Manx Classic 2014

MikeB

MikeB

Well-Known Forum User
I'm taking my 1973 240Z to do this year's Manx Classic in April.

This year the event has one sprint and two hillclimbs using various parts of the TT course. Wednesday 24th April is the sprint running from the Pits back up the finish straight via a chicane to Governors Dip and into The Nook. Having had a look at some of the on-board vids on You Tube it's a long drag to the chicane after you've done the hairpin right out of the pit lane, probably well into 4th, I reckon.

On Friday they have a new hill starting in the curves before Glen Helen and then up the hill past Sarah's Cottage to the Cronk-y-Voddy straight, a 1.4 miler so a bit like the hills at home.

Then the final event on the Saturday is Lhergy Frissell which start on the outskirts of Ramsey again lasting 1.4 miles on the twists and turns up to and past the Gooseneck, via Ramsey Hairpin and Waterworks.

I'll probably be up against a couple of hot Manx 3 litre 911s in my class, so don't expect to lift any silverware. It seems to be a popular event, there's a handful of fellow Ulstermen making the trip with other classic machinery, and a lot of GB runners in everything from Vintage to modern Evos

More information can be found on the Manx Motor Racing Club website

http://www.manxmotorracing.com/events.htm
 
Yeh, an interesting event.

I know the sections you have described, having spectated on two TTs and two Manx International rallies.

Did you see the recent James May Meccano Toy programme (what a farse).

Good luck Mike.
 
Brings back fond memories of getting the exhausts of my Honda VF400 grounding out up through the waterworks back at 1989 TT :D:D
Lovely roads out there and no potholes;)
 
Well, only two weeks away from the Manx Classic.
Entry is confirmed, but they haven't got the full Entry List posted on the web as yet. I'm tied in with the Circuit of Ireland rally over Easter, it's a round of the European Rally Championship, so lots of high spec toys on show. I'm what's called a Stage Manager, so busy doing all the PR on the 7 mile closed road stage near my home, which is hampering the final spanner checks on the Z

Had thought of buying some better spec tyres (Toyo R1Rs were in the frame), but have possibly left it a bit late to get them sorted, so the Goodyear Flintstone Specials that came on the car will have to suffice. Still playing with the cam settings to see what suits best, but the courses on the Manx are all pretty quick, so might opt for more top end than low down grunt

Here's a rather ropey video of the Creg Willeys hill through the Glen Helen section of the TT Course that the organisers have sent to us, some interesting "maybe flat" turns on it !!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVYOWBEZ3G0
 
Good on ya Mike!

300bhp would be nice for that stretch of road - perhaps the camera car was just going slow.

I've watched the bikes there and when it's wet it's slippery under the trees as you know.

Enjoy yourself :thumbs:

Circuit of Ireland - I used to organise road rallies and the prep. involved was very onerous. I could never understand why Joe Public objected to rally cars passing their doors at 3am Sunday!
 
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Yes Gary, have PR'ed all 120 dwellings on it .......three times !! Even took the 240 round once, am on full nodding terms with the local Massey Ferguson pilots !!

It'll be one heck of a stage, darn quick, apparently, the ERC guys don't have Bogey Times, so it's flat to the mat :)

Just got the Entry List for the Manx, the 911s have stayed away, so have a TR6 as my opposition. A total of 125 entries with stuff from the Twenties to the Noughties, should be some nice stuff to view in the Paddock
 
Ha ha it sounds like you had fun around the dwellings of Ballygowans side roads but not half as much fun you will have on the IOM with the other 125 classics. Look forward to some pics:thumbs:.
 
Well, all set for the Manx Classic, car fuelled up, polished and ready for the ferry on Wednesday morning.

However, I was a tad distracted in my preparations, as I was a Stage Manager for the Circuit of Ireland, which was part of the ERC for 2014. My stage was 6.2 miles of Ulster by-roads and lanes, and here is an in-car of one of the works Skoda's averaging a mere 74mph. Enjoy :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OGz1HF8xf4
 
A great stage and to be honest I find it frightening watching because the margin for error is so small, however they didn't put a foot wrong. They were probably safer in daylight in an ERC car (cage, harnesses, helmets, extinguisher etc etc) than I was in the early 70s in an Avenger on a Motoring News road rally at night, open raods and no notes!!!

I must be getting old :eek:

I hope you have fun Mike with no mishaps.
 
So we've made it back from the Isle of Man in one piece, which was not the case for all I'm afraid.

