28/08/2007 : The trusty Metro is down but not out..

Round 5 of the BRDA championship was supposed to be the turning point in Simon Horton’s unlucky year in rallycross, and after putting a lot of time and effort into the Metro GTI after the bitterly disappointing round 4 at Pembrey. However, just when things seemed like they couldn’t get any worse in 2007, they did as Simon rolled the Metro GTI heavily in practice before the qualifying heats had even taken place.
“It was totally my own fault.” Comments Simon. “After the disappointment of Pembery, I came here feeling I had something to prove and was pushing too hard in practice. I Didn’t warm the tyres up properly, so when I came to the first corner their was no grip and the car just continued into the gravel trap, dug in and the car barrel rolled over at about 60-70 mph.”
After a lot of effort on the day it was found that the car was too badly damaged to continue and on further inspection it has been decided that the car is structurally too damaged and will need reshelling over the coming weeks.
In the mean time the Hortonracing team and friends have converted a sprint 205 into a rallycross spec 205 in just 3 weeks so Simon and Steve can continue the 2007 season. The new 205 GTI was originally being prepared for 2008 for Steve to use, but due to the accident this has been hurried along with the help of friends from Clitheroe in record time. The car made its first competitive outing at Pendle and district motor club Hill climb at Scammonden in Yorkshire and it won the sports libra class with Simon at the Wheel.
Both Simon and Steve would like to thank everyone that has helped down the garage over the last 2-3 weeks to get the car built in time. You all know who you are and we are extremely grateful for all you help and support.

01/07/2007 : Problems at Pembrey……….Again!

All of the HortonRacing team were out and raring to go for Pembrey. Luckily Richard had only missed one race after his long spell of illness so he was eager to get back into racing.
Pembrey was typically wet when we arrived on Saturday and we were pretty sure that it was going to be another wet and miserable day on Sunday. However Sunday turned out to be pretty dry as the day wore on, with only a few showers which meant that the racing was not hampered like last time.
Simon was out first in Race 6 of the MSA and did not make a very good start allowing Ash Simpson to pull away from the grid and leave Simon lying in fourth place on the first lap. Ash won this race with Simon finishing in a disappointing fifth.
Richard ran second in Race 11 of the BTRDA Stockhatch in which he made a fantastic start on the outside of the grid resulting in him running in fourth place with Ash Simpson in pole position. Richard continued with a good run and finished in fourth place.
Again Steve failed to make a good start from the grid on his race which was race 12 of the BTRDA Stockhatch. However he did pass Bob Ward on the 2nd lap and finished in 6th place.
After two bad starts from the grid for both Simon and Steve the team had a good look at the car and found that the tyre pressure was far too high. Two of the front tyres were changed just before the race and were put straight onto the car without checking the pressure which was a pretty fundamental mistake to make and could have been avoided.
However even with this adjustment, it only slightly improved the performance on the Metro which seemed to have some deeper problems with performance on the day. In Simons second race he had a better start but finished in fifth place.
Richard had much better results on the day and in his second race he managed to maintain first place for the first lap, however Craig Brown caught him and managed to pass Richard on the second lap and it continued like this for the rest of the race resulting in Richard coming second.
In the rest of the qualifying heats Simon and Steve ran pretty uneventful races finishing predominantly in fifth place for both drivers.
Race 40 of the BTRDA was one to watch with both Steve and Richard running in the same race. Steve managed to get a good start and was actually running in first place on the first corner. Ash and Ric pulled through the ranks to change the standings to Ash in first place, Ric second and Steve third. In the second lap Ric was running third, with Steve maintaining a good fourth place.
At the end of the qualifying heats Simon was disappointed with only qualifying for the B Final when in the last events he has raced he has usually always guaranteed an A final. Simon started well in the race and was really determined to finish in a good position, however he got in a tussle and spun out of the race which meant that he finished in 7th place.
Steve had a much better result than Simon in the finals as he made another B Final and even nearly managed to qualify for the A final by finishing in second place. The team and Steve were really pleased that he showed to be improving tremendously.
Richard had the best result out of the team and qualified for the A final of the BTRDA. He was in third place after the first corner and continued to be in third place making him eligible for a trophy.
Pembrey proved to be a day of mixed fortunes for the team. A great result for Steve as he continues to improve, an even better result for Richard as he earns valuable points but a pretty tough day for Simon as he really did not get the result he wanted.

