THE STORY
2018 - driving in Europe
2017 - Year of Change
At the end of the 2016 Racing Season
2015 Season
2014 Season
10th August 2013 - Curborough
27th July 2013 - Llandow
Our local track and very well known to both of us - we use is for testing new bits and upgrades. So I
got the new glasses and finally realised that not everything is in soft focus, and that its much easier to
drive when you can see the corners clearly. We both had a really good day and David was an awesome winning machine
as usual. He has started a small company walking dogs and has lost a lot of weight so he is now even faster!
My ex husband Bob turned up as it was local - he is still
kind enough to keep my car on the road so he was there to see the results of his labours. Although I never
drive fast enough to impress him, he is really pleased these days to see David getting so much out of the car
so we had a good day all round.
22nd June 2013 - Castle Combe
On my own this time, for the first time for a long time but as it was so cold and threatening rain, I didn't
bother with track tyres and raced on my Kumho road tyres. Met some really nice people, including
Rob and Tim both first time sprinters, although clearly experienced track drivers as their times
were very impressive. My times are much slower than last year, and I think
I finally have to forego the vanity and get some driving glasses, not a good idea to be racing if
you cant see all the corners clearly! It was an extremely well organised and enjoyable day - nice one,
Bristol Motor Club. The only flaw was that I then had to drive up to East Midlands airport to
pick David up, only a holiday in sunny Ibiza could have forced him to miss Castle Combe.
Pembrey 1st and 2nd June 2013
Well it was a nice day without rain, but the event was a bit disorganised and there were a
few safety issues which was a bit worrying. But noone was hurt, although there were a couple of
near misses. The British Sprint championship shared the event with us, and unfortunately, their top
ten or so contenders are not really there for the fun of it like most of the rest of us, and
managed to irritate most of the other drivers. I am not sure that everything should always be
about money, but I suppose if you are rich, its a different kind of racing. But nevertheless,
the rest of us, when we did actually get chance to get on track had a good time, with my son, of course,
soundly beating me and most of the others in our class too. Dave got 2nd in class on both days with
two more trophies, I think his Christmas present needs to be a trophy cabinet!Dave's mate Alex was there with us to lend a hand with tyres and setting the car up and worked like
a trojan - you are welcome back anytime Alex, your skill with the tape was particularly awesome. David's dad
was there too for the first time to see his son racing, and seemed suitably impressed.
May 2013
Absolutely brilliant race at Goodwood, I knocked sixteen seconds off my time at my last visit to the track,
and David won first in class and the trophy - again! Weather was good, and met up with loads of
old and new friends. Goodwood truly is a glorious track with sweeping bends and fast straights. You
can feel shivers down your spine at racing on a track where so
many famous racing drivers have made their name. Definitely felt the friendly
ghosts sharing the quaint paddock garages with us.
April 2013 - a quiet month
We have not been to any events in April, as its been all hillclimbs and try as I might, I just dont like them, I think its because
my big lump of a car is too wide for the narrow hillclimb tracks, so I am only going to do one hillclimb
this year in September.
March 2013 - first race of the season
Mallory Park and the race with every type of weather. I still don't like the layout of this track, and neither, it turns out,
does David. So although we enjoyed seeing all our friends again, we will probably concentrate on other tracks the rest of the year. I drove
like a "duck in daps" as we say in Wales, but David did well although he struggled with the starts using the new twin plate.
January 2013 - the start of the new season
So, the work (and the fun) starts again. What with getting the new twin plate clutch into my car, and starting the strip out to take it off the road, and raising sponsorship for David's epic journey, its been a busy start to the year. And probably the most exciting so far. Watch this space!
Curborough Sprint 6th October 2012
Final event of the year and my best so far. I achieved another personal best (100mph at the finish line), and reduced the deficit between Dave and myself to two seconds. I even beat him with my fast starts!! The weather was good and we had a great day all round. David won the class - again - so it was a great end to the season. The new paddle clutch is pretty rubbish and is virtually gone after about 20 fast starts and a few weeks of road use. So all thats left to try is a twin plate clutch for next season. Another dip into the savings.
