Its been a mixed bag for us so far this year. Brands for me was great, I spent round one dicing with a yellow midget before my gearknob came off in my hand(!).

Then in round two I had a MEGA race with Crippo pushing me all the way round – it seemed to go on for about 24hours, before being overtaken by Pete’s ZS, being driven by Paul Luti. Thanks Mr Cripps for not punting me off, and thanks Mr Luti for having a go

Ollie and Blaine had a lonely race at Brands, Ollie of course without 4th gear was still beating Blaine and I! (I’m hoping to resolve that problem at Silverstone) Blaine cruised around to claim 3rd in both and Ollie wasn’t able to challenge Dan in the ZR.

We all had work to do on the cars after Brands, gearboxes and bodywork and suspension issues etc. So we missed Oulton. But still turned up to watch, and we’re glad we did, it was a great couple of races.

I won’t go too far into the details (other sites are available) but particular praise goes to Jonesey for an excellent show, and Rob Spencer for a well deserved maiden victory.

In other Oulton news, it later emerged that after race 2 Dan Ludlow revealed that for the first 5 laps there was a bag of sand caught under his throttle pedal

As we look ahead to Silverstone I still have to bolt my shocks on and split-pin my front suspension back together, not to mention the gaping hole in the rear wing. But nonetheless we’re looking forward to it. That is, the usual mish-mash of one-time-only’s and super-fast (usually bent) cars that roll out for Silverstone. But the regulars will still be there for pleanty of banter and some good racing i’m sure.

Racing the new GP circuit will be pretty epic. But I, along with the rest of the PBIC am more than concerned by the price of it (again – other sites are available, and that issue has been discussed to death already).

Further more, there are a lot of issues shared by my fellow drivers at the moment. And the club isn’t doing enough to address it. There has been no proposal for a meeting to discuss our gripes, not so much as an opinion accept for the letter from Uncle Ron, in response to Simon Tinkler’s query.

Our Coordinator and Technical Scrutineer are awol. It is the most frustrating position to be in for all of us, we can vent our opinions and arguments amoungst ourselves but never is any action taken. What are we to do?

We need a meeting sooner rather than later to address things, as currently, as Jason Plato says, “its just a joke”.

I must admit, reading that back it sounds a little harsh, and I’m not sure I really want to get in to all the controversey. But, if I (we) don’t, it carries on the way it is. And that is an eventuality I want even less.

See you all at Sliverstone.

Dan

Before I begin, Jonesey has probably covered most of this already using his superb and superior literary talent. Incidentally, I think his website is one of the many diversion tactics Jonesey uses to avoid doing any work on his car. So I won’t bore you too much hopefully and will try and concentrate on areas of interest to group C.

Group C looks set to be uber competitive this year, with us three reprobates, Dan Ludlow, Rob Spencer, Barry Holmes and Nigel Pratt signed up so far.

Dan’s weapon of choice this time around is one of those modern MG ZR’s, you know, like the ones in the MGCC Throphy championship that lap about 3 seconds faster than anything else We got our first glimpse of it at Castle Coombe followed by a days testing at Silverstone. The car looks immaculate, Vulcan racing have done a stunning job on it. However, as yet, it doesn’t look as fast as it could be on paper, something those enterprising Vulcan boys will be working hard on (geddit? Sorry Jonesey I’m stealing your lines). Let’s see if the sandbags come out for Brands!

The ever present Rob Spencer has always been the man to watch according the V8 boys. Rob regularly mixed it at the front last year and looks set to continue doing the same this year. The addition of a Team Neaves Racing Pedal Box (shameless plug) could make the difference. After testing at Silverstone and a booking for Brands, Rob is clearly fired up this year and probably fancies it.

Of course many will remember Blaine and Rob locking horns at Brands last year, which made for some cracking video. I imagine both will not want to repeat last years’ tit-for-tat banger racing, until they are fighting for position again…

Barry Holmes completes the list of usual suspects in Group C and had some good runs last year. The most memorable perhaps was at Oulton when he gave us a great insight in to what it is like to be stuck behind Blaine. Let’s face it, we’ve all been there, maybe after a problem in qualifying or a bad start. Barry’s real talent lies in swearing while he drives, something we can all appreciate in the Oulton Park 2010 video. Barry will no doubt be looking forward to me overtaking him in all the yellow flag zones around the circuits this year.

