cjwood23
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| posted on 1/10/12 at 01:23 PM |
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Anyone compete in the Curborough Sprint Champs?
Guys,
Just wondered if anyone here competes in the above.
Curborough is my local venue and hopefully next year (when I've sorted a suitable steed!) I'd like to have a go at sprinting.
What are people thoughts/advice?
Cheers
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Chris
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CNHSS1
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| posted on 1/10/12 at 03:29 PM |
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done hundreds of laps there over the years, none in a 7 type though.
Great little circuit for Newbies as theres not a great deal to hit, and visibility is great. decent sized paddock, plenty of room for trailers and
awnings/gazebos.
Shenstone Club that operates the circuit is nice and friendly, and almost always an event on most weekends.
Shenstone have various test days and 'try out' days from memory if you fancy a go.
they used to have a sprint school, sure they still do, a mate of mine Dave Parr was an instructor there, can ask him if you are interested? Hes also
an instructor at Loton Park school too.
if you are local to Curboghorror, then hillclimb of Loton Parks only 45mins away, and loads of of other venues, both sprints and hills within 2ish hr
radius of Curbs.
The unwritten rule with most clubs, is newbies are taken under the wing of more exeprienced guys within a club usually, to help with queries, kit
(safety and car specific), car eligibility etc etc, and to offer pointers at a test day.
watch out, it is addictive though!!
"Racing is life, everything else, before or after, is just waiting"---Steve McQueen
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JimSpencer
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| posted on 3/10/12 at 11:09 AM |
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Hi
I'll be compeating at Curborough on the 13th - happy to run through how a day works with you if you're attending.
They do indeed run both a sprint school several times a year and a FOC 'introduction to sprinting day' both of which are an excellent day
out - I 'blame' the latter on getting me involved a good few years ago!
It's an excellent club and as Craig says there's plenty of local venues about so you can get around and about a bit too.
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cjwood23
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| posted on 3/10/12 at 01:44 PM |
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Thanks for the info guys.
Will try and get along on the 13th - might even dust of the camera.
Jim - how do you find sprinting a '7? do you trailer your car to the events?
Will also check out the introduction days, not sure my Mondeo estate is suitable though lol!
Thanks again
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Chris
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JimSpencer
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| posted on 3/10/12 at 03:46 PM |
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Hi
Ok first admission is that this season i've moved on from the Striker to a single seater - but ran the Striker from 2003 to the end of last
season and it's still in the garage ready to go.
Have driven the car to events, and have also used trailers when we started to go further away and now use a converted Vauxhall Movano - pic in my
archive.
For local stuff and the car single driven then driving it there is perfectly Ok, have even seen Locaterfields with trailers attached before now!
The Striker was an excellent way to get very competitive for very little money, when we started the car was in a very basic spec but so was our
ability behind the wheel, so that mattered little. Over the years slow but steady development of both the car and the drivers saw times come down and
results improve and the fun we've had over the years has been huge - the events have a great atmosphere and can be a really good day out too.
7's, of any brand, are IMHO the best way into speed events, they're plenty quick enough, need very little (if anything) doing to them to
meet the rules and there's normally a good turn out of similar cars at each event so you have other people in your class to play against. Plus
you can make a realitivly simple one go very quick indeed if you realise there's more corners than straights at most venue's!
BTW - When I did my 'intro to Sprinting' day it was in a Sierra diesel estate, 4 up..
Lastly though while Curborough is a good little track, it's not quite the same as some of the Classic venue's you'll get to go to,
now although Loton Park (Near Shrewsbury) & Shelsley Walsh (Near Worcester) have both finished for the season, this weekend sees the:-
Prescott Autumn Classic - that's well worth a visit, epic event (see Google and YouTube)
I'll be lurking somewhere near a black Reynard single seater at both gigs on the Saturdays.
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phelpsa
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| posted on 3/10/12 at 05:12 PM |
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I will also be at curborough on the 13th in my Locost 
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CNHSS1
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| posted on 3/10/12 at 09:22 PM |
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Just a word on Jims striker. With some well chosen and cost effective tweaks it turned from a 'normal' road based kit car, to an extremely
effective hillclimb and sprint car. Myself and a mate were both shocked at the times it managed on List 1B tyres and that they whole bloody car cost
less than my engine!
As Jim says though, any 7 types a good basis, but its the small well chosen mods that really bring the times not necessarily the cheque book.
Jims pretty handy behind the wheel too which helps ;-)
in fact Jim, the striker never tried to chuck its engine out unlike the single seater ;-)
"Racing is life, everything else, before or after, is just waiting"---Steve McQueen
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cjwood23
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| posted on 5/10/12 at 09:06 AM |
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Thanks again guys.
Will endevour to get along to Curbs next weekend - might come and give you a shout if thats OK?
Once I've got my wedding (3 weeks Sunday!!!) and Christmas out of the way I can seriously start looking for a car.
One more question - is there any real difference on track between 'live axle' and 'IRS' on a '7?
Thanks again.
______________________
Chris
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phelpsa
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| posted on 5/10/12 at 09:36 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by cjwood23
Thanks again guys.
Will endevour to get along to Curbs next weekend - might come and give you a shout if thats OK?
Once I've got my wedding (3 weeks Sunday!!!) and Christmas out of the way I can seriously start looking for a car.
One more question - is there any real difference on track between 'live axle' and 'IRS' on a '7?
Thanks again.
In general I don't think so. In theory IRS is better at curbs and anything that involves single wheel bump. I don't know how that plays
out in practice though.
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JimSpencer
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| posted on 5/10/12 at 12:32 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by cjwood23
One more question - is there any real difference on track between 'live axle' and 'IRS' on a '7?
Thanks again.
As per Adams note above, not a lot, the IRS is theoretically better but in the real world the live axle on a smooth surface is lighter and, if
properly located, seems to work at least as well.
If it was predominantly for the Road then it would be IRS everytime, track use then I would be happy with either if the rest of the car I was looking
at was what I wanted.
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CNHSS1
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| posted on 5/10/12 at 01:54 PM |
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how does the live axle get on at say Prescott, thinking about 'Pardon Bend'?
my IRS runs out of droop anyway
"Racing is life, everything else, before or after, is just waiting"---Steve McQueen
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JimSpencer
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| posted on 5/10/12 at 07:07 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by CNHSS1
how does the live axle get on at say Prescott, thinking about 'Pardon Bend'?
my IRS runs out of droop anyway
Never had any issues with the Striker there at all - but do with the Reynard it runs out of droop same as yours
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