You’ll be seeing a lot more of this car over the coming months!
The photo’s don’t do the paint job any justice.. it’s like an Ice Grey - which looks like a flat colour until the sunshine makes it pop! It looks stunning in the flesh… The guys at the College of North West London burnt the midnight oil to prepare the car in under a fortnight! (With a healthy dose of new parts being thrown at it from various major sponsors - with VolksWorld Championing the project)
And here it is back on the road by Thingamies HQ where it will be having some final prep before some track testing tomorrow and an initial shake down. (Let the snag list commence - Note it has a temporary engine for at the moment - hence the pea-shooters!
No rest for the wicked though… the guys at the college have set a high standard for the next car to come out of the workshops.. which will be their very own Official CNWL Race Car. (Oh and a couple of Campers too!)
A few of the Challenge Bugs were on display at the Middlesex AutoShow this weekend:
Thanks go to Thingamies, Perftec.com and Morelli’s for their on going support of our promotional activities outside the race track. Was a great day out <not least for the auto-cross antics at the end of the day on the empty fields! Have Quaife and will use it to serve up donuts of a better quality than the catering vans LoL>
Not only will there be the below car ready to buy soon - The College of North West London are building there own car to campaign next season.. and they are also simultaneously race-preparing another car for major player which will be announced soon… watch this space… as there are going to be some interesting developments for the 2011 season.
There will be a lot of data, test-results and myth-busting information emerging over the coming months as some intensive product and set-up testing programmes are being organised, all done in controlled conditions to obtain significant and unbiased data/results.
If you have any tests you’d love to see added to our already long list, then get in touch.
Only two weeks to the next Race back at Lydden Hill on Saturday 17th July
Breaking News: Another Ex-Cup car has been saved, and is being prepped to MSA specification to put it back in it’s rightful place on UK Race Circuits.. It’ll give the lucky buyer fast-track access to come racing.. more details will follow shortly.. but if you are interested get in touch using the contact-us page.
Full Spec to follow shortly once all the MSA spec updates have been made (Plumbed in extinguisher, in date harnesses, valid seat, FIA cut-out, Battery Box, sticker-pack etc.. etc…)
The HOT HOT HOT race and that was not just the weather.
A welcome return to the Beetle Challenge for Trigger (Paul Oldfield) His return did have a bit of a twist though as he was in Simon Sergides car! The other competition being from Phil Thompson, Steve McGillvray and regular competitor Dave Charlton.
Because of the extreme heat all four drivers were concerned about their precious air cooled engines however this thought obviously went straight from their minds when they got onto the circuit. Qualifying resulted in Dave 53.894 Trigger 53.952 Steve 56.038 and Phil 1.03.873.
Race 1 - This was a race with two races in it. Steve and Phil having a good battle and changing places many time. Dave and Trigger were also battling the lead despite Trigger saying he was going to take it steady !!! as it was not his car! Dave went a long way down the start/finish straight off the circuit causing a major dust cloud and somehow managed to get back on the track and continue in the right direction however now sporting a damaged exhaust. The cars survived the heat and Trigger took the race win with a fastest lap of 53.797 followed by Dave 53.975 Steve 54.336 and Phil 54.134 (Steve just pipped Phil to 3rd place on the podium on the last corner of the last lap!)
On return to the pits three cars were in one piece but Dave’s normally reliable beetle had a broken exhaust and he said he had only had 3rd and 4th gears most of race and this was the reason he had gone off because he had been unable to change down. Despite this he remained only 2 seconds off his qualifying times. As is the case with racing all hands to the deck and a Blue Peter repair was done to the exhaust. Nothing could be done about the gears but Dave said he would start the race and see how far he could go!
Race 2 - Trigger was still maintaining he was only going to take it steady after all it was not his car!! The odds were stacked against Dave’s car making the finish and Steve and Phil were definitely going into battle. Again Steve and Phil were having a cracking time racing each other and were able to catch and pass Dave who tried to defend as long as he could now only had one gear so surviving was an achievement in itself. 4th place is not usually where he is or where he wants to be again!!!! Trigger in the mean time had took off and was battling Ken Angell in the Jag and Jon Wild’s metro (a brilliant battle to watch) So the result of race 2 was Trigger first with fastest lap 53.071 Phil 54.016 Steve 54.432 and Dave with 55.302
Check out the videos of the day to confirm this was hot hot hot racing.
