Showing posts with label Lewis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lewis. Show all posts
Wednesday, 3 February 2016
Wednesday, 3 December 2014
Tuesday, 26 July 2011
Endurance Record - Castle Combe
Thanks to the hospitality of Simon Lewis sponsor of the THE SIMON LEWIS TRANSPORT BOOKS FREE SINGLE-SEATER SERIES I found myself attending the British Endurance Championship Racing Weekend at Castle Combe on Sunday.
As I got out of the car and prepared myself for a long afternoon's racing there was a demonstration of Smart cars in progress including this neat 3 axle combination of car and caravan. Not exactly what I had in mind when I made up my mind to retire from camping in favour of wheeled temporary accommodation, but this combo would certainly cut a smart dash in the Le Mans camp site.
The first race of the day was for Smart cars which preceded the Smart car demonstration, the second race of the day was the 2 hour Britcar MSA Endurance Championship Round which included a welcome grid walk for the public before the race got underway.
Javier Morcillo from Spain driving the #3 Mosler MT900R set an electrifying early pace from pole position that only Micheal Millard driving the #7 Rapier 6 SR2 was able to match.
I was rooting, in vane as it turned out, for one of my many racing instructors, Calum Lockie, driving the #6 Mosler who was forced to join the fray from a pit lane.
After an incident requiring a Safety Car, during which Lockie now running in the top six pitted early for fuel, Millard got past Morcillo who promptly indulged in some lawn mowing which forced him to stop with serious overheating issues out on the circuit.
Millard then proceeded to lead for most of the next hour, a lap ahead of the next fastest car on the circuit, who proved to be Lockie, until he pitted to hand over the Rapier to Ian Heward.
By the time the mandatory pit stops had all been completed it was the Scuderia Vittoria Ferrari 458 driven by Phil Dryburgh and John Gaw running in the invitational class that was uncomfortably in the lead being chased down by the Rapier of Millard/Heward.
No sooner had the #7 Rapier taken the lead with 25 mins to go then it too spun out, leaving the Scuderia Vittoria Ferrari to finish first for the second time in this years Britcar Championship. In the process Dryburgh and Gaw set a new Castle Combe record for the most laps covered in a single race at 97 laps up from the previous record of 95.
The third race of the day was the first of two races in the THE SIMON LEWIS TRANSPORT BOOKS FREE SINGLE-SEATER SERIES. 2010 Monoposto 1000 cc champion Arty Cameron caused a huge upset by catching those ahead of him asleep at the start and snatched the lead from the third row of the grid driving the chain driven #46 Jedi and held it for the opening lap until the more powerful Formula 3 Dallara Renault F302 of pole sitter Stuart Wiltshire breezed past to a comfortable victory. Arty blew his motor making a race of it with the Formula 3 Ralt Vauxhall RT3 of Jim Blockley which came in second.
Tony Dolley driving a Peugeot 206 GTi drove to a second win of the weekend in the Castle Combe Racing Club Saloon Championship after his main challenger Rob Ballard went hay making in his Seat Cupra at Bobbies Chicane early in the race.
It's been around 20 years since I last saw a Formula Ford race and though there was a change from using Ford Kent engines to Ford Zetec Engines in 1993 and again to using Ford Duratec Engines in 2006 this race catered for cars Formula Ford cars of all ages but all powered by the early Kent engines. My conviction that Formula One would be a lot more entertaining if the cars were built to Formula Ford regulations was confirmed by the race long duel of Ben Norton seen driving the #111 Spectrum 10b and Rob Hall in the #35 Swift SC10. The race was red flagged after an accident between two competitors on the penultimate lap. So far as I know neither was seriously hurt.
Variety was again the watch word for the Castle Combe Sports and GT Championship which featured a somewhat recalcitrant Rover V8 powered #17 Darrian T98 GTR of Ian Hall seen here about to be overtaken by Simon Tillings immaculate #23 Radical SR3 RS powered by a 400 hp 1300 cc / 79 cui Radical Performance Engines tuned turbocharged Suzuki GSX_R motorcycle engine. Tilling, who starting from the back of the grid, blitzed the opposition recording a new class 103 mph lap record, and fastest overall lap of the day, in his amazingly agile machine.
The final race of the day was another in the THE SIMON LEWIS TRANSPORT BOOKS FREE SINGLE-SEATER SERIES and in the absence of Arty Cameron it was Castle Combe regular Roger Orgee, driving the #6 Ford Zetec powered Van Diemen RF00 Formula Ford car, who got the jump on Jim Blockley in the #24 Ralt and Ray Rowan in the Formula 3 #23 Dallara F398 and almost completed a lap in 2nd place before the more powerful Ralt and Dallara breezed past the wingless Van Diemen.
