2010 Race Reports - Lackford Engineering Austin Healey Club
Championship
Round 6 : Oulton Park 21st August 2010
Words and Pictures by : Phil (Scoop) Broster.
mail
:
phil_scoop@hotmail.co.uk
With a summer break since Brands it was
nice for the Lackford Engineering Austin Healey Club Championship
contenders to regroup at the picturesque Oulton Park circuit. Sixteen
entries were to compete in this AMOC organised meeting with the addition
of four Jaguar XK’s running alongside. The weather would stay fine for
us and we were to race before lunch which meant early qualifying.
Championship leader Dave Smithies headed
the ‘Big’ Healey brigade, with Eric Woolley, David Grace, Peter Grant,
Tom Walker and Chris Clarkson as class B regulars. They were
supported in the invitation class by Jeremy Welch, Anthony Worthington
and Malcolm Vaughan. We had Harvey Woods and Mark Pangborn in 100M’s
and then Sprite regulars Pat Harris, Brian Bedford, Neil Cameron
(Arkley), Jim Prior and finally John Richards out for a run.
With our qualifying starting the
proceedings the early morning quietness was soon interrupted by the
unmistakable sound of Healey 3000’s on full chat. The red car of Welch
was first through a nd
he was soon on the pace, difficult to judge though was the speed of
Smithies who was some distance down the road. These two looked quick
but so did Grace who spun a few times, ‘finding the limit’, and
performing opposite lock slides through the fast Knickerbrook corner.
The unfortunate John Richards
engine was making a strange noise for a couple of laps until it let go
at Cascades in a monumental way! Bits of con rod, distributor etc
scattered along the track, together with a considerable amount of oil!!
Tom Walker was struggling with a misfire, but it was noticeable that
Clarkson was not!! His season long malady had been cured!
When the flag came out the fastest car
was Smithies, with the only time under 2 minutes on the full
international circuit, a first for him. Welch was next, but over one
and a half seconds adrift and just ahead of Grace. Clarkson was fourth
with Harris up amongst the 3000’s, Woolley, Worthington, Grant and
Cameron followed. Pangborn, sandwiched between two Jaguars came next,
Bedford, Prior, a couple more Jags, then Woods, running in his engine,
Walker, Vaughan and Richards completed the order.
Post qualifying paddock ramblings spotted
Clarkson’s crew changing brake pads, Grant sorting a condenser, likewise
Cameron snr. working with Walker on the same problem. Bedford spent
time changing his diff seal but everyone was interested in checking out
the various disgorged parts of Richard’s engine. His day was done.

Our race was brought forward by half an
hour and so it was just before midday that the grid formed and as the
lights changed it was Smithies who shot into the lead as the rest
followed in a huge cloud of cement dust put down to cover oil spewed out
by a Ferrari in an earlier qualifying session. As they sped out into
the country it was Grace who had slotted into second ahead of Welch,
Harris was motoring and ahead of Woolley, just, with Clarkson, Grant,
Worthington, Cameron, Pangborn and Bedford, Walker, Woods, Prior and
Vaughan completing the running.
Into Lodge at the end of the first lap
Welch out-braked Grace to take second. These two would provide the
interest of the race, with Smithies pulling away the battle for second
was intriguing. With the gap changing by the lap, Grace dived back up
the inside a couple of laps later to once again get second, then Welch
went a bit wide at the same corner, got into the gravel but with the use
of the throttle managed to get back out, no mean feat!! This battle
would go on until lap ten but would come to an end when Grace was
finally caught out by the oil at Old Hall corner, swapped ends and
clouted the barrier pretty hard, leaving Welch on his own and forty
seconds ahead of Clarkson.
