Kames Sprint 31 July

Just a quick note after a tiring day at Kames. The weather was unpredictable with frequent showers but I managed a new personal best of 96.21 secs - taking over 1 second off my previous best. It was good enough for second in class (I got a trophy!) behind Ian Duncan who did a blistering 95.89 secs. Ian is a wee bit inconsistent (that time was 3 sec wuicker than any of his other times today) but when he's flying, he is pretty quick!

Alistair Matheson was 3rd in the TVR with 97.37 - also a personal best and Jamie McDonald 4th with 99.41 - yet another personal best. The class was propped up by Duncan McAdam in the Lotus 2-11 who seemed to have a disastrous day only managing 99.51 sec.

So, I'm getting near my season target time of sub-96 secs but as that is probably my last clockwise event at Kames in 2010, it will have to wait until next year.

Tomorrow is anti-clockwise and hopefully the weather will be kinder. I'm looking to beat my PB of 87.60 secs set in June and get revenge of Ian Duncan and his pesky Mazda rotary thing. :-)

2nd Place in Alford Debut

Alford is quite a long way away, I've decided. Two and a half hours away to be precise. But it is worth the trip - especially on a day like today where the sun shone bright.

There was a good entry in class A8 - Ian Duncan's RX-7, a TVR, an MR-2 Turbo and another VX220 - a turbo driven by local entrant, Martin Smith. So, five of us in total and with their experience, Martin and Ian were fighting for class honours.

I was giving away at least 100bhp to Martin's machine and he also seems to have spent a fair bit on gearbox, suspension and brakes!

The track itself is a simple oval with two 'cross-overs' which see cars doing a figure of eight on the runs. From the chat beforehand and watching the early competitors, I decided that 60 seconds was my target. The class record was in the 56s.

I started with a 62s run which I was quite pleased with. Ian managed a superb 58.73sec whilst Martin spun off. The other guys were a few seconds behind. I continued to improve and when it came to the timed runs, I put in a 60.07secs. Ian came in at 59.98secs and Martin on high 58secs so it was looking close.

Final run and I managed 59.82 which I was well chuffed with. I got back in time to see Ian's run and he somehow fluffed it and only managed 60.01secs so I 'stole' second place! Martin did 58.30sec - so I was only 1.5 sec behind!

I didn't hang about for the trophies since I had a long trip back but I had a nice roof-down run back down and was home in time to see the kids before they went to bed.

Two weeks now until the big weekend at Kames. I need to have a look at the championship standings to see where I am.

Some photos by John Stewart:

New shed and off to Alford

Picked up a replacement for my shed-spec Merc 190 which I scrapped at easter. The new shed is a 1996 Volvo 940 Turbo Sports Edition. Needs a few bits tidying up but with a few months MOT and tax, it looks like a half decent buy (especially since I found out the rare wheels alone are worth a few hundred quid).

I'm off to Alford for a sprint tomorrow. I had planned on camping but the weather looks a bit dubious so my back-up travel inn will come into play. I've never been to Alford before so I'm both nervous and excited about the prospect although I can't say the 2 and a half hour journey is exciting me!

VX220 Trackday at Kames

Had a great day at Kames on Sunday with around 10 other VX220 owners from VX220.org - although it rained most of the day, it was still great fun.

I also established that the play in the diff/gearbox is common - so I'm back to suspension as the clunk cause!

My attention is now swiching to Alford on 18 July. First time there and don't really know what to expect. Watch this space......

Chartered Engineer

I found out at the end of the week that I passed my Chartered Professional Review and will soon be able to call myself a Chartered Engineer !

It's been a long road - over 18 years since I graduated with a non-accredited degree meaning that I've had to jump through some tricky hoops before even sitting my review. Anyway, I'm chuffed to bits (beats even a class win) and glad I don't have to do it again.

I'm off to Kames for a wee trackday with some other VX220 owners tomorrow. Weather is looking a bit dodgy but it means I'll get some much needed wet practice. I might take my video camera and post the results.....