Updated 30th October 2008

Planned meetings are

Skegness 2nd November - Booked

Belle Vue 9th November - Booked

Doug may also attend Birmingham 8th November depending on booking acceptance and work commitments.

Skegness 30th October 2008

A new front roll bar was installed the day before and changes were made to the setup.

Heat 1 - The car handled a lot better but Doug was spun out on bend 3/4 and after he had recovered he had dropped 2 laps behind then falling a further lap. The brakes seemed to be poor so they were bled in the short interval before Heat 2. Best lap was lap 10 in 15.036secs a top speed of 46.121 mph.

Heat 2 - Again the car's handling was superior to what it had been previously. Doug was able to stay out of trouble and was pleased to finish just a lap down. The brake pedal appears to be catching the accelerator stop so will need sorting before the next meeting. Best lap was lap 7 in 15.046secs a top speed of 46.090 taking 13.484 secs mph.

Final - Doug was happy that again he finished just a lap behind the leaders and feels that this is the best the car has ever gone since he's owned it. Best lap was lap 11 in 14.754secs a top speed of 47.002 mph.

Grand National - With the car going so well Doug felt that he was staying out of trouble more and was able to spend time getting the right line in and out of the corners. Best lap was lap 11 in 14.775secs a top speed of 46.935 mph. Doug's still got a long way to go to challenge the top drivers. Doug's best lap was still 4 mph slower than the fastest person, Chris Bradbury who set a speed of 51.429 mph on lap 4 of the Grand National.

Sheffield 20th October 2008

Unfortunately the van towing the Stock Car broke down at Newark and Doug didn't arrive until the final.

Belle Vue 12th October 2008

After a 4 hour run from Norwich Doug and Craig arrived in good time for scrutineering. After the off side nerf's had been rebuilt Doug then found the engine was running roughly and appeared to be linked to the carb again.

The car passed scrutineering and Doug took to the track for Heat 1 - White/Yellow race. The engine sounded terrible and was lacking power. After 11 laps Doug took to the infield.

Richard Hill (202) who was spectating suggested a spark plug fault and 2 plugs were changed on his advice. In the consolation the engine was purring and performed well. Richard suggested checking  the camber, castor and wheel base to improve cornering.

In the Grand National Doug's goggles roll off film finished and Doug was unable to see and got caught on the wire fence coming off turn 2.

Mildenhall 4th October

Due to work commitments Doug didn't arrive until 1830 and he found he wasn't included in the entrants for the white /yellow race for some unknown reason. Doug lined up in heat 2 and after a couple of laps he spun on bend 2 going into the back straight. This left the car across the track and another car hit Doug broadside smashing the nerf rails in. End of the nights racing.

Due to the damage Doug wasn't able to do repairs in time to attend Arena Essex the next day as planned. 

Kings Lynn 27th September 2008

Technical problems (not engine related) caused Doug's racing to be cancelled

Skegness 19th September 2008

The engine timing was checked and a lot of mud was found in the crank sprocket which caused the timing belt to jump. This was cleaned and the engine timing was set. All seemed ok. After scrutineering Doug couldn't get the car to start for his heat. Thanks to 260 Anthony Winters and his mechanic a carb fault was diagnosed. Anthony did enough for Doug to race.

Consolation - Finished in 16th place 2 laps behind.

Grand National - A flat battery stopped Doug taking to the track until some spectators pushed his car to the pit gate. After getting a push from a tractor the car started but would not get more than 2000 rpm. So Doug was then forced to pull off before the start. It was later found that mud had caused the timing belt to slip on the cam sprocket sometime after the Consolation had finished.

Arena Essex 10th September 2008

Technical problems cancelled Doug's racing. Many thanks to Tom Smart 744 for helping diagnose timing problem.

Mildenhall 9th August 2008 British Championship

An extremely wet night which was exasterbated by thick mud.

Skegness 5th August 2008

Heat 1 - A crash on bend 2 on lap 4 finished Doug's race as his bumper was caught in the nerf rail of another car and couldn't get free.

Heat 2 - a quick bumper change and Doug was able to race finishing 2 laps behind in 20th place.

Final - Finished 3 laps behind in 19th place

Grand National - DNF due to spinning on bend 1 of the 1st lap and losing the brake master cylinder and the fluid causing brake failure.

Skegness 22nd July 2008

Heat 1 - scrutineering problems forced Doug to miss his heat.

Consolation - Doug finished in 11th place missing the final by 5 seconds.

Grand National - DNF after breaking down on lap 11.

Skegness 17th July 2008

Another wet meeting

Heat 2 - Failed to finish after 4 laps due to very poor grip.

Consolation - Finished 19th after 11 laps after numerous spins .

Grand National - Finished 21st 2 laps behind.

Skegness 29th May 2008

A very wet meeting and in Heat 1 Doug wasn't able to get any grip from his Avon tyres which performed well on Monday so pulled off after 7 laps. So Doug fitted his Yoko's on both axles with the rear's on the 8" banded wheels he bought on Monday. In the Consolation the car was bouncing out of control and banging and clunking so Doug again pulled off after 2 laps. Before the Grand National he changed the half shaft on the nearside believing that to be the problem but when lining up for the GN he felt the car doing it again. So it points to the banded wheels being the problem. He decided to complete the race to see what lap times he was doing finishing 2 laps behind the winner.