Clarkson had got ahead of the battling
Woolley and Harris who were once again fighting hard for much of the
race ‘a la’ Cadwell, finally finishing just under a half second apart at
the end. Grant was going steadily, apart from missing a chicane at one
point, he was somewhat alone ahead of Worthington, having a rare outing
in his Healey although he too ran wide at Lodge at one point. Neil
Cameron was motoring on with his usual verve. There was a great battle
between Pangborn and Bedford with Bedford pulling clear before the end.
Woods was lapping seven seconds faster
than in qualifying, taking his engine to the next level and having a
play with Prior for several laps. Walker dived into the pits early on
and with the swift work of his crew (Cameron snr.) was soon back into
the thick of it, sliding about and lapping 12 seconds faster than he had
in qualifying. He had a loose low tension wire which was secured with
‘Jaws’ Cameron’s teeth. He lost some enamel doing it! Now that’s
dedication!!
As the time wound down and with fifteen
laps completed the flag came out. Smithies, with an even faster
time in the bag, 1m.58s, (a new class record), was well ahead of Welch, who was
even further ahead of Clarkson. Woolley and Harris were as one, Grant,
Worthington, Cameron, a couple of Jags, Bedford ahead of Pangborn (whose
birthday it was), Woods, Prior, Walker and Vaughan.
That was it, all over before lunch, how
civilised, and with splendid timing the usual hospitality of the
Northern Centre and their wonderful efforts with the ‘Barbie’, much
appreciated guys.
Another mini break before the long haul
to Snetterton for another ‘double header’ at the end of September.
To see the full results and points scored
during the season, click
here or click
on the 'Results' tab in the grid at the top of the page. To see all the
pictures and in-car video's from the events, click
here or click on the
Gallery tab above.
Round 5 : Brands Hatch - 26th June 2010
Words and Pictures by : Phil (Scoop) Broster
email :
phil_scoop@hotmail.co.uk
A hot day in June saw the Lackford
Engineering Austin Healey Club championship contenders descend on Brands
Hatch to compete in the AMOC organised meeting. Depleted numbers saw 12
entries ready to battle it out around the fast ‘Indy’ circuit in a 30
minute race.
The entry included regulars Dave
Smithies, David Grace, Chris Clarkson and Peter Grant in their 3000’s.
Mark Pangborn was in his 100M, then in the Sprite classes we had, alone
in class E, Pat Harris, who was celebrating a birthday, supported by
Brian Bedford, Neil Cameron, Bob Cranham and returnee Xavier Sanz de
Acedo. We also had a ‘one off appearance’ from Bill Rawles and Mark
Potter, just to liven the proceedings.
Qualifying saw the green cars of Smithies
and Grace battling it out and matching times until Smithies posted a
time just three hundredths of a second clear, the two thrashed around
climbing kerbs for the best part of the session, Smithies time claiming
pole. Pat Harris was going well and put in a time just under a second
slower on his final lap with Clarkson just behind. Bill Rawles was
mixing it and despite a couple of ‘late brakers’ into Graham Hill bend,
finished up in fifth.
Grant wasn’t that far behind followed by
Sanz de Acedo and Cameron N. With Bedford, Cranham, Pangborn and Potter
completing the grid.
In the paddock afterwards Clarkson was
complaining of ‘that mysterious misfire’ that has troubled him all
season, and that his new differential was a bit tight, not ‘run in’
yet. Remember that failed at the Silverstone Syd Segal race!
Others were fettling with brakes and the
like whilst ‘hippy’ Potter was wondering why his car was handling like
he was driving on butter until he mentioned that his ‘vintage’ tyres (8
years old) EIGHT!! hadn’t been changed for a while!!... A while,
strewth! I got grey hair younger than that!! Anyway, Peter Grant
obliged with a set of spares, now all you had to do was fit them eh
Mark!!
Lots of water, ice creams and after
watching the Grand Prix qualifying eventually everyone was ready for the
race and they all trundled around to take their places on the grid.
