Maxi Jazz Racing

March 30th 2003

Simon Guildford starts the season off with pole and finishes third with the fastest lap. Well done Simon (lost your email addy so if you are reading this then get in touch please).

October 25th Robert West out in the EERC

Robert West who raced as part of the MaxiJazz team is getting back into a fiesta. He has decided to race at Brands Hatch in the season finale of the European Endurance on November 2nd. The race is for 100 minutes with a refuel and driver change midway. Last year Rob finished second in the Formula Ford festival.

Robert was sharing the original Maxi car with Dave Abbot who went out first as Robert had never been in a rolling start before. Unluckily just before the race began it started to rain and it continued raining quite heavily for the whole 100 minutes. By the time Robert took over there was a stream coming off the GP circuit and across the track. Worst still the windows misted up and with so many wanting to overtake the slowest cars it was necessary to drive very cautiously. Robert continued to improve his times until hitting the water aquaplaned him into the tyre wall. Luckily the car went in sideways and could continue the race to a very good 8th in class.
'I enjoyed that even though I couldn't see very well', enthused Robert.

August 18th Third place in his first ever race.

Well the last Fiesta and Max's original yellow car has a new owner in Simon Guildford from Maidstone. Simon had seen Rae win at Brands earlier in the year and decided to try his hand. So his first ever drive in the Rae prepared car saw Simon qualifying in the blazing sun. He took the first couple of laps slow and carefull especially after the glass had shattered in the drivers door but then as his confidence grew the times came down. He ended up in 12th place or 4th in class. 'I wanted more laps as I was getting quicker'.
The race was over 14 laps and Simon started on the outside on the second row of the Class B Block. Keith Chapman (championship leader) and Stuart Quittenton were managing to stay with the faster 1800cc cars leaving Simon leading the next group of three. His main rival in Barry Edwards tried to overtake at Graham Hill Bend on lap 4 then again at Clearways on lap 5 but both time Simons defended well. There on the race settled down with Simon leading Edwards and Edeson until the last corner when Edwards came along side and they crossed the line together with Simon ahead by 1/10 second.
'I enjoyed that!' commented Simon after the race whilst waiting for his trophy.

August 17th. Maxi's old car wins class at Snetteton Willhire.

Nice to see that the cars can still win races as Billmoria and his team won the 6 hour endurance race in an 'ex' MaxiJazz car.

August 15th.

Maxi is still playing concerts all round the world but should be finished at the end of this month. Plans for next years racing is in hand but as yet not finalised but you can be sure to hear it first on here!
Rae is down at Brands Hatch this weekend setting up a Fiesta for a new boy's first ever race.

March 31st A first and second for MaxiJazzRacing.

An excellent result for the team with David Campbell winning a first place trophy in his second ever race with co driver Jeff Moeser. In second place was the lone Richard Marsh and Gideon Cresswell and Helen Moore didn't finish due to an exploding battery.
The field of entries was a real mixture with an ex-BTCC super-tourer in the Nissan Primera, 2 Vauxhall vectras, a Marcos Mantis (no not Max's!) and various BMW M3, Honda and Alfas. The 3 Fiestas were the smallest cars out there yet qualified infront of 2 Vauxhalls. Gideon and Helen qualified in 14th place overall, then Richard 0.3 second behind and then David and Jeff.
The race started with a rolling start and in the first few laps the lead changed frequently with David managing to hold off the vastly more experienced Richard and Helen but then it settled down with David leading followed by Richard and Helen. Within 5 laps the faster Nissan and BMWs were lapping the Fiestas so the drivers had to watch who was coming up behind them constantly.
In endurance racing there is a compulsary pit stop though this can be at any time. Luckily for Fiestas the whole race of 90 minutes could be run on one set of tyres and one tank of fuel unlike the bigger cars. First to pit was Helen with Formula Palmer Audi regular Gideon Cresswell taking over. Second was Richard Marsh who had to get out of the car and then get back in and lastly David Campbell was replaced by Jeff Moeser who used to drive Alfas.
Gideon was then on a charge and proceeded to catch Jeff at 2 seconds a lap and this was heading to a neck and neck finish when with just a few minutes left the battery exploded and he was left to coast to a stop off the circuit. Jeff completed the race finishing in front of a Vectra with Richard finishing 4 laps down. 'It was great fun' said Helen Moore, 'Excellent - you wait until I show this to Max' from a delighted David Campbell.
Next race is Mallory Park on May 5th.

March 26th 2002 MaxiJazzRacing to go endurance racing.

