Bank Hol Monday 25th April and the sun was still shining
for the Run What ya Brung at RAF Odiham (between Aldershot and the Basingstoke in the SE part of England).
The event was put on by the Odiham Motor Club, which is a club formed by the RAF chaps, using the timing eqp and talents of Straighliners, and open to members of the public who join the club for day in order to run, as well as RAF bods. Motorcycles were also invited, so there was a reasonable cross section of entrants.
The air strip was in fantastic condition, the event smoothly run from what I could see, and entrants had as many runs a they wished.
The start was on concrete, which seemed a bit strange as after about 100' this became the super-smooth tarmac of the runway, but seemed to give very good traction. A quick talk to a couple of the organising RAF boys (Dominic and Gareth) and they explained this is the high grip part of the runway that is designed to allow fixed wing aircraft to hit the brakes hard (and therefore the tarmac part doesn't get rippled).... oooohhhhhhhhh.
What’s more, the left hand lane was also set up for ½ miles times, so some of the top speeds were, how shall I say, not slow. The competitors got to the 1/4 mile boards and just kept going.......
The atmosphere was really friendly, queuing times were short, the weather was glorious and engines were being thrashed....... what a nice way to spend a bank holiday.
Well..... it was nice for those who's machines didn't expire...... My sprint mate Dslam calls "run wot ya brung”s, “break what ya built”s.
The chap with the big suzi drag bike had his oil pressure drop to 25psi, so the day had ended for him. A pal, Mick, had his 600 Honda make nasty noises as it jettisoned most of its oil, so that went on the trailer too, and just as I was leaving, far far too much smoke was seen at the far end of the track.
The organisers expect this straight line event to be annual, here's hoping they are successful......
Suzuki before oil pressure loss
Poss diary date. The Odiham Car Club are having an “Airfield Driving Experience” (me thinks its a track day....) on 17 July, book on-line at motorsport-events.com.shining
