Chris Pye Motorsport

Racing on the Unique Chalk Oval of Horndean Raceway - Chris Pye s151, Danni Reader s351 & Kallum Pye s51


2008

Please Click Here for the 2008 Final Points

Please Click Here for the 2008 Photos

Click on the Links to find meeting report

22nd June 2008 - Horndean
27th April 2008 - Angmering
13th April 2008 - Angmering
19th/20th Jan 2008 - Arena Essex

22nd June - Horndean

The 3rd generation of Pye racers, 10 year old Kallum Pye made his debut at this meeting, at Horndean and scared father Chris half to death....as he had to sit in the newly fitted passenger seat next to him in Chris' car!  Unfortunately Chris is currently far too busy to sort either car out fully, so they concentrated on getting Chris' suitable to share.  This was only completed at 23.45 on the Saturday night before the meeting, however the car still was not running very well!

Kallum had never even driven or tried to drive before the meeting, so was given a 4 lap practice session before the meeting started (nobody gets practice at this track).  Having struggled with clutch control and stalling a few times he sort of got the hang of things, before going flat out through a corner and fighting the steering assistance Chris tried giving him "I saw the armco a little too closely for someone who had driven about 1/2 mile by this point!"  So after a harsh talking to in the pits, Kallum and Chris went out for his first race, and he listened more to the instructions that Chris was trying to give him and allowed some help to steer and was soon driving well and at probably half to 2 thirds speed, and Kallum finished the first heat, an achievement in itself, albeit last.  The only thing that marred the race, was running into the back of another car in the pits when Chris told him to stop....oh well!  No real damage.
 
A quick driver change saw Chris straight out for his first heat straight away and no time to reflect or congratulate.  Chris was running in 4th place having overtaken a few cars when the car died, first thoughts were lack of petrol due to only running with a 1 gallon tank.  Closer inspections had seen the mains wire come off the ignition coil, possibly dislodged by running into the back of a car in the pits.  However Kallum's next race started with a misfire re-ocuring, and he just kept out of the way and tried to finish another race, which he managed to again last, but was another controlled race where he listened well.  Due to the misfire Chris missed my heat and set about trying to cure it.  However having changed and tried so many things the resolution couldn't be found so loaded the car up with the view it could be the ignition coil may have shorted itself out when the wire came off and damaged it or the condensor unit was playing up.  Kallum had his 10th birthday party at the track, with 4 of his friends there to witness his first race as well as Grandparents Sue & Pete and team mate Auntie Danni (s351)

Angmering 27th April

Due to yet another cancelled meeting at Horndean Raceway due to measures outside any human control... the pits resemble a lake at present! Chris Pye Motorsport headed off to Angmering, Worthing for another outing at the fast Sussex track.  Again Danni shared Chris' car for the day.

After a nice sunny morning, the rain clouds appeared just before practice, causing Chris to panic and attempt to change the outside tyres to ones with more grip, only to struggle with 2 wheel nuts on the front, so it was decided to try with the tyres that were on the car, and Danni went out for her practice in the wet.  Having driven about 8 laps she started to pull away from the 69 mini giving her some hope for the heat race that she was going to race.

Heat 1 - Danni started from the Yellow Grade position (due to Chris's car having the yellow roof) and got a good start, all eyes were on the pit bend, the scene of Danni's spins last time here...and she managed very well in the difficult soaking wet conditions.  Having run for the majority of the race in 2nd place, she was finally caught by a few of the star drivers from Prod A and Prod B, who past her demoting her to 7th place overall and 4th in Prod A.

Heat 2 - Chris took to the track for this heat, hoping for a good result on the now drying track....only to be too cautious going through the top corner and allowing cars to catch and pass him.  He did not want to crash the car into the armco again!  Unknown to anyone the water pump failed during this race causing the car to majorly overheat and reduce the performace more.  A disappointing way to end the day with a last place finish!  Due to not having a spare water pump (something we will now carry to meetings) we were unable to compete in the final.

Bank Holiday Monday will see the team return to Angmering for more racing!

Angmering 13th April

This track is not best suited to a car that is set up for Horndean, with gearing a worry for our Minis.  We intended to race both Chris' and Danni's cars, however at 9pm on Saturday night we realised we still had too much work to do on Danni's car to make it out there, so called it a night and decided to share the car that was ready.

We were made to feel very welcome by Jim, the promoter at the track and were even offered some tyres by a fellow racer if we were planning on racing there again as ours were not fully suited to the concrete track.  Practice was eventful as Danni took the car out nervously trying to find her feet in a race car, but did so without any problems.  Chris on the other hand made a pigs ear of it by losing control into the top bend and slamming into the inner armco!  No serious damage done and was out for Heat one in Chris' hands, starting from the front of the 9 car race.  Having lead for the first lap Chris was soon passed by a couple of cars and struggling to take the top bend flat out as the car was getting very loose.  He hung on to finish a respectable 2nd place in the Prod As and 5th overall.

