News

Blenkhorn set the Legend car world on fire in his first full season in the car. The former Hydraulics Plus Bandolero champion had previously won in a Legend car at Riverside prior to the beginning of 2011 but had never had any race laps at the Speedworld before the May 22nd Maritime League of Legends Tour race on the 3/10-mile oval. He proved a quick study at his home track though, winning in just his fifth Legend car start at the Speedworld on Canada Day. Blenkhorn would go on to win twice more at the Speedworld to finish tops in the Coco Beach Legend car championship, one spot ahead of 2010 champion of both series (and his father) Paul Blenkhorn. He also made select starts in a Sportsman car at Riverside Speedway and Petty International Raceway where he ran laps that mirrored those being ran by multi-year veterans at the top of the time sheets.

The team at Burnett Motorsport are busy getting cars ready for round 8 of the Scottish Championship as the end of the season gets closer. The guys at Brayon Classic Engineering will be busy as their thee cars, the Mk1 Escort of John Marshall, the Mk of Robert Marshalla nd the Mini Cooper of Elaine Marshall will be out to play at the Touring Car round on 3rd and 4th September.

Myself, Steve and Colin along with JD from Burnett Motorsport will be off to the Red Bull Ring formally known as the A1 Ring in Austria this weekend to look afterthe FIA F2 cars in the championship. Looks like we are all kind of busy for the next few weeks

5th July 2011 - Double for Carol Brown (updated 6th July with report)
Just a brief update from Knockhill - Carol Brown won both heats in round six of the championship and was second in the final which was won by Burnett's Ross Marshall. Ross also won the INEX World Championship points round which was an extra race held on the Sunday. John Marshall won the two Classic Sports and Saloon Car races once again. Points, etc. here.

28th June 2011 - Spa News and Preview for this Weekend
Steve is just back from the F2 meeting at Spa (pictures in the gallery) and is now looking forward to this weekend's SMRC meeting at Knockhill.

Steve reports that it was wet out in Belgium for the latest two rounds of the FIA Formula Two Championship where he was working along with Colin. Spa is a real driver's track and there was a fair bit of damage for them to work on before they set off back home. The next round is at the Nurburgring but JD who I have been working with for some time will be doing that one as I will be looking after my Legends team up at Knockhill.

This weekend's Legends team is 03 John Marshall, 3 Ross Marshall, 6 David Hunter, 7 Carol Brown. Brayon engineering will be looking after the Classic cars of John and Robert Marshall and also Elaine Marshall's Mini Cooper.

6th June 2011 - Cadwell Park updated 14th June with photos and Steve's Report and again on 23rd June with David Hunter's update.

An enjoyable weekend for all - some great camaraderie in the paddock. Points we have calculated are provisional here. By our calculations, which again are not the official ones, Carol Brown still leads the championship but now from Gerard McCosh.

31st May 2011 - Formula Two

Steve has been away working on the FIA Formula Two Championship. Here are some words and pictures from the latest event.

"So we leave our garage early morning to catch our flight to France we arrive in France and have to meet up with 2 other guys from the f2 team: John ,his first time out in the thick of it, and Martin, both of them from Spain two exceptionally good technicians who are on their way to look after a driver each. We get sorted out with our hire car and get on our way to Magny-Cours. We get there about 1 o’clock ish in the morning - long day it was - and we had to be up early to go do our first test day with all the drivers. A couple of new drivers arrive it turns out to be a busy week in France for the whole team, all 70 of them flat out every day with some damage over the weekend and couple of weather changes making imposable to make the right tyre choice, but the guys kept going. All the cars got out for their testing time on Thursday. It was whole day of all the guys getting their cars prepped up for their official test day on the Friday. That means all cars get barge boards, floor, done ready for the weekend's racing. There is lots of time prepping all their cars with services sheets all ticked off and the day’s work finished about 7.30. A long day but lots of cars to be sorted out then it was home. Early starts every day but Friday was test day so a very early start with testing again in the afternoon. It turns out anther long day testing done with some little bits of damage but testing finished look the cars over for qualifying still not sure what’s happening with the weather but it turns out it's wet tyres and then we get bits of damage when these cars go out with 500hp that makes them quick and a handfull! All cars go out for qualifying and get ther job done then it's back in and then when its time look the cars over for their race in the afternoon then it’s time to go play. The weekend becomes nonstop from early morning till last race on Sunday with some major damage on Saturday night most of the cars ready but few guys have to work on till late at night getting the cars ready for Sunday morning qualifying for Sunday race. This goes well with no major damage before the cars are ready for their race on Sunday afternoon. All the guys get their cars ready then its time to break, go have lunch and the clean all the cars and get them ready for the grid slot late afternoon. Itt keeps all the guys, team engineers, team mechanics and shunt crew all on their toes. It turns out a fast fighting race from start to finsh. There's no major damage then it's in after race and kept in parc ferme but its time for me , Colin, JD, Martin and John to go leave. What a great week and busy time.

