360 MRC 6hrs of Snetterton and HRDC races

[Andrew Kitson]

Great summary Mike, good pictures John. so it was just like Donington pre-war..a German podium lockout. I assume though one of the English Lotus 7s actually won 'on the road'?

[garcon]

Caterhams were 1-2-3 on the road, but only 3-4 laps ahead of the Climax BMW. In fact I think only 12 or so laps covered the field of those who didn't suffer serious problems.

[John Turner]

More:-

[Peter Mallett]

Hindy suggested the Caterhams were LM Prototypes to the GT3(s) of the remaining cars. Food for thought there because it could suggest a split class if you will. Anyway I'm about to switch off am currently on the flight to Doha. Great weekend.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

[Cliff Ryan]

I echo everything Mike said, with one additional thanks to him for preparing Tango 924 so well She ran like a clockwork orange & a confession that I may have used slightly more than 5000rpm when trying to keep up with the Rusty Nail Golf for a few laps

As Mike said smooth is best, especially for endurance racing, so I stayed off the kerbs as much as possible and just kept the momentum going settling into a rhythm of 2:30 laps to bring the car home.

Really glad that all 3 924s finished and proved that it can be done relatively cheaply with a huge grin factor per £

Great weekend & a great event - thanks to all involved, you know who you are

[John Turner]

OK, last lot of P & P pics from Saturday:-

[John Turner]

I've locked the other threads on this meeting so that all discussion can stay in the one thread.

[zefarelly]

Keep em coming John, great stuff. bittery dissapointing for Mike and the team with the Aston, we nodded off on Saturday night to the tones of mallet on aluminium as they worked through the night rebuilding the front end. I was almost expecting the Pace crew to return on Sunday morning with a repaired car, unfortunately it wasn't to be, I guess some front suspension damage, whilst the rear looked bad I don't think it was any more than aesthetic.

[GORDON STREETER]

Well it was good to catch up with a few people and have a look around the pits.
The circuit took a bit of learning for an "old dog" and is interesting to say the least, but I think coram is stupid and has ruined the flow unfortunately.
I had a very lonely race and the only memorable part for me was having to make an excursion off the track after the bridge to avoid a "spinning Spaniard" in a Starion, but he still managed to crease my drivers door !
It's a pity there wasn't more cars in the race and as for the temperature I know where I'd sooner be

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by Cliff Ryan

a confession that I may have used slightly more than 5000rpm when trying to keep up with the Rusty Nail Golf for a few laps

Mmmm, time to fit a tacho with tell-tale, methinks! (Or even a tacho that works all the time....)

Great pics, John!

Although initially concerned about the Caterhams racing I have to say that they were fine and mostly aware that in a 6hr race you can afford to be a bit patient! Separate podiums was fair IMO- keep it as a 'race within a race' and see no reason why cannot do same again- but that is obviously for Claire & John to decide. As garcon says, the lap total difference between first and 6th was not great considering the potential lap time difference!

[MartinSmith]

So

Whose up for an autumn 2 or 3 hour endo at one of the greatest circuits in England this september?

[midgetman]

Depends on what you call the greatest circuit in England Claire...

Hats off to all the organising team as usual, a great weekend vastly improved for the addition of the extra day. I'll be honest, I don't think the LeMans non-start added much to the proceedings, perhaps another couple of laps showing off that gorgeous Aston would have been more appropriate. On another point, do you realise that car cost one thousand times more than my racer????

Mike B, terrific to see you on the podium. 5k eh? We were using 6 to start with, maybe that's why we consumed petrol and oil in equal quantities...maybe we cut it back too far, but at 4,000 - 4,500 we used not a drop of oil and had enough fuel left over to put in the tow car for the drive home :-)

John, that's a very rare pic of Team Silver Arrows all in racing overalls instead of mechanic overalls I had a helper from a 924 forum there as engineer, only met the guy once but his help was invaluable. Thank you so much Karl.

It wasn't the best idea to start with a car costing £160, But it finished and was running reasonably strongly at the end. It drives fantastically for about 20 minutes but then begins to wilt, a sad fact which dictated our race "strategy" - after about 30 minutes we brought the car in for a rest which gave us time for a leisurely refuel, couple of beers and a sandwich before rejoining the fray. I was stuck behind the safety car at one time, had to drive round in second to keep the revs high enough for the oil pressure gauge to show a reading!

