MikeHughes
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Posts posted by MikeHughes
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We actually had a small group of 3 German TR's from the Triumph Competition series race with us at Donington Park in 1995 in the TR Register Race Championship.
They were Dieter Seidel(TR4), Peter Spaeth(TR4) and Reiner Reinhardt(TR3A) and we allowed them to enter as a ' one off ' in class C for Tuned 4 cylinder cars.
They thoroughly enjoyed the weekend and Dieter actually won the class although we had to amend the results later on as we found out that they were running more modified than we allowed at the time in that class.
There should be a number of UK TR's entered that weekend both in the Thoroughbred race on the Saturday and the 2 Swinging 60's races on the Sunday.
The Swinging 60's races will be split into Group 1 for TR2/3/4 and Group 2 for TR5/6. The TR7s will be entered in the Future Classics race on the Saturday.
Rob Cowing(TR6) and myself(TR5) are entered in a 2 car/2 driver race in Group 2 and will look forward to meeting you Christian at that weekend.
Mike
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Congratulations to Dave Bailey on winning the Jigsaw Triumph race. His first outright win in 30+ years of racing!
Sorry I could not make the Jigsaw race as engine in pieces at the moment. Hopefully will make next Jigsaw race if there is one!
Congratulations to Mark Campbell who destroyed the opposition in the Swinging 60's race.
Great pictures John. Good to see Grev Watsons old TR4(Kermit) out again driven by Chris Edwards. This car won the TR Register race championship three years on the run driven by Mick Richards (1987/88) and Chris Conoley (1989) and to my knowledge has not raced for many years.
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The TR's went pretty well at Oulton Park as follows:
Swinging 60's
Rob Cowing/Mike Hughes TR6/TR5 7th o/a 3rd in class D despite clutch problems with my car.
Phil Britten TR4 12th o/a 1st in class C
Steve Chapman SLR 13th o/a 2nd in class C and going well.
Richard McKoen TR4 20th o/a 1st in class K
Pip Hammond TR6 retired after 4 laps while lying 2nd o/a!
Chris Edwards/Dave McDonald TR6 retired after 17 laps
Future Classics
Alan Price TR7V8 4th o/a 2nd in class
Martyn Adams TR7V8 no show.
All in all a pretty good result for the TR's.
Mike
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TR's competing are as follows:
Phil Britten TR4
Steve Chapman TR4
Richard McKoen TR4
Mike Hughes TR5 (rebuilt engine)/Rob Cowing TR6 (who rebuilt the engine)
Chris Edwards/Dave McDonald TR6
Pip Hammond TR6
Alan Price TR7V8
Martyn Adams TR7V8
No big engined TVR's entered Alan only a Grantura but thanks for the warning.
Sorry Tom I have no spare tickets.
Weather looks good.
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Final race of the Classic Sports Car Clubs Swinging 60's series at Oulton Park this Saturday has 3 x TR4's, 1 x TR5 and 3 x TR6's in the entry list and there are 2 x TR7V8's in the Future Classics race.
Lets hope it is dry for a change!
Mike
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Chris
I have to admit that I have never been to Le Mans either as a competitor or spectator but if you get the chance to race there you should obviously take it.
Donington, Le Mans and Spa would be 3 great events for your guys and I am sure Hugo, Richard and all at the Classic Sports Car Club would be able to integrate your cars into the various race categories that they will be running at Donington in 2013 given plenty of notice.
Mike
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I do not know who has told you that the current tyres we use are worth 2 seconds a lap at Mallory but they are kidding you!
Back in 1996 when you set that lap record we all ran on Yokohama A008Rs, a superb tyre which gave excellent grip and a progressive breakaway when pushed to the limit. Its only drawback was that due to its semi-slick tread pattern it was no good in the wet. Yokohama then produced a very good wet tyre equivalent the A021R but unfortunately very few tyres were produced in 15" size and they were quickly snapped up by the serious and wealthier competitors and no more were produced in that size. Yokohama then introduced the A032R which was not liked, certainly by the early TRs as due to its construction, once you reached the limit of its grip the sudden breakaway was not easily controlled resulting in quite a few accidents and damaged cars.
I remember being invited to Donington by Yokohama so we could do back to back tests with the A008R and A032R but they still failed to convince us that the new tyre was better.
Because of the criticism of the new A032R Yokohama carried on producing the A008R for a lot longer than they had anticipated and it was several years later that they finally introduced the current A048R as the tyre of choice for many club racers. However I do not believe that the A048R is any better than the old A008R except in the wet. It is undoubtedly a softer compound but that means that even in short 10 lap races the tyres start to go off after a few laps if driven hard.
No give me the old A008R and ideally the A021R if its wet.
Mike
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When the TR Register Race Championship raced at Zandvoort in 1998,1999 & 2000 we took over up to 25 British TR racers.
