Festival of Speed Pics

[Max Walter]

Chrome, fins & whitewalls

 

[John Killgore]

EXTRAS: see attached:

 

[John Killgore]

super Extra:

 

[JimmyMac]

John,
I must have missed those cars this weekend

 

[Frank Catt]

Just got back from Goodwood, very very wet on Sunday evening after a fascinating few days. Wealden Engineering were asked by Chuck Haines to act as crew for his Howmett TX car, the 1968 jet turbine engined car built for long distance racing, competing against the GT40s et al. Geoff Taylor who works with me took over as crew chief for the event. and we had to learn a whole new technology and starting procedures for this car. Throughout the event we were garaged between the Chapparal of Jim Hall, who with driver Vic Elford became great friends with long stories to tell to our little team, and Derek Bells Porsche 917. The Howmett caused quite a sensation each time we started it up, this being accomplished by lifting the rear wheels off the ground ( no clutch, direct drive to the axle ) and winding up the turbine to 58000rpm to get it alight ) Chuck then locking the brakes solid on the pedal, allowng the car to be dropped on the ground, release the brakes and its gone ! The drive rotor in the engine is basically driven by a hot gas torque converter, so no direct mechanical connection inside the engine, but if held on the brakes and with the drive rotor not spinning we have no more than a minute or so before the whole engine goes into melt down if the driver cannot move off under power, so team work essential. Today we ran it twice in pouring rain ! Much more fun being involved with real cars and real people, especially heros of mine like Jim and Vic. Visitors to garage to see this fascinating car included Lord March ( owner of Goodwood and a driver himself ) , Gill de Ferran ( now Honda Team manager ) and so many other famous faces that you know but cant put a name to. Frank

 

[Paul Thompson 'Hooligan']

Well, final day of 3 and guess what, it rained all day....

Anyway, I still managed to snap a few hundred pics , so here are a few selections from the day. I would have captioned them, but it takes too long en-masse (sorry) and I have cropped a few to show just how wet it was....

Highlights, too difficult to choose really but to name a few, the Can-am cars always do it for me and the Pikes Peak cars (awesome) + Veyron (sorry, but its a BEAST!)...

Enjoy!

 

[Paul Thompson 'Hooligan']

and a few more...

The last one was spotted in the side-show, a Rover SD1 with a 27 litre Meteor engine from a tank in it.... I hope it has good brakes...

 

[Paul Thompson 'Hooligan']

Oh and the Red Arrows turned up at lunchtime, so a few final selections....

I'll post details of intended DVD(s) once sorted over the next few evenings...

 

[John Lowe]

Paul

Did'nt make it this year so thanks for sharing some pictures with us. Some of the red arrows passes look mighty close to each other! Never heard a C Type auto union fired up (supercharged 6litre V16), I guess even in such exalted company it must have sounded pretty impressive.

Well done

John

 

Nice picture of the CanAm cars! I see just the nose of a car I worked on in the sixties, the Caldwell D7 diven by Sam Poseywith #1 painted on the nose. That car sat around for years until Sam donated it to a museum. It seems the museum got it running again. Sam drove it at Lime Rock a few years ago. As usual, it didn't run well, but great to see it out on the track again. One day at work, Autodynamics Inc., Ray Caldwell told me to take all the Caldwell D7 part, moulds, chassis and anything D7 I could find around the shop through it all in the company truck and take it to the dump! When I asked if I could have all the D7 "stuff", he changed his mind. I shouldn't have asked and just take eveything home. Oh well, one of life's many mistakes! That was as close to owning a CanAm car as I will ever get I guess. Got any more pic's of the Caldwell D7?

 

[Paul Thompson 'Hooligan']

As requested by Frank............

 

[Frank Catt]

Thats the Howmett, thanks Paul

 

[Brian Magee]

Fantastic shots Paul, especially the Red Arrows!

Brian.

 

[Ian Anderson]

Paul

what make is that bike that looks like it has 2 monoshock rear ends bolted together?

Looks wierd!

Ian

 

[Paul Thompson 'Hooligan']

Hi Ian -

I think you'll find it's a VYRUS 985 C3 4V - a strange ride that uses a hub centre steering method that has been tried by a number of manufacturer's. MCN tested a Tesi 3D bike using a similiar system but in reality the testers were no quicker..

MCN video is here: MCN Video: Is the Tesi 3D as good as it looks?

and the VYRUS homepage is here: VYRUS - motorcycle 985 C3 4V

I'll stick to my GSX1400 I think... just had 1st service so 6500rpm now available and it's somewhat 'interesting'... roll on more dry weather.

 

[Mesa]

What car is this? I dont think Ive see it before it looks HOT!

 

[Paul Thompson 'Hooligan']

Hi Mesa -

It's a Koenigsegg CCGT - basically a Swedish beast of a Supercar called a CCX that has had the two superchargers removed and an air restrictor fitted to allow it to be eligible for GT racing. In doing so it drops some 206+ BHP having 'just' 600 left available in n/a configuration - shame...

Still there is another version with yet more power available apparently - about 1018Bhp or so I've been told by a chap who has - 2 !!

Read more about the 'lesser' versions here: Koenigsegg Official Website

 

[Paolo-LoveGT40 Modelworks]

about Vyrus:
Vyrus moto (che ne pensate?) - Altre marche

2 versions..prices for 33.750 euros and 53.750 euros...

 

[Ron Earp]

Awesome pictures, fantastic! Thanks for sharing those! Put some in the gallery full size too, we could use a bunch over there!

R

 

[Pete K.]

Great pictures, thanks for sharing.

What sort of lens and exposure did you use for the track shots, many of them look simply fantastic!