News now for later in the year, the formal handing over of the equipment won in the Shell Helix Competition is due to take place in August/September. Tony Mason suggesting the Simmonite Sisters could appear (not again) and do the presentation. Details are a bit sketchy at the moment as much depends on the availability of guests etc. We can say however that it will be at the Rolls-Royce Welfare, big screen video etc. The good news is that admission will in all probability be free, and any profits from Raffles etc. to go to charity. Maybe we could combine it with our 21 years as a club celebration. Watch this space for further news of this event.
Welcome back to competition to Ian Winstanley and Christine Hurst, who are hoping to compete on Garstang's Night Rally in July With Paul Burns and Rachael Charmbury out, plus Bill Chadwick and Abigail (Neil's girlfriend) also rumoured to be out, that makes not only three crews competing for league points but three mixed crews all from the same club, well done!!! God willing and a fair breeze, we may still make it six in a row on the league front, lets hope so. Especially if Alan continues to use Ian's road car on the Autotest's as he did on our own event.
What next, thanks to Neil for his regular snippets to the newsletter, it's a pity that there are so few people who contribute, it only takes a few minutes to write something to amuse or inform your fellow club members. With Alan and I not competing regularly, I'm struggling to think of something each month. Remember it's open house, give me a good "slagging off' if need be, but be prepared for retaliation.
Due to a variety of circumstances only two members of the committee were able to turn up at the last meeting so that an official meeting could not take place and the arrangements for the AGM were not made, however as it is our custom to hold the AGM in June we have decided to go ahead with it. I hereby give notice that the 1995 AGM of The Pendle District Motor Club will be held on Wednesday 28th June at 8pm, at Earby Cricket Club.
Agenda's, together with the Balance sheets will be available on the night. Nominations (if any) for all Official Posts and Committee members should be sent to the Secretary to arrive not later than first post 26th June and should be seconded by a paid up member. If you feel that you could do a better job than one of the officials then get someone to nominate and second you for the post. If you think that there are things you would like to see altered or things done which are not done at the moment then come along and have your say, if you are a paid up member then it's your club, come to the AGM and let's hear from you. Anyone needing further details please contact me. Well that's about it for now from me so cheerio and see you at the AGM.
Rod
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As is becoming the norm on the road rallies, Abigail and I try and make a day out of the drive to noise/Scrutineering. This time we decided to soak up the rays on Hest Bank sands. I knew the exact location where we were going to have our picnic as I lived in nearby Bolton-Le-Sands for 11 years. The weather was lovely and we had a lovely lunch, thank you Abigail. My attention span is quite short (some of you may have noticed) so after a while I decided to go for a burn in the L reg Escort 1.6 on the sands. Just to familiarise myself with the car's handling characteristics, not because I get a kick out of such immature behaviour, you understand. To cut a long story short, THE END. (sorry) I got stuck in a small channel and it cost £60 to have me rescued! I was 3.5 miles away from Hest Bank and nearer to Flookbrugh than the shore. A great source of amusement at the Autotest the next day. Thanks Bill !!
All of the above antics took over five hours, by which time Abigail's patience was wearing a bit thin. Apparently people mistook her for a bag woman, wrapped in a blanket and carrying her Asda bag. So we set off for something to eat and to get rid of all the sand on the car wheels as this was causing massive vibrations. We arrived at Burton Services with a car that looked like it had been used on the Safari Rally.
After signing on we started to plot our blackspots/giveways etc. It was nice to see some friendly faces amongst the crowd, namely Bill Chadwick and Paul Burns. It took longer than usual to plot all the information onto the maps, as sheets 96 & 97 have a large overlap and need a lot of information duplicated.
At this point I would like to say that I don't like people who moan, whinge, skrike or whatever you want to call it. This is why I find Nigel Mansell so detestable. He has a job that most men would give their right arm for and yet he still whinges. I think it has something to do with the fact that all his fellow Grand Prix drivers date models and he has to put up with Roseanne! Nelson Piquet put it very eloquently when he said "Mansell is a thick blockhead with an ugly wife". That season Mansell's tyre blew up, Murray Walker said he was out of fuel. Mansell said "I'm not one to complain, but it was Piquet's fault". All that said I'm going to whinge.
In the newcomers class were drivers and navigators who have competed for some time with good results. Also one crew went as far as to have an extra person in the car with them, who I hasten to add was not belted in. Moan over with.
The roads used were absolute belters. Such things as hairpins, ninety degree corners on 1 in 5 hills (at this point I discovered where the rev limiter was 7000 rpm) and some scary moorland roads. I know now why people used to rave on about such Road Rallies as the Devils Own, R.L.Brown and the Illuminations. We were having a nice ding dong with Simon Lamb/Mark Savage (son of Kevin) and another crew in a 16v Astra (complete with magnesium wheels, cage etc.) We would enter and leave a control at pretty much the same time, which showed a few things. Firstly Abigail's plotting is up to the pace of our class and also the Astra crew couldn't drive to save their lives!
Unfortunately the results did not tell us how we were doing up until we went OTL, although I think we were doing our best to date. But they did tell us that we arrived at TC4 at 12.05. At which time we were leaving Burton Services on the M6! I think they meant 01.05 but they still gave us 87 penalties instead of the 16 it should have been! Other mistakes included a fail for a code board that we did collect and 62 penalties at the finish (MTC3). I think the results computer was, as they say in Eire "wired to the moon". I suppose we could have protested, but it would only have moved us up one or two places and we didn't really care for hanging about any longer than necessary, as relationships between myself and Abigail were a little sensitive to say the least. To the extent where Abigail didn't talk to me all the way home. I'm sorry for being critical and I do understand that the navigator has more work to do than the driver.
