Saturday Thirteen 500’s set themselves up along with a single V-twin for Tom Cowley, at what was the largest turnout this wonderful parkland setting has seen for several years. Two cars were to be double driven, John and Andrew Turner as well as Xavier and David Kingsland, making us the largest class. Five of us were new to the hill, the longest on our calendar. It was going to take a fair bit of learning as there is very little straight running, all sorts of curves and both up and down sections. The last bend is particularly daunting as it is at the end of a short steep climb, is over 90 degrees and follows a blind brow!
Practice 1 The sun was beating down and the experienced hands posted times to settle things down whilst new drivers were a little more cautious. Mike Lawrence commented he hadn’t quite remembered how the track flowed! Back in the paddock there was not much attention needed to the cars, just a few small issues, with the sole exception of the Turner Cooper. Andy diagnosed a magneto problem stopping him setting a time and so he set about a very fast engine change.
Practice 2 Times came down and reliability seemed to hold out in the main. Andrew had another fail when the ignition lead came off the magneto, but this was soon fixed. John Forsyth was experiencing the car jumping out of top gear. Tom Cowley with the V-twin was having some trouble with the rear cylinder plug oiling, but otherwise it was pulling well. The lunch break was quite relaxed and everyone was looking forward to the afternoon runs. The sun was beating down hard so the shade of a nearby large horse chestnut tree was most welcome.
Timed run 1 Things were going well as everyone settled down. As the second runner, I could watch most of the rest of the group through the last two bends from the top holding area, easy to spot the faster runners. John F was still having gear troubles and Jon Brough was not too happy with the engine and found metal particles on the oil mat under it. He suspected these might be from the big end bearing cage so that was the end of his event, what a shame.
Timed run 2 Having been hot and sunny we then had a heavy rain shower that completely soaked the track, so fingers were crossed it would dry in time for our run. It did for the most part but there were slippery patches, especially on the new tarmac sections, so times were therefore slower. Steve decided not to risk it. Tim must have known, as he had been forced to rush off for a formal dinner before the rain fell. However, everyone had a super day and seven of us looked forward to another grand day on the Sunday.
David Kingsland - Staride-Norton
Saturday Classified Results
Pos
Name
Car
Run 1
Run 2
Best
Invitation: Tom Cowley - Cooper Mk VI-JAP twin
Words Mike Wood
1
Alistair Dent
Hornet-JAP
66.24
69.20
66.24
2
Andrew Turner
Cooper Mk IX-JAP
66.63
70.69
66.63
3
John Brough
Cooper Mk V-JAP
66.79
N/T
66.79
4
Steve Lawrence
Cooper Mk VIII-JAP
67.31
N/T
67.31
5
John Dent
Cooper Mk VIII-JAP
69.49
72.79
69.58
6
Finlay Mackintosh
Cooper Mk VI
69.58
74.79
69.58
7
John Turner
Cooper Mk IX-JAP
70.66
72.03
70.66
8
Xavier Kingsland
Staride-Norton
72.35
77.28
72.35
9
John Forsyth
Alfa-Dana-JAP
72.44
77.92
72.44
10
David Kingsland
Staride-Norton
72.98
83.83
72.98
11
Ted Sharpe
RGR-JAP
73.38
74.12
73.38
12
Mike Wood
CBP-JAP
74.19
87.19
74.19
13
Ian Patton
Cooper Mk VI-JAP
78.38
81.17
78.38
14
Mike Lawrence
Cooper Special-JAP
80.34
88.51
80.34
15
Tim Ross
Cooper Mk IV-JAP
86.39
N/T
86.39
Sunday Six cars from the Saturday meeting were joined by Jan with his immaculate Staride on his first hill climb in eighteen months. Xavier was sharing the drive with David again and Tom was gaining more experience with the V-twin. It was yet another glorious day.
Practice The runs were largely uneventful so there was little activity in the paddock other than some checks and minor adjustments for all but Xavier whose clutch cable had failed.
Timed run 1 Runs were competitive with Alistair again leading the field. Finlay and David showed the most improvement over the previous day and both were looking forward to finishing off with another step up. Unfortunately the clutch cable repair on Xavier’s Staride failed after David’s run so that was the end of the weekend for the pair of them. Tom was still getting used to the speed of his mount and showed off a novel line through Fallow, the penultimate bend, but still made the finish.
Timed run 2
With the sun still beating down hard, everyone set off on their final run, and with the exception of Alistair, we all improved a little, proving practice makes perfect.
Sunday Classified Results
Pos
Name
Car
Run 1
Run 2
Best
N/T Xavier Kingsland - Staride-Norton
Invitation: Tom Cowley - Cooper Mk VI-JAP twin
What a fantastic weekend, well done to Alistair and thank you for the track guide on Friday evening. Also thanks to the H&DLCC
1
Alistair Dent
Hornet-JAP
66.23
67.76
66.23
2
Finlay Mackintosh
Cooper Mk VI-JAP
68.80
67.36
67.36
3
Jan Nycz
Staride-Norton
70.56
68.19
68.19
4
John Dent
Cooper Mk VIII-JAP
69.71
68.87
68.87
5
David Kingsland
Staride-Norton
70.15
N/T
70.15
6
John Forsyth
Alfa-Dana-JAP
71.45
71.02
71.02
7
Mike Wood
CBP-JAP
76.70
73.88
73.88
John Forsyth's Alfa-Dana-JAP
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