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After my foray last October, I decided to give it another bash, as a practice run (if nothing else) for my big up-coming Scotland trip, now christened by my next door neighbour ar The Great Escape…….

I again went for the 3/4 day camping/weekend admission package , which allowed me to get the tent up on the Friday, then have a look round the paddock before all the crowded descended on Saturday and Sunday.

Well that was the plan…….. Unfortunately, the weather had decided to play up a bit and throw a NE Arctic airflow into the mix – we are talking here of 25/30 mph constant wind with 40 mph gusts. Normally, it takes me about 20/30 mins to pitch the tent, this time 2 hours !!!! It was horrendous, but we eventually got there, ending up tying the tent to the car for safety. I kid you not…..

So my Friday mooch round the paddock was somewhat curtailed but we still managed to do a quick tour. This year, the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) has changed to hybrid technology, incorporating a Cosworth developed system with battery, extra radiators, a generator motor and regenerative braking.

To make things more exciting (ie read that as more difficult for the drivers….) the old success ballast idea ( generally, the more successful you are the more ballast you have to carry) had been ditched and a system of “per lap” hybrid boost actuations introduced instead.

Although they sort of look like the one’s you can buy in the showroom, the cars are getting more and mor sophisticated, especially now in the hybrid era. This means that thoughts have to be given to complete engine changes between races. This is done by having a complet front end sub-assembly of engine and suspension, just secured to the main bulkhead by a few bolts. One technician told me they could change the whole lot in 45 mins – astonishing !

I adopted the same strategy as last year for Saturday and Sunday, ie Saturday AM staying in the infield, PM walking round part of the outside perimeter, Sunday completing the outside perimeter during the actual racing.

Apart from the 3 BTCC races, there were plenty of support races, with Mini’s, Porsches’s, Ginetta’s and a new seried for F4 single seaters.

One difference was the influence of the weather. Despite being cold, cold, cold it was sunny. So that meant dry tent department by lunchtime and the executive decision to pack up the tent at lunchtime, ready for a quick getaway after the last race.

Like last year, I’m glad I made the effort to go. Although it’s on the TV, you get a much better atmosphere seeing it “live” and the new cars certainly sound different !

All the other tent stuff went OK, so the systems seem to be all in order for May.

Looking forward to my long trip now……..

So here we are, the first Lusted travel blog of the 2022 season – a “day out”. Just for a change the weather decided to be a bit kinder, so there was sun, but b****y cold.

The last time I was at the Prescott Speed Hill Climb track was when I was still competing in 1979 – a mere 43 years ago !!!!

Not a lot has changed, although there are more permanent buildings, including a nice Clubhouse. The course is still the same tricky sinuous bit of tarmac with one uphill hairpin and a nasty surprise (IMHO) at the end in the form of a bend called Semi Circle. Seemingly innocuous, it gets tighter and tighter as you get towards the finish. I’ve nearly come a cropper there, more than once……..

The track is owned by the Bugatti Owners Club and is officially described on their website as: “The track is 1127 yards long and rises over 200 feet on a technically challenging course incorporating short straights, fast and slow corners and a breathtaking hairpin. The fastest modern racing cars completing the course in under 36 seconds” Oh yes …….

Today was a test day for those who wished to remind themselves which way the track went and to try new/update machinery. Also, it was an opportunity for those looking to take up the sport to get an idea how it all worked, by using their road cars, ahead of possibly buying more specialist machinery – this is how I started, so familiar territory.

Speed hillclimbing is an extreme niche part of the whole motorsport world. It’s very much you, as an individual, versus the clock. You get to run against likeminded competitors in defined classes. In general, it’s a “friendly” sort of deal. If you have car issues, for example, it’s often your fellow class competitors who will help you get it all back together following an “incident”. I know this from experience………

Here’s a map of the course:

So below are a few snaps (with captions) of the course and a sample of some of the more gorgeous bits of machinery.

That’s my first travel blog effort for the year, partially done to remind myself about how to construct a post – seem to have succeeded…..

Next one will be the first round of the 2022 British Touring Car Championship at Donington Circuit, April 22/23/24/25. My first 2022 camping trip as well, which a lovely lady of my acquaint designated my “practice camping” before I embark on an epic 41 day adventure to Eskdale, Mull, Skye, the complete Outer Hebrides (bottom to top) and a few more places on the way home. That should be fun……. watch this space, as they say.

This trip was to satisfy a long-held “requirement” to go to a British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) race meeting, sometime this year.

