Following the Crofton Comp the Lightweight needed some major surgery, namely a new engine and gearbox... so we knew that at the next comp, Dunsville, we were likely to have some teething problems with the new components...
As has become usual for us these days, I spent the Saturday before the comp checking over the trailer and adding some new "features" - on this occasion, lights and brakes that work. Sunday morning I set off with the trailer in tow, with Matthew driving the lightweight across from Leeds to meet me at the site. As I came around the roundabout just off the M18 I saw the lightweight, bonnet open, sat in a layby on the left hand side. Expecting the new engine to have died I pulled up to investigate... Matthew informed me that the top hose had blown at the end that meets the thermostat housing and he was in the process of cutting the damaged section off and re-connecting it. Five minutes later and we were back on the road again with me taking the trailer down to the site while Matthew went to top off with water and fuel at the local garage.
Having arrived at the site and managed to find somewhere to park up, next port of call was the snack wagon while I waited for Matthew to arrive. I attended the drivers briefing and still there was no sign of the lightweight so, fearing the worst, I decided I would walk the course anyway in the hope that Matthew would eventually turn up and I wouldn't have a wasted walk.
Half an hour later and I came to the end of the course and was happy to see the lightweight sat in the queue for scrutineering, apparently Matthew had had problems bleeding the cooling system. After tightening up a steering bolt we got through scrutineering OK and prepared for the first run. This was going to be an interesting exercise as I was the only one that had seen the course - but then what is a navigator for ???
The first run went well with us putting in what seemed like a good time and was comparatively uneventful. We had one dodgy moment when, having caught up with a slower motor, Matthew started to follow the slower motor down the wrong track but soon saw the error of his ways when I started shouting at him. The new engine and gearbox combination appeared to be working well with a lot more power and a lot less noise (for the moment at least). There was still an airlock in the cooling system, however, so when we got back to the pits "the kettle had boiled" and we were losing water out of the filler cap. Another half hour or so was lost while we tried various techniques to get the air out.
Run two was going really well until we caught up with a "buggy" about half way round. After sitting on their tail for about a hundred yards with me sounding the air horns, we ended up heading into a 90 left with us on the inside and them on the outside refusing to give way - the inevitable happened and neither of us managed to make it cleanly into the turn forcing us both to reverse up and try again...
Run three went fine for he first fifty yards or so, then the exhaust fell off - or at least that's what it sounded like... As we found out at the end of the run, what actually happened was that one of the rear mounts gave way which then put too much strain on the rear silencer which promptly separated from he rest of the exhaust and spent the rest of the run trying to beat itself to death against the chassis and anything else within swinging range. The run itself went really well though and we clocked up our fastest time of the day. At the end of the run is was no surprise to see the scrutineer beckoning us over to him to have "a little chat" about our exhaust system. After discussing the situation with him and agreeing to repair the system before the next run Matthew fired the engine up only to see thick smoke start issuing from under the bonnet. The engine was turned off and we went to investigate — the oil pressure gauge pipe had split near the oil filter. A tow was now needed to get us back to the pits.
During the dinner break myself, Nigel and Mark managed to get the exhaust back into some semblance of order while Matthew sorted out the oil pipe. The oil problem was permanently fixed by removing the union, the exhaust on the other hand was not in what you would call pristine condition.
Run four went smoothly until about 200 yards from the end when the silencer again parted company, but this time at both ends. We arrived at the finish with the silencer gone and, judging from the remains we had left, irrepairable. We went to find the scrutineer to have a word and to see if there was any chance of us continuing after another noise test. Some discussion followed and it was decided that unless we could fix the exhaust we would not be allowed to continue. We set off back to the pits and then Matthew went for a wander round to see if he could find someone with a spare silencer. Neither of us holding out much hope of finding one let alone one that would fit.
Fortunately, Mick Stephani said that he might have one at home and as he lived close by we could give him a lift up there and get one. Off Matthew went in the Subaru and about quarter of an hour later returned wielding a silencer that was identified by Mark as possibly belonging to a John Deere tractor... Whatever it's origins, the important thing was that it could be made to fit so another half hour later and we were ready for run five.
Runs five, six, seven and eight are a bit of a blur as we were behind in the running order and more or less ran them without a break between. Two things stand out though, the first was on run six when the throttle stuck wide open and Matthew had to kill the engine and free it off (cost us about forty seconds) and the second was the loss of left hand turning circle due to one of the steering arms being bent through nearly 90 degrees.
In addition, during the last part of the last run (run eight), the silencer of unknown origin leapt from the vehicle and disappeared into the sand. The lightweight, for the first time in the last five events had to be trailered home.
We were placed eighth overall for the event and third overall in the ANCC event which pushes us up to second overall in the ANCC championship (First in our class).