Yes Grant we'll be back next year with the same car, I won't have to spend so much money on it as I have all the stuff needed to get it through scrutineering. All up I reckon the car build cost less than the entry fee...("It shows" they chorus) so I can concentrate on making it fast and reliable. Which probably means giving it to someone else to build

Thanks again, great weekend.

[terence]

Originally Posted by ClaireSmith

So

Whose up for an autumn 2 or 3 hour endo at one of the greatest circuits in England this september?

Brands GP?

[GORDON STREETER]

Originally Posted by ClaireSmith

So

Whose up for an autumn 2 or 3 hour endo at one of the greatest circuits in England this september?

Lydden Hill ?

[zefarelly]

That would be a challenge, you'd need to stop for new tyres every 30 minutes, pit lane would be interesting!

[Lancsbreaker]

Originally Posted by ClaireSmith

So

Whose up for an autumn 2 or 3 hour endo at one of the greatest circuits in England this september?

Anglesey Coastal?

Oh, sorry, you said England......Oulton, then.......

Am I showing a Northern bias?

[Paul D]

So what's the score with the Caterhams then? They finished 1-2-3, but they didn't finish 1-2-3? Are the Caterhams not allowed to qualify for overall honours? Do they have their own race within the main race?

Confused? I am now! Someone please enlighten me...

Anyway, it sounds like a fun meeting was had by most, if not all. Shame about Rikki's Aston - he must have been gutted. And what happened to the car that only managed four laps? A 911 wasn't it? Bet they were well chuffed. Sometimes it pays to keep it simple seems to be the moral here, considering the cars that filled the three podium places.

Well done to all concerned - although it does appear as though a few more entries would be welcome next year?

I'll just have to see if I can hatch a plan towards that...

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by Paul D

So what's the score with the Caterhams then? They finished 1-2-3, but they didn't finish 1-2-3? Are the Caterhams not allowed to qualify for overall honours? Do they have their own race within the main race?

Confused? I am now! Someone please enlighten me...

Anyway, it sounds like a fun meeting was had by most, if not all. And what happened to the car that only managed four laps? A 911 wasn't it? Bet they were well chuffed.

Yes, the Caterhams were in their own race, with own podium and own awards.

I am guessing from the CV joint cage I found on the floor at end of day that the 911 had one fail. That was the area of the car that was being looked at. It could have been there before, though!

Why don't you join us next year- it is a fun event with a great camaraderie.

[Paul D]

Thanks for the clarification Mike!

As for next year... well, I am currently hatching an idea. Thing is, I'd need to find three like-minded suckers... erm, sorry... individuals, who are daft enough to join me in the venture, as I don't think I could afford it otherwise!

I do have three suck... oops, sorry, done it again... people, in mind. Only thing is, I haven't told them yet!

[MGDavid]

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

......I am guessing from the CV joint cage I found on the floor at end of day that the 911 had one fail. That was the area of the car that was being looked at. It could have been there before, though!
.......

one of their team said that they had two spare driveshafts with them - one was too big and t'other too small
consequently they went home a bit early
very unfortunate....

[MGDavid]

Originally Posted by Paul D

So what's the score with the Caterhams then? They finished 1-2-3, but they didn't finish 1-2-3? Are the Caterhams not allowed to qualify for overall honours? Do they have their own race within the main race?

Confused? I am now! Someone please enlighten me.......

I reckon the timekeepers must have been confused too - as the TSL site is showing a competely different class structure/ allocation between qually and the race

[garcon]

The Caterhams were in their own exclusive class which wasn't eligible for the overall 360MRC podium. Was a bit of an experiment having them, which I think worked out superbly.

For the other 360MRC classes they were - I think - simply by decade and potentially engine size.

[garcon]

Originally Posted by Paul D

Well done to all concerned - although it does appear as though a few more entries would be welcome next year?

I'll just have to see if I can hatch a plan towards that...

Definitely room for more entries - the circuit could take double what we had this year. I'm already hatching plans to try and rope in a few people I know.

[Lancsbreaker]

Originally Posted by Paul D

Thanks for the clarification Mike!

