2023 was by far and away the busiest year for the team so far. Not so much in the hard work that goes into preparing this sort of vehicle but in travelling and finally getting racing.
Following various successes and failures whilst running at Elvington in North Yorkshire UK the car entered the winter all in one piece and having run over 150 mph at the airfield.

Our first outing was the JOC C-V8 60th anniversary at Brooklands Museum in Surrey UK.
The event started with a fancy dinner on the Saturday evening where Ian was the guest speaker. This was planned so far in advance that Ian should have been talking about the teams successes at Bonneville in 2022. Having said that the assembled Jensen owners appeared interested enough in the modifications we have made to the car and seemed impressed with our exploits. We were so grateful that Bruce and Leo from America could join us for the event.

The following day was the big show! It felt like all of the C-V8’s from the south of England had turned up and they were lined up two deep.
Given pride of place was our car and we were constantly on call to answer questions and explain details throughout the day.

However there were gremlins waiting to be uncovered!
We were asked to take the car to the top of the starting straight for a photo shoot and as it was a cool day we noticed there was a lot of smoke coming from the engine breather. Plus the car was really reluctant to tick over smoothly.

Time was against us and soon after the event the car was wrapped up and prepared for shipping to America. Unlike 2018 we had decided to ship the car to the west coast of the US, San Francisco as it happens. This meant a trip through the Panama Canal, which entails nearly six weeks at sea.
To be sure of arriving in time and securely the car left the UK in March, complete with three other motorcycles that were sharing the voyage.
Upon arrival the car was met by Bruce and Rich, who moved all of the vehicles to Bruce’s workshop in the Californian desert mountains.
Once the car had arrived and excitement had died down Bruce and Rich took the opportunity to have a look into why the engine was running so badly, particularly as it had appeared to be so healthy during our Elvington trips.
The ensuing report was a melted piston and a cracked block. Both of which would have stopped play almost immediately. Fortunately we had a back-up plan!

Luckily for us Bruce has been collecting Jensen’s in various condition for some time. He even had one beyond repair but with a salvageable engine. This engine once removed proved to be an excellent recipient for the race parts fitted to our existing engine.

With the generous assistance of Rich Stratford and a not inconsiderable amount of time and money from Bruce the engine was soon rebuilt and ready to install.
In August 2023 we flew out to attend Speed Week at Bonneville. We flew out a few days earlier and assembled at Bruce’s workshop where the car was awaiting our attention.
With two days before we needed to leave for the long drive to Utah, all that needed doing was fitting the engine complete with everything attached to it. As luck would have it, we are now well practiced at this exercise and managed to get all of the major work done before we had to leave.

In 2022 Bonneville speed week was completely washed out, it rained on the Friday before the event and it was so torrential that there was no racing at all on the salt for the rest of the year.
This year the surface was looking good and the organisers at the SCTA (South California Timing Association) had flattened and marked out two courses for the event.
In a completely unforeseen turn of events on the Wednesday before speed week there was yet another rain storm. This time it was not as serious as the previous year but it did mean the start of the event would be delayed.

We used this time chatting with the Bend in the road gang, a group of more senior gentlemen that have been meeting up for speed week for nearly 40 years.
Plus, we managed to get the car up and running better than before as well as sorting out some teething troubles with the various motorcycles we bought with us.

Despite some delays caused by the necessary preparations we had to complete to get the car ready to race and some minor modifications the tech inspectors required us to make, by Thursday we lined up on the start line ready to go for our first licensing run.

Our first run could not have been better. The car ran perfectly and ran straight and true. This was a truly momentous occasion. For the first time since we began this project the car ran under high load perfectly. We immediately joined the back of the line and prepared for our second run.
The course was really suffering due to the preceding weather conditions. The part of the track that was being used the most was starting to weaken. This was a direct result of the rain before the event and although it looked fairly solid some nasty dips and pot holes were starting to form.
On our second run we hit a seriously soft spot in the middle of the course at approximately 130 mph and the car veered violently enough Ian aborted the run to avoid a flat spin. No harm done and a potential disaster avoided.
The organisers had planned for this and once the event had finished for the day they moved the course so we would have a ‘new’ course for the next day.
The next day we lined up bright and early and we managed to get our third run in. This was the fastest we have been to date with a top speed around 170 mph.