Brighton Speed Trials 8th September 2012
A very good and a very bad day all at once. The race was opened two hours late as the police had cordoned off what would have been half the paddock due to a stabbing on Brighton sea front the night before, and the race ended tragically and abruptly when one of the bike and sidecar combinations failed to stop in time after the quarter mile, hit a barrier and the side car rider was killed, with the bike rider seriously ill in hospital. Our thoughts are with their families. For myself, I had a brilliant day until that point. My practice run was poor and I was seventh out of eight, but my first timed run put me amongst the others in my class and I moved to fourth and 500th of a second away from my nearest rival. My second and final timed run was my very best in my five years of racing, I broke three of my own personal best records, fastest start (2.14 seconds), 13.7 seconds for the quarter mile, and 100mph for my finishing speed. Which put me second in my class, my best position ever. Unfortunately, the second timed run is not now official as some of the competitors could not have the second run due to the accident but at least my timings were recorded and acknowledged. So although I was very proud of my achievement, it does not seem very important in the scheme of things. We all know motor sport is dangerous, but it brings it home to you when it happens in front of you.
Curborough 4th August 2012
OK, it is getting boring now. Another double drive with David, Another first in clase and another trophy, this time he was TEN seconds faster than me and nearly two seconds faster than second in class. And for the first time, he beat my fastest start too. Absolutely no question, I am going to have to nobble him before the next race. Not sure whether to apply a 500Kg handicap (a bag of concrete in the boot) or just not tell him where the racetrack is. His real ambition is wheel to wheel stuff and we quite like the look of the 750 formulae, particularly the unmodified hot hatch racing. We are looking for an inexpensive Citroen Saxo 1.6 GTR now that we can get ready over the winter and start the season in 2013. Contact me on liz@lizpearceracing.co.uk if you know of a car like this.
LLandow 14th July 2012
Well, David did a double drive with me in my car, and quite frankly made me look as if I was going backwards! He got first in class by more than 4 seconds, beat me by 9 seconds, and I was going much faster than before beating people I have never beaten before. David even did a faster lap than several drivers who regularly beat me by ten seconds. His first (I think of many) trophies and he caused a lot of murmuring in the paddock. I was doing my best to look casual, but my proud mum grin kept breaking out all over my face. Next step now is to see how he goes the rest of the season double driving with me, but aim to move on to wheel to wheel racing next year. Keep watching this space ........
Castle Combe 23rd June 2012
The famous Castle Combe on the 23rd, one of the fastest tracks in the country. I span off on the first lap, I would like to think I was pushing harder, but I think it was as much due to two brand new track tyres (to replace the ones I wore out at the Llandow test day which had not been worn in and were still slippery with the sealing compound. Finally got the time right on the last lap and left Bob to take the car home, and for David to take me to Heathrow for the flight to India for work. My tip of the week - never visit India when the temperature reaches 45deg every day. I didnt realise that people could actually feel like they are melting.
Abingdon CAR-nival 9th June 2012
The bargain of the season, two track layouts with two practice and two timed laps on each. One track favoured the small single seaters and the other favoured the larger saloons. Unfortunately I just couldnt hook it up as well as I wanted at either track layout, and although I ended up with points, it was by default really as no-one else in Class 4 entered this race. I know thats not my fault, but I feel I dont really deserve it! There was a Nissan GT-R which blew us all away and since he normally ran immediately after me, I kept seeing the **** thing getting closer in the mirror. Not a good day, so I booked a test day with my instructor on the following week to get some spine stiffening. It worked a treat, and I stuffed my best time at Llandow by nearly two seconds, but the downside was that my son had a test with the instructor who told me hes very good and Ive now agreed for him to double drive in my car. We will have to share overalls and helmet till I get paid, but he will be joining me at Llandow on the 14th July.Watch this space.
