Deck Chairs and Bumble Bees

[Bob Bull]

Once again the time is fast approaching when a group of quite respectable Morgan drivers shed all inhibitions, and indulge in some seriously un-natural practices at an abandoned aerodrome in Norfolk, and I would like to warn all of the membership to take extra care until it is over.
Yes, four, no three, well at least two and a half colleagues with whom one is happy to rub shoulders with at various race meetings suddenly start to act in a very strange way, for in excess of 24 hours, which naturally requires endurance beyond the human capacity without the aid of certain substances. (Bat's wing and toadstools spring to mind)
While the rituals and practices are arcane and secretive we do know that it involves horses, two in fact, and French horses at that!
You may recall reports that leaked out concerning the same happenings last year when the Met office was baffled by a weird phenomenon that saw huge swathes of the Norfolk countryside enveloped in a mysterious swirling cloud apparently caused by unlicened discharges of a most peculiar nature.
Keep a close eye on your deck chairs for the next couple of weeks, and watch out for a sudden drop in the number of bumble bees in the neighbourhood, as these noble insects are embroiled in machinations aimed at increasing the speed of the horses down straights. Don't ask how I beg you.

For fear of black magic chocolates I will not attempt to indentify those involved in this farrago of witchery, but keep a close eye on anyone acting out of character and speaking 'frog'.
No doubt the usual suspects will try and add a patina of respectability to the event by claiming it to be a sporting endeavour. Do not be bamboozled.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!

A Friend.

[Jim Mountain]

think I'll pop to the pub, have a skinfull then read this again and see it it makes more sence then

Jim

P.S. like the BDC pics Bob

[Mary Lindsay]

Mais mon ami bien sûr il est une activité sportive de la plus haute importance. Les voitures sont si puissants et les pilotes aussi talentueux que vous devriez en parler avec plus de respect! [-X
Mary, Jack, Barry and Tim.
AKA Drivers of the Inworth Racing Extravaganza entry in the 2CV 24 hours 21st-22nd August

[john bevan]

sacre bleu!

[Mary Lindsay]

Je n'aurais pas pu le dire mieux moi-même!

[Jim Mountain]

the drink seems to have made the situation worse

[Barry Sumner]

Jim I agree perhaps we should retire to the wine bar
Barry

[Bob Bull]

Mais mon ami bien sûr il est une activité sportive de la plus haute importance. Les voitures sont si puissants et les pilotes aussi talentueux que vous devriez en parler avec plus de respect!
Mary, Jack, Barry and Tim.

Re: Deck chairs and Bumble Bees
«by Mary Lindsay» Tue Aug 10, 2010 9: 06 pm

But my friend of course it is a sporting activity of utmost importance. The cars are so powerful and as talented as you drivers should talk more respect!
Mary, Jack, and Tim Barry.
AKA drivers of the Inworth Racing Extravaganza entry in the 2CV 24 hours 21 st-22nd August

I supply this translation for those not versed in Froggie, this simply shows the lengths these people will go to to keep their perverse ways secret. According to Madame From Imworth, it all very innocent, but why then is it all cloaked in mystery and why run at night?

I tell you there are dark forces at work here, and I would urge all Morgan stalwarts to avoid involment, and not to be seduced by Marie's honeyed blandishments. No good can come of such foreign farage, and who is Tim Barry?

Scoop.

PS; It sounds like fun, though!

[Bob Bull]

[quote="Mary Lindsay"]Je n'aurais pas pu le dire mieux moi-même![/quote

I could not have put it better myself!

[Bob Bull]

INCROYABLE!!

[Mary Lindsay]

Only 1 week to go before our trial by 2CV.

For those of you who do not wish to risk conversion to this oddly addictive cult you can hear and see it from afar:
Radio Fine Print will be broadcasting the 24hr race commentary live on 87.7fm or you can follow the audio/video webcast of the race on http://www.2cvracing.co.uk/

There will be in-car footage live from one of the race cars (not ours!) and several web cams dotted about so that you can see all the action.

