British Sprint Championship — Lydden Hill Sprint
Last Saturday John Loudon competed in the next round of the British Sprint Championship for the first of two visits this season to the challenging Lydden Hill Race Circuit in Kent, organised by Borough 19 Motor Club.
Optimism was high having remedied several car niggles from the previous weekend at Blyton Park in such a short turnaround. During the track familiarisation walk, we were greeted with the circuit ground staff jet-washing and brushing the track, which was horrendously dusty, presumably from a recent rally cross event. Low initial grip was to be expected then so I duly fitted the scarce new rear tyres that I was waiting to deploy at the just right time.
Practice and qualifying runs went without drama and the track grip was gradually improving. So much so that I underestimated it and as I launched from the start line the car bogged down for a less than perfect start. However, the rest of the run was decent, and I ended up finishing 6th overall and just pipping last year’s champion, albeit in an unfamiliar car to him as yet, but I will take it.
After lunch I increased the start line RPM and the standing starts improved without bogging. Qualifying for the next run off went well with a time just off my first run off time. As we were queuing for the final run off, there was a major incident right in front of the start line which caused a delay. When finally underway, most people’s times were a touch slower including my own and I ultimately finished 7th overall.
A 6th and 7th place was enough to still leave me in 4th place overall in the championship as we left for home.
The next rounds are at Pembrey Circuit in South Wales on June 3rd and 4th.
