UKGTL Season 22 1965 BSCC - Brands Hatch - Jan 3

[Wiltshire Tony]

Championship standings HERE

Grid/server capacity: 22

Car/Track download available by pm to WT

The Ilford Films Trophy - Race of Champions Meeting

All Classes

Track: Brands Hatch GP (Early Brands)

Car restrictions: Drivers are limited to a maximum number of drives per Class. For more information please click HERE

Practice: ~19:20 (60 mins)
Qualifying: 20:20 (20 mins) Drivers must not leave qualifying to change car make
Race: 20:40 (20 laps)

Time of Day Setting: 14:00
Start: STANDING
Tyre wear: Normal
Fuel consumption: Normal

Server: simracing.org.uk Wednesday
Password: see above

Notes:
(1) It's best if all drivers can make sure they are connected before the Qualifying session as drivers on track during qualifying will not see cars that join after they are on track until they go back to the garage.
(2) Please make sure you are fully aware of the SimRacing.org.uk Rules.
(3) The AI control should be turned off so that you have control of the car at all times, including pitting. Your player file should therefore read
Autopit="0"
Force Autopit Off="1" // Forces autopit always off
No AI Control="1" // AI never has control over car
If you still finding pitting problematic, experience tells us that its less to do with positioning and more to do with approach speed. A slow approach to pit crew chief has proved most reliable.

Special Notes: None.

[SpecialKS]

Kind of a teaser - cover of an 1966 AUTOSPORT issue I own, dealing with 1965 British Club Racing
(a V8 Cortina in the background):




 

[phspok]

2 Shillings and Sixpence! Ha, I remember those   The tooth fairy would put a sixpence under your pillow if you lost a tooth.
Or some dodgy baking person would hide one or more in a Christmas Pudding
This one is showing the Thistle for Scotland, A Leek for Wales, A Shamrock for Northern Ireland, and Rose for England


And threepenny bits, oh, we had some weird coins before decimalisation. I can even vaguely remember the thing with a robin on it. Farthing, yep that was it

Anyway, cool event cover  

[EvilClive]

Great cover photo Kurt.

I think that V8 Cortina was the "Savage Cortina" built and driven by Dave Sanger(?). I watched that car absolutely destroy the whole saloon car field at Castle Combe, where he also drove a 7 litre Cobra which was another monster. Dave was a big man with a huge bushy beard and a "bone dome" crash helmet. In both classes, the crowds saw his cars appear at Quarry Bend completely alone after the short run from the grid, followed by a demonstration of the benefits of raw power for the rest of the race.

The sight of him in an open top Cobra wrestling with what was a very large steering wheel by racing standards as he was power sliding through Quarry bend, before he nailed the gas and the car appeared to shudder and then leap off down the straight. ( this was in the days before the mickey mouse chicanes ).
I was fortunate, many years later, to meet Dave at a small, private Garden Party ( thrown by another racer John Dangerfield, who raced Morgans) and we had a long chat about those two cars. He confessed that the Cortina was a little beyond the spirit of saloon racing of the time, but immense fun to drive all the same.
The Cobra was developed to such a level that it became very unstable at high speed. I think he said that top end was around 160mph?

Practising on the old Snetterton circuit down the long straight it almost ended in tears when the front end lifted off the ground just before the heavy braking zone. He claimed (tongue in cheek) that they almost invented ground effect years ahead of everyone else. They cut a slot across the boot lid and built a duct that went down under the car to suck the air out from under the car... and it worked.

By the time I met him he was long retired from motor racing but had what he described as the dream job. Basically, his modest success during his racing career had brought him to the attention of a couple of big motorsport mags and they would hire him ( fat fee and all expenses paid) to drive classic race cars and write a report. The magazines would contact private collectors and arrange to borrow the car for a track day. So, he had just returned from driving thrashing a Chaparral around a track and the best bit was, that he was not responsible for any damage to these cars as the magazines covered all insurance!!!
Some people have all the luck  

[Geoffers]

Interesting read Clive, but I think the guy you were referring to was Terry Sanger, a well known saloon racer of the 60s & 70s. After his time in club racing & Special Saloons he raced in the BSCC in Ford Falcons & Chevrolet Camaros & also in F5000.

However the car in the picture above is not that one, but that of Derek "Doc" Merfield, hence the DOC number plate. The Lotus Cortina ahead is Andre Baldet, a regular in BSCC at the time.

More details about Cortina V8s here:

http://www.specialsaloons.co.uk/cortina-v8s/4588366627

The V8 Cortinas were really the start of the trend in Special Saloons of transplanting big engines into small cars which led to ever more wild creations. Eventually these cars were nothing more than space frame race cars with fibreglass bodies which looked vaguely like saloons.

[Nappe1]

Practising on the old Snetterton circuit down the long straight it almost ended in tears when the front end lifted off the ground just before the heavy braking zone. He claimed (tongue in cheek) that they almost invented ground effect years ahead of everyone else. They cut a slot across the boot lid and built a duct that went down under the car to suck the air out from under the car... and it worked.

Sorry to inject some off topic once again...  
Interesting enough reason Bernd Rosemeyer's fatal crash in 1938 speed record run has been found out to be due "missing ground effect".

As the wind tunnels were really new thing in 1938, Auto-union recordwagen was developed in one and engineers noticed bizzarre effect when creating two tunnels under the car (nowdays they would be called venturi tunnels) causing the car getting more grip but also more drag at the same time. As the competition with Mercedes was fierce, car was sent to record runs to Darmstadt autobahn without almost any analyze why things happen.

