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The Historic Sports Car Club at Snetterton - 10th June 2007 Event Report by John Roberts It all ended in tears - quite a crash! After setting up camp on Saturday at the ever improving Snetterton Race Circuit in Norfolk under the new management of MotorSport Vision, the scene was set for a “Double Header” of racing on Sunday. However, it did not turn out the way I had expected. With all “Pre-Flight” checks done I was first to the Assembly Area for the Practice/Qualifier at 09:00 hrs on Sunday morning. As soon as I reached the circuit, I knew something was wrong. The car didn’t have any power, in fact seemed to be truly breathless. One look at my Lambda Sensors told me that I was running incredibly “Lean”, so much so that the Sensors stopped reading. Luckily, Barry my mechanic for the weekend from CKL Developments was on the Pit wall and I dived in and asked him to “Richen” up my Triple HD8 SU’s. After the second stop in the Pits where Barry completely “Maxed” the SU’s for Rich mixture it was to no avail. But having completed the mandatory three laps, I qualified at the back of the grid. Barry went to town and we fitted a fuel pressure gauge, a manual override switch for the choke to give extra fuel and I then spent some hours racing around the car park testing new configurations. Having analysed the problem further I remembered I had some spare SU carburettor needles in my tool box. These were much thinner than those in the car which would give me a much richer mixture – hopefully? The result was that the car went almost ballistic (around the Car Park anyway) and I was, I thought ready to enter the 2nd race.
When the Red Lights went out, I was off like a cannon, overtaking two cars before the first corner (Riches), another two cars coming out of Riches, overtaking my old mate Richard Hackett going into the second corner (Sear), heading off down a very long and fast Revett Straight and catching Colin Youle in his XK 120 unbelievably quickly. Obviously Barry had worked his magic on the fuel situation and I caught up with Colin going under the Bridge before The Esses. But it was not to be!! I noticed that Colin had braked quite early, before the 200 Metre Board and he was taking a wide, sweeping line into The Esses. I however, am a late braker and I take a much narrower line in, to straighten up the left and right apexes. So, Colin didn’t see me and I thought I had overtaken him. The net result was that we came together, braking from about 80 mph. The resultant crash of steel was ear-shattering. Colin spun onto the grass and I didn’t quite know what had happened to my car, other than my steering wheel was in a different position from normal. I thought I had better come into the Pits and inspect the damage. It was a good thing I did as, both wings had received considerable damage, but the steering track rod arm was badly bent, almost touching the brake disk. The front wheels had severe “Toe-In”. So who said Club Motor Racing was boring and uneventful. I had my fair share of “Eventful” for one weekend, thank you! So the car is back in the garage, for dents to be knocked out, re-sprayed and a full assessment of damage to the “Ironmongery” beneath. Hey Ho! That’s Motor Racing and hopefully the car will be ready for Castle Combe on the 4th August and, this time going like a more “Controlled” rocket ship! John Action shots courtesy of Roger Gage, official Jaguar Enthusiasts` Club photographer For more XK Jaguar Racing photos visit his web site at www.xkjaguar.co.uk Our thanks to MotorSport Vision for permission to film at Snetterton
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