HSCC 3rd round Brands Hatch

[SeanDezart]

Sooooooooo, how'd it go ? Wet ?

 

[SKiddell]

I am led to believe that Matt had a coming together with a tyre wall and the car was damaged -- our on the spot reporter said that thankfully Matt was ok.

 

[status]

was a good race,matt ended up on his roof

 

[SeanDezart]

Anyone care to enlarge upon the 'good race' please ? What's Mikes' blogg spot address ?

 

[johnymd]

Twas an excellent day (best SE group meeting ever), with some superb cars and great racing to watch. Hot and sunny for most of the afternoon and no rain. Matt's race was good to watch, with him coming back from 5th to nearly take the lead from another 240, only to leave the track, hit the tyres, spin around and land on his roof. A sad end to a great day. Matt seams OK but the car will need more than a bit of T-cut.

John

 

[SeanDezart]

The other 240 was Charles Barter with his son in 2nd place in a TVR !

Sounded like Matt would have been better settling for second place (points) - will his car be fixed for the next race ?

 

[suzy]

Sounded like Matt would have been better settling for second place (points) - will his car be fixed for the next race ?

Yeah right like we would all settle for 2nd place while racing
When have you ever settled for second best?

It is all so easy to say, we do it every weekend watching MotoGP/F1 what ever, saying what the professionals should and shouldn't be doing, what stratagy they should have used etc etc, but unless you are behind the wheel I think it is very difficult to pass judgement

Anyway we don't know the full story, we seem to be assuming it was Matt doing, could have been mechanical or someone else knocking him off

PS didn't mean to infer that Matt wasn't professional by the way

 

[SKiddell]

Spoke to Matt this morning, the damage is fairly significant, (as one would expect with a car that had been up-ended onto its roof after nose diving through gravel at 80 mph).

To list but a few

Major roof damage (thank goodness for roll cages), bonnet scrapped, ns frame rail bent - needs a re jig, ns wing trashed, windscreen busted
gravel and glass everywhere --

I am guessing from that lot that it wont be out on the track for a while .

 

[SeanDezart]

Granted Suzy but one hell of a price to pay and Matt doesn't have a multi-million dollar budget to build him a new car overnight - I feel sorry for him as it's gonna upset his best season !

Fault ? Nobodys fault ! Just a gutsy move that didn't pay off - racing incident.

Anyone got photos from this season so far and can post 'em up ?

 

[Mr.F]

After the trauma of yesterday and the non-stop calls today I haven't had time to comment or upate the Blog (www.mjpauto.blogspot.com) - later.
Suffice to say that Matt is bearing up well and moves to get the car sorted are already well under way! More later!

 

[ben240z]

sorry to hear about the off matt. I do know how you feel. It was not that long ago that I was inspecting the wreckage of my car thinking how to repair all the damage. Sean, it is a hard one to call, shall I settle for this place or just try that bit harder and trying is the better option when it is working cos thats why we go out and race. Not sure how I can help but if there is any help I can give then give me a shout. ben

 

[STEVE BURNS]

glad to hear you are OK
cant personally give you much in the way of technical help but would like to make a small personal donation to help restore the car, envolope on its way

 

[Rob Gaskin]

I'm really sorry to hear about the accident Matt and I'm sure your fellow competitors are too. As they say 'that's racing' but it must be hard to take at the moment.

The most important thing is that you are ok. That's easily overlooked at times like this.

 

[SeanDezart]

glad to hear you are OK
cant personally give you much in the way of technical help but would like to make a small personal donation to help restore the car, envolope on its way

That's a nice idea - Matt, if you email me your address, I'll send you something too !

 

[johnymd]

This sounds like great way to get this 240z back on the track. What parts do you still need Matt? I know there's a front screen on your list but I'm not sure what else. Heard from the guy about the front wing last night, I'll try and pick it up tonight. Maybe post a list of the parts needed as people may have those bits knocking around, gathering dust.

 

[Rob Gaskin]

Yes I'm sure some of us could help out with parts etc. I've already PM'd him with offers but I don't think Matt is looking at this site at the moment he's probably too busy!

 

[zedhead260]

1 - Charles in second place chasing down the Lotus Europa with Matt in 3rd.

2 - Charles & Matt now clear of the Lotus a couple of laps later. The Lotus appeared to miss a gear down the straight and Charles drove into the back of him. The Lotus driver didn't seem to know what happened; the next thing he knew, both Z's had passed him.

3 & 4 - Matts car back in the paddock. On the final corner of the penultimate lap, Matt went in too fast, tore through the gravel trap, bounced off the tyre wall causing the car to flip over on its roof.

5 - Charles got off lightly with only bonnet and bumper damage. Good job he didn't break those newly fitted lamp covers - I know how much they cost. !!

 

[SeanDezart]

Thanks for the photos.

Matt needs to chip in on this thread methinks !

 

[SKiddell]

Hmmm definitely won't pass the MOT like that -- a broken indicator is an instant fail.

 

[racer]

Thanks guys and girls for your kind words. It's incredible how generous everyones been. I've been given loads off stuff allready, I've even been offered a complete car!! This really is a fantastic club, and I will be proud to run the Zclub logo when I get back on the track.
At the moment I'm trying to find someone with a proper computer jig to straighten the chassis out. If anyone has any info I would be most gratefull.
Look forward to seeing some of you at santa pod!