Harewood 8th August

[Goosey]

i can imagine it's a bit of a heart killer, i was sorry to see the car when it was recovered.

i did it the otherway around, i had an off on a school day and ended up getting into it competitivly

[robcapper]

Mark

I think your 1100 record at harewood is testiment to your own commitment.. As I said, genuinely gutted to hear about your weekend after a lot of time & money after shelsey. Get back out soon & come & double drive mine sometime. Keep the faith mate.

Rob

[DaveK]

Originally Posted by Hemsport

Take my hat off to the "Force" hard chargers of Will,Eynon & the brilliant Richard for competing at such a high level of commitment throughout the year!
(

Mark

Don't be so hard on yourself, your competitive and want to run at the front. The above have taken a while to get to where they are now, its a new project that not yet fully sorted take your time, get it right before trying to break the class records

Dave

[sevaun]

Originally Posted by robcapper

Mark

I think your 1100 record at harewood is testiment to your own commitment.. As I said, genuinely gutted to hear about your weekend after a lot of time & money after shelsey. Get back out soon & come & double drive mine sometime. Keep the faith mate.

Rob

Hi Mark
I agree with Rob's sentiments entirely. Having only started competing in Class 5A this season myself I was over the moon last weekend to post a PB of 58.4. Your record of 52.79 is looking like the peak of Everest to me at the moment. Your run to achieve that must have been immense in an 1100!!. This is not the stuff of "someone out of their depth", more like on top of their game.
Keep your chin up Mark, get the car fixed and get back out there.

Cheers

Richard

[Craig Powers]

Originally Posted by Hemsport

Harewood off is second crash in as many outings.
When things go against you this much in hillclimbing you really do wonder why you are subjecting yourself to such punishment?
Nobody harder on me than myself and really feal at present I'm far too out of my depth with single seaters to compete again in this class.
Feeling very sorry for myself as you will detect but I guess that's the nature of hillclimbing.
Take my hat off to the "Force" hard chargers of Will,Eynon & the brilliant Richard for competing at such a high level of commitment throughout the year!
A big thanks to the marshals and fellow competitors who expressed thier concern after the incident.
Mark H.

With sort of devastatingly quick times that you are doing there will inevitably be some offs. I only saw you establish the 1100 Harewood record on TV, but it was incredibly smooth and deceptively quick. The amount of daylight under the inside front tyre indicated the level of commitment.

I hope that you get the car fixed soon and get out on the hills and circuits again. Best of luck.

Craig Powers
OMS2000m ZZR

[SteveSlowboy]

Mark,

Hang in there!
And seeing you've got the 1100 class record at Forrestburn (which no one has come close to yet) You are definately NOT out of your depth!

Steve

[siany1997]

If you need some motivation to stay in class, you're more than welcome to double drive the focus on the 29th.

Prepare to be overwhelmed by how much weight the Ford engineers can build into a family hatch.

Just to be on the safe side, you might consider entering your own car as well

[Hemsport]

Thanks for the vote of confidence gents.
I've taken on board all the positive comments and complements received over the past few days which has helped alot.
From the start of this project every stage has blessed us with problems, many I think above and somewhat beyond our control.
I won't bore you with the details but nearly two years down the line you'll appreciate you get to a point where you really start question what you are doing and what you are trying to achieve?
I love driving!
This year amounts to no more than 8 mins total for a time and moneytary outlay I dare not even begin to contemplate.
Hours of work and family commitment versus single seater motorsport for the first time really aren't working out for me at the moment.
I must be getting old.Ha ha.
Thanks once again for the kind comments.
Mark.

[KBS-CVT]

Mark

I too experienced the feelings you are currently suffering following my big off at Shelsley 3 years ago - hospitalised for 2 days and permanent damage to my throat. For the following 2 years I tried & tried but could not get within 2 secs of my PB's, let alone the youngsters in my 600cc class.

I decided to change cars, rebuilt a Marcos and had my first outing at the Harewood Saturday event.

WHAT a difference. I actually fully enjoyed the day although I was 15 seconds slower than the single seater, felt in full control of the car and cant wait for this weekend at Olivers Mount.

I have actually entered the Sept Shelsley to try and finally drive the Ghosts away.

There is life after a big off, although at 67 years there are other parts of the body giving up.

May I suggest you have another go - if you dont enjoy it consider taking up one of the kind offers - my Marcos is available - of a shared drive to get your confidence back.

[Hemsport]

A long delay in response to the last post which was very kindly received.
I would love the chance to drive a Marcos. Not yet a marque to claim fame to I'm afraid.
A long hard look at track stats and figures points us in the direction we need to look at regards the car.
It's so hard to dedicate time and funds when you have a young family.
Thank goodness for my wife Lisa.
She really is a saint to put up with myself and two petrol head sons Fraser and Allastair!!!?
They're only 5 & 3 Yrs old but have motorsport flowing through their viens already.
With a bit of luck Team Hemsport should be out again next year.
Fingers crossed.