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1Jeremy TIMMS102
2Tristan CLIFFE76
3Malcolm SCOTT60
4Richard PURCELL56
5Anthony BISHOP41
6Graham READ40
7Tony COTTON31
8Adrian HOLEY28

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Archive for the ‘Events 2010’ Category

Snetterton, Round 5/6 – June 2010
Written by Tristan
Sunday, 27 June 2010 12:00

After the slight disappointment of Anglesey, we were keen to show our speed at Snetterton, our ‘home’ race. The misfire woes from earlier in the season were, we hoped, behind us, although we had fitted a lambda sensor to the datalogger to help us get around the problem should it recur.

However, all that didn’t go quite according to plan…

Saturday’s practice session was damp. There was, in places, a dry line, but the overall feeling was that wet tyres were the way to go. Most people felt the same, but a few remained on slicks due to lack of time and manpower. I went out and had to pick my way through the traffic to find some clear air, whilst Jeremy Timms went out last due to clutch problems. This meant he was immediately on a clear track and banged in a 1m19 second time. Then it started to rain…

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Last Updated on Friday, 2 July 2010 01:49
Anglesey, Round 3/4 – May 2010
Written by Tristan
Monday, 14 June 2010 06:14

GarlandA fortnight after the disappointment of Thruxton (where I cleverly turned pole position into a second place via 29th position and the lead, in the space of a dozen laps) we set off for Anglesey, the farthest track from us in the UK.

Another circuit that we haven’t been to with the Dallara that both Timms and Harrison have been to several times with theirs. Thus we arrived with a realistic frame of mind, hoping for a win but knowing that I would be very difficult to actually achieve. The usual preparation showed nothing that was unduly concerning, other than a slight bulge in the floor and plank possibly caused by the Thruxton kerb launching incident (although the bulge might have been there before and I just hadn’t noticed it!). We tried to rectify it as well as we could, but it’s still there, so we have to run a slightly higher ride height than we’d like.

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Last Updated on Friday, 2 July 2010 01:49
Autosport Mentions…
Written by Tristan
Thursday, 13 May 2010 03:43

From Marcus Pye’s column (page 105 of May 13th 2010 copy of Autosport)

I’m certain I’ve not seen a better Monoposto field – flourishing on the MSVR package and split into two grids – from which Tristan Cliffe’s extraordinary 117mph lap in a 12-year-old F3 Dallara powered by a fuel-injected Toyota engine, annihilated the record. The old motto ‘Motor Racing in the Grand Prix Style for the Club Enthusiast’ has stretched imaginations since the Mono club’s foundation in 1958, but on this occasion is was bang on the money.

And from the race report (page 116 of the same copy)

A huge Monoposto 2000/1400/1000 field was a splendid sight, but top qualifier Tristan Cliffe’s heart was in his mouth when he stalled at the start. Everybody in the stampede missed him, but the red Dallara was last away.
Having lapped seven seconds quicker than Jeremy Timms in the morning (slicks on the wet track proved ideal), Cliffe sliced through the field to 16th in a dramatic opening lap and was third (behind Arty Cameron’s adventurously-driven one-litre Yamaha R1-engined Jedi and ahead of defending champion Nick [sic] Harrison) within four laps.
Almost 14 seconds adrift of leader Timms’ ex-Peter Dumbreck Dallara et half-distance, Cliffe was more decisive during lappery and slashed a six-second deficit to 1.5s on the penultimate circuit! On Timms’ gearbox through church last time round, Cliffe popped out of his slipstream up Woodham Hill to no avail. An extraordinary manoeuvre round the outside into the chicane got Cliffe’s nose ahead though, but he couldn’t make the left hand element. As he clattered over the kerbs Timms dived back past for a memorable victory.

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Last Updated on Friday, 2 July 2010 01:52
Thruxton, Round 2 – May 2010
Written by Tristan
Tuesday, 11 May 2010 12:31

Thruxton mapThruxton was to be the start of my season, after the problems at Brands. Points had to be scored, preferably 16 of them (win plus fastest lap) to keep Jeremy Timms in sight in the championship.  Being fast isn’t enough when your rival is happy to capitalise on any mistakes.

Practice

I had spend some time watching YouTube videos of Thruxton, as well as playing it on the PC with the rFactor game (I hesitate to use the term simulator, as it’s rubbish). Motorsport UK, on the television, also had some Thruxton racing from the BTCC meeting.  I also ran the circuit on foot on the Friday evening. That was my whole experience of Thruxton until Saturday 8th May 2010.

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Last Updated on Friday, 2 July 2010 01:49
Brands Hatch, Round 1 – March 2010
Written by Tristan
Wednesday, 7 April 2010 09:18

After the big change to the engine (carburettors to fuel injection), and the usual annual rebuild and checkover, I’d hyped this race meeting up quite a lot, with talk of how quick we might be, how quick the opposition might be, and so on.  All of that came to nought in a dismal weekend; albeit a dismal weekend with some positives.

The usual process occurred – we loaded the car up, drove down to the track the night before and unloaded, and then went to sleep. Only instead of tents, we chose to use the services of a local Travelodge, as tents in March weren’t appealing.  Even with our sudden increase in comfort (much like going from steerage to first class on the Titanic), we still lagged behind Richard Purcell’s palace-like motorhome!! The drive down was notable for the very, very heavy rain and hail storm that opened up on as we approached the circuit, and got us all very damp as we arrived in the paddock.

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Last Updated on Wednesday, 7 April 2010 09:18
2010 Testing at Snetterton
Written by Tristan
Tuesday, 16 March 2010 02:00

Loading Up All in all it turned out to be quite a successful and productive day for us at Snetterton on March 12th 2010. The aim of the day was to shakedown the new fuel injection system and engine, and iron out the faults that were very likely to occur. Of course, it would have been nice to have had no problems, but at least we can sort everything out now and go to Brands confident of good reliability.

The day started with a noise test, which we only just passed – first thing on the to-do list is repack the exhaust again (but with the silencer filling looser or tighter?!).  However, we were at least through, and could get on with the rest of the day…

The first session was just an exploratory one, with an installation lap followed by a quick check-over. The weather was not on our side, and the track was quite damp, meaning the wets had to go on. Fortunately it was the perfect chance to see how the car behaved with low grip, particularly its response to throttle during corner exits, where wheelspin can be so costly to laptime.  All temps and pressures seemed to be doing as they should, and nothing obvious was wrong with the car at the check, so I was sent out to do a few more laps.  However, a couple of laps later the throttle cable snapped – a threaded end fitting that was crimped onto the cable (by a reputable but now out of business cable manufacturer) had caused a stress-raiser, and it had failed at this point. Totally out of our control unlike the Mallory failure last year.

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Last Updated on Wednesday, 17 March 2010 01:20
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