Brands Hatch, May 15/16 2004

After Mallory I did a dyno run at Road and Track in Aylesbury. Well worth it. Wanted to get the new Amal Mk2 jetted right and to find out if the velocity stack/bell mouth helped or hindered, if avgas gives more power and to get the timing right for the fuel mix I chose.

Answers were

• bellmouth screwed things up - removed
• 50/50 avgas/4* no discernable difference from 4*, so go with the 4* as I can buy it locally, and recheck if I ever up the compression ratio
• At 46deg the timing was too advanced for the 4*, bring back to 42 deg BTDC
• main jet perfect
• needle needed lifting by 1 slot

Arrived at Brands Friday night to find that the only grass for pitching a tent was way up the hill from the main paddock, so I assumed there'd be little to no wind and pitched on the tarmac, tying it to the trailer and petrol can

Having landed from the US that morning, I was still jet lagged and slept badly, waking several times before dawn. Finally gave up at 6 ish. Brands Hatch has great showers!! Shame i didn't bring a towel...

Bacon roll and a cup of tea and contemplate the bike. Slight weep from the LH fuel tap joint so tighten it a tad. Subtle cracking noise from inside the tank and petrol starts to flow from a small fold in the braze round the tap boss. Damn, petseal has cracked. Drain tank and go to sign on. Interminable queue but TGA is open when I get back and has some quick cure Araldite. Slap that on and wish it to cure in time to get scrutineered before practice. Try sitting tank at optimum angle to the sun to get some heat in it. By 9.10 it's set, so off to scrutineering and all's ok.

Practice called so fill with fuel and hope it stays in. Practice uneventful but Paddock Hill just disappears. Very scary Bike goes really well and the fuel stays where it should.

The Author in the paddock 

Race 1

Row 5, 21 in a full grid of about 32

Make up about 5 places before Paddock hill and discover I'm going faster than some. Take one on the brakes in the melee round Druids and another after Graham Hill and another round Clearways. I spot Dave Wildey up ahead and start to try to close, but there's a red flag at the end of the s/f straight and someone in the gravel down the hill. (Steve Crook, thankfully just a cracked rib)

Wait at the start and they say it'll be re-run. Signal to start engines, but it won't, and won't and won't. A marshal yells "carb" and I look down to see it hanging off, and yell back for a screwdriver while pushing it off the track. Look closer to see that the bloody rubber has split - but it's new FFS!  

Thank marshal for finding a screwdriver and push back to the paddock, buy new rubber from TGA and sit in the stand with friends to watch some great racing, esp the Group 2 500s (pre '73 Clubman machines) No Manx's but loads of stuff from BSA 500 specials through 500 Triumphs to a Ducati 450. 

Phil Read (world champion 8 times) is making an appearance on a Duke BSA from the Netherlands. He starts from half way down the grid and works his way forward to 2nd place and a splendid battle ensues between Dave Witt on the Ducati 450, Phil Read and Tim Jackson on a Norton/BSA (guess it's a Goldie in a featherbed but I'm not sure). 

Ends up Jackson, Read, Witt. 

Brilliant to watch!

Race 2

Fitted new carb rubber, but was chatting to a friend and missed the paddock announcements. Oops. dash off to the collecting area and the sighting lap is already underway. They allow me to start from the pit lane, but it stalls and won't start again. Cross? me???

Assumed battery had died, and pushed it back to the paddock. Subsequent investigation showed that an HT lead had come off the coil. WHAT??? HOW???

HT leads reattached and held in place with a cable tie

Out with friends for a pub meal stopping at Asda for a towel, and later on a few beers with Mark George and co - he was stripping his LC350 because his front brake lever had been broken by a guy on one of the big Kawasakis going in to Druids, resulting in big black mark from the rear and a slide into the gravel. It ingested a stone which damaged a piston. Not happy, particularly as the guy didn't even turn up to apologise. Mark is a scrute, so there may be some settling up later on!

Sunday

Sleep well but wake to smell of petrol from the bike. Tank leaking again, so same procedure but without the time pressure as my first race is not till late am

Eldert from the Netherlands (on the bevelheads list) drops by for a chat - he's over supporting his brother.  They have a really neat small caravan designed for carrying a snowmobile so it has double doors at the rear.  Must find one! 

Race 3

24th on the grid (quite some attrition!) Good start and I get to about 12th by Clearways. Couple go past on the s/f on the 2nd lap including Dave Wildey, but I stay with him and we swap positions several times - he's a tad quicker down the straight (he's short and wiry, probably 2 st lighter) but I have better brakes and we're cornering at the same speed. He beats me by 12 seconds

12th out of 23, Best lap 1.06.17. Full results at http://www.crmc.co.uk/results/brands04/r8a.pdf 

Close, but no National signature.     Good picture by a pro -

Petrol stayed in, but it was vibrating a bit, feels like the chain was too tight. Puzzled as to how, but I slacken it off a little anyway

Race 4

Off to the collecting area in good time!

Nice picture by Althea Wroblewska showing an Ariel Arrow back right,  Mike Harrison's immaculate Ducati in the foreground and a Greeves on the left

 Half way up the grid. 

Sighting lap; the vibration is better but still there. Look down on the grid and notice a rear engine bolt is rotating. WTF!!! They are nyloc nuts so it won't get any worse so I decide to continue, relieved that it's not the gearbox bearing disintegrating!