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The first page of Peters diary documents the teams first runs with the car at Dishforth Aerodrome in Yorkshire on Thursday June 17th 1965. After warming the car up Bruce Ropner became the first to take the wheel and Peter noticed that the car was mis-firing on the start line. Norman Barclay then took a turn and put in two runs. It seems that the team were pleased with the cars performance but there was a lack of 'wheelspin', referring to the practice of smoking the tyres, which was how it was done before the advent of slipper or multi-stage clutches.
The second entry recalls the teams trip to Gravelly in Cambridgeshire for a BDRA practice day two days later. After four hours travelling they unloaded the car and changed the oil, settling on a total of seven pints as the optimum amount to put in with out changing the oil filter. Gerry Belton made the first timed pass for the team. The result was a 10.57/139. Bruce Ropner followed this with an 11.90/140. Gerry then had another go and recorded an 11.48/144 which was described as "a bit swervy"! The teams last run of the day saw Bruce Ropner begin to get the hang of it and put in an impressive high-revving, wheelspinning pass that tripped the clocks at 9.85/150. Although this run is not recorded as such (owing to the 'practice' status of the meeting) it made Bruce the first British driver to run under ten seconds on British soil. |
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