The last time I was at this circuit was aeons ago, when I was working for Dickinson Controls in Winchester. The group they belonged to had a hospitality box on the main straight, just before Redgate Corner. At the time, I’d been successful in getting a shedload of big orders from Thames Water in Reading. As a sort of “thank you” it was decided to take the main players out for a day’s jolly – my choice ! Naturally, I chose motor racing and as it happened there was no booking in the hospitality box for a BTCC weekend – result ! So it was hot and cold buffet, booze and paddock passes all round. This was the day, mind, when BMW 2002’s were the car to have………

I never actually got to see very much of the circuit itself, as customer grovelling duties trumped everything, so it was a bit of a surprise this weekend to find that the back part of the circuit was so sinuous in both vertical and horizontal planes. NICE……..

I went for the 3/4 day camping/weekend admission ticket package, which meant I could turn up on the Friday PM, get settled in and then have a gawp round the paddock, before the crowds descended. The circuit camping was inside the circuit itself, so there was a bit of a view of the track.

One thing I’d completely forgotten was that the circuit is on the end of the runway of East Midlands Airport, which is a major hub for air freight flights – eve at 4 AM on a Sunday morning ! “Luckily” I could turn off my hearing aids at night ……….

Next on the agenda was a mooch round the paddock.  I wasn’t quite sure what the form was, because at other race tracks access is not often available on Practice and Race Days without a specific pass. Donington (for this meeting at least) was a bit more relaxed and the complete paddock was open to everyone.

For this young at heart guy, this was like a small boy being let loose in a sweet shop. Getting up close to the actual racing machinery was great, especially to see all of the specialised engineering involved. They may look reasonably standard on the TV, but close up is a different story. Another thing about the Friday of a race  weekend is that the garage guys are more willing to talk, having ONLY (!!!!) scrutineering to worry about.

One thing that seems to have changed over the years is the amount of money being spent. Most of the teams had dedicated tented (or better) hospitality “suites”, presumably for VIP guests, etc.

Tyres also seem to be a big, big pre-occupation. The photo below shows what was needed for just one team  – admittedly 4 cars.

I’d decided to have a quick look round and then spend more time in the paddock after walking round the course perimeter on Saturday during practice. So it was a very splendid home made coq au vin for dinner – I camp in style !!!

The weather forecast promised a dry weekend. Saturday morning started misty, but the sunrise was pretty pretty.

Walking boot on and round the track we go ! Practice for the BTCC cars was interesting (and noisy !) although Mr Goff in his SEAT Cupra Leon decided he didn’t fancy it any more and deposited himself into the gravel at the Old Hairpin – he saw out the rest of Free Practice 1 behind the safety fence.

Having completed my circumnavigation to get a better idea of what was what, it was back into the paddock for a closer look. Bit busier today, but access to cars/garages was still pretty good.

Talking to the Toyota guys, I was amazed that they were still using a basic “stringing” method for checking out alignment, although the loading measurement on each wheel was definitely a bit more sophisticated, with load cells, etc. There were also plenty of bespoke gauges to measuring under car clearances, overall car width, etc – some of these dimensions are ALWAYS checked on the first 3 placed cars immediately after a race has finished, so they have to be very, very correct….

 

For a change, I went to the inside of the circuit, which, very conveniently, includes good viewing using the natural topography, ie hills. You can get a good view of at least 3 corners just by being opposite Starkey’s Bridge.

 

 Another great looking dawn on the Sunday – race day……..

 

Plenty of support races, including The Mini Challenge, Ginetta Juniors, Porsche Carrerra Cup and F4 single seaters. My main interest was the  Touring Cars, so I decided to go to the start/finish/grids at the start of each of their 3 races, watch all the hullabaloo involved, then go somewhere else to watch the rest of the action – so did everybody else !!!!

Sensibly, the circuit provided several giant TV screens, so wherever you were perched, you could always see the rest of the action.

 

As is “traditional” at BTCC meetings, there were grid girls…. Some of them were not exactly overdressed, so must’ve been somewhat chilly in the stiff breeze.

What I hadn’t appreciated was the number of hangers-on/guests/etc ( as well as the  attendant mechanics) that flooded on to the grid for all of five minutes, presumably as part of their VIP packages. See YouTube link below.

https://youtu.be/12JWfGpu2KA

The day rolled on with some good racing in most of the categories – didn’t take many pix as I was busy watching the racing. The last race (Touring Cars again) was at 1720, so the sun was definitely on the wane, as you can see below. Getting cold as well !!!!

 

So then it was suddenly over. Made my way back to camp to take in the glorious sunset. I make no excuses for including several pix – it was spectacular, a great ending to a great day’s racing.

So that was my racing weekend. Packed up on the Monday AM and trundled back to Cinderford. I’m really pleased I made the effort to go. You see more of the action on the TV broadcast, but you don’t get the atmosphere, the smells, the noise, the contact with the machinery and all that other good stuff.

This trip, sadly, marked the end of my somewhat brief 2021 camping “season” – it was getting a bit cold at nights, even with 3 blankets. New tent proved to be pretty good and my single handed erection skills got better over time. Now we look to 2022, when (hopefully) things will be a bit nearer to whatever will be called “normal”.