7th April 2011 - Peter Morton's Chassis

National driver Peter Morton had an incident at Brands Hatch and came to Burnett to get his chassis sorted - we were only too pleased to help...

Darren Gaulton will be out after he has done his long and hard cycle run from Lands End to John O'Groats - he has a big heart and says that he has to stick to his training and will not let the racing get in his way at the moment. I am so sure that all the hard work will pay off and we look forward welcoming him to the busy and fast Scottish championship

Immediately after the first round I will be getting ready to go and look after the Formula 2 racing cars - the long circuit ones, not the BriSCA ones. I have just got myself a job looking after some of these cars in the first round of their busy and fast championship next weekend at Silverstone so it's a busy time once again as it all comes to life after the Winter break. Steve McCall

Just so that everyone has a good understanding of what went wrong at Burnett Motorsport and to make sure that you understand what’s in our rule book for 2010 as there was no infrgement on the part of our team. I am sure some people may think there was something done wrong, well, this is how it goes...

I take out damaged engines from the rounds at Pembrey on the 14th Aug and getting the cars ready for 26th Sept at Donington Park I put engine in John's car and engine in Lee's car - all with 600 Racing seals. When my cars were taken for scrutineering in the morning I informed Dave Newton that I had the engines changed and he had to put his seals on them for that weekend - the rules state 16.9 ENGINE SERIAL NUMBERS All engine casings must have a YAMAHA serial number.AN ADDITIONAL ENGINE SEAL WILL BE ATTACHED BY SCRUTINEER THAT MUST REMAIN IN PLACE AT ALL TIMES TO BE USED ON ENG PASSPORT .any engine casing without a serial number will be considered illegal and not be permitted to be used in any 600racing [UK] SANCTIONED EVENTS.

So on the day at scrutineering I asked dave to fit a seal on both cars engines before they went out for familiarisation - he then told me he had no seals and that he would sort it after the drivers did the session. The 2 cars were kept in parc ferme and he put his msa seal round the rocker cover and put that in the passport. The guys went out and did their 1st race then came back in. They did their 2nd race and after that it went mental and we were told that we had broken the rules, I have all the paperwork that I can post here on my site or let you all see it - not a problem. The cars were allowed to race after losing their places in the 2nd race and got their results for the final.

So for anyone out there that thinks we did something wrong, that is not the case. If it was, the cars should not have been allowed out.

And, as you all know, there were seals fitted at Croft - sure you all got it done by Dave Newton - I also have the photos of them and a brand new eng fitted and got to race all weekend so did I do something wrong? I don’t think so.

Just in case you all think that’s why I am not there in 2011 it's wrong. John Jon and Lee simply won too much in 2009 so they are not invited back. As you all know, every driver can be beaten I am just trying to make sure that any of you that might think I did something wrong, well I did not.

Frixa and I, would like to initially thank Steve McCall and all those, from the Burnett Motorsport team, for their patience and co-operation during our test day at Knockhill Circuit.

Our main aim, was to find a balance with the new brake shoes, whilst using the completed new L1 - L2 - L3 designed race pads.

The new brake shoes have been manufactured with a special designed race material shoe lining. to accomplish one of many important safety and performance factors…. Stability.

After careful examination, watching how the short wheel based car cannot perform a 4 wheeled, stable braking line which has lead to many Legend cars, locking their front wheels because of the instability, whereby the load increased on the front of the vehicle, loss of traction on many occasions, of the front wheels in one simple straight line braking action.

