HiFi Lounge Goes Motor Racing!

[JohnJo]

Just read through this and wanted to say what a fantastic thread!

Somewhat wasted on all of us who aren't motor racing followers but you can't help but be impressed with the effort you've approached this with, the whole team, car, equipment, suits etc. look so professional!

All the very best with your endeavour Paul, oh and love the great photos.

[HiFi Lounge]

Thanks John, really appreciate your message, it has certainly been a steep learning curve, much more difficult than I could have ever imagined to be honest but great fun though, just think my F1 career will have to wait a bit longer

[AJSki2fly]

Hi Paul,

Well having done a number of track days in my life in various fast cars, sprinted and hill climbed for several years I certainly understand your itch. You most certainly have jumped in the deep end, especially if you have never been on a track in a race in anger before. I just realised this was last year.

Wishing you all the best for this year, good luck and have fun. If you are at a circuit near to us I will try and come along and say hello.

Regards

Adrian

[Alex_UK]

Great read and some great photos Paul. Well done, I have a mate who races in an MG series so I can only imagine how much more time, effort and money the Radical series is taking! I'm only an hour or so from Snetterton so try and get along a few times a year with my lad - I see you have two visits this season so will try and come and say hello! Good luck for the year.

[HiFi Lounge]

Thanks Guys, appreciate the support, had an interesting race weekend at Brands just gone, bloody good ol British Summer time really kept us on our toes, at least the car survived unscathed, more than can be said for a few of my competitors.

Be great if you can make it along to any on the races, I need all the support I can get

[HiFi Lounge]

Brands Hatch Race Report!



Hi Everyone,

The races are coming thick and fast this year as we were at Brands Hatch this past weekend for race 5 & 6 on our calendar, unbelievably we are now half way through the season, I was really looking forward to racing at Brands again as I really enjoyed it last year but the weather really had different ideas.

In all honesty I much prefer dry conditions, especially at Brands as it is a track that really rewards a little attack but for the Friday test it was pretty much wet all day, we woke up Saturday morning to more rain and a drying qualifying session that got quicker with every lap which made it tricky to know how much grip there was but the weather looked promising for both races.

Race 1



So for race 1 we are all in the assembly area where we gather 20 minutes before race start, all on dry tyres but in the distance we could all see this very dark and menacing cloud getting closer and closer and then with only a few minutes to go the heavens opened as everyone was running around swapping the tyres over from dry’s to wets, it was all a little chaotic but I have to say a big thanks to the team who did a stellar job getting the car ready under pressure for the race start.

I must admit at the start of race 1 I really had no confidence, I actually think I drive my van quicker in the wet, but anyway at least I survived with a top 10 finish which when the conditions are like this then I’ll take that, below is the first lap of race 1 where you’ll see 2 cars spin off then another hits the pit wall at the end of the lap, all very entertaining



Race 2



For race 2 it was almost DeJa Vu as the track had dried out between races and what looked like the same cloud was hovering again in the same place but luckily the wind changed direction and the race stayed mainly dry, I was a bit hesitant at the start and got overtaken by a couple of cars then 2 cars went off into the barriers at Paddock Hill bend so we spent quite a bit of time behind the safety car then I had a great race with one of my competitors, I knew I was quicker but I just couldn’t find a way past but in the end with 2 laps to go I found an opening, overtook and pulled away but before I knew it the race was over, another top 10 finish though so could have been worse.

Have to say it was a brilliant weekend though where we had every condition to deal with in true British summertime fashion and it ended up being a lot of fun and the car stayed in one piece which was quite an achievement in my book.

Snetterton next at the end of July, I really hope this is a dry one and that I can attack more as I am a fair bit quicker this year so really want to race with the mid pack more as I have been racing more this year and it really has wetted my appetite for more.

Anyway please find a few pics below, thanks as ever to Ollie for taking some brilliant pictures and to the guys from 360 Racing for their support and our great HiFi Sponsors

Cheers,

Paul.

[HiFi Lounge]

Goodwood Festival of Speed 2019, Meeting my Motorsport Hero!



