Wonderful Weather (nice and brisk for Thailand), Wonderful Company, Wonderful Times. January has been nothing but fun this year. Graham MacDonald has made it back from Australia in one piece with Jay. I'm not saying that Ian Dickson went on a bit but sending me back an Aussie cap was just a bit more than I could take. Of course our home grown Australians are having a great time now ably supported by the newly arrived Brian (Bruce) John, Tai, and Ice Kennedy have sadly all gone back to work along with Dai Coe, but all the rest of the usual suspects are still here. Rich Wibrow, my Junior Assistant Deputy Trainee Manager Ian Harrington (Lady Di) who will be one of the Hares on the 29th January when the Pattaya Hash House Harriers have their AGM meeting, with the on-in at Jameson's. Lady Di would lose one of his titles if he could just learn to turn the TV’s over one at a time, as at the moment every time, Lady Di touches the remote controls you never know which channel will turn over. Philbrook's all are making everybody's life very pleasant Jim, Frances, Simon and the Lightley Deborah. Scud Paul has arrived along with Peter and Eddie the Grey. Scud brought across some new tapes of Gordon Ramsey's Nightmare Kitchens, very funny and will do the rounds of all of us that have still got the old fashioned video players. Saturday night was set alive by the arrival of Richard and Ali, who are here for a whole three weeks. Ray Matti and Curly Wurly, Stuart Daly, the arrival of Phill Dunn, all we need now is Lisa Lurve. Rick Bryant is yet again away, but we all took care of Harpic and Jake on Saturday even though Harpic forgot our pickled onions!

Endurance racing is quite different from the usual sprint racing seen in Thailand. This is much more than the competition between the drivers, but more of a 'team effort' than is seen with short distance racing.
The Four Hour for Under 1500 sedans was the inaugural endurance event for this group to be held at the Bira International Circuit at Pattaya, and as expected, was a race of attrition, with some good luck and some bad luck.
The field of around 25 cars was depleted by nightfall on the Friday evening after most teams had been practicing all week for the Saturday race. Some had damaged their cars beyond repair, whilst others had given up trying to come up with a reliable package to go the four hours. With endurance
racing, replacing defective parts with secondhand items just does not work.
The Pizza Company Racing Team of three Toyota Vios was not without its dramas as well. Two drivers had to drop out at the last minute and replacements drafted in at the last minute, with Hans Teitze walking around with a big smile and a borrowed race suit, having scored a last minute drive along with Dean Callister. This 'sprint' car normally driven by Thomas Raldorf was not without problems either. On the Friday evening, a mishap by a mechanic in sorting the car, saw the Vios hit the pit wall, resulting in an 'all-nighter' to have it straight for the Saturday. Then a problem was discovered in the gearbox, necessitating a transmission change that Saturday morning before Qualifying. The car I was down to drive was by comparison, looking good. All known parts that can break on these long races had been replaced, even the wheel studs which can shear during four hours of pounding. With owner Paul Kenny doing the first 40 minute stint, followed by Aussie Mike Freeman, John Heinecke and myself, we were quietly confident. With a basically unmodified car we know we would not be the fastest, but like the hare and the tortoise, we knew we would be there at the end. To finish first, first you have to finish. Or that was the plan!
By the time the Qualifying was over, it was obvious that the Grant Suphapongs Honda Civic was the front runner, placing the car on pole by a considerable margin. However, this car/driver combination has always been fast, but has not had a so impressive finishing record. The other teams were silently hoping that this would be the same for a four hour race.
Right from the start, Grant Suphapongs consolidated his position at the head of the field, while every other team settled down into a race pace that they hoped could be maintained by their four drivers over four hours.
This slightly slower pace in the field was the stimulus the Pizza Company 'sprint' car needed, with the 2006 Vios champion Jack Lemvard grinding down the leaders for the first compulsory 40 minutes, followed by Thomas Raldorf, who was setting similar lap times, to get the car up to second by
the end of the second hour.
The other two Pizza Company cars, carrying new sponsor AA Insurance Brokers, were also running well and pulling themselves up through the field with their reliability, and staying out of trouble. In a four hour race, you are competing against the clock, rather than fighting for position on the track like sprint racing. Or run the risk of being punted off the track and into a wall.
By the three hour mark the Lemvard/Raldorf car was firmly in second, with ourselves up to seventh (and hopeful of a podium) in front of the third Pizza Company car in eighth (Urs Schonenberger, Tony Percy, Ray MacDonald and Khun Ae).
Then with 20 minutes to go, we had our first drama after a perfect run so far. The car just ran out of fuel and coughed its way back into the pits. We knew that there was fuel in the tank but one churn was added, just in case. Still no joy, and eventually it was traced to a 100 baht relay to the fuel pump that had failed. Such cruel luck, though we had covered so many laps in the 3 hours 40 minutes that we were still classified as 15th at the end of four hours.
At the finish, the Suphapongs Honda Civic was the clear winner covering 178 laps in the four hours. Second was the Pizza Company 'sprint' car three laps down, and it was thought the third Pizza Company car was 7th - but once again, some cruel luck. The rear bumper bar had been knocked off by another car, and at the weigh-in, this made the car 5kg underweight. The subsequent penalty relegated the car to 17th position.
For many teams, and drivers, endurance racing provided a new experience. My personal thanks to Thomas Raldorf who invited me into the Pizza Company Racing Team for the event, and to my personal sponsors AA Insurance Brokers, who made it possible for me to get into the driving seat again.
There will be a 1,000 km race at Bira in December. I have my hand up for a drive already!

Dr. Iain Corness

landlord@jamesons-pattaya.com

The Answers for Quiz Last Week

1. Who scored the most points for the British Lions on their 1971 tour to New Zealand?

A. Barry John

2. In what years did Jackie Stewart win his three world championships?

A. 1969, 1971 and 1973

3. Who captained Hampshire to the Cricket County Championship in 1961?

A. Colin Ingleby-MacKenzie