Qualifying

My weekend was such a shambles. The heading above is inspired by a Basil Faulty character metamorphosed into Allo Allo or Eurotrash. Croix is one of my favorite circuits, but I only kept smiling through three disasters thanks to the positive effects of sun, the company, help from everyone when I had problems, the food, the giant game of rounders and the sight of the classic Jaguars beefing it sideways through the Virage du Pont and La Courbe du Croix.

I know I'm aiming for last year's best at 1'00.4, so things feel good when my lap timer shows 1'00.1 on my fifth lap. That's not all that shows. The finish line marshall is showing the dreaded black with orange circle flag and pointing at me. As I come in to the pits next time I am aware of smoke coming from the left rear, and I know that the brake or axle leak from the last few meeting has not at all been cured. As the time was not too bad (good enough for 11th out of 16 as it transpired) and because even light oil on the track would spoil everyone else's day, I decided to retire from the qualifying session.

Ian Megson diagnosed diff oil seeping out through the left rear wheel hub. The Mallocks had the seal but we could not fit it because I have the old hub whose seal cannot be changed unless you press the bearing out. Barry Webb kindly lent me his spare hub and we crossed our fingers for the race. It turned out to be the right move. Yes indeed. No oil leak from the rear left. It's from the rear right now that I get the car back home late on Sunday night. Even dripping on the trailer. Another happy week in store.

Race 1 (Saturday)

I was carrying the camera for the first race. Wonderfully busy start as always with Madge charging through on the limit of his brakes at the hairpin at the end of the start straight. He charged into the pack which was otherwise stationary by comparison to avoid any collisions  Mercifully, and thanks to our avoiding actions, he missed us all. I could not help giving Ian Crombie a little nudge, but Ian held it beautifully through a double tank slapper as we completed Maguy. I nearly hit him up the back when he had to brake hard for traffic at the left-hand Virage de l'Ecole, the one next to our paddock, but missed him on his right . I had the outside there, on a self-induced tank slapper of my own, and then the inside for the right-hand Virage de la Ferme. Got him. Pete Richings had shown me how this was done last year.

I pulled away for Ian and Madge and was feeling good about chasing Chris Hart in his Big Long Pink Thing (the fluorescent Mark Weyer car) when second gear started being a b****r to engage. By half way, Madge was looming in the mirrors again and second gear was nowhere to be found. As he swept past at l'Ecole my gear lever detached and came away in my hand. The video cam on my car catches my double take as I look down to see the offending part waving about in my hand. I found a way off to the right behind the barriers at La Ferme by the marshals. Good marks from Jamie apparently, as the car was not in a dangerous position (MSA Blue Book j.18.5.6. sub section b ref 14.5 edition 2 sub section 15) therefore the race continues (a good thing for everyone else). The video then records my Laurel and Hardy attempts to get out of the car to find the gear lever which I had by that time dropped into the foot well. The leaders go through again. I screw the gear lever retaining ring back on again. The leaders go through. The marshals help me get strapped in. The leaders go through a third time. I join the race and finish lonely but satisfied to have got some points. Oh no he didn't. Having completed but 14 laps out of 17, I had not completed 80% of the race and so was not classified. No points. Nul points.

Race 2 (Sunday)

The grid order for Race 2 was the finishing order in Race 1 so I well expected to be last on the grid. But there was more unfortunate than me. Ian Crombie (engine cutting out), Chris Hart (oil blow back and power loss), Mark Cousin (excess garlic), Peter Hall (cut out, full starvation, or not enough garlic) and Matthew Slinn (puncture) had all done less laps than me. So I started Race 2 with 5 people behind me.

The first hairpin was the usual pandemonium, with Mark Cousins being the overhard charger. He missed me just, slapped Ian Crombie's side three times in quick succession, the same to Glenn Cantello and a single for Arthur Dickens. Matthew got me  at La Ferme before the bridge and we chased after Mark. Matthew's slip-up this time. He nudged Mark at the hairpin before the start-finish straight and tipped him into a low-impact T-bone while we were all under full acceleration . I glanced off one or the other as Mark was spun round and ended up in the gravel on the outside, beached. Red flag.

