The April Update

There’s been No track action for Project Merlot in April but both the team and the car have still been busy. The car, driven by Robbie Marsh, took part in the OC Eastern Region annual pub hunt on 1 April and was quite a sight as it dashed around Suffolk from pub to pub as part of the “MidnightWaterPumpers” team in the company of Steve Hiders competition winning white roadster.



April has also seen some further sponsorship developments. Team Merlot are now pleased to have Performance5, the top UK MX-5 performance specialist, as a main sponsor. http://www.performance5.co.uk/.

This month has also seen a further appearance in the national media with a photo of the car on the track at Donnington Park and a write up in the news section of the May issue of Classic and Sports Car. This is the second time the Merlot has appeared in C & SC having been spotted in a write up on the MX-5 Owners Club 2006 National rally in Lincolnshire where the car made its first public appearance back in September.

The bad news for April was the discovery by Robbie of the terrible state of the brakes after the Snetterton track day in March. Robbie described the front brake pads as having “melted”, with “globules of molten metal” having “scored the discs” and “the rear brake pad material having come completely away from their back plates”. All sounded a bit technical to me, I just used the brakes to slow down a bit before the corners, as you do!