A short clip of incar footage from Car.96 (Perftec Phil) dog fighting with Car.55 (Cookie) at this Sunday’s race at the Lydden Hill Circuit…. and an autocross moment from Dave Charlton in his Rally Bug!!!
We have suffered a few casualties for this weekends race:
Owch! This is going to put Car Number 96 (Florence Butcher) back until the next round in Mid-July
Also Craig in car number 76 is going to be out due to some engine issues
Trigger should be out this weekend.. but it’s down to the wire as the fresh engine has just gone in and needs some ‘running-in’ mileage on it… It’s Thursday and it also needs it’s Drysump system installing! (Cutting it super fine… !!)
Also the College Of North West London are building an official college car.. which we expect to see out for the ‘11 season!!
This weekend saw three cars out Dave ‘The Bandit’ Charlton, Nick ‘The Vicar’ Whitty and Steve ‘Cookie’ McGillivray with qualifying and Race 1 on Saturday and Race 2 on Sunday.
An added bonus being qualifying and each race would be 20 minutes. Considering Mallory consisted of three 10 minute sessions on track this was going to be a real test of reliability. All of them passed with flying colours.
Dave qualified in front with a 1.03.638 The Vicar second with 1.07.049 then Cookie with 1.10.710. This was Cookie’s first time out on the Brands track which is always somewhat daunting and a very full grid of 31 cars to contend with as well. The Vicar’s second visit here saw him take 2 seconds off his qualifying time from his first visit back in March.
22 Laps in Race 1 saw Dave take yet another win with a fastest lap time of 1.04.041 The Vicar and Cookie had a good battle resulting in Cookie taking second place from The Vicar whose car appeared to develop a miss-fire. Cookie was obviously getting comfortable with the track as his best lap was a 1.07.410 and Nick’s 1.07.304. This was an excellent achievement for all of them as the circuit was busy to say the least.
So to Race 2 and yes The Bandit took another win with that reliable little rally car. However he needs to keep checking that mirror because The Vicar and Cookie are definitely after him. Their times improving dramatically. They had another battle with each other and this time Nick took the second place the miss-fire having cured itself overnight. Fastest laps in this race being The Bandit 1.04.139 The Vicar 1.04.691 Cookie 1.06.218
The successful weekend also saw Cookie taking the award for best prepared car.
So with these three cars finishing the weekend with no major problems we look forward to Lydden on 27th June and the promise of other cars to join them.
Rain Rain go away come again another day!!
Unfortunately a race where there was only one Beetle flying the flag. The forecast said it was going to rain and as the two races of the day for the Tin Top class were 15.45 and 18.00 it was pretty much guaranteed to be wet.
Dave Charlton braved the day and sure enough just as qualifying started so did the rain. The track turned to grease very quickly and so having done the necessary laps needed he decided job done and with a 1.35.605 (which was faster than he had previously done at this circuit last year on a dry track) came in and hoped for dry weather later in the day.
But it rained some more and was very very wet for the first race. This resulted in many cars having interesting racing lines and falling off the track altogether. Times were more than 10 seconds slower per lap than in qualifying!
Dave survived the race however he had taken an opportunity to try a new development part today but he was not completely happy with its performance and so took the decision not to run in the second race.
The second race was not as wet however it still provided excellent entertainment for spectators (Drivers may beg to differ on how enjoyable it was out there)
As a word of warning many drivers were reprimanded during the day for not keeping within the white lines of the circuit. Apparently all circuits are clamping down on this and will take a hard line on violation so be warned.
Brands Hatch next so let’s see some more Beetles giving Mr Charlton some competition.
Not happy with 2 Class Podium finishes on his second ever race, Nick ‘The Vicar’ took the ‘BARC Best Prepared Car’ award, at the recent Mallory Park round…
Some in car footage from inside Car 68 and car 88 during the second race at Mallory Park in May.
The track got pretty slippy in the end with oil spray on the tarmac… then oops! (To be fair Simon in the N068 car waited for Dave to recover and let him pass.. then the race was back on.. <Simon didn’t want to take an unfair victory so took a risk and did the gentlemanly thing!>
Toil and Trouble – Joy and Frustration ——— Result = Good Days Racing with Records Set!
That’s how the first televised Beetle Challenge Race could be summed up.
7 Beetles on the grid – That’s a record!
This was only achieved by many many hours hard labour – That’s Toil and Trouble!
