RogerLegg

In answer to your questions

It is not possible to camp overnight at Hethel.

I understand that it is possible to leave competition cars in the car park adjacent to the main gate. This car park is not secure but it is right next to the security gate and this is manned 24/7.

 To quote last year's finals "Attached are two car passes which must be displayed in the windscreen of your tow car and a support car. No passes can be issued at the entrance gate. Please do not tell friends or club members to ‘just turn up’ as they will be denied access." These were sent by email for you to print out.

These layouts are what Borough 19 used up to last year. I assume that they have not been updated.

I drove this event last year. The sprint course consists of 1 and a third laps (rather like Llandow where you do about 1 and two third laps). For practice there is only one run but it consists of two full laps plus another one third of a lap. As Comp Scorer says the second practice lap is a flying lap.

I hope this is clarified in the course guide in the competitors area.  

The weather is quite unpredictable at this time of the year (April Showers) and so the conditions are likely to be changeable.  Although it might be more interesting to do both circuits, my vote would go for doing the sprint circuit all day to get the maximum practice, but I will not be upset if the majority want to ring the changes.

My form has gone in

Hi Graham

Thanks for organising this. Please put me down for a place.

Roger

Hi Mark

When I bought my clubman trailer it had a PRG Tyre Rack fitted. It might be worth speaking to them about tyre racks and boxes. Another possibility is to get Jerry Can Holders from Machine Mart. My son has been using them for years without any problems.

Roger

There are only two coned chicanes added for the sprint. On the track day there was one coned chicane. The sprint has one in much the same place but it will slow you down, unlike the one put in for the track day! The second chicane is the bus stop that is a permanent feature of the track. A bit like the bus stop at Llandow but not so deep. The third chicane is at the entry to Clark corner at the end of the Fittipaldi straight (used to be factory straight). This slows down the entry to the following right hander but it is early enough to allow full speed through the series of corners going past the paddock. I don't think it takes away the challenge of that sequence of corners. You still have to be spot on the correct line to get a good time.

The finish line is before the breaking point for the chicane.

As I have actually driven the sprint course I will give it a go.

Looking to the future, if we want to encourage new members to class 2 then we must make it appear as though they have a chance of success. I guess many of the potential sprinters will, by now, have Sigma engines. The standard upgrade from Caterham was to 150 bhp and now to 140 bhp, both having 120 Nm of torque. Interestingly Caterham quote the same 0-60 time for the 140 as the 150! To get any more than this will involve considerable expenditure.

A big selling point of the club championship is that there are classes for all Caterhams but we are in danger of having only one class for "standard" cars, namely class 1. Anyone who has a Roadsport 140 or a Supersport will only have 140 bhp and may well be put off class 2 if they are up against modified cars with more power and torque. It would seem sensible to have class 2 catering for these potential recruits.

I would not wish to lose any of the current competitors but I see no logical reason why class 3 has to have the same engine specification as class 2. By having a higher power limit in class 3 provides an upgrade path for those wishing to modify their cars. We must not put off new recruits who have a standard package as supplied by Caterham so I would support a power limit of 150 bhp in class 2 starting in 2016. Most of the current competitors will be able to meet this.

As regards power testing, we don't want to put off potential recruits, so we shouldn't be asking for these to be done by everyone. We could request power runs from a competitor who appears to have more power than the rest of the class from either speed checks, or from results, at the discretion of the Competition Secretary or a small sub committee.

I like Alan's suggestion for the Edward Lewis Points. It seems like a simple solution to the problem.

I would also support using 7 scores rather than the 5 we have at present thus bring the Edward Lewis Competition in line with the main championship.

I fully agree that we should display the current year's sticker. I am surprised that it is not already a requirement.

As regards the number of runs the more the better. It is clear that I need the practice so, like others, I feel that more runs gives us more value and more track time, particularly when I have travelled a large distance to get to the event. 

The main thing that encouraged me to purchase a Caterham rather than one of the competition was the ability to find competition with similar cars. In my local championship and, indeed in the Westfield (wash my mouth out) championship it is often the amount that you spend on the car that decides the winner. This makes it impossible to get competition with competitive cars if you have a standard car. 

Classes 1 and 2 should allow the best driver to win the class with a "standard" car on road tyres. Class 1 has managed this with most cars being standard road cars or ex academy versions. Class 2 is allowing more and more mods. 1.8 engines clearly have more torque and thus an inbuilt advantage over 1.6 engines. The concept of limiting classes by power is a good one and I guess that we have to apply the current proposals for next year.

We should be encouraging more new entrants who have unmodified cars and would like to have a go without being outclassed by cars that are more competitive in the same class. We also need to satisfy the current competitors. It will not be possible to get a completely level playing field but Mike's suggestion to have 130bhp for class 1 and 150 for class 2 in the future would equate to the cars that have been produced by Caterham recently and might encourage more new entrants. Those that want to modify their cars would then have ample opportunity in the higher classes. I would suggest that a higher limit could be allowed in class 3 (probably 160) thus providing a route for those members of class 2 who could not get their cars down to 150. 

Tax discs are no longer being issued by DVLA but the clubs need a method to ensure that our cars are taxed. In the past scrutineers have looked at the tax disc on the car but this is no longer possible. My local club have given out advice that from next year they will require to see the receipt that you obtain from DVLA when you tax the car so it is important that competitors keep this document and take it to sprints together with the MOT and insurance certificate.