Our team is known as the Inworth Racing Extravaganza, our car is called "Wild Thing" we are car number 77 in pit garage number 3 and our drivers are Mary Lindsay, Jack Bellinger, Barry Sumner and Tim Clark. There, now you know all of our shady secrets......

Race starts at 17.30 on Saturday 21st August and ends at 17.30 on Sunday 22nd August.

Nous espérons vous y voir.
Bonne chance à nos pilotes courageux et à tous les bourdons et méfiez-vous des chaises longues.

[Bob Bull]

Mary, Jack, Barry, Tim,
Spurning Mary's somewhat pretentious Continental style, may I wish you all Bonne Chance at the Vingt-Quatre Heures du Snetterton this weekend. May the Force be with you, and your progress be unhindered by extraneous events, or the fog of war.

I shall follow your endeavours using the excellent wireless service.

Regards,

Bob,

[Mary Lindsay]

Team Wild Thing came 23rd out of 26 teams. This year we aimed to give the pit crew and mechanics as much time in and on the car as the drivers although I think maybe the drivers still drove for a bit longer than the mechanics fettled, sweated and struggled with the car's various and diverse ailments.

We were delighted to see Leigh Sebba and Kathy and Simon Sherry who called in to see how we were getting on. Our team support crew were fantastic and the drivers all had a whale of a time.

Tim has posted some photos here and no doubt eventually more will be added as people recover from the sleepless weekend.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/clarkster/ ... v24hr2010/

As for deckchairs, we didn't have time to sit down but the sound of 26 2CVs following the pace car had an oddly similar sound to a swarm of bees.

[Bob Bull]

Congratulations to the Inworth .Idi....imbe... incomp... Ah! Incomparables.

There is no shame in finishing 23rd out of 26 cars and only 162 laps behind the winner, after all you easily beat the safety car which only managed 8 laps in 24 hours.
I followed you (erratic?) progress on the 2CV web site, and was disappointed not to see the Wild Thing a little closer to the front, but I know that the taking part is the important thing, and I am sure you all enjoyed the race. Are we yet to hear of any 'incidents' that may have delayed your progress this year?

Well done to Mary, Barry, Tim and whats'is name.

Great pictures clarkster.
Bob.

PS: I caught a glimpse of Wild Thing on Anglia TV tonight!

[Mary Lindsay]

I agree Bob, the safety car's result was pathetic, having followed him for a few laps I could see why. It was slower than a 2CV and the driver kept having to wave us through as he couldn't keep up our punishing speed.

As for incidents which may have delayed our progress - well can you believe it, one of our drivers did a whole stint with the handbrake still on!

Another driver switched off all the lights in one deft sweep of their hand during a night session.

Other minor issues included:
The valve on the petrol tank breather got blocked so that a vacuum developed in the tank - making the fuel unusually reluctant to make its way to the carburettor.
The alternator failed making the lights a little dimmer than usual, it did take a while for us to realise this as 2CVs are not renowned for their dazzling headlights. A pit stop and alternator change restored us to merely poor lights instead of really poor lights.
We had a mysterious electrical fault eventually traced to the voltage regulator (we think).
The gearbox broke, luckily coinciding with an overheated and therefore damaged engine so we changed them both at the same time.
It was jumping out of 3rd gear on the overrun so no engine braking until we discovered that during the gearbox change a misaligned bolt was preventing the clutch from working but yet another pit stop put that right.

In truth I think that the food in the pit, so kindly provided by Sally and Nicola (THANKYOU) was so good that none of us wanted to be away from it for too long.

By the way, ask Jack who put in the fastest lap of our team this year........

I caught a glimpse of Wild Thing on Anglia TV tonight!

So did I but then I live in East Anglia, the question is - what were you doing watching Anglia TV and being disloyal to your Three Counties?????