HSCC 2016 Race Series

[chamois93]

Thought I'd kick-off a new topic for the new year

Everyone ready?

I've registered for Castle Combe as has OAP97

Still to finish the new dashboard.. Fit some new plugs, fiddle with the mixture and all ready to go

See you there

[philgsmith]

We're going for the day on Saturday.. 5 Imps entered plus Pete Richards in the 70 Road Saloons (in his Clan). A certain Tiff Needell is in the Formula Fords..

http://www.hscc.org.uk/images/Provision ... e_2016.pdf

http://www.hscc.org.uk/images/Provision ... 016_V4.pdf

Should be some good racing with all those Formula Fords and Juniors buzzing about on track.

Anyone else taking their Imp? Wondering which car park to park in..

Phil

[benwick3]

Actually 70's Roadsports in the Clan and will be my last race for some time as I'm booked in for a hip replacement on the 4th May.

Pete Richards

[Teddie2003]

Actually 70's Roadsports in the Clan and will be my last race for some time as I'm booked in for a hip replacement on the 4th May.

Pete Richards

Hi Pete,

good luck with the race and hope the hip op goes well in May.

Steve

[Turboimp]

Actually 70's Roadsports in the Clan and will be my last race for some time as I'm booked in for a hip replacement on the 4th May.

Pete Richards

Good luck , at last you come to Castle Combe home of the best Imp racing in the 1990's . I hope you enjoy it , you might need another gear heading towards Avon rise which engine will you be using ?

[philgsmith]

Actually 70's Roadsports in the Clan and will be my last race for some time as I'm booked in for a hip replacement on the 4th May.

Pete Richards

Saloons!.. d'oh ! .. got carried away there...

Best wishes for the hip op Peter.. you should be back within weeks. Lesley's uncle was back under his car a couple of weeks after his op, back in the 80's. Just make sure that they don't make the right foot any lighter!

Phil

[benwick3]

Good luck , at last you come to Castle Combe home of the best Imp racing in the 1990's . I hope you enjoy it , you might need another gear heading towards Avon rise which engine will you be using ?

I've been to Castle Combe in the past when I was competing in the 750MC Roadsports Series. I will be using the same gears as then, lowered 3rd and 4th, along with a dry sumped 1040 with big valve head and R22 cam.

Pete Richards.

p.s. Thanks everyone for the good wishes with the hip operation.

[Lars Hagermark]

Good luck! With both.

[ImpManiac]

Good luck to all the Imp and Clan competitors at Castle Combe this weekend.

And good luck for your hip replacement, Pete. "May the 4th" be with you.

IM

[traco]

Good luck to all the Imp racers, unfortunately I can't make it to Castle Combe I think the frist race I can get to see this year will be Silverstone in May.

[greengoblin]

looking forward to this weekend should be 9 of us staying up Saturday home Sunday hangover know doubt

[ImpManiac]

I've never spectated at a race at Castle Combe. I'd like to but cannot this coming weekend. I must get there some time soon, though. I've only ever visited the venue for Merlin Motorsport.

IM

[Dogsbody]

Its a two day event, are the imps racing on both ?
I was going to drive my stiletto over on Sunday. There is a special parking area for 1969 / 70 cars.
They have resurfaced part of the track over the winter.
The hump at the top of Avon rise doesn't launch the cars any more.

[Teddie2003]

The Imp's and Pete's Clan are all racing on Saturday.

Timetable for the Saturday is on this link
http://www.hscc.org.uk/images/Provision ... 016_V4.pdf

[Dogsbody]

May pop over Saturday and then bring the stiletto on Sunday. If it passes its MOT.

[philgsmith]

Some photos from Saturday's 1st round at Castle Combe.

We parked alongside the guys from Bristol area and spent a few hours with them and Ann & Tony Dowler, watching the action at Camp corner.

The morning was wet and very cold, resulting in slower qualifying laps all round in all series.

The weather gradually got better and the track dried.