Pembrey - Wet and Wild - 07/05/2007

The Horton Racing team was one man down for Pembrey due to the recent ill health of Richard Horton who we hope will return to the team as soon as possible.
Pembrey was a real mixed bag not only with the weather but also with the general performance/results of both Simon and new team member Steve Rattue.
The morning started off with a very wet and slippery practice for the drivers which could result in quite a few accidents. The first practice for Simon resulted in a small shunt on the front of the metro due to the car veering off the track into a set of tyres, thankfully this was only minor damage. Steve was obviously apprehensive about the weather seeing it was only his third event, however he enjoyed the challenge that the wet presented.
In Simons first heat on still a very slippery circuit he managed to come a respectable fourth place from the back row of the grid as Simon comments ‘’ I managed to get a good start and was able to hold my position throughout the race, I was pleased with how the car was performing after the damage sustained at Lydden’’.
Steve also made a very impressive first run out in the wet by managing to hold onto and finish in fourth place in his first heat.
As the weather got better and better and the track got drier the performance of the car also improved which showed from Simons second outing from the back of the grid and racing with the likes of Ash Simpson and Julian Godfrey to finish 2nd place behind Irish champion Derek Tohill. Steve managed to hold his starting position and came 5th in his second outing.
The first half of the day was a good result for both Simon and Steve as Simon comments ‘’ the morning was slow due to the weather, but once the circuit dried out it suited the car more’’. After two heats Simon was currently in fourth position out of all the MSA Stockhatch drivers whilst Steve was standing in joint eighth position.
The afternoon and finals of the day were very eventful especially for Simon. In Simon’s third race, the best of the day, he was fighting for position with Julian Godfrey on the last lap and unfortunately was shunted by Godfrey on the front driver’s side of the car which damaged the steering rack.
Once Simon had pulled into the pits after this race it was a race against time to get the car fit enough for Steve’s outing.
The steering on the car for the rest of the day was affected slightly which of course in turn hindered the performance of both drivers through no fault of their own. Even though the steering did feel peculiar Steve had a great last race of the day by coming 6th place.
It was then time for the finals and both Steve and Simon were anxious to know which grid position they would be in. We were all hoping for Steve that he had done enough to make it into his first B final and we were glad to see that he did. Simon’s position on the grid was a slightly disappointing 6th after the fantastic performance he had made throughout the day.
Simon was up first in the MSA Stockhatch A final, it was a thrilling race to watch and again Simon and Julian were tussling for position towards the back of the grid. On the very last lap when those in front had already crossed the finish line Julian experienced a horrendous and unexpected barrel roll on one of the corners which resulted in the car flipping over around three times to land on its roof with the tyres in the air. Simon was right behind Julian when this happened and when he saw what happened stopped his car to see whether Julian was ok. Julian was probably a little shaken but luckily was fine, however the car was most certainly not and sustained some considerable damage throughout the whole car due to the number of times that he rolled.
It was no surprise that the race was red flagged and Julians car was taken off the track by the recovery trucks. However it was a surprise that all drivers apart from Godfrey in this final were asked to line up on the grid again to re-run the race!! There was a lot of confusion as to what was going on in the paddock and even Ash Simpson with his helmet off and half of his suit walked up to Simon after the race only to be told that the race was to go ahead again even though he passed the checkered flag! Simon hastily re-fuelled and it was back on the grid. This was the most controversial decision of the day as not only did it delay the next set of finals but even more drivers including Tony Lynch and Ryan Lawford sustained yet more damage to the car. That second run of the final was fantastic for Simon as he was currently in third position but then there was a multiple car accident and the race was again red flagged. The Horton Racing Team hoped that this would be enough and they could not possibly run it again and Simon would finish in the position when the red flag was raised which was third, we could only hope. After nearly an hour, neither the team, nor the spectators or even the marshalls had a clue what was going on. Were they going to go out again? How are they going to work out positions?
Not only this but Steve was obviously anxious as he had achieved a fantastic position in the B Final and was hoping to win to be at the back of the A final. But if he could not get to the car from the discussions that were going on about the MSA A final then what would happen.
It turned out that the MSA Stockhatch A Final was cancelled and the only thing they could do as not all drivers crossed the finish line in either race is to give points on the basis of their qualifying times for the A final which meant 6th place for Simon after maintaining 3rd in the second of the finals. This was obviously a huge disappointment for not only Simon but other drivers as the second race when a lot of cars got damaged was effectively ‘for nothing’.
Comment from Simon ‘’ the decision not to continue with the A final effectively meant that I went from 3rd position back to 6th and this will have a knock-on effect on the championship as it is very close’’.
Steve did make it to the B final and had his best race of the day. The HortonRacing team felt that as the day went both Steve’s confidence and performances in the car got better and better, so much so that he was just pipped to the post and came 2nd place in the final, a very encouraging end to only his second official outing in this championship.
For the HortonRacing team Pembrey was certainly a mixed bag. Disappointing for Simon but fantastic for Steve. The standings after the completion of Pembrey is Simon in 4th place in the MSA Stockhatch and Steve in 14th place in the BTRDA Clubmans championship. Let’s see what Lydden brings.

