RACING EXPOSURE :: Club level motorsport e-magazine

2011 Welsh Sports & Saloon Car Championship -BARC Pembrey 10/11 September 2011

Race 1 Saturday 10^th September – Entry & Practice

There were a select group of racers on the grid with Dom Evans taking another pole position to maintain his 100% record with a time of 60.35 seconds, 2nd fastest was Dave Krayem with his Black Ginetta G50 on 60.988. The Nissan 370Z’s of Bryan  Heitkotter and Jann Mardenborough were on the 2^nd row with times of 61.069 & 61.112 seconds showing there was little to choose between them. On row 3, Neil Watts was 5^th and he had Alvin Powell alongside him. Alvin (whose other car is an ex-BTCC Mondeo) was given a freshly built example a run out. Sadly it proved to be something of a shakedown test, and Alvin was several seconds off his normal pace. The engine was hitting the rev limiter on the main straight showing that the gear rations needed sorting out. On row 4, Chris Everill made a welcome return with his Ginetta G20, now a nice shade of red. Keith Butcher made a welcome return with his red Ginetta G50 , assisted by Nigel Bowen, both cars a bit lower down the grid than we would normally expect to see them. Neil Trainer was on the next row, with the Caterham 7 of Martin Amison joining us as a guest.

The Race 15 Mins +1 lap

Dom made his customary quick start and established himself in the lead for another lights to flag victory to maintain his 100% record, but behind it there was some great racing, which had the commentator for one, singing the praises of the Welsh Championship.

Chris Everill carved through the field and was up to 2^nd place by lap 2 and initially tried to put some pressure on Dom. However he had Dave Krayem on his tail. But when Dave then found Jan Mardenborough on his tail, this allowed Chris ‘Lofty’ Everill to settle into a solid second place, until he found gears hard to select, eventually pitting 3 laps from the end. Jan by this time had passed Dave and was now therefore in second place. However the joy for Jan, only lasted one lap and a spin allowed Dave into 2^nd place. Jan still had enough time to gather it up, finishing 3^rd , someway ahead of Bryan  Heitkotter in 4^th place. Bryans car seemed to be suffering from understeer, which the RJN team would look to fix overnight, and he had to climb up the field after a slow getaway. Keith Butcher was a fast starter and initially held 4^th until Neil Watts and Bryan picked him off. Neil held Bryan at bay for a few lap until the Nissan 370Z found a way past. Neil chased Bryan to the flag eventually finishing 5th. Behind him Alvin held 6^th with Keith Butcher for close company. A few car issues and a stinking cold didn’t help Neil Trainer, but he declared ‘The racing was good! So Dom collected another win and is surely on his way to take the championship, the first incidentally for a Caterham car, which is perhaps a surprising fact, giving their widespread use.

Race 2 – Sunday 11^th September – 15 mins plus 1 lap

Sunday was a windy but sunny day, which was something of a bonus, bearing in mind the awful summer we have had, and the weather we were being threatened with for the Monday. With Neil Trainer & Alvin missing, Anthony Allitt was a welcome addition, with his Honda Civic on treaded Federal tyres. Anthony was using Sundays races as practice for the Nippon Challenge race in October, but as the championship is due to expand to include classes for treaded tyres, it was going to be a useful exercise for the 2012 Championship too. In the race Dom converted his pole into the lead, and look set for another lights to flag victory. However behind him there was plenty of action, with the dueling Nissans. Initially  Jan Mardenborough 2 ^nd was but had Bryan Heitkotter right on his bumper. Lofty Everil was 4^th. Dave Krayem had passed Neil Watts and Keith Butcher with Anthony Allitt not too far behind, bearing in mind his treaded tyres. Indeed it took Dom ¾ of the race to catch and pass him and he was only lapped once! So you can still have fun, and not be completely outclassed on the new breed of treaded tyres, which look a little like a slick with a minimal tread pattern. Lets hope there will be plenty of takers in the new 2012 classes.

Back in the race, Bryan, whose car was handling really well after the Bob Neville spanner men had made some adjustments & fitted some new tyres; and he lined Jan up at Brooklands and got past, to give Dom a chasing. Jan said, ‘Bryan was quick today and he was all over me at Brooklands, which was my weakest corner, so I couldn’t hold him.’

Bryan kept Dom in sight for the rest of the race and finished less than a second behind at the end, but said ‘ I  tried, but couldn’t get closer, but I think he had our number anyway really’  Dom confirmed however ‘ To be honest I was a bit surprised. I started to speed up but he was still catching me! I’d like to take the chance to thank my family & Solutions Racing.’

