Pembrey turns out to be a jewel of a circuit, only ten years old, nestled into the dunes of the South Wales coast. We set off for a full weekend including the first test sessions since I had started racing Ian Megsonís Mallock 20BW back in March. So with the experience of six races in it, and some tweaking of the set-up, we were keen to see if my feel for the car and Ianís understanding of my handling comments would improve our times. In particular, Ian was getting used to my weight (97 kg!) and the different effect that would have on the settings. Firstly, the weight throws the car further onto the front wheels under braking. Ian had seen lots of wear on the front pads and hardly anything on the rear. So we adjusted the brakes two half-turns towards the rear. The hope was that my static weight (sitting at the rear of the car in these front-engined Mallocks) would be enough to make them grip despite the dynamic weight transfer to the front. Secondly, we tightened the anti-roll bar front and back to reduce the extra roll in corners (visible in some of the professional's photos) caused by my weight. Then thirdly, partly to compensate for tightening the anti-roll bars and partly to reduce the skip and bounce at the back seen at Oulton Park, we softened the shock absorbers by a couple of notches.

The package worked. In three sessions of twenty minutes, with some minor adjustments between the first and the second, I progressed from 1í04.44 to 1í02.88 and 1í02.67. I was pleased with this as the fast boys (Clark and Richings) were testing at the same time and were doing 59½s and 60s against my 62½s. So I was within 3 seconds of them against 10 to 12 seconds adrift at Rockingham in April. They all felt that the Avons had less grip than the Dunlops of last year, and indeed their qualifying times were 1 to 1½ slower than last year.

So my testing was a big boost. On the pace, in company with Brian Jordan and Ian Mitchell for much of one session, and only one spin, without damage. The circuit is delightful, flat as a pancake but with varied corners. A smashing hairpin at the end of the pits straight, a pair of flat-out left-handers at the paddock crossing which merge into one mind defying sweep, a tight right-hander at Brooklands with at least three fastest lines and a race defensive line, and a very technical fourth gear right-hander at Honda to lead back to the pits straight. I promise I would try left foot braking, with the throttle on, if I could get my left foot onto the brake pedal: the steering column is firmly in the way!

Practice

So when qualifying came around on Saturday I was revved and ready to get a dazzling grid position. But then it all has to come right at the same time doesn't it.

As Adrian Brown came out of scrutineering he started the engine up to drive back to the paddock. Rumble knock rumble knock. Chatter chatter, KNOCK KNOCK. Paul Freeman, ace Rover K series engine tuner, did not even need a stethoscope to the crankcase to diagnose a big end, and a possible crankshaft bearing too. Adrian slumped into the misery of knowing that his meeting was over and that the trip was wasted. Paul didn't. Hadn't Peter Burnham packed his car up earlier in the morning because of a cracked chassis? Didn't he have a first rate engine just sitting there, waiting for use elsewhere? So within seconds I saw the Clubmans Co-operative Engineers Enterprise, of such repute and documented in the annals of folklore, swing into action. Paul whispered the possibility of an engine change. 20 other competitors looked furtively at their watches to note, to their horror, that there was only 1½ hours to qualifying. For two jobs which take 2 hours each. Five minutes later the whispering became a multitudinous shout of ìLet's go, let's goî but in modest clubmans fashion it was more of a semi-silent, tense, professional organisational exercise. As one team of 5 or 6 mechanics and drivers got going on taking the dead engine out of Adrian's car, another group swooped on Peter Burnhamís car (picture left) to get the good one out too. It is possible that Peter's permission was asked, but I missed it. Permission was certainly given, although today, writing this, I wonder what happened next to Peter. He's got no engine, a duff chassis, and for the final insult his own son had stolen his radiator to try to cure his over-heating problems. What a scene. Everyone knew what he was doing. There were no glitches on either operation. Four men could lift an engine (picture right) while the final bolts were withdrawn. Then lift it out onto the ground. Over to the other car. After 25 minutes the engines were exchanged. Now the difficult bit of reassembly in Adrian's, hose pipes, oil pipes, engine electronics, throttle, fill the fluids.

In the meantime I was in my own panic. Here I was twenty minutes before a qualifying session, with such good test times, and I was without my trusted and beloved Ian. He and Gareth were five deep around Adrian's car in perfect harmony with the rest of Paul Freeman's squad. So, jump to it Marcus. Check the tyres, 15 all round. Check the petrol level. OK. Check the bodywork fasteners and tape. Get dressed. Press gang my son Christopher aged 12 into helping me do up the harness and withdraw the booster battery cable after engine start. Pass me the balaclava, helmet and gloves. Whoops dropped the helmet. Power on. Engine started. Video camera on. Cable out. Pull out and taxi to the assembly area to join all the other cars last. Adrian's car was still a flurry of activity.

There was a wait, and I turned off the engine to avoid overheating.

Thirty seconds before the whistle went for qualifying, Adrian appeared with triumphant blips of the throttle. The engine had started at the first dab of the button. No leaks. He's going to compete. All the K Sports drivers spontaneously lifted their hands out of the cockpits to applaud the miraculous engine change. To the minute. Adrian went out and set a cracking 1'01.729, 8th fastest. He then retired to the paddock, got out of the car and slumped into a lifeless heap. He only recovered three hours later when Gareth, Alison and Chris transported him to the beach and lay him down in the sun.

