Beetle Challenge

The Official Beetle Challenge Website

The Lydden Races were held over the full weekend, with the BARC putting on a fun BBQ and usual frolics you’d expect from a fun circuit host!

David ‘The Bandit’ Charlton and his faithful steed ‘Smokey’ came to the event with a single point lead in the overall tin-tops championship which the beetles are running as a class (Dave 193 points, Ken Angel 192 points!) he went on to win both class races over the weekend… (A special mention must go out to Tony Sharpe who made good progress chasing The Bandit down, given this was the first time the car had turned a wheel!.. but was let down by a faulty throttle cable in race one, and an issue with 2nd Gear in race two…)

Tony Sharpe debuted his No: 65  Challenge car this weekends at the Lydden Circuit.

It’s taken a year to prepare (The classic it takes three times as long as you think it will) but was very well received and a welcome addition to the paddocks. Having not turned a wheel in anger, Tony set out on the track to start dialing it in, and it looks like this car has a lot of potential to start working it’s way up to the front of the grid.

Good luck for the rest of the season!

Richard Warners number 13 Cup car, needs a full re prep and the cage bolting back in then it will be a on track.

Nick joins Steve in a race to see who can get there freshly painted cars finished first!

Cookie’s car has gone from this….

to this….

and has now been transported back to the workshop for final pre-race prep.. so we hope to see him out on the track shortly… (With a 1600cc motor initially.. he has a 1914cc in the pipeline.. but is just keen to get out)

Nick ‘The Vicar’ has his car in the bodyshop as I type and we are due to collect his this Friday (in a bright Diablo Red!) then it’ll be the case of bolting everything back in, and doing the pre-race prep to get through scrutineering (Nick will be running a 1641cc ex-cup engine initially - albiet with twin 40’s etc.. but he has a 2332cc sat in the corner ready to put in at some point!)

Phil (of Perftec fame.. you have probably seen him at many VW shows over the years selling his great range of clothing) has just picked up an ex-cup car and is feverishly working to bring it up todate and out on the track ASAP… (it has been stored in a Barn for years - which at some point had a fire - no damage to the car.. but he thought it was painted black… until he noticed it was a dense layer of soot! - the car is yellow LoL!!!) His plan is to get it out ASAP (the next race hopefully) to shake it down a bit.. then give it a fresh paint scheme for next season. (He too will be running a 1641cc initially)

Dave does it again.  Two Beetles came out for Brands and it looked like Dave was going to have some competition this round. Unfortunately for Trigger what initially looked like a minor oil leak, turned out to be a pre curser for something more terminal. This then led to his engine expiring during race one, leaving Dave unchallenged to take any points that were on offer for first race and handing the points for the second race to him on a plate.

 

Once again it was Dave the Beetle Challenge’s lone crusader flying the flag for the Beetle drivers, unfortunately no other drivers have been able to start there season yet leaving Dave to get valuable track time in and get a good head start in the points table.

Dave Chartlon - Has hit the ground running, and is stacking up some well earned championship points, having made it to the ‘09 season opener at Brands Hatch. He will also be campainging for more points at Castle Combe.. hopefully building his lead to give him a buffer over the remainder of the season when we will see a lot more Bugs out on the track..

The Honey Monster (AKA - Simon Sergides) - Has been progressing the development of his car no: 68 ‘Monster’ over the winter - in between building nursery’s and baby-proofing his home  - and is pleased to announced a new member to his pit crew baby George! - This welcomed addition to the family has slowed things down over the past couple of months, and the HoneyMonster is planning to be back out on the track at the May Brands Hatch Race, sporting a fresh rebuild of his 2165cc motor (after torching a rod on the last lap of the last race last year!) This year will see some new CB Wedgeport Heads added, and we will be trying some 45 & 48 Dells to see which gives the most ‘driveable’ motor.  The engine is going to dump the semi-exotic ‘accusump’ system, which just didn’t cut the mustard! and replacing this with a deepsump and a raised gearbox to increase ground clearance, in the short term and hopefully the addition of a dry sump system mid season (got everything apart from the pump.. if anybody knows a good source for a 3 stage pump please contact us!) Other changes which will happen this season are: Tarrox 6 pot & Vented front disc’s, and a new Bear’s tall geared IRS box with a Quaife LSD installed (Which I picked up 2nd hand but un-used!)

Trigger -  He too has been building his pit crew, with the birth of baby girl ‘Tasmin’ which has slowed down the development of the race car for obvious reasons. This season will see his No.89 car ‘Nasty Bug’ get an IRS conversion (Mainly because the HoneyMonster ‘borrowed’ the car and in true destructive style annialated the gearbox - at least he is consistent with his carnage.) - Trigger aims to be back out at the May Brand Hatch event with the car given the once over for the coming season.

