 In true OUMF last-minute fashion, the weekend kicked off with an email sent out at 10:39, requesting the team to gather for an 11:00 start at the barn. As cars rolled down the drive and students poured out, a warm blanket of sun saw the team don sunglasses, hats, and suncream – a welcome change from the dark, wet evenings we had all grown used to while working on the projects over winter. As the first race of the season – and the first ever race for some of the lucky freshers to make the team (myself included) – a buzz of excitement filled the barn and yard during the final preparations before departure. We secured the race cars onto the trailers, shut the van doors for the last time, and all piled into the convoy vehicles (smallest person goes in the middle seat!), stopping briefly before the circuit for a Sainsbury’s pit stop for some student essentials – beer, energy drinks and sweets.
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The 20th of October marked the final round in OUMF’s 14th year racing in the HRDC. Our Riley One Point Five competing in the ‘Jack Sears Trophy’ and the Austin Healey Seabring Sprite in the ‘Dunlop Allstars’. This event would be impossible without the support of the HRDC’s Race Director, Julius Thurgood; him being a key player into letting us race at some of the UK’s finest circuits. This weekend to many of the new freshers, including myself would be their debut race weekend, meaning Ding had his work cut out to pick out a team with the 92+ different members who had joined the club the month prior. The week of Silverstone a list was organized, being a team of 9 previous members to be supported by 10 freshers to ensure the weekend would run as smooth as possible, along with giving the opportunity to see how the freshers would fit in the team and compare to many professional race teams there that weekend.  The Team and cars in the Silverstone pits
The preparations for me began on Thursday evening when I arrived having been away from OUMF due to the start of my placement. It was good to be back at the barn and part of the team again. The team gathered to give our trusty Riley a final once-over before the big weekend. Everything was looking good and by Saturday morning, the Riley was primed and ready to go. We packed up the van, loaded the Riley, and hit the road at 4 PM, bound for Brands Hatch with excitement and optimism.
 A trailer wheel rolling past the van while leaving the HQ was not the best omen with which to start a race weekend - but luckily the OUMF race team is not superstitious! Attempt 2 to leave went much more smoothly, and the team made their way north-east to the very technical Snetterton 300 race circuit in Norfolk. The team had just returned from Belgium the previous weekend, where we had scored a notable success with a Class win with our rally Riley 1.5 in the FIA Ardeca Ypres Rally. Almost as soon as we got off the DFDS ferry, we had continued the race prep our 1959 Elva Courier, in the hope of running it at Snetterton 5 days later. While it was quite the valiant effort to try and get the ol’ girl ‘good to race’, it was eventually decided to put a much less time-constrained effort in on the car after Snetterton. This meant the team fully committed to taking our Sebring Sprite and Riley 1.5 racers, our tried and tested machines which only required a quick refresh instead of a full buildup!
On reaching the circuit near Norwich, we set up our pit at the track and then made our way to the pub for some grub. However, after previous all-nighter of race prep took its toll on many of the team, and upon our return to the track, a rare occurrence took place…the exhausted OUMF’s were all in bed by 22:00!
The OUMF team’s plan was to leave on the afternoon of Saturday 29th July for Oulton Park’s signature Gold Cup, as our race in the Riley - The Jack Sears Trophy - was on Sunday 30th July…or so we thought until 1pm on the Friday afternoon! At that point it was realised that the race was ACTUALLY on Saturday 29th! Now most of you, I’m sure, might say that once the simple mistake is realised, it's an easy fix: ‘just’ pack and leave immediately for the circuit, right? Well, yes, but at this point the team was heading out to collect a semi-dismantled TVR Wedge that had been
Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit |
 | After some great results throughout this season, everyone old and new on the team was excited for the final weekend of the HRDC season where the OUMF Riley 1.5 racer would be competing in the HRDC ‘Touring Greats’ and ‘Allstars’ races. Alongside the racing on the Sunday, the team were invited to visit Halls Garage on Saturday. |
 Photos By Nikita Volkov | The unexpected news of our invitation to debut the Riley 1.5 racer at the Goodwood Revival took the team very pleasantly by surprise, some time after our return from an astonishing performance on the Ypres Rally in Belgium in the Riley rally car. After all, the Revival is without question one of the most prestigious, exclusive and well-known events in the world of historic and classic motorsport, and it was a tremendous honour, and a privilege, to be asked to compete. It is famous for evoking the atmosphere of racing events back in the 1950’s and 1960’s, as well as attracting some very famous names, and indeed, some very famous cars. Needless to say we couldn’t wait to see our student-built Riley racing on the same track as 250 Ferraris, D-Types, pre-war Alfa Romeos and the cigar- shaped Grand Prix cars of the 60s. |
| In the midst of the full time preparation of the OUMF rally Riley for Abingdon Stages and the Ypres Rally, the Summer of Love race weekend at Brands Hatch circuit in Kent snuck upon the OUMF team fast. At the Donington Historic Festival, a number of worrying pieces of steel shim were found in the racers oil after the post-qualifying oil change. Due to the lack of options on the table, and the fact that the engine seemed to be running ok, it was decided to race on, and give the engine a full inspection after the event. It was suspected that the shims could be from behind the timing sprocket, since the front pulley was loose on the crank and may have caused some damage. |  Photos By Nikita Volkov |
The Donington Historic Festival has fast become one of the most anticipated events of the year, with star-studded grids and three days of nail biting race action. This year was no different and the OUMF boys' hopes were high following on from the teams’ successful first race of the season at Brands Hatch.
