John Loudon's newly rebuilt engine powers to class-record finish at Mallory Park in British Sprint Championship
The latest round of the Woodford Trailers British Sprint Championship took place at Mallory Park in Leicestershire on Sunday, June 23. Following an oil related error on my part at Pembrey just three weeks earlier, some hard work and not inconsiderable amount of effort on my part had my engine removed and delivered to Daytuner Performance in Harrogate for open heart surgery, collected and refitted to the car with just days to spare prior to the event. That’s commitment and top-quality service for you.
This was our second visit to Mallory this season and I have to say that all the effort was well rewarded. The newly rebuilt engine ran faultlessly and even seemed better than before. Practice saw me post a time which was not far short of my class record and the first timed run time was nearly a second under it. The fresh Suzuki GSXR 1000 L7 engine was flying and at this point I was 4th fastest overall from around 120 cars.
With so many competitors, the day dragged on and before we knew it, it was lunchtime, and the first timed run wasn’t quite complete. The first timed run resumed after lunch and then we were onto our second timed run and run-off. An unfortunate track incident with a fellow competitor had me sitting on the start line for what seemed like ages, whilst the marshals and medics dealt with the incident. Thankfully the competitor was OK, if not a little bruised, but still less so than his car. Eventually back underway I finished 3rd overall and gained a bonus point for breaking the class record.
With so many delays and sheer numbers of competitors, there were to be no more runs. However, I was happy to have made the event which three weeks ago seemed impossible. So the motto of the story is never give up, and that hard work and dedication is worth it in the long run.
I still lie 4th overall in the championship with some scores to gain having missed some rounds from day two at Pembrey earlier in the month. The next round of the championship is at Lydden Hill on Saturday 13th July.