Craig Winfield - Work and Home commitments, have delayed his ‘09 season start - but he will be back out in his immaculately prepared No.78 car at the May round at Brand’s Hatch

Nick Whitty - With the purchase of Mark Lloyd Jones ex Cup car (as seen in some of the below posts) and a 2332cc motor! Nick will join us real soon on the grid (He is targeting the May Race at Brands Hatch for his debut) There will be a flurry of activity to do the final pre-race prep on the car, so if anybody fancys helping out with spannering and having some fun in the pits then do drop an email (use the contact us page)

Tony Sharpe - Is building ‘the’ car to be reckoned wit, by all accounts.. details are being teased out by Tony.. but it will look like we will have to wait until his debut race to see it in the flesh! - spy sources have unconfirmed (but pretty certain!) reports of a 1303, with custom brakes, a monster 2332cc engine of a high spec and a lot of effort and engineering over the past 10 months during the build of the car… can’t wait to see this one in the flesh… Tony’s aim is to make it to the Brands Hatch race in May for his debut.

Steve ‘Cookie’ McGillivray - Has been frantically building his 1303, and can see the light at the end of the tunnel (It’s just about to go into paint!) then it will be a furious push to bolt everything back on, and install his fresh built 1914cc Motor, with Twin 45 Dells, 9.5:1 Compression, Big Valve 044 Heads, Engle 130cam, Straight Cut Gears, H-Beam Rods, Lightend Flywheel, 1″ 5/8 merged header - (Cookie is gunning for his debut at May’s Brands Date also - may the force be with you!)

Johnny ‘Ace’ - The ex-cup racer, is threatening to finish the build of his race car with the intention of joining us shortly

Do you see a pattern emerging here!!!!… most racers will be out from the May Brands Hatch Round! (Who will then be playing catch up to Dave Charltons early lead!)

So it looks like the May Brands race will be a fantastic round for the beetles, with the biggest grid of Beetles to date, mixing it up with all the other manufacturer cars in the BARC South East Region TinTop’s Race Series which we are piggy-backing until we build enough cars to have our own dedicated bug only grid.

There are several other cars in the early / mid stages of being built at the moment, so we will bring more details on them once their respective owner/builders release information on the spec they are building them too.. if you would like to get involved contact us as we may have some ways to help you (We have access to some ex-cup cars which unquestionably are the quickest route to get on the grid!)

Props have to go out to all the racers who are building cars at the moment, especially given the economic climate, as ALL of us are doing this out of passion, ambition, and enthusiasm, as we have done this all off our own backs as this is not a big sponsored series - just a bunch of like minded individuals who want to go racing… so the fact that we have expanded to 8 cars and increasing over the past 12 months is pretty incredible… well done guys (and girls!)

Only Dave Charlton was ready for the first race of the season and arrived with the car smartened up with some fresh paint and sporting a few mechanical developments. Unfortunately some of us other drivers have not had the time for one reason or another to get the cars ready due to various distractions (congratulations Trigger & Simon who have both had new arrivals, nappy changing had to take priority over car preparation) we will all be out soon now the weather has started to brighten up and the preparation can get back on track.

Dave’s car looked a little lonely as the only Bug out on track and we all looked a little guilty watching from the side lines having not got ready in time, but it means Dave will get a good head start in the points and gives him a good chance to get the track time in and work on the cars set up.

Over the next few rounds we should see more cars out with several new cars and drivers joining the grid. Congratulations and thanks to Dave for making the effort to get the car out, he was rewarded with 2 drama free finishes and no mechanical problems for his trouble.

 

The ‘09 Beetle Challenge regulations have been approved, and can be found on the regulations page - click here (Download the PDF Regs here)

Please note that we also have to comply with the BARC South East Centre’s Tin Top Regulations, as we are currently running as a ‘Beetle’ class in their host championship (To keep costs down and offer driver/builders the opportunity to join us racing at any time in the season when they finish their car builds) Once we have suffcient cars we will look to have our own exclusive grid - hopefully during the 2010 season as we anticipate 10+ cars by the end of this ‘09 season.

For more details on the regulations and general information surrounding them and the BARC requirements - view the ‘regulations’ page here.

The full race calendar has been announced:

The BeetleChallenge will again be running as a ‘Beetle‘ class in the CANNON’S MOTOR SPARES AND ACCESSORIES 2009 TIN TOP CHALLENGE in association with TOYO TYRES

MARCH 15 - BRANDS HATCH
(Might only be a couple of bugs at this race)

APRIL 13 - CASTLE COMBE

MAY 9 - BRANDS HATCH

MAY 24 - MALLORY PARK

JUNE 27/28 - LYDDEN HILL 
(50th anniversary of the Mini)
Beetle Race likely to be on 28th

AUGUST 23 - SNETTERTON

SEPTEMBER 5 - LYDDEN HILL 
(festival of motorsport)

OCTOBER 3 / 4 - SILVERSTONE GP

NOVEMBER 14 - BRANDS HATCH

We will keep people posted on who’s going to be at the races etc.. and if there are any spare paddock tickets up for grabs!
Both the Orange ‘Monster’ bug of Simon’s and the Blue ‘Nasty’ Bug of Triggers won’t be able to make the first race in March due to expectant partners who’s due date are within a week of the first race

April however will debut some new race bugs aswell so should have a healthy grid of bugs! (By the end of the season we should have around 10 Bugs racing… fantastic news!)