Nigel Pratt is a new face with the PBIC, but a seasoned veteran of the Midget Challenge championship. As I understand it Nigel is a regular nemesis of Dominic Moon, who regularly wins the championship from Group B in the midgets. To give you an idea how fast he is, last year at Brands his overall race time was less than a second different to Ollie. Yes I worked it out, and no I don’t take it too seriously… Nigel will clearly be a tough competitor this year and I hope that Brands is not just a one off, and that he joins us for a full season.

Talking of quick Midgets, many are asking; where is Simon Hutchinson? The last I heard Simon was taking a year out to do some decorating and work on building his wife a Ford Zetec Midget… Could it be a diversion tactic? Probably not, I think he is actually doing that.

Another notable absence is Terry Holmes. Terry will be out at various intervals throughout the year but at present, I am reliably informed that he is taking a break to concentrate on his ganster rapping career. Peace Holmie.

Alan Brooke is part way through rebuilding the Metro for another assault on Group C. But, as so often happens, reality has taken over and other commitments have to take precedent. I hope to see him back with us soon as I’m sure he will be.

Some of you may have heard that Team Neaves are once again at full strength as I enter back in to the fray, having taken a break in 2010. Of course the in house banter is in full flow as some sort of physiological battle for pole position is taking place. Currently, of course, I am winning!

Obviously this year, in a Ferrari vs McLarren fashion and to Ollie’s annoyance, Blaine and I are copying his exact setup, something which was not possible last year for Blaine. So I expect us to be of the same relative pace this year. Of course this shouldn’t detract from Ollie’s lucky performance last year, which has caused absolutely no bitter resentment at all within the Team.

For Ollie’s benefit, I’ve included a Video of what happened at Cadwell in 2009 – my second race…

And so I start on Group B, which is looking pretty low in numbers this year. I thought the BCV8 punters would come on a mission to show us up, but it appears they are struggling even to register for their own championship at the moment!

Ollie’s main rival from last year, Crippo, has entered his 4 pot roadster this year, which by all accounts is just as fast as the V8 was! Talking of which, the V8 has been given some new breathing equipment and will make an appearance in the Thoroughbred Championship this year. The 4 pot however should be capable of mixing it at the front, so I look forward to some close battles as the season progresses. My only hope is that Simon finds someone to share his biscuits with this year.

Pete Burchill is our surprise pick for the year. Over the last few seasons he’s been going quicker and quicker. With Vulcan backing this year, if Pete hooks it all up he could cling-on to Simon and fight for the Group B championship. Having improved his result season on season, winning the championship would really be the final-frontier for Pete.

Dave Brooke will surely grace us with his presence on the entry list when he is good and ready. In recent testing at Silverstone he was seen to be trying various new setups on his car. As ever, Dave will be looking to regain his recent title and can never be ruled out.

So there you have it folks, that’s my thoughts on the competition going in to the season opener at Brands. I leave you with the freshly uploaded end of season video from last year to get you in the mood.

Dan

The list of group C reprobates entrants has changed a bit this year, but still looks very well represented when compared with recent years. It seems the usual suspects will be there for the season opener, the V8 clan and Simon in the mighty midget followed by 2/3rds of Team Neaves. (which is incidentally usually the order on the track…) Dan will be MIA for most of this year while he concentrates on his web design business – shamelessplug.com.

After the brilliantly close battles at Snetterton the V8 clan have been busy adding superchargers over the winter months in order to overcome the -5bhp deficit to the Team Neaves cars. This year they are also opting for pictures of half-naked men on the sides of their cars instead of women – a change maybe designed to intimidate the opposition?

Hutch is rabbit-ing (somebody stop me!) away trying to weld fibreglass and metal together after the Midget was eaten by a blind BMW racer at the back end of last year. Lets hope the famous Midget makes it for Brands!

The list of modifications for the Team Neaves cars is literally to long to list here. Suffice to say the major changes are; Carbon Fibre Chassis, Hyabussa Engine Conversion, Dual Steering Wheels and an ex-Formula 1 quick lift jack. Early testing results are good and the Team have knocked over a minute off the class lap record at Brand Hatch.

Now for the class virgins;

Alan Brooke will be putting the eagerly anticipated 700bhp K-Series powered Metro through its paces for the first time at Brands, while in a surprising change of events brother Dave is opting to change absolutely nothing on his car.

Paul Luti will be piloting the 1000bhp lightened MG ZS of Ewart Kitson again after a good run at Cadwell. Rumour has it the underpowered ZS has spent the winter in a stable gorging itself on hay, so should be one to watch – especially when given to Paul, the not-so-tamed Scottish Race Driver.

