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SprintingThe Objective:Is simply to drive a car around a course/circuit in the fastest possible time, thus beating the other competitors in the event. Direction of travel should always be forwards (unless you spin). At the end of the day the fastest overall driver wins outright, the fastest driver(s) in each class wins that class and other awards may be presented to the best novice, the best lady, etc.Circuits and Maps:Over the last 7 years, this event has been held at the Lydden International Racing Circuit near Dover, Kent. The circuit is a challenging 1 mile lap - with corners such as Pilgrims, a tricky right hander, leading in to Chessons Drift, the long, long sweeping right hander leading to Devils Elbow, the only real left hand bend on the circuit, the charge up the hill into the hairpin (North Bend) and then racing down Hairy Hill into the notoriously difficult Paddock Bend – pushes both car and driver to the limit. The official lap record is around 37 seconds for a single lap, achieved during a race meeting in the early 1980’s, but entrants in previous years have been timed at around 34-35 seconds for a flying lap. Practice runs are allowed, as is walking the circuit before official practice.Timing and Penalties:Upto 4 cars are allowed on the circuit at one time, but overtaking is NOT allowed. The event has 2 practice runs and 2 timed runs. The event culminates in a Top 12 Run Off, where the fastest 12 competitors in the British Sprint Championship fight it out over 2 additional runs to see who takes the title for Overall Fastest Time of the Day (FTD). Times are taken to the one-hundredth of a second - in some cases two-hundredths is the difference between first and second places.As overtaking is not allowed, drivers who are baulked (held up by slower competitors) are given a re-runs. Luckily this does not happen often as cars are groups in classes which ensures fairly even competition (see below). Competition:The events are split into classes for different types of car e.g. standard roadgoing, modified roadgoing, modified production, kit/component cars and racing cars. Entries vary within the above classes with cars that are from specialist single-seaters and racing cars, e.g. Formula Vauxhall Lotus and Formula Ford and Jedi/OMS motorbike powered cars to standard road going saloons, e.g. Peugeot 205’s and Audi 80’s to tuned Mini’s and the ubiquitous Lotus 7 replicas from the likes of Caterham and Westfield. All levels of ability and costs are covered and cars are grouped in classes that reflect the amount of modification that is permitted/has been made. There is even a class for rally cars where we have had the Barretts sponsored Subaru Imprezza WRC car competing, complete with service crew demonstrating how to change gearboxes and differentials to the gathered onlookers during the breaks between runs.Some drivers, at the top level of the sport, use ex-F1-engined cars to power their way to success, and have even unofficially broken the lap record from a standing start. Indeed, in magazine tests (Cars and Car Conversions), one competitor’s car was found to be faster than a F1 car to 120mph!! Championships:The Maidstone & Mid-Kent Motor Club organise a highly successful Sprint each year which is a round of the following championships:
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