To assist in the analysis, I borrowed and watched many of the videos from various racing tracks around the whole race series i.e. 2009, 2010…..Over 90% of all the Legends race cars, failed to perform under heavy braking, a stable car in a straight line, with the rear wheels, assisting in the balancing the car in a straight line.

Frixa and I, analysed the current brake shoe materials being used and from these results, we were able to produce much better friction material to perform much better with the metal of the brake drum, together with a lighter shoe assembly that would enhance the heat qualities of the friction material.

Being in contact with Steve McCall on a very regular basis, I had sent to him from the Frixa factory, 3 different types of friction compounds, that should enhance the performance of both, the new pad material and, increase the performance and stability of the Legend car under heavy braking……

On our arrival to Knockhill, Steve McCall fitted the new L3 hard pad and, the new race lined shoe to Ross Marshalls Legend car.

Whilst Ross's car was finally being checked to perform testing, I had a briefing with Ross, to understand that now, he had to bed in BOTH pads and brake shoes.

After the bedding in process, Ross was instructed to drive back into the pit garage, to enable me to take temperatures of the rear of the brakes, Ross and I communicated excellently and we were able to identify, that their were too much load still, on the front of the car….So, because we could not see the brake shoes, I asked Ross to take the car out again, to complete another 5 laps of the Knockhill circuit, to produce the heat required, to enable the shoes to work. (we had safe operation of the pads).

Ross emerged into the garages and still, we had an apparent low working temperatures and the current problem, the shoes were still not working………I asked Steve to remove the drums and we found the shoe was not making contact with the drum, the whole shoe had centralised itself in the drum thereby, taking the shoe material away from the service area of the drum…I was expecting over 100 degrees (plus) centigrade from the shoe material, I could only measure 60 degrees.

Steve adjusted the shoes to their maximum, without causing the shoe to 'drag' in the drum and Ross went out again for another 10 laps or, to come in if he could not feel the rear of the Legend stabilising under braking.

We had to call him in………….''Fantastic, Ross said, the whole car is not only stable but, it is level under really heavy braking as well and I can really feel that the whole 4 wheels are doing their work…….''…..with this conversation, his father John Marshall, had been invited by Ross, to take the car out and try and see for himself…..I told John, to feel the braking performance before putting the car to the limit.

When John Marshall returned back into the pit garage, he said ''I could feel that I could brake 6 metres or more LATER and felt comfortable and confident, the car braking has improved immensely, in fact both John and Ross stated, the braking performance had increased 80% or more just because, the rear shoes were working really well and was completely stable, with better much better brake pads.

So now, Burnett Motorsport has to keep a 'diary' of what pad, is good for what shoe and at what circuit and, for what driver…….Having a choice is how you set any race car up, to perform at its best.

Again, Frixa and I wish to thank ALL THE CREW of Burnett Motorsport ….to enable us again, to make racing safer and more competitive.

I promise to be u at your 'double header' in July an I expect a Burnett Motorsport 1 -2 - 3 podium positions………Keep the Frixa flag flying……so we can keep developing for you…….Tell Steve McCall, if there are any improvements or ''tweeks'' that could help you / us more. Kind regards and have a great 2011 season……… Vic Eacott - Brake Specialist from Frixa Motorsport Development.

10th March 2011 - Testing update

Update on testing plus some pictures of the cars in the workshop beforehand and also at the test day...

The cars were scrubbing in their new buffs and just getting a shake down after being put back together- all the guys were happy with their cars no major hiccups it was a long afternoon and we did not know what the weather was going to do - some times the sun shone others it was wet and then there was snow... It was what you expect from Knockhill at this time of year but all the guys were just so happy to get the cobwebs brushed off themselves. I have to thank Vic Eacott from Frixa performance brakes who came up on the test day to give all the drivers the support to help them bed in their new brakes and get the best out of them. He was hoping to spend some time with Ross and John Jon but as John was busy at his work it was not possible for him to be there which for Ross was great as all the time was spent with him! He spent all his day testing the new hard pads which have had a major upgrade or as I would say a much better down grade so that they could work better and not be so fierce. As Frixa got our rear shoes finished to try and help the front pads we now have 3 set of rear shoes from soft ,med ,and hard. Ross spent all day with medium rear shoes and he loved the upgrade on the brakes - all the time that was spent with Ross as he was the only driver to be testing and running the new rear shoes along with his new upgrade on the front pads. Ross had a great test day as he seems to have fab improvement on his brakes. Time will tell how they will work as it was test day and the support he had all day from Vick worked out great. He did have some time with all the drivers and Lee, David Hunter's friend had a great first time out in a Legends Car David was feeling great with his car and Carol Brown is trying to sort out her plans for 2011 - she felt great with her car for the day.