The majority went overnight on the Hull/Rotterdam crossing and then drove the relatively short distance to Zandvoort. Others went on the high speed Harwich/Hook of Holland crossing. A few went Dover/Ostend and drove up through Belgium and Holland and one or two even crossed Dover/Calais and then France/Belgium/Holland.
Obviously you would be travelling a lot farther from Germany. In fact in 1995 3 German TR racers came over to compete with us at Donington Park and had a great time although it was a long way to travel. They were Dieter Seidel TR4, Peter Spaeth TR4 and Reiner Reinholdt TR3, (not sure if I have the correct spelling for these guys). If they are still about it may be worth asking them of their experiences.
Mike
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The TR Register Race Championship lap record for Mallory Park was still 52.4 secs when the series finished in 2007 and was held by a certain Mick Richards in his TR7V8.
However the quickest lap that I know of by a TR is Mark Campbells 52.2 secs (93mph) set in practice for the CSCC Swinging 60's race in 2011.
You should come over and race at Donington and Mallory next year Christian!
Mike
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This is news to me. I will have to ask Neil Dangerfield if this what happened!
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One thing I forgot to mention was that the TR6 that Gerry raced at Donington was in the Jigsaw race at Mallory, Number 74 driven by its current owner Phil Lambe.
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Mention by Alec Pringle of Gerry Marshall and Baby Bertha in regard to last Mondays race meeting at Mallory Park has prompted me to recall the one and only time that Gerry raced a TR.
Back in about 2000/2001 Mike McKenna who was then racing a very quick TR6 was at a general test day at Silverstone when Gerry Marshall, who was testing a Ford Falcon or Galaxie, approached him and told Mike that he had never raced a TR but had always fancied a go in one. Mike responded by offering Gerry a few laps in his TR6. On the third lap Gerry was under the class lap record for the TR Register Race Championship and was very impressed with the handling and power of Mike's car.
Gerry then asked Mike if he fancied entering the car in a forthcoming 2 driver AMOC Intermarque race at Donington Park to which Mike readily agreed. I remember we had some difficulty getting Gerry into the car as he was a big chap and by this time suffering from some mobility problems.
However Gerry's practice time put them 6th on the grid behind some very quick Aston DB4s, DB5s and DBSs. Gerry started the race and quickly disposed of the 5th place lightweight DB4 and then spent the rest of his stint swapping places with the 4th place DB4 and lapping under the outright lap record for a TR at Donington at that time. The crowd loved it . Gerry handed the car over to Mike, still in one piece, and Mike did his stint albeit dropping down a few places by the finish.
A great drive by a great character now sadly missed.
Mike
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To put the records straight once and for all, the Triumph SLR was the first of the 4 SLR's to be built.
Neil Dangerfield had raced a lightweight TR4 prepared and maintained by SAH for 2 seasons, 1962/63, achieving several class wins but no outright wins. In 1964 following the formation of Sprinzel Lawrence Racing the TR4 was fitted with a sleek aluminium body crafted by Williams & Pritchard. and the car appeared at the Racing Car Show in January. It appeared in 9 races that year but was dogged by problems mainly due to under-development. Chris Lawrence had developed a cross-flow head for the engine but it was not really a success.
John Sprinzel took over the running of the car for 1965 but things did not improve and Neil tried to sell the car without success. A further rule change in 1966 meant that the car was eligible for marque racing again and preparation of the car was taken on by Chris Lawrence again.Things, however, did not improve and Neil even had a race at Goodwood in one of the 3 Morgan SLRs that had subsequently been built. Neil, and the Triumph SLR, then made history by being the last car to leave the start line at Goodwood before the circuit closed in 1966. It was a handicap race and Neil was 'scratch man'.The following year and with the car still not competitive Neil sold the car to Chris Lawrence.
The current owner is Tony Griffin who has owned it for many years and who has raced it himself until a couple of years ago.
Incidentally the Triumph can be distinguished from the Morgans as it is the only one of the 4 cars that has a large power bulge in the bonnet!
Mike
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Shows how much I know about Warwicks and Peerlesses, or should that be Peerlii?!!!
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Certainly the chassis and the suspension etc, not sure about the rest of the car.
Yes I am entered and yes the Modsports/Special saloons are racing on Monday.
See you there Jon?
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No Mark Campbell unfortunately
but 3 additional entries to my previous list : An FIA TR4
, another TR6
and a very well known lady driver in a Warwick GT350
making a total of 21 Triumphs. Lets hope the weather is kind to us.
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This TR6, now owned by Chris Edwards, is entered in the Jigsaw race at Mallory Park on August Bank Holiday Monday!
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Not strictly true as the Triumph SLR was originally a TR4 before it was fitted with the beautiful Williams & Pritchard body by Chris Lawrence!
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A very diverse entry list of Triumphs so far.
1 x TR7 Sprint
3 x TR6s
1 x TR5
1 x Triumph SLR
1 x TR3S
1 x TR2
7 x Spitfires
1 x Vitesse
1 x Dolomite Sprint
1 x Standard 10
Still plenty of time for more entries!