My story was not over however. As I pressed the starter button nothing much happened. Suspecting a run down battery I raised my hand. Remember my previous report about these cars having no alternator; you just charge the battery up from time to time in the workshop. Barry Webb led a bunch of folk to push start me. Off I went.

Predictably, the battery started giving way after three laps. First off, I noticed that at the marshal post in the back straight where I would typically change from third to fourth at 6800 rpm, the engine was only pulling 5500 rpm. Then in the left-hand paddock crossing complex the engine started cutting out at the top of third. So I thought maybe fuel starvation exacerbated by centrifugal force. Then by lap 7 I could not rev above 5500 at all. Into the pits. Ian put the booster battery on and it revved to 6800 fine. Took it off and back to 5500. So the flat battery was diagnosed. End of session and a lowly time of 1'04.837. Peter Clark was on pole at 59.325 and Howard Payne, last year's pole sitter, at 1'00.236

Disappointment but nothing serious. I consoled myself with the thought that I would be a careful spectator, at a distance of the first lap hairpin shenanigans that the first-time-driver-briefing clerk of the course told us had happened, with bad results, four times already this year. Then Iíd be able to pick up the pace and go racing.

Race

Despite a small rain shower at 7 on Sunday morning, the rest of the day was blisteringly hot and I was pouring water down my race suite before getting into the car. Ian and Brian had recharged the battery. The car was excellent in the race, and the testing had certainly paid off.

Off the line in first gear, I was right there and catching Alan Avery to my left (picture right). As at Brands Hatch, I got left behind in second and third gears. Strange. Answers on a postcard please. So by the time we got to Hatchets Hairpin I had no need to brake too early as I was set back from the pack. As everybody weaved and dived late into the hairpin on the brakes, I was hovering behind, getting on the throttle early. As Alan Avery was slowed momentarily by Chris Burnham ahead of him on the exit, I had the throttle to the floor on a more inside line. I shot past Alan (picture left) and latched on to Chris. He was more of a problem. I had a look at the inside line at Brooklands on lap 1 and thought better of it. I got closer to him at the end of the pit straight and into Hatchets. He saw me in his mirrors at the exit to Hatchets and missed the apex to the next right-hander. Off the racing line and into the marbles. So at the beginning of the left hand series he was already too close to the apex and could no get the power on early. I had a run at the corner from the right side and past him on his left side (picture right) quite easily at the paddock crossing before the end of the left hand complex. Chris came back at me at Brooklands and Honda (picture left, in the pits straight after Honda) twice but I defended, to the best my etiquette allows, and I had a second on him by lap 5. Suddenly he disappeared from my mirrors; the overheating of qualification had reappeared and he had to cool his engine. Bingo.

Jim Lindley came past me, having spun on lap 2. I settled in for a lonely race (picture at the top of the report), but  I was carrying more speed into the faster corners and getting faster lap times every lap. To my joy I saw I was gaining on Ian Mitchell, maybe a second a lap. That was something to concentrate on. The car was flying and I was driving quite accurately. The video camera never lies.

All of a sudden that wicked-looking dark blue and orange flame snout of Peter Clark's car was dancing in a distant mirage of the mirrors. Oh no. Get ready to be lapped Lady P, here comes Thunderbird 1. At Honda I gave him the hand signal to take the inside, but he didn't take it. My heart sunk at the thought that I had already balked him and that he had rescued himself from a tank-slapper on the grass. Trouble in the paddock afterwards. No, wrong. He knew he was on his last lap and slowed to avoid the possibility of a tangle with a back-marker on his last corner. So I screamed across the start-line oblivious to the fact the half a second later it would be the finish-line for Peter. The chequered flag shown to him, but not a hint to me. Eureka! For the first time in my long (four months, nine races) and chequered career, the leader had not lapped me. That pleased me. I finished 13th as all 15 had completed the race. I had accomplished my objectives set after that poor qualification. I had overtaken two cars in open combat. I drove a best lap in the race of 1'03.97 against that 1'02.67 in testing, but that seemed fine.

Ian was pleased. It took me a couple of sweat-drenched second back at the camper van to understand the niceties of his "So glad to see both parts of the front wing back from the track at the same time Marcus". He can take a break from me till the next meeting in August without having to dip his hands into the fibre glass mix.

Statistics
 

Circuit	Pembrey	Fastest test lap	1'02.67
Fastest qualifying lap	1'04.837	Qualified in position	15
Conditions	Hot and dry	Number of cars qualified	15
Fastest race lap	1'03.97	Number of cars at start	15
Finishing position	13	Number of cars finished	15
Number of laps behind	Same lap! Yesssss.	Average speed	82.1 mph

Paddock chat

The Saturday night B-B-Q was rather Clubmansy as well. Ian and Brian agreed to set up their fires together. I went to ASDA and got some extra food and beer with a budget boosted by Brian and Adrian. By the end of the evening everyone in Clubmans on the circuit for the night was there, with their friends, lording it up and regaling the moonlit sky with racing talk. Wonderful.

The car-mounted video camera, and the still pictures we can put on these reports, has triggered a lot of interest. We are going to edit highlights into a video tape for the end of the season and have been keen to get other drivers to carry it so that we can see different points of view. So Pete Richings, the first volunteer, will wear the camera on his car at the next meeting at Donington Park. Good one.

If Peter Clark goes on winning then he'll have to mount the camera pointing backwards to get any action!

We have 46 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.