Gone in 60 seconds

‘Sprints are a 60 second window of driving isolation’

Cars in general are a money pit, fact. Racing figures bate cardiac arrest and sprinting overheads lie somewhere in between – but only trigger blasphemy.

Some people turn to track days, which is fine, but with strict on-track guidelines and no competitive element, they can’t be compared, apart from their value for money when it comes to track time.

Last season we only managed to get a handful of meetings under our belt, but 2007 should see a busier father and son team with a plan of entering every southern round of the MGCC Luffield Speed Championship. It will be a real education from a driving point of view, but as for mechanicals, there will be a tired BGT come October when the season’s curtains are drawn.

With this in mind, the cylinder head was taken off and sent to Peter Burgess for an unleaded conversion and blueprinting to the class rules. Next up was to bin the mechanical fan for a power freeing electric version. Kenlowe fans work great but in true A-Team fashion, something was cobbled together from what was in the garage.

Somewhere, there is an LDV van minus its fan but it works a treat on cooling the B-series. Having no electrical knowledge, unless you count changing headlight bulbs and the odd fuse, it was left to the capable hands of Brian Wright to tap this essential piece of kit into the B’s loom.

Financial constraints have left the pistons and bottom end on standby, with a bit of luck they will hold the fort. The gearbox is spot on, for the time being anyway. I say this because my heavy handed tack with the controls means reverse has been asked to play second gear on more than one occasion. It continues to refuse my request with a unique grinding sound, so the next job on the list has to be a reverse gate, which is simply made from lengths of angle. Most of the B race cars have one so it must be a common driver error – taking the heat off me, because it isn’t my car to break.

This year saw the celebration of a special birthday for my dad, I won’t say which one, but let’s just say it wasn’t his 30th. Raping my bank balance, I bought him a front FIA roll cage and door bars, this will stiffen the shell along with cocooning the driver in the event of a roll.

Off the line, a standard GT can be made to look fast by using a slow camera shutter speed

We have been guilty of using it, but for those of you that use plumbers insulation for roll cage padding, please bin it and buy the proper FIA stuff because it really doesn’t really blend with flames or projectile limbs.

Crunch time

The calendar had a biro strike across March 18, which marked the first meeting of 2007 at North Weald Airfield, and being an open airfield, it was a perfect warm up for the ‘skills’, or lack of, that have turned rusty since last October.

As with most sprints, it was a 5.30am wakeup call, followed by a cuppa with 538 sugars. Wide eyed, we set off over the water and in to the land of Tracey and Kevin – Essex.

We arrived without a hitch, and without the MG even turning a wheel, because for this season we have a van and trailer. It has already proven very practical, and should be a godsend for long distance meetings. Not only that, the mileage saved on the B should (hopefully) contribute to a longer life span, or is that wishful thinking? With the Peco exhaust kissing drains at every opportunity, road use is kept to a minimum. Any undulation in the tarmac sends a thunderous bang through the cabin and causes the driver to pull a stupid face – a facial expression of pain for the car.

There were no less than 110 entries, which is very high for an airfield sprint considering some venues struggle to make up the minimum headcount. Admittedly, signing on was like queuing for a new ride at Thorpe Park and scrutineering was reminiscent of the M25 at around 8.00am, but I’d much rather have this than no sprint at all.

The Minator wheels were given a dusting by the new Mintex pads

This insignificant sticker means your car has got the ‘thumbs up’ from the scrutineer

Lining up and looking very orange, this BGT could have been used in a Tango advert

The B passed with flying colours as did our safety gear. Being car 68 there was time to pay a visit to the burger van for some fried cuisine and to mooch around the other cars. Ferraris and TVRs were out in the force, as were the MGs.

The first run got underway and being the second person of the double drive, I had more time to take everything in. Watching the Ferrari boys was amusing, one drove up to the start using the weaving, side-to-side, warm-up technique. I bet the P-Zero’s were cooking when he set off after the two minute traffic jam at the start.

The first run didn’t go according to plan for Tait senior, he missed the first ‘gate’ and consequently, was given a WR, which is short for wrong route.

It was then a case of a Le Mans-style driver change, well not quite. Because of our difference in dimensions, the harness has to be tightened to accommodate my slimmer frame. These shenanigans soon turned into the same length of time as the Le Mans race itself.

Now strapped in, with a dry mouth, attempting to blow my nose while wearing a crash helmet, I edged towards the start as the cars ahead launched from the line, each one laying its contribution of rubber.

Although sprints do not involve a grid of neighbours, each gunning for the lead before the first bend, my heartbeat still multiplies its beats, and any notions of tiredness from the 5.30am start become non-existent. It is adrenalin at its best.

Calling on assistance from the LDV derived fan, the radiator got its final blast of air before the cooling of forward motion took hold. I was off, albeit with axle-tramp reminiscent of a road worker’s Kango. Less revs next time.

Sitting on a bed of shredded tarmac at the start

It felt vastly improved over last season’s version, under heavy braking and accelerating it didn’t seesaw and cornering wasn’t anything like the door handle scraping antics of 2006. The stiffer MG Motorsport springs have made quite a big difference and apparently, the ideal B setup is for the rear to sit lower than the front, as demonstrated by the poise of this one.

The vital first gate that Tait Senior missed first time round

It may be reminiscent of a newsagent’s billboard, but the results stand received more attention than the cars

With the huge run-off that an airfield has to offer, the brain doesn’t emit any warning signals. As a driver, you become ultra brave and tend to get a very good feel of the car on the limit, without the dangers of shunting into an Armco.

These newfound brave pills were handy for exploring the bite of the new (but run in) Mintex pads, being properly bled up and fed via braided hoses, the brakes now offer a degree of confidence. Let us just hope they are capable of slowing the landscape down for the tight hill climbs such as Prescott and Castle Hill, both of which offer no sympathy to driver error.

The first practice run didn’t result in a wrong route, which helped lay a foundation on how to attack the second practice. By the end of the day, the initial mental foundation should have a ground floor.

It may look tranquil, but the wind at North Weald was numbing stuff

With no cars in front to act as markers, it’s down to the driver to set the pace. In context, sprints are a 60 second window of driving isolation. You are the controller, and the matt black timing strut is the dictator of whether your brief stretch behind the wheel was time well spent.

The half an hour or so between each run is a time to reflect on where it all went wrong, there is always room for improvement, and if you know a competitor come marshal on the day, they should be able to give you some pointers from their ‘post’ out on track.

First practice is advised not to be driven at a competitive pace, but with a crash helmet on and a track to play with, it is the equivalent of asking Ground Force not to dig up the front garden. I shaved 5.24 seconds off on Practice 2 and a further 0.79 seconds on my first timed run, with the final session swiping another half a second. This just put me in front of the old man – luckily he took it well though!

Sprinting is all about making the most of barely ten minutes driving, drivers need to be on the pace from the word go. It is mentally challenging, but leaves you wanting to better yourself next time round. And with the B pretty sorted, it is only the drivers that need improving now.

Adam Tait