The afternoon race started in sunshine with Mini's at the front of a mixed up field with the Mustangs & Cortina's further back.

From the off the Mustangs and Cortina's powered towards the front. Unfortunately David Heale barely crossed the start line before pulling off in to the in field.

At some point Simon was hit by a flying silencer on the straight which bent and cracked his radiator causing an early retirement on lap 8. Fingers crossed that the new engine isn't cooked.
See piece on Farcebook - https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... =3&theater

Steve Platts and Adrian Oliver had some good battles, In particular Adrian driving around a Cortina at Camp.

Steve finished 10, Adrian 17 and Stuart Kerr 21

As Lesley was very cold we headed for home so missed the post race discussions and stories in the paddock.

Phil

[philgsmith]

I should have added that Peter Richards (Benwick3) didn't make the start line, his Clan breaking down on the assembly lap in the 70's Road Sports race, which was the first of the afternoon. No photos of Peter qualifying as it was too early (before 9 o'clock!) and before we arrived.

Phil

[ImpManiac]

Thank you for sharing your photos and write up, Phil. It sounds as though it was good for some of the Imp competitors, less so for others.

IM

[Dogsbody]

Due to the weather, I didn't bother with the Saturday.
The Imp club stand looked a bit poor on Sunday Lol.

After a wander around the pits, I spent most of my day on a deck chair at Camp.
Some good racing.

[philgsmith]

Strange that they left the sign out with no Imps competing on Sunday.. at least you found where we parked ! One of the Formula Junior drivers waved as he went past by there.. I was lifting the camera, but didn't have it turned on.... you're so close to the cars as they power down to Camp - great experience..

[philgsmith]

Some on board video action..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY8ijzyt-I8

the source of the flying silencer that ended Simon's race .. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mvsv2H_6iwM see the last few seconds.. parking up behind Simon...

[Dogsbody]

As I live so close, I'm there quite often as there is always something on.

Filming a new car show a couple of weeks ago, comparing classics and modern.

Camp or exit of Quarry are the best for plenty of action.
Both are quite exciting when driving the circuit too, with Camp I always think "Could have gone into that faster" as I come out.
But there is a very fine line between faster and too fast

I can hit about 125mph before braking for Quarry but it where you brake as the car goes light on Avon Rise

[SimonBenoy]

Got the timetable for Silverstone on hscc.org - our race is now on Sunday 22nd May, much to my surprise, late in the afternoon.

[traco]

Sadly Can't drive for the next couple of weeks so won't make Silverstone now

[benwick3]

As my hip operation was cancelled the afternoon before it was due I've been able to put an entry in for Silverstone. Guess what 70's Roadsports is first race again on Saturday.

At least we won't be in the replica of the Somme that was our section of the Castle Combe paddock.

Pete Richards

[chamois93]

Another great weekend for me at Silverstone, great to see so many Imps on track and in the Paddock. I had a great race with Graham Biggs and an Anglia at the back of the pack, dicing for the whole race, Anglia v quick on the straights slow through the corners. Special thanks to Andy Jones and Chris Bennoy, without who i wouldn't have raced - I had a fuel starvation problem, largely due to my own stupidly, but thankly the fault was quickly found thanks to Mr Jones and rectified - job before the next race is to clean out my thank.

Next outing Cadwell Park..

[SimonBenoy]

