Topic dedicated to HSA Speed Championship Class N

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benwick3
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Post by benwick3 »

Eric,

How was the engine?

Pete
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Post by pimpdriver »

Pete
It was timed at 154 thou & I reset it at 163 thou (R22) & it did seem better, seemed to run better at high revs especially :D , although it was still happy ticking over at 1000 revs :) .

Cheers

Eric
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Post by pimpdriver »

Prescott 24th & 25th June
This weekend the HSA series is going to play at Prescott nr Cheltenham.
This is an apsolutely superb venue with a very impressive entry list. The only players for the HSA this time are Stuart Cairney in his imp, Andrew Till & Me in our Clans & Andy & Penny Coughlan in their Vixen Imp (single seater). We basically join the 'Big Boys' as a guest class for National 'B' licence holders. Also on the entry is a Ginetta G15, a Singer Chamois, 2 1200cc Imps & a Sunbeam Stilletto. There is appox 150 entries with 3 practice runs on the Sat & 2 timed runs on the Sunday. The big boys will be there as well with their very quick single seaters (4 litre judd v8's etc).
If you like motorsport in a beautiful 'country park' setting where you can get right to the cars this is the place to and spectate.

Cheers

Eric
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Post by onomatopoeia »

Since the Davrian is together and provided nothing bad happens between now and the end of the year, I'm hopefully going to do some HSA rounds next year, at least the MIRAs as I think it's a great venue and hopefully a Loton. I'm not a great fan of hills, or of curborough so not sure about how many others I'll try.

I did the Bristol MC / BPMC sprint at Colerne on Mayday bank holiday and was 3rd of 8 in mod saloons and sports under 1400, beaten by Andrew Till and Peter Crewes (Britax Cooper S), was pleased with that as it was the first time out for almost four years. Couldn't do our Llandow event on the Whit bank holiday as I was clerk of the course :roll: . Was supposed to be beaten by them both again at our Combe on 1st of July but a little "oil on the floor and not in the sump" problem the afternoon before put paid that :(.

Planning to be out again this year at Colerne again on the August bank holiday, then at Wiscombe first weekend in September as our club is part of the organisation that runs it and I can give the organising team a laugh watching me (I've been course controller the last umpteen years so I just know I'm going to be the one on the recieving end of all the spoof paddock PA announcements this year :P ).


Really need to sort out the understeer that has appeared since I put the LSD in and went from 22" to 20" slicks at the rear, it's alarming the car turning in worse on slicks than my road car (not an Imp) does :shock:
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Post by benwick3 »

Understeer after fitting LSD is usual. You need to change you driving style for corners - be more brutal! Only problem is that going back to without an LSD and using the same technique results in a big off!

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Post by Gerry Richards »

Welcome to the forum and to this rambling thread on all things sprint/hillclimb/circuit related, Mark.

Clerk of the Course in our midsts - we'd better behave ourselves lads!
onomatopoeia
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Post by onomatopoeia »

Gerry Richards wrote:Welcome to the forum and to this rambling thread on all things sprint/hillclimb/circuit related, Mark.

Clerk of the Course in our midsts - we'd better behave ourselves lads!
Cheers Gerry. Took me an age to get round to registering, but now I am here I'll try to contribute a bit.

As for clerking, if I can do it, anyone can!
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Post by onomatopoeia »

Any of you going to Barkston Heath on the 13th? I will be there, not competing but as course controller, so if you see a suspicious looking character nosing around the back of your cars in the lunch break, it's probably me!
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Post by pimpdriver »

Mark
I was considering doing it as it looks a very interesting course, but unfortunately i've got a wedding to go to that weekend. Also it's not that far for me either being one of the rare 'north of birmingham' events.
I hope it all goes well & must be great being the first Course Controller at Barkston Heath.

Cheers

Eric
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Post by Gerry Richards »

onomatopoeia wrote:
Gerry Richards wrote:Welcome to the forum and to this rambling thread on all things sprint/hillclimb/circuit related, Mark.

Clerk of the Course in our midsts - we'd better behave ourselves lads!

