Club Triumph Historic Autosolo 02/10/11

[GT6DavidMK1]

Excellent Day, Well done the organising team, look forward to next years :)

David.

[Velocita Rosso]

As well as auto testing....it finished up like a mini auto jumble....."here can you take this back to Pendle and pennine", "oy have you got a heat shield for sale?" etc etc
There were parts going from one boot to another like furtive contraband in a Chicago speakeasy ;D

[GreenV8Machine]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=js57pWdLihw

[ferny]

391 wrote:

Your car would still have looked better with a caravan behind it!  ;D

Seriously Peter, you did well.  :)

You can't tow with a trio. In fact, you can't really do much with them!  ;D

michael_charlton wrote:

Second that absoloutley fantastic day......you get faster ...it must be that hornet stuck in your silencer box ;D

Fastest moped powered car of the day. ;)
I'm also considering changing my name to Mr Tripod. ;D


Speaking of getting faster... Did anyone else really enjoy the format of running the last test twice? The competitiveness shot up straight away and you could clearly see the enjoyment from people as they tried harder and got better as they knew the course. Just wondering if two tests each run twice would be better then planning to do four different ones. Would also make the day run faster.

[thescrapman]

michael_charlton wrote:

..it must be that hornet stuck in your silencer box ;D

It was maore like a hornet farting in a baked bean can..... :-)

Shame there was no award for "Most Ridiculous sounding Triumph"

Annoying thing is you weren't hanging about....

[Jason]

I admit I did get a little thrown by the change but it all worked out fine, learning for next year include

• Bring more chairs
• Book a portaloo please - whilst competitors can skulk off to the outskirts for a quick pee, the poor timing marshals are always on duty and so can't easily go off station.
• Consider some sort of loud speaker for the radio, a central "control" one that just plays what the marshal posts call in so all the timing marshals can hear it (thus freeing up walkie talkie handsets). It can get a bit noisy with loud cars starting and finishing just as a fault is called in.
• A timetable to run too - always going to be compromised but I felt I needed a point of reference to see how we were doing and also something to remind me to write start and finish of session time on. At some points I had no idea where we were in the order of things :-)
• Two go peds for the far marshal points (apologies for anyone I sent down there twice, it wasn't a vindictive streak in me, honest)

Thanks for everyone making my life easier this year, I never once had to chase up drivers to do their bit, although there were some dawdlers and late comers I was able to man all the points with at least one person and then send reinforcements off to back them up., It seemed to work well and it was always fun to watch them all run when the first car came down :-)
Special thanks for the Senior girls, excellent timers both polite and assertive - a couple of times I thought I'd better step in and reposition a car or tell a passenger to get out but no, not necessary, it was already in hand!

@ferny - yes I liked the last sessions, although it was a compromise to save time it was very good to see people's times come down as they go the hang of it.

It was a very good day :-)

[thescrapman]

I good shot that summed up Darren Sharps day in Jonathons Spitfire....

[ChrisBenoy]

Hi all, would just like to say thanks from a non Club Triumph member here who had a great day at the event, everyone made me feel very welcome and it was all run very smoothly, its definately something that I would do again. I've never done an entirely historic autosolo before and its a great concept and amazing to see nearly 60 classics lined up in the padock area waiting to be driven.

The decision to run course 3 again was a very good one I think, it was the only option that allowed everyone to do the course 3 times and still finish at a sensible time of day. Was briefly slightly frustated at not being able to lower the 1.05 time I had done 4 times by my final run at the course so I decided bravery was in order (pretty rare from me     ::) ) and this was pretty effective getting down to the mid 1.02s so it was interesting to see that there clearly is more time to be had than can be gotten from 3 runs at a course.

I would like to thank all the organisers, timekeepers and officals that made the day work so nicely. Tim - i'm just about to stick another check in the post, no idea what happened to the first one but nevermind. Since you have given me a nice trophy I should probably pay for the event  (blush)

I might stick up a couple of in car videos later if anyone is interested. Maybe even the final run of course 3 and the final run of course 3 the second time, see how different it looks when i'm attempting to drive faster.

[Davemate]

I had a fantasic day for a number of reasons
it's great to put faces to names on here.It did surprise me how many "mini" group competitions took place, I lost count of how many people came up and asked "what was his time" then you got the odd "boll#�*s" after I told them !
I was very very surprised what a difference it made by starting the cars with their wheel on the first line at the start instead of having the wheels just somewhere in the box.
First line stageing, your time starts when you cross the second line,it gives you a rolling start !
People, take note for next year it does make a difference !
The autojumble worked fine for me, I came away with two door bottom repair panels,an overflow bottle for the wifes car and a heatsheild. As for outgoing I got rid of,a wheel for richard a sack of crisps and a packet of hob nobs for Clive and some cash for mike.
Good idea for a porta loo I did not drink anything until mid afternoon working on the theory "Nothing in = nothing out" even just a tent and a buckett,scrub that not fair on the girls. Order a porta loo !
Next year--- do I take part, I would love to say yes but I must admit I do also realy like doing the timing thing, the joy of giving someone a peice of paper and seeing their face light up ----or to see them reach for the gun in the glove box is irreplaceable
I had one or two of "no I didn't "when given a wrong test but this year as I had a radio I could hear the call so I could explain which gate had been done wrong
Roll on next year !!!!!
Sorry to waffle on a bit !

