To race or not to race...
Our last visit was 1989, 26 years ago!
Dave Thomas, Ray West and Alan Roper still racing
Alan Roper Rover SD1 & Mostyn Rutter in action again this time 25 years later at Donington Park
Tuesday, 4 August 2015
Pembrey
Alan Roper Rover SD1 & Mostyn Rutter in action again this time 25 years later at Donington Park
Saturday, 1 August 2015
Brands Hatch Race
Mostyn Rutter - Vauxhall Firenza Droopsnoot 2.3 - Brands Hatch - 25th/26th July 2015
An horrendous 7 x hour journey in heavy rain did not dampen our enthusiasm as we arrived at Brands Hatch on Friday evening. Refuge was found in the Kentagon Pub as the blustery weather made getting the tent up late on Friday night a task no one was willing to take on, however a couple of pints and some hot food soon gave us a sense of false optimism, how wrong we were..
A challenging nights sleep was had by all, however we were greeted with a nice dry Saturday morning and a healthy entry of 20 x cars for the Pre 83 Classic Touring Cars. A £75 discount was in place if a grid of 20 x cars could be achieved, the dangle of the carrot worked.
It was great to be joined at Brands Hatch by 2 x other Droopsnoots-
Gary Fletcher (ex Pete Halford car)
David Hall (ex Peter Blincow car)
Qualifying
If you get under a 1 x minute lap around Brands indy circuit you are not hanging about, last year a 58.3 was achieved in qualifying and Mostyn matched that swift lap this time around, chucking the car about and getting plenty sideways out of Druids, feedback was that the car felt great and the cornering grip/handling was spot on.
The Droopsnoot ready for action in the collecting area pre race -
Race 1 - Saturday
The Pre 83 Touring Cars - There are some seriously well prepared cars in this championship ...
It remained dry for the 1st race, our prayers last night had been answered. As Mostyn lined up on the grid memories of last year sluggish start clouded our already foggy minds, the Firenza had previously bogged down and lost hard earned qualifying places, however Mostyn was determined not to let this happen again.
He gave the Firenza revs, infact alot of revs, post race he confirmed it took a good 6000 revs to get her off the line, thankfully a good start was achieved and the mad dash into paddock hill bend was underway!
Capri Hunting...
In hot pursuit
However the Capri's drove a strong race and could not be caught..
But Wait! The safety car appeared at about 75% race distance to ensure a stricken Jag could be removed from Paddock Hill, this bunched up the field and all of a sudden the Capri was back in Mostyn's grasp.
As the safety car pulled into the pits the race was back underway and Mostyn pounced on the Caie Capri, however as they stormed into 1st corner a rear tap (or two) from a Renault Clio into the rear of the Firenza unsettled the car, it fish tailed down Paddock Hill as Mostyn prevented a spin in front of the whole pack (well held sir). Thankfully 1 or 2 approaching cars took evading action but 2 x places were lost in the drama.
Whilst ground was made up across the last 2 x laps we finished the race door handle to door handle with Neil Bray rapid Ford Fiesta, separated by the narrowest of margins across the line, 0.022 to be precise! Mostyn was in the grove and must of had the bit between his teeth as his fastest lap was on the final lap, taking nearly a whole second out of his best qualifying time
Position Overall - 7th Overall
Position In Class - 2nd
Fastest Lap - 57.5 (our quickest ever lap around BH since Graham Hill bend was re profiled and slowed which for the record spoils the flow of the circuit in Mostyn humble opinion)
David finished a strong 9th and Gary climbed to 18th after starting from back of the grid 28th having thankfully resolved his morning issues
A job well done...
Race 2 - Sunday
Very Wet...Old Dunlop Tyres On...Lets See If They Work...Shit, No They Don't!...A Spin On Warm Up Lap... Safer To Start From The Back Of The Grid...Should Have Left The Toyos On...Retire...Our 1st DNF on the Season...Lets Go Home
David Hall drove a great race in the wet and got a 7th overall whilst Gary also had tyre issues I understand and retired.
Full results can be found here - PRE 83 TOURING CARS RESULTS BRANDS HATCH PDF
Pre 83 championship details can be found here - Classic Touring Cars
Video
Check out the Capri rear video footage, good first few laps
Then forward to 13.30 to see the wild fish tail moment around paddock hill!
