John Boy's (aka tuscan_thunder) Fintray report

[tuscan_thunder]

First hillclimb in the Saxo, sharing with bro-in-law.

Saturday: started ok, 3 seconds clear of the bro-in-law (Paddy), bit off the pace I expected but happy nevertheless. (Engine is totally standard, suspension uprated but a bit soft at the front).

I reckoned I could get a 35.something out of it.

2 practice runs were ok.

First timed run: Paddy got a dry run but by the time we'd swapped over and got through the queue to the start the rain was on. A reasonable run there though.

Second timed run: fully wet and put in what I felt was my best drive of the day, good bit clear of Paddy and closer to the class leaders than I had been. (not bad as they all have funcy slip diffs etc).

Sunday:

Started slightly greasy but there was more grip than I expected so run one was a bit of a waste.

Run 2 was a bit better but for the first time Paddy was quicker than me (by one hundreth!)

Timed runs: first run was ok but still in the 36s: good chunk faster than Paddy. Second run: he was faster but not as fast and my first run time. Final run of the weekend and I squeaked it into the 35s so happy with that. I became obvious where I was loosing time and on that run worked out where I think I could gain around a further half second. Next time.........

In all, good weekend, despite the rain on Saturday afternoon. Nice and handy for me (house is about 4 miles away). Highlight was probably watching Jonathan Rarity in the recently rebuilt but down on power MH Ghost blowing everyone away in the wet on Saturday. Faster than most folk went in the dry, superb corner speed. Impressive car, impressive driver.

[fd]

Aye an interesting weekend for me, Saturday was all over the place as it's a year since I've driven Fintray and I really didn't know where to start . . . the changing weather conditions in the afternoon meant it was all over in the 1s timed runs, just sneaked a class win by reverting to a safe plan . . . team Mac and Jonathan were having a load of fun until a certain incident, thankfully resolved in the evening, they can fill in the detail on that . . . nice meal out on Saturday evening followed by some good banter trying to (and failing to) watch the GP quali in someones campervan . . . Sunday I was up early and it was dry, the hill was even dryer than expected and fast . . . unfortunately I think I had something bad from the on site catering as I went progressively downhill during the day with all the usual symptoms of food poisoning, so apologies to anybody I didn't really want to speak to . . . I ran off at the hairpin down the escape road on my first timed run . . . last in class, just avoided the wheel removing bales . . . by this time I had a raging temperature and was seriously considering just packing up and going home . . . 5 minutes before the second timed run I could hold on no longer and had a good old barfing session in the trailer park . . . stonking headache, aching joints, and back into the car, could barely pull the harnesses tight . . . anyway, this run has to be a winner so try to work myself up enough . . . time to put up or shut up . . . I stuck to the plan and got within 3 hundredths of my PB which was good enough for the class win . . . packed everything up and drove home to Perth stopping for a boak every 20 miles . . . Not sure how everybody else got on as I wasn't really thinking but I suspect it was a close battle all day in TSE red . . . I know I could have done better, but that was never going to happen yesterday . . .

31.73 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTrb8UVknkE

Fd

[tuscan_thunder]

spewing, feeling rather ill and still you win the class: must be slightly ominous for those in your class.....

[gambler]

Good write ups guys.

You Hill climbing guys to take it far too seriously. Reverting to bulimia to loose a couple of pounds before a race

[Scotty C]

Good write ups guys.

You Hill climbing guys to take it far too seriously. Reverting to bulimia to loose a couple of pounds before a race

good result guy's

[Victor Meldrew]

Good write ups guys.

You Hill climbing guys to take it far too seriously. Reverting to bulimia to loose a couple of pounds before a race

good result guy's

Thee weeks off with the flu did sod all for my weight..

[Mikie711]

Good write ups guys.

You Hill climbing guys to take it far too seriously. Reverting to bulimia to loose a couple of pounds before a race

good result guy's

Thee weeks off with the flu did sod all for my weight..

