Rick Lloyd cruises to win

Snetterton - 24 April 2005

Round one of the Power Torque Morgan Motor Company Challenge found twenty seven competitors heading east to what turned out to be a sunny Snetterton and the coming of age of the Challenge series. Well, one had to reach twenty one before being handed the key of the door when I was a lass.

Preparations for the season appeared to have ranged from complete rebuilds such as in the case of him indoors (or rather garage), to those who left well alone, and really only needed to check for small creatures which might have colonized their cars over the long winter months.

We also welcomed the Roadster Lightweights into the invitation class with five cars on the grid looking very smart in their distinctive livery of silver wings and various coloured bodies. This included motoring journalist Mark Hales who was having a guest drive in Richard Thorne’s car. Sadly Andrew Thompson’s car was missing from their first battle owing to a coming together with the first corner during Friday's testing. However all was not lost as he was offered a drive in Richard’s car in the ‘all comers’ race at the end of the day.

There is of course another Roadster in the field, that of Simon OG running in class C, albeit without anti tramp bars of course owing to the regulations. This was giving him a slight cause for concern regarding his ability to get off the start line with any speed.

Classes A and D have remained more of less the same with hopefully more showings from Simon McD making up for two rather arid years; but it is classes B and C which have had a metamorphosis over the winter. Class C only managed three on the grid whereas Class B was fairly bulging at the seams being three times the size.

Once scrutineering was safely out of the way and the noise testers satisfied, everyone went out to practice. Some to find out what this racing lark was all about such as in the case of Charles Steward who had never been in a race before (gulp), to those who just needed to remind themselves of the twiddly bits.

PRACTICE

The general opinion was of lots of traffic, which was understandable with the added Roadsters on the grid. In addition to these were a few Jaguars who were also out in our session generally getting in the way and doing the odd pirouette just where you don’t need it.

Rick came home safely unlike Keith, who after the two of them having had a humdinger of a tussle for pole, succumbed to a broken half shaft which happened at Russell about two thirds of the way through the session. It had survived four years and 200 races but the nature of the break indicated that it might have been helped on its way by more than one incident. Whatever the cause it put pay to Keith’s racing and Rick’s fun for the day and the car was spirited off to be nursed back to health by Ian Grimes.

Chris W. had a good practice and secured what was now second on the grid just in front of Peter H. who, in spite of his dissatisfaction with his times and the slippery Coram, obviously did enough. Simon McD. was not so happy with his outing as he was having problems coming out of the slower corners with a rather fluffy engine and a suspected misfire.

At long last Paul has some brakes but he admitted to not really having the faith to use them to their full potential, overdriving and unfamiliarity with the car being the main problem. He was just getting in the groove when the red flag was shown, as was Frank who was going well after a bad Friday testing, resulting in a change of plugs.

James found himself down the field but was able to get a couple of clear runs in an uneventful practice, which was also the case for Mary, Sharlie, Jack, Leigh and Phil H.

Andy and Phillip G were both having trouble finding clear tarmac, but this was nothing compared to Chris A’s battle with his footrest which decided to come adrift half way through the session and threaten to snarl up his pedals.

The very new Roadster of Simon OG settled down nicely after a few laps, but with only 453 miles on the clock things were a bit stiff and reluctant first thing. (Know how she feels).

Neither Peter S. nor Barry were happy with their practice which for Peter was frustrating as he had sorted the engine, wiring loom, steering rack and brakes over the winter.

The anticipation and excitement of a great season clearly got to David as he spun three times on the first lap although it didn’t quell his enthusiasm, and to keep him company and finishing things off very neatly, Tony spun on the red flag lap.

THE RACE

It was an unfamiliar sight at the front of the grid, and I always think it’s sad to see gaps where there shouldn’t be gaps. So it was a lonely Rick up front who managed to get away well with Chris W and Peter H closely behind. This didn’t last long as Chris spun off at Russell with the excuse that he came out of the corner too fast. Once he stopped rotating he found the road and resumed in 20^th place. Chris A messed up his start owing to the fact that he changed from first into neutral which is never a good idea especially if one is on a race grid.

