Photos from Kames - 11 April

Douglas Hunter took some nice photos of me on Sunday:

2010 Season has begun - Report from Kames 10/11 April

The sun was out this weekend for the opening of the 2010 Scottish Sprint Championship at Kames. Saturday was a warm-up club event and Sunday was the forst round of the aforementioned championship and also the Lowland Speed Championship.

I was entered both days in Class A8 - Marque Road Sports Cars. This would be my first competitive sprint in the VX220.

I set myself some goals for this season. Some were going to be tougher than others to beat but firstly, I wanted to beat the 100sec barrier for the clockwise layout at Kames. Its a magical number - some folk take years to get there. I had come tantalisingly close in the MX-5 on a number of occasions but never quite made it. So it was with some delight that my first practice on Saturday came in at 99.65 secs. Imagine my supreme delight when I posted 98.42secs on my second practice. I even managed a respectable 97.4secs on my third practice.

When it came to the timed runs I was a wee bit slower but still managed 98.0 secs. This was enough to beat Alistair Matheson in his TVR (by just 8/100ths!) to win the class. Oh - that was another goal for this season - a class win!

Sunday was another cracking day and this time there were more entrants in the class and important championship points up for grabs. This time, I got off to a really slow start - over 100secs and felt quite down about it when Alistair managed a 97sec run. Second practice was better for me - I posted 98.4 secs but Alistair was still in the 97s. By the first timed run, I had sort of got it together and managed a slightly untidy 97.66secs. My lunch time mind games must have worked (or maybe it was the dodgy burgers!) but Alistair went slower wuth a time in the 98s.

The final run came and I decided to really go for it. I got a great start, kept the foot in round the first corner and was cleanly through the technical part to the hairpin. I got a nice clean exit and fired down through the kink towards the paddock bend. I braked later than usual and carried much more speed into the corner. In fact, I carried much to much more speed and started a big slide which I was fortunate enough to catch and keep on the blackstuff. My time still managed to be 99 sec. Again, Alastair had a nightmare run and couldn't better my 97.66.

However, we were both roundly beaten by the Lotus 211 of Duncan McAdam who managed a run in the low 90s. I'm just glad he hasn't regsitered for the championships.

Anyway, a great start to the season - 2 goals reached and valuable championship points which should see me leading the class (albeit untl next weekend at Doune).

All set for Kames

I'm all set for the start of the sprint season at Kames this weekend. Saturday is an East Ayrshire Car Club warm-up event - no championship points up for grabs but a good practice for the main event on Sunday.

Sunday is the opener for both the Guyson Scottish Sprint Championship and the Lowland Speed Championship. There' a healthy entry for class A8 this year and with the changes to the scoring system, it's not clear who is well placed to win the class.

Sunday's event has four entrants in class A8 - Nina Baker in a BMW Z3, Duncan McAdam in a Lotus 211, Alistair Mathieson in his TVR Griffith 500 and me. I reckon I've got a fighting chance of second in class but unless the 211 driver is blind, a class win is out of the question! One thing's for sure, I'm sure it will be a good, competitve weekend!

I've fixed my ABS problem - although it's just a bodge job for now. The nearside front sensor cable is broken at the connector and needs to be replaced. I've crimped a connector on temporarily until I can source the right part.

Test day - 28 March

Another test day at Kames on Sunday saw my first outing with the VX on the trailer. I arrived a bit late at the track since the clocks had changed and I had mistakenly stopped for coffee for half an hour thinking I was an hour early!

Anyway, the weather was pretty poor in the morning and I ended up in the gravel on my first run! The ABS on the VX has packed in - I think it's a loose cable on the front nearside sensor but I'll have to investigate.

There were a few more crashes than usual for a test day - three looked fairly serious and the result was that the tyre walls took a fair hammering. The weather picked up in the afternoon and I got some good practice in towards the end of the day.

The tyre wall damage combined with the atrocious weather during the week led to the postponement of the Good Friday Wigton Sprint, the opener of the 2010 Northern Speed Championship. That was a bit of a disappointment but on the plus side, it does give me an extra week to try and fix the ABS and it means I can enter the EACC sprint on Sat 10th April.