What happened to your team?

[Matthew Hollis]

If anybody wants to get their own team's experiences in the next issue of Snails Pace (due around mid-July) then please contact me.  Otherwise we will have to do a vague round-up like last year.  :D

[Dick Roberts]

Working in harmony with the Print Workers is a key objective of Web Wonderers.

So far not-a-sausage has come through to shed any light on the inner workings of the mind of the 2CV Racer.

The magazine is important to the club, but the support, and possible sponsorship, from website watchers generated from a few words could be significant.

All material produced by 2\CVTV for the web is available to the magazine and club members own use as long as copyright is not given away by ensuring that any reproduction is labelled 'copyright 2CVTV.com'

[Simon Leith]

Matt

This was our race report if it's any help!

On the last bank holiday in May (28th-30th) Team Stingray took part in their first BARC sanctioned motor race....... and what a motor race it was! The four man team of Jeremy 'pieces of eight' Brett, Oliver 'Ben Grim' Hall, Simon 'its worth half a second' Leith and Stuart 'stupid' Williams embarked on a 24 hour race in a Citroen 2cv, backed by the 'spanner men' Simon 'hairdresser' Ford and Carl 'that's not and oil leak' Hemp. You may laugh, but the field of 30 2cv's were 'race' prepared and the racing was very competitive (and with long stints behind the wheel, very tiring).

Team Stingray were one of a handful of novices among a field of seasoned 2cv racers, some who took things very seriously (3 spare engines and a mid race engine change taking only 7 minutes!!). The Team Stingray car (90) was just about competitive with a strong engine, but (as was found out at scrutineering) was rather heavy, carrying in the region of 60kg more than most of the other teams (add Oli to this equation and the poor engine struggled to pull the 15 tones or so that the brick man brought to the car).

The team made up for their novice status, by sporting matching race-suits (the talk of the paddock), the largest motor home in the paddock and one of the largest barbeques on earth (Simon extravagant??). The theory would go on to be proved correct though, however the team did; they would at least look fast!

Practice and qualifying was carried out on the Saturday in an early afternoon and a dusk/dark evening session to acclimatise the drivers to driving at night. All drivers took to the track in a bid to give the team a good grid position for the race, but the talk in the camp was of the endurance nature of the race rather than who was first into the first corner....... there is no hard evidence in the photos, but it seems that Simon may have had his fingers in his ears while singing 'la la la la la la la la' at this point. That said, Mr Leith posted the teams fastest time in the 1st qualifying session and Team Stingray lined up 20th on the grid of 30.

After a quiet night with all of the 'athletes' making sure that they were in A1 condition for race day (!!!!!) the cars took to the grid at 4pm. The order of drivers into the car for the race would be: Leith, Brett, Williams, Hall and the plan was for each driver to do between 1h30mins and 2hrs behind the wheel before coming in for a driver change, re-fuel and obligatory check over for the car by the trusty mechanics.

The race started well with Simon taking the team up to 12th position in the first hour, but then disaster struck! Simon had 'an altercation' with a fellow competitor coming through the bomb hole and although, upon inspection, the damage looked cosmetic (forget the adage that they don't build cars like they used to, 2cv's are made of paper and pipe cleaners), but under the surface a major problem was brewing. The explanation of the 'altercation' has changed somewhat over time, 'he ran into me' has changed to 'it was a racing accident' via 'it was 50:50' and 'maybe I was a little aggressive'.

Regardless of the above and after a brief pit stop, Jeremy was sent out on his first stint with a worried look on his face and with his last words being 'this car always seems to break when I'm in it, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed'. Mr Brett's luck was not about to change and following some strange noises and rattles, the steering arm snapped on the approach to the Russell chicane and he was left as an immovable object on the racing line. The team could only watch as the other cars narrowly missed the stranded car and many laps were lost while the helpless (and frightened/pissed off) Jeremy sat in the middle of the track. After what seemed like an age the safety car was deployed and a tow truck unceremoniously scraped Car 90 (with Jeremy still onboard) off the tarmac and back to the pits.

This is the first point that Team Stingray learnt about the true nature of 2cv racing and the comradery and spirit involved. The team had no spare part to mend the car and the mechanics were still learning about the finer points of 2cv...... Mechanics and drivers from all around the pit lane flooded into the Team Stingray garage and the necessary parts were given and work was carried out by a troop of helpful 2cv'ers. These guys were our competition and some of them only had minutes before they were supposed to be behind the wheel of their own cars, but they were amazing and got stuck in with only one thing in mind, getting car 90 back on track.

Jeremy's got back on track and had no further problems before coming in to change with Stuart. The pit stop was like all others, with the exception of the insertion of a booster seat tailor made from foam to help the vertically challenged Mr Williams to reach the wheel, pedals and buttons. The seat was bolted in, so there was no movement the help Oli with his 'knees by ears' driving position or Stuart with his 'odd job' length limbs.

