Weston Park 1997
Weston Park is the home of the Earl of Bradford and hosts many different activities including hovercraft racing and the RAC rally. The track is set amongst the estate’s beautiful park land and across the lake. The course for this year is the same as in 1996 being somewhat shorter with more tight turns than the 1995 course.
| In the first race despite a successful practice period I had a piston fail almost immediately after the start, which left me stranded on the lake. The craft eventually sank so we had our work cut out to get the craft race worthy for Sunday which was only possible by the real kindness of Mr Tilley who loaned a piston!. Consequently I didn't see much of the racing. Luke Sedzikowski has been pressed into reporting the Saturday races as follows..... | |
The course starts off with a straight downhill run which bends to the right before entering the lake. The transition onto the water is very smooth with space for two or three craft to enter together. Once onto the water the lake bends round to the left in a very long sweeping curve. Around the apex of the curve you spot the buoy which has to be kept on your right hand side, then straight onto the the next buoy which requires a tight right turn. After this there is about 300 metres before reaching the land, the exit is quite steep and a funnel has been formed by previous years racing, this pushes you towards a giant fir tree. There is another line which is very close to the bank and passes over a group of lily pads, this gives a very smooth transition. Onwards and up the hill with a 90 degree turn right by a giant oak tree and then a 90 degree turn left with about a 200 metre run down to the next turn which is a tight 180 degree, this often causes craft to tip as they turn at speed and the wind lifts the hull up. The final part is a straight sprint across the line.
| RACE ONE - By Luke Sedzikowski Saturday was mild but very wet with only moderate wind, this would be the first time I had raced my new craft at Weston and it was going to be interesting to see how it would compare with the Eagle/Rotax combination. The races were running a bit late and as we lined up on the grid , Woody was in pole, Eddy 2nd, Stephen 3rd, and I was fourth which was next to race control. This meant that if I was to get onto the water first I would need a good start. The two minute board was displayed and my dad started the engine, one minute board, the lights went to red, the rev’s climbed to 7000rpm and then green and I was off. I was still in fourth as I hit the water I took a tight inside line round the first buoy and passed Eddy. Stephen was in my sights and I passed him before the water exit. It was on the next lap that I spotted both Eddy and Stephen stopped on the lake( both suffering from blown pistons, I found out later). |
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 | At the top of the hill into the chicane I could see Woody, I dived for the inside line and took the shortest route for the 180 degree turn, I was in the lead now being chased by Woody. Woody’s experience meant he was making up time on some of the turns, I had to keep my cool and ensure I didn’t make a mistake which would allow him past. On lap 3 Woody’s craft stopped, this meant that some of the pressure was eased. David Reid, a new driver was charging hard with Simon Oakley, Simon of East Bridgewater and Windsor School never far behind. The race finished with Windsor School 6th, Woody 5th, Simon Oakley 4th, Simon ( Bridgewater team) 3rd, David Reid 2nd and I came 1st. |
| RACE TWO By Luke Sedzikowski After trying to ‘beg steal or borrow’ a replacement piston, Scott Tilley lent Eddie a piston and he and his parents disappeared back home before the start of the second race in order to spend many hours fixing his ‘craft. As far as I can remember Woody stopped in the thrust test area and did manage to get to the start line. I was in pole position and the rest of the grid was set out according to the ending positions from the previous race. Dave Reid was first off the start and I was second. I managed to pass going towards the water. I then held the lead all through the rest of the race with Steven pushing me very hard. The rest of the race stayed constant all the way through. The finishing result was Simon Oakly 5th, Simon (Bridgewater team) 4th, Dave Reid 3rd, Steven 2nd and me 1st. |
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Race 3
| At the start I had instructions from my dad to cruise round on half throttle for three laps, to get some points and run the engine in. But after two laps Stephen Scotney wasn't pulling away (due to the major change to the splitter plate on J7 which has increased top speed significantly) I decided to go for it. Then Stephen hit the tyres (left) and I gained even more ground, but thanks to Lukes Mums curse ("Edward if your engine stops again lets hope its not in the middle of the lake") dead centre in between the two buoys I stopped for the second time in the weekend. Determined not to go swimming again I dived on the front to prevent it sinking as quickly as on Saturday (engine weight at the back so leaning on the front balances the craft). About 2 metres from where I had stopped another craft had already begun to sink and the driver abandoned his craft and swam to the side. The recovery vehicle arrived after the race assessed the situation and spotted they were missing one driver. Two minutes later he popped his head up from in between the reeds and dashed towards the car. Trevor then arrived in the recovery boat and instructed me to sit tight while they pulled Windsors craft from the bottom of the lake to the side. When the recovery boat returned, it towed J7 while I jumped aboard a rescue hovercraft that had just arrived to take me ashore, because they needed me to pull the craft out of the water. Later when I arrived in the paddock Luke told me he drove over what he thought was a pile of sticks which later on he found out it was the sunken craft because the front of it popped up out of the water. We later found out the spade terminal from the coil had dropped off J7 and such a simple thing had stopped us racing. Thank goodness we didn't sink again.. |
| Race 4 This was to be the only race I was to complete during the weekend. This was one of my most competitive races yet. Again, I had instructions to use half throttle (this was because a nick in the barrel meant too much throttle at once without warming and running the engine in means it would have gone bang once again. Also gunning the throttle was a big No, No) I got a good start and I overtook Luke I couldn't resist putting it on full (so much for team orders!!! - Dad). So Stephen was first with me a close second and Luke third. He was around 10 meteres behind me. Then going through the start, finish straight Stephens thrust air got underneath the craft (right) |  |
 | This gave Luke a really good chance to catch me up (left) and we were almost side by side on the lake and going back onto the land we were. But he had the racing line and he just touched me which put me very close to the catch netting. Lukes craft is very quick when he's past everyone and is very hard to catch. So I knew that I had no chance of catching those two so I eased off a little to watch Luke catch Stephen. Luke took a very tight U-turn and over took Stephen. Then he came right up on his side also.The race then finished with these positions with Woodys normal quick craft broken (engine frame) and him further back in the field in a borrowed craft. |
Results for the weekend were
| 1st Luke Sedzikowski | 5th Sir Harry Smiths Team B (Woody) |
| 2nd Bridgewater Team A | 6th Dave Reed |
| 3rd Simon Oakley | 7th Edward Hurn |
| 4th Stephen Scotney | 8th Windsor High School |
Championship after 16 races over 4 events, Joint First Woody and Luke 67points. Joint Third Stephen and Edward 61 points.
