Northampton Motorsports' 2007 Birkett
The Birkett 6 hour relay race, which is run by the 750 Motor Club, is perhaps the only race of its type in the world. The race was first run in 1949 and was the brainchild of the Club’s chairman Holly Birket. It is unique because of the wide range of competing cars from saloon racers, pre and post war classics to modern sports cars running slicks and wings, which is where the handicap comes in.
Because of the significant difference in speed and cornering abilities, the organisers give all the teams a handicap based on their previous best lap around the Silverstone circuit or, an average based on the other team members times. As an example; a team of cars such as the 1910 vintage Fraser Nash GN team, which lapped Silverstone's national circuit in around 1:24 was given 50 credit laps. The Mallock MK35 team, lapped the national circuit in 1:02, and was only given 6 credit laps. For the Mallocks to beat the vintage Frazer Nash GN team the Mallocks would need to lap the Fraser Nash team 43 times.
The size and facilities at Silverstone mean that The Club can allow a maximum entry of 50 teams with up to 6 cars and drivers in each team. The changeover takes place as one team car exits the circuit the next car takes up the baton so to speak. Do not be fooled by the huge difference in lap times, all the drivers are pushing their cars right to the limit of their ability and will vigorously defend their position. The action is non stop, with 50 cars on track at any one time, a driver is always either overtaking or being overtaken. This makes the event great fun for the drivers and spectators alike. The challenge of the race is amplified by the need to keep your team cars running reliably and balancing the need to pass slower cars ruthlessly without contact or spinning off, as one spin can blow 25 laps of good fast driving.
In 2007, Northampton Motorsport entered a team of 4 drivers; Didier Prongue, Simon Pryke, Seamus Harding and Troy Robinson, who is the Managing Director of Northampton Motorsport. All the cars were 1800 cc zetec engined cars running to the same specification in which they competed for the Westfield Sports Car Championship. With an average lap time of around 1:08 the Westfields are fast, but lack the ultimate pace of the more powerful slick shod cars. They are however, reliable and have predictable handling giving all the drivers the confidence to go for the smallest gap when negotiating slower cars. The team was credited with 18 handicap laps so it was always going to be difficult to place well. The strategy was to run the cars as close to their limit on fuel to minimise the time lost with car changes. Whilst the drivers were mindful of the need to get through the traffic, they also knew that they had to minimise off circuit excursions and avoid major damage at all costs. The cars were pushed as hard as possible with two cars cooking brake fluid and one finishing a stint with the front and rear pads worn to the metal backing. The team mechanics, Chris Cooper and Matt Elworthy along with Matt and Chris Robinson did a superb job of keeping all the cars running, especially the shared car, which had to have all its brakes replaced between stints. Steve Wooding, also a Director of the company, controlled the team cars from the pit wall. Dave and Gerry did a great job of keeping track of each drivers lap times and position to optimise track time and minimise changeovers, all of which saw the team complete 298 laps only 16 behind the fastest team. With the credit laps applied this gave 'The Northampton Motorsport Team' a fantastic overall 2nd place.
Many thanks go to everyone who helped out on the day and friends and family for all their support; it really was a great team effort.
Troy Robinson
Northampton Motorsport
Left to right: Gerry Revell, Dave Bruce, Seamus Harding, Simon Pryke, Matt Elworthy, Troy Robinson, Chris Robinson, Chris Cooper, Steve Wooding, Didier Prongue and at the front kneeling, Matt Robinson.
 
Westfield Sports Car Championship
Championship background & 2005 season
The Westfield championship is run by the factory in association with the British Automobile Racing Club and provides close competitive racing at the UK's premier circuits at a price that is affordable to the clubman racer.
The cars are Westfield SE (live rear axle) or SEi (independent rear suspension) models running the Ford Zetec 1.8 ltr engine. Modifications to the engine are very limited apart from Weber 40 DCOE carburettors with 36mm chokes and Weber Alpha ignition control units. In this configuration a standard 130 BHP spec engine from the marque 5 Escort XR3i (known as the motor sport engine) will produce 155 BHP. The only other method of increasing power further is by very careful building of the engine to exact manufacturers tolerances known as blueprinting. A professionally built engine will produce around 5 BHP more with slightly better mid range torque.
The minimum weight limit for the cars is 600 KG including the driver and minimum ride height of 4 inches excluding the driver. The cars run on dunlop control tyres. These semi slick racing tyres give excellent grip with good control and progressive handling when grip levels are exceeded.
In 2005, the series visited Silverstone, Cadwell Park, Pembray, Oulton Park, Thruxton, Donnington Park, Croft, Rockingham, Snetterton and Mallory Park
The races at Pembray and Croft were double headers. Giving a total of 12 races between April and September.
Northampton Motorsport has always enjoyed a close relationship with Westfield and their owners and attended all the championship rounds to provide technical and spares support on behalf of Westfield.
We have also tuned or prepared many of the cars racing in the championship since 2004 and we have carried out work for:
Didier Prongue
Jonathan Hawkins
Martin Gartside
Nick Sinfield
Paul Taberner
Seamus Harding
Simon Pryke
Tom Robinson
  
In addition to this we have been running a car for Northampton Motorsport Director, Troy Robinson. This has given Northampton Motorsport the opportunity to carry out detailed chassis development including fitting Ohlins Professional Motorsport dampers which have seen the car rise to a very high level of competitiveness finishing 6th or higher in every race completed, including a race win at Rockingham. We were especially pleased at these results as this was Troy's first ever season of racing.
The 2005 season was dominated by Quentin Laithwaite who showed a fantastic level of competitiveness and consistency. Quentin won 6 races, had three 2nd places and two 3rd's and finished every race in the year. These statistics would suggest a runaway victory but nothing was further from the truth as Nick Flowers and Nick Sinfiled were usually within a cars length of Quentin at all times. Along with the leading three contenders there were also first time race wins for Nick Sinfield (Pembray) Andy Mowbray (both races at Croft and Mallory) Didier Prongue (Snetterton) and Troy Robinson (Rockingham).
  
  
  
This Sequence of shots were taken at the last corner of the last lap at Thruxton and just goes to show how close Westfield racing is.
Northampton Motorsport can provide a range of services from full race car build, engine tuning and suspension set up to on event support. To discuss your requirements in detail contact Troy or Steve on 01604 766624 or email nmsltd@btconnect.com |