Too many tabnabs Vic, too many tabnabs ..................... (I have the same problem )

[JohnStewart]

Fd - I also had stomach related problems on Sunday evening and most of Monday which I think was down to the on-site catering as it was the only thing different I had from the rest of the family that day and they were all fine.

[tuscan_thunder]

Gents,

please pass on your concerns regarding the catering to GAC.

[mac]

Guess I should also put my report up, if there's anyone left still slightly interested

Logistic dictated that for the second event in a row Jonathan shared my Roadsport A for the Fintray hillclimb, this allowed one of us to transport the car and the other to driver the team "motorhome" (My folks camper van to be more precise)

We headed up in convoy on the Friday evening, Jonathan pulling the 7 along on Kevin's trailer getting admiring glances from the other road users whilst I received only glares and glowers for being a threat to free flowing traffic. Finally we get to the location for the camping to find Fergus & Nikki already there with there tent set up and Fd revving the engine ready to make a quick getaway to the local curry shop. This being my first "away" event thought that there would be plenty of opportunity for takeaway curry the following night - I now know that it's curry on Friday followed by a trip to an Asian resturant the following night in the company of at least a dozen other hillclimbers.

So I decline the offer of curry and set about cooking some dinner - It's been a while since I cooked on camper van equipment and was soon wishing that I had taken up the offer of curry, more so when Fd & Nikki arrived back with said curry. Still I managed to russell up some food and the four of us had a pleasent evening talking about this, that and the next thing.

A good nights sleep then followed, probably assisted by the refreshements consumed during the evening.

On to business, we arrive and find a very small, tight and busy paddock, Fd helps us unload and move the trailer out of the road, and I pull up in the parking spot allocated to me. We've been quite lucky as the "team" has sequential numbers so that means we can share a bit of space, if fact we have been very lucky as the event organisers haven't realised that my car is double entered so we have an extra parking space that's not going to be filled, so we spread out and enjoy the extra room afforded to us. Signing on we get the numbering system sorted out, I keep my primary number of 37 and Jonathan goes to being 137. As newbies we need to walk the hill escorted so that we get an understanding of what's going on around us - unfortunately they do this walk quite late on, there's a large number of new folk and you don't actually get to see the lie of the track, but it's all done in a very friendly and relax atmosphere with a good number of experienced drivers walking with you to give pointers.

It's time for first run and being the car owner, I send Jonathan out first so I have warmer tyres. Change over takes place in the queue for the start line and we are getting pretty slick at this now.......a bit too slick as I arrive at the start line with my head still in pax mode, still I do my run and there's not much between either of our times. The track is very slidey and the car is very tail happy - something I'm not a big fan off, prefering a neutral car.

2nd pratice and I'm starting to understand the track more and my times come down a bit, but it's still slippery under wheel. I'm starting to feel a bit "off" with a sore head coming on and my painkillers back in the campervan a mile or two away.

Lunch is called and instead Jonathan and walk the track, for information but mainly, for me, to try and take my mind of the now thumping and nausating headache that I have. After walking through I hide in the car with my balaclava over my head and ears and the tonneau cover acting like a half roof/ half windscreen. To make matters worse it starts to spit with rain, then as lunch draws to a close it's starts to drizzle. Oh Joy, as if the start wasn't slidey enough! The only ray of light is that Fd has some painkillers in the boot of his car! 2 taken with some energy drink and I head back to my darkend recluse. All to soon, and far too soon for the painkiller to kick in, it's time for the 1st timed runs

Again Jonathan is acting as tyre warmer - but has this plan backfired on me now? Any delay and I'm setting my time in different conditions to the rest of the class. Jonathan posts his time and brings the car back for me to change driver. Fortunately there's not much in the way of delay and the additional rain that's fell wouldn't make much more than a 10th of a second difference to the overall times. With headache receeding I do my first timed run, in the damp. I'm slower than Jonathan, by nine hundreths of a second which puts me into 5th position. Lovat Fraser splits Jonathan and I's time by 4 hundreths of a second. Over 600m of track and we are split by roughly what would equate to 300mm with the gap to Lovat something like 150mm (thanks to Fd for the off the top of head calculations)

I'm not a happy bunny, and I know that the rain is getting heavier and heavier and that the chance of beating my previous time is slim, so there is not hope of me improving my place - not happy at all, and this bloody headache is back with reinforcements. Fortunately pain relief isn't too far away!