Blackley in the Ralt passed Rowan for second but by this time Stuart Wiltshire was long gone on his way to his second victory, concluding an excellent day's entertainment.
My thanks again to Simon Lewis who made today's blog possible.
Hope you have enjoyed today's Endurance edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres' and that you will join me again tomorrow for a look at a post war Rover. Don't forget to come back now !
As I got out of the car and prepared myself for a long afternoon's racing there was a demonstration of Smart cars in progress including this neat 3 axle combination of car and caravan. Not exactly what I had in mind when I made up my mind to retire from camping in favour of wheeled temporary accommodation, but this combo would certainly cut a smart dash in the Le Mans camp site.
The first race of the day was for Smart cars which preceded the Smart car demonstration, the second race of the day was the 2 hour Britcar MSA Endurance Championship Round which included a welcome grid walk for the public before the race got underway.
Javier Morcillo from Spain driving the #3 Mosler MT900R set an electrifying early pace from pole position that only Micheal Millard driving the #7 Rapier 6 SR2 was able to match.
I was rooting, in vane as it turned out, for one of my many racing instructors, Calum Lockie, driving the #6 Mosler who was forced to join the fray from a pit lane.
After an incident requiring a Safety Car, during which Lockie now running in the top six pitted early for fuel, Millard got past Morcillo who promptly indulged in some lawn mowing which forced him to stop with serious overheating issues out on the circuit.
Millard then proceeded to lead for most of the next hour, a lap ahead of the next fastest car on the circuit, who proved to be Lockie, until he pitted to hand over the Rapier to Ian Heward.
By the time the mandatory pit stops had all been completed it was the Scuderia Vittoria Ferrari 458 driven by Phil Dryburgh and John Gaw running in the invitational class that was uncomfortably in the lead being chased down by the Rapier of Millard/Heward.
No sooner had the #7 Rapier taken the lead with 25 mins to go then it too spun out, leaving the Scuderia Vittoria Ferrari to finish first for the second time in this years Britcar Championship. In the process Dryburgh and Gaw set a new Castle Combe record for the most laps covered in a single race at 97 laps up from the previous record of 95.
The third race of the day was the first of two races in the THE SIMON LEWIS TRANSPORT BOOKS FREE SINGLE-SEATER SERIES. 2010 Monoposto 1000 cc champion Arty Cameron caused a huge upset by catching those ahead of him asleep at the start and snatched the lead from the third row of the grid driving the chain driven #46 Jedi and held it for the opening lap until the more powerful Formula 3 Dallara Renault F302 of pole sitter Stuart Wiltshire breezed past to a comfortable victory. Arty blew his motor making a race of it with the Formula 3 Ralt Vauxhall RT3 of Jim Blockley which came in second.
Tony Dolley driving a Peugeot 206 GTi drove to a second win of the weekend in the Castle Combe Racing Club Saloon Championship after his main challenger Rob Ballard went hay making in his Seat Cupra at Bobbies Chicane early in the race.
It's been around 20 years since I last saw a Formula Ford race and though there was a change from using Ford Kent engines to Ford Zetec Engines in 1993 and again to using Ford Duratec Engines in 2006 this race catered for cars Formula Ford cars of all ages but all powered by the early Kent engines. My conviction that Formula One would be a lot more entertaining if the cars were built to Formula Ford regulations was confirmed by the race long duel of Ben Norton seen driving the #111 Spectrum 10b and Rob Hall in the #35 Swift SC10. The race was red flagged after an accident between two competitors on the penultimate lap. So far as I know neither was seriously hurt.
Variety was again the watch word for the Castle Combe Sports and GT Championship which featured a somewhat recalcitrant Rover V8 powered #17 Darrian T98 GTR of Ian Hall seen here about to be overtaken by Simon Tillings immaculate #23 Radical SR3 RS powered by a 400 hp 1300 cc / 79 cui Radical Performance Engines tuned turbocharged Suzuki GSX_R motorcycle engine. Tilling, who starting from the back of the grid, blitzed the opposition recording a new class 103 mph lap record, and fastest overall lap of the day, in his amazingly agile machine.
The final race of the day was another in the THE SIMON LEWIS TRANSPORT BOOKS FREE SINGLE-SEATER SERIES and in the absence of Arty Cameron it was Castle Combe regular Roger Orgee, driving the #6 Ford Zetec powered Van Diemen RF00 Formula Ford car, who got the jump on Jim Blockley in the #24 Ralt and Ray Rowan in the Formula 3 #23 Dallara F398 and almost completed a lap in 2nd place before the more powerful Ralt and Dallara breezed past the wingless Van Diemen.
