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Three Sisters Sprint: National B

Date: Sunday 5th August, 2012.

Location: Three Sisters Race Track - Wigan

The reason for the change, hopefully for one year only, to a one day event is to minimise the effects of the clash of dates with the Harewood hillclimb. Sadly a small entry is not good for entrants and marshals as it reduces the level of competition and leads to class amalgamations. Additionally the clash this year lead to a significant financial loss for both clubs and we are anxious to avoid a repetition in 2012.The organisers at Harewood have indicated that they will be moving dates in 2013 so the problem should resolve itself by then.

Reverend Barry Whitehead explodes!

As the cut off date approached the entry was disappointing to say the least but some quick work on calculators by Bob Chesters and David Bell showed that cancelling would cost considerably more than running the event so we stuck with it. Basically with a significant number of championships including our own the entry should have been much larger had so far appeared. Thankfully at the last minute the Chesters door mat and phone began receiving entries. In the end a decent entry was achieved for both days but it looks like there will be some financial pain for both clubs.

The Saturday was the traditional Lancashire Automobile ‘two lap’ format. The entry of almost 60 cars was welcomed by a wet and overcast morning. All the entrants were given the opportunity to walk the course whilst the marshals got into position. Then bang on time the first convoy runs lead by Joint Clerks of Course Bob Chesters and David Bell began circulating the track. This allows the competitors not only to see the track layout and understand the working of the split which allows the two lap layout but also to find where the puddles are before practice.

Practice over, and a proper lunch period given to the marshals, we got stuck into timed runs in the afternoon. Conditions proved variable but most got a least one ‘dry’ run in as the afternoon progressed. Eve Whitehead took a significant off road excursion in the RBS at the bottom of the hill but appeared unharmed – more of this later. As the last run commenced a light rain could be felt which proved sufficient to raise the grease and oil in the track preventing any improvement in times.

With the depleted field, and some very efficient marshalling dealing with incidents it proved possible to run 4 timed runs in the afternoon. This is the first time at a two lap event at 3 Sisters this has been achieved! Sunday started dry but much water faced the marshals on the course from the previous nights downpour. In particular the Esses (which are avoided by the two lap layout) were well and trult flooded. It took nearly an hour of brushing by the marshals to get the track clear. Despite this the convoy runs started on time and practice got underway as planned.

In the small capacity racing car class competition was fierce with less than a second covering the first three cars. Eve Whitehead came 4th being hampered by a very wobbly front wing on the RBS this being the result of the previous day’s off. The meaning of RBS was they agreed by all to stand for Rotten Bits of String as attempts were made to keep the wing under control. Paul Masters again took the class from Gary Thomas with Craig Powers coming home an unaccustomed third. You couldn’t say Craig wasn’t trying as on his last run he pirouetted between the bales going into the second corner. Back brakes completely locked. Nothing hit; marks out of ten for technique 2; marks out of ten for style 9!

Three Sisters 2008

This years 3 Sisters event was a little different. Once again we ran a joint event with Chester Motor Club but this time we had two events over a weekend with a two lap layout on the Saturday and a single lap event on the Sunday.

This is a big ask of any organizational team and it may be worth explaining how we got into this position. For a ‘normal’ event you get the date well in advance giving you time to layout your plans, contact championships and generally get things in place. Three Sisters 2008 was going to be a little different!

The circuit went through it’s normal diary fixing procedure attempting to square the circle of balancing the different needs and demands from the users of the circuit and the environmental restrictions. Don’t forget that as well as sprints there are rallies, karts, bikes, scooters, quads and commercial events to cater for.
Being honest from the circuits point of view sprints are not a major revenue earner so we are grateful for all we can get.