Thanks to Merrick and all involved. A great day, well organised and on one of the best tracks in the country. Norfolk is one of the driest counties in the UK and the weather couldn't have been better.

I have booked a garage as requested and received confirmation from LDMC. I also understand that Chris has provisionally arranged that Robert, Richard and myself will book the three garages for the club.

Roger 

Here is a list of B&Bs that are within 15 miles of Hethel that I produced for the speed championship. I haven't used any of them so I have no idea of the quality.

YewTree House Bed & Breakfast (2.5 miles)

Silfield Street, Silfield, Wymondham, Norfolk

NR18 9NS

Contact: Mrs Angela Phillips Tel: 01953 602216 Mobile: 07835109890

E-mail: angelaphillips24@yahoo.co.uk

Meadow Farm Bed and Breakfast (4 miles)

3 Meadow Cottages, Brick Kiln Lane, Mulbarton, Norwich

NR14 8AJ

Tel: 01508 578042

Holiday Inn Norwich (7 miles)

Ipswich Road, Norwich

NR4 6EP

0871 942 9060

Travelodge Hotel - Norwich Cringleford (8 miles)

Thickthorn Service Area, A11 / A47 Interchange, Norwich Southern Bypass, Norwich

NR9 3AU

Tel: 0871 984 6205

Caistor Hall Hotel (8.5 miles)

Caistor Sty Edmunds, Norwich

NR14 8QN

01508 494998

South Norfolk Guest House (8.5 miles)

Frith Way, Great Moulton, Norfolk

NR15 2HE

01379 677359

Sherbourne House (9 miles)

8 Norwich Road, Attleborough, Norfolk

NR17 2JX

01953 454363

Best Western George Hotel (10 miles)

Arlington Road, Norwich

NR2 2DA

0845 373 0882

Bluebell Barn B&B (11 miles)

Long Lane, Banham, Norfolk

NR16 2DF

01953 861386 (Mark or Karen)

Premier Inn - Norwich West (Showground/A47) (11.5 miles)

Longwater Interchange, Dereham Road, New Costessey, Norfolk

NR5 0TP

Tel: 0871 527 8834

Best Western Brook Hotel (13 miles)

2 Barnard Road, Bowthorpe, Norwich

NR5 9JB

01603 741161

St Edmundsbury B&B (13.5 miles)

The Street, Old Costessey, Nr Norwich

NR8 5DG

01603 745959

The Ugly Bug Inn (15 miles)

High House Farm Lane, Colton, Norwich, Norfolk

NR9 5DG

01603 880 794

I have been told that this is the forum to make suggestions for next year’s rules so here goes.

The Edward Lewis Cup competition is currently giving a considerable advantage to any competitor who has a fastest time that was set in wet conditions and then has a dry run this year. This can lead to a large score that is not representative of their improved performance. I cannot see an easy way of measuring how wet a track is but we could change the way that the overall score is calculated to reduce the affect. I would like to make two suggestions, one or both could be implemented in 2015, and see what other competitors think.

1. Simply increase the number of events to count from 5 to 7 as in the main championship. (This would reduce the affect of one large score)

2. Discount a driver’s best score in the overall result. (This would remove the affect of one large score caused by a previous wet time but would penalise a driver who did particularly well at one event).

Roger

Hi Chris

Please put me down for a garage place at Anglesey

Thanks

Roger

Hi Quitarguy

I am in class 2 and I use A539s. I have 13" wheels because I always understood that they are lighter and have less inertia so they should accelerate better. It is also noticeable that all the race cars use 13" wheels. Unfortunately all this theory doesn't seem to get me to go any faster but I think that you will find most of class 1 use 13" wheels as well. I have A359s in 185/60 on 6" rims which will give you a bit more rubber on the road and slightly larger rolling diameter than 175/60.

Roger

Chris

The form asks for a name and mobile number of someone at the meeting to be contacted in an emergency. As I shall be there on my own do we have such a person?

It can be a bit confusing as you have to enter each event individually and each organising club has its own way of doing things. If you go to Competitors Corner and click on "Event, Results and Regs" you will get a page entitled Speed Championship. At the bottom of this page there is a table entitled "2014 Provisional Speed Championship Calander". Under the events column click on the "Events" link for the first event at Blyton Park. You should now get an entry form. You print it out and fill it in manually and then send it off to Shelley Wakeling (address on the form) together with a cheque.

I hope this is helpful.

My cycle wing repeaters have suddenly stopped working. I replaced the bulbs and that made no difference. I have checked the wiring and both have a good earth back to the chassis. I have checked all the fuses and they are OK. The hazard light switch was playing up so I have replaced it and I have also replaced the flasher relay. Any ideas?

Just to clarify the situation the indicators work perfectly. The hazard switch turns on all four indicators. The only part of the circuit that does not work are the repeaters and these both stopped working at the same time.

Edited by - RogerL on 15 Feb 2014 13:41:55

By clicking on the Entry tag you will get to the Mini Cross Drivers Association page containing a table of various for documents. I went to the "MDA Blyton Series Entry Form" and clicked on it. This gets you the form underneath the table of documents and there is a print tag at the bottom. Click on the print tag and you will get the form you need. It is a general entry form and you have to fill in the date of the event. This has worked for me as I have received a text message (like Chris) to say that my entry has been accepted.

I hope this helps.

Roger