C.R.M.C Race Report Pembrey 2009
Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2009 7:22 am
Pembrey awash with Sunshine (for a change)
or how Damian pooped on Matt’s birthday bash
A year on and what a change - a programme full of sidecars and wall to wall sunshine - perfect.
Friday practice had started with that déjà vu feeling but by lunchtime the rain had passed and the sun was out. Sadly one or two of the outfits were still feeling a little fragile after the winter rest, David Le Pavoux and Karl Underwood aboard Gristwood 3 were the first to go, an inspection hatch appeared on both sides of the block and one could inspect that there was no piston or gudgeon pin to be seen in number 4 cylinder.
After signing on and scrutineering noise was the next hurdle to overcome. After the Croft fiasco all circuits are a little bit jumpy and 105dBa is a lot quieter than you think! We had repacked our silencer but were still dangerously close to the limit. Richard Holmes was also prepared but failed at the first attempt. The guys who really struggled were Dave and Keith Latheron - the big twin proving a nightmare to keep quiet. In practice Richard and Samantha’s Lynx Saab seized leaving them to frantically (well Richard) to change motors.
Race 1 Saturday. With all the usual axe men at the front I was surprised how gentlemanly everyone behaved at Hatchetts. I was also surprised, nay shocked, at the speed Matt Kingsmill, with my nephew Andrew in the chair, shot to the front. Damian had his usual Belgian start and at the end of lap 1 still found himself in fourth place. We were trying to keep the BGR Honda out of second place but were failing miserably. Matt led until Hatchetts on the last lap when Damian out braked him to take the win with Brian Gray third, us in fourth and Eddy Wright with new passenger Vicky ahead of the now choked Wessie of Dave and Keith. Top Gristwood was Simon and Dave, Phil and Dave (Gristwood 2) had been removed from the circuit for possibly dropping water at the start!! Reg and Kerry (P2) had ignition gremlins so it was a win in P2 for Andy Rayner and Lorraine Brown and the mighty 650 Triumph.
Race 2 Saturday. Sadly we were red flagged after a nasty incident at Hatchetts where Clive Faulkner and Trevor Thomas had their now heavily documented accident. Suffice to say both are now on the mend, pinned and plated thanks to the air fence. Race 2 - second go. Once again Matt flew to the front, we would make less than one lap - the small oil line to the pressure gauge came off, a weird thing to happen - sabotage - no surely not! Initially it was the BGR Honda chasing Matt down but a self-adjusting gear linkage was slowing Brian. Lap 4 and despite it being Matt’s birthday Damian passed him down the start/finish straight to take the lead. At the flag it was Damian ahead of Matt, Eddy and Vicky in third with Brian and Allan fourth and Dave and Keith Latheron fifth with Gristwood 1 narrowly ahead of Gristwood 2. Reg and Kerry won P2 after the Triumph of Andy and Lorraine refused to start after stalling on the grid. Richard and Samantha seized yet again as did the Ben Gray and David Johnson’s 750 BSA.
Race 1 Sunday. After the karaoke of Saturday night it was nice to get back to the quiet of racing, the exception being Emma Kingsmill who can actually sing where others seem to struggle to carry a tune in a bucket!! Due to our DNF Saturday we had to start at the back of the grid. Phil Luhr (Gristwood 2) said he would beat us into Hatchetts - I said we would be in front of him by the end of the pit wall and we were - just. In fairness he does have Big Dave in the chair, affectionately known to Phil as “Buddha”. Another fact came to light Big Phil himself is another southern softy - too proud to push and just sits on the outfit letting Dave push the whole caboodle to start - precious or what? Although we caught the lead four up by Hatchetts fifth is the best we could do. Brian took the lead from Matt on lap 2, by lap3 Damian was up to second and in fact took the lead on lap 5. Unfortunately he had not seen the yellow flags indicating the dead outfit of Gristwood 1 due to Simon knocking off the distributor cap with his knee for about the eighth time and was given a ten second penalty. Twelve seconds and he would have been behind us!! Once again Reg and Kerry won P2, BSA powered ahead of Andy and Lorraine with the Triumph. Team Roebury went grass tracking bending the expansion pipes on the Kettle. Phil and Dave (Buddha) won the Gristwood battle.
