Part one :- The Early Days.
My name is Stuart Hill and this year I joined Mark Smith to represent the Shropshire Area in the Speed Series. As 2003 was to be my first full season Nic Chase and I thought it may be an idea to give an insight into the series from a beginners point of view.
I will try to tell you about
my background , preparation for and participation in the 2003 season.
I may as well start this article at the beginning of my
involvement with kit cars .
Whilst doing some repair work
on a house in late 1999 I noticed that the owner, Guy, had a shiny black
Westfield tucked away in his garage. It had been built up over 1997/98 from a
new chassis and body kit with a write off providing most of the mechanical parts .Guy preferred building the car to
driving it so had only covered 200
miles in almost two years ! By April 2000 this car had found its way into my
garage.
I joined the WSCC soon
afterwards and was put in touch with Bob Formaggia who was then the area organiser
for the shrops area .Bob welcomed me to the fold and suggested that my first track day could be at Curborough with
the Shrops crew. As you all know these club days are great fun ,even though most of my runs resulted in a spin or on the grass . Chatting with Mark
Smith made me aware of, and the inspiration to go, sprinting and Hill Climbing
.
So over the winter I set my
sights on having a go at a sprint. I kitted myself out with race overalls at
the Autosport Show in January and decided to enter the WSCC run event at
Curborough for my first, (and only) , event in 2001. I would recommend this
meeting for any Shrops area Kit Car owners starting out in sprints. For the
record I had a fun day and finished an encouraging 10th from 25 in the 1700cc road class. I did try to enter a few
more events in the second half of the season but none of the entries were
accepted. I learnt you really have to get your entry in as soon as poss after
receiving the regs.
Unfortunately I had to sell
the black Westy at the end of 2001 to help pay for on going house repairs and
renovations so the prospect for driving and competing in 2002 were looking a
bit barren . But I had not counted upon the intervention of a man from Minardi
!
Part Two :- The Raw Connection
Over the last year I had made
friends with Mel Coppock and the Raw Engineering team Who are based just a few
miles away from my home . Raw is the importer and distributor of the Toyota
1600 engines and Mel would often take potential customers out in the demo car
and then let them try it out for themselves,but a test by a supposedly
experienced driver , who worked at the Minardi factory at Ledbury changed all
this . The resulting crash left Mel in Hospital and the demo car written off. Mel took the decision to ,whenever
poss , demo the car on track
. Even though I did not have a
huge amount of experience Mel (who perhaps was still suffering from concussion
! ) asked me to do the track demo
driving . I considered the offer for all of 2 seconds before saying YES, especially
as the first day was to be at Silverstone on the full GP circuit ! Even though
track days are non competitive the experience to be gained is invaluable for
the budding sprint driver. I think these days helped me immensely in
preparation for the 2003 season.
Part Three :- Russs Find.
Even though I could drive the Raw demonstrator at track
days I really wanted my own car in order to compete in the Speed Series . I had
spent the proceeds of the sale of my Westy on the house so I knew that it was
not viable to go out and buy a ready built car but perhaps I could afford to
build one by using a lot of second hand parts and purchasing new parts as the
build progressed, thus spreading the cost . I managed to find an abandoned
Lo-Cost project, which came with quite a number of parts inc new Avo shox ,
Cortina uprights and hubs and a full set of Westfield front wishbones . The
chassis was checked by my friend Russ
Tyler , who owns Tyler Motorsport and Engineering in Hereford . Unfortunately
Russ found some small errors in the geometry . I thought it would cost more
than the chassis was worth to rectify these faults so I kept the good
components and sold the chassis and bodywork to a motor sport engineering
student who felt it would be useful to hone his skills on this project
.Russ then came up with a written off Westfield . It had been
crashed in 1996, stripped of its main components and abandoned in a barn . The
remains of this 1989 SEI were duly purchased for £500. I was lucky that it also
came with its original registration as the owner had purchased a new kit with a
new reg in 1997.
Part Four:- The Rebuild
I knew that the type of car I
wanted to construct would be a no frills , stripped out Sprint car .The rebuild
of this Westfield took all of 2002 and into the spring of 2003 . My budget was
very tight so a lot of parts were second hand , swapped , or reconditioned .For
instance the gearbox was swapped with Mel for a gate, and the fuel tank
exchanged for fascia board .