Initially we were offered the Saturday and proceeded on that basis getting championships on board and making arrangements. As always we pressed for an additional date and were pleased when the circuit found they had a date free due to the cancellation by another user. That pleasure turned to concern however when the only date we could use, mainly due to environmental considerations and the need for gaps between competitive weekends, turned out to be the Sunday. Obviously we were now well into the dates setting process and very late in the year to attract championships (which guarantee entries).
The organizers were now faced with some tough choices:

- Accepting the date would stretch resources
- Refusing after seeking the date would probably mean we would not get the same offer

in the future
- Running with few championships on the Sunday would lead to a lower entry

In the interests of motorsport in the Northwest and our entrants a joint decision was made to proceed with the two day two event format. Giving entrants a choice of layouts on the two days would help and the single lap format reduces marshalling needs on the second day.

Bob Chesters and his wife Jeanette started putting in the hard slog supported by David Bell from the LAC. Everything was quickly put in place. By using the same start and finish locations on the circuit we could minimize changes overnight. The new timekeeping gear is wireless so no need to put out kilometers of wire; a big plus.

Despite our best endeavors we failed to obtain any major championships outside our own club and local championships for the Sunday but we had attracted a good spread of championships for the Saturday. Some entrants asked if they could stay overnight. This was arranged with the circuit provided we supplied security cover over night, a reasonable request to the benefit of entrants.

As entries rolled in it was quickly apparent we would have an excellent entry on the Saturday but would be low on numbers on the Sunday. Again the team had to make a decision:

- Would there be sufficient competition to warrant the Sunday event?
- Could the finances stand the overall strain?
- How would the circuit view a cancellation?

The initial view was to wait and see but as the closing date approached the Sunday entry, although low, looked competitive. We could give more runs and better value for money.

Now it’s worth mentioning here that the major costs for a two lap and a single lap sprint are similar. The circuit charges by the day not per car and the MSA charges per car are the same. There are savings on manpower costs but the timekeeper costs the same. With the low entry a loss on the day was inevitable. But there are costs in canceling and these would outweigh the costs of continuing.
Given we had a competitive event (by that I mean we had competitions within individual classes of 4 or 5 cars rather than 20 classes with one or two cars) and that the clubs should not loose to much the decision was made to press ahead.

It proved to be the right one as both days were smashing events. The Sunday proved close competition despite some rain showers and was notable due to the lack of red flags and any incidents at all.

So what happens in 2009 we will press for the two days again this time with adequate time to attract the championships. As an added bonus we are working on a new single lap layout about 20% loger than the existing and taking in more of the circuit – watch this space.

Chris Lee

2008 Speed Championship

Chris Lee's calculator has been working overtime! After much burning of the midnight oil the provisional results are available for the 2008 Speed Championship.

With thirteen rounds scheduled divining the winner was never going to be easy. Just getting a complete set of results proved ahem challenging. One round at Anglesey was lost with the awful summer weather and a serious accident in practice resulting in cancellation of the event. So with the best 5 rounds of the remaining 12 championship rounds to count the results could be calculated.

In third place with 502.44 points is Eve Whitehead with an excellent score at the LAC Three Sisters contributing to an overall average of over 100 points per round.

In second place with 523.71 points Craig Powers came very close to an outright win but was pipped at the line.

Taking the overall honours with 531.00 points Derek Martlew consistently scored well in every round in his Van Dieman RF87 Formula Ford.

The awards will be presented at our annual diner dance at the Moorcock on 7th February. Book you tickets now for a great evening.

This has to have been one of the wettest summers on record and 3 Sisters on a rainy day can be miserable. Indeed when devising the ‘two lap’ layout a section of track known as the Esses was deliberately avoided.

The weather forecast at the beginning of the week had been gloomy. Most of the week had been mildly moist to say the least so the omens were not good for the record entry on the Sunday. Our joint Clerks of Course had wisely limited the entry to 130. Not as many as a single lapper can take but given the extra track time involved in two laps a wise decision.

Now we run the 3 Sisters event in conjunction with Chester Motor Club and share responsibilities and duties. Our own Ronn Middleton (note the two ‘n’s) acts as Joint Clerk of Course with Chester Motor Clubs Bob Chesters and Jan Lee works with Jeanette Chesters in the Secretaries office. This gives us ‘strength in depth’ which frankly neither club could muster on its own. The advantages of this arrangement became apparent when the results compiler, from Chester MC, fell and broke his leg in the week before the event. Our own Peter Stanfield and Alwyn Davis were able to step in and run the results. Not without difficulties but never the less successfully. It is always difficult to take on someone else’s programme; inputting was easy but when it came to individual cars moving classes or class amalgamations things can get fraught!