Jan finished 3^rd, well clear of Lofty Everill who had Dave Krayem for company. Neil Watts, Keith Butcher & Anthony Allitt had some distance between them for the other places.

Race 3 – Sunday 11^th September – 15 mins plus 1 lap

The final race of the weekend started without Chris Everills’  car, after the diff on the G20 was found to be leaking oil. Dom Evans once again lead from start to finish, and raised the question if anyone had won the Welsh Championship by winning all the races.  Behind him it looked like a real race for 2^nd,3^rd & 4^th was in prospect as a fast starting Neil Watts split the Nissans and with Jan behind him, he looked like taking the fight to Bryan Heitkotter. Then on lap 2 exiting Dibeni, Neil slowed and it looked like his race was already over. However, just went it looked like he was pulling off to retire, the car began to pick up speed and he was soon running at a normal pace, albeit well out of touch with anybody. Afterwards Neil cursed his bad luck. ‘My hand hit the kill switch and the engine died. When I flicked it back on it, I was able to get going again. I am so disappointed. I thought I was in for a good race’

This left Bryan to chase Dom again, and set the fastest lap of the race as he tried to reel in Dom! Jan Mardenborough then had Dave Krayem for company. Very close company, as one of the toughest & most experienced racers in the Championship put the pressure on one of most inexperienced drivers in the race. It may not have been on the PS3 but Dave was giving Jan a real workout, eventually squeezing past at Hatchets hairpin in a paint swapping moment on lap 7. Jan then settled in to achieve his real race goal, that of collecting signatures on his license as part of the Nissan Playstation Academy.

Keith Butcher pulled off  early on as his car just wasn’t performing. So Bryan was out of reach of Dave, but he kept Dom in sight for most of the race! Dom responded and established himself a 2 second lead, which he held to the end. At the end Dom revealed he had been troubled by a really bad mystery vibration. Bryan said wistfully ‘Maybe next time, but it was a lot of fun’ Dom revealed ‘There wasn’t much in it, I couldn’t pull away but it was more rewarding to have more competition’

Dave Krayems has put his Pembrey in car videos on You Tube- and its excellent stuff

(Copy and paste link manually into You tube)

http://youtu.be/o-Rt0aD3z24
http://youtu.be/oILKPJuu82k

Report & photos Rob Allender

Times from http://www.tsl-timing.com/

2011 Welsh Sports & Saloon Car Championship – Rounds 6, 7 & 8 BRSCC Pembrey 2nd & 3rd July

Dom domin8tes – 8 races=8wins!

Race 1 Saturday 2nd July (round 7)    Entry & Practice

On a hot & sunny summer weekend, there was a half-way decent entry in prospect but we lost Kareem after his car was damaged during testing, leaving the returning Mike Woods as the sole starter in Class B.

Richard McVean was another returnee but sadly lost oil & fuel pressure in practice, and although he got the fuel pressure back, oil pressure continued to be a major headache and Richard wisely decided to take the car back home to check it out.

Final and best returnee was Neil Watts, who came back from his enforced lay off after his skiing accident and was quickly back in the groove to start in 3rd place and 1st in Class C.  In front of him were Dave Krayem & Dom Evans who took pole with a time of 60.341 seconds. 4th fastest was newcomer Jann Mardenborough from Cardiff in a Nissan 370Z. Jann was one of the latest graduates from the European Nissan Playstation Academy, with Bryan Heitkotter from California, as the first graduate from the USA Nissan Playstation Academy. Jann & Bryan were split by Russell Haggerty, Neil Trainer & Andy Williams. Mike Woods was 8th fastest, with Paul Townsend, Phil Bendal, with John O’Shea in Russells’ Mazda 12th after Richard McVean withdrew. However Phil Bendall would miss the race, as he battled to find a mystery problem, which turned out to be the cars ECU, and not fixable at the circuit.

More seriously also missing for the grid would be Andy Williams, who declared himself unwell after practice with chest pains & was whisked off the hospital in Carmarthen for a check over. Given that Andy had just done 15 minutes practice on a very hot day, in a closed car, with a 3 layer suit on, it was still a very wise precaution. Speaking to his wife Sonia later it appeared that Andy was alright, but they were keeping him for observation. (Later he was to be transfered to the Heath Hospital in Cardiff for further tests)

The race 15 mins + 1 lap – Rolling Start

So with 4 non starters, it was 10 cars that took the start with Dom shooting into the lead, Behind him an almighty scrap for 2nd place was in prospect, with Dave Krayem on an endurance schedule after finishing a 25 minute Euro Sports & Saloon race only 20 minutes before! Dave was passed by a fast starting Russell Haggerty who had Neil Watts on his tail. However the fun only lasted 3 laps, before the red flags came out after Neil Trainer found himself stranded after a oil pump drive belt snapped and shut down the engine. After towing Neil back the paddock, (Neil sourced at replacement belt in Melksham and hoped to do Sundays races)

