Motorfest thoughts

[LessThanSte]

Well then what did people think?

Personally, having experienced it last year, it appears that Incarace and Spedeworth learned a lot of lessons (not least with the finale!). Time between races was minimal, organisation seemed pretty good and most people knew what they were meant to be doing.

Also the stewarding out on the carpark/outer paddock was significantly better than usual.

Never seen autograss before so took a walk down to have a look. Sadly, got there jsut after the big open wheel v8's had finished and they were due out the next race after i headed back to catch the start of the trucks. Seemed like fun though. I dont know why people would race with NASA, doing 5 lap races against 4 other cars, when SEGTO had races of considerably larger distance and larger fields.

The legends and superstox were both fantastic (apparently the organisers have asked that the legend pacecar (which looked fab!) be brought back to meetings next year to lead the cars around!), as were the lightning rods.

Thought Carl Bordley also would nab the win in the hot rods, maybe another lap would have helped. Also, Brereton's 348 car looked superb.

And the king of the rock was abit of a giveaway, saw the fun cup cars roll in as i was walking back up to watch the truck race, 10 identical cars, i wonder what they might be for. Good though that they didnt break and provided a really close playing field. I also noticed an advert in the programme which was a little giveaway.

As for the track, well, im sure anyone whos a rockingham regular would have figured it out!

So all in all, a very good day. Crowd wasnt as large as last year i dont think, but still a decent turnout, and plenty of facilities available.

Oh btw, had a 'sausage' roll (didnt taste like sausage anyway!) and chips from the restaurant at the bottom of the rockingham building, £2.50. I nearly fell over with shock. How long have they been that cheap?

[racing59]

If you want to see NASA Autograss at it's best - trot along the A14 to either Cambridge, or turn right at Brampton, and head down to StNeots (they alternate their race weekends).

They run usually with 6-8 cars in a race, racked up in their starting gate, 6-10 lap races, and the moment one is finished and all the cars are off the track, the next one is off. It's quick-fire.

A typical race day will give you (as a driver) typically three heats and a final, and your entry fee - well it's the same as the gate fee - though competitors are expected to help set the track up, and take it back down after the meeting - they lose points for not doing it!!

SEGTO rules are slightly different to NASA, hence the different length of their races. I don't know much else on that matter - though the NASA vs SEGTO meetings are great - this year it (the NASA side) was held at StNeots (the track is on the side of the A1 right by the A1/A421(Bedford) "Black Cat" roundabout.

Now, to the day itself. The tannoy was still a little too loud. Much better than last year. There were not enough bins for the rubbish, which showed up when those that were there, started to overflow and the rubbish blew onto the track. Obviously the strong wind didn't help.

The armbands - no, sorry, didn't like that idea.

For next season, please can we just operate with our normal team passes. They have photo's - so they're specific to the holder.

And I hope that they do find a better place for the autograss, it needs to be in the heart of the complex, not 1/2mile away, and perhaps a grub van down there wouldn't go amiss (following comments from friends who went to see them).

All in all, well done to the organisers, it's getting better all the time. Let's hope they build on that for next year.

And the King of the Rock - Colin was robbed!!!! But we'd say that wouldn't we!!

Rob.

[R3ROK]

I also thought Colin was robbed. Why was there a caution? All 10 cars were on track but the only thing I saw was Colin about 6 seconds ahead of everybody else......ah, that may be the reason...lol :) :)

I thought it was a good weekend (could not make Saturday) but enjoyed the Lightning Rods, National Hot Rods etc. I was curious about what the person halfway down the central pit wall was doing with his hands ;) With not knowing much about this series.....it looked like he was gesturing at the drivers (and the guy up with Chigley was doing the same) It reminded me of the hand gestures I used to a bloke who cut me up in Leicester the other day...lol Would be nice to know what the signals meant if anyone would care to explain.

PUT's and SCSA were great as usual.

[deadsquirrel]

Hand gestures would be the starter(s) indicating drivers position (1st 10 for obvious reasons) - it's probably more use to the specators than the drivers IMO

[Abo]

I agree with Rob, the first thing I did with my wristband was tear the bloody thing... I spent the rest of the weekend with it gaffer taped together...

I got sunburnt on saturday with a white tripe where my sunglasses were. The rest of the team spent the rest of the weekend calling me 'Adam Ant'...

Some of the hot rod racing was really entertaining, especially the 2 litre and Nationals races. I wish they'd come up north...

The rubbish *was* bad. But now Wilky and I can confirm that when driving a stock car, drawing up close to the car in front, even under caution, *does* suck plastic bags off the front grille, just like they do in NASCAR lol.

As for our racing: Wilky was suffering from a flat engine in the SCSA car all weekend and ended up on 7 cylinders in race 2, hence the pitting.

In the truck, we just didn't seem to have the last couple of horsepower needed to be a front runner. Fifth was a good result in race 1, having come from about 18th. That put Pete to 3rd in the Rockingham championship but race 2 was ruined for us by what turned out to be a slow puncture. The tyre only had 11 lbs left in it at the end...So 5th in the Rockingham championship was probably about right for our performance this year I think. And better than last year, so bring on 2008!!!

[pickup]

I got sunburnt on saturday with a white tripe where my sunglasses were.




Why you got a cows stomach on your face?

[Glen 320]

Yep i thought it was a great weekend the V8 and pick up races were good (how no one hit Pete Stevens in the saturday pick up race i don't know).
The legends were great and i saw them at ipswich the saturday before and they were good round there also,the superstox final was a cracker,non contact lol,national hot rods were good, Boardley got close but Simpson was unlucky,the lightning and stock rods were lively,the 2 litre hot rods were ok,good to see my mate Carl Pye getting 3rd in the final.
I went and saw a bit of grass track on the sunday morning and was quite impressed,sadly only watched it for about half an hour but i'd like to see more, any one know where the nearest meetings to Norwich are ?
Finally well done Jason Cooper that was a surprise!

[truckmonster]

NO BRISCA F1s BOOOOOOOO!

[darknessrock]

Did anyone find the reserved seating?? I paid on the gate on sunday, same price as advance purchase, and sat in every stand. It was the first time we'd been on the lower tier of the main builing, but it gave a great view of the T1 hairpin for the "short" "oval"!

[Nick Brad]

Seems I was the only one who wasn't all impressed with this weekend, the actual racing aside. Still, as long as the paying public enjoyed it, I suppose that's all that matters.
Putting out an advanced request for a substitute spotter for next year's Motorfest/ovalfest if it takes place as I have a prior engagement, (as soon as I can think of one). :mad:

[Abo]

Yep i thought it was a great weekend the V8 and pick up races were good (how no one hit Pete Stevens in the saturday pick up race i don't know)

Tell me about it, Wilky missed him by millimeters! I tried to key up and warn him about *something* but all I could say was 'WOOOOOOAAAAHHHHH' down the radio :p I hope someone with a scanner was listening haha

[Nick Brad]

That was fortunate no one hit him in the middle of the track and a great recovery by Pete Stevens.
I was very impressed with the pickups again this weekend, I don't want to be mean, but it does seem that by one driver's retirement the racing has returned to how we all know it can be.
I'm also very proud of Tony this weekend, a stellar drive, he may not have been battling with the front runners, but he had two very good races finishing in the top 15 both times and making some great passes, including passing Richard Novell in the dying laps with some shrewd traffic management. Sorry Yung, but I'm not going to let that one drop for a while. ;)
Thanks to Phil White for loaning Tony the engine, without your generosity it would have been a much sadder end to the season for the #55 truck.

[Yung]

That's only for second race....... we beat you in the first race! :D