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Clubmans Track Day - details   New Clubmans Register web site

 Shadowing Adrian Brown at Thruxton, 10 October 2004

Marcus in the Powertrain Clubmans Cup 2004 in association with MG XPower and Ricardo plc.

2004 Fixtures

The schedule comprised 14 races at 11 race meetings and included the popular French foray to Croix-en-Ternois in July. The season kicked off at Silverstone on Easter Monday and finished at Thruxton in October, both of which were dates shared with the Classic Clubmans Championship.  Powertrain was the principal series sponsor, with MG XPower and Ricardo as additional sponsors.

Looking back on the season from the long November evenings, I was very pleased with the reliability of the car (no retirements in 12 championship races competed) and the improvement in handling thanks to the rebuilt chassis. I have gained about a second a lap everywhere.  I also managed not to crash it, although the 720 degree high speed spin less than a metre from the Armco at Croix came within a whisker of spoiling my season. Overall I got 8 top ten finishes in 12 championship races and finished 9th in the championship, highest yet. 2nd place at Brands Hatch in the Clubmans Cup championship race was of course a highlight.

You meet such a nice class of guy when you increase you lap speeds. My regular battles with friends and foes like Paul Freeman, Ian Crombie and Tony Pouyanne are now complemented by skirmishes with Russell Munns, Jamie Champkin, Adrian Brown, and early in the season with Stefan Mumm and Pete Richings. The picture above is typical of CLOSE RACING; Adrian Brown and I did indeed touch once in the chicane at the end of the Thruxton straight!

Here is the fixtures list for 2004 and after each race the report from my point of view:
 

  Date Circuit
a
 3 April Silverstone National. Peterborough M.C. 4th and 6th
1
 12 April  Silverstone National: Fast car, driver cracked. 10th
b
 24 April Silverstone Stowe: BARC SEC Single Seaters: Old Fox outfoxes Fox. 2nd
c
 2 May Mallory Park: Classic Clubmans, invited to compete with my MG XPower car. 8th
2&3
 15/16 May  Croft (double header): unable to compete due to family event
d
 22 May Brand Hatch Indy: Classic Clubmans. No report. Qualified 6th 50.506, race 16 out of 21 after gear lever came out, best 50.796
4
 5 June  Oulton Park: close racing, best championship finish to date. 6th
5
 27 June  Mallory Park: tough in the top ten. 7th
6&7
 10/11 July  Croix-en-Ternois (double header) A tweak too far. 9th and 12th
d
 17 July Lydden: BARC SEC Single Seaters Should have been Mark Charteris. 1st
8
 8 August  Brands Hatch: first championship podium, lucky day. 2nd
9
 15 August  Cadwell Park: indeed a challenging circuit. 12th
10
 29/30 August  Donington Park: no report. Qualified 12th 1'20.723 Race 13 out of 23, fastest lap 1'18.185 (PB) after clearing Tony Pouyanne. Okay day, no damage! Off on holiday.
11
 11/12 September  Snetterton: alternator problems? 12th
12&13
  25/26 September  Pembrey (double header) Data logger and a temperature sensor cure engine. Good racing. 9th and 7th
14
 10 October  Thruxton: sensational speed, dogfight with Adrian Brown. 6th
 f
 Sat 30 October Silverstone National: Birkett 6 Hour Relay Race. No report. The Boss Hoggs (6 drivers including MB) lost out to the Hart Attacks after leading them for the first 3 hours. Handicap results (with scratch result in brackets)  Hart Attacks 4 (4) Boss Hoggs ? (5). Wonderful racing.
 h
 Sat 6 November Silverstone: Haggispeed Memorial Trophy. No report. Trailing class leader Russell Munns when my car sprung an oil leak. Massive spin at Copse at full chat, then retirement. Lady Luck says "you finished every championship race of the season so this is just to tell you what winter work is needed".

DNF: did not finish or not classified, i.e. no championship points                Powertrain Clubmans Cup round in bold
Note: (Championship Sporting Regulation 1.5.1) In accordance with MSA regulation B.8.4 the organisers reserve the right to amend the published list of dates and rounds, in which case, all registered competitors will be informed of the amendments by Official Bulletins posted to the address specified on the Official Registration Form.

Tony Pouyanne at work in the Mallock Sports factory straightening a chassis memberRichard Mallock also at work on the chassisWinter work 2003-2004

For 2004 the car was totally overhaulled. Every single wire, pipe and rivet dismantled. The chassis was straightened, stiffened, mended, sand-blasted and powder-coat-painted at the Mallock Sports works. Resistance to flexing in the twisting sense (roll) was reduced by over thirty percent. I installed a totally enclosed floor pan in carbon fibre and (from end of April) undertrays to the side pods (blue curved element in the picture below left) and radiator undertray in the line of the main floor pan, all to improve airflow and down force. New and larger right hand side impact protection.

Testing the rigidity of the chassis. The work will have increased it by 25%Renovated blue chassis with glue for the carbon fibre floorIan Megson and Matthew Napper helped me in December dismantle the car into all its component parts and the three of us completed the rebuild in about 180 man hours in February and March. The battery moved to the front to improve balance and positive steering feel. The pedal box has been rebuilt further forward to give my feet and knees more room. New engine mounting plate because of the newly-triangulated frame. New anti-roll bar late last season. Strengthening of the nose frame supports to make it less easy to break the nose cone when going over kerbs. Rear wing is lowered. Side pod floor in place, just after the Easter Silverstone meetingRight side pod reinforced with a vertical bulkhead behind the rear wheel to prevent distortion of the pod on high speed right-handers which made it foul the tyre. Paul Freeman has finished a top end overhaul for the engine (first for two years and 54 events!). New petrol pumps and throttle cable.

No excuses!

Early results were good. A fourth place at Silverstone in a non-championship race on April 3rd, beating Adrian Lester in one of two races. Fifth on the grid in the first Clubmans Cup race, also at Silverstone, on Easter Monday April 12th with a lap time of 1'02.362 which was over a second and a half quicker than my personal best at the circuit. The car is much more precise in fast corners, less flexing about, so much more confidence inspiring. I then clambered up to 2nd in the race for 4 laps, but see the race report for the rest!

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This page created 7 January 2004

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