Stuart had a faultless session until......... he was shown the 'pit in' board and headed towards turn one on his final circulation. The team sat anxiously waiting as the seconds and then minutes ticked by, something was clearly amiss. Eventually the call came through on a pit marshal's radio, there had been a spin at turn one by XL racing (who were, incidentally, sharing a garage with Team Stingray). Stuart had apparently misread the 'pit in' sign and mistaken it for 'spin backwards at full speed into the nice Irish chaps, thus rendering both cars useless', you may argue that a 'misread' of this magnitude would be impossible, but looking into the background of Team Stingray it became apparent that Stuart was the only member to have failed his eye test when getting his medical....... perhaps he had forgotten his glasses for both the eye test and the race.

The car returned to the garage on the back of the recovery truck yet again. No sooner had it touched the cold concrete of garage 23 did the (now familiar) army of helpers stream in armed with club hammers, body panels, lights and wheel adjusters. They set to work on what all within Team Stingray thought would be a lost cause, while Oli (the only driver not to have been behind the wheel) paced up and down the garage, apparently seeming to become larger and burst out into bricks. Eighteen minutes later and the car was back on its way, with the significant ballast of Mr Hall on board.

Night fell as Oli continued on his first stint. The accidents and problems had dropped Team Stingray to last place, some laps behind their closest rival and light-years from the front. Consistency and keeping out of trouble was now of key importance, as other teams were sure to have problems and his race was turning into a war of attrition.

The night was amazing and only the drivers can fully understand the sensory overload that is racing, not just driving, a 2cv at night. The tiredness within the camp, especially with Ford and Hamp (poet?) was obvious during the night, as drivers took what sleep they could while not behind the wheel and the mechanics (sponsored by Phillip Morris and Red Bull) kept the night vigil getting no sleep at all! The team held it together during the night and were consistent. A few places were made back and the new target became the top 20, it was a big ask (or at least that's what Oli thought they said), but the team needed something to keep them focused when the intermittent inclusion of words like '8OO85' and 'P3N15' on the pit board were failing to work.

From dawn to finish was a blur of tiredness and adrenaline. It rained intermittently and heavily which suited the cars setup and Simons driving style and for a period, Simon's times in the wet were second only to that of the number 1 car. The rain and wet conditions did lead to most drivers (how did Oli avoid ever having to drive a stint in the wet?) having a few 'grass track' experiences, but none of the scenery was collected and the car soldiered on.

After 24 hours of racing Oli brought the, very second-hand looking, car across the line in front of an elated team and the most fantastic atmosphere. 30 cars and over 100 drivers had driven hard, fixed broken cars and worked together to ensure that everyone finished, even if they were many laps behind. The sense of achievement was like nothing else and the buzz blocked out the enormous tiredness. Team Stingray finished 22 out of 30 and although everyone involved will have a different story to tell, all will agree that it was an experience that ranks highly on the lifetime experience list. Champagne was sprayed and brief celebrations were had, before most of the team of drivers and mechanics fell into a comatose sleep dreaming of 2 cylinder engines and turn of the century French technology!

The pictures below give a snippet of what it was like to be there, but nothing can beat the noise, the excitement, the comradery, the barbeques, the motor home and the fun that was had. Team Stingray will be back next year to do it all over again, so you will have your chance to see it first hand. It's an amazing weekend, so put it in the diary and join us next year!

Regards

Simon

[Catherine Noble]

That's one of the BEST articles on the 24hr I've read, it should be sent to ALL motoring publications as a promotion article for next year.

See you out there!

Catherine

[Pete Sparrow]

:D  :D  :D  :D  :D

Simon!
you are in the wrong job,brilliant story.Start writing comedy mate.
Sounds like you so much 'fun',I may ask for a drive next year!

This is the sort of thing Hollywood are looking for,gritty real life drama,normalish people,underdog of a car,it's coming together now.
Could be the new 'Days of Thunder'. wadya think?

[Simon Leith]

I think with us.......it was more "Days of Blunder!"

[Matthew Hollis]

It's good enough to get it's own section in the mag - I'll see what I can do!

[Simon Leith]

Let me know if you need any pictures.....we have plenty!

[Andrew Bull]

Top Report Simon.
I read it with interest and am really pleased that you experienced all aspects of the club, from drinking (assumed) socialising, pit work, and comeradary of the entire collection of individuals within the club.
Oh and that you raced one of these wild untamable powerhouses of a beast, finished and thoroughly enjoyed it says it all really.  

Will you be out on track at any of the sprint events :?:  The atmosphere there is always good.  Pre race, evening drinking sessions are especially reccomended by many of the top drivers and crew.  The general rule is the more you drink the night before, the faster you go.   :!:

See you at a circuit sometime.

Regards

Andrew

[Simon Leith]

We will hopefully be at a couple of the enduro events later in the year. Unfortunately, some of the dates clash with either existing race dates for me, or work. Plus, we have to me our broken 2cv first!!