The lights signalled the start and up
into Druids stormed the pack, Grace had got the jump on Smithies but was
being harassed, Grant made a terrific start and was challenging for
third, alongside Harris who was attempting to take second with a brave
move around the outside. Behind these were
a side by side Rawles and Clarkson, Sanz de Acedo, Potter, Bedford,
Cameron, Cranham and Pangborn.
Second lap and Grace had pulled a bit of
a gap, with Grant passing Harris for third. Into Druids next time and
Smithies was trying to pass Grace on the outside, Grace hung on tight to
the inside as they stormed down the hill. Grant was passed by the
flying Harris! Behind them came Clarkson and Rawles. Meanwhile further
back Potter was mixing it with Sanz de Acedo, finding his car much
better, he was at least six seconds a lap faster than in qualifying.
Another pair fighting it out were Pangborn and Cranham, this battle
would go on for most of the race before the unfortunate Cranham
succumbed to a holed radiator, possibly caused by a thrown stone, he got
that close to the 100M.
Before that we had lost Clarkson, that
misfire proving too much, but not until he had been passed by Rawles,
who took Grant on the same lap to be up to fourth. Chris was still
pragmatic after the race! Don’t think many of us would still be smiling!
Meanwhile, up front and into Paddock
Smithies took a late brake dive from a long way back which seemed to
surprise Grace, whatever happened the result was Smithies took the lead.
Grace would fight back to hold on to Smithies and re pass at one point,
but he seemed a little twitchy especially through Paddock, and Smithies
repeated the move a couple of laps later. This corner did eventually
catch Grace out and a quick spin spoilt any chance of Grace retaking the
lead. He drove with panache to climb back to third at the end, but was
unable to haul in the Sprite of Harris who found himself in a splendid
second place.
The Potter/Sanz de Acedo fight was
resolved in favour of the green Sprite who eventually finished a rather
lonely 15 seconds up the road, leaving Potter to fall into
the clutches of Cameron who would battle till the end of the race, the
Sprites getting faster as the tyres got hot, while it was the reverse
for the big 3000.
Pangborn was a little lonely also and a
quick spin coming out of Druids didn’t help his mood, he would retire
soon afterwards thoroughly ‘fed up’ with driving around on his own.
There was one more twist in this tale as Rawles, who had charged up to
third suddenly faltered and ground to a halt on the exit to Druids, he
was out of fuel! Hey ho! One lap to go, tough Billy!
The flag came out with Smithies taking
his third win in a row, Harris second with Grace third 5 seconds further
back. Grant was promoted to fourth with Sanz de Acedo fifth. Potter
and Cameron were battling to the end for sixth with Bedford coming home
eighth.
A race with small numbers but the usual
battles throughout the field, together with incidents and place changing
had kept the interest going for the duration and Smithies now in a
strong position for the Championship.
Pat Harris had a wonderful birthday with
his best ever result and he was presented with a card signed by one and
all just to add to his day!
To see the full results and points scored
during the season, click
here or click
on the 'Results' tab in the grid at the top of the page. To see all the
pictures from the events, click
here or click on the
Gallery tab above.
Round 3 : Mallory Park - 9th May 2010
Words and Pictures by : Phil (Scoop) Broster
email :
phil_scoop@hotmail.co.uk
For
the third round of the Lackford Engineering Austin Healey Club
Championship we rolled into Mallory
Park as part of the first AMOC meeting of 2010. We were to be combined
with the Jaguar XK series to ensure a fuller grid but with 15 of our own
entrants and 21 in total we were heading towards maximum numbers.
However, the combined grid should provide interest in the races this
year.
We were
missing the title sponsor, Robin Lackford, and his adversary, Drew
Cameron after their contretemps at Cadwell, although Drew had entered
for the 50’s Team Challenge at this meeting.
