 |
|
|
|
Griffin went into the final round of the Edwardes Brothers MDS Championship in 3rd position with his sights set on his first podium of the season. But things did not go do plan despite the race preparation in the new GC Racing Garage. Saturday got off to a terrible start when Chris Cairns Car 463 was withdrawn due to no 3rd gear. Our trusty Mechanic, Paul and Raymond, set about taking the engine out to determine why we never had 3rd gear. Mean While the Dixon was called to bring the spare gear box from York.
Practice was time and Griffin put in a good time with Clark no far behind. The first heat came, with 463 Engine on the back of the tail lift, Griffin was on the front row next to Hudson and Bell. Griffin left the starting blocks and the new carb did it job and got him to the first corner to which he led the first lap till he hit the loose where two wheels went off and then he lost drive, to which he retired.
Clark however was making his way up the field, till he also went a bit wide onto the loose and ended up clipping the marker tyres and ripping his front fibre glass front off. To which most the pack drove over and flatten, including himself.
Griffin was towed back to the paddock and the 2nd engine of the day was starting to be taken out of 425. Griffin missed the next heat but a late decision to put Chris Cairns 2 gears engine back into allow him to make the grid and try and keep his 3rd in the Championship. Griffin also had a terminal gear box with a broken selector, which was not going to be fixed at the race circuit.
It was an eventful few hours reinstalling the engine that was declared broken a few hours earlier. But all the hard work paid off when we managed to get the car on the grid, all be it starting from the back with only 2nd and 4th gear.
Clark qualified on the 3rd row but it was Griffin who starting climbing up the field despite his gear box being unwell. After lap 1 things never really changed position as Clark ended the race in 5th with Griffin not being able to get close. But this was good enough for Griffin to take 3rd in the MDA Championship 2009. But hats off to Kris Hudson who in his second season of racing took his 1st Crown of the MDA Championship. Well Done Kris, top drive. But the light can not be taken away from Ben Clark who drove well and took his victory to cap his season off. He got the 2nd in the Championship
Now Sunday was another day and a lot of work was undertaken under darkness at the GC Racing Camp. Work went well into the night after Richard Dixon turned up with a spare gear box and a new front end for Clark. The gear box was bolted to Griffins Engine and installed into Chris Cairns car, to which was going to be driven by the 2007 MDA Mini Cross Champion John Thacker. He was expecting a nice easy weekend where he would turn up and drive, but little did he know he would be installing a new gear box and running a engine that he rolling roaded at Aldon’s but in a different car.
The 2nd heats came but Griffin was struggling for pace and his weekend ended up how it started with him loosing control going into the first bend and clipping the tyres sending him backwards into the gravel trap. The finals came where Clark qualified in the F final
and put a fantastic show on for the crowd. He started off mid pack but
soon start to challenge for 2nd. Every lap he was getting faster and
faster, but luck started to change when he clipped the tyres on the
bottom bend.
Pembrey was our next Championship rounds held only days after arriving back from Belgium and Holland. This was a very quick turn around and once again a long journey down to South Wales for a double header. We were expecting a long haul down, but the school holidays did not seem to affect our 6 hour straight journey to South Wales. To our amazement we were awoken with bright sunshine. Cairns was back out and both cars passed Scruntneering, Just. (425 requires a windscreen before the next meeting). We had practice and I lined up 1st in the first heat, but did not make the best of starts as Hudson over takes. But on the last but 1 lap he never made the final corner after suffering a brake problem, which saw Griffin take a win. Heat 2 Griffin started in 8th on the second row and entered the first corner 4th just behind Cairns, but as the entered the loose was carrying a little more speed and T bone Cairns off the circuit, which saw the Red Flag come out and the race having be restarted. The restart saw Griffin make a good start but his clutch master cylinder was on its way out and he had to crunch all his gears so was please to make it round. In one piece and finish 3rd.