In the morning there was few practice runs carried in which the car only reached 418km/h in flying kilometer and mile. That was too little to beat Rudolf Caracciola's / Mercedes' last week record. As the car was running the tunnels open, Bernd thought the additional drag was caused by them and ordered them to be closed for the big one. everything went fine during the flying kilometer, Bernd clocking still valid internal combustion engine car in public road flying km record 432 km/h (268 mph). But while continuing to finish the flying mile, the side wind catched the car when coming from forest to open field. Bernd really was driver with big D as he was able to correct 2 first slides caused by the lost traction, but third one was  too much dooming the car's and it's driver's faith.

As the wind situation was not changed much since morning, it is most likely cause of the accident that the in morning, the car was running as true ground effect car, but no one really realized that. In record runs the tunnels were closed with hatches, which reduced the down force greatly and so car lost it's stability in over 435km/h.

(In that speed car moves over 120 meters (400 feet) per second. you can just imagine the reflexes driver must have able to even try to correct the slide.)

[SpecialKS]

Interesting read Clive, but I think the guy you were referring to was Terry Sanger, a well known saloon racer of the 60s & 70s. After his time in club racing & Special Saloons he raced in the BSCC in Ford Falcons & Chevrolet Camaros & also in F5000.

However the car in the picture above is not that one, but that of Derek "Doc" Merfield, hence the DOC number plate. The Lotus Cortina ahead is Andre Baldet, a regular in BSCC at the time.

More details about Cortina V8s here:

http://www.specialsaloons.co.uk/cortina-v8s/4588366627

The V8 Cortinas were really the start of the trend in Special Saloons of transplanting big engines into small cars which led to ever more wild creations. Eventually these cars were nothing more than space frame race cars with fibreglass bodies which looked vaguely like saloons.

   

                                                                                                                                                                                                    
I'll have a look, when I'm at home again on Sunday. If somebody is interested, I can scan the whole article.

[EvilClive]

Interesting read Clive, but I think the guy you were referring to was Terry Sanger, a well known saloon racer of the 60s & 70s. After his time in club racing & Special Saloons he raced in the BSCC in Ford Falcons & Chevrolet Camaros & also in F5000.

However the car in the picture above is not that one, but that of Derek "Doc" Merfield, hence the DOC number plate. The Lotus Cortina ahead is Andre Baldet, a regular in BSCC at the time.

More details about Cortina V8s here:

http://www.specialsaloons.co.uk/cortina-v8s/4588366627

The V8 Cortinas were really the start of the trend in Special Saloons of transplanting big engines into small cars which led to ever more wild creations. Eventually these cars were nothing more than space frame race cars with fibreglass bodies which looked vaguely like saloons.

You are right on all counts Geoff. My memory is not what it was and TERRY was indeed his name. Also I missed the "DOC" number plate. 
I did recall that the wheel arches on Terry's car were just enormous, and the pic here ( http://www.specialsaloons.co.uk/cortina-v8s/4588366627 ) shows how much metal/fibreglass was removed. The car could have doubled as a road roller!!

[SpecialKS]

Happy new year to all of you 

Here, for the sake of completeness, the article about Club Racing 1965 from the
above mentioned AUTOSPORT issue:

https://mega.nz/file/aN901LbB#kONStYlDFuMQctkUAlL84TliQY8ZhXzixOxlftN5iuQ

 

[Geoffers]

A good read Kurt, thanks for uploading it.

Interesting to recall how the drivers the author highlighted in the opening section fared in the racing careers.

Tony Dean raced a lot in saloons & sports cars into the 1970s without ever really setting the world on fire. He did quite well though in F5000 mainly in a Chevron. Probably his most memorable win was in CanAm, winning the 1970 Road Atlanta race in his Porsche 908.

Sid Taylor, I don't really remember as a driver. He was more well known as an entrant in sports cars & F5000, his cars winning many races in the hands of Denny Hulme, Peter Gethin & others.

Brian Redman was the most successful of those mentioned. He did have a few drives in F1, mainly in uncompetitive cars, but did have a very successful career in sports cars, F5000 & CanAm. I remember having an all too brief chat with him at the Goodwood FoS a few years ago, he was telling me all about his time racing Porsche 917s until he got called away to drive one of the cars up the hill.

John Harris, I didn't remember him at all, only looking him up, did I recall him driving a GT40.

Finally Bernard Unett, became BSCC champion 3 times in Hillman Avengers. He spent most of his career in saloons as far as I remember mostly in Rootes Group cars, Imps, Avengers, Hunters etc.

[Dimitar Dulichki]

Happy New Year guys. I wish you all the best and to be always in the circuits with me.

[phspok]

Superb race in the 970S 
Managed to keep ahead of the charging DD for a couple of laps, then I went wide in Clarks and he went past
then he pitted, apparently for S/G. it was too easy to get one from going even slightly wide in Druids, and then running over poor Graham Hill
I remember that from previous races here.

Then I went off in Clarks, and let Dan past, then spent almost the rest of the race trying to catch and pass, while keep some gap
back to Clive. Dan did the Clark's trick near the end, and I held the place back to the flag. Very intense race. Love these 970Ss

[SpecialKS]

Result




@SeniorDan: what happened? I had the impression that you crossed the line just in front of me.

[Dimitar Dulichki]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7hGrgUE_hc
Take a look at 43:22 where I recieve stop/go penalty for my first "cut". Is there any way I can be compensated with some time? I lost at least 25 seconds at the pit stop.  

[EvilClive]

Grats to the podium finishers.

4th place was way beyond my expectations, especially in an infernal Mini lol.
TBH after the first 2 or 3 laps where Dan and Tony provided the entertainment, my race was quite solitary. I could see Matt up ahead, but I just could not close that gap and trying harder just made the gap bigger  , a lesson there I guess ??  The gap behind was steadily growing and it looked like 5th was as good as it would get, until Dan made his SnG on the penultimate lap.

I am looking forward to this series, it should be fun. Thanks Tony