Thanks to Dean Brown (1450 s191) & Grant Chase(Mod C s117) who were there to support us some changes were made to the set up and tyre pressures in time for Danni to race in Heat two....her racing debut!  Danni opted to start the race from the back in order to stay out of trouble.  Danni was driving a good race until a mistake on the pit bend caused her to spin 180 degrees!  Thankfully there was no one behind her and she was able to turn it around and get going again...only to repeat the feat again a couple of laps later this time with the whole field of cars having to drive around her.  Thankfully no one hit her and she rejoined and set about gaining some more racing experience.  Trouble with one of the Prod Bs, meant that Danni was able to unlap herself and then overtake them to finish in a good 8th place on her debut.  Hopefully she can race in her own car on April 27th.

The Final was looking promising as Chris took to the grid as he lined up alone at the front of the grid.  A great start saw Chris lead for 3 laps but the 160 mini snuck inside on the exit of the pit turn then allowing a further 2 cars to pass dropping Chris to 4th on the climb to the top bend.  Chris then followed as fast as he could over the following couple of laps, but the gearing was proving an issue with the car running out of revs on run down the hill to the pit bend.  With 2 laps to go Matt Goldswain in the 511 Mini managed to force his way around the outside of the top turn dropping Chris to 5th, but not wanting to give in, Chris kept his foot in going into the pit turn only for the 511 mini to close the door on him and the two colided on the last lap.  On the climb to the top turn Chris saw his opportunity of using a backmarker to slow Goldswain down and Chris went through the turn flat out and sure enough the 511 car had to lift due to the backmarker on the outside of the corner, and Chris pulled alongside but not enough to get 4th place back by the line.  He finished 3rd in the Prod As.

I'm sure we'll be back at some time during the year for some more action.

2008 EXPO - Arena Essex 19/20th January

On a wet and windy weekend in January when most are still wondering what went wrong in 2007, the team were back in action in their new Prod A mini at the Arena Essex Raceway.  Again whilst the January Sales are still booming at the Lakeside shopping centre ideally located next door to the track, nearly 80 races in 24 hours were completed, including 7 races for the SEGTO drivers.

Saturday night saw a 2 heat and final set up with, with the Prod As, Prod Bs and Mod Cs all out in the same races.  Some would say little chance for a Prod A driver to win...but winning was not really the aim for us.  To ensure the car ran well was our ultimate aim, however Chris used to use this track for testing and has driven around probably nearly 1000 times over the years (albeit the opposite way around in a Legends Car), so knows where the drain covers are on the apex and how to use them to throw the back of the car out, how close to the kerb you can get before it jumps out and gets you!

Heat One saw a battle with Paul Mellish before Chris took the lead, however he was soon caught and passed by Ashley Brown in his Prod B Nova and then by Chris Froggett in a Mod C Starlet.  The race settled down a for a couple of laps before Chris was demoted to 4th by Tracey in her Prod B Nova.  And that is how it finished Chris 4th ahead of Paul Lording in his Prod A Nova.  A Class win on his debut, and maybe some proof that from a Yellow Grade maybe a good start to the season ahead could be had.

Personalised Greeting Cards from Moonpig
 Heat Two saw Chris get a great start and slot into 2nd place behind Tongham driver Budge in his Yellow Pug 106, and that is how is stayed for a couple of laps before Lording got down the inside and forced the door to be left open and a stream of Bs and Cs to go through, a need for a mirror on the drivers door was identified, when Chris realised that he could not see to close the door and get back on the inside!!!  A respectable 8th place from about 18 out there was the result setting up a 3rd place on the Final Grid. 


With 3 plastic trophies to be won the pressure was on for the final!  Budge and Lording let the way with Chris in 3rd before a spinner on the Lakeside turn saw everyone go wide to avoid, As Chris was on the outside he went straight to the armco on the straight, only to be RAMMED from a car twice as powerful #4 Chris Froggett.  According to drivers behind him, he did not brake and carried on pushing the mini down the straight until Chris ploughed into the back of a car in front and half spinning him....something normally seen in bangers rather than hot rods!  Determined not to let it bother Chris, he got his foot back down and the bit between his teeth only to go too wide out of the next corner and slam the rear wheel arch into the armco!  Chris managed to catch and pass a couple of the NASA cars and was battling with a mk2 escort on the last corner when the driver got it all wrong leaving Chris no option but to spin out 180 degrees onto the infield....and to be caught on camera by Matt Bull! (Photo on right...)  The 3 photos below have been taken from the RACE VIDEO DVD of the night and clearly show the blue car on the outside shove me into the x4 car of Tracey Cotton.

    
Sunday saw Chris try to straighten out the bent front end of his new mini enough to get clearance on the front wheel.  With 4 races on the cards, Chris was upbeat about having fun again, however all SEGTO cars were out together....Prod As, Prod Bs, Mod Cs, 1450 Hot Rods, Super Saloons and Specials.  There must have been about 30 cars in the first race.  It is amazing the speed difference between the As and the Super Saloons which are mainly 2 litre pinto driven cars (starlets).  Not to mention the 1450s with their Bike engined lightweight cars.  It was soon apparent that keeping out of the way of the faster cars and battling in your own groups was a priority.  4 good clean races were had by Chris and he was happy in the knowledge that the car has got some speed, and its now about trying to drive it without the locked diff and keep up with everyone!


Roll on 2009! We'll be back!!!!