Over the weekend the annual 6 Hr relay race was run. It was the first open race
meeting I had done since October '99 - I've done a couple of rallies and the
Sprite national challenge since then, but that was it for quite some time.
The Austin Healey Sprite Drivers Club
(http://reality.sgi.com/mg_melbourne/ahsdc)
had 2 teams entered. I was in "Roofless Racing" - 4 Spridgets and an MGB. There
was also an all girl 4 car spridget team "Crazy Bitches with Grunt"
On Saturday (Qualifying), the weather was beautiful, no-one had any dramas apart
from a handling problem on my car. Sorted it out in the afternoon...
Sunday was wet and very cold. A real winter's day with steady moderate rain
until
about the last 15 minutes.
Scott in the MGB started and had a faultless and competitive 1 hr and 12
minutes.
Geoff in the Midget had a good trouble free run. I went out 3rd in my Midget
(still
pretty much in Rally trim), but had to come in after about 25 minutes with an
unknown
brake drama - the pedal dropped and while the brakes still worked, the pedal
felt
terrible. We had a quick changeover and Peter Brice went out in his Sprite. He
was turning in fantastic times and putting in some great passes around the
outside
of the sweeper. Mike Trathen (Sprite) went out and clearly was having a good
time,
spinning a couple of times and ended up beached on one of the high ripple
strips.
In the interval, we found the problem with my car - the bracket that connects
the brake pedal (via a clevis pin) to the pushrod (that fits into the master
cylinder)
had broken and the pin had dropped out. The pushrod and bracket are damn
pesky to get out when you want to remove them, and this time I didn't curse that
fact!!! The awkward fit meant that I still had some brakes...
I'd never heard of these brackets failing. The ones on my Midget were alloy
with brass sleeves, on my other cars they are all steel. One of the old hands
said
"I didn't know any more of these alloy brackets were around anymore - I thought
they all broke years ago!" I have put a photo of the broken part at
http://home.vicnet.net.au/~mikeg/block.jpg
We cannibalised Leanne Belt's car and the car was ready in short order.
As soon as they recovered the "virtual baton" (a Velcro strip) from Mike's car,
I went out to complete my stint (another 45 minutes) and had a terrific tussle
with Christine Crombie from the girlie team (in the dry, I can't keep up with
the Crombie car) until a pesky mini got between us and I had a "little moment"
(no, I gathered it up without spinning or running off the track). I fell a
reasonable
distance behind.
Christine ended up spinning off and rejoined maybe a third of a lap behind.
I ended up playing with a bunch of Alfas, a mini, and assorted others. There
were a
number of Westfields that were lapping significantly faster and the Porsche
GT3s and
other modern exoticars were also travelling very quickly. They were no faster
through
mid corner, but were terrific in and out of the corners and of course in a
straight line.
I had some terrific dices, made some good passes and put in some good times. I
must
say it was great to get back on the track... Mike Trathen then finished his
stint and
the race.
6 Hours and only one minor drama for Roofless Racing!
In the girlie team, Leanne Belt was out first, and was obviously having fun.
She spun
5 or 6 times before braking an axle (her 2nd for the weekend). Della Watson was
out
next and had a good steady run. Sue Gardiner was next lapping quickly and
reliably
and finally Chris Crombie.
I think Leanne, Della and Sue are all roughly the same speed, but Chris is
generally
significantly faster. With only 4 in the team, they had about 90 minutes each -
yippee.
We don't know the results yet, but I know both teams had a great time.
There was also a big Healey team (Austin Healey Owners Club)
(http://www.acmefluid.com.au/AHOC/) and
a second mainly Spridget (plus Simon
Gardiner in a wickedly fast MX5) team. I'm not sure of the goings on in these
teams
since we were a few pit garages apart, but I noted that both teams looked to be
running well on the track apart from a spectacular spin by Mark Ingham in his
3000.
The MGCC had a V8 team. They ran with great success -- MG race series regular
Mort Fitzgerald in his V8 roadster set the fastest lap outright on Saturday's
shootout -
beating professional driver Melinda Price in one of the GT3 Porches! A stunning
effort.
I'll post a follow-up when the results come in.
Mike
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