The chassis was duly dispatched to Westfield ,(who wouldnt
barter),for a new front end and straight from there to Canon Pyon Shotblasting
Who powder coated the repaired chassis , wishbones , rollbar , uprights , and
various brackets . A close friend ,Jim Henshaw
who restores classic cars for a living , cut the main ali panels out and
made some unique ali front mudguards. The front wishbones , from the lo-cost,
and the original rear ones were fitted with polypropelene bushes and a quick 2
Ό turn steering rack fitted (thanks Adrian ! ) . Over the
course of the build I acquired a second
hand loom which was connected up by Guy ( the constructor of the black
car).Russ found an ali diff housing to which I fitted a std 3:9 diff, from an
old Escort estate . I removed some brake calipers from a scrap Capri ,The shox
and front uprights also came from my abandoned lo-cost project.The front /rear
anti roll bars from a race car breaker for £35 ! Everything was carefully
cleaned , inspected, and reassembled .New components included :-a Polo rad , small 5 Ό lights , toggle switches ,copper
brake lines ,cooling fan and hoses
Now to the engine
.I found it very hard to
decide between one of Raws Toyota
T/Cams or stick with a X/flow. In the end it came down to simple economics ,I
already had X/flow inlet and exhaust manifolds , bell housing and clutch , and
a few other bits and bobs ,so X/flow it was then ! Russ came up trumps again by
finding a 1700 block ,with twin cam pistons, 244 cam , ported head, duplex
gear, dizzy , crank etc and also a complete std engine all for £300. He then
worked his magic on the parts,added a few tweeks of his own and produced a
superb , very useable and reliable engine. Russ also g , modified an old
propshaft and repaired one of the rear uprights . Finally the old bodywork had
to be filled,patched up and sprayed with aerosol cans because I did not want to
spend money on either new panels or a professional respray. But by the time the
car was ready the 2003 season was well underway with 10 events completed.
.
Part Five :- The WSCC
Championship Structure
Before I tell you about the
season let me explain how the SS works. The
WSCC SS is invited to approx 30
events all over the UK. As far apart as Knockhill circuit in Scotland to Lydden
in Kent, Ty Croes in Anglesey to Harewood
in Yorkshire to name a few. These events are divided up into various classes
inc ,Kit cars , Production cars , racing cars and specific marquees such as MG,
TVR and Reliant. Most classes are then sub divided by tyres and CC. Times
achieved on the day are sent back to the WSCC co-ordinator who attributes
points according to your position compared to other SS competitors in your
class . The SS has its own class structure as follows:
Class A:-Road going kit cars
up to 1800cc, novice drivers
Class B:- Road
over 1800cc
Class C:-Road
up to 1800cc expert drivers
Class d :-Road
over 1800cc
Class E:-Modified road kit
cars up to 1800cc and bike engines up
to 1100cc}aeroscreens,
Class f :-Mod
over1800cc
over 1100cc}
Class G :-Non road going kit
cars up to 1800 cc [slicks , no screen ,no lights etc ]
Class H :-Non
over 1800cc
Your best 10 scores will count
in the final tally, so after 10 events your lowest scores are dropped. At the
end of the season there will be 8 class champions and 1 overall series winner.
The SS is structured to encourage beginers and novices into motor sport on a
limited budget and also to cater for experienced drivers with more exotic cars
. _
Part Six :- The 2003 Season
My strategy for 2003 was to
gain experience , develop the car and learn the tracks with a view to try and
win Class A in 2004 .
The first problem I
encountered was again one of entries . The Regs are sent out by the organising
clubs well in advance but as I did not have a car completion date or any idea
how it would perform I did not enter any of the early events . On reflection
this was a mistake as you can obtain a refund , in most cases , right up to the
closing date (check the regs ! )
Llandow on May 26th would be
my first event.
The day went well after some
excellent guidance and encouragement from Mark Smith . I came away with 4th o/a
and 1st wscc class A , however, I had not realised before that a SS class win
would mean expert status for next year. So I was forced to re think my plan and
try to do as well as possible this year . The only other event I had entered
was the WSCC club meeting at Curborough at the end of June , by which time the
season would be half way over .
I regard Curborough as my home
track but even so I was very pleased with my second Class A win and my P. B
.time (albeit in practise ) , of 1-04. [I have included time sheets for
curborough as most of you will have practised there at some time and may find
it useful for comparison .]
Boscombe Down Air Force Base
was my 3rd round on the 20th of July. This would be a stiff test as
the track is probably the longest on the SS calendar and,laid out over a
mixture of runways and service roads similar to the Top Gear circuit . We were
unable to walk the course due to security restrictions so I was not relishing
driving this extremely fast track having only completed two slow, 20mph ,
convoy runs. I was truly amazed when my first practice time was 8 seconds
faster than the nearest novice . The day was rounded off nicely with my first
o/a class win and also WSCC Class A .
I now had 48 points but the
class leader had 69
It was back to Llandow again
,and my first time up against Rob Navin ( Rob was the 2003 Class A favourite
with a Hill record holding car fitted with a Mass 192 bhp X/flow) . He thrashed
me by 3 seconds but at least I bagged 2nd WSCC novice and 12 points.
Glorious Goodwood was next. This former G.P. track and
buildings have been restored to their original 1950s condition. The start
procedure was unique as we lined up 4 abreast across the start line and were
released at 10 sec intervals. Over
exuberance in practice caused my first major on track blunder . Having caught a
slower car I over braked and spun off, instigating a red flag . I was unable to
match Robs superior speed and had to settle for 2nd novice again. Incidentally Goodwood is so fast that I took every bend
.except the chicane , in top gear !