The marshals pulled the car out and there seemed to nothing damaged. because of the amount of gravel on the sticky slicks and in the car's various orifices, they made me hobble to the pits where Ian M, Melissa, Dick M, Gary Cross plus assorted onlookers grappled with the stones to get me ready for a restart from the pit lane. That all worked and I set off after the pack for a 15 lap reduced race. The car seemed to be fine and I picked off Peter Hall sharpish. In the fast left hander after the bridge I got a nasty shock... steering, or rather lack of it. As I turned the wheel nothing happened until I turned further. At full chat that was disconcerting and dangerous. I knew immediately (because of the sequel to the Cadwell crash) that the steering rack was moving in its brackets. It was only on left handers that I felt the movement, so for the rest of the circuit I was relatively confident. I was working this out when I came across a spun Mark Cousins who was very surprised to see me because none on the grid knew that I would be starting after them from the pit lane. I realised after my second left hand tank-slapper that I was not able to race hard, so I settled for the cruise for points. I could see the leaders catching me from lap 12 or so. Jim Lindley came through with a cheery wave as I had planned the space for him well. My pal Adrian Lester in the flying U-boat (you must get the conning tower built) came screaming through in second place, where he was to finish, a tremendous performance. Chequered flag. End of story.

Statistics: Qualifying

Circuit	Croix	Fastest test lap	no testing
Conditions	Dry 28°	Previous personal best	1'00.39 in 2002
Fastest qualifying lap	c. 1'00.1	Qualified in position	13 out of 16

Statistics: Race 1

Finishing position	NOT CLASSIFIED *	Number of cars at start	16
Average speed	58.95 mph	Number of cars finished	10
Conditions	Dry 32°	Fastest race lap	1'00.89
Number of laps behind	3	* completed less than 80% of the race distance	Gear lever came off. Lost 3 laps and got going again

Statistics: Race 2

Finishing position	13	Number of cars at start	16
Average speed	65.54 mph	Number of cars finished	14
Conditions	Dry 28°	Fastest race lap	1'02.39
Number of laps behind	1		Bumped into the gravel on first lap. Finished race with insecure steering rack.

Paddock Chat

Official Race Report

Mike Luck and James Lindley took the spoils during a double header round of the MG XPOWER Clubmans Cup at the French circuit of Croix-en-Ternois over the weekend (19/20 July). However, for championship leader Matthew Slinn it was a tough weekend. Despite being the fastest driver on the track, he was forced to retire from both races and left France with a reduced lead in the championship that enjoys support from Powertrain Ltd and Ricardo Plc.

Slinn was on target to win the opening race on Saturday when a puncture forced him into the pits on the 10th lap of 17. Luck, who had earlier fought ahead of Lindley, was ideally placed to profit from Slinn's drama and took the Dart to its first win. However, with Lindley less than half a second behind, Luck could never relax for a moment. A cracking three-way battle raged for third as Barry Webb just fended off Adrian Lester and Guy Woodward as a scant second and a half split the three cars at the flag. For Lester, this was a best result so far in the new Mallock Mk35.

After an early re-start, the second race provided more pain for Slinn. Having started from the back of the grid after his non-finish on Saturday, Matthew had carved his way through to fourth place in the space of five laps. He then spent the next five laps working ahead of Lester and Webb, only to be forced out of second place with two laps to run. Ahead of all this, Lindley scored a fine victory, extending his winning margin to almost seven seconds with a classy display. Lester went even better than in the first race to grab second from Webb as Peter Richings battled through to fourth after a troubled opening race. Luck spun early on at L'Epingle and dropped down the order before climbing back to fifth.

Results - race one (17 laps):

1 Mike Luck (Dart S16) 16m53.380s (71.26mph); 2 James Lindley (Mallock Mk29H) 16m53.860s; 3 Barry Webb (Mallock Mk23/03); 4 Adrian Lester (Mallock Mk35K); 5 Guy Woodward (Mallock Mk27); 6 Dave Madgwick (Mallock Mk27EBX); 7 Arthur Dickens (Mallock Mk29); 8 Peter Richings (Mallock Mk27SG EBX); 9 Glenn Cantello (Mallock Mk20); 10 Russell Munns (Mallock Mk28/30). Fastest lap: Matthew Slinn (Mallock Mk30 EBX) 58.64s (72.44mph).

Race two (15 laps):

1 Lindley 15m00.130s (70.79mph); 2 Lester 15m06.810s; 3 Webb; 4 Richings; 5 Luck; 6 Woodward; 7 Chris Hart (Mallock Mk27); 8 Madgwick; 9 Munns; 10 Dickens. Fastest lap: Slinn 58.74mph (72.32mph).

Next round: Mallory Park, August 17.

Issued on behalf of the Clubmans Register by Paul Lawrence (01952 510382).
 

Championship table