John Marshall was scrubbing his buffs in for the first race on April the 10th - he was happy with his new brakes and his car after a rebuild and looking forward to the start of season. He seemed disappointed that he could not shake down and sort out his brother Robert's mk2 Escort but he will get back out in his Escort and Robert's - they will shake them down and sort them out for their first raceday after their major freshen up from Baryon Engineering Services. They were also hoping to get a shakedown in the rebuilt and sorted out Mini from Baryon Engineering - the boys have been busy and hoping that they have got all the cars sorted they will get test day soon with all 3 cars. The Mini is a new start for Robert Marshall's daughter Elaine - she had a couple runs in Fiesta ST just before the end of last season and is hoping now to compete in the Scottish Mini Cooper Cup - she will have great time and the boys at Baryon Classic Engineering will have a busy year it looks like it busy all round .

Here we are in 2011 and the race season start pretty soon

This following report is an outcome of my (Steve McCall) meeting with Phil Cooper

Before the end of 2010 I was trying to arrange a meeting with Phil Cooper, the Coordinator of the National Legends Cars Championship. I have been competing in the Legends Championship for the last 11 years or so, but to get this meeting arranged I had to be persistent and pushy, finally after some help from other parties Phil agreed to meet with me at his chosen venue, the Autosport show. Not ideal as it is busy and noisy, I had offered to meet him anywhere he wanted. I was prepared to go anywhere to get this meeting arranged - I can confirm this by way of correspondence with an MSA official. I have this correspondence as I wanted a third party to be present at the meeting, not to say anything or back anyone up, but to witness the conversation and be able to confirm anything that was said at a later date.

Phil was not agreeable to a third party being present, not even a third party that was an MSA official, but to make this meeting happen I was happy to let this go. The purpose of the meeting was to find out what the issues between myself and Phil were and to try and see whether there was a way to overcome these issues. As I said, I have supported this championship for the last 11 years or so and have done this unequivocally. Yes I did bring some parts over from the states along with many others, but that happened many years ago and it resulted in a large financial cost to myself, so Legends UK never lost out on that from me. I cannot say the same for others, but what's done is done.

I know the job Phil does is hard, it's not easy trying to run a championship, dealing with the drivers, teams, MSA, BARC, the circuits and many more I'm sure, but I do feel there is no consistency in the race calendar. One year we will go to Silverstone, the next year it will be Cadwell, for a single header, there has been no Knockhill for a number of years, they have a championship up there, which we should support it the same for Mondello, they are trying to start a championship that the National Championship should help and support.

Any way, the meeting between myself and Phil happened at the Autosport show in Birmingham. I still felt that this was not the best place to meet and I did want a third party to be present, but this was not to happen and I did not want to jeapodise this meeting. At the meeting we were chatting and Phil stated that 2 of my Drivers, John Jon Higgins and Lee Fitzpatrick, both former National Champions were not to be invited into his 2011 National Legends Cars Championship, the reason for this was that they had won virtually all of the races in the 2009 season and that is was not good for the Championship. To say I was gutted was an understatement. Two of my top drivers who have supported me and the Championship for a number of years, contesting virtually every race meeting wherever they were. They were not being invited to allow others to win races and championships, apparently other drivers a had said things about the amount of races won by them, I thought that the Legends Website says, "where Champions come to race" and surely to be the best you have to beat the best. It takes hard work from every single member of the team, not just the drivers to put together a winning car and that's exactly what we do, put in the hard work. I have many great drivers, like Ross Marshall, John Marshall, Darren Gaulton, Kieren Murray and Carol Brown. and I am sure that they will receive invites, most of these will be entering the Scottish Championship anyway, but I have been informed Darren Gaulton will get an invite in the National championship, so it does look like John Jon and Lee are being victimised and penalised for the hard work put in and resulting successes achieved. I do feel that we should fight to keep the best drivers in the Championship as this will breed better drivers as they strive to beat the champions and it will provide unparalleled racing in the UK