MIRA May 26th 2012
This was a race I was really looking forward to. It was held at MIRA (the Motor Industry Research Association) track near Nuneaton. Top Gear have used it for the cobbled roads and hills so it was very recognisable. We were lucky enough to use the high grip tyre testing track and had to try really hard to concentrate due to the heavily disguised new models of cars being tested on the other tracks - driving round and round us! There was no cameras allowed, even phones, which is all very MI5, and meant there were no spectators, but the track is brilliant.
The first bend is a long sweeping curve that seems to go on forever, and it took me a couple of laps to remember the layout. But I knocked more than 8 seconds a lap off from my first practice run to my last timed run, so I was well chuffed. My son was my "race engineer" this time, instead of Bob, and was amazed at my fast starts. He has seen me at track days but never doing an actual race, so I think he was quite proud of his middle aged mum. The trouble is he started making a wish list for racing himself, and has told me I need a new racing suit as my existing one fits him a treat. He wishes eh.
Wiscombe Park 28th and 29th April 2012
Despite the forecast, it turned out to be mostly raining on Saturday and downpours on Sunday. The paddock at Wiscombe is grass, so the only sensible footwear was wellies, but I enjoyed the practice runs even if my times were slow. I achieved a 59 seconds in my first timed run, but the 2nd run was in the rain, so I lost half a second again. Luckily, this is the first time a Class 4 car has entered the SBD Speed Championship at Wiscombe so I ended up with 19.8 points again. But it was a boring day really, I was there for 11 hours as each batch took two hours to make their runs, partly due to so many cars coming off due to the wet grass, but also because you cannot leave the Park until the event is over and they open the hill for people to leave. 4 minutes of driving in 11 hours didnt strike me as a good day so may not visit Wiscombe Park again. We woke up on the Sunday (at a gorgeous Bed and breakfast,
Harepath Farm Bed and Breakfast) and seeing the driving rain, raging gales and leaf strewn roads, decided that anyone who took to a narrow hill track at speed in such weather would be clearly insane, so I pulled out and headed home to Cardiff. And didnt regret it for a minute. We later heard the event had been abandoned anyway.
21st and 22nd April 2012
On the 21st I did my first real Hill Climb at Gurston Down and managed not to disgrace myself and earn some more points for the SBD Speed Championship which meant I ended 5th out of 16 in the Championship. Sunday 22nd was a non Championship event at Curborough but I wanted to see if I could beat my time from last year. The weather was wet and I had to use my road tyres so matching last years time was unlikely, the track stayed wet all day and when the rain was heaviest I was at least as fast as some of the single seaters, something to be said for AWD! I drove through hailstones in my last run which was an interesting experience.
March 2012
So much for leaving the engine replacement till after the first race at Mallory Park. On 27th February, just two weeks before the race at Mallory Park on the 11th March, the engine at just under 130K miles, finally packed up. Luckily just the week before Bob had bought the second hand engine and had already started getting new bits for it, such as an upgraded oil pump, a baffle plate for the sump and a replacement clutch - I am resigned to replacing the clutch every year now as the cost of fast starts. He put the new engine in with 5 days to spare, so we booked the remap at Scoobyclinic on the day before the race. After waiting 2 hours while the mapper found his lost leads, the car was remapped and reached the magic 400bhp (401.24 to be exact!) By the time I got to Mallory Park, I had only driven the car less than 50 miles in the previous three weeks, and it normally takes me a lot longer than that to get used to changes so I was hopeful but not convinced. I did Ok, improving my time from last year by about 1.5 seconds but even on my fastest time run, I was only third out of fourth in my class and several seconds off the pace. In the end, I treated it like a test run and got to learn the car all over again. It was my first race for the SBD Championship and the points are awarded on how close you are to the lap record for your class at that track. IF no lap record is set, then as the first driver to drive at the track in that class, you set the lap record and get most of the points. Amazingly, this was me at Mallory Park, I set the lap record and won the points. So a good end to an average race day.
Spring 2012
British Women Racing Drivers Club membership renewed. tick. MSA licence renewal - licence arrived. tick. Send application off for SBD Speed Championship. tick. Apply for first sprint at Mallory Park on 11th March. tick.
