Blyton Bash 16 - Fantastic Frustrating Weekend

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Blyton Bash 16 - Fantastic Frustrating Weekend

Postby Cerberus » Wed Jun 15, 2016 10:02 pm

Well the Blyton Bash is behind us and it was quite an eventful one. Not many P5's made the trip sadly. Shame, I guess the rain put everyone off this year?

We arrived by about 4pm on Friday and by 4:15pm....

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The tent was up! Inflatable tents are such a massive improvement over the old fashioned glass fibre pole jobbies!

Just as well because no sooner was the tent inflated than the rain started to hammer down. We unpacked the support vehicle into the tent and waited out the rain. Once it had passed I set out all the guy ropes and BV made the bed. Wasn't long before we were all set and I had a beer in my hand.

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Yes, the inflatable tent is just as big as the old 'poled' version (Which will be for sale soon. Nothing wrong with it, it just takes too long for me to put up on my own nowadays. I must be getting old!)

After a good nights rest on the fold out camping bed. Forget blow up beds, they pale by comparison. I headed to the briefing, then the obligatory sighting lap. To confirm that, yes, we were definitely at Blyton....

Out for the first session. Track a little damp. Quite slippery. My intention to conquer Jochen and the Ump was quickly realised. I was at last getting it done quickly. Later turn in, straighter through the chicane, take a bit more of the right hand curb. Lovely!

All I need now are some tyres that can cope with the amount of speed I want to take out of The Ump and into Lancaster!

All was well. As usual I was taking all sorts of liberties at the left hander that finishes the back straight, Bishops. Until... the inevitable spin. Pretty good one this time! The tail broke to the right and with a swift bit of opposite lock i brought it back. Except I then didn't get the lock off fast enough aaaaaand... yep... round I go in the other direction. A passenger by this point I let it spin until I am facing the right way again and I let the car roll to the grass.

It was quite peaceful as I stabbed the 'Start' button to fire Shout back into life. Watching a cloud of tyre smoke float past.

Except..... The smoke didn't stop. It was being followed by some tiny whisps of steam exiting the bonnet by the passenger side headlamp.

Bugger.....

I nursed her back to the pits, flicked open the aerocatches, and surveyed the damage.

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The radiator had a tiny, pin prick, hole where the core crimps to the plastic header tank. Luckily at the Blyton Bash there are some ways to get help. On a normal track day I would have been packing up the tent.

I headed to the guys at Steel City, who were in the pit lane with a full set up of tools and spares.

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They had a second hand radiator and they only wanted £15 for it, with free fitting.

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Trust me.... It's free fitting....

Didn't take the guys long.

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I was repaired and back out in 20 minutes. Just in time for session two. Damo jumped in for a few passenger laps. He probably regrets that now :oops:

A few laps in and I was making good progress. I certainly wasn't the slowest car on the track.

Then, as I braked down to third for The Wriggler chicane. The back end got away from me and into a nasty spin. I clipped a cone and then went backwards thought a polystyrene bale. Apparently, according to the following car, It made quite a pretty snowstorm!

Nick had warned us in the brief not to clatter the blocks. As panel damage would surely ensue. Convinced I had just put a serious dent into Shout's rear wing and bumper I gingerly headed back to the pits. As did everyone else. Session red flagged so that the marshals could sweep up the snow. These polystyrene blocks seem a bit daft to me. No one is 'trying' to hit one. If it hadn't been there then I wouldn't have any damage to he car and the session wouldn't need red flagged for clean up. So... What purpose do they serve? What does a block and a cone do that a cone wouldn't do on it's own? I genuinely don't understand that one.

Back in the pits I got out and surveyed the damage to my poor little racecar.

Nothing, not a bloody scratch on her. No dents, No damage, Nothing.