The entry was over 100 cars, ranging in age from the 1920s to 2014, from full house 4WD turbocharged Ford Pumas to a totally showroom, yet embarrassingly quick Golf R !! 1100 cc Morgan 3 wheelers to 5.2 litre Morgan V8s and ofcourse one 240Z :)

The weather was fantastic for the 3 days of competition, with only a short spell of rain on the Saturday morning to dampen the 1st practice run of the Lhergy Fissell climb out of Ramsey. All the courses were on the fabled 37 mile TT circuit, a 1 mile sprint from the Grandstand back up the track via a chicane to Governor's Dip and The Nook, then on the Friday a 1.4 mile climb from the Black Dub, through Glen Helen onto Lambfell and the finish on Cronk-y-Voddy, with the final mighty hill out of Ramsey, via the Waterworks, Tower Bends and The Gooseneck to the finish a further 1.45 mile away.

All the courses were quick with the 240 exceeding 100mph at some point on each. There was some high speed steering, a bit of 4 wheel drifting and the occasional prayer involved :)

My main rival was the Revington tuned TR6 of Salisbury's Nick Smith, who had previous experience of the Island. He pipped me at the sprint and at Ramsey made a fantastic last climb to take the day, as I had a tail slapper at the Gooseneck stymie any chance of matching his time. However, at the new Creg Willey's climb through Glen Helen, I took a 3 second victory, crossing the finish at a rather exciting 107 mph and became the Class Record holder in the process !!

There were a few casualties during the 3 days, most notably a TR4 which went through the substantial stone wall at The Waterworks and descended 100 ft down the mountainside back towards Ramsey, luckily the driver was only shaken.

The Z drew a lot of attention, but an over fuelling problem with the SU carbs took an edge off its performance and cost a fortune in Super Unleaded.

Below is a shot taken by James Daw on the fast approach to the Glen Helen left hander (note the wind distorting the timing strut)

14057145944_152e1ddf0a_b_zps097c4d7c.jpg


All in all it was a great trip, met Ray100 during the event and hope I'll get back there again some time soon, the TT course itself is absolutely awesome, all the TT on-boards just don't capture the undulations and gradients.
 
Great to meet you & your lovely Z,it reflects all the work you've put into it & would put many others to shame. You have every reason to be proud of your performance,as you mentioned there was quite a good turn out of serious machinery at the event. There was the Pikes Peak Evo 9 of Dave Rowe http://youtu.be/lD4_WHGQA3o as well as a good turn out from the Frazer Nash gang,Ford Gt40's,Mini's,Bugatti's,Nissan 370Z,Caterham's & a wicked guy in a 1967 Chevrolet Camaro!
 

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Glad you had a good time Mike and thanks for an interesting report.

Your car looks fantastic in the photo - were you serious about the timing strut deflection, if so what is it made from metal?

Well done :thumbs:

ps how did the 370Z compare with your 240Z?
 
Rob

The timing strut is actually a hack saw blade attached to a bit of stiff card covered in 3 layers of tank tape, so it is flexible, but it is reasonably stiff. Might need a second blade fitted, will ask Adrian Newey what he thinks ;)

The 370 was only out at the Douglas sprint, I'll see if I have any times for it, but they were having issues with the marshal's radios interfering with the timing equipment radio so results weren't available on the day.
 
Hi Mike, I'm asking about the 370Z because I have one and they are a quick car on the road and I'm sure on a dry track they would be ok but they are heavy.

I would really like to try mine out at somewhere like Donington where I could compare it with my 240 experiences however I'm just so scared of damaging it mechanically. It's worth less than my 240s but would cost so much more to repair. That's the problem with modern 'low volume' cars.

Do you have huge respect now for the guys who race bikes on the 'island' ?
 
Nice to see the car getting put to good use, really nice pic will pass it on to Andy McGowan next time I see him. As for the overfueling, I take it it was the needle valves in the float bowl that were sticking?, Did they not overflow into a bottle etc? or just piped away under the car?
 
Rob
I've looked at what I have and there's no time for the 370Z, so we'll have to wait for the club to put the results on the web.

Andrew
Haven't investigated the fuelling yet, suspect the needle valves in the float chambers are not doing their job properly, will have a look at the weekend.

Have another good pic, which I'll save for the May Photo comp :)
 
MikeB said:
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Haven't investigated the fuelling yet, suspect the needle valves in the float chambers are not doing their job properly, will have a look at the weekend........
Click to expand...

Fuel pressure ok? No 'holed' float?
 
Just catching up on this Mike and well done on the Manx Classic. You had a great race and glad there was no incidence's. Maybe see you at the Carryduff show at the end of this month :driving:
 
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