Oxford Universities Motorsport Foundation race in the HRDC ‘Allstars’ and ‘Jack Sears Trophy’ at the inaugural Snetterton Historic Festival Sunday 30th June 2024

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! 

We woke to the pitter-patter of rain at 07:00, which was a rude awakening,  but we soon got to work fuelling and going through final checklists as  Scrutineering and Qualification neared. 
The Sprite was competing for the second time this season, the first being  the dominant Class win in the HRDC ‘Allstars’ at the Donington Historic Festival  in May, after which the front wheel bearings were discovered to be starting to  spin in the hubs. With no spares on hand, the bearings had instead been  comprehensively treated to Three Bond’s finest bearing lock, and left to cure for  over a month, so we anxiously hoped that this would hold them fast for the race.  Tom Leclaire, who was acting race engineer for the Sprite for the weekend, was  nervous but trusted the front corner mechanics, Eddie Scheer and James Biley,  to keep a close eye on the hubs. The Riley 1.5 racer was making its first  competitive appearance of the season following the time-sucking repairs to the  rear right wing which was damaged at last year's Goodwood Revival. Sean  Harvey was confident as the race engineer looking after OUMF’s ‘old reliable’. 
First out, for the HRDC ‘Allstars’ qualification was the Sebring, which got in  only the 3 minimum laps in the horribly wet conditions, putting it 5th in Class on  the grid for the race. Coming back to the paddock, the weather conditions were  not the major worry, as the mechanic on the rear right, Remus Saldanha, noticed  diff oil leaking from the hub, and quite a bit of axial movement in the bearings.  Taking it to pieces, it was found that there was insufficient clamping force to seal  the hub to half shaft joint, so the assembly was put back together with more  sealant, and fully-torqued bolts, while ideas were mooted for more threaded  holes to be added. Meanwhile the Riley went out to qualify for the HRDC ‘Jack  Sears Trophy’ with the rain subsiding, and a very happy Ding because of it. With  a fastest lap of 3.11 on a drying track, we heard that the Riley would start the  race 3rd in Class. 
Come the first race, in the Sebring Sprite, it ran beautifully, with lap times  continually dropping as the track dried out, and it crossed the line with another  podium - 3rd in Class – and Ding evidently gaining in confidence at the wheel.  Little did he (or the team!) know the titanic fight he was about to have in the  Riley.
The cars lined up for the ‘Jack Sears Trophy’ and as the flag dropped they  all fought their way through turn 1. The first 15 minutes of the race saw the Riley  largely on its own, ‘in no mans land’, but slowly chasing down the Alfa Romeo  101 Giulietta of Tom Shephard, and an Austin A30. Then came the pit stops...  The Riley had a smooth stop, with myself and Tom Reid getting Ding in and out  as fast as we could. On the out-lap, two significant events occurred. First the A30  hit some mechanical difficulties and retired, then the Alfa came into the pits…  and it was leaving the pit exit lane as Ding rounded the final corner. The race was on! 

The next lap, the Riley and the Alfa were nose-to-tail into turn one, with  about 6 inches between them… with the Alfa in front. Next lap, they rounded the  final bend with the Riley in front! Down the main straight, the Alfa would just haul  in the Riley – maybe due to better aerodynamics? - and into turn one the Alfa  was just in front again! Next lap, a dummy up the inside into turn one from the  Riley put it back in the lead once more! The set up of the Riley gave it the pace in  the technical sections, but the lower drag of the Alfa meant the whole fight would  restart after every straight as the Riley just didn't have the legs! Finally after  about 20 minutes of battling, the pursuing Alfa got a little out of shape on the  infield hairpin, lost the rear, and went for an enormous spin on the wet grass,  meaning all Ding had to do was bring the Riley home. Little did he know those of  
us in the pit lane had just been told that our fuel jerry cans had to be completely  emptied to allow for the Riley to have just enough fuel to maybe finish the race.  After such an epic battle how could fuel be our worry?! The clock counted down  
ever so slowly as we waited for that chequered flag to fall. Finally, the overall  lead car rounded the final bend, and much to Sebastian Paul’s delight and relief  (he was in charge of fuel and tyres that weekend), the Riley soon followed, and  took the chequered flag to finish a glorious first in Class! 
It goes without saying this was one of Ding's most exciting drives, and it  wouldn't have been possible without the respect between him and Tom  Shephard. Any dance takes two, and the Alfa and the Riley danced beautifully.  The sun finally peaked through over the flat Norfolk plains as the HRDC prize  giving got underway, and the OUMF team went back down to Oxford with two  podiums - to a well-deserved rest after what had been one hell of a successful  month of June! 
Our sincere thanks go to Julius Thurgood for affording the OUMF student  team the chance to gain invaluable experience through the thrills and spills of  real cut and thrust racing in the wonderful HRDC race series; to Phillips Tyres for  so much help, including setting the cars up on their state of the art laser  alignment rig, and all our generous sponsors for enabling us to reach for the  stars – and on this occasion, briefly touch them! ​

- Charlie Lemme - Third Year Motorsport Technology, Oxford Brookes