As for clerking, if I can do it, anyone can!
More the willingness of people to do jobs like this that should be admired really - enjoy Barkston, I had the regs e-mailed from Paul Richardson and was sorely tempted but can't really justify the time with family commitments and potential new projects on the horizon. Good luck with the event.
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Post by onomatopoeia »

A few thoughts in Barkston. There were no Imp / Imp powered vehicles present unfortunately and the entry was quite small at 58.

The weather on Saturday during setting up could best be described as "howling gale", on Sunday it was more of the same or "monsoon" or both! I was very glad to be in the NSCC caravan and not standing out in it.

I drove round the course a few times on Saturday, not in my own car as I was passengered from home by the CoC (who lives about a mile from me) and it appears like it could be a lot of fun although I was mainly thinking "aren't front engined cars a handful on twisty stuff". Despite its airfield location it's not a runway / peri-track circuit but in a separate compound which has a lot of tarmaced tracks running around it between various "swimming pools", so you have a mixture of fast corners and wiggly bits. Plenty of opportunities for fun in an Imp. There are places it can be improved, most notably the chicanes which are too harsh, hopefully this will be done over the winter.

With 51 signed on we ended up giving two practice and four timed runs and still finished at half past two, despite a lot of people skating around at the last corner, which requires you to brake downhill then go left and back right. Definitely worth a visit, I believe the plan is for it to be in the calendar next year. 180 miles from me though which is a lot of towing :shock:
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Post by pimpdriver »

Hi
Tha HSA championship was down at Gurston Down last weekend with just Stuart Cairney (Blue Imp)& Me (White Clan) competing. the other Imp powered car there was Andrew Russell in his quick Ginetta G15.
Nice set of pictures are here
http://public.fotki.com/neilgates/cars/ ... wn_270806/

Cheers

Eric

Shelsley Walsh next event - 9/10th Sept.
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curborough

Post by Keith 'Supaimpy' Laming »

anyone got a copy of regs for next Curborough, tried Tony Fletcher but got no reply on phone numbers given.

If anyone has please can they scan and mail me a copy

thanks
Keith
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Post by ccharlie6 »

hi there gents

i'm thinking about rebuilding and prepping my G15 for the HSA (bit of practical to go alongside my engineering degree) probably for the 08 season (maybe some late 07 events), it'll be in the roadgoing category for imp engined specials, my question is about engine rules, in the regulations it purely states that it can onl be a maximum capacity of 1040, so if i was running a 998 with Tb's and EDIS is that acceptable?
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Post by StuartC »

Hi
Tbs and edis is ok, so long as you dont have forced induction (as then the equivalence formula of 1.4 applies and the 998 effectively becomes 1397).
Good luck with the project.

Although not yet confirmed, for 2007 the HSA are proposing for class N to be an amalgamation of up to 1040 modified roadgoing Imps and up to 1040 roadgoing specialist Imp engined cars. This has been on the cards for some time.
From my point of view I'll be hard pressed to keep up with the plastic cars but it should be great fun trying and preferable to just chasing my previous best times!
Also extra numbers could mean a more realistic chance of overall success for someone from class N.
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Post by Colin Foster (heaps) »

Hi, i'd like to ask a couple of questions if I may. I have a modified road going Imp, 998. A539s, aff lifeline ,FIA3 roll cage have been building up for a couple of years on a VERY limited budget to hopefully one day go sprinting. BUT what I really need now is someone (preferably a RAC scrutineer I suppose) to come over have a look at the car and tell me what I need to do ,change,replace to get my car accepted for sprinting. I just have this big hangup that the day I pay my money and turn up, it'll get laughed out of the scrutineering bay.
Reading the previous threads I didnt realise you needed any laminated glass for sprinting so I'll have to put that on my shopping list.
many thanks and regards
Colin
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Post by SimonBenoy »

Colin,

Laminated screen not required for sprinting. Nor are the extinguisher or cage in roadgoing, but they are a good idea.

When I started in my standard Stiletto, I had to secure the seat, fit a 2nd throttle return spring and apply yellow tape to the battery earth lead plus the championship stickers and the relevant numbers.

Go along to a meeting and have a word with the scrutineers after they have finished - they are usually helpful. There are often local regs about tyres etc. but it sounds like you are nearly there.