We did
have ‘Big’ Healeys in the hands of David Smithies, David Grace, Peter
Grant, Tom Walker, Chris Clarkson and Richard Knight, with the 100’s of
Mike Thorne, Mark Pangborn and the visiting Nils-Fredrik Nyblaeus and
the Sprites of Paul Campfield, Pat Harris, Brian Bedford, Jim Prior,
Neil Cameron’s Arkley, and returnee Bob Cranham. Depleted numbers there
maybe, but the potential for competition, possibly very good.
Qualifying
underway, and remember that electrical issue that Campfield had at
Cadwell, well, the car started and ran well enough for enough laps to
gain pole, but he wasn’t happy in the paddock, it was still giving
intermittent trouble. Grace hustled round to make second place,
Smithies, half a second behind, then
Clarkson
who was still coping with his recurring misfire, was fourth.
Pat Harris
was flying but the man of the session was Neil Cameron who was sixth,
and I tell you, that car was QUICK through the Esses. Knight, next from
Grant and then a couple of XK120’s, before we got Thorne, Bedford,
Cranham, Pangborn and Walker. More Jags and Nils Nyblaeus together with
Prior made up the grid.
Strolling
through the paddock during the interval before the race I found Clarkson
who told me he still had that misfire from Cadwell troubling him, his
crew were also dealing with an overdrive problem. Smithies too had a
similar problem but a replacement solenoid sorted that out. Campfield
was ruing the electrical gremlin and was convinced it would cause him to
end the day early. It was good to see Christian Andrew wandering around
and talking Healeys.
Eventually
the time came to race and the field made its way around to the grid to
wait for the lights. At the start the Sprite of Campfield faltered and
the Healeys of Grace and Smithies swamped it as they tore into the first
corner and onto the long Stebbe straight. Into the Esses first time
around Smithies was in the lead, closely followed by Grace, Harris and
Clarkson. Out of the Hairpin Grace had the lead with Smithies being
harried by Harris, Clarkson trying to pass him, Cameron N. going well,
Grant, Campfield, Knight, Bedford, Thorne, Cranham, Walker, Pangborn
with Prior and Nyblaeus playing with three of the XK’s.
By lap two
Smithies was back in the lead and would pull clear of Grace over the
first few laps until Grace held it and then started to close in again,
slowly but steadily. Clarkson got ahead of Harris, and Cameron was
ensconced in fifth. The rest of the field was already starting to
spread out although Grant, Knight and Thorne were close. Campfield was
ahead of this group but not for long, soon being taken by Knight and
after falling into the clutches of Thorne he would pull to a halt on lap
5, his premonition he would finish early came true. Also gone was
Prior, on lap 4.
What was
happening though was a fight developing between ‘topless’ Bedford and
Cranham. Cranham’s yellow Sprite would close on Bedford and these two
would swap places several times, providing the action of the race. It
was going great until poor Cranham fell off at three quarter distance
leaving Bedford to come under pressure from Walker whom he held off to
the end by four hundredths of a second.
The
Jaguars were creating interest throughout the race, Pangborn in
particular getting mixed up with them. Meanwhile, at the front the
closing Grace was providing great excitement as the last few minutes of
the race remained. The chance that he could challenge for the lead
really looked a possibility.
That
chance came on the
last
lap into the long sweeping Gerards as Grace was right on Smithies tail.
From where I stood it appeared that Grace went into the turn a little
late, there was
a flash of flame from his exhaust, unrelated apparently, but the next
thing was a pirouetting Healey into the gravel, challenge over, but what
a finish that would have been. Smithies would not have given up easily,
as old Murray used to say “!t’s one thing closing on someone, its
another thing passing”.
So onto
the chequered flag with Smithies winning, everyone else was promoted a
place, so Clarkson came second ahead of Harris, Cameron, Grant, Knight
and Thorne who were all a lap adrift. Two laps down was Pangborn in an
XK sandwich, Bedford and the challenging Walker, Three more XK’s then
Nyblaeus completing his first U.K. race of
the
season.
We had
seen a good race, mixed fortunes for some but a couple of good
battles…and the XK Jaguars had added value, and will do for the
remaining AMOC rounds this season. Next one Silverstone.
