Spa 24hr 2CV Race
21-22 Oct 2006

Another warm Spa 24hr Race!

The bonfire material arrives		The first teams arrive
work starts on the cars
Garages open up and stickers are applied
The Brits sort out their helmets with the Scrutineering staff
The Brits examine their new car and the podium is ready

We arrived on Thursday afternoon to find the Belgian 2Cvers busy setting up the camp site. It looks a lot smarter this year with a proper tarmac entrance and a one-way system. The marquee was still being erected as a couple of early arrivals went into the field.

The circuit was opened to people associated with 2CV race at 19:00 and we went in to find a spot to park for the weekend. At this point only two teams had arrived - both Belgian. We had an early night it rained for a short time, but was unusually mild. We woke up on Friday to a pleasant day. Teams started arriving early on. Most of the UK Team members arrived around midday, with the exception of Richard Hollis who was working on Friday.

Car 71 'Team UK'

Drivers Glen Burtenshaw, Robin Webb, Steve Panas and Andy Smith, Team Manager Steve Sykes, Mechanics Richard Hollis, Derek Coghill and Keith Jackson, Car owner is Vincent Jacqmard

Team 71's drivers and manager arrived on Friday. First problem occurred at scrutineering when Steve Panas's helmet was declared unfit - not the right standard - and he had to buiy a new one, whivh proved to be acceptable. Derek Coghill popped in to say hello and was press-ganged into being a mechanic for the weekend. The car was being hired from Vincent Jacqmard and it did not arrive at the circuit until the afternoon - an element of panic had been setting in - 'Have we come all this way and there is no car for us to race?'. The car passed scrutineering and after the once-over by the team was declared OK and money changed hands for its hire.

Then it started to rain - very hard - was this an omen for the weekend? No it was not, Saturday dawned overcast but dry. At 08:30 the drivers' briefing was held, attendance was mandatory. At 09:00 the first qualifying session took place with Andy first out followed by Steve. Mechanic Richard Hollis arrived having driven overnight from Leicester in his 2CV - his journey included 4 hours sleeping in the car.

At 10:30 the second session started with Robin at the wheel and then Glen. Both Derek and Richard expect their 2CVs to be cannibalised for spares, and they were!

At noon the parade lap took place with hundreds of 2CVs and other Citroen 'A' series cars driving round the track. This was followed by a special parade by participants in the 2006 Raid Touareg (Belgium to Benin).

The 24-hour 2CV Model race got under way then it was time for the start of the 24-hour 2CV Race. The race started at 1400 (two hours earlier than usual) with the car in 42nd position out of 54 on the grid with Glen at the wheel. At the end of Glen's stint the car was refuelled and Steve took over. The car started with difficulty and off he went, but did not complete the lap and no-one knew where he was on the ciruit.About half an hour later the car re-appeared in the pits, having been pushed to the start of the pit lane (no towing until 20:00.

Steve reported 'an engine problem' and the repairs took quite a while. Eventually Steve was off again and was going well until about 17:30 when he came into the pits and the team discovered that a plug lead had fallen off and the starter motor failed. All this was sorted out and the car went out again with Robin at the wheel. At 19:10 he came in reporting that the oil pressure light had come on and that he was not achieving the revs he expected. As we write the car is in the pit being checked out.

As ever the team in the next pit garage - Isotoit-Isoplast is being extremely helpful.