[Davemate]

Ps
   Keep the format,three different tests and re-do the last again

[Richard B]

jcarruthers wrote:

Enjoyable day even if some of the tests weren't all that fluid.

A great day. There was definitely some serious sub competitions.


My only suggestion is that test 2 seemed counter intuitive at the end, I think a lot of people (myself included) went wrong there. If test 2 had flowed a bit better then maybe there would have been time for test 4?


I wonder how hard the course was in a big saloon without PAS, Maybe I'll enter the MkI PI next year  ;)



Can the results be post on here?

[James]

Richard — it was easy once the front tyres were pumped up — the bad thing being that those decent tyres are now destroyed :(

Rears are completely gone and need replacing but they were marginal anyway :) and I was having too much fun

My comments on the courses— they were too repetitive and lacked imagination — how many slaloms do you want to do?

They comprised of; non-stop slaloms, annoying 90 degree gates with not enough room to enter them and those annoying dizzying roundabout things at the bottom of the runway.

Should be renamed the CT Autoslalom :)

Overall we had a great day — the car survived a lot of abuse — and Matt is now hooked and looking to buy something he can do such events in!

[GreenV8Machine]

Few vids up here http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=2nd+October+Bovingdon+Triumph+2011&aq=f

[Jason]

It might be a good idea to submit a few ideas for course design to the committee - accepting that it'll always be biased towards that persons car and so is unlikely to get implemented un-modified :-)

I was surprised that we didn't have more people listening to the marshals as they called out the faults, that would have given you a big clue as to where the tricky areas were - some drivers made the same mistakes at the same gates time and time again. I know I wasn't driving (and I haven't ever done an auto solo) but it struck me that this was a good source of info. Having said that, we didn't want too many people around the timing control as it can get a bit frantic and confusing with too many bodies milling around.

This year there seemed to be a lot fewer cone clipping fault, wrong tests (taking the wrong route) were favourite - that's not to say there weren't some spectacular cone murders out there. It was suggested that a decent burial be performed for the one Nigel mullered with Dale's car!

[Russell]

Well this was my first Autosolo, and didn't really know what to expect, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Many thanks to Colin for the offer of a shared drive in his car as I hadn't even thought of entering until a few days after the 10CR.

Jason wrote:

I was surprised that we didn't have more people listening to the marshals as they called out the faults, that would have given you a big clue as to where the tricky areas were

Despite being told at the start of our run on Test 2 'people keep wrong testing at 2 and 1', I still managed to wrong test twice out the 3 runs. Knowing that, made me panic more at that point, and I think I took a different route every time.

I liked the 'drifting roundabout' and the fact we had 6 runs at the final layout, as others have said, it gave us a good run at getting the times down.

A spare set of tyres seems essential for that surface, as it has a remarkable cheese grating effect.

Next years will be a great excuse to concentrate on getting my Spitfire back on the road - and to improve on looking quicker than this! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDf1cUk_QwY (thanks Mike/Phil)

Russell.

[James]

Jason wrote:

It might be a good idea to submit a few ideas for course design to the committee - accepting that it'll always be biased towards that persons car and so is unlikely to get implemented un-modified :-)

CSMA usually have two nice layouts — essentially a slow one and a quick one — I accept that a "slow" one is just as fun for its technical challenge.

[thescrapman]

jcarruthers wrote:

Richard — it was easy once the front tyres were pumped up — the bad thing being that those decent tyres are now destroyed :(

I would thoroughly recommend use of a set of the oldest and absolutely rock hard barely legal tyres you can lay your hands on.  Induces much tail-end happiness and shouts from the gallery when the mahoosive tank slapper you find yourself in sends you backwards round the round-a-bout, only for you to get a repreive because Vinnie has mullered another cone further up the course... :-). I took those shouts of "cheat" personally.

They were utterly trashed by the time Russell and I finished with them.

And they weren't that good for a competative time either... :-)

jcarruthers wrote:

My comments on the courses— they were too repetitive and lacked imagination — how many slaloms do you want to do?

Lots, they are good fun in a Spitfire.. :-) But in a big saloon without PAS they suck I suspect.

jcarruthers wrote:

They comprised of; non-stop slaloms, annoying 90 degree gates with not enough room to enter them and those annoying dizzying roundabout things at the bottom of the runway.

Should be renamed the CT Autoslalom :)

Ah, you're thinking of big open events like the "pushing the rules to the limits" ones at North Weald. That is almost Sprinting, but is called an Autotest as the permit is cheaper!

Going over the finish line at 70+ mph was not part of the design brief given to Nigel I suspect... :-)

There should be a way of producing 2 totally different layouts that suit the big and small cars, so there is variety, from the same cone layout.

I personally had no problems what-so-ever with following the course, for the first time ever I did not WT once. The final gates with the 180 degree reverse turns were tricky I have to admit, and I probably lost a second or so getting them right.