To see the full results and points scored
during the season, click
here or click
on the 'Results' tab in the grid at the top of the page. To see all the
pictures from the events, click
here or click on the
Gallery tab above.
2010 Race Reports - Lackford Engineering Austin Healey Club
Championship
Round 2 : Cadwell Park - 3rd April 2010
Words and Pictures by : Phil (Scoop) Broster
email :
phil_scoop@hotmail.co.uk
So,
with a distinct lack of numbers and the carnage of the first race we
only had 8 make the start for the
second round of the Lackford Engineering Austin Healey Club
Championship. The smallest grid in recent years but with the close
match in performance, certainly with the front runners, plenty of action
was promised.
The good news was that Clarkson was
hopeful that his crew had cured the misfire that had dogged him
all day. The bad news was that poor Neil Cameron had cried ‘enough’ to
the motion sickness that had plagued him. The indifferent news was that
Campfield decided to turn his hand to photography, having failed as an
auto electrician. With Bedford searching the paddock in vain for a
borrowed diff. and both Lackford and Cameron sidelined we did indeed
only have eight starters.
As the grid formed for the
race in the order Grace, Smithies, Clarkson, Woolley, Harris, Grant,
Pangborn and Woods, and with the lights signalling the start, it was
Smithies this time who got the jump leading Grace into the first
corner. Woolley was third from Clarkson and Harris. As they appeared
in the wooded section both Clarkson and Harris had got ahead of Woolley
and Harris was making a nuisance of himself in Clarkson’s mirror.
Harris would dice with Clarkson for much
of the race before falling into the clutches of Woolley, and after
Woolley got ahead he proceeded to act like a terrier on his tail as
well, once again finishing the race just under half a second behind the
blue 3000 and again providing the bulk of the entertainment.
Meanwhile, up front, Smithies was pulling
ahead of Grace until about lap four when Grace started to turn the
tables. By lap six Grace had got ahead and once again proceeded to
dominate, finishing once more, around six seconds in front at the end.
Clarkson was having a much happier time,
his misfire gone and now lapping at least three seconds a lap faster
than the earlier race had allowed, finishing in third place. Woolley
and Harris finished as one again fourth and fifth, with Grant heading
home Pangborn and Woods, all of whom had a pretty lonely time of it.
With the race over we all packed up and
hoped for better fortune at Mallory for the next round.
To see the full results and points scored
during the season, click
here or click
on the 'Results' tab in the grid at the top of the page. To see all the
pictures from the events, click
here or click on the
Gallery tab above.
2010 Race Reports - Lackford Engineering Austin Healey Club
Championship
Round 1 : Cadwell Park - 3rd April 2010
Words and Pictures by : Phil (Scoop) Broster
email :
phil_scoop@hotmail.co.uk
2010,
and another season is upon us. The Championship this year is over nine
rounds, the first two a ‘double header’
at the picturesque Cadwell Park circuit in Lincolnshire. It is again
headline sponsored by Robin Lackford’s Lackford Engineering Company and
although we have depleted numbers this year, running with AMOC for most
of the rounds, interest will be heightened by races in conjunction with
the Jaguar XK series. This meeting was a BARC affair and we had a field
of fourteen runners entered including five big Healeys.
Unfortunately class sponsor John Harris
had broken down en route and Richard Knight didn’t make it either so we
were down to 13 entries. These were, In 3000’s, reigning champion Dave
Smithies, David Grace, Chris Clarkson, Eric Woolley, Peter Grant and in
100M, Mark Pangborn. In Sprites were Robin Lackford, Drew Cameron,
Pat Harris, Paul Campfield, Brian 'Bootlid' Bedford, Neil Cameron in his
Arkley and Harvey Woods had swapped his 100 for a Sprite.