Blackley in the Ralt passed Rowan for second but by this time Stuart Wiltshire was long gone on his way to his second victory, concluding an excellent day's entertainment.
My thanks again to Simon Lewis who made today's blog possible.
Hope you have enjoyed today's Endurance edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres' and that you will join me again tomorrow for a look at a post war Rover. Don't forget to come back now !
Thursday, 14 July 2011
Driver to Sponsor - Simon Lewis
During the early 1980's Simon Lewis was a regular spectator at Castle Combe where the biggest attraction used to be Formula Libre events run for any car built to known regulations.
At the top end of the entry would be vehicles that had run in Grand Prix like Alo Lawlers McLaren Cosworth DFV M30 resplendent in it's original colours and bearing the name of it's original driver Alain Prost,
or Formula 5000 vehicles like Tony Trimmers Lola Chevrolet T330,
and once in a while something extremely exotic like a Can Am 2 Lola Chevrolet T530 would appear.
A car with a large engine was not a pre requisite to be a contender to win as Eddie McLurg found out when he beat the big boys driving a 2 litre Formula 2 March BMW 822 Formula 2 car to victory in May 1989.
When he turned 18 Simon started on the long path to becoming a book mogul, surprisingly he specialised in automotive books with a business called Simon Lewis Transport Book Shop.
As and when resources allowed Simon turned to competing in rally events running against £50,000 Subaru's in an comparatively archaic gargantuan Rover SDI after three seasons the enlarged to 4.5 litre / 274 cui Rover V8 was put into a Ford Escort shell for a season.
When that project proved fruitless Simon moved to circuit racing at Castle Combe with a Rover Montego Turbo and then with some success he ran the Rover 220 Turbo seen above.
Simon has also tried his hand at Grass Track racing with an MG Maestro, that vibrated so bad in top gear that the bits of roll cage in Simon's eye line 'became almost invisible',
and at hill climbing with a Kawasaki powered Morrish built in Cornwall.
(# 6 Roger Orgee Van Diemen RF00 & #17 Alex Drabble Swift SC92)
Inspired by the reaction to a thread on The Nostalgia Forum Simon has taken a leap of faith and decided to sponsor a new Mono Libre series at Castle Combe in 2011.
(Winner of the first race #85 Peter Bragg Nemesis Mygale)
With a snappy title THE SIMON LEWIS TRANSPORT BOOKS FREE SINGLE-SEATER SERIES is open to any open wheeler that can pass the 108 db noise test.
(# 3 David Cox Ralt RT3)
An interesting array of single seaters took part in the first race was on July the 18th, I caught practice the day before and look forward to seeing the next races on July 24th.
If you have a single seater that can pass the 108 db noise test and is in need of exercise you could do worse than make enquiries at the Castle Combe website.
Hope you will join me in wishing Simon and his series all the best.
Thanks for joining me on this Simon Lewis Transports Books Free Single Seater edition of 'Gettin' a lil psycho on tyres', join me again tomorrow for a Grand Prix edition of Ferrari Friday. Don't forget to come back now !
At the top end of the entry would be vehicles that had run in Grand Prix like Alo Lawlers McLaren Cosworth DFV M30 resplendent in it's original colours and bearing the name of it's original driver Alain Prost,
or Formula 5000 vehicles like Tony Trimmers Lola Chevrolet T330,
and once in a while something extremely exotic like a Can Am 2 Lola Chevrolet T530 would appear.
A car with a large engine was not a pre requisite to be a contender to win as Eddie McLurg found out when he beat the big boys driving a 2 litre Formula 2 March BMW 822 Formula 2 car to victory in May 1989.
When he turned 18 Simon started on the long path to becoming a book mogul, surprisingly he specialised in automotive books with a business called Simon Lewis Transport Book Shop.
As and when resources allowed Simon turned to competing in rally events running against £50,000 Subaru's in an comparatively archaic gargantuan Rover SDI after three seasons the enlarged to 4.5 litre / 274 cui Rover V8 was put into a Ford Escort shell for a season.
When that project proved fruitless Simon moved to circuit racing at Castle Combe with a Rover Montego Turbo and then with some success he ran the Rover 220 Turbo seen above.
Simon has also tried his hand at Grass Track racing with an MG Maestro, that vibrated so bad in top gear that the bits of roll cage in Simon's eye line 'became almost invisible',
and at hill climbing with a Kawasaki powered Morrish built in Cornwall.