Mike
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Another reason to go to watch the Jigsaw race at Mallory Park on August Bank Holiday Monday is that I have just heard that the Triumph SLR is entered to be driven by long time TR racer Steve Chapman. Steve has got involved with the car in the last 12 months and TR Enterprises have also done a lot of work to make the car reliable and hopefully competitive. Steve has recently returned from Assen in Holland where the car performed well at a large Morgan meeting and Steve has also had its entry confirmed for this years Goodwood Revival.
Those of you who were at the 2010 Goodwood Revival, me included, would have been disappointed to see the car manage only a few laps in the Fordwater Trophy race before expiring in a cloud of smoke having run its bearings.
I had the pleasure of driving the car into the arena at last years International at Harrogate and talking to Graham Robson about it and finished up taking it home with me as the owner did not have a suitable tow car to return it to Shropshire. Unfortunately it only stayed at our house for a couple of hours until Steve Chapman collected it but nevertheless I had enjoyed my brief time with what is a fabulous looking car.
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Alan Price's mention of Mark Campbells TR5 in the previous posting has prompted me to give TR Register members a brief history of this incredibly rapid TR that has beaten all or certainly nearly all of the race times set by any previous TR in any UK Race Championship.
The car was originally owned and raced By Mike & Jeff Pumford back in the mid to late 1980's in the TR Register Race Championship where it was always immaculatey turned out, as befitted a car prepared and owned by one of the leading TR specialists of the time. However it was never a race or class winner but had reasonable success in that period. In fact Mike and Jeff lent me the car in 1991 when I had problems with my car and I raced it a couple of times including blowing the engine up at Castle Combe in practice and peppering Chris Carters TR5, who was behind me at the time, with bits of conrod and piston!(Sorry Mike & Jeff & Chris again). The car was sold a couple of years later to Joe Henderson who turned it into a very quick and, by now, highly modified and competitive car, winning the TR Register championship outright in 1995 and dominating his class for the next few years. The car was then sold in about 2000 to Chris Petch who had some good wins with it, including a memorable win at Oulton Park in 2002 where he beat Graham Millers, previously unbeatable TR7V8, by a whisker. It was then one of the 8 Triumphs that went over to the USA to contest the Triumph 50th Anniversary race at Mid Ohio where it had its finest hour(so far) and, despite a serious accident in practice, won the race by a whisker from Colin Pendles TR7V8, in a field of 40+ Triumphs. Chris kept the car for another couple of years enjoying some further success but after a serious accident at Spa the car was sold to its current owner/driver Mark Campbell who rebuilt the car and turned it into the car we see racing today mainly in the CSCC Swinging 60's series. Mark is an extremely quick and capable driver, whatever he races, and it is no wonder that he has beaten as many lap records in the car as he has. If you follow the Touring Car races on ITV4 you would have seen Mark racing in a Scottish Classic race holding off two 350hp Morgan V8s at Croft a few weeks ago before uncharacteristically spinning on the last lap and finishing 3rd.
However there is a young pretender on the scene in the shape of Josh Files in dad Keiths rapid TR6. Josh beat Mark for pole in last years Jigsaw race at Mallory Park but made a bad start in the race and could not close the gap to Mark who won the race for the 2nd year running with Josh matching Marks lap times.
If you want to see the rematch come along to see the 2012 Jigsaw race at Mallory on August Bank Holiday Monday.
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The most successful of the 2 Group 44 TR8s has come up for sale again 4 years after Bob Tullius sold it. This fabulous looking car was raced by Group 44 in 1979 -1981 and was virtually unbeatable in its class in the Trans Am and then the IMSA series beating the Corvettes, Camaros and Porsche RSR's in the process.Its 2 finest results were 7th o/a 1st in class 1979 Watkins Glen 6 hrs and 6th o/a 1st in class 1980 Sebring 12 hrs.
I had the pleasure of spending a couple of hours talking to Bob in 2009 at the aircraft hangar where he keeps all his vintage aeroplanes in Sebring and he told me that of all the cars he raced in his long career his favourite was the TR8.
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We are hoping to bring some cars over to the 60th Anniversary race at Road Atlanta in 2012. There is quite a bit of interest among those drivers that came over in 2002 for the 50th Anniversary race at Mid-Ohio and also some new drivers. I have approached the guy who transported the cars last time and may be interested in doing the trip again, albeit to a different destination and a lot will depend on whether he agrees to take us.
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When the Race Championship finally finished the lap record for TR's stood at 52.4 secs by Mick Richards in his TR7V8. However Mark Campbell did a 52,1 secs in the Swinging 60's race which to my knowledge is the quickest lap round Mallory by a TR to date!
Donington Park - 24-25 August
in TR Motorsport
Posted
Chris
Stick with Group 1. Based on Brians suggested lap times for you at Donington a 1.25 sec lap time would certainly get you a top 3 place in Group 1 whereas a 1.24 sec
lap would probably only be good enough for a top 6/8 place in Group 2!
Mike