2nd timed runs (for some) I'm standing down near the start line watching the cars in our class depart the start line, next up is my car with Jonathan behind the wheels, he gets a reasonable start and disappears down the track, I watch the clock on top of the timekeepers hut 33.....34.....35.....36.....37......38.....I think the track must be really slippy......39..... the klaxon goes and the timekeeper displays a little cardboard sign in the window of his hut - "red flag" This isn't a nice time. I know there's been an incident involving my friend and my car.....40.....41.....42.....43.... My stomach sinks and my headache vanishes.....45......46......47...... some of the guys in the next class up ask what' going on, all I can say is that my car's gone off, don't know where, don't know how serious.....48....49...50....51. The clock stops.

Much to my relief the clock has stopped on a fractional number, something has stopped the clock, not someone. Coming from the top paddock I can see the car and driver come towards me, I head up to make sure Jonathan's ok and to assess the damage. Number plate has gone, nose cone has a nasty crack on the bottom right, the grills resting against the radiator and there's paint and gell coat missing there the nose has "wrinkled" during impact with the earth bund at the side of the track. Jonathan reports an issue with the steering which is quickly diagnosed, Fd is now on scene having finished his run. We try to patch up the car in the p!ssing rain but it soon becomes apparent that all we are doing is getting wet as the car won't be fixed in time for me to have another run.

Soggy we put the car back onto the trailer and take it back to base camp to assess fully what's happened.


<end of part one>

[fd]

And of course as the clock ticks up towards disaster I'm sitting in the Q waiting, next to go . . . 'be very careful guys' being one of the last things I said to the driver before me who is now overdue and perhaps in a tree . . . as you sit there, pretty worked up and ready to go, a lot of things go through your head . . . Hope he's ok, Mac is gonna be pissed, hope the car is fixable . . . I'm getting wet . . . this is the second bl00dy time this car has held up a run and upset my sequence . . . perhaps this is a conspircy . . . where's my umbrella, I gave it to MAc and now he's wandering back up the paddock with it . . . now there's water running down the inside of my fricking visor . . . when I finaly get released it's slippy as hell, the car spins up in 1st, 2nd and 3rd so I back right off and save the car . . . get the car back to the paddock and go and find the red team i the rain . . .

Fd

[Mikie711]

Good write up mac, sounds like Saturday was a pig of a day. Watched you and fd on Sunday, with quite a few class records being rewritten. Would rather have been competing but still wouldn't have been there even if the car was ready.
Either of you doing Boyndie/Alford ?

[fd]

I plan to do Boyndie if we can get an entry, Golspie too . . . Alford I'm afraid I find as interesting as watching dry paint get drier . . . and again apologies for walking away when we were talking on Sunday . . . I had other issues to deal with . . . next time we can have a proper blether . . . hope the car is online soon . . . the guy in the green Elise was putting in some good times last weekend . . .

Fd

[Mikie711]

fd, no worries. I quite like Alford mainly because there's plenty room to get it all l wrong. Like you if I can get an entry will be at Boyndie, car gods willing. The guy with the S2, first Fintray and 2 class wins. martins VX sounded like my old lawn mower and no gb but that's another story.
Hope to run into him at Boyndie, said he will be there. The guy with the S2 not gb.

[mac]

Mikie, I'm only doing the hills this season so next time I'm up north will be August for the other Fintray event. Should have pop over to introduce yourself!


Mac