This cooperation went right through the organization with the LAC lead by Martin Wylie running the start line and marshals posts being fully manned by both Chester and LAC marshals. Both Clubs provided Stewards with Mike Wood flying the LAC banner.

As already mentioned we had a capacity entry and the paddock was ably run in his inimitable style by Nigel Whitaker. The fact that all cars ran to class and in numerical order is a testimony not only to the paddock team but also the competitors themselves.

By careful spacing of the cars we can get up to four competitors on the track at once. As no overtaking is allowed in sprints this spacing is crucial to both the running of the event and the safety of the competitors. If a competitor is sat on the start line the green light is given with a previous competitor (on their second lap) just entering Rogersons straight and a second competitor (on their first lap) entering the Esses. A third competitor may be crossing the finish line at this point giving us the four cars on the track. Normally we are at about 3 by the time the new car leaves the start line.

The observant amongst you will have spotted that there is a limited amount of time a competitor can sit on the line before the other competitor has made their way round the hairpin by the Joey Dunlop corner and are thundering up the School Start Finish Straight. The thought of a coming together at this point is unthinkable and for this reason the lights are turned back to red as the car leaves the Esses. This gives the start line crew an unenviable task of lining up the cars at the right moment and getting them out into the right slot. Couple this with the often significant performance differences between cars and competitors and in reality they are playing a form of 3 dimensional chess – for eight hours!

What about the competitor who was entering Rogersons Straight when the green light was given I hear you ask. Well as they were on their second lap they disappear off up the Pentith Climb to the Finish well clear of the others. That is unless they decide to do a third lap! Boy does that mess things up.

Anyway back to the event. The organizing team was there from about 07.00 and the forecast rain was notable by its absence. Indeed the supply of sun tan lotion would be in demand for the entire event. The circuit was set up and over 1km of wire laid out for the results team. Signing on was going apace with the Secretaries team encamped in the circuit offices, a much better arrangement than the huts by the start line.

Rob Liversage turned up with the timing gear and the timing crew were soon working hard to get the equipment set up for a 10.00 start. Bang on 10.00 the first familiarization convoy was lead off by Ronn and tailed by Bob Chesters. By 10.20 we were ready for the first practice runs; things were going well – perhaps too well!

The weather was glorious with the sun literally beating down. First car on the line, set up for an amber light, what no amber. Move the car. Forwards, backwards still no light. The gear was adjusted, amber on, first car away. Second car on the line, amber on, green light second car away. Third car on line, what no amber light! Adjust gear, amber on green light third car away. This was to be the pattern for the early part of practice. The bright sunlight was playing havoc with the timing lights. Rob and his team were doing a sterling job but the conditions were making life difficult for both the timing and start line crews.

As was explained previously unlike a single lap event with a two lapper there is a limited safe slot to get the cars onto the track. The problems with the lights would have a minimal effect on a single lap event as there are no issues if a car starts ‘late’ but on a two lapper a car cannot start ‘late’ so the slot has to be missed for the safety of the competitor. No major incidents occurred and Ronn wasn’t kept over employed dealing with trackside incidents although Paul Norris in the Talbot Sunbeam looked to be having a big one as he closed on the finish line at full speed. The damage to the trackside barriers appeared greater than the damage to the car and time was lost rebuilding the barriers. As a result practice did not flow as smoothly as we would have liked. Rob worked hard to correct the issues and over the lunch break got the whole system working well.

Thanks to the efforts of all involved we managed to get two timed runs in after lunch.

In Class 1A, Roadgoing Production saloon and sports cars up to 1400cc, less than two seconds covered the first three cars with Martin Rowe in his Peugeot 106 emerging as a clear victor in a time of 85.10sec from David West and Paul English in their Mini Coopers.