The first race will be at Brands Hatch on the 15th of March.

The series will also be visiting Lydden, Rockingham, Silverstone and Snetterton over the course of the season. More information as we get it.

Have you got an old Beetle Cup car or a circuit racing project that never got to see the light of day?

An engine or even just a roll cage that never got used.

We have drivers looking for cars and parts to complete projects so they can get out racing with us.

Please contact us with details of what you have.

Now sold……. hope we see it back on track this time.

Look on Ebay item number 320317910943

The Old Mark Lloyd Jones ex Cup car is for sale again.

The car is virtually race ready and currently has a 1600 installed

The previous owner also has a serious engine available if required. sold.

Will write up a full report..

but for starters here are some photos

More photos in the Gallery


 



 

 

 

   

 


More photos in the Gallery

Our second race and we should be seeing more cars join us on the grid. In true Beetle style we expect to see plenty of side ways action around Paddock Hill bend, always a challenging corner in a Bug!

Will they be able to beat the old Beetle Cup lap record of 58.48 for the Indy circuit????

Qualifying     10:00

First race      12:40

Second race  14:30

Brands Hatch Circuit
Fawkham,
Longfield,
Kent DA3 8NG
Tel: +44 (0)1474 872331
Fax: +44 (0)1474 874766
http://www.motorsportvision.co.uk

Just had through the below information about the bug…. 

“Here is history and spec. Only one picture we are hunting for the old rally ones (boxed up in a safe place which at the moment is so safe we cannot find them!)   so here we go :- 

   

Once upon a time (in history) David had a dream to go rallying

Limited funds so he bought a little MOT failure beetle for £50Self built it and result being (picture of pretty nice and clean ready to go rally car) Little did it know what he had in store for it!!

It was tried it a couple of rallies in 1988 and all was well so ahead to 1989 with a BIG PLANNorth East Rally Championship consisting of 10 rounds

What a super little car it finished the championship 4th overall and only crashed out of one round through no fault of its own. David parked it in a stone wall for some reason best known to himself!!

It went on to compete in 4 rallies in 1990 - 3 in 1991 and 2 in 1992.Work commitments meant that it was parked up at the end of 92.

So years passed and he decided to bring it out again to rally. Then on the net one day he see’s THE BEETLE CHALLENGE !!  

That was it. Yes its a rally car but hey lets just make a few tweeks and put it on a circuit.Lydden October 2008 - Brilliant little car.Next episode due Brands November 9th 

Spec of car 88

Engine - 1600  
44/45 webber IDF
Dry sump with front coolers 
Tank holding 8 lts of 0-10 oil

Gearbox - Bears Motorsport competition gear box with Quafie LSD special gear ratios(If your ever in Birmingham visit Bears it is fantastic)

Safety devices rollcage
Seam weld to floor pan and front suspension points
Leda 2 1/4″ front race struts with adjustable ride height
Brake standard disc front and race pads rear  oversize piston with type 4 drums
Hydraulic hand brake with adjustable biase value in line 

Simon’s ‘Monster’ bug has had it’s gearbox transplant (after snapping an axle!) and it ready to race

Trigger’s new circuit racer - the ‘Nasty’ bug - is nearly ready to race and is undergoing a pre-race shakedown
 (You might have gathered that I am starting to get excited at the prospect of hitting the track again!)

 

  

What’s this? A week to go to the next race at Brand Hatch (Sunday 9th) and rumor has it (Supported by this blurry photo taken by a vigilant motorist) that Trigger has got his race car on the road, all running  and being shaken down prior to the race meet! 

  

We are pleased to hear that David Charlton has got to the bottom of his ‘Austin Powers’ smoke screen under hard braking (which made for some spectacular viewing from the grandstand - and some interesting moments for the cars behind him! - Mechanical issues can be likened to be as annoying as a ‘hole in the head’ - but in David’s case it really was a ‘hole in the head’ which was the culprit! 

We will get some more details, specs, history and heritage of his bug after our next race at Brand Hatch on the 9th November - it’ll make for some interesting and inspiring reading. Meanwhile here are some photo’s of his dub in it’s natural environment - a forrest rally stage! (The car pretty much looks exactly the same now, as it did in 1992 when these photo’s were taken during the Trackrod Rally in the North Yorkshire Forest, with all the battle scar’s and even the very same red headlight rim! - Apparently it went for 4 years (88-92) driven in anger on off-road surfaces with the associated flying debris without having to change the windscreen - then go to Lydden on Tarmac and it needs a new screen and headlight glass on it’s first outing! (That just doesn’t make sense!)  

This car has real motorsport heritage and we look forward to seeing it out on the track again at Brands Hatch.