Well, *I'm* excited. Official 2018 CSCC thread.

After an enforced year away from the race circuit, it’s near time for White Lightening to re-enter the fray in the Swinging Sixties series run by Fishy Dave of this parish.

The car has been to the paint shop and is looking smarter than it has ever looked (TF for that, thinks FD and my team of supporters/mates) - it was beginning to look rather battle-worn. Some improved suspension, refreshed engine, lighter heated windscreen and improved wiring will hopefully pay dividends.

A shakedown at Combe beckons on 5th April followed by the first race at Snetterton (200 which I haven’t driven - but should suit the car better than the 300 - WL likes fast circuits) on 8th April.

I’m rusty as hell so Combe is definitely required to get me back into order. Other rounds I’m currently planning to do include Silverstone International, Brands Indy and GP, Mallory and Donington GP.

Will be posting videos where possible.

I'm very excited about this too, MRS! Would love to catch you and White Lightning at at least one meeting this year - as well as the new Fishy-mobile...
We are hoping to go to watch the Howard's Day racing at Combe on Easter Monday. Will you be there (to scope out the new surface...)?

White LightEning - christened by my Alfa mates because I was obsessed with taking weight off the car

Will be great to see you, Jim. I probably won’t be at Combe as WL will need reassembling and fettling and I’m only doing a track day at Combe so I can take it steady and play myself in.

Might need some of your professional services (over and above my wife and kids scraping cars on the low wall at my new place). Need to reapply the yellow corner to WL - let me know if that’s something you can do.

Life’s been stupidly complicated. Wife’s had proper flu and Eve’s been in hospital (nothing too serious) but also hasn’t been able to go home. Sons are both back from university. I’m trying to get builder quotes for house re-mod and I’ve just been promoted at work (500 people now). Not to mention, a certain Alfa. Just found that the E Class has a broken road spring (coincidence after all the suspension work?) and Eve has a bone marrow test tomorrow too. Busy? Nah!

Best wishes for the season ahead MRS.

I did write lightening, but autocorrect knew better!
As a current flu victim, I understand MrsMRS's pain! Hope everything goes well with Eve and I think we'll definitely be able to help with your various scrapes...!

Oh no - get well soon, Jim.

Bloody autocorrect

Getting excited

Looks great! Good luck Richard for the new season, do you have a link to the race calendar?

https://www.classicsportscarclub.co.uk/race-calendar

Looking great! Would be happy to discuss any paintwork you may want doing...

Cool, thanks, Jim. I really just want that corner painted yellow again. I’ll PM you.

BTW - I’ve started to update my www.alfa.me.uk site to cover the racing I did in 2016 and started a 2018 blog too.

5 Alfas, 2 BMWs and 7 MGs in my class for Snetterton. The white #1 BMW was consistently quicker than me in previous races. Mind you, he reckons to have around 220bhp and sports independent rear suspension so he has a built-in advantage. One of the Alfas is the no expense spared car (£25k engine) that wasn’t that quick in 2016. I wonder if they’ve got to grips with it yet? On paper, it should definitely be quicker than me. And I’ve just Googled the second driver for that car - there’s a guy by the same name who is an historic Formula Ford 1600 champion and an Alfa series champion (from 20 years ago). It might very well be quick.

Lovely - highly jealous!

Well, life was breathed into the beast yesterday and today it goes on the rollers. Seeing the paint in the flesh, it’s looking really smart.

Added hassle is that the fire extinguisher regs have changed. That’s not a problem - my plan was to change the thing this year anyway. That’s before I discovered that you can’t buy a system for love nor money - even the manufacturer has run out of parts. What a cluster....

Because so many people are in the same boat, leniency on the regs should see me OK.

Finally went racing at Silverstone International circuit on Saturday after a failed engine prevented me racing at Snetterton.

Qualified 15th (6th in class) ex circa 43 - rusty driver and overinflated tyres and quali curtailed by a loose wire.

Finished 5th (4th in class) which was better than I expected - especially as I had a hesitant engine that meant, at its worst, I was losing up to 25kmh (3secs) on Hanger Straight alone. Frustrating to have no top end speed on a circuit like Silverstone.

Glad to hear you've managed to go racing! I'm sure you'll iron out the Gremlins !