The changes were to the Fawley Bank area which turned right lower down the slope, between two bushes. This made the transition off the water a tight sideways manoeuvre, particularly if a craft was stationary between the bushes. In one race I aborted the right turn after the transition
and did a 360 to reposition the craft better to get past a stopped craft. The second effect of the exit being lower down the bank made the entry into the chicane in front of the paddock blind. This coupled with catch fencing close to the racing line caused grief in practice. After a drivers meeting the catching fencing was moved away to give a bigger area to take avoiding action.
The second change was to the Club House end of the course where the entry into the chicane now started on a tricky up slope.
Team Eagles Mirage was changed from Penton in that the lift fan arrangement has now ten blades at 25 degrees. Much more lift was available. We have one more modification to make before the next racing meeting (which has much more water) but left it for this meeting as the small amount of water travelled virtually entirely sideways did not make the mod' essential.
Ken Rigley (the other half of Team Eagle) had commitments so it fell to me to wave the team flag for the weekend. Practice was uneventful for us. Robin Brickles had an incident in the paddock chicane which prevented him racing in the first heat.
Race 1
In the first race Richard Eaton No.4 in the sister Mirage got away to a good start, with Luke Sedzikowski (No.27) behind. At the clubhouse chicane I was able to sneak inside Luke, followed by Tony Goldney (No.13 Meteor Honda Fireblade) and give chase to the leader. Richard has increased the performance of his craft a lot by fitting a more powerful Rotax 2 cylinder engine since Penton Lake. I chased after Richard for a complete lap. At the clubhouse chicane Richard caught air and flipped. Being not far behind him I had to back off sharply and get off the racing line which allowed Tony Goldney to catch and pass me for the lead. We had a good chase until Tony clouted the catch fencing at the paddock chicane and gave me an opportunity to take the lead.
He gave chase again but then had some technical problem, leaving me a relatively clear run to the chequered flag. My first win in a hovercraft race for several years and my first in F1.
Race 2
The second race start position was from P1. The pole position at Gang Warily is a mixed blessing as the ground slopes quite noticeably. Putting the lift engine on full causes the nose of the craft to slide
down the slope. The only way to avoid "wandering off" before the lights went to green, was to leave the lift off. Not the fastest way to start. In fact, I lost out on every race thereafter.
This race proved to be a real battle with Robin Brickles. I led into the first lap. On the transition to water, Robin went past me but was slower into the transition than I anticipated. I succeeded in ramming him. This caused him to spin going on to the water and into an overhanging bush. During the spin, as his craft rode over the top of mine I got a clout in the neck. Robin recovered quickly and a few corners later returned the compliment. In my plough-in and his spin, I clouted his arm!
For a few laps the racing was very close with the lead swapping several times. I was
having to give it everything to stay in contention. Eventually, I caught air at the
Paddock bend and very nearly flipped it, twice (see right). In the recovery I lost ground
to Robin.
The only part of the course that I could make ground on Robin for the lead was at the
transition to water. On some laps the craft took some hammer, the result of this was
damaged thrust blades which impaired performance, so that towards the end of the race, the
craft sounded quite strange and the edge had gone off the top speed. The blades split and
tore 10 - 15 cm from the tip towards the root.
This left Robin to cruise home for the win.
Race 3
This race seemed to be full of incidents. I got a reasonable start behind Luke and was able to tuck inside him going into the chicane. But I was soon hunted down by Robin who had started from the second row. Through the clubhouse chicane and hedge hairpin he was consistently quicker than me. He overtook on the hairpin but I came back at him on the transition but then got the craft thoroughly unsettled on the transition off the water which I took rather hard. This allowed Robin to retake the lead.
At Paddock Bend I caught a gust of wind which very, very nearly had me over. At this point going down the finishing straight I did some strong talking to myself and applied some self discipline to slow down and accept that I wasn't going to catch Robin - drat!
Race 4
This race turned out to be hilarious. Whilst in second place chasing Robin (in vain) the
rope for the buoy came adrift in the cockpit and I was promptly trussed up with 15 metres
of string. Lap after lap I went down the finishing straight frantically gesticulating
whilst trying to coil up the thrashing rope.
I nearly made it! However... the rope slipped from my grasp and went straight through a
very small gap behind the engine under the fan guard and into the blades. This promptly
plucked the buoy from its holder which went whizzing by me and jammed between the guard,
which by now had been wrenched partly loose, and the duct. I managed to leave the racing
line and stop in time to retrieve the buoy and rope from the duct. I lobbed the buoy into
the boondocks. A kind track marshal subsequently retrieved it.
By now No.2 John Spedding had driven through the field and into 2nd place. I re-entered
the race in fourth behind Tony Goldney and was able, after some confusion with Tony where
we played "after you, no, after you, are you sure?" into that blessed water
transition, to gain third.
I gingerly got the craft to the finishing line, somewhat relieved. My third position was
enough to secure the points win overall for the weekend.
Competition - No prizes though.
Question, in what year and race track did the same trick with the buoy happen to me? Clue,
look at archive pages on this web site for races at Gang Warily. It must be that
transition!
A really exciting and fun weekends racing at my (other) "home" track, where a
number of friends and my college lecturer turned up to watch.
Gazebo City
Revised layout for the Fawley Bank was quite narrow. In one race I aborted the transition and did a 360 to cool off and reposition the craft to negotiate a craft stuck in the narrow part. This is Simon Kearle signalling a trip to the paddock during F1 practice.
The transition was best taken sideways and could be a rough passage.
Richard Eaton in transition on the first lap. Shortly afterward the craft flipped at the clubhouse chicane.
Richard Eaton, me and then Tony Goldney - first lap
"On some laps the craft got some hammer" - All of the blades were like this after race 2. Still finished second though.
This came out of nowhere - a bit lucky to recover from the gust of wind playing around Paddock Bend. The low centre of gravity of the Mirage must help in these conditions and probably accounted for the recovery.
This was one lap and a corner later - my parents were having kittens by now!
Rush hour
Neal Sanger, No.18 nearest the camera, was on his own for the weekend as his team mate Tim Shaw was expecting to be a Dad. Neal has been out of hovercraft racing for a number of years and is making his return to senior racing (see History of 695 on this web site for more about Neal). Funny how links come together, 695 was my first hovercraft.