Heat 3 had Griffin start from 7th but made a poor start entering the first corner 7th. B Clark made a mistake leaving the start finish straight where Griffin took 5th position and then a few corners time took 4th from Thornhill, but could not make it past Bell. Ending the 3rd heat in 4th. The final saw Griffin start from 3rd Place and he held this postion into the 1st corner despite some door handling from Hudson. Hudson soon took the lead from Wade as they entered the 2nd section of loose and Griffin was now on the tail of Wade, trying his best to get past, as Hudson started to pull away. It took till the last lap for Griffin to try a different line going onto the 2nd section of loose and Wade to over cook it for Griffin to take 2nd. Griffin ended the day in 2nd Position, behind Hudson who took his 3rd win in a row of the season, as he pulls away at the top of the table, with Wade in 3rd Place.
Sunday was now a different day, the heavens had opened and it was throwing it down. This was certainly going to be a wet race. The first heat we had a parade lap to see where all
the rain had gone from the over night storms. Griffin started the first
heat in 7th position. And made it to 5th after the first corner as we
hit the water and visibility was drastically reduced. But could not
make any movement on Edwardes ending his race in 5th. Cairns did not
have as much luck as he dropped all his engine oil after the pressure
realese valve broke off.
Heat 3 was Griffins Pole start. To which he did not use it to his best. He finished it in 3rd. The final Griffin Started in 5th, and Hudson made a very bad start and wade took the lead just in front of Bell, but B Clark was not giving in and Griffin entered the 1st second of loose in 4th. B Clark was then just picking off each of the racers one by one as Wade made a mistake on the last section of loose before the tarmac, which saw Clark, Bell and Griffin drive on through and this is how the day ended up.
It did not seem to take long but the European Demonstration Events were with us. This year saw the return of the double weekend, with the first being in Belgium, Masmechilin on Sunday the 12th July and the second weekend in Holland at Vauulkensward on the 17th July 2009. It was Thursday before race day and once again we had the long haul down to Dover in the Lorry and across the Ferry and then the 5 hour drive up to Belgium, and in usual style we did it all in one go, with the added bonus this year of CB radio’s. We set up camp and lazed around, doing a few last minute tweeks on the cars prior to race day on the Sunday. This year was different to others as we never had the sunshine we were used to when racing in Europe, but it was the usual weather we had back in the UK, more so this season when racing, RAIN. This never dampened out spirits and we managed to get a practice on the circuit on Saturday afternoon after the clubman races had finished. Race day we did our usual weighing in as we took the cars through the weight bridge, and Griffin came in as the lighter car out of Clark and Griffin. But there was not much in it. This event also saw the change in tyres as we could use our Old A032, as the A008 were becoming in short supply back in the UK. Practice was still very wet on the circuit and we did not manage to run at full race speed. However once the first heat came the circuit had dryed up a lot more and a dry line was appearing, but this did not stop Clark spinning off on the fast corner after going over the start finish line. Luckily Griffin managed to hold his car as it twitched after seeing Clark parked in the sand.
Griffin did not finish heat 1 due to a electrical fault which seemed to be fixed with a new electronic module on the distributor. Clark is in the different heat to Griffin and managed to keep it on the track.
Hudson had a bad start to the weekend with a broken
Dif in Heat 2. Which resulted in the engine being taken out and a new
gear box Heat 3 Griffin made another good start but it was Collet who took the early lead with a slight door handle rubbing on the top bend. Clark was right on Griffin tail going up the mountain but Griffin could not catch Collet so he took the joker lap, putting him behind Clark in 3rd Position. He did not stay there long and took Clark going up the hill to the top hairpin back into 2nd. It was Collet turn for the joker and mark just missed taking the lead as Collet went on to win the 3rd Heat. Clark Claim 4th.
The final saw Griffin line up 5th and Clark in 4th. Thacker took the lead early and Griffin went into the first corner in 5th but took the wrong time to take the Joker right behind Bell. Clark was up into 4th as the laps were counting down, until he took his joker lap and Bell and Griffin passed him. Collet had a bad run and had ignition problems which saw him pull off on the last but one lap. It was Thacker, Wakeling and Bell. Griffin could not get by Bell despite the last corner charge round the outside.
