The End of Season Review - 14/11/03

A view from the paddock......

Another successful year for the Bill Richards Racing Team. After much hard work, weekends and many late nights the new race Mini made it to the SEMSEC test day at Lydden. After a short test and shake down Bill pronounced he was happy with the car and it was handed over to Bill Sollis to test for a Miniworld feature. 

The first meeting was at Lydden, both cars with their new looks, the Mini in all over Piper Cams livery and the Metro with Triangle Fire Protection decals. The Metro had a good first outing, the engine rebuild over the winter having an obvious effect. Then the Mini’s first race! We watched with disbelief as our beautiful new car was knocked straight into the tyre wall. 

So, two weeks of very late nights later, we arrived at Silverstone. The boys were still finishing the car at 1am on the race day. We laughed at the team next door who had gone to bed, those of us sleeping in the garage stopped laughing when they came back at 5am to do a gearbox change. The Minis were a little overwhelmed on the International Circuit but provided a spectacle by racing each other. Then Ron came past the pit lane, but no Bill. He had spun off into a gravel trap on his own oil after the oil cooler had broken. We hear that the car is okay but we are worried that Bill will have no idea where to tell the recovery truck to go, we consider putting out a lost child message. With Bill and the car eventually returned, we set about cleaning the oil off and replacing the cooler. We make the start and the car goes well. The Mini has finished its first full race. 

May Bank Holiday found us back at Lydden. Both cars battle well, Bill is still picking up things he’d like to improve, but the team is happy. 

Next it is the Metros turn for an away trip to a ‘big’ circuit. We book days off work and climb aboard the motor home for the long trip to Pembrey. The sun shines, we fit the hired transponder and eventually find the holding area. Qualifying goes well, then the trouble starts, we are moved from one race to another and are given several different start times! We end up as a 2nd grid in race 3, we go to the holding area a little early just in case! The car in front of Bill ‘bogs down’ on the start so Bill has to fight his way through the field. It’s thrilling stuff and the old girl does us proud. The race is red flagged and declared, it’s a long way to go for 12 minutes of racing. 

Back to Lydden, both cars are going well and qualifying at the front of the grid. The Jades and Radicals continue to dominate the South East Sports and Saloon Car Challenge but the Metro is always battling for the lead of the rest of the field. The Mini has proved herself and is back fighting for the lead of the BSW Championship with Bill’s arch rivals the Cossies! Both cars continue to attract a lot of attention both in the paddock and on the track. We notice in the paddock that before the races the Mini attracts the crowds, after the race, people flock to the Metro not quite believing what they have just witnessed. 

The Metro was starting to pull out a big points lead in the South East Sports and Saloon Car Challenge and the Mini took an overall win, the team were ecstatic.  

Meanwhile, behind the scenes the spare race shell has been built up as a ‘clone’ of the racecar, ready for the Miniworld Action Day at Castle Coombe. The car in its Piper Cams livery ran all day, Bill managing to take 22 team members and sponsors out on track for the ‘ride of a lifetime’. Tired but happy, we pack up for the trip to Lydden to race both cars the next day. 

We were supposed to leave the ‘Coombe Car’ at Bill’s workshop, but due to Allan Rawlings slight mishap with his car he is borrowing it, so it goes with us to Lydden. Sunday morning’s scrutineering sees 3 blue Minis (2 identical) and 1 blue Metro lined up. There are many jokes about them breeding and a Bill Richards takeover. Bill drives well as usual, a minor miracle as he had spent the day before driving around Castle Coombe, thankfully both cars behave themselves and qualify well. The team are very tired, and the last thing we needed to see was our Mini being knocked into a spin and then shunted. It comes back to us on a recovery truck, the rear end is written off. It was a big accident, we are reluctant to let our driver out in the Metro, we agree to if the medics clear him. They clear him. So we find ourselves on the dummy grid with the Metro, it’s on slicks and it’s starting to rain! 

The whole field are on slicks, we agree with Bill that if the weather worsens he will come in, we don’t want to risk a second accident. He doesn’t come in, he doesn’t want to disappoint his fans or sponsors. He drives a fantastic race and brings Bessie home in 1 piece. It has been a very long weekend, the BSW Championship has gone from us, we take 2 ½ cars home. 

Lee works his magic on the back of the race Mini, and after a few evenings work, we were back at Lydden. Bill had talked us into doing the Mini and Imp Challenge. He waits until we have got to the circuit to tell us the set up on the back of the Mini might not be quite right! Qualifying proves his point it is very lively! The Metro as usual is as good as gold. With the extra race the boys don’t have much time to work on the Mini, but they finish it just as Bill is strapping himself in. The Mini is still a bit of a handful but Bill uses all his skill and puts on his usual crowd-pleasing display and finishes well. The Metro battles with cars it should be nowhere near as usual and finishes well up the order again. She hasn’t missed a beat all season and has finished well in every race. 

The Metro finished the season with a very impressive points lead in the South East Sports Saloon Car Challenge, and the Mini, in its first season came 3^rd overall in the BSW Motorsport Intermediate Championship. 

Please note: Photos courtesy of Steve Goodwin