Following on from the excellent result result at Brands Hatch where Rae won his class the team is going to field 3 cars and 6 drivers at Snetterton this coming Sunday March 31st. The final driver line up has yet to be finalized but includes previous MaxiJazzRacing drivers and some new faces.

March 24th 2002 Brands Hatch.

First race and a win for Rae Claydon. On a beautiful sunny spring day at Brands Hatch the small but enthusiastic crowd were given a view of Fiesta racing at it's best. Rae had only qualified third in class behind Paul Horton and Keith Champman (a regular from last year) who were running Avon tyres whilst Rae had Dunlops. The badly vibrating car was sorted out before the race at 5pm and with an excellent start he soon got in the lead and during the following laps he had the ordacity to overtake the more powerful 1800cc cars. He finished 4 seconds in front of Keith Chapman. Pictures to follow.

March 3rd 2002.

Well the first race will be in 3 weeks on 24th March and MaxiJazzRacing will be participating at Brands Hatch.

January 25th 2002.

Happy New Year to everyone. The Fiesta racing calendar is now available. This year there is a mixture of the big tracks and the smaller ones which will challenging for the team and I'll have to add some new circuit guides!! It looks as if Maxi may race occasionally but that is dependent on his gig schedule. Last year too many times he could only race and not test properly and that showed in his results (or lack of). This year it will be testing, qualifying and racing or not at all especially as there are new tracks on the calendar. As for the pelvis, that is mending well and it has put up with a punishing video schedule with stunt fights. He is also managing tread mills and cycling.

23rd March Brands Hatch
7th April Snetterton
5th May Mallory Park
17-19th May Croix en Ternois (double header)
3rd June Castle Combe
29th-30th June Anglesey (double header)
21st July Cadwell Park (double header)
28th July Donington
17th-18th Aug Brands Hatch
25th Aug Mallory Park
21st-22nd September Snetterton
12th October Oulton Park

Nick Leason will be out next year in a Lamborghini Diablo - good luck to him. You will be able to see him in action at Silverstone with the FIA GT series on 4th and 5th May.

Robert West is hoping to be out in the Fiestas. Watch this space!

December 16th Maxi on road to recovery.

I spoke with Maxi today as he rested at home after his encounter with ice and a tree. Although he is in some pain he is managing to get up and about. He will be going into a Rehab clinic later this week until after Christmas where they will help him with his exercising and mobility. He sends his love and best wishes for Christmas and the New Year.

December 12th Maxi in hospital

Maxi was involved in a car accident in the early hours of Sunday morning and was taken to hospital in Croydon with a fractured pelvis. This can be very serious but in Maxi's case the break is clean, there is no internal injury and it should heal well. It is expected that he will be staying in some time as a pelvis can't be splinted like an arm, but as he can't smoke or use his mobile phone, I expect him to be out sooner rather than later. The forthcoming concert tour has been postponed until March 2002.

December 2001

Well the cars and trailer are for sale as the Fiesta series has lost it's backing from Ford. There will still be fiesta racing but as part of club racing and combined with the more powerful 1600cc. Whether Rae downgrades to club racing or upgrades to Clios is yet to be decided.
Maxi will be on tour for a large part of 2002 so he will only be out in the car periodically.
Robert West wants to do a full season of Fiestas, David Wellman hopes to return to F3 and Nick Leason says he will be out in something!

Winter Series October 20/21st Brands Hatch.

Qualifying on Saturday morning with four cars as Rae joined in the fun. The field of 10 Fiesta 1400 was boosted by 2 1600cc Fiestas in preparation for next season when the championships are amalgamated. Rae qualified 4th (2nd in class) before his drive shaft came apart. Maxi came 10th and Robert 11th. Lorraine was black flagged (unfairly in my opinion) for driving slowly - mostly due to gear box and electrical problems.
Race one.
The first race of the weekend was in the afternoon in changeable conditions with drizzle. The first racing lap saw one of the 1600's spinning at Druids and collecting 3 other cars. Two more cars never completed the first lap. Luckily none of the casulties were part of the MaxiJazz team and Rae was running 2nd overall when the race was red flagged. On the restart the remaining 6 cars negotiated the course cleanly with Rae slotting in behind Colin Stancombe in 3rd and Maxi and Robert bringing up the rear. Maxi then had a series of slips, slides and spins and just narrowly missed Robert who was close on his tail. This relegated Maxi to 6th overall and 5th in class. Rae was intent on catching Colin Stancombe for the lead and found a faster line through Paddock Hill Bend. This resulted in him running off the dry line and one lap he went too wide, lost the backend and slid sideways into the gravel. As happens too frequently at the Paddock Hill gravel, this caused the car to roll over twice ending up back on it's wheels. Rae got out uninjured except for a bash on the side of his face. The result of this raised Robert to 3rd in class and Maxi 4th and that is how the race finished. Robert, 21, was all smiles on his return to the paddock with laurels and his first ever trophy.
Race two.
The grid positions are taken from the previous days race result so Robert starts 4th on the grid (3rd in class) with Maxi in 5th. Three of the cars that didn't make Saturday's race joined in at the back of the grid. The weather was appalling with torrential rain and rivers at Graham Hill Bend and along the back straight. Both boys decided to drive carefully and just try to finish. Robert suceeded but Max didn't after another river appeared at Paddock Hill Bend and threw him into the armco sideways. Max was unhurt. Robert West drove a brilliant race in a group of three with Sharpe just in front. On the last lap Sharpe spun and Robert went through and finished second in class, third overall so an excellent weekend for the 21 year old from Devon.