Snetterton was a much quieter affair than the first 2 rounds of 2016, so an Allcomers grid was included alongside the Historic Touring Cars. But they were treated as separate races and the Allcomers (a very varied selection from Chevron B8s, Chevrolet Corvette, E Types and Elans, a Sports 2000 etc) were started 20 seconds after the saloons. I know Snetterton quite well and managed to qualify 3rd overall behind 2 Lotus Cortinas. Also competing in Imps were Steve Platts and Shaun Hazlewood.
The first race was early Saturday afternoon and thanks to a great start, I managed to go between the Cortinas and lead for half a lap, a first for me in a full HSCC race. However, power tells down the long back straight and I was quickly demoted to 4th as the 2 Cortinas and a rapid Anglia came past. There was now a small gap to the next saloon, though there were Allcomers charging through at various times. I stayed as close as I could to the Anglia in third, then on about the 3rd lap the leading Cortina retired - a podium was now a possibility if I could hang on. Another Anglia was now filling my mirrors, but the second placed one was getting nearer, not going quite as well as it had for the first few laps. After a couple of attempts, I managed to get by and the Anglias were fighting together when they had a slight touch causing one to spin and the other to lose a bit of time. The lead Cortina was long gone, so I just hung on to 2nd for the remaining lap or 2 for my best ever finish. And the finishing positions in race 1 set the grid for race 2.
Race 2 was Sunday afternoon and so we had plenty of time to prepare and relax watching some other races. Then we were on and this time, I managed to get the lead from the start and hold it for a full lap - the Imps really do get off the line brilliantly, especially if there is room to go for it! I was passed on the second lap by the faster Anglia that had the spin in race 1 and again just tried to stay with him as closely as I could. A couple of laps later and the race 1 winning Cortina came past and then started battling with the Anglia. This probably slowed them both slightly and I was able to keep them in my sights. The faster Allcomers were again charging through - just keep out of their way and concentrate on the saloons. The Cortina outbraked himself at the end of the long straight but managed to regain the track just in front of me. At the start of the last lap I managed to go grass cutting at the first corner (someone said there was some oil down from a Triumph, but equally I could have just made a mistake) but resumed without losing any places to finish 3rd in the saloons for a second podium in one weekend - a big thank you to all who have helped with my car preparation, especially Andy Jones at Shrigley Eng for my 1150, Dennis at Transimp for the gearbox and Chris for helping me keep it all together.
Steve had a mixed weekend but came home in both races for second in class. Sadly, Shaun didn't have such a good weekend, he seemed to have electrical issues.

Cadwell on 18/19th to look forward to next - hope to see you there.

[eebiegeebie]

Well done Simon, a great result!

[bks974c]

Congratulations, well done.

Scott

[MattorMatty]

Well done Simon, I was hoping to pop across and watch after work but sadly the animals had other ideas.
Matt

[Andy Hillman]

Proper result Simon well done, and too steve and Shaun because of you guys the Imps continue to gain interest, which can only be good for there long term survival.
I was at a wedding on Saturday, very nice and all but not really my bag, when i managed to get some internet on the phone i was able to watch the race on the mst website.
Obviously when i saw the results my mood improved no end, Much to my wifes delight ! Best wedding i have been to yet ha ha

[Lars Hagermark]

Well done, congratulations!

[moose]

Congratulations Simon cracking result. well done to the other imp drivers as well to win it you need to be in it as they say and a massive effort goes into racing a car of any type.

[bks974c]

Proper result Simon well done, and too steve and Shaun because of you guys the Imps continue to gain interest, which can only be good for there long term survival.
I was at a wedding on Saturday, very nice and all but not really my bag, when i managed to get some internet on the phone i was able to watch the race on the mst website.
Obviously when i saw the results my mood improved no end, Much to my wifes delight ! Best wedding i have been to yet ha ha

Careful there Andy, what about your own

You never know who might be reading this.

Scott

[traco]

Well done to Simon and the other imp racers out there I was in Shetland so couldn't get to this race I will hopefully make it to Cadwell for the next one.
Graham

[KiwiHusky]

Absolutely brilliant effort Simon, that made my day. Also hats off to Andy for your engine - he does do good engines doesn't he?

[KiwiHusky]

Any video footage?

[SimonBenoy]

There should be video but I haven't had time to check yet.

[philgsmith]

This looks good !!!

.. well done guys especially with a DNF in there too.

Early days though .. Steve is not on the Cadwell provisional entry list at the moment - only 3 Imps entered.

[ImpManiac]

Well done to the Imp racers!

IM