Slippery, Summery, Snetterton

Snetterton, Sunday 17th August 2003

Those testing on Saturday suggested that the track was a trifle slippery. Rick Lloyd explored the outer regions of Coram, and others pondered why they were 2 seconds slower than normal. The practices before ours confirmed the slipperiness as rescue vehicles sped to and fro recovering MGs from everywhere around the track.

We were rather light in numbers as well: 15 entries (plus a late one from Chris Williams). We welcomed back Peter Sargeant in his Class B car, repaired after the frightening accident on the way to Spa in May which overturned his Discovery, wrote off his trailer and did major damage to the Morgan, but did not put off Sarah from being a passenger with Peter on the Continent – brave girl! We also welcomed back Frank Grimley with all his coolant restored after the bung came out at Mallory. We applauded the audacity of Brett Syndercombe, sometime mechanic, now racing driver, entering the fray for the first time – and welcomed back Rick Bourne as his mechanic, reliving his lost youth. In the end Chris Williams was unfortunately unable to take part because he has lost his race licence. Not because of any misdemeanour, but because he has mislaid it... It can happen to anyone – so be warned. It was great to have him around as a spectator, even if it wasn’t as exciting for him.

Paul Burry changed his usual mode of arrival at the track by driving into the paddock in his race car with the tow car on the trailer (towed by James Paterson’s Discovery, rather than the +8, you’ll be relieved to know). Two punctures on the way up had instigated a call to the Morgan Racers’ Recovery Service and rescue was accomplished from the Thetford by-pass. Serena arrived solo for once, having left Mark minding the menagerie but armed with camcorder, tape-recorder and telephone to give him comprehensive feedback of the day.

During practice the 15 entrants took advantage of a relatively uncluttered track. Indeed many comments were made afterwards of “loads of space” “lonely” “very lonely” “no traffic” “very quiet.” Of course they really enjoyed being able to make their own times but missed the excuses for slow times because of others getting in the way. The only one who met any traffic was Rick Lloyd who was going fast enough to overtake lots of the others. Peter Horsman in his Class B car was only 1.8 seconds behind Rick in his Class A – the slipperiness of the entry into Russell and Riches cost him time, said Peter (– wasn’t it the same for both of them?) Paul Burry and others also found Russell slippery. Chris Dady however described it as “a nice run in his local countryside.” He didn’t know what times he was doing because his battery was flat and so the display in the car did not work. Others had timing problems too though, thankfully, not the circuit on this occasion. David James had forgotten to switch his machine on and couldn’t reach it once his harness was done up. Paul did the same. Philip McKelvey must have changed his wavelength and so could not pick up the signal.

Some of our drivers were deeply relaxed – (the ones just mentioned don’t sound very alert to me). Leigh Sebba had returned the previous day from Italy where he had recovered from his daughter’s 21st birthday party. Simon OG has been driving on the wrong side of the road as well, in Portugal, and Peter S said he was not going fast as he had indulged in too many cervezas and paellas in Southern Spain. Everyone was keeping clear of Peter S’s newly repaired car which he was enjoying after his 3½ months off since Spa. New driver Brett lost his nervousness after about 2 laps and even managed to see the pit board telling him how fast he was going (seriously competitive for Class C at 1.25s). Jack tried to catch him but failed in spite of the new tactics he tried at Russell (which eventually raised some off-road dust). Frank Grimley had a bit of a moment at the chicane but the dust acquired blew off the car before he returned to the paddock, so no shame there.

David as the sole Class E representative (where are you all guys and girls? – you only need 4 cylinders, a race licence and a sense of adventure) had water coming out all over the place. On investigation he discovered that the fan had not come on because of a loose retaining screw. The plumber had water problems and a screw loose... Tim Bryan had roofing problems. A strategic decision to run with his hard top on, which is supposed to be aerodynamically better, left him slower than cars he would normally pass – and he is sticking to that story. Philip avoided the cement dust at “The Thetford End” – I think he means Riches or Sears – and followed Simon round. Simon played with James until James warmed up and overtook him. Noddy was going well and James also caught Chris Acklam and passed him, Chris being then content to follow him round – no such contentment likely in the race.

Most of us then settled down to have lunch, enjoy the sunshine, do our knitting (Sally Bellinger), read the Sunday papers and, as always, do a bit of fettling. Paul and Liz, however, were tracking down tyres for the tow car – and can give you, for a price, the Norfolk Guide to which tyre suppliers are not open on a Sunday. Luckily the Snetterton Sunday Market came up with goods and they were able to return home in their usual style. We were Race 6 with an estimated start time of 3.45pm, but Races 2 and 3 were both red-flagged with considerable delay. So it was well past 4.30pm before the cars lined up on the grid.