Class 1B, Roadgoing Production saloon and sports cars over 1400cc and up to 2000cc, had a large entry which was dominated by a group of Lotus Elise with Bobby Fryers taking the honors in a time of 82.37 from Mark Teale. Only Paul Walters in his Fiesta XR2 in third place stopped an Elise whitewash in the top places.

Class 1C, Roadgoing Production saloon and sports cars over 2000cc, had only 3 entries and Mark Walwork in his Ford Sierra was a clear winner with a time of 83.23sec from Keith Calder in a rather splendid Porsche 911 Carrera 2.

Class 1D was for Cars Entered in the Morgan Sports Car Club Parc Ferme Speed Championship on Handicap and had a good entry with Simon Baines in a Morgan Plus 8 leading home a field of 10 cars with a time of 82.80.

Class 2A took us into the kit cars and was for Road modified kit, replica and spaceframed cars with car derived engines up to 1700cc. For WESTFIELD CHAMPIONSHIP ONLY - engines up to 1800cc. As usual there was a good entry with Henry Moohouse in a Wesfield SE being consistently fast throughout the day and eventually clocking 79.33 to lead home Jim Spencer in his Raw Striker.

Class 2B, Road modified kit, replica and spaceframed cars with car derived engines over 1700cc, was won by Ash Mason Westfield SEi with a time of 78.84.

Class 3A, Modified production cars excluding kit, replica and spaceframed cars up to 1400cc proved a breeze for Alan Cox in the Rover Mini who won by over 6 seconds from Paul Webb Rover Metro with a time of 80.74.

Class 3B, Modified production cars excluding kit, replica and spaceframed cars over 1400cc up to 2000cc, proved to be a Peugeot V Lotus battle with honours split evenly between the two marques. Paul Perkins, Peugeot 205 GTI, eventually taking the honours with a time of 78.72 from the Lotus Elise of Gary Thomas.

Class 3C provided a close fought battle with Simon Allaby Triumph in a thundering TR7 V8 just piping Stephen Hemingways Vauxhall Chevette HS with a time of 85.36. Just 0.39 sec dividing the two in the class for Modified production cars excluding kit, replica and spaceframed cars over 2000cc.

Colin Birkbeck, Caterham 7, was on his own in Class 3D, Modified production kit, replica and spaceframed cars with car derived engines up to 1800cc, but his time of 76.31 would have been good enough to have taken second in Class 3E. An outstanding performance.

In Class 3E itself James Cummings also in a Caterham 7 came home first with 75.11 from Jim O’Neill, Westfield SEW, who had a time of 77.13.

Class 3F, Modified production kit, replica and spaceframed cars with motor cycle derived engines, was taken by Paul Bowness, MK Indy ZX12, who piped Chris Boyd, Westfield Busa, by under 0.3 sec with a time of 78.61.

Moving to the combined classes 4A/B, Sports Libre Cars and Hillclimb Supersports Cars, Stuart Nelson, Rover Haggispeed, beat his brother, Pete, to first place with a time of 73.94.

Classes 5A and B were also amalgamated into a class for Racing cars up to 1100cc. Here the times really began to tumble with Mark Hemingway in the Force HC taking a fairly comfortable win from Henryk Kozlowski, Jedi MK1/6, in a time of 66.53. Mark took Best Time of Day with his time and so Henryk took home the class winners Trophy.

There was a disappointing entry in Class 5C, Formula Ford 1600 Racing Cars manufactured before 1st January 1994, with Derek Martlew in the Van Dieman RF87 being the sole contender with a time of 77.95.

Four cars contested Class 5E, Racing cars 1600cc up to 2000cc, and Richard and Simon Keen had a see saw battle for class honours in their Reynard 923. In the end Richard was to prove the victor with a time of 69.38.

My personal favourite car of the event was on its own in Class 6A1, Pre-1941 Vintage & PVT Cars as defined by the VSCC, being an Austin Monoposto, single seater, which had recently been back to its spiritual home of Brooklands as part of the Brooklands Centenary Celebrations. No fast but glorious to watch never the less. A time of 114.04 clearly demonstrates the development of cars in terms of speed and handling over the years.

