With nothing on at Mendip or Cardiff this weekend, the itch to give the B6.4 a taste of Astro, needed scratching.
Not having been to Swindon before, I thought I’d have the ideal excuse if I couldn’t get the car working right!
Heat 1, Let’s just say, didn’t quite go to plan.
| Pos | Car | Driver | Result | Best10 | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Richard Atkinson | 12 / 317.71 | 26.30 | 25.65 |
| 2 | 7 | Andrew Crute | 12 / 325.62 | 26.70 | 25.80 |
| 3 | 4 | Alan Pritchard | 11 / 308.55 | 27.54 | 26.28 |
| 4 | 5 | Mark Weston | 11 / 312.69 | 28.14 | 26.72 |
| 5 | 3 | Darren Cawkwell 2 | 10 / 309.15 | 30.91 | 26.83 |
| 6 | 2 | Steve Brazier | 10 / 310.92 | 31.09 | 27.28 |
| 7 | 6 | Alistair Munro | 2 / 67.48 | 0.00 | 31.22 |
It does say in the manual to threadlock the front axle retainer screw in place. I didn’t. Oh dear.
Heat 2 had to be a safe banker having lost the track time in Heat 1. Steady on a still sopping wet track, but it was giving good feedback about what it wanted.
| Pos | Car | Driver | Result | Best10 | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Richard Atkinson | 12 / 316.57 | 25.80 | 24.62 |
| 2 | 5 | Mark Weston | 12 / 321.49 | 26.21 | 25.33 |
| 3 | 4 | Alan Pritchard | 11 / 303.03 | 27.21 | 25.94 |
| 4 | 7 | Andrew Crute | 11 / 308.25 | 27.47 | 25.71 |
| 5 | 6 | Alistair Munro | 10 / 302.33 | 30.23 | 28.02 |
| 6 | 2 | Steve Brazier | 10 / 303.34 | 30.33 | 27.46 |
| 7 | 3 | Darren Cawkwell 2 | 9 / 298.51 | 0.00 | 26.62 |
Heat 3 and off came the chassis brace to get the battery seated further back, Dialled in an extra 1/2 degree of toe in at the back (3.5deg) Found I was running yellows on the front when I should have been running greens. Time to get the hammer down.
| Pos | Car | Driver | Result | Best10 | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Richard Atkinson | 12 / 313.02 | 25.65 | 25.05 |
| 2 | 7 | Andrew Crute | 11 / 301.45 | 27.08 | 25.78 |
| 3 | 4 | Alan Pritchard | 11 / 303.63 | 27.44 | 26.88 |
| 4 | 5 | Mark Weston | 11 / 308.90 | 27.53 | 25.20 |
| 5 | 6 | Alistair Munro | 11 / 309.72 | 27.65 | 26.48 |
| 6 | 3 | Darren Cawkwell 2 | 11 / 317.46 | 27.91 | 26.39 |
| 7 | 2 | Steve Brazier | 10 / 300.79 | 0.00 | 26.86 |
Much better, and looking at the laps, there was a 12 in the car, just not me š
| Lap | Time |
|---|---|
| 1 | 29.11 |
| 2 | 27.03 |
| 3 | 26.63 |
| 4 | 30.45 |
| 5 | 26.48 |
| 6 | 27.57 |
| 7 | 27.19 |
| 8 | 27.57 |
| 9 | 33.19 |
| 10 | 27.86 |
| 11 | 26.64 |
Heat 4 was pretty much the same as 3, but I think I shaved a second off my best lap.
| Pos | Car | Driver | Result | Best10 | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Richard Atkinson | 12 / 301.47 | 24.71 | 24.15 |
| 2 | 5 | Mark Weston | 12 / 319.15 | 26.10 | 24.95 |
| 3 | 7 | Andrew Crute | 12 / 319.93 | 26.28 | 25.12 |
| 4 | 4 | Alan Pritchard | 11 / 305.76 | 27.36 | 26.42 |
| 5 | 6 | Alistair Munro | 11 / 315.76 | 28.10 | 25.60 |
| 6 | 2 | Steve Brazier | 11 / 327.01 | 29.19 | 27.33 |
| 7 | 3 | Darren Cawkwell 2 | 10 / 315.24 | 31.52 | 25.76 |
The finals were excellent fun. I have no-one to blame but my self for the first, I got of the line nicely, but misjudged the second corner and beached my self on a corner hose relegating muggins to last for a short period. After that, I settled in nicely for most of the race. A lap and a half to go and all the acceleration and top end went out of the car. I’d backed off the slipper clutch a bit too much, and it over heated.
Finals – Round 1
Race 2 – 2wd – B Final
| Pos | Car | Driver | Result | Best10 | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Andrew Mayo | 12 / 320.05 | 25.62 | 25.02 |
| 2 | 3 | Alan Pritchard | 12 / 321.13 | 26.36 | 25.52 |
| 3 | 1 | Jack Vancil Jnr | 12 / 322.95 | 26.03 | 24.87 |
| 4 | 4 | Mark Horspole | 11 / 301.38 | 30.13 | 24.85 |
| 5 | 6 | Alistair Munro | 11 / 310.55 | 27.52 | 25.31 |
| 6 | 5 | Jono Neate | 11 / 312.66 | 0.00 | 26.78 |
| 7 | 9 | Darren Cawkwell 2 | 11 / 318.49 | 28.39 | 26.35 |
| 8 | 7 | Krystian Malik Jnr | 11 / 324.79 | 28.43 | 26.24 |
| 9 | 8 | Chris Mayo Jnr | 10 / 303.74 | 30.37 | 27.38 |
| 10 | 10 | Norman Allan | 10 / 315.67 | 31.56 | 28.07 |
I just managed to drag it over the line to pick up a place from where I started. Cool!
There followed a frenetic extraction of the Diff for a tighten up; so that the Slipper could be tightened back up without wrecking the diff plates. And into the second final. And I think the result speaks for itself.
Finals – Round 2
Race 2 – 2wd – B Final
| Pos | Car | Driver | Result | Best10 | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Andrew Mayo | 12 / 313.43 | 25.82 | 25.27 |
| 2 | 3 | Alan Pritchard | 12 / 324.35 | 26.04 | 25.56 |
| 3 | 6 | Alistair Munro | 12 / 325.09 | 26.40 | 25.43 |
| 4 | 9 | Darren Cawkwell 2 | 11 / 308.59 | 27.74 | 25.50 |
| 5 | 1 | Jack Vancil Jnr | 11 / 310.85 | 26.66 | 25.21 |
| 6 | 5 | Jono Neate | 11 / 314.49 | 27.81 | 25.76 |
| 7 | 8 | Chris Mayo Jnr | 11 / 321.64 | 28.50 | 26.29 |
| 8 | 4 | Mark Horspole | 11 / 327.72 | 28.70 | 25.12 |
| 9 | 7 | Krystian Malik Jnr | 10 / 319.91 | 31.99 | 25.41 |
| 10 | 10 | Norman Allan | 9 / 305.23 | 0.00 | 28.66 |
Chuffed to bits with that. 3 places in the bag and Alan had to drive like a demon for the last three laps to keep me off second place, less than a second in it at the line.
This car is going to be a beast on dry tracks š
Thanks to Swindon for a great track and a superbly ran meeting, not to mention a nice warm welcome!