Mark Gibson

Thanks all - it certainly seems that the earth is the most likely cause of the problem. I will get this checked out. Mark

Ah, found my original posting here As the brand new rear light clusters didn't solve the problem then would appreciate any other diagnoses for the problem. Thanks.

I posted on this point a while ago but can't find my original thread so apologies for the duplicate posting. When I put my foot on the brake the side light bulbs illuminate in the front headlamps and the numberplate light and rear side light bulbs come on. Believing there to be a problem with the rear light clusters I purchased 2 new clusters and plugged them in only to find that the problem is still occurring. So now I know that there is nothing wrong with the rear lights, does anyone have any ideas of where the problem may be? Any help would be appreciated

Thanks Andrew. You are right about the lines. When I got passed on the last lap, i very nearly crashed into Trevor because I have never had to brake for Rocket on the left hand side of the track before and very nearly locked up. Your son is much more savvy to this than me and I think he practises "off-line" techniques during testing. I do really like the fast circuits and I am really looking forward to Combe - I just hope the conditions allow a "fast" lap rather than the dampish conditions we had last year.

Thanks Matthew and the Hickey Family for all your support this weekend, this was really appreciated. As Matthew said, the car picked up water inside the plug for the crank sensor which meant I qualified 20 seconds slower than pole on Saturday (i.e. last!). We thought we had sorted the problem for the race with a change of plugs and carb balance and I was confident of making up some places during the race but the same problem hit again on the formation lap so needless to say I finished last by 2 laps Fortunately, Dave Pearson and James Russell correctly diagnosed the problem and the water was removed from the plug on Saturday night and I qualified 8th on Sunday morning with my first dry competitive run of the weekend (only 1.4s slower than the previous lap record). The video of the race is only worth seeing for the first lap and the last 5mins because I spent most of the race trying to stay with the battle for 6th place. I managed to move up to 7th with an opportunistic move into Rocket 3 laps from the end but lost the place on the last lap to finish a very close 8th. I am happy with how it went as I had 2 main goals before the weekend. The first goal was to break clear of the group of cars I was battling with at Brands Hatch (who finished 40 seconds behind me yesterday) and the second goal was to keep pace with the front runners (which I sort of managed until the fight for 6th place meant that we split off from the lead group). There is still lots more to learn and more speed to come as I get to grips with the handling of the car but I am really enjoying it. Even Suzanne is becoming more relaxed watching the races.

Chris - i know Caterbram is quick in sorting scores but we normally have to wait until the weekend of the event for the results rather than 7 days before

Hi All, I just thought I would let you know that Matthew Willoughby will be racing at Rockingham this weekend along with all of the other Graduates (Hi James and Roger et al ). I have turned my "I hate Matthew Willoughby" t-shirt inside out and I will be there cheering him on for Saturday and it would be great if you would join us Tickets are £10 for each day and 16s and under get in for free and the ticket allows you full grandstand and paddock access. The Graduates are supported ( ) by the Formula Renault series, Porsche GT3 and Pickup Trucks (Sunday only) - the full timetable is here - although subject to change etc. Matthew's Qualifying and Race 1 are at 11.45am and 3.50pm on Saturday, respectively and Race 2 is at 3pm on Sunday.

I think Rob is right. The flagpole to finish splits for Tom and I were very similar (25.58 secs versus 25.62 secs ) so I suspect that the damage was inflicted through paddock and woodside on the first lap alone. I would love to have watched it as I bet it was breathtaking 😶‍🌫️. Congratulations on a stunning win Tom - well deserved and a champions drive

Us mere mortals in classes 1-5 wont be able to see your start very easily from the paddock and viewing areas but according to the running order, Rob, Darren and Pete will have a ringside seat for the effectiveness of your new launch control 😬 Does this mean you are going to bring in a new PB award for fastest 64ft time

Paul - As I said on the day 😶‍🌫️ - great and clean run. Well done. Just checked my video and I did 12 gear changes on my fastest run 😬

Sounds to me like Rich enjoyed class 4 a bit too much last Sunday then

To whet your appetite for the weekend I know this has been posted before elsewhere but some may not have seen it. Richard Burns tackles Curborough in 1992 in an RS2000 - he has an interesting approach on how to take Woodside 😳 here

Ray - there is no need to use waterproof clothing. I am not competing at Goodwood and would be happy to come along and hold a brolly. If you need any proof of my ability then see here

Simon - where are they based? I am out and about between now and Llandow and seem to recall that they are not too far from me.

Nice one Rob 😬. I think it was a rookie thing to do - i looked to see if I was about to slide into him as I was a bit out of shape because he was compromising my exit at Paddock Hill Bend - I am sure the more experienced guys sense the closeness of a competitor without actually having to look 😶‍🌫️ Some more photos of the weekend (thanks to Michael Calvert, Mark Durrant and Rich Anderson): here As for whether she would have killed me - I doubt it, I just don't think I would have got as big a hug as the one I got in one of the photos above!!

