Crackle, pop .... snap!

Louis had a good idea. We were standing in the drizzle watching the Clubmans slither out of turn 4. He said some time ago it was suggested that instead of us taking a long break over the December/January period, we should break in mid year, around June/July. This makes absolute sense given that mid year is the rainy season. And rainy it was!


When I woke at 6am on Saturday morning it was to the sounds of torrential rain. A quick conference with Craig and it was decided that we should skip the ludicrously early 8am qualifying and head to the track around 10am rather. The rain was predicted to clear up by then too, which of course makes the trip trackside much more pleasant. 


Also, given that he and I made up two thirds of the class D field, we felt we had some latitude with regard to the grid placings our absence would elicit. If you miss qualifying you line up behind the last driver that did qualify in your class. Since the very quick Steve was the other third of class D we figured we would be ok. As it turned out, only 16 drivers managed to summon the courage and fortitude to brave the elements, effectively putting the both of us at the rear of the field.


I arrived at the track around 10am slightly damp and frosty, but more from the spray of fellow motorists than from any rain fall. The sun was actually out and shining with meaning.

Rainbow over the main straight

We were only scheduled to race at 12:25 so there was quite a bit of time to kill. Chatting to the other drivers somewhat vindicated our decision to skip qualifying. Apparently outboard motors would have been better suited to the conditions.


Many of the usual bunch were missing. Ant in the turbo Harper was taking a break in Botswana while Haydn and his supercharged Harper (now with larger pulley) was just plain taking a break. That left myself and Craig to hold up the Harper banner. That was until we noticed a familiarly shaped nose protruding from a garage a little way up from us. Investigations revealed it to be Alan de Goode's stunning Type 5. This car has long been rumoured to be joining us, but nobody had actually seen it. It is a true master piece and looks absolutely stunning in the flesh. So much so that I slunk back to my car and tried to wash some of the bugs off the front to make it feel better.

Alan's stunning Type 5

Alan and his team have made some very stylish and subtle mods to the front of the car, but more crucially have fitted it with a set of slick tyres and a stonking 2 litre turbo motor similar to what Ant has fitted to his car.  This means when everyone is back and the sun is shining again we should be able to field five Harper Sports Cars in one race. That would be nice.


As we wandered back to the pit it started to rain again. The track had pretty much dried out at this point, but was now getting a solid soaking again. Unfortunately for some, the cloud burst was just in time for the first of the bike races. Two wheels and a wet track take some large diameter cahonies, but even with those attached the first race was a little pedestrian as riders tried to stay upright in the deluge. A couple of minutes later the skies cleared and the sun came out again. The super bike riders rolled onto the sopping track and confirmed to all who were watching that they are indeed a different breed as they exited turn 4 with front wheel lifting and rear wheel cutting a fine rooster tail of spray. Brave and talented men indeed!

And the rain comes down again ...

..then 10 minutes later

Finally, it was time for us to get onto the track. The day had warmed up nicely and the track was pretty much dry with only a small river across the kink after turn 2. I was placed behind Craig and Alan at the rear of the grid and once the race got underway realised that I was a little rusty, not having driven for a couple of weeks. It took me a good number of laps to get on form and bring the times down to more acceptable 25's and 26's. But with a small field, the race was rather uneventful as I tried vainly to catch Alan and Craig who had made off up the track while I was faffing around at the start. I was also having some trouble with gear shifts, particularly selecting 4th from 5th. On two occasions I bolted into turn 5, selected 4th, dropped the clutch expecting the engine braking to take effect and almost launched over the exit curb when I had actually selected neutral. 


We arrived back in the pit with Craig having taken the win in Class D and both of us realising just how quick Alan's Type 5 was. It was looking like the second race might be a great four way contest with all the class D cars lapping around half a second of each other.


Lunch was called and we headed to the club house for some much needed food and coffee. Our second race was just before 5pm so there was not a huge amount of urgency around lunch and we chatted for a while. Some time later we headed back to the pit and took a look at my gear shift. The fore/aft motion was definitely stiffer than it had been in a while. We decided it was probably the linkage pivot at the rear that needed some greasing so suited up and headed to the holding area for the start of the second race. All went according to plan and we rolled around for the start. Alan was behind me bringing up the rear of the field (remember, we draw lots for grid positions for race two). The lights went out and we all roared off down the main straight. Alan aptly demonstrated his superior skill combined with the benefits of slick tyres and snuck past me on the outside of turn 1 so I slotted in behind him around the back section of the track. The plan was to tail him down the back straight, get a measure of his speed and then possibly out brake him into turn 1 at the end of the main straight. His car is pretty quick, and corners very well on slicks so I was a little way off him as we entered the back straight. I managed to make up some distance and dived into turn 5 hard on the brakes. I hooked 4th and dropped the clutch, but got neutral again. I stirred the pot a bit more, but all my gears, like Ant and Haydn, were clearly taking a break. I gave up on the gears and instead selected a couple of choice words while the rest of the field disappeared down the main straight. 


Thankfully the entry to the pit lane is just at the exit of turn 5 so I coasted into the pits still trying to find a gear. Eventually I found 3rd, but the gear shift was definitely not well and my race was over before the first lap was competed. Once parked up I fiddled a bit more with the gear knob which, suddenly and with a distant thunk, went all floppy. Closer inspection revealed that the fore/aft shift cable had snapped. It must have been going for a while resulting in the stiffening of the gear shift. The broken end looked a bit like a little wiry mushroom. A new heavier duty version is on order as I type.


So, after over a total of 2500km, more than 300 race pace laps, 7 race meetings, 15 sprint races, three track days, four track testing sessions, a session on the skid pan and lots of general driving around, the Type 6 prototype had finally and officially experienced it's first failure. And its something as simple as a cable that has failed.


If that's not a testimony to the design and quality of build then I don't know what is.


We are now on a break from Cape Town regionals for a while with our next race meeting being down in PE in September. We are expecting all five Harpers to be going with myself and Craig driving ours down. Now that should be an adventure of note!