Due to the licensing system built into the rules we are now licensed to run the car between 175 and 200 mph on our next run.
Alas, due to our late start to the event and the less than ideal weather conditions the event finished on Friday as planned. As such, we had achieved all we could for this year.


Whilst all of the above was going on, we were also crewing for Ian G and his beautiful fuel injected Triumph 650 motorcycle. He managed a few runs but the bike was beset by mechanical issues brought on by a lack of testing in the UK before we left.
His last run was the final qualifying run of the entire event, unfortunately just before the 1 mile mark the bike began to misfire. It was so late in the event that we only had time to pack up and get everything cleaned and ready for the trip back to California.
The resulting situation was we headed back to the UK without having the time to find out what the root cause of the issue was.

The SCTA also run events at a dry lake in the California high desert called El Mirage. Coincidentally this is about 25 miles from Bruce’s workshop. They hold events there most months and twice a year the events are run over two days.
With the issues, we looked at shipping Ian G’s bike back to the UK however the costs proved prohibitive when we hit on an idea.
Our luck with the weather so far has proven unreliable so we cooked up a plan. We would fly out on the weekend of the two day event in November. We would repair the bike and make sure the car was ready for Bonneville next year. If by any chance the weather held, we would make the short trip to El Mirage and run the car and bike.
November soon came round and we found ourselves back in California.


Despite our Bonneville experience, the event is organised so that we were rookies and had to start again with our licensing and from the rookie lane. Once we had been through tech inspection, this time without any issues, we then lined up for our first run at El Mirage.
Things are done slightly different at El Mirage and instead of a free for all line up when you’re ready, this time we were given a start number and we started in order.
Our first run, once again, could not have gone any better. The car was moving around on the softer surface but this was nothing we weren’t used to and we got up to 130 mph without using top gear.

Whilst the car was having its first run, the team members not directly involved got the bike up and running. We then took the bike up to the start line only to discover there was no drive from the gearbox. This was just a little frustrating as we had checked this thoroughly before we left the workshop.
Once again we stripped the gearbox and this time we found a fault that must have been there before we left the UK!

Fortunately, Bruce has a machine shop, just 25 miles away and he and Rich S shot off to manufacture the errant part.
By this time, we were too late to run the car again so we settled in for what turned into a VERY cold night.

Next morning, we lined up with the car and got ready for our second run. Once again we were given a learning opportunity. After a misunderstanding with the starter we fired up the car way too early. As such, with all of the course holds to let the dust settle and the three other cars and motorcycles that were started before us, we were dangerously close to boiling point when we left the line.
Very unexpectedly, this caused an issue with gear changing. For some reason Ian could only find first, fourth and sixth. We still managed to go faster than our first run but, we our run plan was to go a fair bit faster than we managed.

Once the second run was out of the way, we rushed back to the pit area, to let the car cool down and to rebuild the motorcycle gearbox. Everything went together really well and by the time our start number was called we were ready for our third run.
We hatched a cunning plan, Ian G would go off for his rookie run and Ian N would follow in the car so we could both come back together to get our fourth and final run done.
When anything ran at El Mirage a huge cloud of dust was sent up in the air. The cumulative effect of this was as the weekend wore on the surface began to soften and there was a layer of ‘marbles’ on top of the surface. Yet again, a new learning opportunity, run as early as possible in the morning whenever possible!

Ian G set off on the bike with instructions to ride at whatever speed he felt comfortable with and not to worry about damaging the bike. He had set himself the target of 20mph over his previous best run at Bonneville.
When Ian G saw the extremely torn up breaking area he throttled down before the finish line and managed exactly the speed he was looking for. This is even more impressive as the bike has no speedo.

Ian N then set off in a much more controlled fashion than before. Alas, the surface once again let him down. Every time he pressed the throttle the rear wheels would just spin up, once again the car was right on the edge of his abilities so he pulled the parachute before he’d gone a mile.
Another first, without any procedural failings for the first time the parachute failed to open. Without a mirror Ian couldn’t be sure that the chute had failed, if he had known he would probably have tried to get back in it and go faster through the line.

At this point, as so many cars had spun and speeds were dropping off quite dramatically the organisers called off the fourth round and wound up the meeting. We were actually quite relieved that we wouldn’t need to risk another run.
We left the desert with everything now working perfectly and now we need to do very little and have a think about what our next plan is moving forward.