Race restart – Great battle – Dave, Russell & Neil duel for 2nd place

The race restarted, now for 12 minutes + 1 lap, but it was the same outcome for Dom who came out of Hatchets first and was never headed to record his 6th win in 6 races. However being on your own unchallenged, wasn’t necessarily the picnic you would think, as Dom explained after wards  “ My driving was awful, I was missing the apex a lot of the time. It is better when you are under pressure as it’s easier to keep your concentration level up.”

Behind him however, it was another tremendous scrap for 2nd place with Russell, Neil & Dave Krayem at it hammer & tongs. Russell grabbed 2nd place on the first lap, then Neil passed him to lead on lap 3, but then Russ & Dave both passed him to run 2nd & 3rd on lap 4. Dave then got into 2nd place on lap 5 which he held to the end, leaving Russell & Neil to sort it out for 3rd place. Between laps 6 & 10 both Russell & Neil were swapping places in one of the most entertaining duels seen in recent years. However Russell was suffering with gear selection problems, and late in the race had a quick spin which relieved the pressure on Neil, who picked up great 3rd place to make it an excellent comeback in front of the S4C cameras.(see footnote)

Given that the action was so hot just behind Dom, there was just as much action down the field. Mike Woods was sitting in a Nissan sandwich early on having got past Bryan Heitkotter on lap 2 and then sliced past Jann Mardenborough with a nice move at the paddock turn. Jann retired on lap 4, with shock absorber problems, leaving Mike to fend off Bryan to finish 5th overall but with Bryan hot on his heels all the way through. After Mike said “I am happy that I was driving the car as fast as I can”. Indeed he set his fastest lap time on the last lap which is a sure sign that the pace was hot. At the rear of the field, John O’Shea and Andy Townsend were also having a dice. John got past Andy early on as Andy continued to struggle with a fuel feed problem in the corners. However they swapped places with Andy now leading John until a long grassy off, that lasted almost from Dibeni to the paddock turn, relieved the pressure on Andy & the 924. However late in the race John began to reel Andy back in, but the chequered flag brought proceedings to a halt. Bryan Heitkotter was awarded Driver of the Race for his efforts in his first ever race.

*There were a few film crews about on Saturday. One from the Nissan Playstation Academy taking shots for the forthcoming TV series. We will circulate transmissions times when they are announced. There was also a crew from Ceidog who produce the S4C progamme ‘My Big Day’ who were doing a feature on Neil Watts’ son Evan, who has just started to play cricket. When they learned about dads racing they came along to include that as well. The actual title of the programme is ‘Ur Diwron od Mawr’ and it’s on a 8.00 am on a Monday on S4C and the programme featuring Evan & Neil is liklely to be on in September. They’ll certainly choose a sunny day for it and with Neils’ supporters giving him plenty of vocal support so it should make it some good television!

Sunday race 1 (round 7)- 15 minutes + 1 lap

Lucky 7 – Dom heads for his 7th win in a row as Dave & Neil head down to Hatchets

Starting from the back for Sundays first race, were the repaired cars of Neil Trainer & Jann Mardenborough and they both carved through the pack fairly quickly. Dom had already disappeared, but behind him a fast starting Russell was 2nd, with Dave Krayem 3rd, Neil Watts 4th and Neil Trainer 5th. Russell held 2nd place, until lap 7 when he slowed and pulled into the pits with clutch problems, leaving Dave Krayem in 2nd place from Neil Watts in 3rd, and Neil Trainer 4th, after one of his best performances to date. Mike Woods was also forced into the pits with a rough sounding engine. However it turned it to be fixable, as a screw had come loose in the distributor. “This has happened before and I was thinking I need to put some Locitite on it” Mike confirmed. Once the distributor was fixed, and the timing belt adjusted, the engine sang like a bird.

Back in the race Bryan & Jann were providing the highlights, as Jann caught up very quickly but dutifully stayed behind his team-mate, even if it was by only inches at times! Perhaps mindful that team boss Bob Neville had to read the riot act last year after some risky overtaking, and that the main purpose was to finish to get signatures on his license, there was no Lewis & Jenson moment for the Academy boys. So Bryan took 5th with Jann 6th but Jann had the consolation of setting the fastest lap, and earned himself ‘Driver of the Race’ for his efforts. After the race Vince Brown revealed that, as per championship regulations, Neil Watts & Russell Haggerty had both exceeded the Class C limits again in race 2 in their dice for 2nd place and they had been reclassified into Class D. At the back John O’Shea got the Mazda in front of Paul Townsend  at the start but Paul got past early on and was never headed, despite a mystery loss of fuel pressure in some corners.

