Greetings Race Fans,

Well it’s all over for another year and a pretty mixed bag it’s been too.

I’ll start off my report in the normal way with a bit of a rant to get it over with and then I’ll concentrate on the good stuff.

What was the MGCC thinking of?….I thought the all comers race was supposed to be the Relay event, instead despite the regular drivers who have paid their fees all year long leading up to the final race to decide many Class Championship positions, we find that two Fiats have been allowed to race with us.

Is the MGCC that short of cash?

I understand that they had come over from Ireland and that having paid their money they were allowed to race but what were they doing here in the first place? And why were they gridded up with the rest of us instead of starting behind the pack?

The result was they nearly upset the Class A battle when one of them side swiped James Walpole as he  was fighting for Class A honours…what is going on????

Calm down dear, it’s only a Race report…Rant over!

We were treated with unseasonably scorching hot weather at Snetterton as the temperature reached  a tropical 30 degrees’ on track and even hotter inside the cars.

Sadly this was to take its toll on several engines including mine….

Qualifying

Ollie took 1^st on the grid closely followed by Brother Dan who was out in Blaine’s battle weary car.

Class B pole sitter was Pete Burchill who faced little opposition from Crippo who was still on Spanish time, but sadly so was his engine which was proving to be a little unpredictable, forcing him to start from the back of the grid.

James Walpole held off James Darby as they fought for Class A honours with little to separate them score wise.

John Binczyk took pole for the soon to be disbanded Class F from Vulcan driver Jason Simon….and of course those Fiats were also in there.

Race 1

It was good to see the return of Tripod piloted by Simon Hutchinson and also Lew Bergonzi in what could be his last race, so he says…

Also joining us was Chris Hughes in a Rover 100…or a Metro to you and me.

In true Snetterton fashion, having taken over an hour to get through scrutineering with their usual picky attitude and total disregard to race times we then had the delight of being called up really early and sweltering in the collecting area for ages….”piss–up and brewery” spring to mind.

The 200 circuit was new to most of us and as we set off the chicane (Montreal?) and the new never ending Coram were to prove challenging to many.

I made a pretty good start and managed to get up to third  before being passed  by Primrose through the chicanes second time round.

Crippo blasted his way from the back and by turn two had overtaken most of the field to be hot on the heels of the Neaves boys.

I was able to keep Primrose in sight but this was tricky as right in front of me was Sarah Budby in her ZR which had amazing acceleration but was less agile on the corners.

Just in front of her was Chris Hughes in his Metro, sorry Rover 100, and Binczyk was in front of them both. I also had to contend with a pink Fiat harrying me as well.

I had my foot flat down but they were all starting to pull away from me….what was going wrong? I checked the temperature gauge,  warm but not too bad, so I stuck the fan on to make sure.

Blimey, even the Fiats’ have gone past me now followed by Bergonzi.

They just kept pulling away, here we go round Coram, blimey off goes Bergonzi …right I’ll have the place thank you very much…but not for long as pop went my engine and off I went into the pits. Race over.

Lew managed to rejoin and continue despite ripping his gear lever out!

Thanks to the Vulcan guys for running over to try and help but my race was done.

And just to make sure Frank Thomson having killed his own engine ripped mine to bits for good measure!

Anyway back to the race and on track honours went to Ollie Neaves first, closely followed by Rob Spencer and third to tripod…despite copious use of the headlamps!

Crippo was 1^st in Class B and James Darby was taking the Class A battle to the wire beating Walpole and with fastest lap too that meant there was only a point between them for the Class A title.

The Silver Fox managed to hang on as the only F car still out there but he too was suffering with clutch problems and a lumpy engine.

The heat had taken its toll though with cars 17,52, 5,7 and me all DNF’ing…. car 7 of course was at the hands of Dan”car-breaker”Neaves, who thought the red glow in the cockpit was from the rising sun, it turned out to be the f***d-it light as we all know it….another car bites the dust!

Many thanks to you all for the offers of help and spares, but in the end the damage was to be too great to make any attempt to continue pointless and more likely to finish off what serviceable parts were left in my frazzled engine.

Although this guy probably doesn’t read these reports I was astounded by an amazing act of generosity by one of the Marshals, John Watson, who whipped a head off his MGB and brought it in for me on the Sunday….although I was not able to race I did manage to deposit my remaining  beer tokens in the Marshals Safety fund instead.  

Race 2

A lot of frantic repairs were conducted throughout the night which saw many, but not all, of the drivers back for a second go on the Sunday.

As the sun shone down a slightly reduced grid set off for the final showdown.

From the side of the track I watched a magnificent race between Rob “Oooh Betty” Spencer and Ollie Neaves.

Rob made a blistering start and was hounded to within an inch of his life by Ollie for several laps until Ollie had to back off, to preserve his engine as the needle went into the red.

Simon Hutchinson recorded a gallant 2^nd but was some way behind Spencer who was driving the race of his life.

Crippo, the famed after dinner speaker, finished a country mile in front of his next  class B competitor Pete “I’m ready for the driver weight regs” Burchill. But Crippo seemed only interested in trouncing bus driver Vic Reaves in car 77.

The two James’s meanwhile were at it hammer and tongs with all to play for and an errant Fiat playing bumper cars too, the old Carrot Cruncher used his suede and despite a truly epic fight by Darby, managed to win race 2 and retain the class A title for the 7^th consecutive year!

Although I have to say if this year is anything to go by he could really have an uphill struggle next year!

So massive congratulations to all concerned for another great year of racing.

Praise is due to our Championship winner Dan Ludlow, with Class B honours going to Crippo who did it the hard way but has clinched class B by a smidgen.

Class A the invincible James Walpole and class F of course none other than the Sly old Fox John Binczyk.

I should of course point out that these are unofficial results and will need to be ratified by the powers that be, which  means we should know the day before the 1^st race next year!

We now come to your favourite subject that of the Xmas Do…

I hear some of you have yet to buy your tickets no doubt because you are still, compiling your guest lists.

Now come on get a move on!!! Richard Tinkler is trying to sort out the table plans and arrange for the booze to be shipped in so please get your menus and payment to him ASAP!!!!!

Spare menus : just e-mail me or Richard Tinkler.

Dan Neaves would also like the footage from the last races to compile the DVD…don’t leave it till the last minute or your moment of glory will be missed off.

The 2011 Champ!