dikko

News from the Historic Sports Car Club Monday 13 October 2014 Finals day at Silverstone for HSCC Five of the Historic Sports Car Club’s race championships will be settled at Silverstone on Saturday 18 October during the club’s annual Finals Meeting on the National Circuit. With nine quick-fire races in less than five hours, it promises to be fitting conclusion to the club’s championship season. Four drivers are bidding to clinch back-to-back crowns including Road Sports racers Oliver Ford (Lotus Europa) and John Shaw (Porsche 911), who are defending titles in the 70s and Historic categories respectively. While Shaw has the upper hand over rival Kevin Kivlochan (Morgan +8) among the older cars, Ford will lose his 70s crown to former champion Peter Shaw (TVR Tuscan) if the TVR driver finishes the race. In Historic Touring Cars, Tim Davies (Lotus Cortina) will retain his crown if he takes at least second in class as he battles to fend off the Hillman Imp of former champion Simon Benoy. Welshman Davies goes into the race with 99 points to Benoy’s 90, but Davies has to drop a score of four and so needs second in class to be sure of the title, assuming Benoy wins class E again. The Imp racer is unbeaten in class in the 10 races he has finished. Marcus Mussa (March 763) and David Shaw (March 803B) are level in Classic Formula 3, and with no dropped scores to factor in whoever finishes ahead will be champion. Meanwhile Jon Milicevic (Cooper T59) has a small advantage over reigning champion Mark Woodhouse (Elva 100) in the Millers Oils Historic Formula Junior Championship. Towcester-based Milicevic should be the man to beat at his home track, although his friend and rival Sam Wilson will be a major challenger in his similar Cooper T59. Although Benn Simms has already sealed the Historic Formula Ford 1600 Championship, a superb 34-car grid will surely deliver another fabulous race. Former champion Callum Grant (Merlyn Mk20A) heads a quality-packed field which includes former multiple champion Neil Fowler (Lola T200). Other leading contenders are Maxim Bartell (Merlyn Mk20A), Mike Wrigley (Merlyn Mk20), David Wild (Lola T200) and Josh West (Merlyn Mk20A). Jonathan Baines (Merlyn Mk20) is already confirmed as champion in the HSCC Classic Racing Car Championship, but it is former champion Ian Jones (Lotus 59) who heads the entry from the similar car of Antony Ross. More single-seaters will contest the final round of the Derek Bell Trophy, where the destiny of the end-of-season award remains wide open. Neil Glover fields a Formula 5000 Chevron B37 against the Lola T300 of Ian Ashley and the Gurney Eagle FA74 of Frank Lyons. Finally, the Guards Trophy season will conclude with a 20-minute sprint race which should be another mighty contest between the Chevrons and the Ginetta G16 of James Dodd. The title, however, is already settled in favour of TVR Griffith racer Mike Whitaker. Quickest of the Chevrons will be Michael Schryver (B6) and Hugh Colman (B8) while the leading GT cars include Paul Tooms (Lotus Elan), John Spiers (TVR Griffith) and Bob Brooks (TVR Griffith). After qualifying from 9am, the first of eight races will be at 12.50. Adult admission is just £10. For more details about the HSCC, please visit www.hscc.org.uk -ends- For more information, contact the HSCC on 01327 858400, by fax to 01327 858500 and by e-mail to office@hscc.org.uk For media enquiries, please contact Paul Lawrence on 01952 510382.

I don't know where this is going, which thread or heading. Lost in e-space.....

Brand Hatch coming up.... 27th - 28th September Brands Hatch Indy Circuit, The Anglo - French Motors Cup. A friendly invasion of competitors, from the French, Classic Formula 3, Historic Formula Ford and the Maxi 1000 Championships, will take part in our Brands Hatch Indy circuit meeting. Extending to two days from the traditional one day, there will be double header races for all of the French Groups and in the Classic Formula 3 grids, the first race of the weekend will be for Championship points whilst the second will be for the honour of the respective countries. Will it be the Tricolor of France or the Union Flag of Great Britain, which will reign supreme in the Final head to head? The HSCC Historic Formula Ford, will also have a double header race, there will be a double header for the Alfa Romeo Owners Club, whilst the Classic Clubmans bring their Championship season to a close with a double header too. Supporting the package on Saturday will be races for Historic Road Sports, and 70s Road Sports, whilst on Sunday, there will be races for Historic Touring Cars, Classic Racing Cars, and Historic Formula Junior.