Sunday Race 2. Sadly Matt and Andrew would not come out to play after the BMW consumed a stone in the previous battle. Also Dave and Keith Latheron threw the towel in with a Wessie that couldn’t breathe and was suffering low oil pressure due to over-heating, as a result of the exhaust being blocked. As we rolled down to the collecting area, where our Welsh Rabbit awaited us, Simon Smith and Dave Gristwood were still trying to bleed their brakes after a mammoth rebuild between races. I was shocked to see them on the sighting lap albeit minus a fairing (and sadly two numbers). With Matt missing it was Brian and Allen who took the lead with Eddy and Vicky in hot pursuit. On lap 3 the BGR Honda turned into a twin with electrical gremlins. Once again Damian and Nancy took the flag - we nearly caught Eddy, as they say one more lap etc. Also having a tremendous battle were Gristwood 1 and 2 - at the flag Phil and Dave let the main sponsors past (Simon and Dave). However, the officials deemed the lack of fairing, numbers etc., warranted exclusion - harsh I feel but rules is rules. Reg and Kerry won P2 ahead of Andy and Lorraine with Roebury/Roebury taking P4 honours.
So ended round one of the CRMC championship with some fantastic racing in perfect weather. Next stop Darley Moor. Dennis and Christine Etheridge will be there in P1. In P2 will Andy and Lorraine catch the Charlesworth’s BSA? Hopefully Bill Hodgkins will also be there. Andy was spotted speaking to a Policeman on the M4 on the way home - sadly points don’t always make prizes!! No trailers in the fast lane please! Nick Robinson and Shelli Cooper should be aboard the ex-Ray Reeves Lynx and will hopefully lose their brake shudder in P3. Gristwood 3 should be out again - engine builder permitting!
See you at Darley Moor for another great weekend, Hog Roast, Band etc.
Ian Johnson
P.S. Tyres - the 13” Avon is perfect for width 5.5” max. The new Yokohama 048R 175 60 13 as seen on two outfits is too wide so will need changing. I know one of these drivers has recently retired but as I say rules is rules! In the past if an outfit has an illegible part - such as tyre width - he is allowed to compete at that round. If however the same fault is found at the next round he can still run but will not score points or be awarded trophies etc. Rules is rules!
or how Damian pooped on Matt’s birthday bash
A year on and what a change - a programme full of sidecars and wall to wall sunshine - perfect.
Friday practice had started with that déjà vu feeling but by lunchtime the rain had passed and the sun was out. Sadly one or two of the outfits were still feeling a little fragile after the winter rest, David Le Pavoux and Karl Underwood aboard Gristwood 3 were the first to go, an inspection hatch appeared on both sides of the block and one could inspect that there was no piston or gudgeon pin to be seen in number 4 cylinder.
After signing on and scrutineering noise was the next hurdle to overcome. After the Croft fiasco all circuits are a little bit jumpy and 105dBa is a lot quieter than you think! We had repacked our silencer but were still dangerously close to the limit. Richard Holmes was also prepared but failed at the first attempt. The guys who really struggled were Dave and Keith Latheron - the big twin proving a nightmare to keep quiet. In practice Richard and Samantha’s Lynx Saab seized leaving them to frantically (well Richard) to change motors.
Race 1 Saturday. With all the usual axe men at the front I was surprised how gentlemanly everyone behaved at Hatchetts. I was also surprised, nay shocked, at the speed Matt Kingsmill, with my nephew Andrew in the chair, shot to the front. Damian had his usual Belgian start and at the end of lap 1 still found himself in fourth place. We were trying to keep the BGR Honda out of second place but were failing miserably. Matt led until Hatchetts on the last lap when Damian out braked him to take the win with Brian Gray third, us in fourth and Eddy Wright with new passenger Vicky ahead of the now choked Wessie of Dave and Keith. Top Gristwood was Simon and Dave, Phil and Dave (Gristwood 2) had been removed from the circuit for possibly dropping water at the start!! Reg and Kerry (P2) had ignition gremlins so it was a win in P2 for Andy Rayner and Lorraine Brown and the mighty 650 Triumph.
