British Sprint Championship: Laser Tools Racing's John Loudon secures 3rd place overall!
After a rollercoaster season of ups and downs, John Loudon is thrilled to lock in a hard-fought third place overall in the British Sprint Championship.
Pembrey Autumn Sprint Weekend, September 14-15
Quick on the heels of competing at the previous weekend’s Woodford Trailers British Sprint Championship's visit to Knockhill, we ventured to South Wales for our second visit to Pembrey of the season for a weekend of sprinting organised by BARC Wales. Pembrey is a circuit that takes no prisoners and has been somewhat of a jinx for me as in the last three visits it has claimed the scalp of my engine on all three occasions. Fourth time lucky hey?
Now with restored power thanks to four new injectors which I fitted post Knockhill, the car was re-invigorated and seemed back to full health. I soon regretted having changed its gearing earlier in the season to give it more acceleration, as it seems that the injectors had possibly been the unknown limiting factor all along which prompted me to try an improve punch. The downside of reduced gearing for acceleration is the lack of top speed and I was soon hitting the 14,250 RPM rev limiter well before the end of the main straight. Making the best of the situation I managed a 4th and a 3rd place on the Saturday’s National layout. The only minor panic was when my clutch pedal went floppy as I was called to the start line for qualifying run 2. Thanks to those who helped push the car back to the garage and helped with fixing the issue which seemed to be a dislodged return spring.
Rain was threatened for Sunday as we took to the Club circuit layout, but thankfully it didn’t materialise. The car ran faultlessly all day but I was still mildly hampered by lack of top speed due to gearing. Another 4th and 3rd place finished left me standing in 3rd place overall in the championship as I start to drop scores whilst others are still gaining. My aim is to hang onto at least 3rd overall, but it is going to be a close battle.
The only downside to the weekend is that I dropped and broke my favourite Nigel Mansell mug complete with tea. At least it wasn’t an engine loss!
Anglesey Sprint Weekend, October 5-6
The penultimate round of the Woodford Trailers British Sprint Championship visited Anglesey circuit for two days of fabulous sprinting organised by Longton & District Motor Club last on the weekend of October 5-6. We set off early on Friday morning to go via Force Racing Cars workshop on route for a chassis set up check over to ensure all was well for the battle for third place overall in the championship. As it happens, it was a good job that I did as it was discovered that the front mono-shock damper was not doing what it should and needed replacing which transformed the car's handling. We won’t dwell on how long it could have been like that, but I’m pleased that it was discovered in time.
Saturday was on the shorter National circuit, which suits the lightweight cars such as my Force TA. Times subsequently tumbled and I set a new personal best on three runs, and eventually set a time lower than the previous class record by over a second. However I was beaten by just 0.17 of a second to that honour by another competitor. Still, two second places in the day’s run offs and ahead of fourth place overall man, improved my chances of third overall in the championship.
Sunday was on the longer International circuit. With a damp start, the day gradually dried up and another two third place finishes, and more importantly, ahead of fourth place overall man Steve Miles. This ensured that I had secured third place overall in the championship with the Castle Combe round still to come the following weekend with no pressure to bear. To say that I was pleased is an understatement! Well done to fellow Force TA driver Chris Jones for taking the overall title ahead of the reigning champion Pete Goulding in second place. Commiserations to Stephen Miles who was very gentlemanly in our end of season battle for third place.
Castle Combe Sprint, October 12
The final round took place at Castle Combe circuit on Saturday, October 12. The pressure was off as I had already secured 3rd place overall in the championship the weekend before at Anglesey.
Castle Combe is the fastest circuit that we go to with its long straight from Camp Corner to Avon Rise heading into Quarry corner. I therefore changed the gearing on the car to raise the top speed a little before the event. Overnight rain on Friday left the track wet for practice. The forecast was to be sunny from mid-morning onwards so the track was almost guaranteed to dry later and practice was just a formality where no prizes were on offer. Others thought differently and there were numerous delays whilst the marshals were kept busy, resulting in lunch before being called before any timed runs. It was going to be a slow day!
The first timed run eventually came and we were informed that it would be both qualifying and the run off in one as time was running out. Not knowing if the track was totally dry was on my mind, but that was mostly unnecessary apart from two puddles on the entry line into Camp corner which pushed us off line and I ended up in fourth place.
We were initially told that the second time run was also going to be qualifying and the second run off in one. By this time, it was nearing 4:30pm, but the decision was changed to include another run that was to include the run off. The track was now dry and I pushed harder. The low sun was now causing a problem in seeing the entry into the Esses chicane, but I till improved by three seconds and again finished fourth in qualifying.
It was now around 5pm and the air was getting chilly and the sun even more glaring. Several competitors opted not to run, myself included as I had nothing to gain, and I was still pleased with finishing third overall and having a car in one piece. So that's it for 2024, and already plans for 2025 modifications are underway. Congratulations to Chris Jones on winning the overall title and to Pete Goulding for fighting hard to try and retain it.
A huge thank you to Laser Tools Racing for their continued support, Damian at Daytuner Tuning for the supply and support of the fabulous Suzuki GSXR1000 L7 engine package, to my wife Jane for her help and to the unsung heroes of the team, the nice couple next door who look after our cats when we are away racing.