(A little aside – those of us on the pit wall cannot watch the start from there for safety reasons. So your loved ones stand at the back of the pit lane and listen. You drivers may have an adrenalin rush at the start. So do we – as we listen for the screech of brakes and the scrunch of metal at the first corner. Don’t think of us while you are doing it, you have enough else you should be concentrating on, but do realise that we are thinking of you.)

It was an exciting start with Rick Lloyd in pole position being harried off the line by Peter Horsman. They were neck and neck into Riches until Rick pulled ahead at the apex. James maintained his position of third but Philip Mckelvey made a stonking start from 6th passing both Paul Burry and Chris Acklam, both of whom are no slouches at the green lights. Chris quickly pulled ahead and was close behind Peter and James. Paul was a little daunted by the concrete wall being so close to his right ear, so edged to the outside and passed Philip and Chris at the first corner. They must have been virtually three abreast for the first half lap as Philip passed Paul on the Revett straight but then was outbraked into the Esses, while Chris was aware of Paul outside him at Sear but moved ahead down the straight. The first 6 were then back in the original start order.

Further back on the grid there was equal excitement. Chris Dady got past Peter Sargeant and Frank Grimley to challenge Simon Orebi Gann into Riches. Chris and Simon rubbed shoulders on the corner but there was no material damage because of Chris’s speedy diversion onto the grass. Peter S had a “controlled” start as he didn’t want to hurt his newly repaired car and lost 3 places and Leigh Sebba followed Chris D past Frank. New boy Brett span his wheels, burning some rubber and giving way to Leigh, Tim Bryan and Jack Bellinger. Jack also “skilfully” passed Leigh just to show what extra horsepower the experience of driving at Le Mans can give to a Class D car.

At the front Rick was experiencing loss of compression (on 3 cylinders he said at the end of the race – how sensitive you are when driving, Rick) and Peter was all over him. As they came into Russell on lap 4 Peter was ahead but Rick came out of the chicane better and accelerated away along the pit straight. Peter got past him on the back straight and stayed ahead until they went side by side into the Esses on lap 5 (was there a touch?) and then was passed out of Russell on lap 7. Nail-biting stuff for the crowd enjoying the Norfolk sunshine. James, Chris A and Paul were all keeping very close to begin with but then James and Chris drew away from Paul to indulge in their own private battle for 2nd in Class B. James kept his line on the corners and although Chris had more speed on the straights they weren’t long enough for any overtaking manoeuvres. Paul continued what now became a lonely drive to win Class C, with just an occasional glimpse of Simon in his rear view mirror as they progressed along the Revett straight. Simon was there because he had chased to catch Philip and managed to pass him on lap 3 at Russell. He was sad to see that Chris Dady got past Philip more quickly than he did (only took half a lap) and then fast caught him though not close enough to overtake. They finished the race less than 2 seconds apart.

Tim Bryan started to think that maybe it was the driver and not the hard top that had slowed him in the morning practice. He started 13th on the grid, passed Leigh on the first lap, Frank and Peter S on the second, and then got faster and faster, taking nearly 4 seconds off his best lap time in practice. Frank recovered from his bad start, got past Peter S on lap 2 and, slipping and sliding a bit, had a great race with Peter, finishing only ½ sec behind Tim. Peter would have taken the race to the end but on lap 11 he ran over the edge of the track and caught himself a puncture which caused him to retire into the pits the following lap. Brett also had some work to do after his “beginner’s” start. He caught up with Jack fairly quickly and that gentleman let him past at Russell on lap 3. Then, the man to chase was Leigh, a fellow Class C competitor who has a few years under his belt and was able to hold off the young blood, teaching him the way round for the next 3 laps. Fairly equally matched, Brett was faster on the tighter bends, with Leigh having the advantage on straights. Even when Brett was in front, Leigh kept so close that, when Brett had a slight “off” at Russell on lap 12, he nearly got past. Brett staying ahead there won him the Driver of the Day award.

At the back we were sad to see David James disappear from the field as on lap 5 he heard a knocking noise from his engine at the end of the Revett straight and removed himself from the track. Initial thoughts in the paddock were of an expensive con rod problem which may mean no sight of No 11 again this season. We hope that we will have you back before next year; Bentley Drivers’ will not be the same without you. Fellow veteran, Jack, was experiencing a strange sensation – he was at the back! So he amused himself by timing his drive around Coram so that he entered Russell to coincide with the fast cars. Good for the spectators there and no harm done to anyone...

The final results gave Rick Lloyd the overall and Class A win; Peter Horsman Class B; Paul Burry Class C; Jack Bellinger Class D and there was no finisher in Class E.

The closeness of several of the finishers: 0.243secs, 0.589secs, 0.304secs gives us great anticipation, not only for the Bentley Drivers’ meeting on 30th August at Silverstone, but also for the next appearance at Snetterton on 21st September.

We look forward to seeing lots of you there.

Kate Orebi Gann (with grateful thanks to roving reporter Liz Burry)