Lydden Hill October 27^th 2001

This was the last outing of the season for us and both Fos and Spadge were racing the G4 at the friendly circuit in deepest Kent. It was a glorious, sunny day; perfect for Fos’s first race in the car. The weather was also welcome bearing in mind that we had removed the roof and refitted the aeroscreen at Fos’s request. (Old boy, you see, can't get in with the hard top fitted!)

Fos was first to practise and put in a 54.3.  Bear in mind that there were no other similar cars out with us. The grid contained such things as Radicals, Bike engined Caterhams, V8 Escort etc. and they were all on slicks. So, not only did we have to concentrate on going as quickly as possible, we had to keep watching the mirrors and the blue flags! Why enter? You may well ask: It’s inexpensive, friendly and about the only thing left to get into.

A couple of minor technicalities saw our helper Joe running up to the team van on a number of occasions, so many thanks to him. With time between practices so short there was no time to return to the pit.

Spadge put in a conservative 57.7 in his first practice and a 56.8 in the second and was to be seen consulting the book of motor racing excuses thereafter.

Fos did well in his race, not yielding his line to a pair of Radicals who subsequently swapped some paint at Paddock Bend and put in a fastest lap of 53.00 – Old git!

Spadges first race was a bit lonely but saw an improvement to 55.7seconds, but the last race of the day was the most fun. As a handicap race, the G4 stood far more chance. Also, a Triumph Spitfire was alongside the G4 on the grid – someone to race with!

Spadge made a good start and went ahead of the Spitfire. Despite being overtaken by much of the hairier stuff, he managed to stay ahead, just, of the Spitfire until the chequered flag. There were one or two moments where it was extremely close indeed. It was excellent fun and a time 54.2 was posted. Position 7 out of 12. Still slower than the old git though, which proves that he’s still got it at 70 years of age! Well done Fos.

As you may have read elsewhere on the site, Mark Smith did well in his G18 so it was smiles and bubbly all round – a very good way to end the season.

Snetterton “Top Hat Best of British Sports Cars Race” 21st October 2001

The weather forecast was not great so we left the hard top on and applied yet more Rain-x as we did not have any workshop time available to sort out some wipers. It was a damp drizzly day to start with but conditions could have been a lot worse for practice. The car went well and despite a throttle linkage niggle which limited us to 5,500 revs Spadge had good fun up against an MGA twin cam Le Mans which he eventually beat. There was a troublesome MGB that seemed to be fighting it’s way around every corner. When he eventually spun exciting Russell Chicane Spadge followed suit, in parallel! They both recovered at the same time and went off up the straight side by side. Having qualified with a slippery 1.52 along with the rest of the class except one, Spadge was confident that a class win and the MGB and a few others would be his once he had all the revs.

Nick was having a day off so Dave and James formed the technical team, ably assisted by Dave’s brother Tony, who was seriously considering a Mini having seen them go so well in the Touring Car Race. With the car fettled, cleaned and topped up, we had high hopes for the race. We were the last of the day and for a while things began to dry out nicely.

The drizzle got steadily heavier and we all had our lights on for a decidedly gloomy and slippery start. Spadge had a cautious start as it looked rather frantic at the first corner and he was well aware that Fos had yet to race the car so damage was to be avoided. Over the next couple of laps he made up a few of the places and things were going well.

THEN THE HEAVENS OPENED. Several places in East Anglia had the rain of one month in one day, we had it in one race! Several cars left the track immediately, and it was now apparent that Rain-x was good, but no substitute for wipers. But this wasn’t the only problem. The old Yokohamas, which were OK in the damp, offered nothing in this monsoon. As the white G4 tip-toed through Coram Spadge totally lost it. It seems everything went into slow motion and he heard a Pink Floyd “OHHH NOOOO” in his ears as the car slid towards the posts. Then somehow it snapped back facing the right way again. Even careful application of the accelerator caused another huge moment.

With confidence and morale badly shaken Spadge was seriously considering pulling off and calling it a day. It was a 25 lap race, not many laps had been completed, it was no fun, the risk of damage was large and the car was running at the back. For some reason he kept going and was extremely relieved when the chequered flag came out.

The Marshalls, all of whom did an excellent job (particularly with the pretty blue flags) were soaked wet through; so it was gratifying that they all gave the G4 and probably the other competitors too, a big cheer and animated applause.

We had had a nice lunch in the sponsor’s tent/suite and this excellent hospitality was continued at the prize-giving where beer and wine flowed freely for those not driving home. We were awarded a “welcome/finishing” trophy and a fudged 3^rd in class. The organisation of Julius Thurgood and his team was superb and once the race was over it was an extremely enjoyable experience.

We can thoroughly recommend these events and fully intend to be out with ourselves and customers next year. So far we have 3 G4s and a G12 who are committed to Top Hat events along with our regular HSCC events.

Further details of the schedule next year will be available from us as soon as they are available from Julius at Top Hat and the HSCC.

Next up and last event of the year is Lydden Hill on Saturday 27 October.  The roof is coming off so Fos can get in and out and we are praying for a nice dry day!