Thanks to the excellent photographers who have captured the images used in this blog -
An horrendous 7 x hour journey in heavy rain did not dampen our enthusiasm as we arrived at Brands Hatch on Friday evening. Refuge was found in the Kentagon Pub as the blustery weather made getting the tent up late on Friday night a task no one was willing to take on, however a couple of pints and some hot food soon gave us a sense of false optimism, how wrong we were..
A challenging nights sleep was had by all, however we were greeted with a nice dry Saturday morning and a healthy entry of 20 x cars for the Pre 83 Classic Touring Cars. A £75 discount was in place if a grid of 20 x cars could be achieved, the dangle of the carrot worked.
It was great to be joined at Brands Hatch by 2 x other Droopsnoots-
Gary Fletcher (ex Pete Halford car)
David Hall (ex Peter Blincow car)
Qualifying
If you get under a 1 x minute lap around Brands indy circuit you are not hanging about, last year a 58.3 was achieved in qualifying and Mostyn matched that swift lap this time around, chucking the car about and getting plenty sideways out of Druids, feedback was that the car felt great and the cornering grip/handling was spot on.
- Position Overall - 7th Out Of 28
- Class Position - 3rd
- Time - 58.362
The Droopsnoot ready for action in the collecting area pre race -
Race 1 - Saturday
The Pre 83 Touring Cars - There are some seriously well prepared cars in this championship ...
It remained dry for the 1st race, our prayers last night had been answered. As Mostyn lined up on the grid memories of last year sluggish start clouded our already foggy minds, the Firenza had previously bogged down and lost hard earned qualifying places, however Mostyn was determined not to let this happen again.
He gave the Firenza revs, infact alot of revs, post race he confirmed it took a good 6000 revs to get her off the line, thankfully a good start was achieved and the mad dash into paddock hill bend was underway!
Capri Hunting...
In hot pursuit
However the Capri's drove a strong race and could not be caught..
But Wait! The safety car appeared at about 75% race distance to ensure a stricken Jag could be removed from Paddock Hill, this bunched up the field and all of a sudden the Capri was back in Mostyn's grasp.
As the safety car pulled into the pits the race was back underway and Mostyn pounced on the Caie Capri, however as they stormed into 1st corner a rear tap (or two) from a Renault Clio into the rear of the Firenza unsettled the car, it fish tailed down Paddock Hill as Mostyn prevented a spin in front of the whole pack (well held sir). Thankfully 1 or 2 approaching cars took evading action but 2 x places were lost in the drama.
Whilst ground was made up across the last 2 x laps we finished the race door handle to door handle with Neil Bray rapid Ford Fiesta, separated by the narrowest of margins across the line, 0.022 to be precise! Mostyn was in the grove and must of had the bit between his teeth as his fastest lap was on the final lap, taking nearly a whole second out of his best qualifying time
Position Overall - 7th Overall
Position In Class - 2nd
Fastest Lap - 57.5 (our quickest ever lap around BH since Graham Hill bend was re profiled and slowed which for the record spoils the flow of the circuit in Mostyn humble opinion)
David finished a strong 9th and Gary climbed to 18th after starting from back of the grid 28th having thankfully resolved his morning issues
A job well done...
Race 2 - Sunday
Very Wet...Old Dunlop Tyres On...Lets See If They Work...Shit, No They Don't!...A Spin On Warm Up Lap... Safer To Start From The Back Of The Grid...Should Have Left The Toyos On...Retire...Our 1st DNF on the Season...Lets Go Home
David Hall drove a great race in the wet and got a 7th overall whilst Gary also had tyre issues I understand and retired.
Full results can be found here - PRE 83 TOURING CARS RESULTS BRANDS HATCH PDF
Pre 83 championship details can be found here - Classic Touring Cars
Video
Check out the Capri rear video footage, good first few laps
Then forward to 13.30 to see the wild fish tail moment around paddock hill!
Thanks to the excellent photographers who have captured the images used in this blog -
- Ambrose Motorsport Photography
- Darren Hurrell Photography
- Big Hairpin Photography
We are hoping to do 1 x more race before the close of the 2015 season, the final round of Pre83 championship is at Thruxton (Hampshire), Mostyn has not raced there but the car did attend the DSG 25th anniversary parade back in 1999 -
If Gary, David, Alan and Gregor were to all have their cars ready it would be rude not to..
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