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Re: Message for Frank Hernandez

Frank Hernandez


How very true. You should read the cutting comments in the quarterly hillclimb report when Gary Bishop took the class record at Prescott in 1981.Terence Brettell was good enough to come to his defence in the following quarterly issue but that event set the scene for us for another twenty years.



well what did you expect? A young interloper bringing a meticulously prepared car and beating a member of the "establishment" driving a car that was doubtless dragged from a shed and given a dusting prior to the event. Jolly unsporting!!

I think thats typical of the attitudes of the times. I remember in the same era being scrutineered behind a well known Shelsley Special. It was not in the best of condition. It was nodded through, while I was given the most thorough scrutineering Ive ever had. My car maybe didnt have paint some places it should have had, but it was well screwed together. It was only when I remarked on my membership of a professional engineering institutuon and my willigness to protest his decision that I was given a pass ticket.

Re: Message for Frank Hernandez

Alan
It wouldn't take much of a brain to work that out. The cost of a set of R5s and new wheels was probably half the value of a lot of racing sevens at the time. I was lucky I got a massive discount from Dunlop because of my work.
Actually it did me a favour. After a while I realised hillclimbing suited me better than circuit racing.


Why do you think that hillclimbing suited you better?

Re: Message for Frank Hernandez

I found I liked the precision of it. You have to get it right- one mistake blows the whole run. You don't get that in circuit racing.

Re: Message for Frank Hernandez

Alan
I found I liked the precision of it. You have to get it right- one mistake blows the whole run. You don't get that in circuit racing.


Yes, I think that that is one of the reasons why I liked it. On the circuits you seem aware that you have a second chance or even a third. It leads to you analysing the details of your preparation more. I have far more detail concerning Prescott and Curborough than I have about Cadwell and Donnington in my black folder and many more gearbox mods for hillclimbing and sprinting.

Re: Message for Frank Hernandez

Is all this business re VSCC circuit racing and the anti-Austin Seven people now history or is it ongoing? Just curious as I haven't been a member of the club for many decades. When I was a member some people were very helpful to me as a young inexperienced competitor.
Dave.

Location: Sheffield

Re: Message for Frank Hernandez

Frank Hernandez
Alan
I found I liked the precision of it. You have to get it right- one mistake blows the whole run. You don't get that in circuit racing.


Yes, I think that that is one of the reasons why I liked it. On the circuits you seem aware that you have a second chance or even a third. It leads to you analysing the details of your preparation more. I have far more detail concerning Prescott and Curborough than I have about Cadwell and Donnington in my black folder and many more gearbox mods for hillclimbing and sprinting.

Is there any truth in the story that you had a different gearbox for every hill and circuit Frank ?

Re: Message for Frank Hernandez

Austin in the Shed
Frank Hernandez
Alan
I found I liked the precision of it. You have to get it right- one mistake blows the whole run. You don't get that in circuit racing.


Yes, I think that that is one of the reasons why I liked it. On the circuits you seem aware that you have a second chance or even a third. It leads to you analysing the details of your preparation more. I have far more detail concerning Prescott and Curborough than I have about Cadwell and Donnington in my black folder and many more gearbox mods for hillclimbing and sprinting.

Is there any truth in the story that you had a different gearbox for every hill and circuit Frank ?


Partly true but you have to bear in mind that we were racing for over thirty years and started with possibly 33bhp and ended with 44bhp. So, we used over time three gearboxes for Cadwell, two for Mallory, four for Prescott and three for Curborough. That selection gave us enough variety for the other tracks and sprints. When you are short of power you need to maximise the use of what you have.

Re: Message for Frank Hernandez

There was a magazine article some years ago about Frank et al and it had a brilliant picture of the "gearbox wall" in his workshop.

Charles