British Sprint Championship — Blyton Park May 18-19
Well what a weekend that was! — writes John Loudon. I have just been to Blyton Park (May 18-19) to compete in the latest rounds of the British Sprint Championship. Having resolved some issues from the last time out at Anglesey, I had high expectations of a trouble-free weekend.
I was sure the car was the best it could be, thanks to Damian at Daytuner for some configuration tweaks to the Suzuki GSXR 1000 L7 engine and setup. My wife and usual accomplice Jane, was away for the weekend elsewhere, so I recruited the help of friend David Cleaver for the weekend — he knows a thing or two about Blyton Park and competitive himself.
Saturday used the Eastern circuit which is one of my favourites. Lots of people don’t like it because of a certain corner called Curve Grande. This is a fast long right-hand bend and awkward to get correct, but when you get it correct it is both exciting and satisfying; I actually quite like it. The car ran faultlessly and launch control was now working reliably. This rewarded me with breaking the 1100cc racing car class record on all timed runs and lowered it from 61.24 to 60.45 seconds. This, after a close battle all day with a fellow competitor in a similar car and engine combination. I managed to finish 3rd and 2nd in the run-offs for the day scoring some good points for the championship.
On Sunday we were on the Outer circuit. Again, the car was faultless and was a joy to drive. I improved my personal best times there and managed to break the previous 1100cc racing car class on all timed runs. This had stood at the start of the day at 58.17 seconds with an eventual best time of 56.44 seconds. However, this time the battle with the fellow 1100cc driver from the previous day came out in his favour, and he ended up with the new class record at the end of the day with a faster time. Something to aim at for next year! Despite that, I still manged to finish 5th and 4th in the run offs for the day and score good points which maintains me in 4th position overall in the championship.
The next round of the championship is on June 1st and 2nd when we visit Pembrey Circuit in South Wales.
A huge thanks to Laser Tools Racing for their continued support and to Daytuner for the fabulous engine package and support, plus David Cleaver for his paddock help and support. Photo credits to Graham Stamper.
