second run I was looking good for 2nd in class behind the MX5 of Mark Robbins, however It wasn't to be as Ross Martin in the other S2000 managed to go quicker on his third timed run to push be into third in class by just .03 seconds. best time of the day was 80.56s

Lydden 14/15th August 2010

Rain, another spin and fastest time at Lydden all in one weekend.

Another early morning start on the 14th August found me heading off to Lydden looking at a weekend of very mixed weather.

After the usual signing on and drivers briefing we started practice on a wet Lydden circuit, the slippery surface isn't ideal for the S2000 and self preservation kicked in leaving me second in class after pra

ctice with Mitchell Perry out in front in the clio 182.

after a brief spell of torrential rain we were back out for our first runs, a signifiant improvement on the practice time was welcome but as everyone else had also improved I stayed in second place.

By the time second time runs took place the track had dried significantly so I was determined to put in a good lap, unfortunately I went into Pilgrims a little to fast to find a small amount of standing water, just enough to help me spin, oh well something to stick on youtube! as everyone else had improved with the drying track I was now last.

luckily the rain held off of third runs and I was able to put in a reasonable time of 91s, which left me in first in class although I'm not to sure if the third runs will count for all or any of the championship positions.

As this was a double header the second round of the weekend took place on Sunday afternoon, the rain had gone and I could concentrate on improving on my previous best time. The second run gave me my first sub 90s, 1 3/4 lap run of lydden and the third run of 89.88s improved on this.

Another successful weekend completed and great trophy for the collection, back to North weald in 2 weeks, somewhere I've struggled in the past so am hoping the recent good form continues

Goodwood 07.08.2010

After nearly a month off it was back to Goodwood at the beginning of August for the Brighton and Hove Motor club Eagle sprint.

First practice run was on a very damp and slippery circuit and whilst entertaining wasn't particularly fast.

Thankfully by the time the first timed runs started the track had dried out and I could try and push the car a little harder, without so much concern over the tyre walls which always seam very close at Goodwood.

First timed run was 105.07 seconds which was an improvement of over a second on my previous fastest time at Goodwood and left me running first in class.

After lunch it was time for the second timed run, a time of 105.6S wasn't quite as good as the first but still better than I'd previously achieved. Unfortunately the competitor in second place after the first run bettered his first run with a time of 104.5 so I ended up second in class but still reasonably happy.

Debden 11.7.2010

Just a day after the last round at Lydden Hill was my first visit to Debden, set on an old RAF airfield in Essex. upon arriving I wasn't sure what to expect or how I'd get on in the S2000. There were 2 quick integra type R's and a couple of Renault sport clio's which always seam to go well around the tighter circuits.

After the two practice runs I was running in the midfield in class behind both of the Integra's and a clio 197 having struggled to find the braking point for the roundabout as the long sweeping left hander before the roundabout is quite blind.

As the day went on my confidence and breaking points improved and the last run of 75.74s was good enough for second in class with the winning clio 197 completing the course in 75.71s so winning by just 0.03s.

Lydden Hill 10.07.2010

Well it was back to Lydden Hill on the 10th of July for the SEMSEC 2 3/4 lap sprint. Fairly uneventful day as there was only myself and Mitchell Perry driving a modified clio 182 in class A2.

In the end it was a welcome class win to add vital points towards the overall all circuits championship.

Lydden Hill 5.6.2010

The 5th of June brought the first visit to Lydden hill of the year, another great day ending up first in class and almost breaking the 90 second barrier for 1 & 3/4 laps of Lydden. Best time was 90.12s

A bit of a break until the next events which will be a trip back to Lydden on the 10th of July and my first visit to Debden on the 11th.

Luckily the 5 week break in sprinting will include a trip to the ring and spa-franicorchamps so at least there will be some track driving.

Snetterton 29.05.2010

First Sprint at Snetterton, First Sprint in the Wet & First Spin.

I had spent the previous week watching the weather report hoping for them to change and show more sunshine but on the morning of 29th May I eventually had to accept there was going to be rain at some point during the day, but hoped it would be fairly light.

Arriving at the circuit it was fairly over cast but did at least stay dry for the first 2 practice runs which were completed with positive results, a best time of 78.37.

However in the hours between the practice and timed runs a fair amount of ran had fallen, So went for a fairly conservative first run , if nothing else this confirmed my suspicions that the Toyo R888's were going to be fairly entertaining on the very wet track surface.

