Past

May 1 MSCA 6HR  Mallala

Sunday 1st May started out wet and cool for the 2011 running of the MSCA 6 Hour Regularity Relay at Mallala, though conditions were apparently better than in Adelaide. This years “Team Triumph” consisted of 6 drivers and cars. Unfortunately, this number was reduced to 5 when Roger Mannett from Victoria in his Spitfire dropped a cam follower in Saturdays open practice session. It is somewhere in the sump after the neck broke away from the base. Perhaps lightened a little too much.

Saturday saw a wet morning practice and Team Manager Rog (Roger Lange) decided to guess at some nominated times for the drivers based on a dry track. This proved to be the correct call – well done Rog.

‘And then there were 4’

Our first casualty was Geoff Bills in his TR3A. After putting in some good laps, Geoff’s motor decided to tighten up. Upon entering the pits, All attempts to restart the hardy four came to nought. A post race examination has revealed a spun con rod bearing and some very blue heat stressed rods. Another engine is waiting to be installed.

‘And then there were 3’

Our second casualty was the TR7V8 of Robin George whose temperature dial went of the clock. A split heater hose ended up being the culprit. Once fixed, Robin eventually rejoined the effort, though we were potentially down to 2 cars at one stage.

‘And then there were 2?’

The next to develop an issue was Andy Ansell from Victoria in a borrowed TR7V8. Andy blew a head gasket in his TR7 during the preceding historic Easter event at Mallala. Andy’s new problem was suspected warped front discs that produced severe shudder under braking and progressively worsened as the temperature increased. Andy persevered with the wounded TR in true team spirit and with Robin George rejoining the fold, we were back to 4 runners.

‘Back to 4’

Ian Cowie’s GT6 performed faultlessly, as did Ian.

And what can we say about Neil Martin. Neil and the TR7V8 were, as usual, totally reliable and dependable, as we all knew would be the case.

The pit crew, timers, runners and mechanics all did a great and well appreciated job and looked like they enjoyed the day as much as the drivers. They consisted of (in no particular order)  Rod Carey, Rick and Maree Staehr, Phil Bagust, Arrand Ellery, Peter Davidge, Bryan Young, Tom Bills, Cherri Lange (lunch girl) Rog and myself. Life and founding member Tony Case also made an appearance and buzzed around offering encouragement.

Great job guys and a great result of 3rd outright. The first 3 teams were extremely close – incredibly close.  2012 watch out.

May 29 Collingrove Hillclimb

Bryan Young competed up the hill in his Vitesse at this event and the times are falling – now 45.15. Bryan is our sole climber and is thoroughly enjoying the challenge.
June 5 & 6 Mallala

Rod Carey and myself entered Round 2 of the SA State Racing Series. Both of us had new tyres to scrub in on our GT6’s before the All British Wakefield Park event later in June. Unfortunately, Rods head improvements and new tyres didn’t seem to result in any lap time improvements.  Rod also lost oil pressure in race 3 due to a broken oil pump pickup and the engine now needs a total rebuild. Due to time restrictions, the Spitfire will be pulled out for Wakefield Park and will get a shakedown at Mallala in private practice on 11 June.

My weekend was mixed. I was not at all happy with the new tyres and handling early Saturday. However as the event progressed I fine tuned settings to get the car to a point where it is more predictable and closer to previous performance, though still 3 seconds off my best times. Race 3 was the only one I didn’t have a problem in, starting 12th and finishing 5th. Race 4 on Sunday resulted in the loss of 1 – 4 and reverse gears around lap 6 of 10. I was able to limp home in 5th.

Both Rod and myself have some work to do before Wakefield Park.

Upcoming

June 25 & 26 All Triumph Race & Sprint Wakefield Park

Bryan Young with his Vitesse and Robin George (TR7V8) are joining Neil Martin (TR7V8) this year in the sprints and regularity at Wakefield Park. Rod Carey, Roger Lange and myself  will also be competing in the All Triumph Races. We will be leaving Thursday 23rd and returning Tuesday 28th. If you want to know more about this event or wish to tag along, give me a call.

July 3 MSCA Supersprint Rd2 at Mallala

Our Club has been rostered to assist with flag duties at this round. Please let me know if you will be able to assist. This is a great opportunity to get up close to the racing. Lunch and refreshments are supplied. We need a minimum of 4 and preferably 6 volunteers to be paired into groups of 2.

Other

Tom Hutchinson has joined Ian Wilson  in ditching TR’s for TVR’s. That extra letter makes all the difference. Looks like the competition Trophy may end up in someone else’s home this year?

Cheers,
Trevor Lindsay