August was our most hectic month so far

We cannot believe it’s September already! August has flown by, and has been extremely busy racing wise.

Young Frankie has had another successful month. He has won 2 championships, both at Buxton. On the 5th of August he won the final and then won the Enduro, and three weeks later he won the Northern & Midland Championship.

He has also reclaimed his silver stripes back from Faye Smith #48. Can he hold on to them? This weekend he starts from pole position for the gold top race at Barford so fingers crossed.

Phoebe Kaye has only raced twice during August and has managed to remain a red top. Both meetings were at Coventry where she consistently picked up 6th, 7th, and 8th places. She’s a joy to watch and is starting to mix it a little. She seems to read a race well and is very good in traffic.

It was fun and games going back to Stoke after 12 years. Both trucks set off and it soon became clear that it wasnt going to be a straightforward journey! The big truck that was being driven by Dad started to splutter. We managed to get 12 miles from home before we decided to dump the big truck in a layby. Dad hopped in with me and we drove back to the farm to pick up his orange flat loader. We left Danny and mechanics to start unloading the cars and gear ready for a quick swap!

Unfortunately we were taking a car for Tony Smith to race but no longer had the room, so apologies to Tony for that. By now were running about 90 minutes late! A mad dash by all we finally got back on the road and arrived at Stoke just in time for JJ’s heat. The meeting went well for the 2 of us with us both winning a race.

Our trip to Venray was enjoyable. It was nice to enjoy the social side in the evenings. The racing however wasn’t our most successful visit. I broke a diff in practice which damaged my back axle. It was a big rush to repair it for the time trials and we put the wrong ratio diff in.

During the time trials Danny and Tom Harris looked to be the quickest out there and to be honest I thought I was a bit quicker than 1 or 2 others?

Despite this we were positioned for the big race in the order they thought to be right. I started in 19th position. I knew I had my work cut out. Gave a bit of front bumper here and there and finished in fourth. Danny was very unlucky, he was having a great race and up to third before his engine blew big style.

The British drivers did GB proud though, all finishing in good places especially Tom Harris who took on Keijzer and won his first World title. Congratulations!

The shootout has now got underway. I had a reasonable night at Birmingham, won the first heat but the engine somehow didn’t seem right. Thankfully it wasn’t too serious. I got fourth in heat 2, ninth in the final, and third in the Grand National. Danny’s evening didn’t go very well at all. He was using his shale car and managed to score just 1 point.

After Young Frankie’s successful afternoon at Buxton on Bank Holiday Monday we made a quick dash to Belle Vue. I had taken the ‘big’ truck there 7.30 this morning followed closely by Sam in the mini truck. We knew it was going to a a push to get to BV, but it was worth a try.

As expected we arrived late, my car was ready but as we pulled up to the gate the rolling lap for my heat had just started. Thankfully I was still able to go out for the final with it being an ‘all in’ meeting. As it turned out it was all worth the effort, as I won the final!

I’m not sure if it made history, father and son winning a final on the same day? So a very tiring day to say the least. Didn’t have any trouble falling asleep when we got back!

We have had the pleasure of Andy & Michelle McCabe’s company for the last few weeks. New Zealand and 240s Champion Andy has been using Danny’s old shale car. He has done his best getting used to racing on the tarmac. However, his recent meeting at Coventry didn’t end too well.

During the Grand National without realising Andy’s front left brake broke. As he hit the brakes the car turned immediately right into the wall. The impact was very hard and Andy has been extremely sore as a result. The car wasn’t too clever either! It’s currently being rebuilt, chassis legs, engine mounts, front axle, you name it.

The second round for the shootout at Coventry went pretty well. I crossed the line in second place in my first heat. During the final I got spun out and dropped to 19th place so I was pretty happy to get back up to fourth position. Another good result for me in the national with third. It’s early days but I think I’m leading the points by a very small margin.

Danny’s heat went well, finishing fourth. His final wasn’t great after getting a flat tyre and pulling off. He was going well in the National until 55 walled him up. So he’s not had the best of starts for the shootout really, but things can change.

Anyway, as mentioned earlier it’s young Frankie’s World Final/Gold top race this weekend! There’s a lot of good quick drivers starting off the front 4 rows, he will need ‘lady luck’ so I hope she’s there on the day! I hope she makes it to my World Final the week after too!

Once again thanks to our fans for your never-ending support! And big thanks to all the people that supplied photos for this report, sorry we didn’t have room to use them all!

Cheers,
Frankie.

A photo gallery of the September Coventry meeting is here.