I understand that this may not make me a popular person, but you have to understand how much passion I have for Legends and still do. Everything I have done was in the best interests of the championship, the TV, updating the cars, like the dashboards etc.

2011 RACE SEASON - TEST DATE - MARCH 10th KNOCKHILL

That’s us just about ready to go testing at Knockhill. Frixa performance brakes have been working for us flat out so that it would be possible for us to start testing the new rear brake shoes they have come up. They have three different compounds: a hard, medium and soft. This is to complement the front pads and we hope that we can get the brakes to be spot on. To help us there will be a Frixa engineer with us all day. Team boss Steve McCall says: "I now have the tried and tested front pads in stock and am happy with them - just like the rear shoes there are three compounds, hard, medium and soft.

Our guests from Specsavers make the presentations.

As you can see from the photos, preparations are continuing for the 2011 season. We took an evening to look back and celebrate what happened last season at the SMRC Awards which took place last Saturday.

2011 RACE SEASON - TEST DATE - MARCH 10th KNOCKHILL

Happy New Year to all the crew, new and existing drivers at Burnett Motorsport, from Vic at Frixa.

After a successful 2010 season with Burnett Motorsport with all of our new brake pad products for the Burnett team, I promised Steve McCall that we will continue with our development with all the team, into 2011 and produce the new race lined brake shoes.

We found, that one third of our pad range was 'too good' as remarked by John Jon, which made us (Frixa) go one more step and to discover, the current shoes that were being used, were weakening the stability of the Legend under severe braking conditions.

So, we have produced a new line of race lining for the Legend shoe that will enforce the stability of the Legend car under race conditions and, support our new pad range.

(For those racers, who expect the pad / shoe linings to last 6 races or more, with heat contaminated materials, locking of brakes, worn out brake discs - look at where you were in the field last year and possibly consider changing your brake preferences - The top formulae of motorsport, their brake linings last a weekend as they are designed for winning races as we expect, to produce HIGH PERFORMANCE BRAKE PRODUCTS - I was told once ''Your brakes only last 3 races'' and my reply was ''All of my cars came in the top 3, where were you''.....

2011 IS going to be different for Burnett Motorsport - Our test day has been provisioned for the 10th March at Knockhill and we have 3 different shoe materials to test, ''which on paper''......will make the whole of the Frixa pad and shoe range, a winning combination - We want Burnett to be within the top of the league and, to win the Scottish and National Championships.

3 DIFFERENT PAD MATERIALS AND 3 DIFFERENT SHOE MATERIALS = MIX AND MATCH FOR VARIOUS CIRCIUTS / DRIVING STYLES................

We will publish our test results for you guys, shortly after the week following the test at Knockhill - All Legends brake products can be purchased via Steve McCall either by post / telephone order / at the circuit

16th January 2011 - More news on 2011

John Marshall will be defending his Classic Sports and Saloon Car title in the upcoming season. He will be joined on circuit once again by his brother, Robert. After making her debut in the Scottish Fiesta STs last season, Robert's daughter, Elaine, will be moving into the Scottish Mini Cooper cup which boasted a strong Ladies section last year.

More will be posted here regarding the Scottish Legends in due course but the National Championship will perhaps lack a little lustre this season with two of 'the men they all want to beat' not being part of the competition. Entry to the National championship is 'by invitation' but two of the formula's top drivers, Burnett Motorsports' John Jon Higgins and Lee Fitzpatrick, who have won four National Titles between them,are not invited.

12th January 2011 - Dates and Travelling

The 2011 dates (provisional) are now on the calendar page...

5th January 2011 - Busy in the Workshop

Happy new year to everyone. The lads are busy preparing cars for the new season. Also a sneak peak at our new two seater...