Cheers

Colin

[GreenV8Machine]

Few pics http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.241604225891733.77175.100001264717481&l=a05e4189d5&type=1

[James]

thescrapman wrote:

I would thoroughly recommend use of a set of the oldest and absolutely rock hard barely legal tyres you can lay your hands on.  Induces much tail-end happiness and shouts from the gallery when the mahoosive tank slapper you find yourself in sends you backwards round the round-a-bout, only for you to get a repreive because Vinnie has mullered another cone further up the course... :-). I took those shouts of "cheat" personally.

They were utterly trashed by the time Russell and I finished with them.

And they weren't that good for a competative time either... :-)



Lots, they are good fun in a Spitfire.. :-) But in a big saloon without PAS they suck I suspect.



Ah, you're thinking of big open events like the "pushing the rules to the limits" ones at North Weald. That is almost Sprinting, but is called an Autotest as the permit is cheaper!

Going over the finish line at 70+ mph was not part of the design brief given to Nigel I suspect... :-)

There should be a way of producing 2 totally different layouts that suit the big and small cars, so there is variety, from the same cone layout.

I personally had no problems what-so-ever with following the course, for the first time ever I did not WT once. The final gates with the 180 degree reverse turns were tricky I have to admit, and I probably lost a second or so getting them right.

Cheers

Colin

Actually the slaloms were ok - it wasn't an issue after pumping the tyres up - just a bit boring I thought?

As for tyres, I don't mind using good tyres as using old ones just makes you go sideways everywhere = slow.

If I could find a set of cheap 15in rims for my saloon I'd transfer the old fronts on to them - they've gone all manky due to the heat but I suspect ok for autosolo - good for the rears at least.

I didn't have issues with following the course - it was actually very simple - no wrong tests for me.

I do think there is a happy medium between tight and loose courses though - I am not asking for sprints and not for super tight autotest style - but CSMA like ones. It's very simple, we've done them on the exact same stretch of tarmac :)

[thescrapman]

jcarruthers wrote:

As for tyres, I don't mind using good tyres as using old ones just makes you go sideways everywhere = slow.

Ah, but sideways is big fun! Do need to get the rear tuck-under under control though. The previous ones just slid out, these ones made the back end jack up.

Pick yourself up a set of TR6 rims, £100 a set is about right, and if you pick the right size tyre, you can get some reasonable ones for not a lot.

195/65-15 springs to mind as the size to go for.

£25-£30 a corner max, and they don't need balancing so just find someone to fit them for you.

I'm just a tight-arse and having a set of new but 25-year old Pirelli P6's to hand I wasn't going to trash my nice new Yokos.

I would have used the old Firestones, but I donated them to Mr Bishop to not use on his Sprint... :-)

Cheers

Colin

[Tim Bancroft]

Not sure about the shagged out tyre idea, grip is needed and old tyres or cheap tyres do not offer much in the way of stickey contact!

Must admit it was fun driving the saloon and was amazed to have got 10th overall. However I have done alot of these events so I should finish well.


Cars of the day: James C's mega wotsits 2000 (sounds so different these days), Matt's Spittie and of course all the cars that took part in the 10CR-multi-versed or what!

[thescrapman]

timbancroft61 wrote:

Not sure about the shagged out tyre idea, grip is needed and old tyres or cheap tyres do not offer much in the way of stickey contact!

Must admit it was fun driving the saloon and was amazed to have got 10th overall. However I have done alot of these events so I should finish well.


Cars of the day: James C's mega wotsits 2000 (sounds so different these days), Matt's Spittie and of course all the cars that took part in the 10CR-multi-versed or what!

As I was only setting out to beat myself, the tyres and therefore grip don't really matter. No way am I good enough to compete with the best of you... yet. :-)

Once I get a bit better, then a set of consumable better tyres will be in order. Then when I am as good as Matt Helm (Yeah, I wish) then I will be using up a set of Yoko's at £240 an event.

Cheers

Colin

[Clive]

I suspect the way forward (and being cheap) is to get friendly with a local tyre place. nab a set of quality, but worn tyres when they come off a customers car. In fact they may be rather pleased as it is costly to dispose of tyres. (but joe public can take a few to the local tip :) )

[Matthew123]

State the obvious, but an awesome event!

Everyone knows how many events i do and be perfectly honest the tests gave a bit of everything and were long enough to push levels of concentration.

Massive well done to everyone involved competing and organising. CT are a great bunch of people and i'm proud to enter under the banner at other events.

Finally a massive thankyou to my old man!! He is without a doubt a legend, i havent a clue about cars but he still manages to understand what i waffle on about. I'm sure he must spend more time working on my abuse than on his own, so thats big guy....

[Velocita Rosso]

cliftyhanger wrote:

I suspect the way forward (and being cheap) is to get friendly with a local tyre place. nab a set of quality, but worn tyres when they come off a customers car. In fact they may be rather pleased as it is costly to dispose of tyres. (but joe public can take a few to the local tip :) )

The only thing with that is, that tyre fitters are not allowed to fit unroadworthy tyres.....if theres still 3mm on and not defective then it would work.
However a slight nick here and there would stop them fitting.....sou you have to hang a round quite a while till you find a good set