The Morgan Three Wheeler Club Challenge Series continued with Round 2 at Loton Park Hillclimb in Shropshire.
Hamish Bibby set a new hill record for the Morgans in 64.16 seconds!
This was a 2 day meeting and the words and photos are from day 1, Saturday.
Quick Clicks:
The Words:
Brief words from Steve U about Saturday. Words from Pete Clews lower down.
Saturday morning was cold! When I arrived and parked up next to Chas and Lesley Reynolds, Chas was looking for long-johns to put under his leathers. In the paddock, Chris Harfield was warming his hands on Clockwork Orange’s radiator and Greg Bibby did first practice with a sweater over his leathers.
Ruth Ross was looking forward to her first outing in Clockwork Orange; Dave Winbow’s two/three speeder which hasn’t competed for many a long year. Practice and competitive runs went quite well. Chas initially had a misfire caused by his “oily old engine”. Chris Harfield had a problem when his gearchange refused to change gear and he completed one run in first gear. Tony Quinn’s MX2 engine was suffering incontinence of oil from the pushrod tubes and Steve Lister decided that some time later in the day he would take out a spark plug.
On the hill, Hamish beat Bill Tuer by a narrow margin, convinced that Bill would beat him on Sunday. Alistair Rew drove a real blinder in his two-speeder to beat both Greg Bibby and Chas Reynolds in Saturday’s runs.
And from Pete Clews – Comp Sec.:
Loton Park Double Header – Morgan Three Wheeler Racing Class Record Falls
The first double header at Loton has been very successful with 17 Entries and apart from a couple of DNFs and a lot of fettling it was enjoyed by everyone. You’ve read the Saturday version from Steve U and yes it was cold, even colder on Sunday morning but it did brighten up for the afternoon.
Saturday had some excellent performances with Tom Cowley achieving 75.05 getting ever close to Roger Orford’s TM record of 74.68 set in July 2004. Austin Smith in a standard 5 Speeder managed exactly the same 74.80 on both runs. Sunday morning times were mixed due to the cold, the drivers as well as the tyres. Hamish Bibby, who after being baulked twice, put in a blistering climb to take Bill Tuer’s record for the Racing Class with 64.16. Watching him apex the same point each time at Triangle made it look as if he was in magnetic tracks. Bill Tuer did not have the racing gods with him and despite trying hard was unable to get down under 65 seconds. Tom Cowley had the hill mastered but could not get below the magic 75 seconds while Tony Quinn, usually the master of this hill could only manage 77.68, so Roger’s record still stands. Alistair Rew had another run under 70 seconds and was very pleased with his AM22s.
Danny Hodgson had a wing come adrift on the return run from practice severing a brake line and ran his timed run in Cathy’s car. Chas Reynolds worked continuously trying to cure his misfire without success although he completed both runs while Greg Bibby tried the old navy trick of laying a smokescreen; with help from Bill Tuer on the ignition department his last run was his best with 68.25. Pete Clews pushed the racing F-Type to a PB of 74.52 urged on by his new passenger Becky Washington; perhaps Becky’s light weight helped as well. Cathy Quinn with Verity Pearson making an all girls team was showing the tarmac the sidewall of her front tyres at Triangle to emulate the lovely photograph of her from last year that adorned the Loton Programme. Tony Pearson spent the day practicing Sprocket changing in the manner that FI teams practice wheel changing. By the end of Sunday he had tried every sprocket and was back where he started with an almost identical time! Ruth Ross had fuel problems and only completed one run but it was several seconds quicker than her Saturday times. The Standard Class was taken by Steve Lister who clearly impressed Jackie Scruton with the power of the Blackburne engine. Chris Harfield decided that after having a lucky escape by selecting 2 gears at once on Saturday he would retire before he selected a third one! The 5 Speeders were having a great time with keen rivalry between Austin Smith and John Scruton. Austin gained the upper hand with a fastest time of 72.79 while John improved continuously to set a time of 76.44. Graham Sherwood was taken ill and could not take part but is feeling much better after a spell recuperating at home. He says he will be back for Prescott.
A very good weekend’s competition.
The Hill:
click on the map for a closer look.
The Photos:
Photos from Steve Uprichard, Jonathan Garside and Austin Smith.
The Results:
click on the results for a closer look