THE SCALDED CATS JAGUAR XJS TEAM 2007 (updated 23rd Feb 2008)

On June the 4th 2007 I received an email from Philip Comer asking whether I would be interested in doing the Birkett, (my initial thoughts were that I can't dance!). Having done a little more research I discovered that this is a Six hour relay race, with up to 50 cars of all different shapes and performances on the "Micky Mouse" National circuit at Silverstone. I also discovered that "Full Throttle magazine described this as the most dangerous race in the world"!

Other factors to consider were that I had never raced at Silverstone, and had never done a race longer than 30 minutes. This is likely to be an hour per driver!

There could really only be one answer! YES!

Philip already had Bruce Cologne Brookes on the team which meant that we needed three more nutters, (sorry I mean drivers). Having given a little thought to the matter, I naturally came up with Andrew Harrison (surely He must be mad enough to say yes?) I was right!!

.

A couple of Jags from very different era's, Bruce's 3.6L XJS & Nick Wilkins XK120

Then I thought that we really needed someone who is fast, Stewert Lyddall said yes! Last but not least we needed someone who was sensible and had a quick car. Roger Webster driving last years championship winning car (formerly driven by Gail Hill).

We needed a team name, Philip suggested "Scalded Cats". Being an animal lover I was not sure this gave out the right message! Unsurprisingly Andrew Harrison came up with "Hot Pussy"! I think that was about it, so we settled on "Scalded Cats"

Next thing we needed was a team manager. The more I have learnt about relay races, the more I have realised how important a good manager is to being sucesful! Fortunately Stewert's friend Dermott has all the right credentials, and passed the interview with flying colours!

The "Scalded Cats" however were not the only Jaguar team in the Birkett, There were 5 other teams including " JEC Pirates" who have Gail Hill driving the Ex Classic Spares V12, Derek Pearce - V12, Mark Russell - V12, Ray Ingman - Blue/Orange 3.6 'E' car, Chris Boon - XJ40 XJR & Robert Drewery - Daimler 4.2 SII.

The "Scalded Cats" Garage, with the "JEC Pirates" next door.

Drivers: Philip Comer (A), Bruce Cologne-Brookes (B), Dave Robbie (C) Andrew Harrison (D), Roger Webster (E) & Stewert Lyddall (F). Team Manager Dermott from "Power for Peanuts"

The team number was 4 with the above suffix to distinguish between each driver.

Roger Webster's XJS just ahead of one of "Tony's Tigers"

Graham Love Ecurie XK150

Dave Robbie Scalded Cat 4C

LAPS	NAME	CLASS	BIRKETT 27th OCT	PICTURE / LINK	CAR No.	CC	BEST
SCALDED CATS 268 LAPS, 309 GROSS, POSITION 29th .
44	Stewert Lyddall	B	Click on Pic for more details>>>>>>		4F	5.3L	1:10.78
47	Andrew Harrison	B	Good result for 2nd ever race!		4D	4L	1:14.17
34	Dave Robbie	B	"Click on pic for more info>>>>>		4C	3.6L	1:13.78
54	Roger Webster	B	Click on Pic>>>>		4E	4L	1:15.52
46	Philip Comer	B	.Click on Pic for more info>>>>		4A	3.6L	1:15.79
43	Bruce Cologne-Brookes	B	...		4B	3.6L	1:15.42
JEC PIRATES 276 LAPS, 311 GROSS, POSITION 19th
26	Derek Pearce	D	Could.had not been red flagged!		2C	6L	1:09.30
.75	Ray Ingman	D	.		2D	XJS 4L	1:11.23
53	Mark Russell	D	.		2E	5.8L	1:12.81
.48	Gail Hill	D	Click on picture for more details >>>>		2A	5.3L	1:10.30
48	Chris Boon	D	.		2B	XJR	1:14.60
26	Robert Drewery	D	...		2F	Daim Sov.	1:16.50

I don't Know about it being the most dangerous race in the world, but it must be the most complicated (from a qualifying and handicap point of view).

When I left the circuit I thought we had finished 40th out of 50. I was pleasantly surprised however when Philip Comer enlightened me that we had indeed finished 29th after the 750MC computers had been whiring away for an hour or so!

The plan I can now reveal was to put the slower drivers on first, and the quickest last! An hour stint each was the strategy, however that soon went out the window!

The idea was for the next driver to be sitting in the car ready to go early should disaster strike. Luckily despite ample oppertunity to crash, to the best of my knowledge all the Jaguars finished the day externally unscathed! Internally however some of the cars suffered somewhat! Philip lost most of his diff oil, I lost most of mine & Bruce lost most of his water! I also understand that Derek Pearce suffered with diff problems, hence the smoke screen towards the end of his stint.

Those that have been following the progress of the XJS Championship will probably be aware that Bruce has been a constant thorn in my side since he joined the championship! Forever trying to get past me, and getting far too close for comfort at Cadwell a couple of years ago! Today I thought that for once I didn't need to worry about him! Wrong! After doing about two laps Bruce deposited several litres of coolant all over the track, which meant that I was going out an hour early with a cold engine that coughs & splutters like mad for a couple of laps. I also failed to switch my video camera on properly in the panic. It nearly finnished however on my first lap at Becketts as I had forgotten in all the haste that my tyres were cold and had as much grip as a Tesco trolley on an icerink!

The Jagracing stint (4C) required much concentration, as every lap you were overtaking slower cars as several faster ones were overtaking you! The most stressful being the XK's that I was passing, praying that we would not meet due to the cost and rarity of these beasts! About halfway through my session the safety car came out due to a beached car at Luffield with one of its wheels detached and dejected at the side of the track.

Although I did not see any incidents whilst on track, I did see the results of various shunts! The most annoying being a lump of bodywork at the exit of Woodcote which made my line somewhat unusual! The contributary factor was the XK that I was trying to pass for several laps making me run wide.

MORE TO FOLLOW

Jaguar Ensemble E Type V Rogue's Troopers Neil Glynn Toyota

Stewert Lyddall a couple of cars in front of Gail Hill at Luffield

.

Joe's Chain Gang runs wide at Luffield as Tim Falce's "Grunties D type's" goes by!

.

Pic1 Terry Dye entertains the drivers with an impromptu Irish Jig. Pic2 Roger Webster returns for a debrief from the final stint of the race!

.

Pic1 Robert Drewery's Daimler XJ6 Pic2 Doug Ellwood's Marcos Mantis

DAvDave Robbie (Pic Mark Stabler)

Philip Comer (Pic Mark Stabler)

MORE PICS TO FOLLOW!