Practice proved to be 13 unlucky for
Campfield who stopped after posting 5th fastest time with an
elusive electrical fault which failed to be solved after several hours
of swapping and searching!! hey ho!! Such is life!
Grace threw down the gauntlet by posting
a time over one and a half seconds faster than Smithies, who blamed lack
of grip from aged tyres. Cameron was the fastest Sprite just ahead of
Lackford. Clarkson was sixth with a chronic misfire which would be
there during the race despite efforts to rectify it. Woolley was ahead
of Pat Harris..just..then Grant, Pangborn, Cameron N., Bedford and Woods
completed the order.
Periodic
visits to Campfield saw various bits of car electrics being discarded,
Clarkson's crew were swapping condensers, Lackford’s car had a sticky
front shock absorber and the unfortunate Neil Cameron was feeling
distinctly ‘queezy’ after experiencing the twist and turns of this
circuit. But the news of the year was …’ Bedford was going topless’..
Yes! In an effort to save weight off came his roof, it would save 4
seconds in the race, so maybe it was a choice move.
Anyway, the field made its way round to
the grid, Campfield saw sense and gave up any idea of competing. It was
to be a twenty minute race, about 12 laps, and when the lights signalled
the start Grace took off like a rocket to lead into the first corner.
The two Sprites of Cameron D. and Lackford got ahead of Smithies but as
the Big Healey stretched its legs Smithies was up to second on the long
Park Straight. Lackford was into third at The Mountain with Cameron,
right up tight in Lackford’s boot. Harris was ahead of Clarkson and
Woolley, Clarkson’s car sounding as sick as before.
Grant, Cameron N., Pangborn, Bedford and
Woods completed the order.
Grace was really motoring and was pulling
out a couple of lengths a lap, he would eventually finish almost six
seconds ahead of the next man, which was Smithies, seemingly unable to
find the pace to get on terms despite setting fastest lap on lap 4.
Grace bettered that though on lap 7.
Harris was still heading Clarkson and
Woolley, Clarkson however, would pull off after two laps, finding the
misfire just too much to handle. Bedford too was gone with what turned
out to be a broken differential. Woolley would dice with Harris before
closing steadily and finally getting by to finish just three hundredths
of a second ahead of the Sprite at the end.
Lackford and Cameron were swapping places
but by half distance the red car of Lackford seemed to have done enough
holding Cameron
for third. But on lap 7 it all turned to tears as coming into Park
corner after the long straight, Cameron tried an out braking manoeuvre.
In Drew’s own words ‘the car wasn’t in a straight line and snatched to
the right’, in so doing it got onto the grass and from there it picked
up speed and was heading to the scene of the accident. The first Robin
knew was an impact in the door area and both cars were out on the spot.
The damage to both was considerable with bent front suspension, chassis
damage, wheels etc and it may be some time before we see either return
to the series. Not really needed with the current lack of numbers I’m
afraid.
With this interest gone we now watched
the dice between Woolley and Harris, and counted down the laps before
Grace took the chequered flag from Smithies, a promoted Woolley, Harris
P., Grant, Cameron N., who was decidedly unwell at the end poor chap,
Pangborn and Woods.
Maybe not a race with numbers, but
certainly one with a lot of interest and a reasonable start, for some
anyway, to the new season. A few hours break now before round two later
in the day.
To see the full results and points scored
during the season, click
here or click
on the 'Results' tab in the grid at the top of the page. To see all the
pictures from the events, click
here or click on the
Gallery tab above.
Starting out in
Motorsport
For any
driver new to motorsport who is considering circuit racing with their
Austin Healey, there is now a simple guide available from the BARC
website called "Starting out
in Motorsport". Click
here to access this guide. As you will see, it aims to provide
the basic information needed to get you underway. In addition to
reading this, you should also get in contact with Joe Cox on
joe.cox2@btinternet.com
to understand the requirements of our particular championship.
Good luck and look forward to seeing you out on the track.
Lackford Engineering Austin Healey Club Championship
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