Class 6A2 was for Historic cars manufactured before 31/12/68 over 1600cc and represents an interesting area for sprinting. Cars included Triumph TRs and, to Bernard Jones’s delight, big Healeys. The Triumph TR4A of Ronnie Clayton took the class with a time of 89.42 from Martin Russel Bury in a impressive Austin Healey MKIII.

The final class was Class 6B for Historic cars manufactured before 31/12/74 up to 1600cc and here Paul Ellis in his MG Midget emerged the victor after a close tussle with Graham Thomas, Faithorpe Electron Minor MK1. Paul eventually squeezing home in a time of 91.19.

The timed runs were completed before 17.30 and the awards were presented by our own Ted Heath as President of the LAC. Me well I had to leave at 4.30 to get to a meeting in Glasgow that evening. The weather in the borders was wet, very wet but 3 Sisters had surprised us all and stayed glorious and above all dry to the end. All that had to be done was roll in 1km of wire and collect all the equipment.

Many thanks to all involved a fine effort by all. Anyone I didn’t mention knows they played their part and can blame their absence from this report on my advancing years.

As always the Fastest Time of Day was expected from Class 5B and Mark Hemingway, from Workington, in the Force HC duly delivered with a time of 70.11. This left last years FTD Henryk Kozlowski to take the class honors in his Jedi MK 1/6 with a time of 70.67. Henryk had led a contingent from South Wales and found the journey all the way from Cardiff worthwhile. There was a large entry in this class which included our Ladies Award Winner Eve Whithead, representing the LAC, in the RBS6. Despite some, ahem, interesting handling characteristics Eve recorded a creditable 75.11. Just how interesting the handling was can be seen by her father (and the cars designer/builders) time of 80.11. And Barry is no slouch!

As the second run progressed the skies lightened making the decision to only have two timed runs look doubtful. The event was over by 4.00pm and another run was possible but not practicable as announcements had already been made and notices posted. Things took a different light as the marshals packed up. Within minutes the skies darkened and heavy rain was lashing the course before the awards got under way. The judgment of the joint Clerks of Course was vindicated. Still it bodes well for 2007 as three runs were definitely on the cards before the weather set in.

EVENT REPORT 2005

The LAC 3 Sisters Sprint 14th

August 2005

It was obvious from the times some battles were developing in several classes. In Group 1 Gary Thomas was leading Russell Herring by less than 0.2 seconds and in Group 4 A&B combined Howard Parkinson held the narrowest of leads over Les Proctor. In the top single seater Group Glyn Sketchly was keeping the eventual FTD competitor Heinrich Kozlowski honest with both Ian Palmer and Ian Scott in close pursuit. There was only the final run to sort out the final positions and the skies were beginning to look threatening. It looked like the early runners would be in the dry but the conditions for the latter runners was any bodies guess.

EVENT REPORT (2002)

3 Sisters Speed Sprint

August 2002

Three Sisters Race Circuit

For the first time in this the LAC’s centenary year an event was not subjected to a torrent of rain, although that’s not to say that gentle precipitation past this event by.

Cast your minds back to Sunday June 14th to the Veteran-Vintage-Classic and to the soaking of one and all. To Sunday 4th August and the return journey from Scarborough on the Coast to Coast to Coast. This on top of the evening of the Centenary Celebration Dinner and yes, you could say that we’ve had our fair share of rain in this our 100th year!

However, the weather was bright and mild for the annual sprint meeting at the Three Sisters Circuit, Wigan, on Sunday 11th August. Although it did not stay fine for the whole day we did enjoy a modest amount of sunshine and a warm and temperate breeze.

"...convinced that all was safe and sound."

For those who have not been to this event the circuit comprises a compact track located on an industrial estate in Ashton-in-Makerfield. As usual this is the only two lapper to be put on at the circuit but even this had undergone a change this year. The clubs competition secretary, Chris Lee, had for some time been pondering a change to the days proceedings. His idea was to use the infield part of the track, with its sweeping corners, to add a little variation for those competing. The go ahead given by the course owners it only needed the MSA RAC steward to be convinced that all was safe and sound. We need not have worried. Chris is to safety what Rockafella is to money. And so Mr Hooper, the official MSA RAC steward, gave his approval and the days sprinting was about to commence.