Sorry, only just been trusted to go near computer equipment after the excitement of the weekend. I am pleased to say that Matthew's car sustained no damage over the weekend I had a fab time. Qualifying was daunting having never driven the circuit in that car before but there were only 15 cars on track so it was easy to find space to learn the lines. After the 15min qualifying session I qualified 12th out of 15 for both races and was within 2s of the pole time but was still learning the circuit and how not to kill myself by flinging the car into paddock hill bend flat in 4th gear on list 1As 😳 Race 1 was good but not spectacular. I was the only novice racing driver in the field and remembered to launch when the red light went off and not wait for a green to appear like a novice in a different race did on Saturday Within a few corners, I inevitably lost the lead group and got embroiled in a 3 car battle for my 12th place slot. I was overtaken into Druids hairpin (my braking point and line were terrible) but managed to get the place back by slipstreaming prior to paddock hill bend only to lose the place again at Druids later in the race. I finished 13th but learnt a few valuable lessons. Firstly, you are only close to the car in front if you think your nose cone is touching their rear panel - if you come out from the tow earlier than that then you are unlikely to get past. Secondly, just because you qualify 0.3-0.5s quicker than someone, doesn't mean you will shake them off your tail and they will get past if they are quicker than you at one particular corner or get a good tow from you down a straight. I had a lot to think about on Sat night and had a plan to put into effect for Race 2 but that all evaporated when I found myself plum last by the time I went into Druids hairpin (now my least favourite corner!) on lap 1. I was fuming (and knew Suz would kill me if I finished last) and had the bit between my teeth and set about catching the cars in front. I overtook 14th place by getting a good run out of Graham Hill and into Surtees and then overtook 13th place under braking into Paddock Hill bend (my favourite overtaking manoeuvere and favourite corner) but the gap to 12th was pretty big. I then had clear track and a target to catch and set my fastest lap of the weekend (1s from the pole time) and caught 12th a few laps from the end. While in the process of slipstreaming towards Paddock I saw the last lap board and decided to go for it. I wasn't clearly past by turn in so we ended up going through the corner side by side (evidence here - thanks to Michael for a great shot) which wasn't ideal and we stayed side by side right up to Druids but again - i lost out. In the end I was classified 10th rather than 13th again because of a time penalty and a couple of offs for others. To anyone still reading (sorry for the length of this), to summarise - I had a great time. The Grads are a great bunch of people, really friendly and happy to help with tips, lines etc. But in the race they are firm but fair. Racecraft is going to take me ages to learn but the thrill and level of thinking/planning required to get past someone at approx 100 mph (my average lap time was over 70mph in a 100bhp VX seven on list 1As) that doesn't want you past is pretty special. I still have a fondness for sprinting/hillclimbing but to anyone that thinks I would find it boring after racing - Brands Hatch was great but I don't remember seeing any trees, bridges and reservoirs by the side of the tarmac like there will be at Llys y Fran in 2 weeks time 😳 But, I have been well and truly bitten by the racing bug and I am currently planning on competing at Anglesey in June 16-17 (it will be nice to be there in the summer for a change!) and Thruxton on 28-29 July. Thank you again Matthew for the loan of the car and for the massive technical and emotional assistance over the weekend. You are a star. James - well done on a brillant weekend. 2nd and 3rd place for the races was excellent and truly well deserved from what I heard from family and friends spectating. Thank you also for your help in the build up to and during the weekend. Thanks also to any other Grads reading this who I was able to meet and chat with at Brands - you all helped make my first race weekend so much less daunting. Back to you Matthew for Rockingham on 19th and 20th May. I will be there cheering you on and would be great if anyone else could join me

Clive, you will need to speak to the organisers because I think crossflows have to go into the "Historically Interesting" class Love the name "St Bruno Roughcutter"

Thanks for the reminder Matthew, I had almost completely forgotten about it being this weekend

I am a bit of mechanical numpty and managed to fit mine okay - if you look at the inside of the side skins where your knees are, you will see the recess that they bolt onto.

The retaining channels act as fixed nuts for the 2 hex bolts which hold each side of the windscreen so you only need to use an allen key to remove and refit the windscreen rather than need a spanner as well for the nut on the inside (and before Ray gets involved, I am not talking about myself there). The channels only benefit you if you are going to need to refit the windscreen at the end of each event as it just means you can get home quicker (and less wet before you can get the roof back on!). Come to think of these channels now, I have a full aeroscreen and cage so my channels are sitting in a box in the loft. I can bring them along to Llandow, Llys y Fran, Curbs, Gurston etc if you want to take a look and potentially buy them. Mark

I have also fitted one with rivnuts and never saw any holes when the windscreen went back on. When you take your windscreen off there should be a grubby mark 😳 where the rubber met the paintwork on the scuttle - as long as you make sure you line up all the holes with the grubby marks they will be invisible when you refit the windscreen Oh, and I recommend these if you are going to be regularly taking off and replacing the windscreen: here and here

Just a reminder that Matthew's first Classic Grads race day is at Donington on Saturday. Qualifying is at 10.30am, Race 1 is at 1.30pm and Race 2 is at 4.05pm (times subject to change etc...). I will be there all day watching so come and say hi

Thanks for the rapid response Richy, I will take a look.

I have a strange problem with the electrics on my rear light clusters. While checking the car before getting it on the road I noticed that the brake lights come on when the side lights are on but work perfectly fine (ie come on and off with the brake pedal) when the side lights are off. There are no safety concerns with driving during the day because the brake lights work fine but would be worried about driving in the dark. I have searched the forum for advice but couldn't find any similar problem. Is this an easy fix or should i take it to a garage? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Mark

Yep - my bad. Missed Simon - sorry!