(# 6 Roger Orgee Van Diemen RF00 & #17 Alex Drabble Swift SC92)
Inspired by the reaction to a thread on The Nostalgia Forum Simon has taken a leap of faith and decided to sponsor a new Mono Libre series at Castle Combe in 2011.
(Winner of the first race #85 Peter Bragg Nemesis Mygale)
With a snappy title THE SIMON LEWIS TRANSPORT BOOKS FREE SINGLE-SEATER SERIES is open to any open wheeler that can pass the 108 db noise test.
(# 3 David Cox Ralt RT3)
An interesting array of single seaters took part in the first race was on July the 18th, I caught practice the day before and look forward to seeing the next races on July 24th.
If you have a single seater that can pass the 108 db noise test and is in need of exercise you could do worse than make enquiries at the Castle Combe website.
Hope you will join me in wishing Simon and his series all the best.
Thanks for joining me on this Simon Lewis Transports Books Free Single Seater edition of 'Gettin' a lil psycho on tyres', join me again tomorrow for a Grand Prix edition of Ferrari Friday. Don't forget to come back now !
Saturday, 19 March 2011
Wuzzum - WSM Sprite #202
Douglas Wilson-Spratt the designer of the WSM Sprite had an engineering background with the car division of the Bristol Aircraft Company which included experience as a production test driver. Douglas worked with Jim McManus, founder member of the Healey Drivers Club and former salesman at the Donald Healey Motor company to set up the Healey Centre in London to cater for the performance Healey Market in 1962.
793 XPP is a 1962 MG Midget fitted with a Douglas designed aluminium body beaten by Peels Coachworks featuring a glass fibre bonnet for Douglas's son in law Mike Lewis .
This second Douglas Sprite conversion known as WSM 202 was driven to numerous victories in racing and hill climb events by Mike in 1963.
The WSM initials of Wilson-Spratt and McManus, only became a marque name after a couple of American owners needed a name for their import documents, WSM's are occasionally referred to as Wuzzum's.
Production was suspended after the ninth WSM was completed in 1965 and restarted with Sanction 2 WSM Sprite's in 2008 which are still available from WSM Cars.
Hope you have enjoyed today's Wuzzum edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres' and that you'll join me again tomorrow. Don't forget to come back now !
793 XPP is a 1962 MG Midget fitted with a Douglas designed aluminium body beaten by Peels Coachworks featuring a glass fibre bonnet for Douglas's son in law Mike Lewis .
This second Douglas Sprite conversion known as WSM 202 was driven to numerous victories in racing and hill climb events by Mike in 1963.
The WSM initials of Wilson-Spratt and McManus, only became a marque name after a couple of American owners needed a name for their import documents, WSM's are occasionally referred to as Wuzzum's.
Production was suspended after the ninth WSM was completed in 1965 and restarted with Sanction 2 WSM Sprite's in 2008 which are still available from WSM Cars.
Hope you have enjoyed today's Wuzzum edition of 'Gettin' a lil' psycho on tyres' and that you'll join me again tomorrow. Don't forget to come back now !
Sunday, 3 October 2010
Keep turning right - 2010 Somerset Grand Prix
Yesterday I took a couple of hours off to visit Oak Tree Arena home of Somerset Raceway. Finding it was none to easy as the track, which opened in 2008 has yet to be photographed for Google Earth, however it's off Junction 22 of the M5 on the A38 heading for Bridgewater, a tad south of Burnham Without.
I didn't spot the signage first time but a local resident kindly pointed me in the right direction.
Above Dan Lewis Class 5 Mini.
This weekends event was billed as the Somerset Grand Prix, a round of the 2010 National Autograss Championship, hosted by the South Somerset Auto Grass Club under the National Autograss Sport Associations governance.
Above Otis Williams, Class 1 (Junior), Mini.
NASA promotes Autograss as a family sport catering for Juniors aged 12
Above, Paul, Fackerells, Class 10, Special.
with Seniors starting at 16 and allegedly running up to and over 70 !
Above, John Gays Class 7 Suzuki SC100.
Cars run in 10 classes which split into bodied
Above open wheel Specials.
and space frame open wheel specials.
Above Peugeot 205 & Vauxhall Nova.
NASA Autograss racing is a non contact sport run professionally for amateurs, the racing is close, and atmosphere friendly. I look forward to watching how the the Oak Tree Arena develops as a venue in the future. One things for sure I'll certainly be going back.
Further NASA fixtures can be seen here. Information about the South Somerset Autograss Club can be found here.
Don't forget to come back now ! Hear ?
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