Silverstone 28/29th September.

The end of season race would be run in the dark at Silverstone on the Saturday therefore qualifying was late on Friday night. Rae and CO were running 3 cars with Nick Leason, Andy Neate and rookie Lorraine Claydon (Rae's wife). Lorraine was somewhat apprehensive due to her dislike of driving in the dark and being dazzled but as all the cars should be traveling in the same direction her fears were somewhat allayed. Qualifying was in the dry with lighting on the main straight, first corner and then darkness. Nick was running 2nd for most of the session until all the others pitted for new rubber when he dropped to 9th. Andy finished in 7th with Lorraine in 18th.
Race day was going to start really late but started with Lorraine being asked not to race. The officials felt her inexperience might affect the championship. In the event it was the other front runners who collided with Nick Padley and forced him to retire and lose the championship which was won by Colin Turkington. Nick Leason was running in 6th with Andy 7th until another shuffle in the main pack allowed Andy to get close to the front with Nick as his rear gunner. As the pack came into the Luffield complex Andy got into 3rd place but on the way down the pit straight his drive shaft broke and his race finished. Nick (who dedicated his race to Lorraine) continued to finish in a very good 5th.

Brands Hatch 15/16th September.

The team is running 4 cars again with Andy Neate, Robert West and Damon Wellman. There were 2 new members of the team in that Kevin and I volunteered to run the pit board - no easy task with 4 cars out there. Rae took out Maxi's car and found a few problems in the handling during testing earlier in the week. He also qualified it and either Maxi or him will race tomorrow. Andy Neate got the best of the qualifying ending in 6th place and very close to the championship runners in time. Damon Wellham was 8th, Rae 10th and David managed to finish in 16th after the dipstick broke and oil splashed all over the tyres. He then spent half the session in the pits have the oil replenished.
Race day began with Maxi not making it in time so Rae raced his car. Andy Neate was having a brilliant race in 5th when, with only 3 laps to go, he hit some marbles at Paddock Bend, the back came round and he ended up going sideways into the gravel. As has happened before this resulted in the car rolling over and hitting the fence. Andy was unhurt but the car was badly damaged. This raised Damon Wellman to 8th place and only 22 seconds behind the leaders. Rae had problems with his car and pitted for a considerable amount of time. Robert West had a very good race with Turner with the pair of them going round neck and neck for a few laps before Robert built up a lead. Unluckily Robert had a puncture and had to pit and on exiting the pit lane he had power problems but still ended up enjoying the race.

Thruxton 1/2nd September.

A busy weekend with Rae and the team running 3 cars, including that of Andy Neate who drove with Maxi Jazz last year. There are two new entries in Robert West and Andy Elliott. Qualifying was in the dry with Andy Neate getting a very good 8th and just 1.4 seconds of the poll man Murray. Robert West finished in 14th place some 3 seconds slower and followed by dairy farmer Andy Elliott who only completed 5 laps when the engine blew. He has decided not to compete.
The race on the Sunday started with Andy Neate having a coming together with Jillian Butcher which resulted in him being in last place. He then had an excellent race fighting his way up to a very creditable 7th and only 18 seconds behind the race winner Matt Pinny. Robert West enjoyed himself and finished in 12th.

Knockhill 18/19th August.

As Maxi is busy with gigs for V2001 it has been decided by the team to not attend Knockhill.

Donington Park 21/22nd July.

