April 2023
Round 3 - Caterham & Lotus Seven Club Speed Championship 2023
It was a cold and dry start with a little bit of sun and warmth in the afternoon.
Times
P1 - 98.32s
T1 - 95.68s
T2 - 94.91s
T3 - 94.09s PB by 0.96s
I came 3rd in Class and was 23rd fastest out of a field of 99 competitors, winning an Edward Lewis Cap
for being the competitor in Class 4 who improved his PB time by the greatest percentage.
Mike Sankey came 1st in Class with a time of 90.11s.
Photo courtesy of Ralph Bennett
Photo courtesy of Ralph Bennett
Photo courtesy of Ralph Bennett
April 2022
Round 3 - Caterham & Lotus Seven Club Speed Championship 2022
The weather was sunny most of the day but with a chilly wind.
As I was still waiting to receive my cylinder head back after having new valves fitted, Mike kindly
offered me a dual-drive again. Now whilst driving someone else's car is enjoyable, it is also stressful
as 'if you bend it, you mend it' and Goodwood is a very fast circuit with not much run-off. Therefore,
sub-consciously, you tend to only drive at 90-95%, so I ended up about 3 seconds away from my PB.
Times
P - 102.78s
T1 - 95.37s
T2 - 95.90s
T3 - 98.05s
I came 4th in Class and was 25th fastest out of a field of 106 competitors. Mike Sankey came 1st in Class with a time of 90.54s.
Mike Hawthorne 1929-1959 - First British World Champion 1958 'Lofty' England 1911-1995 - Jaguar Competition Manager 1949-56
Two collared dove chicks had made their nest in the eaves of our parking bay in the paddock!
April 2021
Round 1 - L7C Speed Championship 2021
The weather was sunny all day but chilly at only 10-12 degrees.
Times
P1 - 98.52s
T1 - 96.50s
T2 - 95.05s
T3 - 95.43s
I came 2nd in Class behind Mike Sankey (91.75s) and was 21st fastest out of a field of 97 competitors.
Socially-distanced in the paddock!
Marshals briefing
All the marshals were masked-up
A Lotus Esprit lined up alongside the 7s
All flags were flying at half-mast due to the death of HRH Prince Philip the previous week
April 2019
Round 1 - Lotus Seven Speed Championship 2019
A very warm day (mid 20s all day) which helped me achieve First in Class, a PB of 92.48s and the Edward Lewis Trophy for
Best Improvement in Class. There were 110 competitors and I came 15th overall.
Times
P1 - 94.49s - First run with new Rear ARB and decided to push harder from the start. Just 0.03s from a PB.
T1 - 92.84s - Felt more confident to push on, resulting in new PB by 1.62s.
T2 - 92.48s - Another new PB by 0.36s.
T3 - 92.61s - Couldn't manage a hat-trick of PBs, but very pleased with 3 timed runs, which were within 0.36s of each other.
April 2018
Round 3 - Lotus Seven Speed Championship 2018
A cold day throughout (9-10 degrees), track quite good despite overnight rain which a stiff breeze helped today. Only 0.84 away
from PB, which wasn't too bad considering the cold conditions and was placed 14th overall out of 100 competitors.
Times
P1 - 100.75s - Damp but drying track, hence cautious start
T1 - 98.66s - More confident to push on
T2 - 95.30s - More commitment and a nice improvement
T3 - 98.17s - A good lap until Lavant and Woodcote where 2 missed gears ruined the time
Winner - Mike Sankey 92.05s
Photos 6, 7, 8 and 9 below are courtesy of Andy Steele
April 2017
Round 1 - Lotus Seven Speed Championship 2017
Times
P1 - 100.83s - Cool and dry and the usual cautious start
T1 - 95.43s - Warmer and more confident
T2 - 95.61s - Dry and warm, consistent
T3 - 94.46s - A new PB by just 0.3s. Good enough for 2nd in Class
Winner - Mike Sankey 91.96s
April 2016
Round 2 - Lotus Seven Speed Championship 2016
Times
P1 - 113.53s - Cold and dry
T1 - 99.65s - Even colder and dry
T2 - 97.19s - Same conditions
T3 - 95.98s - Still very cold and unable to get much heat into the tyres
Winner - Shaun Elwill 88.66s
April 2015
Round 1 - Lotus Seven Speed Championship 2015
Times
P1 - 119.87s - Very damp/greasy
T1 - 97.67s - Warm & dry
T2 - 94.76s - Same conditions
T3 - 96.12s - Started to rain just before start of last run
Winner - Mike Sankey 90.49s
They are now running a new format at Goodwood which means starting from the pit lane rather
than the grid. So 94.76s represents a new time to beat in future years. I managed to finish 2nd in class scoring 95.5 points.
April 2011
Round 2 - Lotus Seven Speed Championship 2011
Times
P1 - 106.17s - Dry and sunny. Third visit, practice nearly as quick as my PB.
T1 - 98.22s - Same conditions.
T2 - 98.13s - Even warmer by the afternoon and I managed to beat my previous PB by 7.15s.
T3 - 98.49s - Seemed to have plateau'd in the 98s, finishing 5th out of 5 overall scoring 92.77 points
Winner - Chris Howard-Harris 91.04s
Although I managed to set a new PB, that was largely down to the bigger engine, I need to be more confident at carrying
more speed into and out of corners. In total there were 86 competitors in various classes from different clubs. My final placing overall
was 25th fastest.
April 2010
Round 1 - Lotus Seven Speed Championship 2010
Times
P1 - 111.60s - Dry and sunny. As this was my second visit, a much more confident start to practice.
T1 - 108.09s - Same conditions.
T2 - 105.28s - Even warmer by the afternoon and I managed to beat my previous PB by 2.54s.
T3 - 105.80s - Just couldn't find that little extra something to improve on my PB, finishing 8th out of 8th overall scoring 91.51 points
Winner - Matthew Willoughby 96.34s
Although I managed to set a new PB, I was slightly disappointed not to have set a faster time as this time
I am using Kumhos, compared to some old Yokohama A048Rs.
April 2009
Round 1 - Lotus Seven Speed Championship 2009
Times
P1 - 118.62s - First ever circuit of Goodwood, damp conditions
T1 - 111.76s - Track drying, more confidence and massive improvement
T2 - 109.75s - Braking now left much later, another 2 seconds shaved off
T3 - 107.82s - Last run and yet another improvement. A very satisfying day, finishing 11th out of 12 overall scoring 90.37 points
Winner - Mike Sankey 97.44s
This was my first ever Sprint so I was encouraged to write a blog for the club's website and this can be found
here. For this event I was
using Yokohama A032Rs which were getting on for 6/7 years old. Definitely time for a change, so with the advice of other sprinters ringing in my ears
I order some Kumho Ecsta V70s for the next event.