Ian Gardiner racing Northampshire is good (I.G.Racing) does work for Lotus F1 too...

News from the Historic Sports Car Club Wednesday 21 May 2014 Full grid for HSCC’s Autosport three-hour A fabulous capacity field of 44 pre ’66 GT cars will contest this year’s HSCC Autosport three-hour race at Snetterton on Saturday 7 June as the event celebrates the 50th anniversary of the final edition in the original sequence of three-hour races. The 44-strong field will be the biggest grid in the history of the annual Historic Sports Car Club race and comes as a result of a partnership with the GT and Sports Car Cup. The field includes ten Jaguar E-types as well as AC Cobras, Bizzarrinis and lots of smaller-engined cars including MGBs, Porsches, Lotus Elans and Morgans. Leading drivers include Alex Buncombe, Sam Hancock, Chris Ward and Matt Nicol-Jones in Jaguar E-types, Andrew Haddon (AC Cobra) and Scottish trio Tony Wood, Alasdair McCaig and Andrew Smith in a Lister Jaguar. Eight cars will be driven by family teams, including fathers and sons, fathers and daughters and married couples. “This is great news and much credit must go to Flavien and Vanessa Marcais from the GT and Sports Car Cup for supporting the race,” said Grahame White, CEO of the HSCC. “The change of format to making the race solely for GT cars has certainly rejuvenated the event.” The entry is split roughly in half between cars from the GTSCC and cars from the HSCC’s Guards Trophy. It is hoped that Jack Sears, who won the 1964 race at the wheel of an AC Cobra, will be on hand to present the awards at the end of the race. His daughter Suzanne will contest this year’s race in an MGB. The grid is thought to the biggest since the original Autosport three-hours ran at the Norfolk track in 1957. Winners of the original Autosport three-hours 1957: Ken Rudd (AC Ace) 1958: John Lawry (Lotus Elite) 1959: Jim Clark (Lotus Elite) 1960: Dickie Stoop (Porsche 356B) 1961: Mike Salmon (Jaguar D-type) 1962: Mike Parkes (Ferrari 250 GTO) 1963: Jim Clark (Lotus 23B) 1964: Jack Sears (AC Cobra) For more details about the HSCC, please visit www.hscc.org.uk -ends- For more information, contact the HSCC on 01327 858400, by fax to 01327 858500 and by e-mail to office@hscc.org.uk For media enquiries, please contact Paul Lawrence on 01952 510382.