. We arrived back at the campsite on the Friday to which we celebrated out last night on the campsite before we headed to Valkenswaard. It was then time to set camp up and don our final check on the cars before Race day on Sunday. And as Belgium we were not blessed with the weather and this was looking for a wet race. However race day came and the circuit dryed up well. The first heat did not start well for Griffin, but Clark made a cracking start and held it nicely after a little nudge from Bell into the first corner. But the race did not last long for Griffin after he faced once again another ignition problem which saw him retire on lap 2 after passing Lawson. Heat 2 saw a cracking start from Griffin, to which he never looked back and won the race by a good 10 car lengths.
Heat 3 was different as it saw Griffin Right on Clarks tail off the start line with no where to go. It was not long before Clark and griffin were all bumper to bumper with Lawson. Something had to give and it was Griffin as he tried to drive round the both on the final bend. To which the sand did not allow him to pull back out on to the tarmac. It also saw Wakeling out break him self as he missed his pedals nd also come to a fast stop in the sand. The final put Griffin in 9th position and Clark in 8th. But a good start by griffin took him to 6th into the first corner and he start to gradually make his way through the field. With a nice dive the inside of Edwardes as he went wide into the hair pin. It was the Hudson next but he drove cleaning and fast and Griffin could not find a way past despite trying all the lines and having more pull on the straights. Collet ended his European trip with a accident on the last lap to allow Wakeling to take 2nd and Hudson 3rd, Griffin 4th. Griffin Stays in Second position after round 5 at Blyton where we saw Kris Hudson take his second win of the year. Kris Hudson now leads the championship by 12 points in front of Griffin, after another day of mixed racing. The day did not start off to well when 425 failed scrutineering due to an incorrect log book, despite all the work carried on the new dash board and rewiring.
Practice went well for Griffin even after a close shave with Wade where he came from no where to narrowly miss colliding with each other. The first heat put Griffin on the front row of the grid to which he capitalised it and came a respectably second. Ian “The Entertainer” Clark was back and up to his usually fast racing standards, but suffered a few carburetor issues, to which he was battling with all day. It did not however affect his talent to entertain and he managed to get the car side ways a fair few times. Heat 1 saw a good start from Clark despite being hit from behind and being pushed into the car in front he managed to hold his postion.
Heat 2 saw Clark take Pole and Griffin starting from the back row. Clark made a good start and managed to take it into the first corner in second behind Bell. Griffin however was dodging cars to try and make up ground having encountered cars in front which were loosing control. It was not long before Griffin was on Clark’s tail but was unable to get past the entertainer despite all efforts and brought home 4th for Clark and 5th for Griffin . Heat 3 was a 2nd row start for Griffin and a back row for Clark. Griffin made a good start and had to back off as Wade touched with Ben Clark pushing him into Bell to which B Clark nearly rolled his car. Griffin went into the first corner 5th after Edwardes managed to get by after all the barging in the first corner. Clark made it round and was chasing the pack. While Griffin was in the leading pack putting pressure on, Edwardes and Bell lost it going into the bottom bend, but Bell managed to rejoin as Griffin drove round gaining 1 position on Edwardes. It was only 1 corner left and Griffin got it wrong and the back end went light and he lost it heading backwards to the barrier. The rest of the pack all passed as Griffin cross the line after stalling.
This saw a 2nd row (5th position) start for Griffin and Clark was on the 3rd. Griffin made a bad start as Edwardes managed to make a good start from the 2nd row and drive straight in front. Griffin went into the first corner in 6th as Bell held the inside line and took 5th. There was not much in the top 6 as they were all bumper to bumper all fighting for a position and also all defending positions. Bell was the first to break on lap 3 as he lost the back end going into the bottom bend, to which Griffin drove straight through into 5th. He was closing down on Ben Clark, but could not get past despite a last lap dive down the outside as his car was starting to slow down due to engine problems. Clark came home in 9th after his earlier problem of the car miss firing down the back straight. It is now over the water to Belgium and Holland for
a fun pack week of racing in Europe where we expect to see some close
racing with 9 cars making the trip. GC Racing has also just purchased
a new Motor home for the Clark family so Katy and Madelyn will also
be making the trip, once they get there first passports. Fingers crossed
the cars hold up as the weekend after they are back, they are straight
down to round 6 and 7 at Pembrey due to the next Blyton event being
cancelled.
|
|