The field sorted itself out during lap one with James overtaking Simon McD and the ‘humbug’. Paul had concentrated on not overdoing the revs at the start for fear of spinning the wheels, but afterwards felt he could have given it more. Mark Hales tamed the rather feisty non-production Lightweight with its standard rear suspension, and managed to get past Frank and Phillip G, who in turn then overtook Frank. Adjustments had been done to Mark’s car between qualifying and the race which obviously improved matters as he was progressively able to pass Simon OG and Tony.

Having gathered himself together, Chris W recovered four places overtaking Jack and Mary for the first time. They of course were busy jockeying for position as usual with Jack achieving the first ‘scalp’ on lap two, and the remainder of class D busied themselves with David passing Barry and establishing his ultimate race position.

Rick was finding it difficult to concentrate without the challenge from Keith and found himself on cruise control and all over the place. As early as lap three he caught the first back marker which tended to focus his attention as I’m sure it did for poor old Charles Steward as he experienced his first lapping by one of the big boys. He should think himself lucky that it was only the one!

The Lindsay/Bellinger battle continued with Mary answering Jack and regaining her place on lap three and just in case we didn’t see it the first time, Chris W spun again at Russell. This time it was because he went in too fast....apparently! As a result Peter H was getting a bit lonely, comfortably ahead in Class B but now missing the attentions of Chris, and also Simon McD who was falling back due to a worsening engine.

A very interesting race within a race was emerging between Peter S, Frank and Russell with Peter taking advantage of Russell’s lock up into the esses on lap four. They both subsequently tucked in behind Frank, who drove a fine defensive race leading the group even though he had a bit of trouble with his gears as a result of a rather soft clutch.

Another close contest was forming in Class C between Simon OG and Phillip G with the latter coming out in front through Sear. Simon’s car had performed better at the start than anticipated which was a relief and he now set off in pursuit.

Chris A’s day got worse as his seat belt suddenly unbuckled itself on lap five. This could have been why his attention was elsewhere, resulting in him being overtaken by Mark Hales who stayed in front for the remainder of the race. Tony also took advantage of Chris’s misfortune to stay in touch.

Carburetors are no match for fuel injection when it comes to overall power down the straights, so it was on the Revett straight that Paul hauled in James on lap five thinking that he now had a cushion from the attentions of Phil H and Andy Green. Simon OG did the same with Phillip G out of the Esses and managed to maintain this position for the remainder of the race which proved to be very closely fought to the flag.

Despite Paul’s optimism within three laps both Phil H and Andy had overtaken James and in a late braking manoevre on lap eight, Phil had also demoted Paul from second in class. The battling trio put on a good show for the spectators being glued together until the finish. After the race and being the gentleman that he is, Simon McD apologized to the class B boys for holding them up because of his lack of power. This only added to the spectator interest (although I couldn’t look on occasions) but didn’t however spoil the racing fun and endorsed the fact that ‘class B was the place to be’.

Leigh at last found a friend to play with in the shape of Ray Higgs, and having managed to avoid the spinning Chris W earlier in the race enjoyed a good tussle although the extra speed of the Roadster eventually putting it ahead at the end.

Plenty of action was happening in class D with Jack finally taking advantage of Mary’s lack of concentration at Russell on lap eight securing his finishing position ahead of her with gusto. David was kept on his toes by Barry until he was overtaken by Sharlie, who continued to conduct herself with great concentration whilst having a very attentive Barry on her tail.

The interest continued until the final laps with Peter S, Frank and Russell swapping positions each time round and Chris W climbing back through the field.

It turned out to be a memorable day for all the right reasons with competitive driving throughout the field with a healthy mix of Roadsters spread through the classes. Their first outing proved to be a success and the Richard Thorne camp went home happy and relieved that the development on the production cars had resulted in the set up they had hoped for. Mark Hales comments after the race were positive about the car and the experience of racing with Morgans.( It will be interesting to read the article.)

Congratulations to all the class winners and especially to Sharlie for not only being awarded driver of the day, but on her graduation to full license.

We were also pleased to see so many Morgan supporters at the event which included our Chairman Tony Oliver and wife Mary, John and Geraldine Goodman (Competition Secretary) and Martin and Caroline Page (Treasurer).