Having completed five events I
was still down in 4th
place with 72 points. Rob Navin
, who now lead class A , had 120 points ,but he had done 11 events and was
dropping his lowest scores.
22 rounds of the championship had now been completed , leaving 7
still to run.
The Reliant Club were running
our return visit to Curborough but we would be using the single lap this time.
Revenge was had ,with my P.B. time of 35-98sec and 1st novice,over
Rob who only scored 4th WSCC novice. I had fitted a Quaiffe LSD for this event to improve the rear end
grip. The LSD worked a treat but now
the front end could not cope with the extra power delivery and slipped into
understeer.
I was hoping to get into the two day meeting at Anglesey
especially as there was a track day on the Friday . Because of my late entry I
was well down the reserve list and on the Wednesday before the meeting the secretary
rang to say that there would not be any space on Saturday and that Sunday was
looking very doubtful . Never the less I received a call late on Saturday with
an offer of a drive for Sunday ,which I duly accepted even thou it was a long
way to go with minimal prospect of a good result having missed the practice day
and the Saturday sprint . However I was pleased with the resultant 3rd
place. The decision to go would prove
to be crucial at the points tally at the end of season
I was pleased to have secured
entries to the final four rounds.
Wiscombe Down was next . The
track is the drive to a large manor house ,owned by two motorsport loving
brothers , and consists of open parkland for the first half leading into the
very tight wooded section with trees right alongside the track. It would be my
first Hill Climb and it was very
daunting to say the least . I now suffered my only mechanical gremlin of the
season,although the same problem would reoccur again , my gearbox was extremely reluctant to change down to first gear if
travelling at more than a few MPH . until now none of the events I had done
needed first gear other than for the start but Wiscombe had two steep uphill
first gear corners . During practice I tried both clutching it in second gear
and stopping to change down to first but both methods were rather
unsatisfactory and costing precious time . luckily for me Rob had elected not
to do Wiscombe so despite the problems I was able to come away with 1st
novice and 16 much needed points .
There were now only three rounds of the speed series left and I
was now in contention for the Class A win and also an outside chance of the o/a
championship , but I was still 30 points behind Rob
Mira and Thorsby Park were
to be held over one weekend. Mira , (Motor Industry Research Assoc ) , is a purpose
built test track with a high grip surface and very fast ( over 100 mph ) in
places . Although I was beaten on the day
by Neville Thompson into second place my time was 300th of a
sec quicker than Rob
. The understeer which I had
been suffering from since Curborough was quite pronounced on this track so I
sought advise from Mark Smith , the conclusion of this was that the front
spring rate at 275 lbs was probably too high and that softer springs would
allow the anti roll bar to do its job more effectively .
I packed up and drove across
to Thorsby to drop the car off and walk the track before retiring to my digs
for the night. Now Richard Green , a fellow SS competitor had some 225lbs
springs that would fit so I attempted to fit them that evening (not really a
wise thing to do ) ,but they were longer than my springs and would need a
spring compressor to get them onto the shox .After about an hour I was faced
with the decision to either carry on struggling or go to the pub with some of
the others who were also staying over , the pub won.
The temporary track is set out
on the roads through the grounds of the magnificent Thoresby House. To make the
course more interesting the organisers had the novel idea of using 5 gallon
drums to define the corners and chicanes . Some of the drums had tennis balls
in their lids ,the penalty for knocking
one off would be 1 sec per ball added to your time . However my main problem
was that the barrels tightened all the
corners and made them first gear . Again I could not select first whilst on the
move resulting in a poor time and only 4th novice and the end of my
challenge for the o/a speed series but if I finished first or second at the
final round at 3 sisters ,with Rob
behind me , I could still win Class A.
There was an agonising 4 week
gap till the last event ,but this gave me time to fit the 225lbs springs .
The circuit is a twisty , technical go cart track ,with very close
tyre barriers ,which bought back some painful memories as I had crashed into
them at a track day with my previous car .As you can imagine I was very nervous
with everything depending on the result of today ,and this was not helped by
only a few tenths separating four of us after practice, however , the softer
front end was working and gripping much better .
My first timed run went well and I held a slim ½ sec advantage going into the third and
final run . The rain ,which had been threatening for a while , came as we lined
up for our go and I knew after about 50 yds that the grip had gone and the
times would be slower.
The significance of the trip
to Anglesey came into play now enabling
me to drop the Thoresby score [the difference between third and fourth
is 2 points ]. This gave me Class A by
a mere two points from Rob with a final
tally of 141 points.
I apologise if this article is a bit self centred but it was the
only way I could think of writing it. If you are tempted to try the SS remember
that any Westfield or other similar kit car will do as there is a class for all
abilities and car specs .
Finally I would like to thank
Mel and Russ for their support , Mark
for his superb advise throughout the season and also all the people who donated
their time to help with the building of
the car
Regards
Stuart Hill