Autumn Winter 2011
Track days at Keevil and Castle Combe in October to get a few more lessons in and wind down at the end of the season. Winter modifications started, the gearbox has been crunching for a while, so the car got handed over to Kev at Scooby Clinic whose engineers took the 6 speed apart (the number of parts is unbelievable - see the gallery for pictures), replaced the tired Turbo with a Scooby Clinic SC42 billet Turbo which has a brilliant reputation, upgrade the injectors and remap to add a few more horses. The downside was the leakage test on the engine which showed some TLC and a stroker kit wouldnt go amiss, but that will have to wait for the pay check in February before the season starts. Ive got the renewal notice for my MSA licence, and the BRDC are looking for my membership renewal. And the email about the 2012 Brighton Speed Trials and the Goodwood Sprint arrived. Starting to look forward to next season already.
October 2011 - Last race of the season at Curborough
Curborough is one of my favourite tracks and the sprints run by BARC Midlands are the among the friendliest and well organised. And at the final event of my year, I reached all my targets.
The Scooby has good mid range torque which works well for fast starts, and at this final sprint, my fastest start was 2.24 seconds. Its a short final straight, so good speed out of the final corner is essential for a high terminal speed at the finish line, and I managed a 95mph.
Ive been trying to get under 40 seconds for a single lap run at Curborough. On the last timed run of the day I finally managed a 39.74 seconds. And at 22nd out of 48, it was my first time in the top half of the leaderboard. A good day.
Summer 2011
Booked and entered more sprints at Mallory Park, Goodwood, Llandow, Castle Combe, Anglesey as well as Curborough and Pembrey. Tried a second hillclimb at Llys y Fran, but unfortunately, the front strut suffered a failure of the seals as I went up the hill for the first time. Decided to concentrate on sprints from then on! Appplied to join the British Women Racing Drivers Club and was offered full membership. Proudly attached the stickers to my car.
Spring 2011
Renewed my licence and decided to go for my ARDS test. Saw that Gurston Down were organising a hill climb trial day and the ARDS instructors would be there. Passed the test and applied for my A licence.
Winter 2010
Continued with the mods to the suspension, including extra bracing and then decided to take the next step and upgrade the engine. Replaced the clutch - again - thats the trouble with doing fast starts! Replaced the exhaust for a Milltek and had the brand new headers ceramic coated and the ECU remapped by Tracktive Solutions. Had to start learning to control it all over again!
Summer and Autumn 2010
Once I had started, I took part in sprints in Pembrey, Castle Combe, and Curborough, as well as track days at Hullavington and Keevil Airfields. It was the track days using track tyres that made me realise how much more grip you get with List 1B tyres, so I decided that I would do more modifications over the winter, and enter modified production classes in 2011 instead of the road going classes I had entered so far. Despite all the changes the car is still my daily driver.
Spring 2010
As I usually do, once I decide I like something, I go all out to do it properly. My first task in the spring of 2010 was to get my MSA B Licence and to book my first sprint at Llandow. I was incredibly nervous and had one lap time disallowed as I managed to get all four wheels off the track, but I met some lovely people including Noreen and Allan Ward who persuaded me to enter a sprint at Curborough which has now become my favourite track.
Winter 2009
After meeting other Scooby owners at Scooby Sprint, I started realising that I needed to improve the car as well as improve my driving skills. I had lessons with John Bussell and Erling Jensen and taking their advice, decided to concentrate first on getting the suspension upgraded (Racing Logic) and getting the best brakes (Performance Friction) I could afford. See the MODS & CHANGES page for all the details.
Summer 2009
Looking for a part for the Scooby, I joined the Scoobynet forum and met some fellow Scooby owners. The owner of the forum was planning a Sprint Series just for Subarus at Elvington airfield with a coned off handling course, across five events through the summer. So he emailed everyone on the forum and invited them to take part in the "Scooby Sprint" and after a bit of dithering, I entered, headed north, overcame my nerves, took part, came last and had a complete blast. Five events later and by the end of the summer, I had started beating some of the others and I was hooked.