04/04/07 : 2007 is GO, GO, GO

The opening round of the Kumho BRDA & BTRDA championship takes place at the home of rallycross, Lydden Hill, on the Easter Monday.
Both cars are now ready and all 3 drivers are fired up for this event. The main BRDA championship will be contested by Simon Horton, whilst the Hortonracing team will be represented in the BTRDA by both Richard Horton and Steven Rattue.
Simon is out to challenge for the outright BRDA stockhatch title this year again in his trusted Metro GTI, whilst Richard makes his return in a Peugeot 205 GTI to the BTRDA after a years absence due to family commitments.
New driver Steve Rattue makes his BTRDA debut after a one off event at the Superprix at the end of 2006. Steve will be shared driving the Metro Gti for 2007.

04/04/07 : Castle Cement Renew sponsorship

Simon Horton is very proud to announce that Castle Cement will again sponsor him throughout the 2007 rallycross season.
“I am very grateful to Castle Cement for their continued backing. It allows me to challenge for the championship without having to worry about the financial impact of the season as much. To be able to compete at all the events at a national level, regardless of class, is very expensive and requires a lot of support to be successful.”
This is the 3rd consecutive season that Castle Cement has sponsored Simon in the British championship. The Hortonracing team also recently won the very prestigious “best promoting” award at the national awards night for the contribution towards rallycross coverage.

04/04/07 : Donington Shake down

Both Simon and new team driver Steve Rattue recently took the Metro and his MGZR to the Donington international circuit for some track time before the opening race of the season. The aim of the day was to get Steve out on track to get some high speed mileage under his belt before the opening round at Lydden, whilst Simon took the metro round on a shake down to make sure everything was ready after the rebuild.
The day was running smoothly till just after lunch when 2nd gear started to feel funny and popping out of gear. We continued with the running of the car, but we quickly lost second gear after this. Subsequently we then lost 3rd and 4th which means that the gearbox will need to be replaced quickly before the opening event.
“The gearbox has done very well and lasted 2 seasons of rallycross and the road mileage before the car was converted to a rallycross car, so I can’t complain as it’s all a stock setup.” Commented Simon

19/03/07: Hortonracing back on track

After a very busy winter behind the scene’s, the Hortonracing team are back out on track.  The re-shelled metro GTI had it’s first shake down last weekend at the Blyton test circuit with both Simon Horton and new driver Steven Rattue behind the wheel.

There was no major issue’s with the car on the test day, but a few small changes to the suspension and the brakes need addressing before the opening race of the season at lydden hill on Easter Monday.  Simon and Steve are also due out on track at Donington park this weekend with the Metro to add more track time to the car and to make sure Steve is happy with the new car before his BTRDA debut in a few weeks time.

Richard’s 205 GTI is also nearing completion too.  The body has been painted with a new and very distinctive colour scheme for 2007 and the running gear is now back fitted after a small drama when the engine was first fired up since last year.  Unfortunately Richard won’t be on track at Donington park as the car isn’t quite ready for it yet, so he will have to wait for the open race before trying the car on track.