Matthew Willoughby Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 As many of you will know by now, Mark Gibson and I are going to be doing occassional races in the Caterham Classic Graduates race series this year. This arrived in the post today so it looks like I am now a proper racing driver: Both Mark and I would welcome as much support as possible from our fellow sprinters so I thought I would put our race dates on here so you can put one, or more, in your diaries if you wish. Donington - Saturday 31st March - Me - timetable Brands Indy - 21st/22nd April - Mark - info Anglesey - 16th/17th June - Mark Cadwell - 8th/9th September - Me If you can't make it to Donington (but are interested) you could always watch it live on Motors TV if you have Sky. We may end up doing a couple of others but that will depend on funds and, maybe, sponsorship. The only clash with a club event is that Anglesey is the same weekend as Epynt. Each event is a double header with a race on each day of the weekend, apart from Donington where both races are on the Saturday. We will both be doing Class 3 again as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Englishmaninwales Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Matt Judith and I hope to see Mark (and you as I know you are travelling up too) at Anglesey Malcolm Edited by - Englishmaninwales on 9 Feb 2012 00:18:43 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardO Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Welcome aboard - will probably see you at one or two of those. But I'm in Supers, so shouldn't be getting in your way R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishy Dave Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Guessing it's your first season of racing? You will love it and be scared at the same time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Gibson Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 I would echo Matthew's comments - it would be great to have some moral support and also any tyre/handling tips from those in classes 1 and 2 would be very much appreciated as I have never competed on List 1As before 😳 Dave - It will be our first season racing. I have had a race licence since 1994 but never got off my 🙆🏻 and done anything about it. At the moment I am more scared than excited Matthew - you never told me that Brands is a support race for trucks and pickups. Best bring my own supply of Yorkie bars as the canteen is sure to sell out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt Pepper Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Mark, Are you racing both days? I'll try to come along as it's just 20 mins from home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Gibson Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 That would be great Chris. I haven't received the timetable yet but I would imagine that quali and race 1 would be Saturday and race 2 Sunday but maybe quali is Saturday and both races are on Sunday. Perhaps RichardO knows from his experience in the Grads? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magister Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Hope to come to watch at Donnington Matthew. Any spare tickets? 😬 PaulB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Willoughby Posted February 9, 2012 Author Share Posted February 9, 2012 Mark - the usual format is as you guessed. I had no idea until last night that Brands is a truck race meeting. It shoud make for some good spectating. Paul - it would be great to see you there but family have dibs on the tickets I'm afraid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardO Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Matt / Paul: There are usually spare tickets available in the grads coffee area. Usually there's a biscuit tin for you to deposit spares in / take extras from for a donation to the club charity. Mark: Format of the meeting varies according to number of other races and what they are. For something with a headline event (like trucks) we get slotted into the gaps. Trucks meetings have a habit of over running though (takes a while to straighten out the armco after they're done...) R Edited by - RichardO on 14 Feb 2012 07:41:19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Willoughby Posted March 10, 2012 Author Share Posted March 10, 2012 Well, we've had a shake down test at Blyton Park which went really well up until Mark broke the car at the end of the day! I mean until the car broke while Mark was driving. The timing was perfect as the day was nearly over and it could so easily have happened in a race. It turned out to be some gunk in a carb jet which has now been sorted along with a couple of other niggles. I've got some new wings on it to replace the battered old ones. Hopefully they will last at least until the end of the first qualifying session. I think we are now ready to go. I'm just waiting for this year's sponsors decals to arrive. I'll have to find space on there somewhere for a L7C sticker. I have entered Donington on the 31st March (3 weeks today - eek!) and Mark has entered Brands for the weekend of 21st/22nd March. It's all starting to get rather close but I'm still in the excited stage but the fear can't be far away now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James_Russell Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 It's no bad thing to be scared/excited, at least I hope not because I am too! There have been so many driver changes I don't know whether I'll be scoring podiums or 10th places! Matthew and Mark- a great season to be in classics and own a car. It is bigger than it has been for years! Right, I think today is the day that I get my car running for the first time October... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlymoFraser Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 Matt You are a very lucky boy and I am very jealous 😬 Might pop along and see you at Dornnington Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Willoughby Posted March 10, 2012 Author Share Posted March 10, 2012 James, I am absolutely certan that being scared is a healthy state to be in. I agree about it being a great year to be in Classics - bigger grids than for a long time and a great calendar. I have set myself a target of top 10 but will be satisfied with being within a second or two of the leaders. What is far more important is that I enjoy the racing and stay out of trouble. At the moment I can honestly say I have no idea how competitive I will be. Neil, it would be great to see you there The more support the better. Just don't expect me to be too talkative as I may be a tad preoccupied Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Gibson Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 Sorry again about that Matthew - I think the car drove fantastically considering it hadn't been run for about a year. I am now a convert to List tyres - what a laugh they are 😬 I will be at Donington and have traded in my "I hate Matthew Willoughby" logo'd sprint t-shirt for a "Go Matthew" racing t-shirt. Don't worry Matthew, I will be happy to chat to your fans while you are pre-occupied Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Willoughby Posted March 10, 2012 Author Share Posted March 10, 2012 I am now a convert to List tyres - what a laugh they are 😬 Yes, they're rubbish aren't they! It should be even more of a laugh now that the rear has been raised a bit so that it shouldn't suffer from plough on understeer everywhere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James_Russell Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 Your car has the Spax suspension which makes it very different to drive to the Bilstein cars. Either way, live axle and list 1A tyres equal a very good grip-to-slip ratio in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Willoughby Posted March 10, 2012 Author Share Posted March 10, 2012 James, you have to remember that Mark and I are used to super soft compound list 1b Kumhos that grip like mad until they overheat which happens after about 3 minutes use. They are much, much stickier than the A048s used by the Super and Mega Grads. After those the Yoko 539s are a bit comical. I agree that they are a good match to the power of the car though, we just need to make the back of the car do some of the work as it just wanted to go straight on all the time at Blyton. Andy McMillan told me that the Spax dampers I have aren't as good as the Bilsteins, so that can be added to the list of spurious excuse that I'll spout when it turns out that I can't drive for toffee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James_Russell Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 Don't worry, I wasn't defending them- they don't offer much in terms of grip and don't get a great deal better with heat! Getting back into my car after Dad's it feels like they're inflated to 50PSI... Re: the suspension, the Spax is much more comfortable so you'll obviously suffer less fatigue, so the 'suspension not as good as Bilstein' excuse is nullified . I was surprised how different it is though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Willoughby Posted March 11, 2012 Author Share Posted March 11, 2012 "Comfortable" definately sounds slow to me so I think I'll keep it in the book of excuses They are very soft, I agree. What tyre pressures do you run? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Gibson Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Just a reminder that Matthew's first Classic Grads race day is at Donington on Saturday. Qualifying is at 10.30am, Race 1 is at 1.30pm and Race 2 is at 4.05pm (times subject to change etc...). I will be there all day watching so come and say hi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James_Russell Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Oops sorry, forgot about your question Matthew. When I started everyone seemed to recommend 25PSI hot but I can be higher or lower depending on conditions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishy Dave Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Good luck guys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Area Representative Nick Chan Posted March 29, 2012 Area Representative Share Posted March 29, 2012 Is there a charge to come along and watch? If so, how much is the usual entry fee, does any one know? I might try and get along weather and jobs dependent! Cheers Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa Beezer Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 I think tickets are £15, Nick. Looking forward to being there to support Matthew - should be a great day. Now where did I put my Willoughby Racing t-shirt...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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