I set off for the second timed run with more confidence, which proved to be a little miss placed as the second corner was exited facing in the wrong direction. Video evidence is here

Having over stepped the levels of grip / my skill levels, I was determined to make the third run a good one and managed a time of 89.17 which gave me 6th place overall out off 52 entrants, being beaten by 2 radicals, a 911 GT3 RS, a formula ford and a caterham.

Overall I was very pleased with the results, as always came home looking forward to the next round, Motorsport is quickly becoming very addictive.

Goodwood 15.05.2010

It was back to Goodwood on the 15th of May for a chance to sort out the early braking, with an aim of a lap time of around 104 seconds.

Another cracking day, dry with bright sunshine always makes getting up at 6a.m. more bearable.

slightly smaller turnout than the previous event with 6 competitors in my class. As with the previous event I went with the aim of second place in class knowing that for the time being first was highly unlikely, also went with the aim of beating my previous best time.

By the end of the day one of my goals was realise with a second place but an improvement of around 3/10th wasn't as much as I was hoping for, I still found myself breaking far too early, maybe changing the existing standard discs and pads for something more appropriate for track use may give me a bit more confidence in the braking zones or maybe more track time, I expect both would help.

Now can't wait for the next event at Snetterton in two weeks for a chance to try a circuit I've never visited before.

Goodwood 24.04.2010

First round of the year at Goodwood and the first round with the new Toyo R888's.

Having really enjoyed the round at Goodwood in 2009 I was looking forward to revisiting the track, but was all too aware of the reputation the circuit has for not being very forgiving so maybe it wasn't the place to be finding the new cars limits.

I expect partly due to the above and still getting used to competing in a rear wheel drive car there were a few nerves in the braking zones.

I couldn't have asked for a better result, coming second out of 7 in class and only being beaten by a more experienced racer in a modified S2000, who I hadn't expected to beat. Although a much smaller winning margin would have been nice!

The best time of the day was 106s for 1 lap from a standing start, although 6 seconds faster than I had achieved in the clio in 2009 the S2000 clearly had a lot more to offer and I know I was breaking far to early and far to softly in to 'no name' and 'woodcote'.

North Weald - 4th April 2010

Having watched through the video footage from the previous event at North Weald I left for the second event of the year. I was positive about improving on the previous efforts in round 2 which was back at North Weald and looking forward to the event which had attracted 20 competitors in my class.

However all was to go slightly wrong just a mile from the venue when I managed to hit a deer damaging the front bumper, Thankfully no other damage, or so I thought.

So the pre practise preparation involved lots of gaffer tape and bumper repairs rather than the normal thinking about the task in hand and walking the course, but as I was there I may as well carry on, all be it in a slightly worse mood than normal.

The two practise runs went to plan although when returning to the paddock after the second I noticed that the engine management light was on.

With no way of telling why the engine management light had come on and not wanting to cause any unnecessary damage I was left with a difficult decision to make as to wether to carry on with the timed runs on not.

Rightly or wrongly I though having traveled this far I'd better at least put 1 timed run in which despite having visions of exploding engines in the back of my mind was good enough for 10th out of 20 in class, and points towards the SDMC speed league, so the day wasn't a complete loss.

On arriving home and plugging the car into a diagnostics computer in became apparent that the secondary air pump which pumps warm air into air the inlet when the engine's cold had got damaged in the earlier accident, So in hindsight I could have carried on.

North Weald - 14th March 2010

The first event of the year took place at North Weald airfield in Essex. I was my first event at an airfield and the first in the S2000.

Arrived on a cold March morning to find a good turnout of 10 competitors in my class.

Fairly pleased to finish 5th out of ten although two competitors who beat me were in a clio 172 and an Integra type R (the same as my previous cars) so I left the event wondering if the change to the S2000 was such a wise move.

Also the first chance at running the S2000 made me realise I wasn't going to get very far running on the old crusty bridgestone tyres which had come on it.

The regulations concerning tyres had been amended for 2010, they now allowed the road going classes to run on list 1B tyres, so once home the credit card was dusted off , a new set of Toyo R888's were ordered and the ebay hunt for a spare set of wheels started.

New car / new class for 2010

Having enjoyed the 2009 season I was looking for a new challenge for 2010 and a change from front to rear wheel drive. The car of choice was a 2003 Honda S2000

Unfortunately the MSA have done away with the standard production class and therefore I will be running in the road going production class which allows for a number of modifications although I will for the time being leave the S2000 standard.

Also for this year I've decided to enter 3 championships

The Tunbridge Wells MC all circuits - http://twmc.org.uk/

The Sevenoaks & district motor clubs speed league - http://www.sevenoaksmotorclub.com/

The association of central southern motor clubs speed championship & speed challenge - http://www.acsmc.com/