TM2 at Colchester E of E regional round 3

[Smartalec]

The weather throughout the week promised rain, rain and more rain for the Sunday so with a 'no set tyre' rule (I don't agree with it) I set about trying to find a tyre from yesteryear that would work on the massive grass track that awaited us. This was duly achieved and armed with all manner of rubber for the wet stuff we set off on the journey to the East.

The weather man, as usual in this country, was completely wrong and on our arrival at the track it was clear for all to see that there was never going to be any rain that day so a quick gluing up of all the yellow minispikes in my box was required.

Just a quick note: how is it that a weather man can get his job wrong 365 days a year and still be employed?

The TM2 was incredible on the large grass track and apart from putting another pair of tyres on the rear (2 total) I did nothing to it all day and a TQ in rounds 1, 2 and 3 secured pole position. Because I was really generous to Danny 'the Essex Gypsy' Conway and let him TQ the fourth and final round, that put him second on the grid behind me for the 3 legged A final so the TM2 was in a strong position for the win.

First leg of the A final:
Danny, as always, applied the pressure at the start of the final but he dropped back a little and this allowed me to pull out a lead that was unchallenged and I went on to take the first leg.

Second leg of the A final:
A good start again in this one and i'm pulling away only to have a large marshal stand in the way of the apex of the far left corner and I unfortunately clip the hose and i'm over. All 9 cars go past before i'm marshalled so there's a bit of work to do to get back up to the front where the Essex Gypsy is grinning like a cheshire cat. Like a banshee on crack, Mick 'the human fly' Spindley has come up from 7th on the grid and has found amazing pace (is that a song?) to close the gap on the Gypsy. I manage to pass a few and then a few more and eventually pass Mick while he has an excursion off the track. The last lap and i'm two corners behind the Gypsy and catching but it's tight for time and not looking good, we go down the straight and over the line 1.5 seconds adrift so it's a win for the Gypsy and a second for me.

Third leg of the A final:
Another good start but a bad landing off the jump and i'm behind again. The Fly has done another of those banzai starts and is all over the Gypsy like a rash and looking for a way past. A couple of laps and Danny makes a mistake and Mick and I go past, a couple of laps more and i'm behind Mick as he gets a bit of a slide on and I can't avoid touching him which locks the two of us up and we need to be marshalled. The Gypsy has got back through and is rubbing his crystal ball and i'm thinking that will be the end as we're running out of time. I manage to get a bit of a gap between me and the Fly and chase after Danny, one lap to go and he makes a mistake on the jump (again lol) and I hold back my laughter enough to get through to finish the lap and take the third leg and the overall win.

Another excellent result for the TM2 with a win for me and second (again) for Danny Conway, third goes to Mick Spindley who was that impressed with the TM2 has ditched his old car in favour of one now.

Thank you very much to the Colchester/Lawford crew for finding enough hosing to cover that monster of a track

Excellent meeting, well done to all involved, hope to see you all again in the near future.

And so the circus rolls on

[Adam F]

Originally Posted by Smartalec

and I hold back my laughter

I bet you didn't...

[Smartalec]

Originally Posted by x313

I bet you didn't...

A little lol

[Checa]

I did actually TQ round 1 but my transponder only counted 5 laps and even worse i was then on the back of the grid for rnd 2 so consider yourself lucky this time

[spindles69]

Another excellent result for the TM2 with a win for me and second (again) for Danny Conway, third goes to Mick Spindley who was that impressed with the TM2 has ditched his old car in favour of one now

I thought,if an OAP can drive this car and win,then it must be good.

[Smartalec]

Originally Posted by spindles69

Another excellent result for the TM2 with a win for me and second (again) for Danny Conway, third goes to Mick Spindley who was that impressed with the TM2 has ditched his old car in favour of one now

I thought,if an OAP can drive this car and win,then it must be good.

Precisely

[Smartalec]

Originally Posted by Checa

I did actually TQ round 1 but my transponder only counted 5 laps and even worse i was then on the back of the grid for rnd 2 so consider yourself lucky this time

It counted only 3 actually

[DerbyDan]

Nice one Alec! Seems like you are making a habit of winning in the East of England!

The TM2 seems to be proving more versatile than first assumed, I ran mine on Hinckley's grass track on Saturday and took TQ & the final win. My car ran pretty much the same set-up as what I run indoors at Moulton (complete with the same tyres) - the only adjustment is to increase the ride-height a touch to allow a bit more clearance to drive through the grass. I think I could have benefitted from the 1deg toe-in hubs towards the end, as the grass started to wear... I did remove the ally chassis stiffening bars to see if this helped rear end traction but felt that it made the car more 'snappy' both entering into & accelerating out of a corner.

[Smartalec]

Well done Dan, another excellent result, i'll try and get along to Hinkley soon for a blast on the grass