Since that first meeting, the Riley’s engine had been equipped with a new Kent camshaft, and been re-tuned on the rolling road at Pitstop, thanks to the generous support of Andy Burns at Kent, and John Yea at British Motor Heritage, and Ralph Saunders respectively. Our excellent new Lifeline control systems were in place, and what tread remained on our tyres had been balanced and deployed on the car to best advantage with the help of Phillips Tyres. We had also fitted a rear anti roll bar for the first time, and the superbly crafted BTB side exit exhaust system had been fitted for the unsilenced Donington Historic Festival.
Since that first meeting, the Riley’s engine had been equipped with a new Kent camshaft, and been re-tuned on the rolling road at Pitstop, thanks to the generous support of Andy Burns at Kent, and John Yea at British Motor Heritage, and Ralph Saunders respectively. Our excellent new Lifeline control systems were in place, and what tread remained on our tyres had been balanced and deployed on the car to best advantage with the help of Phillips Tyres. We had also fitted a rear anti roll bar for the first time, and the superbly crafted BTB side exit exhaust system had been fitted for the unsilenced Donington Historic Festival.
On the hottest weekend of the year so far, everything was looking good at the HQ on Saturday ahead of OUMF's first race of the season. The Riley was running beautifully, and by mid-afternoon all prep was done, bar adjusting the clutch - which appeared to need simply bleeding to fix. However, it didn't respond, and with the help of our new Easyview inspection camera inserted into the bellhousing (what a superb bit of kit!), we were able to see that the inaccessible clutch pivot bush had collapsed. Rather than remove the engine at this late stage to get to it, the team ingeniously adapted a smaller diameter clutch slave cylinder to fit. This gave a heavier pedal, but a longer throw - and proved an excellent temporary fix. This allowed us to leave Oxford later than planned, at 7pm, but to still reach the Rising Sun pub near the circuit in time for food and a good evening before quickly setting up in the Brands Hatch paddock and retiring to bed.
Our 2016 HRDC race season has come to an eventful close, full of many spectacular highs and a few emotional lows, but rounded off with a spectacular finale at the superb Donington Park circuit on October 15th. For the Oxford Universities Motorsport Foundation it was an event that will be remembered well by many a veteran and newcomer to the team, for a long time to come.
Leaving earlier on Friday evening, Ding, Vlad and Jack O’ Connell formed the OUMF ‘vanguard’ and successfully secured a pit garage at the circuit. They dropped off the Riley race car and trailer before rendezvousing with the rest of the team at a great local pub called The Plough, a few minutes from the circuit. Following a hearty meal there, the team of 16, in 4 cars, had very little trouble making the 4 tickets and one car pass go a long way on re-entering the circuit! Our thanks to Dave Constable Berry, Andy Parsons, and Jack Swarbrigg for driving and helping the rest of the team with lifts.
Leaving earlier on Friday evening, Ding, Vlad and Jack O’ Connell formed the OUMF ‘vanguard’ and successfully secured a pit garage at the circuit. They dropped off the Riley race car and trailer before rendezvousing with the rest of the team at a great local pub called The Plough, a few minutes from the circuit. Following a hearty meal there, the team of 16, in 4 cars, had very little trouble making the 4 tickets and one car pass go a long way on re-entering the circuit! Our thanks to Dave Constable Berry, Andy Parsons, and Jack Swarbrigg for driving and helping the rest of the team with lifts.
OUMF races in the HRDC ‘Allstars’ and ‘Touring Greats’ in the Riley 1.5 at Thruxton Circuit
24/9/2016
| Our organization for the races was unusually tight this time! Early on the very sunny Friday morning we set up our stand at the entrance to Oxford Brookes Fresher’s Fair, to prove that our famous ‘Inca’ Alfa – the red 1966 Giulia Sprint GT endurance rally car - could attract all the right attention and be a suitable vessel to recruit some fresh classic car enthusiasts and motorsports nuts to the club. |  Photograph: Jeff Bloxham |
We had successfully signed on a happy bunch of students by mid-afternoon, so Iury and I ‘wobbled’ over to our idyllic Oxford countryside HQ (aka ‘the barn’) in the back of Dominic’s ‘road racing’ Morris Minor…having hot-wired it to get in going. Safely there, we swiftly completed the race preparations as the rest of the team arrived, loaded the Riley racer onto its aged trailer transport, and packed the van with way more than needed before setting off at 7pm – almost as planned!
