Another cracker. Mallory never disappoints. Well, so I'm told because I had never raced there before. But I had been with Ian to run the Mallock 18 a couple of weeks before but the rain became a deluge as the morning progressed. Then I had a morning with the school last Saturday so this circuit was no longer a mystery.

The size of the field was daunting. 23 entrants, all of them cosily bunched into a part of the paddock thoughtfully taped off by the first to arrive, with the encouragement of the Clubmans register to which we all belong. 23 entrants blocking the assembly area to start for practise. 23 entrants trying to find a clear lap on a circuit which is only 1.35 miles long, that's 300 feet per car average even if they were evenly spaced out!

Practice

Unlike Silverstone I got a full session. John Kelly must have missed his brakes at the hairpin and made a straight line for the barrier. That gave us ten minutes of red flag to calm our nerves and then off again.

I was loving Mallory. Gerards is the wide end of the oval, a huge endless 180 degree corner where you can race three abreast, but check out the circuit guide for how easy it can be to run out of road at the exit. That's what happened to a little saloon last week at that point. He crossed the grass and jumped right over the Armco, luckily missing marshals and spectators. So not a corner to mess with. At the other ends, after the Esses is the tightest hairpin in UK motorsport.

As before the Mallock's mirrors were in plentiful use, even though I was going past some other competitors. Tim Covill must have nerves of steel, or he thinks I look in my mirrors. In any case, at the point at the end of Gerards when the car naturally swings to the outside, there was Tim's orange monster, the beautiful EBX all-enveloping bodywork Mallock, making for my outside. At the test session ten days earlier he had been knocked off the circuit in the same way after three laps. But I had seen him and left him a slender space to power on down Stebbe straight.

I had set myself the objective of qualifying better than last, and I made it. 52.039 seconds for the lap, 93 mph. Second last.

Race

Lining up on the grid with 22 other racing cars is an indescribable experience. At both starts each driver has his own technique, with varying sounds of revving engines, then everyone rushing up to the pack and braking furiously when they get there. Two starts? Yes, on lap two, I rushed round the Devils Elbow to see pieces of car and turf all over the pit straight. Mike Luck and Willie Paterson had come together. Willie was sitting in his space frame, the bodywork nowhere to be seen. Red flag, but no injuries. When the pack slowed suddenly James Lindley was caught out and sustained some damaged too.

After the restart, for 13 laps instead of 15, I got going slowly, like at Silverstone, and was nearly overhauled by Jamie Champkin. But as the drizzle started to set in I got into my stride and overtook one car at the Esses and another coming out of the hairpin. In both cases my manoeuvres were disguised by one of the leaders who had just overlapped me. So I finished 16th out of 23. John Kelly did not start, three crashed out and Jamie dropped out after 8 laps. 18 finishers. But I had stayed on the black bit and gained some more experience.

Dan Eagling was in good form as at Silverstone. Pole, win and fastest lap. Can't get better. Here's a good shot of him and the car in the paddock for scrutineering.

Another signature on the racing license. A beginner wears a black diagonal cross on a yellow background at the back of the car to warn other drivers. Huh. After ten race finishes, as evidenced by the signature of the Clerk of the Course on the competitor's License, the cross is discarded. So you can imagine my chagrin when the precious license fell off the dining table at home tonight and was chewed to pieces by Willy the dog. I have no idea what the Motor Sports Association will say.
 

Post script after calling the MSA... "Well, what a silly Mr Bicknell, that will be £17 for a new one". But she was very sympathetic and swallowed the story about the dog. Luckily Willy did not swallow the license because there are two Clerk of the Course signatures on it. The new license arrived on Thursday. Top marks.

Statistics
 

Circuit	Mallory Park	Fastest test lap	1'00.25
Fastest qualifying lap	0'52.039 = 93.39 mph	Qualified in position	22
Conditions	Cold and damp	Number of cars qualified	23
Fastest race lap	53.17	Number of cars at start	22
Finishing position	16	Number of cars finished	18
Number of laps behind	1	Average speed	89.0 mph

Paddock chat

The paddock atmosphere was tremendous, thanks to the wonderful line-up of machinery in our own area and to a cake and card for Pete Richings 50th birthday. And look at this bunch of wonderful looking guys. And so talented.

The rule change allowing all-enveloping bodywork has been approved by the MSA so several people are talking about changing their front wheel mudguards for a 21st century look. But will it make us faster?

The 16th place got me 6 points. It would have been 5 but one finisher ahead of me did not qualify for championship points. Tim I guess. We have 15 points on the way to raising a year's target of £5000 for Macmillan Cancer Relief. Details on http://www.ndirect.co.uk/mbicknell/racing/3relief.htm . Email me on marcus@bicknell.com to make a commitment.

Back at home

Well, the Easter weekend was busy. Off to Ian's in Didcot to get on with the paint job on the car. We are converting it to a new colour scheme, Oxford Blue with a ten-inch yellow stripe from nose to tail in the centre. Just to keep you titillated (and YELLOW with envy) until Croft, here are a few snapshots from the paint shop.

The main blue components of the car including nose cones, side pods and rear wing are staying the original Oxford Blue colour. In the picture you can see the engine cover/driver's cockpit moulding, which was white. We have screened off the sides in order to spray the centre yellow line.

The paints being used are German 2-pack cellulose and toluene which requires mixing with an activator prior to use. I was Mixer-in-chief and Ian was Head Spray Man using his own spray gun and his compressor at 4 sqft/min. Dry sandpaper to roughen up the unpainted fibre glass surface. We applied a wash coat of primer (with activator). The wash coat (1 primer to 1 activator) is relatively liquid so that the acid in the carrier etches in to the fibre glass and ensures the bind with the paint. The second coat of primer had less diluent (4 primer to 1 activator) in it to give it a solid base.

Within 45 minutes (the "wet-on-wet" technique) we had masked off the areas outside the yellow line and started applying the yellow gloss (2 paint, 1 activator and 10% thinners) but the first coat in a "dust coat" only, to bind with the primer. Another three coats followed, each time with an additional 10% of thinner until the stippled finish of the gloss gave way to a brilliant gloss. There was quite a lot of dust in the atmosphere, and we had doors both sides of the workroom to keep fresh air circulating, but we still were satisfied with the result.

Overnight on Sunday vening we were letting the yellow dry to be able to change the masking and proceed with the painting of the rest of the engine cover Oxford Blue on Easter Monday in the afternoon.

In the off moments we were able to get on with new sponsors decals on the other blue part of the car. Ian has stripped off the old ones and had renewed the race number rectangles (white Fablon, hand cut). We then applied the yellow decals for Piper Malibu Rentals, their airplane image, Macmillan cancer relief, Neater Dry Cleaners and PINKink.net web architects.

The picture shows the decals but the 10-inch yellow line down the middle will be added during the week using yellow Fablon to match the sprayed engine cover.

As for the finished blue car with a yellow stripe, the photos are embargoed and you can't see that till Croft! See you there on Saturday.
 

MB 17th April 2001