Race 2 Saturday. Sadly we were red flagged after a nasty incident at Hatchetts where Clive Faulkner and Trevor Thomas had their now heavily documented accident. Suffice to say both are now on the mend, pinned and plated thanks to the air fence. Race 2 - second go. Once again Matt flew to the front, we would make less than one lap - the small oil line to the pressure gauge came off, a weird thing to happen - sabotage - no surely not! Initially it was the BGR Honda chasing Matt down but a self-adjusting gear linkage was slowing Brian. Lap 4 and despite it being Matt’s birthday Damian passed him down the start/finish straight to take the lead. At the flag it was Damian ahead of Matt, Eddy and Vicky in third with Brian and Allan fourth and Dave and Keith Latheron fifth with Gristwood 1 narrowly ahead of Gristwood 2. Reg and Kerry won P2 after the Triumph of Andy and Lorraine refused to start after stalling on the grid. Richard and Samantha seized yet again as did the Ben Gray and David Johnson’s 750 BSA.
Race 1 Sunday. After the karaoke of Saturday night it was nice to get back to the quiet of racing, the exception being Emma Kingsmill who can actually sing where others seem to struggle to carry a tune in a bucket!! Due to our DNF Saturday we had to start at the back of the grid. Phil Luhr (Gristwood 2) said he would beat us into Hatchetts - I said we would be in front of him by the end of the pit wall and we were - just. In fairness he does have Big Dave in the chair, affectionately known to Phil as “Buddha”. Another fact came to light Big Phil himself is another southern softy - too proud to push and just sits on the outfit letting Dave push the whole caboodle to start - precious or what? Although we caught the lead four up by Hatchetts fifth is the best we could do. Brian took the lead from Matt on lap 2, by lap3 Damian was up to second and in fact took the lead on lap 5. Unfortunately he had not seen the yellow flags indicating the dead outfit of Gristwood 1 due to Simon knocking off the distributor cap with his knee for about the eighth time and was given a ten second penalty. Twelve seconds and he would have been behind us!! Once again Reg and Kerry won P2, BSA powered ahead of Andy and Lorraine with the Triumph. Team Roebury went grass tracking bending the expansion pipes on the Kettle. Phil and Dave (Buddha) won the Gristwood battle.
Sunday Race 2. Sadly Matt and Andrew would not come out to play after the BMW consumed a stone in the previous battle. Also Dave and Keith Latheron threw the towel in with a Wessie that couldn’t breathe and was suffering low oil pressure due to over-heating, as a result of the exhaust being blocked. As we rolled down to the collecting area, where our Welsh Rabbit awaited us, Simon Smith and Dave Gristwood were still trying to bleed their brakes after a mammoth rebuild between races. I was shocked to see them on the sighting lap albeit minus a fairing (and sadly two numbers). With Matt missing it was Brian and Allen who took the lead with Eddy and Vicky in hot pursuit. On lap 3 the BGR Honda turned into a twin with electrical gremlins. Once again Damian and Nancy took the flag - we nearly caught Eddy, as they say one more lap etc. Also having a tremendous battle were Gristwood 1 and 2 - at the flag Phil and Dave let the main sponsors past (Simon and Dave). However, the officials deemed the lack of fairing, numbers etc., warranted exclusion - harsh I feel but rules is rules. Reg and Kerry won P2 ahead of Andy and Lorraine with Roebury/Roebury taking P4 honours.
So ended round one of the CRMC championship with some fantastic racing in perfect weather. Next stop Darley Moor. Dennis and Christine Etheridge will be there in P1. In P2 will Andy and Lorraine catch the Charlesworth’s BSA? Hopefully Bill Hodgkins will also be there. Andy was spotted speaking to a Policeman on the M4 on the way home - sadly points don’t always make prizes!! No trailers in the fast lane please! Nick Robinson and Shelli Cooper should be aboard the ex-Ray Reeves Lynx and will hopefully lose their brake shudder in P3. Gristwood 3 should be out again - engine builder permitting!
See you at Darley Moor for another great weekend, Hog Roast, Band etc.
Ian Johnson
P.S. Tyres - the 13” Avon is perfect for width 5.5” max. The new Yokohama 048R 175 60 13 as seen on two outfits is too wide so will need changing. I know one of these drivers has recently retired but as I say rules is rules! In the past if an outfit has an illegible part - such as tyre width - he is allowed to compete at that round. If however the same fault is found at the next round he can still run but will not score points or be awarded trophies etc. Rules is rules!