Jonathan Wills is new to the series with Team 78 Racing and his 160 MG ZR, which will be the first ever entered in Group C. Isn’t it great to see some variety!

Dan Ludlow isn’t really a class C virgin, nor is he actually in Group C but is now sharing the helm of the Lunar Racing powered MG ZS, which after a winter in the stable with Ewarts ZS is now 200bhp up on last year and 3 tonnes lighter. Anthony Reid recently tested the car at Brands and got a very respectable lap time of 0.244 seconds, making it another one to watch.

Rockingham

Joking aside, Ollie’s pre-season testing at Rockingham was a nightmare. The weather was awful and half the BTCC grid were there to hold him up on the straights. But we did notice a great deal of diff oil coming out of the diff casing, which turned out to be a tiny pin hole in the axle. At £200 for the days testing, it was worth it just to find that out.

Further more, Ollie learned that the rain is scary, and to respect it…

In closing, we’re looking forward to the season opener at Brands as I’m sure you are. Hopefully it won’t be a copy of the processional F1 first race and we’ll get some good close racing…

It’ll be great to see all the faces again and we’ll see you soon.

Team Neaves

PS. Anyone who’s down for testing on the Friday is welcome to join us at the local boozer in the evening.

The usual suspects chose to confuse us all with a bit of a switch around for this meeting. Rob Spencer was waiting for his group C V8 to be straightened, and chose to bring out his group B V8. Barry ‘Vic Reeves’ Holmes switched to Simon Cripps’ group B 4 pot, leaving Terry Holmes to peddle his group C V8. Another interesting entry was Peter Andrews in Rob Huff’s group B 4 pot. With all this chopping and changing and the sun god smiling the scene was set for a great days racing!

In the usual fashion Team Neaves headed to the track, line-astern, for qualifying. Surprisingly both Dan and Ollie were glued to the back of Blaine for the duration, both having never driven the circuit before. The ‘formation flying’ continued when the grid was released:

1. Dan Ludlow
2. Simon Cripps
3. Blaine Neaves
4. Ollie Neaves
5. Dan Neaves

Full results here.

Race 1

The Team Neaves contingent would line up just behind the Mighty Metro and the Feral V8 of Simon Cripps. The lights went out and the drag race to the first corner began, Ollie got the better of Blaine off the line but the best start was by Dan, taking to the grass to pass Blaine into turn one. Dan was then better placed for turn two and slid round Ollie. The laps that followed were fraught; Ollie had the bit between his teeth, pressuring Dan around the notoriously narrow circuit. Meanwhile Blaine had his mirrors full of blue V8’s as Rob Spencer and Dave Brooke jostled for position behind. Rob saw the smallest of gaps on lap two and traded paint with Blaine’s rear quarter as the door was firmly shut!

Dan was getting more and more ragged as Ollie applied the pressure, coming alongside at Park on lap seven. Unfortunately he wasn’t to make it to the finish, pulling off towards the end of the race with electrical problems. Blaine held on to claim 4th behind Dan Ludlow, Simon Cripps and Dan in 3rd.

After the race we had some work to do on Ollie’s car, the throttle sensor had packed up so off we went to search for a new one! Special thanks go to the Burchill Racing pit crew and Alan Brooke, who provided the necessary bits to get him going again. Just another example of the spirit of the PBIC…

Race 2

The grid for race 2 was made up of the second fastest times in qualifying. This time Ollie would line up third, Dan forth and Blaine fifth, it seems Ollie found enough consistency in qualifying to out qualify his dad for the first time. As the lights went out Dan got a flying start again, cruising up to the bumper of Simon and drawing alongside Dan in the Metro. Going into the second corner Dan (Neaves) held the inside to take the place. Behind Ollie had been outsmarted by Terry Holmes and Blaine was hot in pursuit. Going up the back straight Dan Ludlow engaged warp speed to draw alongside Dan Neaves and made the pass into Park.

Ollie was tucked up behind Terry waiting for an opportunity to pass, coming out of Barn Ollie got a good run but before he could capitalise the electrical gremlin returned forcing him to take to the pit lane. Terry, Blaine and Rob Spencer were tied together with a piece of string with Dave Brooke loitering with intent. Dan was pulling a steady pace in third but on lap 4 something wasn’t right, an odd scraping sound had emerged somewhere in the car… coming down the Gooseneck the car fell out of gear, later it became apparent the gearbox cross member had dropped on one side! At this point thanks go to Terry, Rob, Blaine and Dave for finding their way round the back of Dan’s slowing car.