High fives all around and back in the car to go back out! Phil wanted to jump in this time but sadly the queue moved too fast and I headed out alone. Probably for the best. Three laps into the stint while braking hard into Jochen the brake pedal fell away from my foot into the floor. No way I was going to get through The Ump at that speed. I took to the escape path behind the chicane and onto the straight. Tried the brakes, Nothing! Ok, well this will be a fun lap back to the pits!

With my bum twitching like a rabbits nose I pointed the car back towards Steel City, to see if they could be of help. When I got out of the car I had my next surprise. The rear bumper on the driver side was dragging on the floor and there was smoke billowing from the wheel well. Excellent work from the marshals there. Not one black flag in sight on the way back in!

Turns out the incident with the polystyrene bale hadn't been as pain free as first thought.

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The rear section of the exhaust had been snapped off. Meaning the silencer was firing into the inside of the bumper. Melting the crap out of it and setting the plastic splash guards on fire.

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Polystyrene bales.... yeah... so they are a bloody great idea then... :thumb:

Oh and the brake pads in that rear corner.... gone... totally gone. Which had allowed the brake fluid level to fall well past minimum. Allowing me to pump a load of air into the brake lines. I plugged the fluid level warning switch back in.. I have NO idea how or when that came disconnected!! Steel City fitted me a new set of rear brake pads (For £30), I topped up the brake fluid, and we zip tied the bumper back into some sort of shape. Although it will forever bear the battle scars as a sort of lop sided droopy 'smile' now exists where the bumper meets the bodywork.

But I was still without an exhaust. Again, it should have been time to pack up the tent. But Malc was considering a new exhaust from Go Perform. He spotted the fix I was in. "Ok then" he says "Thats made my decision for me then." Off he trots to the Go Perform stand. Buys a £300 exhaust. Brings it back to Steel City. "There you go lads. Pop this new one on my car. Give Cerbs the one you take off and put that on Shout"

What a legend.

Except. After an hour of swearing at it. The Go Perform exhaust is the wrong one for Malc's car and it won't go on. That hour of swearing used up the entire of Malc's track session and he only ended up with his old exhaust put back on the car. He just shrugged and smiled. You can't beat MX-5 camaraderie eh.

I posted on Facebook.....

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I didn't really think anything would come of it. I was making mental plans for lots of beer and an early exit on Sunday morning. Possibly with the rear bumper strapped to my boot rack to stop it being melted to bits.

Then I got a text message from Russell. "I've got an exhaust sat here I'm not using. Do you want it?"

In almost a state of shock I texted back and explained the situation. Yes I need it but I was in Blyton. No worries says Russell, let me collect the kids and bring them home. Then I will pop up....

Pop up....!!! It's two and a half hours drive!

He jumped in his car and did a two and a half hour drive, through a massive rainstorm, to the track. Delivered an exhaust.

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Stopped for a ten minute chat. Then hopped in his car with a smile and drove home.

I simply have no words that will adequately describe my admiration and sincere thanks to him for that. Thank you mate. That was epic.

The spanner monkeys at Steel City were happy with the exhaust but it was late and there was beer to be consumed. So we opened another and they said "Pop back in the morning. We'll sort it".

I hd a bit of a lie in. Was up and about at around 8:30. Yawned and stretched and got dressed. Unzipped the tent and ventured out into the world. This mornings challenge. Help the guys fit the exhaust.

Arrived at the Steel City pit garage to find Shout sat back on the ground. The Steel City crew enjoying a brew with smiles on their faces.

"She's ready to go mate. We got up early, had her done by 8. Have a bloody great day!"

I felt like proper F1 star. Back your car into the scenery, go to bed, wake up to find your mechanics have fixed it. In I hopped and out to the village to grab a supply of squashed dinosaurs for the day. The brakes felt ok. But.... not right. Back to the track and the combination of not really being sure about the brakes and the damp track saw me having a slight rear end lock up into The Wriggler.

