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Devon Group at Castle Combe
Well, that was a more eventful track day than normal………the weather was superb, completely dry track and clear skies. To make the event viable this time it had been opened up for other non TR classics. so apart from the normal selection of TR’s there were a few other marques including a very nice E type & a Frazer Nash Targa Florio. I went on first in group A with Tris as my passenger and we had a really good session, getting rid of my dust shields and fitting the vented discs has made a massive difference to heat reduction with the front brakes and the new springs and large anti roll bar up front gave some unprecedented stability on the corners, for the first time at a track day I completed my laps without having the tyres screaming at me constantly! Next out was Kay with the novice group & with me sat beside her, she did really well and was quick to pick up the brake points and turn points and was increasing speed with each lap. Last out was Tristan driving with his brother Toby beside him – I saw him make a nice overtake on the pit straight whilst chasing down a particularly quick TR6 but then he came back to the paddock reporting smoke and an oil pressure problem. I’m fairly sure the smoke was nothing more than the amount of hot oil leaking from the crank rear oil being flicked onto the hot exhaust on the bends. The real problem was the oil pressure, a few months ago I fitted a pressure switch into the oil gallery which is set at 20psi or below to bring on a light on the dash which had happened. With help from Phil Tucker I stripped the dizzy & pedestal to spin the oil pump on a drill as I feared the pump had failed but this was not the case and when it had cooled down and was put back together she started and gave about 40 psi on idle but there was a different noise from the engine – it just didn’t sound the same and I was also fairly convinced I could detect flecks of something shiny in the oil so it was game over for us. Phil had an intermittent problem with his fuel pump and also retired early although not before Trish had also had a go in the novice session. Having retired early from the track Kay & I decided to give the dog a walk around the perimeter of the circuit and watch the other cars as we went. Part way around we saw that Neil Revington had come off (with Andrew Willmott in the passenger seat) and was being recovered having suffered a sheared hub and lost his front wheel: And I’m told that the day ended earlier than planned when another car came off and damaged a safety barrier. So back to the garage again for a few of us!