Once again it was time to dust off the front wheel drive car and give it a run out. A little more development work had been done, quite a few kilos had been shed, and it was sporting a brand new bonnet scoop, so it would be interesting to see if the improvements had been successful when we compared the times with those from our last visit to Blyton Park.
Race day morning dawned bright and clear so it looked like it was going to be a good days racing. The fact that it was a round of the MSA British Championship meant that there would be some exotic vehicles to watch in between my runs, with the likes of Lolas Dallaras and Van Diemens all on the entry list.
Signing on, scrutineering and sound check all went without a hitch, and we had had a sighting lap when I was chauffeured around by Stephanie Wadge in her road car, so it was soon time to line up for the first practice run.
The opening target for the day was the time of 182.67, which Jordine set as her quickest time at the last sprint back in June. I put some brand new Avon slicks on the front so I was feeling confident. As I lined up at the start I planned to do a nice steady run, trying not to push too hard. All went without a problem and as I came off the circuit I noticed I had posted a time of 182.50, just seventeen hundredths quicker. It was a start but I had hoped for a little more with the work that had been done.
For the second practice run I decided not to change anything but to push a bit harder, and see what could be achieved on the thirteen inch slicks. All was going well although the gearing wasn’t ideal for the wheels I had chosen. As I took the wide line around The Ump for the second lap I was pushing quite hard but it was then I felt a problem. The steering jerked and there was a definite vibration, experience told me a wheel had come loose. I had a decision to make, was I going to carry on or pull up. I decided to carry on, but at a reduced speed. By the time I had got to the finishing line the vibration was quite bad and I had slowed down significantly. I wasn’t sure whether there was any point looking at my time, but as it was right in front of me I had no option. I was surprised to see that it was actually over half a second quicker at 181.97. What could it have been without the problem?
Once I got back to my place in the paddock my thought that I may have had a loose wheel was confirmed when Duncan Longmate came over with two wheel nuts that had parted company with the car as I crossed the finish line. It’s a good job the track wasn’t any longer!
Before going out for the first timed run I decided to change the front wheels and put a new set of wheel nuts on. Although there was potential in using the thirteen inch rims the gearing wasn’t quite right, and the studs had been damaged a little due to the loose wheel, so putting a different rim on would give a better hold and put my mind at ease that the problem wouldn’t reoccur.
I bolted on the fifteen inch wheels with Kumho tyres and set off for the start line. When the light went green I was off. It was immediately obvious the although I didn’t have as much grip the gearing was far better, and went round in a time of 175.80. That was more like it.
After refueling, a check of the wheel nuts, a reducing the tyre pressure slightly I set off for second runs. I had a trouble free run and set a time of 174.88, almost a second quicker this time, but there were a couple of places where I had been untidy, so there was still potential for a quicker time.
It wasn’t clear if we would get a third run as The British Championship competitors were having their top ten shootout, but it was good to see the awesome single seaters blast their way around Blyton Park, the quickest guys posting sub 112 second times.
After they had finished there was time for the rest of us to get another run, so after a check around it was time to go to the sprint startline for the last time this year.
The light went green and it was a quick clean run and I posted my quickest time of the day, knocking over a second off once again, crossing the finish line in 173.68.
After loading up and getting out of the racesuit we went to the presentation, where I was surprised to receive a trophy for first in class, but the best prize was that almost ten seconds had been knocked off the time from the last meeting because of the work that we had done.
Now it is time to get the car back in the workshop, lose a little more weight, fit a bigger air filter, and a better gearbox. Then it will be all ready for its next trip back to Blyton Park for the rallycross on October 16th.
Race day morning dawned bright and clear so it looked like it was going to be a good days racing. The fact that it was a round of the MSA British Championship meant that there would be some exotic vehicles to watch in between my runs, with the likes of Lolas Dallaras and Van Diemens all on the entry list.
Signing on, scrutineering and sound check all went without a hitch, and we had had a sighting lap when I was chauffeured around by Stephanie Wadge in her road car, so it was soon time to line up for the first practice run.
The opening target for the day was the time of 182.67, which Jordine set as her quickest time at the last sprint back in June. I put some brand new Avon slicks on the front so I was feeling confident. As I lined up at the start I planned to do a nice steady run, trying not to push too hard. All went without a problem and as I came off the circuit I noticed I had posted a time of 182.50, just seventeen hundredths quicker. It was a start but I had hoped for a little more with the work that had been done.
For the second practice run I decided not to change anything but to push a bit harder, and see what could be achieved on the thirteen inch slicks. All was going well although the gearing wasn’t ideal for the wheels I had chosen. As I took the wide line around The Ump for the second lap I was pushing quite hard but it was then I felt a problem. The steering jerked and there was a definite vibration, experience told me a wheel had come loose. I had a decision to make, was I going to carry on or pull up. I decided to carry on, but at a reduced speed. By the time I had got to the finishing line the vibration was quite bad and I had slowed down significantly. I wasn’t sure whether there was any point looking at my time, but as it was right in front of me I had no option. I was surprised to see that it was actually over half a second quicker at 181.97. What could it have been without the problem?
Once I got back to my place in the paddock my thought that I may have had a loose wheel was confirmed when Duncan Longmate came over with two wheel nuts that had parted company with the car as I crossed the finish line. It’s a good job the track wasn’t any longer!
Before going out for the first timed run I decided to change the front wheels and put a new set of wheel nuts on. Although there was potential in using the thirteen inch rims the gearing wasn’t quite right, and the studs had been damaged a little due to the loose wheel, so putting a different rim on would give a better hold and put my mind at ease that the problem wouldn’t reoccur.
I bolted on the fifteen inch wheels with Kumho tyres and set off for the start line. When the light went green I was off. It was immediately obvious the although I didn’t have as much grip the gearing was far better, and went round in a time of 175.80. That was more like it.
After refueling, a check of the wheel nuts, a reducing the tyre pressure slightly I set off for second runs. I had a trouble free run and set a time of 174.88, almost a second quicker this time, but there were a couple of places where I had been untidy, so there was still potential for a quicker time.
It wasn’t clear if we would get a third run as The British Championship competitors were having their top ten shootout, but it was good to see the awesome single seaters blast their way around Blyton Park, the quickest guys posting sub 112 second times.
After they had finished there was time for the rest of us to get another run, so after a check around it was time to go to the sprint startline for the last time this year.
The light went green and it was a quick clean run and I posted my quickest time of the day, knocking over a second off once again, crossing the finish line in 173.68.
After loading up and getting out of the racesuit we went to the presentation, where I was surprised to receive a trophy for first in class, but the best prize was that almost ten seconds had been knocked off the time from the last meeting because of the work that we had done.
Now it is time to get the car back in the workshop, lose a little more weight, fit a bigger air filter, and a better gearbox. Then it will be all ready for its next trip back to Blyton Park for the rallycross on October 16th.