An invitation to drive Morris Minors really fast made Jon Betts a very happy boy.
What would be your ideal Saturday afternoon? Shopping with your better half perhaps or even down on the terraces with the lads? Nah, me neither. I can think of nothing more enjoyable than sitting behind the wheel of a car driving as fast as the road will allow. Now, obviously this is a little irresponsible given that most roads also have other drivers, pedestrians and even the odd cyclist on them as well as speed limits that we must adhere to, which is why when Jonathon Heap at JLH Restoration invited me to Darley Moor race track for an afternoon's 'fun' there was no stopping me!
Jonathon had arranged to use the track and with around 30 or so modified Minors invited it was sure to be a day to remember. Arriving slightly later than most of the others I begged a lift around the track from fellow latecomer Brian Fletcher in his turbo powered Saloon to find the rest of the wacky racers.
The turn out was a little disappointing but only due to the numbers, as the quality was most impressive, with cars covering the whole spectrum of modified Minors from Alta Head conversion right up to the most modern of conversions, the K Series.
Unfortunately, due to the size of the track (it's mainly used for motor bikes and go-karts) we were restricted to time trials and racing against one's self rather than racing against each other. This was my first time on a race tack, hopefully not the last though as it was one of the most exciting things I've ever done and judging by the comments made by some of the others they enjoyed it as much as I did (except perhaps when I was driving the car!).
Not having a Minor of my own on the day I had to talk my way behind the wheel of anyone stupid enough to listen, which included Jonathon's K Series demo car and the Minor Clinic's Turbo Tourer. I also got to ride shot gun in most of the other cars present which, whilst being excellent fun, also scared the life out of me as they were all obviously keen to show me how good their cars were!
For me, the winner of the day had to be the Minor Clinic's Convertible. This was not the fastest car there though, that accolade went to Anthony Lewis who clocked a 1m 31.4 second lap in his Fiat powered Traveller compared to Jason's 1m 32.4sec. The Convertible however, thanks to it's lack of roof, gave the impression of going much faster and the noise from the Turbo's dump valve was just amazing. The only casualty of the day was also Jason's Convertible - although thankfully not whilst I was behind the wheel. Apparently, whilst being driven by Jonathon Heap, the brakes over heated and the car disappeared off the track damaging the front spoiler, oops!!