(Could have been 10 but a combination of blown race fan, engine issues - due to missing parts caused by this pesky ash cloud and unforeseen circumstances meant 3 cars had to pull their entries for this race - that’s frustration)
Normally Dave ‘The Bandit’ Charlton’s reliable beetle finishes in top spot but today it was Simon ‘Monster’ Sergides who took a win in both races. Dave qualified ahead of Simon their times being 1.01.268 and 1.01.317. This was going to be a very close battle especially with them both having that desire to beat each other. Simons 2.1 was just too much for the 1600 of Dave’s on the straights and despite Simon’s interesting racing lines he took the win in race 1 (That’s being very kind! - Have Novice Cross Sticker and is prepared to use it erratically!!! ).
Being ahead on the grid for race 2 should have made Simon’s job easier however Dave stuffed it up the inside on the first bend into Gerrards, and took the lead but again the straight line speed of Simon meant he took the lead back after a bit of a dogfight. There was a great moment when Dave and Simon went either side of Florence in his No 98 Bug on Gerrards.. three abreast on the fastest corner!!! However it was still not over, Simon had an incident! at Gerard’s resulting in Dave having to take avoiding action and reverting to rally mode but actually ending up facing in the wrong direction. He managed to get back on the track and continue.
Simon by now was way in the distance but Dave was gaining on him all the time and when he had caught and passed him it was assumed Simon had some sort of problem. Suddenly Simon was back on the pace with the lead once again changing. There was a real race going on between the two of them and Simon took his second win of the day. Questioned on the possible problem with lack of power after his incident Simon disclosed his strategy! (which for sure F1 teams will implement?) Quote “I was waiting for Dave to catch up so we could race!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) - That’s Joy and frustration!
The other beetles are all to be commended:
Nick ‘The Vicar’ Whitty completed without any real problems and ever improving times. There was a momentary blip when he was called for to the Clerk of the Course… but it turns out they needed car No.1 not Nick in Car No.11… Phew… Maybe this accounts a little for his improved times in race 2, as clearly he had lost some excess weight having crapped himself! Nick only did one spin this race too.. and didn’t caress the tyrewalls this time (even though he has an obvious fetish for rubber)… so that’s progress.
As with last time Nick was out this is one to watch out for in the future.
Also unknown to The Vicar - he actually won the BARC prize for ‘Best Prepared Car‘ !!! (Thanks must go to Nick and his friends, the College of North West London, Morelli Paints, and of course Thingamies Beetles) So Nick took home some Champagne and two well earned 3rd place podium finishes – That’s Joy
He received notification of his prize via txt, as he had just that moment left the circuit, and Simon collected it on his behalf… then a traffic jam on the M1 allowed Nick to peg it down the hard shoulder on foot and grab the Champers! Aswell as removing one of Simon’s socks and lobbing it into the abyss of the hard shoulder - very funny!… but not as funny as the stealth return which is the other stinking sock which now resides in the Naca Duct which feeds Nicks face with - not - fresh air anymore - poetic justice me thinks!
Craig ‘Grandpa’ Winfield unfortunately was off the pace he had hoped for despite a change of gear box from last time out. In race one the Rotor Arm went kaput.. a 15second fix that blew his entire race - gutting. The race two unearthed some misfire issues which ultimately ended in another DNF. As always this car is turned out immaculately, and he should have definitely been on the pace at the front of the Class, but his day was ultimately– Frustration!
Phil ‘PerftecPhil’ Thompson was producing the ash cloud! And was asked to exit the circuit in race 1 (Made for some hilarious commentary on Live TV… Naughty Naughty.. ). He had a better run in race 2 but slowed the pace for the last few laps when the ash cloud threatened to re-appear. Prior to this he was putting in respectable times. – That’s Joy!
Steve ‘Cookie’ Mcgillivary was another without any real problems (apart from his rear-view mirror flapping around - it would be a distraction to everyone else apart from Cookie though, as he is used to re-adjusting the rear-view mirror as he applies his make-up on his way to work in the mornings) He had ever improving times until a spin on lap 8 of the second race (Which looked like oil on the track rather than driver error to be fair.. but we’ll give the track the benefit of the doubt and and call it driver error!). Watch this one for the future – That’s Joy
Lawrence Butcher was the only beetle that tested on the Saturday which turned out to be a useful exercise as it uncovered a couple of problems which would have definitely ended his day in qualifying. This enabled him to resolve for race day and he completed qualifying with consistent times. His races were a little more frustrating however, his rocker gear came loose in race one! and he has some work to progress with for next time. His day was topped off, when he saw the TV coverage and got a Name Check on from the commentators, ‘Florence‘ Butcher… (Something to do with driving like a girlie apparently! LoL!!) On the whole – That’s Joy and Frustration!