As for next year... well, I am currently hatching an idea. Thing is, I'd need to find three like-minded suckers... erm, sorry... individuals, who are daft enough to join me in the venture, as I don't think I could afford it otherwise!

I do have three suck... oops, sorry, done it again... people, in mind. Only thing is, I haven't told them yet!

Hmmm - wonder if I feel my ears burning.......you do know that Steve was part of the ill-fated Clan team last year, don't you, Paul?...so he's got form

[MartinSmith]

Originally Posted by garcon

The Caterhams were in their own exclusive class which wasn't eligible for the overall 360MRC podium. Was a bit of an experiment having them, which I think worked out superbly.

For the other 360MRC classes they were - I think - simply by decade and potentially engine size.

You are indeed correct and superbly put....

Firstly THANK YOU ALL WHO ONCE AGAIN OR FOR THE FIRST TIME ENTERED OR TOOK PART IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM IN THE 2012 360 ENDURANCE FESTIVAL

To the HRDC and their drivers thank you for coming along, we hope you enjoyed it and we hope to see you again very soon...who knows

With regard to the Caterhams, they were in the 360, but they were in a special class, that was added after entry had opened to the original race, therefore it would be unfair for them to be included in the original award structure, also, their speed was always going to be different, we knew that and so when we agreed the terms with The Placement Group, it was decided they had their own podium. I think Darren Cox and Hindy had the right idea with it, it was a bit like the LMP1 vs the rest I spose with the speed, but they didnt storm off with gazillion laps more than anyone else really and I am glad that they came, they certainly enjoyed themselves, they behaved and it does give us food for thought next year. I have been saying for a while that, there is deffinately an argument for running the 360 with several "races within the race" Different podiums to give individual teams something to aim for.

I will continue to say this, I did over the last two days, to several of you from here and you may well read it in Autosport as well. The fact is, that until such time as we have 48 entries and 8 reserves all of which are original genuine historic racers, then we will continue to look at possible class additions and different ways to get people doing this event.

I think that one thing has now been proved over the last three years and that is that the whole purpose of this event is CLUBMAN racing, not big teams, massive budgets, big lorries hospitality and champers, more sausage rolls and crisps and helping each other out and we now are wondering if there should be more emphasis put on that than on how historic it should be because, and we need to be very honest now, its been three years and although the world and his wife and their brother in law promised they would come, said how much they wanted to do it and registered on our website and I could name and shame but what for, they didnt come! they dont! I said last year and I said last night "REMEMBER HOW YOU FEEL NOW(with the exception of the Clan team and the 911 team) when I ask for the deposit for next year" but people easily forget

We went from 27 cars (24 deposits and three "YEAH IM DEFFO IN") to 17 starting that race this year. Some genuine excuses, cars falling off at Donington and also Silverstone and of course it was terrible for the Cann family and John R's entry as well, but that is the nature of the beast. Thing is, if someone says to me I want to race in your race and they have a different car than the "norm" (and it is within reasonable limits) then why should I deny them in the hope that I wont offend people who actually dont enter the 360 anyway, or the people who keep saying "yeah" will actually do it this year?? more to the point, why should I make the race exclusive...and let it cost 360MRC Ltd (John and I) more money?

We may risk losing our loyal customers with this way of thinking and I apologise for that if it happens but in truth, the event has to change, or we risk losing it, hence the experiment with the Caterhams.

As I said to AS and I will again say here, I still believe that the event has great potential and is by far the best value for money grass roots endurance event that is run in this country on a closed circuit. It has a bit of everything, from Lauren Cann asking at the BBQ if anyone had a rivett gun and MGDavid kindly supplying, and the clan team lending a fire extinguisher to Ed Simpsons team....and having to steal it back!! ha ha to Les Ely making me cry when I met his niece.........The RAF team who all had their own team hats!!! and a "Chief Windscreen cleaner" The caterham team who brought their own flooring for the garage ....to the Clan team , who, when hearing that I had lost the suede holder of the Virage key....knitted me a replacement (pic to follow) that is the beauty of the event and as John has said.....its what makes it different. I slept for the first time in a week last night, im not saying that for effect, its true. Today I didnt do alot, but , tomorrow, we will start to look at 2013 because YES THERE WILL BE A 360 in 2013.......and it will be GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ta
Claire