News from the Historic Sports Car Club Friday 9 May 2014 400-car entry for HSCC International Trophy With 400 entries for a fabulous 14-race programme, the Silverstone International Trophy (17/18 May) is going to be another highlight of the 2014 season for the Historic Sports Car Club. Sensational entries across the weekend will put huge grids of cars onto the full Grand Prix circuit, with single-seaters, sports, GT and touring cars from the 1950s to the 1980s in action. With a massive 72-strong entry the Guards Trophy is as strong as ever and requires two grids. A key feature this weekend will be the ‘big banger’ sports-racing cars, topped by the Goodwood-winning McLaren M1B of Chris Goodwin and the Lola T70 Spyder of Jon Minshaw. Ranged against the V8 monsters in the Guards Trophy sports-racing field is the Donington winning Ginetta G16 of Graeme Dodd and a gaggle of Chevrons. In the GT section, which has its own 40-minute race on Saturday afternoon, a gaggle of Jaguar E-types will take on the TVR Griffiths. More GT cars of the early 1960s will be in action in Sunday’s opening race, the hour-long GT and Sports Car Cup race. From a 40-car field, Jon Minshaw will start as the man to beat and his opposition centres on more E-types, notably those of Chris Scragg/Matt Nicoll-Jones and Jeremy Welch/Mark Pangborn. Continuing the sports car theme is the weekend’s opening race for the HSCC 70s Road Sports Championship. Defending champion Oliver Ford is the man to beat in his Lotus Europa, but the Silverstone GP circuit should play to the strengths of Julian Barter (TVR 3000M) and Peter Shaw (TVR Tuscan). The HSCC Historic Road Sports Championship shares a grid with the FISCAR series for 50s sports cars and the result is a near-capacity field of 56 cars. In the Road Sports, the rumbling Morgan Plus 8s will relish the chance to stretch their Rover V8 engines as Richard Plant takes on Bruce Stapleton, Roddie Feilden and Thruxton winner Robin Pearce. A wonderful array of cars will contest the FISCAR element of the half-hour race including Jonathan Abecassis, grandson of former period racer George, in an Austin Healey 100/4. Racing both days are contenders in the Martini Trophy for the 2-litre sports-racing cars of the 1970s. What the field may lack in overall quantity, it certainly makes up in quality and it is Graeme Dodd who heads the entry in the Chevron B31 most recently raced to good effect by his son James. Other quick Chevrons include those of Julian Hire (B26) and Andrew Schryver (B23), while Mark Richardson runs his ex-Jo Bonnier Lola T290. However, the major threat to Dodd could be Robert Oldershaw in his non-winged Lola T212. A first class line-up of single-seater racing starts on Saturday with a round of the HSCC Historic Formula Ford Championship. A superb 36-car field is headed by Benn Simms (Jomo JMR7) and rising stars Max Bartell and Michael O’Brien in Merlyns. Half a dozen Formula 5000s top the Derek Bell Trophy field for a pair of races on Sunday, including 1970s category ace Ian Ashley (Lola T330), but they will be hard pressed to contain the quickest of the 1600cc and 2-litre cars and it is the March 79B of Richard Evans that stands out. A fine field will assemble for the Historic Formula Ford 2000 Championship race, which also includes a round of the URS Classic Formula Ford 2000 Championship. Ian Pearson (Van Diemen RF83) is the benchmark in the newer cars, while Benn Simms (Royale RP30) and Andrew Park (Reynard SF81) are among the front-running drivers from the HSCC category. The HSCC Classic Racing Car Championship and the HSCC Historic Formula 3 Championship join together for a race on Sunday and it is hard to see anyone matching the pace of multiple champion Ian Jones in his Lotus 59. Leading 1-litre F3 exponents are Steve Seaman (Brabham BT21), Steve Smith (Chevron B15), Peter Thompson (Brabham BT21) and Benn Simms in what should be his first race in his rebuilt Elfin 600. With a 40-car field, the HSCC/FJHRA Millers Oils Historic Formula Junior Championship round will maintain the quality of the programme. A fabulous entry promises a mighty race and includes the return of former champion Jon Milicevic (Cooper T59) to take on drivers like Callum Grant, David Methley, Andrew Hibberd, Peter Morton, Michael Hibberd and Jack Woodhouse. Finally, a round of the HSCC ByBox Historic Touring Car Championship adds the tin-top element to this fine programme. Reigning champion Tim Davies (Lotus Cortina) is the man to beat but can expect a big challenge from the similar car of Mike Gardiner and the Ford Mustangs of Mike Whitaker and Peter Hallford. On Saturday qualifying is from 9am, with the first of six races at 13.30. On Sunday qualifying is from 9am, with the first of eight races at 11.50. Adult admission is £10 each day. For more details about the HSCC, please visit www.hscc.org.uk -ends- For more information, contact the HSCC on 01327 858400, by fax to 01327 858500 and by e-mail to office@hscc.org.uk For media enquiries, please contact Paul Lawrence on 01952 510382.

