We knew Frankie would be fast, well at least we knew she would be “faster”, but what about the competition – would they have made improvements too; and would they be more or less effective than ours? In reality, we had “shaved” nearly 3 seconds a lap off last years’ time for the Indy circuit at Brands – so 61 / 62 second laps in place of last season’s 63 / 64.
So, what would qualifying bring for Simon and No. 41 “Frankie” the Iveco? The fastest lap of any Division 2 truck on the circuit (1:01.916 min) – putting Simon firmly in Pole Position in Division 2 for Race one. Not only that, but also the second fastest lap time too (1:02.557 min), putting “Frankie” on pole position for Race two as well. A clean sweep so far – and delight within the team.
So that is the “high”…. And now the “low”
Si and Frankie lead from the start of Race one until around 2/3 distance, carefully managing their pace to stay out of trouble from the Division 1 trucks ahead, while maintaining a comfortable lead over the 2nd place man. Then a failure in the hydraulic gear shift mechanics left Si running wide and gracefully sliding sideways into the tyre barrier. No real damage was done as Si had managed to control the slide across the grass and only nudged into the tyre wall. If the truck had reverse, he could have backed out. So that was the end of race one – a gut-wrenching “DNF”. Parts were speedily replaced, and Frankie was ready to go again for race two.
Again, Simon and Frankie lead from the start of Race two until around 1/2 distance, carefully managing their pace to stay out of trouble, while maintaining a comfortable lead. Then a critical part within the front suspension failed, the pin that keeps the leaf springs aligned. This caused the front axle to become loose, with the consequential loss of all positive steering control. Simon was forced to park up for the remainder of the race and to take an unceremonious “lift” home on the back of a wrecker. Unfortunately, the “moving” axle had also damaged the shock absorber mountings so the required repairs were to take the team well into Saturday night to complete – finally finishing around midnight.
So that is the “low”…. And now the “high”
So, to Sunday, what is there to say? Well for a start two heavy crashes, which I’m sure you can find on YouTube should you so wish. However, I’m glad to report that both Graham Poole (who rolled his No 333 over two and half times at Paddock Hill Bend) and Neil Yates (No. 33) who mounted the barrier along Hailwood Hill were perfectly fine.
And for Simon and our Iveco “Frankie” no 41 – well – much to our delight – 3 first place finishes and three fastest laps. It does not get any better than that, although race 4 was a “declared” result, after around half distance, following Graham Poole’s roll.
So that’s “the Father”, how about the very popular Archie in the aging “Volvo”?
A disheartening weekend for Archie, driving uncompetitive machinery, with very little modification from the previous year, mainly due to tight team finances. But despite the best efforts of others, he managed to keep the truck on the track and almost out of trouble, mostly.
Race 1 saw Archie and (the not officially named still) “Ovlov” start behind “dad” and on third place in the Division 2 grid, ahead of the remaining 4, Division 2 racers. Archie came in 4th in Division 2 by the end of the race.
Once again in Race 2, Archie started behind “dad”, in third place in the Division 2 grid, ahead of the remaining 4, Division 2 racers. Once again finishing a creditable 4th in the old Volvo, ahead of Callam Eason and Graham Poole in much more modern machinery!
Sunday saw a further 3 races:
For the third race of the weekend Archie started in Pole position for Division 2, with Simon immediately behind him following Saturdays DNF. As mentioned above, Simon went on to win this race, even being ahead of a Division 1 competitor. Alas, Archie was required to pull into the pits for safety reasons. Michael Oliver spun his Division 1 truck on the exit from Druids (the hairpin) and, despite a great manoeuvre by Archie, the spinning truck clipped the rear tyre of “ovlov”. This damaged the rim to the extent that the track safety team thought the tyre may leave the truck, with obvious risks to the crowd, marshals, and all in attendance. Archie was required to pull into the pits and out of the race.
Race four of the weekend saw Archie start 2nd, with Simon by his side in 3rd place. Archie brought the Volvo home again in 5th place, after the race was declared completed following the red flag caused by the unfortunate Graham Poole.
In race 5, Archie started 3rd in Division 2, but there were several Division 1 drivers interspersed within the pack between him and his dad in pole position. Again, he brought the Volvo FM home in 5th place in front of Bradly Harvey.
So, the ups and downs of motor racing!!
And the lessons learnt?
Frankie is fast and can now win races following the closed season developments but needs to remain reliable.
Ovlov needs a much more responsive engine that produces more power and allows Archie to accelerate away from the start line and out of the corners. We need to find the funds to make Archie a better truck and for that we need more sponsors who can support us to build a better engine for the future.
Check out our “Gallery” page for more pictures from the event!
Thanks to J H Haulage, Povey Transport and Weavers who are helping us get around – so thank you, without you we would be stuck at home in Detling!
THANK YOU to ALL our wonderful sponsors; to the businesses who help us out in kind, or with cash (although we accept cheques too of course!), we could NOT do this without you ALL. No matter how big or small your help – this team of family and friends could not do this without YOU. YOU made it possible for Simon, and now Archie, and put father and son on the track as much as the rest of this family and friends based team. THANK YOU. (but we always need more help of course).
Please check out our “Partners” page to find out more about our sponsors.
Come and see us all, cheer on Archie and Simon and “THINK PINK” at the Circuit if you can – we are always happy to chat and show you our race trucks – unless we are repairing them of course, in which case best to give us some space to work safely.
If you cannot visit the track, then remember to check out the “BARC” live feed on YouTube – or of course on “catch up” later.
CTS#41 and CTS#40; Simon, Archie, John, Conner, John, Colin, Sam, Toby, Martin & Guy
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