There Are Some Places in This World That Once You Are There, You Wonder Why You Don't Go

There are some places in this world that once you are there, you wonder why you don't go there more often. Ty Croes on the Isle of Anglesey is one of those. The race circuit is situated right by the sea and winds around the headland with breath-taking views. The disadvantage is it takes most people six or seven hours to get there!

The weekend 20/21 July saw members of the RAFMSA Race Challenge assemble at Anglesey for the latest round of the 2013 season. The advance party arrived to find a BARC test day in full swing and the allocated paddock space occupied by racing detritus from other teams. Luckily there was an unused portion in the grass area that could be commandeered so that the RAFMSA could set up camp as they arrived. Needless to say Comp Sec was not impressed when he arrived! The dry spell had made the ground as hard as concrete causing tent pegs to bend as soon as they were hit for the first time. Luckily Darren had brought a copious supply of heavy duty ground anchors to keep everyone secured.

The weather was predicted to be a hot and dry. Saturday morning dawned clear and bright and even before practice was completed the heat was causing problems with cooling, not only on the track, but also in the pits. Reports were coming back that there was very little grip on the track.
As usual Mr Fletcher was first out of the pits and straight into some quick laps. Much works has going into the Hornet Mk 2 since Silverstone and the handling and power delivery was much improved, although the car was still suffering some body roll. After his problems at Silverstone, Flt Sgt Paul Waterhouse had fitted extra fans to try and keep the Peugeot 205 GTI cool. Unfortunately by the end of practice the radiator started to boil over, putting coolant all down the left side of the car.

Sgt Dom Benfell, a new comer to racing had only just finished his Lotus Esprit in time to attend this round. He was a little nervous as the car had never been scrutineered before, but he need not have worried as it passed first time, although at the noise test the car was on the limit. For his first practice he put in a creditable first session, although the car had a few niggles which required attention.

Sgn Ldr Darren Berris returned to the series for the first time this year after an extensive re-build of the V8 Westfield. Also returning was Simon Wing in the normally very rapid Peugeot 205 and Sgt Raz Nutley in another Peugeot, this time a 206 GTI. A guest driver Steve Quenby, joined Flt Sgt John Davies and Ed Fuller all in Tigers, a car similar to the Westfield. Bringing up the field and the only army racer to make Anglesey was Cpl Chris Camp in the Lexus IS200. After Practice Darren had put the Westfield on pole, with Steve second and Simon third.

Luckily there was quite a long break between practice and the race which enable those with problems to have a good look at the cars. Paul was still struggling to keep the 205 from overheating. Dom had identified that the tyre pressures were too high and should be reduced for the race. More worrying was that the chargecooler pump was cavitating and after a check by Geoff of Esprit Engineering at least 30% more power was found. Simon was complaining that the normally quick 205 was struggling with grip and suspected that the limited slip differential wasn't working correctly. Raz was hampered in practice with brake fade, fortunately Sqn Ldr Paul Martin Jones who is currently on paternity leave from racing was on hand to assist with bleeding the brakes.

By race time all that could have been done, was and all assembled on the grid for the first race. Steve in the Tiger managed to get in front of Darren, as the Westfield spun its wheels off the line, although Darren was back in front by the second corner. John Davies made a flyer of a start getting into third by the first corners, closely followed by Simon, Billy Darren Howe, Ed and the rest. By school corner Simon had managed to pass John and head- off after Steve and Darren. By lap 6 Simon was suffering with grip issues, being passed by Ed, Billy and the others. Although not evident Darren in the Golf was struggling with a failing clutch but managed to finish just ahead of John in the Tiger who had somehow managed to loose a front cycle wing after a trip onto the grass. Paul Waterhouse was managing to keep ahead of Raz and Dom, until lap 9 when the overheating problem reoccurred, forced him to retire early. After the performance indexes had been calculated Steve Quenby had scored an almost perfect 99.2, the highest score in the history of race challenge.

After race 1 a number of cars were in need of repair. Paul Waterhouse who's car had overheated was unable to fix the problem as it was a suspected head gasket that had failed. Darren Howe’s clutch was cured by bleeding the hydraulic system. Raz found that there was a leak from the power steering pump and Simon's lack of grip was put down to a failed limited slip differential.

Sundays race was a pursuit race, where competitors would be release from the pit lane at staggered times, slowest first, with the fastest car last. Darren Howe was flagged off 1st by the starting crew of Sqn Ldr Paul Martin-Jones supported by Simon's father, Terry. After 30 minutes of frantic racing Raz Nutley was first past the flag, unfortunately he had exceeded his maximum fastest lap and incurred a 30 Second penalty, as did Dom in the Lotus and Billy in the Hornet. This left Steve Quenby the winner with Darren in the Westfield a close second. Regrettably Simon and John had to retire before the end due to car failures.

Next race for the Race Challenge will be at Oulton Park on 17 August 2013.

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