From a man I know. Anyone interested? "FOR SALE Lotus Europa TC Project. Galv Lotus chassis + Brace Correct 4speed gearbox and Lotus bellhousing L Blocked engine + bare TC head Front uprights, hubs, discs Front brakes, rack, rack mount, set tired front w bones, Trunnions, engine mounts, Rear uprights, outer drive shafts boot hinges inner door handles Plus other bits and pieces, inc Alternator, starter motor, Smiths speedo, pair UJ yokes, brake master cylinder, coil, pair side flashers Correct V5 in my name Needs body, (New complete body as TC or as Lotus 47, inc doors, boot, bonnet is £4000). Needs paint, interior and glass, carbs, tanks, wheels, rear brakes etc But asking just £2950, so you can build a perfect Lotus Europa TC or a Lotus 47 at much less cost than buying a car that inevitably will need perhaps a full restoration!! kwhittle@btconnect.com

News from the Historic Sports Car Club Wednesday 18 December 2013 Formula 5000s to return to Thruxton The spectacle of Formula 5000 cars back racing at Thruxton will be one of the highlights of the 2014 Thruxton Easter Revival Meeting (19/20 April) during the Historic Sports Car Club-organised race meeting. The 5-litre monsters from the late 1960s and early 1970s will feature in a double-header for the Derek Bell Trophy. It is nearly a decade since Formula 5000s were last unleashed at the Hampshire track and close to 40 years since the final dedicated F5000 race at Thruxton. The Derek Bell Trophy races will also incorporate Formula 2 cars, which will again compete for the Jochen Rindt Trophy. “I’ve been pushing for a long time to take the 5000s there,” said leading F5000 racer Michael Lyons. “I really enjoyed racing at Thruxton in Formula Renault and I love the idea of racing something with 500bhp there. It if doesn’t clash with my GT programme, I’ll be there. Thruxton is a proper circuit for these cars.” The second Easter Revival meeting will mark 46 years since the first Formula 2 event in 1968, which was won by Rindt in his Brabham BT23C. The following season he won again at Thruxton in a Lotus 59 and then completed the hat-trick in 1970 in a Lotus 69. However, six month later, Rindt was killed in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. He duly became the sport’s only posthumous Formula One World Champion. Following Rindt’s death, the British Automobile Racing Club commissioned the Jochen Rindt Memorial Trophy in time for the Thruxton Formula 2 race at Easter 1971 when Graham Hill took victory in his Brabham BT36. Formula 5000 race winners at Thruxton: 1970: Peter Gethin (McLaren M10B) and Frank Gardner (Lola T190) 1971: Graham McRae (McLaren M10B) 1974: Ian Ashley (Lola T330) and Bob Evans (Lola T332) 1975: Ian Ashley (Lola T332) and Teddy Pilette (Lola T400) 1976: David Purley (Chevron B30 – in a ShellSport Group 8 race) For more details about the HSCC, please visit www.hscc.org.uk -ends- For more information, contact the HSCC on 01327 858400, by fax to 01327 858500 and by e-mail to office@hscc.org.uk For media enquiries, please contact Paul Lawrence on 01952 510382.

Full race spec Formula Ford type (Bold Engines is one) are £3-5K. If you look around you can find one in a car for that price. Used AX are available as are all the bits including steel crank (from Ford Comp Dept SkyFord at Hemel Hempstead). 13 800 is not a typo?

Mate of mine has Race car for sale swap.. If you know anyone who is looking for a FF, my beautiful Merlyn 11a and lots of spares together with covered BJ trailer is for sale - asking £20k inclusive or for the right deal? Had a Terry Van Der Zee engine rebuild 4 races ago. Would consider Porsche 911/Boxster, Lotus Elise or what ever interesting p/ex deal? Contact me, Dikko.

updated for your convenience

Ex Caterham man rang to say he has a repaired but not painted Nose Cone for sale. Hitchin, Herts area. Offers 01462 433981 name - Steve Whayley. Dikko.

Now cruising its way to Clive.

Craig now dropped out becuase he would prefer a manual gearchange. Anyone want it? About to go tomorrow most likely.....Subject to call from dealer in the morning... Price of a tow bar for a CRV...