The spin of the day before, which I thought I had put completely out of mind, came flooding back. The car didn't spin. It was just a little lock up. But, for the first time ever on track, it shook me right up. I limped around the rest of the lap and then back into the pits. That was it. No more track days. This is daft. What am I doing? I don't like it anymore. Stop the Blyton Bash... I want to get off.

I spoke to BV and she said it was all ok and not to worry. I went to the marquee to say some goodbyes before we started packing up. Stopped off to say bye to Iain and he asked what was up. His advice "Go take a few passenger laps, you have a wrist band, go try that. See if it brings your mojo back. Malc was nearby. "Hop in mate, lets go find your mojo!".

So I did. Hot dang are his tyres better than mine. SO much better than mine. He could carry epic speed through apexes and be on the power so much earlier on the way out. When Shout is back, she's having new tyres! Proper ones!

Back in the pits I went straight from the passenger seat into Shouts driving seat and straight back into the queue. Out on track. Ok.. we can do this! The laps started coming together. Quicker and smoother. Best session of the weekend, by a long way. I was finally going to make it to the chequered flag of a session! Until......

A red flag. Someone was off into the kitty litter. I braked early for Bishops and it was a good job I did.. as the brake pedal fell away from me again. "Oh Fiddlesticks" I calmly remarked from inside my steamed up crash helmet.

I pointed her back at Steel City. "Bleed the brakes for me please guys, I'm going to take a tent down"
"Sure thing mate!"

Off I went and pulled the plugs on the tent. Loaded the car up. Grabbed four unused beers and wandered back to Steel City. To find... the bleed nipples totally seized and bleeding the brakes totally off the cards. Luckily now cooled the brake pedal sort of did something. Just not much....... I handed over some beers and handshakes and took Shout back to the campsite.

As we decamped Peter (OC Motorsports bloke) walked past. He thrust this into my hands....

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The award for "Spirit of the Weekend"

"A lot of people would have given up and gone home" he said "This is for you, well done for sticking at it"

I was totes emosh...... :oops:

It wasn't long before Shout was loaded with her half of the camping gear and we were on our way home. Braking very very early and sometimes with a liiiiiitle pull of handbrake just to make sure. We arrived home safe, sound, and exhausted.

Shout's MOT expires in a couple of days. At the same time so does her insurance.

She needs a new engine, gearbox, complete brake overhaul, proper track day tyres, better suspension, and some pretty serious remedial rust work.

I had pretty much decided that the Blyton Bash 16 was her swan song. Her last hoorah. I hadn't really made that known publicly. Which is probably for the best. Because... how can I let her expire after that sort of effort!

Shout..... will be back......

With huge thank yous to...
The OC for an amazing event.
MOT for all their hard work to keep the track day stuff working so well.
Steel City for constantly bailing me out and fixing stuff I broke.
Malc for the exhaust offer and the passenger laps.
Russell for his amazing drive to rescue my weekend.
And
Last but by no means least
Thank you to BV for being my rock and keeping me strong and smiling. I love you honey.

Thank you to everyone that makes being an MX-5 owner so awesome.
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Re: Blyton Bash 16 - Fantastic Frustrating Weekend

Postby Ruzz » Thu Jun 16, 2016 7:10 pm

Wow :shock: Great write up :thumb: Although "eventful " seems to be putting it mildly .
After last years Blyton i was looking forward to doing it again this year but i was gutted as family commitments clashed . :banghead:
I'm glad you decided to give Shout a reprieve as Whisper and Shout compliment each other perfectly .
Bring on Blyton 2017 :D
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Re: Blyton Bash 16 - Fantastic Frustrating Weekend

Postby gimmeablackun » Fri Jun 17, 2016 9:38 am

Brilliant write up mate. 8)
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Re: Blyton Bash 16 - Fantastic Frustrating Weekend

Postby greg#2 » Fri Jun 17, 2016 12:12 pm

great write up buddy. the trials of trying to go fast.

prep prep prep, thats all that counts

i cant wait for the write up of shout's refresh

top work from russ as well, what a legend!!!
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