Good luck - Simon
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Post by onomatopoeia »

I started sprinting in a completely standard Imp. The beam splitter, yellow tape on the earth lead and a visible throttle return sping (one on each spindle) were the sum total of car preparation. Cages, extinguishers, what-have-you are all optional in roadgoing.

You must have a beam splitter, specs in the blue book. Your numbers must be of adequate size and contrast their background - even if they pass scrutineering the timekeepers wont give you a time if they feel they aren't clear enough and when I'm clerking I encourage them in this :P. I've done course control a lot and little annoys me more than being unable to read the competition number from the side of the car.

Get a comp licence, with it comes the blue book. The blue book contains all the safety rules, although it's not the easiest thing to find your way around.

Eligibility of a particular car in a particular class is down to the individual event, although most tend to run classes appropriate to the major invited championship at that event. In practical terms the differences from event to event are small to non existant and the biggest one is usually tyres as Simon mentioned. Basically in the south west (ASWMC) the rule is "black, round, road legal and not a crossply", in most other regions the rule is "any tyre that appears on List 1A", some also allow tyres on list 1B - these lists are found in the Blue Book again, although finding a 12" tyre that appears on the lists might be difficult as manufacturers tend to submit only their latest to the MSA for inclusion.
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Post by Gerry Richards »

I'd echo all the previous replies - the regs for speed events are actually quite relaxed for roadgoing cars, it's up to you whether you fit a cage and extinguisher. I never carry an extinguisher as there are always marshalls within a few seconds of you, and I've done many events in cars without cages although it's perhaps not the best idea.

Apart from the basic things as mentioned by Simon B, scruts tend to be more concerned that there are no obvious mechanical or electrical problems which might cause fire, oil spillage etc, with implications for other competitors in terms of delays etc. as well as your personal safety. They also check integrity of seat mountings, steering wheel and brake pedal to check nothing's loose.

I still dread something cropping up which means you can't run, even after all these years - but in reality scruts are nearly always very reasonable and point out changes they'd like to see before the next event....
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Post by Colin Foster (heaps) »

Well, it looks like i'm there then, I even had my licence 2 years ago but never used it so I read and to be honest was confused by the blue book. I have to get my self some probans,gloves and a helmet. I'm a very belt and braces person when it comes to anything I do, so especially after 20years as a race marshall, from club events to GPs you'll forgive me for wanting to get it right and then some. I wish some of you lived nearer so I could drive over for you to give your input. I go to Lydden a few times a year so I may take my car down and pester the scrutineers down there.
Thanks for all your help and maybe see you at a sprint this year
colin
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Post by onomatopoeia »

If your budget is limited you don't need gloves to comply with the regulations.

One thing that should be mentioned is that if you fit an item of safety equipment to the car then it must comply with the regulations, even if the fitment is optional in your class. I was told I had to remove my Halon extinguisher when the rules changed banning them, I could run with an approved extinguishant or I could run without, but I couldn't run with Halon. Same goes for cages and importantly how they are fixed to the shell.

Normally a scrutineer will say "get it done for next time" if it is not practical to do at the event, unless it is a serious safety issue. If they tell you to fix something for next time, do it, chances are if you are competing in the same area you are going to see the same scrutineer multiple times in a season and they do remember.

If you have questions about what the blue book says, ask. It certainly is not the easiest tome to get to grips with, although it is also very comprehensive. A few of us have some experience and may be able to clarify how things get interpreted at events.
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Post by bazzateer »

heaps_uk@yahoo.co.uk wrote:I wish some of you lived nearer so I could drive over for you to give your input.
Colin, are you going to be at the Brands track day in Feb? Could be a good opportunity for people to caste an eye over your beast? Can't get much closer to Swanley!

Baz
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Post by Colin Foster (heaps) »

I hadnt put my name down, as i'm going to do the national one in August if it happens. I've been around Brands many times, so want to save my pennies. If its on a weekend i could certainly drive down the road.
regards
Colin
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Re: Topic dedicated to HSA Speed Championship Class N

Post by Keith 'Supaimpy' Laming »

Image

Image


Stuart and Eric at Gurston last weekend, hmmm does wonders for car building, a real shot in the arm so much so I've driven the Imp to work last couple of days.


Keith
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