A chap called Craig has been asking after it and he will have first choice but here's the info. A6...It's an Auto 2.4 ltre petrol Saloon (BIG boot, fold-down back seats etc) on W reg with the fancy electronic (Techtronic(?)) gearchange (hardly ever used it). 150,000 or just over on the clock. House hack with tow bar. It will MOT OK (just bloody noticed it's overdue again!) as there are no MOT issues. I can get that done for the £40 extra.See below.. The cutting out happens when the fuel is low and only for about 5 seconds when I gun it for 4 miles... then it carries on as if nothings happened. It had £700 spent on it last year on new fuel pump etc which improved matters but not cured..The oil leak is minor but gets up SWMBO's nose, and the passenger window sticks in wet weather. I'm getting a car in 3 days time so can be without it by using the Lotus. The dealers today have said they can give me a deal for a tow bar to be fitted to the new one in exchange for the car, so that's what I want for it ie the equivalent of a Honda CRV tow bar. I think they are working on the figure of £300. It handles well (I'm impressed actually) it's quiet and the engine is strong. If it does the job for you that's what I want for it..ie a tow bar. Dick D. For my phone no see Herts area AR in mag. Edited by - dikko on 9 Jan 2013 23:41:03

Apparently this superfast cruiser that leaks a little oil, has a passenger window which sticks and occasionally cuts out if it's near empty is only worth that much trade-in. It handles well, goes like stink and scrubs up well. Anyone want one?

For a little more info, I put a used (3 years) Red Top racing battery on my ride-on mower 11 years ago and plug in a Solar charger. Still going strong.

Bugga! Could have done with the head Rog.....must look in For sale more often..... 😔

Roger, if you are back from hols, I would love to know your thoughts.

Herts area Peter Baldwin, Wlshers Garage, Wimpole Nth of Royston.

80 sounds fine and heat sink will make it rise when stopped. If you're worried take stat out. Never run one in 40 odd years.

You did actually tell me to run those 20 years ago (8's in the 7 & 7's in the FF) but I'd got it the wrong way round I thought when you pointed it out 2 years ago. Seemed to go well enough... so then, are the BP6ES a hot plug and maybe too hot? I've also got a technical question on FF Engine cam scrutineering for you if you have 5 minutes thinking time...

Hey hang on! I did mean 8's.... in 2010 SOMEONE said this......... "The 8s are colder and would be recommended for track use over the 7s. But that assumes these grades are suitable for that particular engine spec in the first place and on that I can't comment without knowing a lot more about the engine such as compression ratio, etc. Generally though an 8 is a safe choice in a Crossflow." Now, who was that?

Sorry Rog, meant 7's....... Go back to Cannes Eugene... 😬

Here we go. Rolling road two days ago........................prep was to look at fuel filter and check plugs and dizzy cap - clean and replace. Started missing straight away (at top revs) ignition system working fine, fuel read-outs good. By the end of the run-up it had cleared. "Do you use Millers CVL Octane booster" "Yup" say I........"That'll be it then, it's a regular occurence...." and it was...it seems. When the fault occured it was winter (3 weeks ago) practice was partially wet and the car didn't get up to temp. Come the race a build up of Brown - rust like colouring film on Spark plug electrode (noticed when plugs removed for check) effected the insulation and caused the misfire. Now, Mr King. I have followed your instructions diligently all these years and religiously fitted your recommended plugs (until 3 years ago when I realised I'd got the Seven and the Formula Ford plugs mixed the wrong way round - after 17 years racing) then fitted the right ones... B8ECS instead of B7ECS... Anyway, I was told BP6ES was the way to go to keep the CVL bugs at bay. Ran it up and got extra BHP! (I think the operator can get an extra 100 bhp if he wanted to actually). T'was Peter Baldwins RR I was on and he 'phoned Formula Ford engine builder and racer Simon Davey who recommended the plugs. A bit of an odd one that, would have had me guessing a lot. Saying that, It's not been out yet (until Snetterton 9th June) if it turns out it's still doing it and be fuel surge I'll feel daft for saying all this....However, if I win I'll buy everyone in the club a drink! Peter is a top man and is at Wilshers Garage, between Cambridge and Royston, Herts. Oh, added to say, I used TOTAL petrol for Silverstone from a garage that was running stocks low as it was about to be bought out by Esso. There may have been a quality issue there too. Edited by - dikko on 31 May 2012 09:18:46