Skegness 26th May 2008

Doug arrived in time for a practice to try to improve the set up before his heat. The car was very loose so cross weight was added.

In Heat 2 the car was better but still needed some cross weight as Doug spun twice during the race. In the Consolation the car felt better and after a restart and a few bumps Doug finished the race.

With 36 cars on the track for the Grand National it gets chaotic with several spins and waved yellows for other drivers. A Gold and a Red Roof driver are both stuck on bend 3/4 in a coming together with other cars but then the waved yellows came out and they are put back near the front of the line even though Doug passed both cars twice before the waved yellows while they were stuck!!!!! Ultimately it didn't affect Doug's chance of points or prize money and he was happy to have no damage while the car feels a lot better.

As there's nothing to do Doug isn't going to change anything for Thursdays meeting at Skegness.

Mildenhall 24th May 2008

New shale wing was being debuted. Unknown before leaving the pits for his first race of the night the nearside half shaft bearing was smashed. So back to the van for a change of half shaft. Unfortunately Doug just missed the consolation so didn't race until the Grand National.

Grand National - With waved yellows and a long stoppage for a driver to be taken off track by ambulance the car seemed to go fairly well with the new wing but really needs setting up properly to achieve significant improvement. But Doug finished the race and  with no damage was fairly happy but was disappointed with the lack of racing.

Northampton 17th May 2008

Another wet meeting but by the time Doug raced in Heat 3 the track is quite dry. The car was quite twitchy in the corners which isn't helped by a shower halfway through the race. Doug's happy to finish 

In the Consolation the weather didn't improve and after spinning twice Doug finsihed sevral laps behind but things were worse in the Grand National when the car wouldn't start due to a flat battery and after spinning on lap 2 on bend 1/2 Doug got into trouble with the officials for signalling other drivers to take avoiding action to miss him.

Coventry 25th April 2008

Doug is fortunate to get a booking for this World Qualifier (Coventry's only 2008 F2 race). In Heat 2 the car is slightly loose going into the corners which are taken too wide. With other drivers spinning out and getting hit on the corners Doug was in an area where he is able to avoid the mayhem and finished the race. The engine still is misfiring and when Doug checked the distributor cap the carbon tip is missing. With Tom smart not attending with his van, Doug was unable to source another cap so had to race with the one he had for the rest of the meeting. In the Consolation again the car ran wide on the corners and the race finished with several cars being taken out. A spectator reckons Doug finished in the top 10 but Doug was unable to find an official to confirm it until a few minutes before the final was due to start. The official confirmed that Doug finished 9th in the Consolation and Doug had to rush to get out for the final. Again the car went reasonably well until the engine died on lap 10. The fuel pump was banging so Doug loaded the car up believing the fuel pump to have failed only to find that the fuel tank was empty. The car hadn't been fuelled after the consolation because of the confusion caused by trying to find if Doug had qualified. Nevertheless Doug was pleased to have scored another point and a world qualifying point as well.

Arena Essex 20th April 2008

Practice - The engine is still misfiring. Several things were checked but with no cure.

Heat 2 - Due to the misfire Doug pulled off due to low power after 2 laps.

Consolation - Dizzy, plugs, timing is checked prior to the race but the engine is still misfiring but seems to have more power so Doug keeps going and finishes the race.

Grand National - After a pile up on the back straight after 3 laps the race is restarted. The misfire is still present but seems to have more power and he's able to finish the race. 

Mildenhall 19th April 2008

With the damage repaired Doug went out in Heat 2 but the engine got its misfire back so Doug pulled off. With checks carried out Doug tried again in the Consolation. Again the engine misfired and Doug pulled off. With no apparent reason for the misfire Doug raced in the Grand National. Again it misfired but Doug decided to complete the race. 

Monday 24th March 2008

Heat 2 - while exiting bend 4 on lap 12 while running 18th a following car sent him fence bound as Doug accelerated for the straight. He hit the fence hard and the paramedics attended him after the race. Apart from a bit of whiplash Doug was ok. The car wasn't so lucky as the front bumper and offside front suspension was wrecked.

Friday  21st March Skegness

Heat 1 - in heavy rain Doug was able to maintain a good position during the race but was spun out on the 2nd from last lap. He crossed the line 1 lap behind in 8th place scoring his first national points. This was his first proper qualification for a final, and he won prize money too.

Final - also raced in heavy rain Doug was not able to hold such a good position and finished.

Due to the worsening weather Doug decided to load up and not participate in the GN.

Sunday 2nd March Skegness 

Heat 1 - the car seemed to go well and Doug was happy to finish the race.

Doug was late lining up for the consolation so had to sit it out.

Grand National - Doug lined up but the engine developed a massive misfire so he pulled off the track prior to the start.

Saturday 1st March Kings Lynn

First meeting of the season.

Attempts were made to rectify the misfire but Doug had to go to his heat with the fault still there.

Heat 2 - the cars handling was quite good and Doug was pleased to finish the race with no damage.

Consolation - the car again handled ok. After being spun out on the back straight on lap 1. Doug rejoined the race several laps down and finished.

Grand National - the car again handled well on the shale. Doug finshed 2 laps down.

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Pre season

The engine has developed a misfire again which first appeared last October at Arena Essex. Attempts will be made to fix it but may have to go to the first meeting with the misfire