racewear.co.uk racing with Midgetmax.com

Woo-hoo - 2nd overall in the Thruxton 2 hour enduro! And boy was it wet-----and cold-----and miserable. But hey there we are, second overall. About one lap down on the winners, cool! We lost a fair bit of time with kart problems too-----one day we'll mount that top step!

Left to right above: Colin, Billy (real name Steve), Max and Matt. Watch out for racewear.co.uk racing with midgetmax.com again soon - we need to get another practice race in before our Club 100 event at Spa next May.

Also racing were Chris & David, arch FISC-rivals. It was an eye-opener to them I think - I know David has never been so unhappy in a racing machine! Their team battled through to 8th, good result for a group of first-timers.

Sat up working now, frantically changing web site prices thanks to Darling Alistair...sales just died the moment he sat down last Monday, only now beginning to pick up again. I hate Governments! It's not even that there's a huge price change on our goods costing £23.44!

SKID CAR tomorrow morning, group of 3. Hope it stays a bit damp, much easier on the body. You know, it really is a good tool, I reckon every single driver out there can learn something from the driving and/or the chats we have about what's been going on. Sign up now!

What's happened to the race car? errrr - nothing! Hope to get some work done over Christmas, weather permitting......

Got to run a SKID CAR session today, a company from Hereford. We did half their team on Wednesday, and I think it went well. Everyone seemed to learn. It's quite a lot to take in for a driver, sometimes it seems the driving is worse than when they arrive, but it's easy to confuse yourself. If you do ever take a SKID CAR course, just relax and let your driving do the work. It soon falls into place in the real world.

Another Midget turned up last night, don't know why but I seem to be home to lost causes. Looks like the engine has been sold to a German, otherwise think we're only looking at diff and suspension off this one to make any money. Next Saturday I should be able to drop the 1500 shell off at John's in Tamworth which will mean I can get this one on the trailer and make room for another! And so it goes on...good job I've got understanding neighbours (and wife for that matter!)....

We had a bit of a rush on racewear sales at the start of the week, and it's slowed a bit now as has tended to happen for the past couple of years. I can't understand it, we're still 50% up on this month last year and 43% up on the same time in 2007...not complaining mind you, but it's worrying - are we going to be hit badly but later by the recession? Oh, why can't I accept good news without worrying!

Sarah's off on a girls' weekend away in Brecon today so Alex & I are on our own........brave of her to leave us! I need to get down to Poole tomorrow and pick up a seat for the ZS, and Sunday's supposed to be snowy. At least they say so, but it never gets bad round here so I'm quite confident we'll miss it again. Strange, bad weather catches us out to the extent that the weather forecasters now cry wolf so many times. Ah, just checked the BBC weather site again and now we're forecast to have light rain on Sunday instead of heavy snow! Told you!

Mind you, could do with some snowy days to remind people they need a SKID CAR lesson...

Been a bit remiss on the old blog lately, but in my defence I've been working :-)

Tried to engineer a management buy out of the SKID CAR but it wasn't to be. Not too worried, I could do without finding my share of the stake just at the moment. Longer term though I'd feel a bit more secure about the whole thing if I owned it, I'm a little bit worried that all my hard work may disappear on me. We'll have to see what happens.

racewear.co.uk is building up to the Christmas rush. All our stocks are in place ready for you to come and buy! It looks as though no deal has been done about Autosports International, so if we have a stand there it will be a last minute arrangement.

Funny old world, have been contacted lately through various web sites by a couple of old school friends. I suppose we're all getting on a bit now, people wanting to re-connect with their youth. Natch, I'm not as old as all my contemporaries so haven't felt the urge yet, must be MGs keeping me young....

....speaking of which (he says in a contrived radio link), it looks like I've got another couple of wreckers coming here soon. I've stripped the 1500 bodyshell, and am ready to deliver that to John in Tamworth. There's at least one more 1275 coming to me - possibly two - and we could even end up with a Sebring-fronted MGBGT. Interesting, it could even make a good race car - Sebring C replica although of course with B running gear. Big decision to make there, it's years since I raced a B in the Car Club's BCV8 series. But it may be more welcome on the continent, and the technology's the same. AND - - a big plus - - I can get in the damned thing more easily!

To work! Need to make more space around the house for the next arrivals :-)

News item today......Interest Rates to go Down? Fat chance of that happening to customers, all that happens is the banks make more profit. Not that they're short of a bob or two anyway, any losses are just revaluation of assets.

Interesting meeting on Tuesday, inaugural SKID CAR Users' Association meeting. Good to chat to other operators. We had it at Millbrook Proving Ground - automotive heaven. Chap who took us round had the coolest job in the world........track manager, meant he had to drive everything regularly to check it.

Still looking to find somewhere to keep my next racing project, can't collect it until I do :-( One thing I need to look at with the new shell is how I'm going to mount the belts so that the HANS device works. Still, with a new build everything is accessible and easy to do. In theory.

Actually I've got a bit of a deal on with HANS devices. TRS are importing a batch from Stand 21, and the more I sell the better discount I get so I'm trying to put together a buying consortium. Anyone interested contact me on max-at-racewear-dot-co-dot-uk

That Monday morning feeling

I know I'm really lucky working for myself and at my choice of hours, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't rather stay in bed on a Monday morning.....but I believe that the harder I work the luckier I get, so here I am firs tthing, blogging away. Just printed off the orders for despatch today - some racewear and a Midgetmax parcel to pack. Then I think I'm being taken to buy some carpet........

Lewis finally did it then! Talk about edge-of-the-seat stuff........wow, what a way for ITV to leave F1, if you'd read that in a film script you wouldn't have believed it! Well done that man, hope it inspires lots more young people to take up the sport - and buy racewear of course ;-)

At a more mundane level, Alex struggled in the damp and cold at Combe in his kart race. He just needs to get his head down and work harder, but at 11 years old it's hard to realise that. One positive to take away, in his last race he was blinding on the dry bits, needs more experience of how the opportunities of the rain can fall his way.

Got a 1500 Midget to strip down this week. Not much to take off, but then it's not much weather to do it in! David's just bought us one to sel with a Lenham front - wonder how I can persuade him to let that fall my way. Oh, nearly forgot, I got that RWA rolling shell I was after! Need to find somewhere to store it until I can find time to paint & build the new race car. Cool!

Weekend work...

Off to Tewkesbury today to buy another rusty Midget for spares. Sarah's delighted about having yet another in the garden. It's a 1500 so there's bits on I don't know much about, but we should be able to salvage the front suspension, diff (it ought to be a 3.7 so anyone looking for one please contact me...) plus of course the engine and gearbox which are alleged to be good. Drop me a line - max-at-midgetmax-dot-com - if you need anything!

Interesting week for www.racewear.co.uk - we ended up quoting for a huge number of gloves and boots for a major corporate event company. They'll be made in the far East of course, and prices can be very realistic at that quantity. Fingers crossed, it could also be a springboard for our Uvex range. Speaking of which, Andrew is negotiating to launch at Autosports International. I can take it or leave it, but there will be our target market there.

Alex is karting tomorrow at Combe. Hope the weather cheers up. I always stand outside - never did like the building there, always seems claustrophobic. As the clock's gone back we should be home in time to watch the GP. Hamilton or Massa? Should have been Hamilton weeks ago, interesting to see how he stacks up under real pressure.

Actiondrome's first session for the council's Y-DIE initiative worked well, hope we can get a few more of those under our belts. Frame gave problems, managed to sort it out but was drenched in hydraulic oil :-( Ah well, at least Wayne's working today not me :-)