The sun was shining this time and was perfect for the weekends racing ,which was well attended,Trevor and Phil were there when I arrived ,Colin arrived shortly after with the Westlake special , my ride , but more of that later ,Miki was away on business so no BAT outfit.
Race day scrutinering sorted all machines had to be noise tested before racing , thats when my troubles started failing the test and with major clutch problems , job done we passed ,just at 105 db , Colin borrowed 2 baffles we scrapped in .
Saturday: Phil out on the Triumph with Trevor ,Velocette , went well ,but again had handling problems in the very fast Gerrards right hander , Trevor had similar problems but down the straight ,recently having fitted new head race bearings which were to tall .
The bantam went well ,Phil believing he could go quicker finishing 5th ( with the new bigger carb).
Outfit ran well but we had major clutch slip on the power so DNF, boil an egg on that thing .
Westlake was going out in the P6 parade but Carbs had no drain plugs so that was that , sorted a few other things though, nice bike .
Phil and Trevor in the 350 race went well but still suffered from handling problems , saying that Phil still managed 7th and Trevor had a good race, beating an Areal red Hunter home .
Bantam race saw Phil ride a better race gaining 6th plce after scrapping for 3rd with four bantams crossing the line with a photo finish .
Triumph outfit Ming had a very good start but still plagued with clutch problems that got worse DNF. Engine still going well though , Colin raced with David Sykes on the Harley Davidson but he had gearbox issues and later changed the engine and box.
Verner arrived on a 1930s Sunbeam and was good company .
Sunday: Phil had a good ride on the Triumph finishing 8th ,but it was still trying to throw him off in Gerrards , same for Trevor finishing behind the Areal this time.
Phil very pleased with new bigger carb 5th fastest lap of the weekend .
The outfit out again but suspected head gasket failure , still managed to stay with the front runners untill the engine slowed DNF, head off in the lunch break new gasket and fitted in record time viewed and encouraged by Phil and Monty ( Montys Classic bikes) with Paul who rode up from Plymouth who gave much encouragement.
Phils last race on the Triumph went well , engine running like a train finishing 9th.
Trevor retired the Velo before it spot him off , with massive tank slappers.
The last side car race we were ready , on pole position , very focused ,with Dennis beside us on the grid , red lights on ,then were off , first into Gerrards leading , Dennis came by us into Edwinas ,but missed a gear coming out ,we were in front again , into the hairpin ,very crowded , out of the bustop , a BMW kneeler and Dennis on theTriumph came by , our engine slowed and very hot we retired , a great race though , brilliant passenger well done Colin .
Phil with raised spirits and very keen on the Bantam last race of the weekend went well crossing the line with 1/2 a second them ,Phil missing out on 5th place by 300th of a second ,wow that was close ,well done Phil.
Over all a good weekend ,even though the outfit Ming showed no mercy , Phil finished well
good company good racing and the sun was shining , we all drove home .
Lydden Hill , bring it on eh
Mings Pilot
