Double Win at Kames

Well the weekend almost went without incident! First thing on Saturday morning after taking the car off the trailer and getting everything ready, I started the car to make sure everything was OK. Having popped my head under the bonnet I was confronted with an alternator which was banging against the chassis leg.

With 30 mins to first practise, it was time to work out how to repair an alloy alternator bracket which had halved in two, with no spare - with some brute force and a big bolt we managed to cobble a temporary fix together.

Enough of the problems! - the Saturday went as planned with success in a class win, however the track never got enough heat in it to beat the class record. Achieving a respectable 84.14 secs as the best time of the day (class record for A2 - anti-clockwise is 83.85 secs).

Sunday went the same way with a class win coming my way, again the lack of sun and onslaughter of rain put a halt on any class records being broken. At least the car came back in one piece andwith two 1st place trophies in the bag it was an enjoyable weekend.

Next stop Golspie for another sprint, keep an eye on how I perform at www.reidracing.co.uk

Preparing for Kames in East Ayrshire

It's off to Kames this weekend 20th & 21st May (track is in Muirkirk - organised by East Ayrshire Car Club). The car has been untouched since a double victory at Fintray, hopefully only some fuel to be added and it will be racing again.

Kames last year was a right pain for me, on two occassions I've been under the class record in practise, heading for both a class win and a new record, when I've retired with serious engine failures.

The first time granted, was driver fault, when I accidently selected 1st gear rather than 3rd gear, I found out that day that a Vauxhall Nova will not do 11,000 rpms. Needless to say, that was the end of that, the engine needed some serious rebuilding to get it ready for future races.

After frantic rebuilding, the engine performed well at other race tracks gaining a personal best at Forrestburn, before heading off to Kames again. This time the car performed as before, going great in practise, but the engine blew up on the 1st timed run, when a valve head decided to snap cleanly off the stem and rattle about in the cylinder at 8,000 rpm until it punched a hole through the piston and wrecked the cylinder head.

At this point I decided enough was enough and retired for the rest of the season, to build another engine.

Anyhow - fingers crossed the visit to Kames this weekend will be slightly more uneventful but more successful.

Find out how I get on at www.reidracing.co.uk

Reid Racing at Fintray Hillclimb in Scotland

Well folks it was the first outing up North and the weekend went well. With a reasonably easy victory on the Saturday as the car performed well, the weather stayed favourable for us all and the driver brushed off the rust - a win was looking good from the start.

Sunday however, was more exciting. The return of Malcolm Milne in another nova (albeit pink) provided some challanges to myself. Giving the hill a bit too much respect in the first practise meant Malcolm led in the challange. Redeeming myself in the second practise with a 33.70 secs run, Malcolm posted a 33.79 secs - only 9 hundredths a difference. It stayed close for the rest of the day, with me eventually winning with a 33.64 secs run.

So all in all, a nice weekends racing as I gained another two 1st in class trophies.

For more information on the car and the racing events visit www.reidracing.co.uk