The following laps were manic as Terry, Rob and Blaine traded places, Rob out braked himself into Park a couple of times as you can see from Blaine’s video. By the end it was Blaine ahead of Rob and Terry to take third.

All race long Simon Cripps and Dan Ludlow were battling harder than ever, on the last lap they were side by side coming out of Bobbies onto the back straight when disaster struck. Simon’s characteristically unruly rear end made a bid for freedom and in an effort to correct the slide Simon contacted Dan, with that Simon speared off the track and cart-wheeled along the tyre barrier. Thankfully he was ok and was out of car quickly, but this brought an end to an otherwise fantastic race!

Results here

Well, there you have it, Blaine has always said the first son to beat him would get a trophy, but surely he didn’t think he’d be buying it so soon! Also, as has already been said, rent has gone up considerably since the races.

It’s a great shame that Ollie didn’t finish a race, but all the cars showed great potential, which will make the season finale at Snetterton a must see.

See you all there.

Team Neaves

It promised to be an interesting spectacle with a few old faces back on the track, such as Andy Young (MGC) and Paul Rayment (MGF Cup). With the weather bright and breezy and Blaine with his new slicks on the three cars headed out for Qualifying on a dry track.

On the first lap Blaine got a puncture, which turned out to be one of the new tyre valves for the in car pressure monitor, which had come undone. Which left the Blaine’s Boys (even the commentators call us that now!) to find their own way round. The lap times were tumbling from an initial lap of 1.51 – only 10 seconds off the pace!! By lap 4 both were in the 1.48’s when lightning struck the number 3 car of Dan, when the car died changing into fifth. It turned out to be a electrical plug for the ignition which had popped of somehow – very odd considering it’s got a metal retaining clip! Ollie shaved more time off to qualify 13th on a low 1.47, with Dan in 21st on a 1.48 and Blaine 43rd after completing the mandatory 3 laps on his flat rubber.

It was no surprise to see Andy Young in the yellow rocket on pole - de-tuned my eye…  Simon Cripps and Dan Ludlow looked set for another monumental battle in 2nd and 3rd respectively.    The three were over two seconds quicker than anyone else – with Andy on a 1.41.

Apparently Andy was allowed to race with us as his car had been de-tuned due to reliebility issues.  We’re thinking of inviting him round to de-tune ours…

Blaine’s tyre was fixed and Dans car was plugged back in ready for the race, which was sunny and dry.   Two thirds on Team Neaves fluffed the start completely   Dan - by now gaining a reputation for reliability issues(!) had the same problem as in Quali as he tried to control his off-the-line-wheelspin, the sensor plug came off the ignition coil, and he couldn’t get it going again.   Ollie stalled – he clearly hadn’t had his Weatabix as the new clutch spring is a lot stiffer!  When Ollie got going again he had dropped to about 25th place, with the fast starting Blaine bearing down on him within a lap!  Blaine and Ollie then swapped places, Ollie swears he let his dad through… The pair fought through the field, battling with various cars and trading places all the way.  Ollie traded places twice with Paul Rayment in the MGF Cup (21), he and Blaine then managed to get the better of Ben Rodziewicz (87) and Paul Rigg (76).  When the fast charging MGC of Andy Young appeared in the mirrors the pair thought they were being lapped, they clearly didn’t notice the absence of blue flags – Andy, who was recovering after a first lap incident was apparently allowed to slip passed all to easily!  By the last corner of the last lap the pair were 14th and 15th, just behind Lew Bergonzi, as they headed for the line Ollie held a tighter line around Woodcote and went for the pass, missing out by only 0.02 secs!!  Another kick in the shins for Blaine was that Ollie got a better lap of 1.46.3 vs his 1.46.4!

Andy Young suffered an early problem that dropped him down the field, only to fight back passed Blaine and Ollie for 12th.  The real excitement was between Simon Cripps and Dan Ludlow, who again put on a great show, Dan passed Simon mid race but then Simon got back through on the last lap.  Simon got a great lap of 1.40.9!

[View with PicLens]

12►

All told it could have been a better weekend for Team Neaves, at least Ollie got some good experience and Blaine nearly got a shock!  Mallory Park is the next race so we’ll see what happens there…

ps. Dave – if you read this, the tyre man was talking rubbish!

Team Neaves