261 Wayne Helliwell
Coventry
22/04/07
Just a quick update this
week as lots to do before next meeting.
Wayne Helliwell was once again racing my car on the loose stuff. I arrived at
the track at about 4.30 with the car after helping the NFR team with a driving
school earlier at Birmingham Wheels. Wayne arrived a little later, set the
damping and tyre pressures to his liking an took the car for scrutineering
before taking his place in heat one.
As the track was very wet for the 1st race, Wayne unfortunately spun on his
second lap and his unfamiliarity with the gears meant he lost a good lap getting
going again. He then held it all together for the rest of the race finishing a
creditable 12th in the circumstances.
We made a few minor changes for the consolation event to try and tighten the car
up a bit and Wayne did us proud grabbing a brilliant 3rd spot. The car was mint
and it was touch and go right up to the end who would get the top spot and we
were well pleased with the setup which will be a good start point for the next
shale outing.
The final was very hectic; Wayne again drove superbly but, as happens so often
in stock car racing, got tangled up with other cars all chasing the top places
and ended up stranded with our nerf rail in the front bumper of Dan Squire. A
bit of pulling and pushing ensued which only added to the damage and that ended
Wayne’s race.
Wayne managed to drive the car off after the final, I removed the very bent
track rod off the car with the aim of straightening it for the national while
Wayne inspected the car for further damage. Unfortunately we found that in the
tug of war with Mr Squire the left bank header set was completely crushed so
decided this needed to be checked properly before we raced it again.
We were booked in to race at BV on the following Monday but when I got to the
garage to inspect the car early on Sunday in daylight I decided that we needed
more time than was available to check things over and repair the car properly. I
made a quick phone call to Steve Rees to cancel Wayne’s booking and got on with
the big clean up before repairs could start.
Damage from Cov is:
Badly bent track rod (needs new)
Badly bent inside rear radius arm (needs new)
Destroyed inside nerf rail (needs new)
Damaged front outside fence guard (will repair)
Torn rear bumper (will repair)
2 new ally lower cover panel needed + paint & signs
Closed up left bank header set (manifold) {imaginative repair required!}
Bit of body damage
Once all that’s done we can set to changing the axle, springs, wheels and tyres
etc so I can honour my booking for the Skegness speedweekend 12th and13th
May-see you there!
Mike