"...it was not without incident."

After the marshals’ and drivers’ briefings the Clerk of the Course, Ronn Middleton, decided to allow the competitors to undertake a familiarisation lap. Most drivers undertook the opportunity to follow Ronn around the circuit and all seemed to understand the format. And so just after 10:00am car number 1, a Renault 11 turbo driven by Alan Linnington, accelerated away from the start line under the watchful guidance of Ronn, Chris and a start line crew of three. Familiar faces driving familiar cars posted impressive times during the morning two practice starts. However, it was not without incident.

Late in the session car number 2121, an MG Sprite, driven by James McKie of the MG car club, accelerated out of the gentle right hander leading on to Conrod Straight. As he approached marshal point number one his car veered to the left and onto the grass at the side of the track. The car propelled itself up the embankment and then dropped back down onto the circuit colliding with the tyre barriers. By now the car was on its right hand side and had lost most of its momentum. The impact was so severe that at least one tyre flew into the marshal’s post shattering its perspex window. The red flags came out and marshal’s raced to the scene. Mick Hunsley and John Hurst were one of the first to get to the driver who miraculously gave the thumbs up and insisted that he was ok. With great relief he walked from his badly damaged car and was taken back to the pits. Such was the damage to the car it had to be bounced it in order to get it onto the runners of the wrecker due to the distorted
alignment of both front wheels.

After rearranging the tyre barriers and sweeping the track the session continued without further incident. Lunchtime came upon us soon afterwards. Whilst the drivers and their crews made last minute adjustments the rest of us enjoyed a rest together with something to eat and drink. Clouds were beginning to gather over the circuit. Would we be lucky and escape yet another wetting? Only time would tell.

"...veered to the left and struck the tyre barriers"

The afternoon session had only just got into full swing when the second incident of the day occurred. Car number 16, a 1970 Austin Morris Mini, driven by Michael Wilkinson accelerated along Conrod Straight, again approaching marshal point number one. He some how lost control and veered to the left and struck the tyre barriers. The impact ripped off his front left wing. Again, thankfully, the driver was able to walk away from the wreckage and swift intervention by the marshals’ ensured that the track was made safe. By now a gentle haze of rain had begun to fall making the track all the more trickier. Several drivers had spins, notably at the end of the pit straight and at Lunar Bend. As the rain persisted to fall the lap times increased and it was decided that a third run who be pointless from both a safety perspective and in view of the fact that nobody would be able to better the times already posted.

The awards ceremony took place in the clubhouse and many of those who had competed stayed for the prize giving. Special thanks are due at this point to Elaine Middleton, Ray Clarke and his wife (for compiling the results) and to Eric Heath and Myke Oldham (MSA timekeepers) for operating the timing devices and providing the lap times. As is usual at this event Chris Lee acted at master of ceremonies and Ronn Middleton handed out the awards.

It was surprising for me not to see Alan Templar pick up a class win in his Vauxhall Astra. In all the years that I’ve been to Three Sisters I cannot recall a time when he went home empty handed! It was nice to see Mr Hooper, the MSA RAC steward, stay for the awards ceremony
and he was dutifully asked to present Geoffrey Cowell with the Scottish Legal Life trophy for the fastest time of the day.

"That’s a testament to how good this event really is."

Many thanks to the drivers of the various car clubs for competing, especially the Longton and District Motor Club, Nottingham Sports Car Club, the MG Car Club and the LAC. One driver (I cannot remember his name) had travelled from Devon to compete in this event and he had done this on more than one occasion!! That’s a testament to how good this event really is.

To conclude, it was another successful days sprinting, the drivers liked the revised circuit layout and the numbers who turned up to marshal ensured that we had a day to remember. It goes without saying but without marshals events such as this cannot take place. Many thanks to all who played their part and who travelled long distances And so to Scammondon Dam Hill Climb on Sunday 21st September.