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The Historic Racing Club, ably assisted by the Alfa Romeo chaps, took on the big guys with the 2006 Ice Breaker meeting, and they did a superb job. There were over 255 drivers, all praying to the weather gods. The met guys promised a mostly fine weekend, and it was…mostly fine.

The Historic field was one of the largest we’ve seen for a long time with over 30 cars. Now it’s fair to say that Rodin Wootton is his Brabham, and Ken Williams in supercharged BBM Mercedes, were always in the running for the chocolate fish. Formula Fords were well represented with some immaculate cars and, if past history was anything to go by, they were always going to be the hungry pack hard on the heels of Rodin and Ken, and you can never discount John Holdsworth in the Merlyn Mk10.

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Where exactly the Dick Jones Special would feature in the field, I wasn’t sure. This was only the second time I’d raced with a lot of these cars, and it has been a very long time since I last drove the Dick Jones Special with gusto on a dry Pukekohe. What concerned me most was being in traffic, because that is a new thing for me.

My racing days in Formula Ford (Class 2) were in a small group in relative safety at the back of the pack and, although I trust the Dick Jones Special’s handling abilities, some of those single seaters are hard to spot in the mirrors and a lot more nimble.

Practice was late in the morning on a track that was still a little cold and slippery but I entered into the spirit of things and set out to do my best. Oh how quickly it all vanishes from your mind when corners arrive much faster than they have before, and your brain (well, my brain at least) loses touch with how many gears you have, where they are exactly, and what order one is supposed to use them in. The car was squirming under brakes, understeering around Railway, and I am certain that someone has changed the shape of the hairpin over winter. It was not pretty, and even though I remembered to check temps and pressures, and qualified second, somehow I knew that school was just beginning.

To Race 1, where a brand new experience lurked on the front row. I have never been on the front row. Rodin is behind me in my blindspot, and on Grid 4 is Graeme Andrews in his super quick Titan, half a second off my qualifying pace.

One thing the Dick Jones Special is not good at, is starting off the line. The open diff is quite prepared to let go and I have sat there in the past changing gears and going nowhere. I opted for a few revs, judicious clutch, and pointing the big toe once things were rolling. By the first turn Rodin was in front. By the second turn, Graeme was in front as well, and it was time to accept the fact that we were there to race, and get on with it. Out of Railway I went for 6000rpm, grabbed top, and set off.

As Ken and Rodin disappeared into the distance, I was left to the next few laps of attempting to keep it tidy, establish just how much grip there was, and get braver. But everytime I got to Railway, Graeme Andrews was in my mirrors again.

The flag marshals were keeping a close eye on things with white flags as we stormed down to the tail enders, and blue flags as we rolled past. Thanks guys (and girls). By the time the flag fell I’d managed to stay in third place, but Graeme had put in a blistering lap somewhere which saw him sneak though to Grid 3 for Race 2 on Sunday morning.

Nonetheless, the best lap was recorded at 1.10.48 which is the best ever for the Dick Jones Special, and a personal best for me. (See the latest video for that lap).

The weather was a bit damp as formed up the next morning. The flag fell and we set off quite cautiously. Lyall Zohs got through off the start, but I managed to get past him and Graeme up towards the kink along the back straight, and closed in a little on Ken and Rodin at the hairpin. Into the Jennian Homes sweeper, and double yellows were waving because of one of the Fords had spun across the track and the driver was desperately trying to push his car clear of the traffic. We slowed and were then met with red flags after Railway. Back to the grid to sort things out, and wait for the restart.

The weather gods looked down and realised their mistake, so the sun came out and began drying the track.

We set off again and thankfully there were no further offs. The Dick Jones Special was very strong, and grip was improving lap by lap. Ken and Rodin were still in sight when Ken had to pull out with a broken supercharger drive. By race end I was second, 1.76 secs behind Rodin, and very happy.

Race 3 was a handicap, reverse grid with Graeme Andrews and I starting of Grid 30, and Rodin further back along with Stan Benbrook in his immaculate Lynx. This was another steep learning curve for me. To pull up among a tight field of Fords all jockeying for position and try to make the right decision on where I should go to get through, saw me asking the Dick Jones Special to hang on through the outside of corners, or take a faster than I’d thought possible tight line through Jennian Homes. We were making good progress though, and managed to keep moving through the field until the engine fell off song in Lap 4. I slowed and coasted back to the pits. After things had cooled down I pulled the rocker cover off to find seven pushrods where there should be eight.

All in all, the Ice Breaker was a fantastic meeting for the Dick Jones Special. We’ve opened up the valve guides and thrown away the stem seals to encourage oil to get in there and help out. We’ll fatten up the main jets a little more, just to be sure we’re doing everything we can to manage the combustion chamber temperatures, and keep on learning.

As well as that, I hope to soon be able to move the centre mirror a little further aft, which will open up the view behind.

Don’t forget that there will be delayed tv coverage of Sunday’s racing on Sky Sport and Prime very soon.

Time now to get ready for TACCOC’s Spring Classic in Taupo. A new track that many of us have never been on before, and a lot of questions about whether the gearing will be right or wrong. Stay tuned, or better still, come to Taupo and see how we get on. October 7th and 8th.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 21st, 2006 at 7:16 pm and is filed under Meetings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.