The season begins on 4th April

I've had my entry accepted for the first round of the Richard Eggar Insurance/HSA Speed Championship at Curborough on 5 April. I'm lucky because lots of others had their entries returned as the event was oversubscribed.

I've had the geometry set up at ProGrip in Bonnybridge and my initial testing session at Kames indicated that I was running too much negative camber at the rear. However, I don't have time to get it sorted before Curborough so it'll just have to do.

The first Teesside sprint on Good Friday is teetering on the edge as they are struggling to get entries. They might have to cancel and that would be a real shame as Wigton MC is a great club and Teesside is a great venue. If you want to enter, get over to the Wigton site and give the entry secretary a ring before 2 April.

The preparation begins!

After a long winter layoff, I've started working on the car again. I've bought a new trickle charger to get the battery in tip-top condition and I've just fitted my new Kirkey seat:



It makes getting in and out of the car a real pain but once inside and strapped in, it is more comfortable than the old Elise seat I ran last year. Should be safer and has the added bonus of being very light.

I have lots still to do before the season kicks off with a test session at Kames on 14 March.

My first competitve outing will be in the HSA Championship at Curborough on 5th April. For the first time, I'll be competing against other MX-5s this year in the only national championship with a class for the marque.

I'll also be defending my class titles in the TJ Services Norther Speed Championship and on the Windowcraft Lowland Speed Championship

Can't wait!

Winter testing

Happy New Year!

I haven't made any changes to the car yet but I did manage to get down to Kames between Christmas and New Year to blow away the cobwebs.

East Ayrshire Car Club ran a test day on 28 December and I thought I'd get some practice in. Little did I know there would be an artic freeze overnight!

I arrived at the track around 10.30am and it was still covered in frost. The first couple of hours were 'interesting' to say the least - I felt a bit like a scandanavian rally driver at times!

By about 2pm the track had cleared up nicely and I was able to push a bit. I really need to re-learn how to drive though - I still feel much slower than this time last year and I think it's my driving style which has become too aggressive.

Off to Autosport show next weekend and I'm picking up the new head and a spare shortblock on the trip too.

More expenditure!

I've been spending more money in my pursuit of lightness and speed!

Firstly, I've bought an aluminium racing seat from Kirkey Racing Fabrication.



I just need to work out how to mount it!

I'm also picking up a nice bit of head work in January:



It's been given a good workover by Roger at Sabre Heads - ported and polished, skimmed slightly, has 1mm oversize valves and improved valvetrain.

It comes with a spare inlet manfold which has been port matched:


To make the most of this, I'm currently looking at an ECU upgrade along with a 4-1 header although I need to get the clutch done and my rust sorted out so budget may be tight.........