Hi Everyone,

I know this isn’t exactly HiFi related but I do know a lot of our customers are car and motorsport enthusiasts like myself so I just wanted to share a quick story. I’m sure loads of you have attended the Goodwood Festival of Speed over the years, I actually went to the very first one way back in 1993, it was almost like a garden party back then, and I have been going on and off ever since and have seen it grow massively over the years and it is still an incredible event to attend. Now I wasn’t going to go this year but a couple of weeks ago I read that a particular car was going to be there, now I was sceptical if it would be the actual car as it was also supposed to be paraded before the start of Le Mans this year but that was actually a replica, I am a bit of a nerd when it comes to this particular car, but I really didn’t want to risk missing this car coming over to the UK, I was actually planning to go out to make the trip to see it is it’s normal museum residence in the states so this actually seemed to good to be true.

But anyway I got there Friday morning at 7am and started my hunt, it isn’t easy trying to find one car amongst thousands at the biggest car gathering in the world, but after a couple of hours I saw those iconic Gulf Colours out the corner of my eye, I rushed over to the car and to my amazement it was the actual Ford GT40 Chassis Number P/1075, I actually really couldn’t believe that I was standing next to such an iconic car and it was just sitting there with no security and to be honest most people probably didn’t realise the significance of this particular GT40.



I have seen it read many times that it is considered the most valuable race car in the world today and as I mentioned it normally resides in the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit where I was planning to go to see it so I really never thought such a piece of history would be in the UK and be so accessible, I guess that is the power of Goodwood, So why is it so special? Well basically it is the only car to win Le Mans on 2 consecutive years of 1968 and 1969, I guess most car enthusiasts will know that Ford was in talks to buy Ferrari and when they fell through Henry Ford made it his mission to beat Ferrari at LeMans which he did for 4 consecutive years from 1966 to 1969 with the GT40, actually there is a big Hollywood film coming out later this year about this story, anyway not only is GT40 P/1075 remembered for it’s 2 wins it is also considered the winner for the greatest Le Mans race of all time in 1969 where is won by only 100 meters after 24 hours of racing, changing the lead 5 times on the last lap with the faster Porsche, you can view the video I took at Goodwood of Jackie Oliver discussing this incredible win below -



Finally another iconic moment of the 1969 race was that Jacky Ickx made a protest about safety at the start of the race, this was when the drivers used to race across the track to their cars and speed off without doing up their belts til they got down the Mulsanne Straight to get a quick start, so Jacky walked slowly across the track, climbed in, did his belts up then left the grid in last place and as it happened there was a big crash on the first lap where John Wolf was killed as he hadn’t done up his belts to get a quick start, so in the end with Jacky Ickx and Jackie Oliver behind the wheel they fought their way from last to win with Ickx crossing the line by the smallest of margins after 24 hours, quite incredible.

Anyway it was an amazing day and a real honour to see P/1075 up close and personal, I probably looked like some weird stalker as I spent all day admiring the car taking loads of video’s and pictures and I really struggled to leave at the end of the day as the chances are it may never come back to the UK again but at 8pm I dragged myself away.

There are a few more video’s on our YouTube page below and probably far too many pictures below.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPJOUerA5TrUPs0HpWORopg?view_as=subscriber













Jacky Oliver Re-United With P/1075 50 Years after it’s famous Le Mans win.

























Cheers,
Paul.

[struth]

superb pics of a super car. i remember them well, and are quite difficult, im told to drive fast. Good you didnt have to go all the way to the museum to see it..

[Alex_UK]

Great stuff Paul! I'm amazed they let it be run up the hill, but thank goodness they did and it isn't just festering away in the museum.

[AJSki2fly]

I sat in this when I was 9 years old, it was Paul Vestey's I believe he owned it for several years and entered in 69 Le Mans as a private entry. It was at a local garage in Ropley, Hants near to where he lived at the time. I think they maintained it for him and were possibly his race mechanics, there were quite a few pictures of it and other race cars on the office wall. My parents were buying a Vauxhall Cresta PB at the time, which turned out to have previously belonged to an Admiral, which is why my father kept getting saluted occasionally when he was out in it.