This weekend saw MaxiJazzRacing running 4 girls as part of a charity event to raise money for the Macmillan cancer fund. Vicki Butler-Henderson won the event (in 10th place overall) with Helen Moore (14th), Amanda Stretton (15th) and Louise Goodman (16th). Together they raised £250,000 (an excellent result). Maxi in the number 31 car started 15th on the grid after a terrible qualifying, where he had to pit and have an errant fuel cap replaced as petrol was spilling out of the car. At the same time all his tyres were replaced, and returning to the track, with cold tyres, saw him lose the rear end on the Melbourne Loop and slam into the wall. Luckily the car was repairable overnight but it ended up 3 inches shorter due to the sub frame being compressed. Maxi ended up with a saw and stiff shoulder as was considering not driving as late as Sunday morning. The car was deemed mechanically sound but it had not been driven since the accident so Maxi was unsure how it would handle. Maxi had a decent start and managed to pass Helen Moore and Amanda Stretton (rather forcefully but fairly admits Maxi) quite quickly but grabbing the wrong gear allowed Amanda to close up but she was unable to pass. Richard Marsh and Peter Salter had had a coming together in front but ended up at the back of the field. 'I allowed Richard Marsh through and hung onto the back of him' but he was eventually left behind. Peter Salter took Maxi at Melbourne Loop but Maxi took back the lead at MacLean's but eventually finished in 13th place behind Salter. 'You wait until Brands Hatch. I'll have a better engine there so should do a lot better.'

Donington Preview Ladies Cup Day

This weekend (21st & 22nd July) sees the cars of Maxi Jazz Racing being taken over and the team expanded by the girls, as four try their hand at the Ford Ladies Cup. At the previous round of the Ford Credit Fiesta Zetec-S Championship at Brands Hatch, young Helen Moore finished a very creditable 15th and in front of team boss Max Frazer. This weekend she is joined By Vicki Butler-Henderson from Top Gear, Amanda Stretton (Powertour commentator) and Louise Goodman (F1 commentator). Today (Thursday) all five tested at Donington with Vicki finishing in 9th place (only two seconds off pole man Matt Pinny) followed by Max, Amanda, Helen and Louise. 'It was a special day', said Rae Claydon, 'All 5 stayed on the circuit!' Max had had some problems with the steering, a left over from a coming together with Bilimoria at Brands Hatch, and which caused him to spin off the circuit on the penultimate lap, leaving him in 16th place. Rae took the car out on the 2nd session and shaved 5 seconds off the time but in the process had 3 big excursions at Redgate. After making some changes to the set-up Max went back out in the last session and improved his times to come within ½ second of Vicki in 8th place.

Brands Hatch July 10th

After a morning of constant drizzle, round eight of the Ford Credit Fiesta Zetec Championship was run on a greasy and slippery track. Despite never having raced on the challenging Grand Prix circuit, Helen Moore made up one place at the start before falling victim to the rough and tumble of the mid-field pack at Paddock Hill bend. Not to be outdone, Moore’s Allied Dunbar backed machine picked its way back onto the racing line and was soon in the middle of an intriguing four car, race-long battle for eleventh position. As the race wore on, the Maidstone-based racer inched onto the tail of fourteenth placed, Brian Roper. Although slower than Moore, Roper’s defensive skills proved a perfect foil for the twenty-year- old’s extra pace. “I spent the last few laps jostling for position with Brian,” she said. “Although he seemed to be slower than me, he has brilliant defensive skills and finding a way past soon became an impossible task. “ Glued together throughout the final two laps, the pair crossed the finish line separated by less than two-hundredths of a second. In addition to one overall championship point, Moore bagged eighteen points in the Newcomers Cup and kicked off her ladies championship challenge with one point. “My first race of the season was a success even if the result wasn’t what I’d hoped for,” she commented. “It was definitely a race to remember and I’d like to thank my sponsors, Allied Dunbar for their support. “
Maxi had a different weekend running pretty well until he and Billamoria had a coming together which left the greek rolling into the Paddock gravel. As Maxi says 'Interesting this,because my recollections bear no resemblance to eye-witness accounts! I remember being completely unsighted through Paddock hence late turn-in,back gets away from me,car drifts right,left toward the sand...BIFF !!! Suddenly I'm looking straight up the hill at Druids (instead of the sand),this guy's knocked me straight!! Steerings a bit wonky (figure the sub-frame's poggered),but the car's going. Biliamori's car (for it was he,first race..) careered sideways rolled heavy and went in,by all accounts, roof first.nasty. A friend reckons I went into the gravel,wrestled it out and as I pulled away up the hill,my boy tagged me and went a-rolling.The damage on the car supports her account so I figure that's probably what happened.'