At the prize-giving Bryan & Jann were resplendent in their racing overalls (in a rather warm looking black) with their guru in the background making sure the sponsors logos got full exposure. With most of the rest of the competitors relaxing in shorts & t-shirts, it showed the difference between us amateurs (i.e from the French root L’amour i.e we do it for the love of the sport) and Bryan & Jann, who are being groomed for a possible professional career. Both drivers have moved to Northampton for the next few months to commit to the Nissan Playstation Academy course. We all sincerely we hope they make it.

I spoke to both Academy stars Bryan & Jann in the Lunch break and Bryan confirmed ‘I wanted to win,’ whilst Jann confirmed “I only started doing it as a laugh, I didn’t plan it’ Jann is noted as a student from Cardiff, but he revealed ‘My dad was a footballer so we moved to whatever he was playing’. His dad Steve Mardenborough www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/player/stevemardenborough.htm

had an extensive career and apart from clubs like Wolves, he played for all 3 Welsh clubs in the South, Swansea City, Newport County & Cardiff City, in the mid-1980s, and Jann lived in Wales for 12 years, so that gives Jann a right to claim himself as a naturalised Welshman if he’d wanted to. We’d certainly welcome that.

Race 3 Sunday 3^rd July – round 8 – 15 Mins + 1 Lap

Sadly the gird was depleted after Dave Krayem crashed out of the Euro series race, seriously damaging the front end of the car and Russell left early with his car on the trailer, so Dom only had new Class D competitor, Neil Watts to chase him. Neil did his best, but without anyone to play with it was a lonely race for both drivers, but Dom has now started 8 races and won 8 and leads the Championship. Neil Trainer was briefly as high as 3^rd, but then dropped right back with no turbo pressure. A quick check under the bonnet showed that the turbo actuation rod had broken. Even so & having played his joker, Neil soldiered on for a max points score to put him up to 3^rd in the points standings and within sight of 2^nd place. Jann was the man on the move, and after getting a better start than Bryan, proceeded to power on to 3^rd place and kept on the lead lap throughout, a really impressive performance in only his second full race! From Virtual to real racing, lets hope it inspires more new talent to get on on the track too!  Bryan Heitkotter was 4^th with Mike Woods, who started from the back, 5^th.  Neil Trainer was 6^th. This time the action came at the back with John O’Shea beating Andy Townsend for the first time all weekend, and deservedly got the Driver of the Race award.

The next races in the series is at Pembrey on July 30 & 31^st

Report & photos Rob Allender

Oulton Park
MSVR Blast in the Park club meeting. Featuring the GT Trophy Endurance Race, Monoposto single seaters, Production BMW and Project 8 Racing Saloons, VAG Trophy

Brands Hatch
HSCC Superprix. Held on the GP circuit, the HSCC Superprix has a number of top class races including older F1 cars, classic F3 and Group C legends.

Rockingham
BARC Dunlop meeting

Donington Park
750MC Club meeting

Goodwood Festival of Speed
The GFOS is back again, featuring a selection of world class cars, both modern and historic, on the famous hillclimb and rally course.

Snetterton & Cadwell Park
Bikes

Pembrey
BRSCC Club meeting - Alfashop Alfa Romeo Championship, BRSCC Euro Saloons & Sports Car Championship, BRSCC OSS Championship, Welsh Saloons & Sports Car Club

Anglesey
BARC club meeting

Harewood
Car hill climb

750mc Locost Championship Rounds 9 & 10 Pembry July 30^th 2010

The three way battle to be this year’s Locost Champion may have lost a contender after Dave Black picked up only a single point at the Pembry double header.  Although he is only 14 points off the pace when dropped scores are taken into account, he requires Scott Mittel and Tom Coller to have a run of bad luck. Scott is almost immune to problems in the last four rounds as his two worst scores just now are 12 and 18 points. This does mean that his impressive overall lead of 16 points over Tom translates into a one point deficit when their two lowest scores are removed.

I haven’t done a full report as we decided that Pembry on race day was not the ideal place to try to fix our erratic brakes and we headed for home after qualifying. It appears that there was quite a bit of carnage at the hairpin. Hopefully everyone will have their cars running again and we will have a full grid for round 11 at Silverstone on August 28^th.

Full results, lap charts, championship positions and information on Locost racing at http://750mc.co.uk/

Part two of “Build A Better Locost” coming soon.