There is plenty of in car camera footage to check out shortly, plus the Motors TV coverage will be repeated together with access to DVDs.
Anyone interested in studying actual lap times can find the information on www.tsl.timing.com
Below is the schedule for the racers: (It’s going to be a hectic day as there are a total of 7 Championships each having 2 races throughout the day.. so a corking event for spectators!)
10:35 Driver Sign on
10:50-11:50 Scrutaneering
12:05: Qualifying
15:05: Race 1 - Tin Tops (10 Bugs Racing in the ‘Beetle’ Class)
17:25: Race 2 - Tin Tops (10 Bugs Racing in the ‘Beetle’ Class)
We’ll have the biggest class in the Tin Tops with double the amount of bugs compared to the second largest class in the championship! (Happy daze… another milestone towards having our own dedicated aircooled only grid in the not too distant future!)
Final preparations are underway for the next round at Mallory Park on the 16th May.
There has been a lot of help and support, from companies and individuals, for many of the racers… and we’d just like to say a massive thank you to you all… in no particular order:
Thingamies Beetles
AceRace
Perftec
AirSpeed
The College of North West London
Morelli Paints
Bears Motorsports
ReichSpeed Aircooled
Toyo Tyres
Speedshack
Edwards Motorsports
Earls Performance Products
J&R Fabrications
The Mallory Park Round is just a couple of weeks away now.. and not only will we have the biggest grid of circuit racing aircooled bugs in well over a decade now, we will be televised LIVE on Motors TV! (You’ll see the below cars out dog fighting!)
It’s been a long time since we saw this many bugs piling into Gerards!
Only one Beetle was flying the Beetle Challenge flag at Cadwell Park, which is a shame as it was truly a lovely summer day at the Park.
The Tin Top class was amalgamated with the Tigers to make up numbers and everyone who made the epic journey all the way to Cadwell said it was well worth the trip. However the constant rollercoaster effect of this unique circuit meant that many of the drivers actually felt sick! So a warning to you all, take a travel sickness tablet before taking on this circuit. Because of the amalgamation of classes this meant there were 25 minutes qualifying and two 20 minute races. So you really did get value for money both as a driver or spectator.
As the only Beetle entry Dave Charlton in his ex rally 1600 beetle had to find other cars to do battle with and so Dominic Ryan in his Ford Fiesta 1596 and Jon Wild in his Rover Metro 1598 were his targets for the day!
Dave and his reliable little beetle should have been at home on this track having done many a rally together at Cadwell in a previous life, however his qualifying times were rather erratic. He managed a fastest lap of 1.54.682 against Dominic’s 1.55.337 and Jon’s 2.02.453. Unfortunately Jon’s metro had a major smoking problem and he had to pit quite early in the session. Dave’s experience on this circuit obviously paid dividends against Dom’s fiesta.
Suspension problems were the reason for the erratic qualifying times so with this resolved and Jon’s engine problem temporarily resolved all three cars were on the grid for race 1
Unfortunately for Jon his temporary fix became a terminal problem and his race ended on lap 5. Dom actually managed to pass Dave resulting in a question of “Is the beetle developing a problem” Their fastest laps now being Dom at 1.54.350 and Dave at 1.56.419. The beetle finished fine and so took a Beetle Challenge Class Win.
Race 2 proved to be most entertaining with the beetle almost touching the rear bumper of the fiesta the whole race. Despite the fact that the beetle only needed to finish again to take another win in the beetle challenge Dave was definitely not going for a safe completion. That beetle was raced!! He did not quite manage to get past Dom but it certainly was not through lack of trying it was just the opportunity which was lacking. Dom’s fastest lap 1.54.798 Dave’s 1.54.693.
A brilliant days racing.
Mallory next where there will definitely be lots of Beetles!
Thingamies Beetles & Motorsports proudly present The Beetle Challenge. We would also like to thank our sponsors and partners whom have helped us develop the series... in no particular order...
- Note it has a temporary engine for at the moment - hence the pea-shooters!
Loading ...