This was our third event together and like the Garstang Road Rally we fell up on the timing. Our next event will be the Westmorland on the 22nd of July, as I'll be at Silverstone for the Grand Prix when the Gordon Musgrave Rally takes place. Although Abigail might be out with Bill on that event, hoping for a good result, if only to prove that it's me that is at fault.
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Marlboro had laid on free Hotel accommodation for myself and a guest at the Forte Crest in Milton Keynes. So come Wednesday night myself and Keith (a drinking buddy of mine) set off for Bedfordshire. We arrived around nine o'clock. After checking in we went to find something to eat. After a Pizza we returned to the hotel to have a few pints and watch the end of 'Rocky IV'. I decided that it wouldn't be a good idea to hit the mini bar in my room as I needed to be at Silverstone at 08.30. The room was a non-smoking room, this was rather odd, as the only reason I was there was because I was a smoker.
On arrival at the circuit we were directed to the BRDC Suite where we were given our itinerary, name tags and a Marlboro sweatshirt. The first activity was the saloons.- This involved driving a Peugeot 306 S16 around the full circuit with an instructor showing you where to brake, turn in and clip the apex.
So off I went, the circuit was very wide and very smooth. I didn't like any of the new corners. My favourite was Woodcote. On my first run most of my marks were between 80 and 100 percent. Although I dropped some points for not braking enough before turning in and therefore carrying too much speed into the corner, not letting the car run wide on the exit and not being smooth with the application of the power. Totally out of the blue the instructor asked me to heel and toe when changing from 4th to 3rd just after Bridge. I have never even tried this before, so I scored badly for my feeble attempt. Although I held the fastest lap time in my group by some.
The next time I went out it was a different instructor. My scoring for the use of brakes, steering and throttle were all 100 percent. Again I lost points for my exits. I thought I was quite relieved that this instructor didn't ask me to heel and toe. Although this meant no points for that exercise which brought my 'use of gears section' down from 80% to 60% which I felt was a bit harsh. He was meant to be in charge, or did he want me just to demonstrate all I could do? If that was the case I should have shown him my 'Neil Surprise' this requires great nerve and good co-ordination and involves barrel rolling the car! We fell out at the end of the session because he deducted more marks for riding the clutch and I pointed out that my foot wasn't actually on the clutch but hovering over it and even if it was on the clutch it still hadn't altered the fact that I was still the fastest. How to win friends and influence people by Neil Bye!
Next up was the Go-Karts. I knew there would be Karting at some stage of the day. So three days beforehand I'd popped along for half an hour of practice at Colne, sneaky Eh? The track at Silverstone was a big disappointments It was basically an oval and a small one at that. More akin to something you would find at Morecambe Pleasure Beach and not what I expected at the so called 'Home of British Motor Racing'. I think they should make an exact replica of the Grand Prix circuit. After a brief practise session which had me aching all over, due to being shunted by two Karts and the fact that all the comers were left handers, so my right arm was really pumped up. It was on with the racing, four races in all, starting from 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th (last) on the grid. I was first in three and last in one, a touch of red mist whilst trying to get up from 4th on the grid.
Next up was high speed passenger rides, in either a Caterham with Eugene O'Brien (former works Peugeot BTCC) or Escort Cosworth with Simon Harrison (current works Peugeot BTCC). Unlike most I wanted to go in the Cossie. Its engine was standard but it had better suspension and was running on Slicks. Or wasn't running on them, because on most corners it felt and sounded like the tyres were coming off the rims!
Next up was lunch, it was now that I learnt whether or not I had made the final 20. Apparently the Karting was just a bit of fun, so the race wins didn't help me. So it was purely on the saloons and what with the points I'd lost for riding the clutch and not doing heel and toe put me out of the top 20. I was gutted, it seemed a bit odd that the fastest saloon driver and the one with three Kart wins should not be in the final. This meant that I didn't get to have a go in the Formula First cars or the Caterham. As a consolation prize I was to go rallying with Terry Kaby and to have a 4x4 lesson with the former rally driver Jan Churchill, who used to drive Porsches in the Mintex Championship.
When my group arrived at the Rally School we were informed that we were over an hour late. The organisation left a lot to be desired. The words couldn't organise a party in a brewery sprang to mind. So I only got a brief run in a 306 XSi. The track we used was very tight and short, I never moved out of second gear. With the time problems, I didn't get a run with Terry Kaby at the wheel on the proper gravel.
Next up was the 4x4 Discovery, I wasn't that bothered about this, but in the end I quite enjoyed it. At one stage the water was up to the bottom of the windows! It was relaxing after all the hustle and bustle of the previous activities. Then it was off to the BRDC suite to find out the four finalists and to meet up with Keith and the other guests who had been kept busy with Go-Karts, Passenger rides, Quads, Skid Cars and a reverse steer truck.
Every time we returned to the BRDC suite, Marlboro had kindly laid on open packets of fags, so of course I pocketed as many packs as I could. In the end I had 12 packs! Not to mention the ashtrays I liberated and the freebies they gave us at the end, such as rugby shirt, T-shirt and other little goodies. It was a great day out and thoroughly enjoyable. If I was to have paid for all the activities, accommodation and free gifts the bill would be well over £600. It was nice to get something back from the Tobacco giants. Being honest with myself I don't think I would have won a car, because of my lack of experience. But I would like to have driven a single seater.
On these days the instructors teach you how to drive straight from their text book. I feel that there is not just one definite way to drive quickly. After all Villeneuve's method was quite different to Prost's and the same could be said for Delecour against Sainz. I think it's more individual than the instructors have you believe. I've read some books on driving Front Wheel Drive cars, and they all mention 'trail braking', the instructors didn't mention that at all. So it just goes to show there is more than one way to skin a cat, my lap times showed that as well.