Not a lot of time spare again, but just spent the evening out in the garage. Did the usual spanner and visual check, which i have got down to about 30 minutes, checking all the usual suspects nothing was amiss, but noticed the reverse mechanism bracket had snapped. Well when i say snapped, i mean the weld had come away from the steel. The welding on the bracket is terrible, this is the 2nd weld on the bracket that has broken, showing no sigh of penetration into the steel. Luckily the joint was easily accessible on the car and i didn't have to remove the horrible thing to repair it, an attack with the angry grinder and bit of max power mig welding has well and truly joined the bracket back together.
What i did notice was the state of the tyres, the rear outer is completely bald down the middle, and the 2 fronts (i had put my old wets on to try and increase grip at pembrey as the normal tyres where totally shot) handn't even attempted to melt during the race. They must be as hard as old leather now, so i'm binning the wets all together, and won't bother replacing them either, i think a good new set of standard A048's are just a good (or should that be bad) as the wets and definitely better than old hard wets!
So role on Silverstone, i'm not testing, but am doing the Allcomers to try and get in the right frame of mind. Last year wasn't terribly successful, with 1 snapped chassis, 2 collisions, and a broken wishbone, although i did finish the race 4th in class.
Wednesday 25 August 2010
Pembrey 30/31st July
Firstly sorry for the lack of posts recently, i've been mega busy at with a new contract at work which is seriously affecting the more important aspects of my life!!
There is no footage from Cadwell as the Flip camera footage turned out to be crap, there was lots of shake and it made the viewer feel sick. It was mounted well, so all i can put it down to is the lack of image stabilisation in the software, although i doubt very much my £10 MD cameras have these, so probably down to the physical size causing very small movements within the camera. I have now ordered the newer HD version of the cheapo cameras (£40 "big eye" off ebay) and awaiting its arrival from Hong Kong. I have some footage from Pembrey captured on the old Oregon, so will try and get this up as soon as i get chance to edit it, but hopefully a new and improved version will be available from Silverstone if the Big Eye arrives.
Due to work commitments and trying to hold down 3 jobs and a family i had absolutely no time to prep the car for Pembrey. I always said i would never do this and hated the fact i was turning up to testing with a car i hadn't even looked at since i wheeled it out of the bus from Cadwell. I was also convinced something wasn't right with the engine after Cadwells dismal performance, but the plan was to fit the newly cleaned Carbs on Friday evening when Andy arrived.
I arrived mid morning Friday after a lovely drive through shropshire and south west wales, it was a real treat to travel down cross country with next to no traffic and fantastic scenery rather than being stuck on the M40! Just a shame i wasn't on a motorbike, although i was still overtaking a fair few coffin dodgers in their micras which is very amusing as you see their double take as the 7.2m disabled van comes tearing past!! I had never been to Pembrey before, so when we turned up at what looked like a disused industrial estate it was a bit of let down compared to the norm. No electricity, pitched up on grass, 1 small toilet block and 2 shower trays for the entire male population! I must make it a priority to get the bus completely finished this winter!!! I pitched up at the end of the RGB stretch of grass, next to Ben and leaving a space for Bob so we could set up our usual camp. A nice touch was that as we were right next to the track we could actually view the circuit while sitting in the bus, very handy when it started peeing down!!!
By the start of the afternoon session the rain had virtually stopped and the track was actually dry, so at least i could get some dry laps in to learn the circuit. The afternoon went without a hitch, the car performed well, and i felt that by the end of the 3rd and final session i was getting to grips with the circuit. And what a great circuit, a good technical flowing section, 2 fats straights with a couple of balls out corners, and a couple of heavy braking tight hairpins. There are some massive curbs that the car really shouldn't be driven over, which i discovered followed by a fairly fast spins!! I do love going to new circuits and trying to learn them, wondering of you can actually hold it flat through a bend, discovering a slight lift rather than a dab of brakes is possible, or the braking point is actually 50 meters further back than you just tried, as smoke pours off your tyres as you're trying frantically trying to get the car round the corner rather than out of a tyre wall!!
The car had gone well and the lap times were ok so i decided that i would leave the carbs alone, if it isn't broke don't fix it!! The last thing i wanted to do was ruin qualifying on saturday morning!
Saturday was a leisurely timetable, 11am scruitineering, mid day practice and 1 race, mid afternoon, Sunday was set to be even more leisurely as we weren't racing until 4.50pm! Practice went ok, i qualified 2nd in class, but Al was over a second quicker. Colin had had problems involving underwear in his airbox so was at the back of the grid, but i was alongside super starter Bob, with Phil and Ben behind us. I got a decent start followed by couple of frantic laps involving a spinning car and lots of cars taking to the grass, followed by Colin out braking himself trying to get past me into the hairpin, spinning, resulting in Phil hitting his rear end. This destroyed Phils front end and ended his race. Colin got away with it, well apart from some flailing under tray and bodywork damage. After this lot I was 2nd in class with not that much around me, so sett;ed down to see if i could catch Al up, this never happened and he slowly pulled away. Al is going great this year and i just can't live with him, especially over the last few races. My car seemed to be going well but the shot tyres were definitely losing me time. I saw Andy Grants green Fury slowly catching me, i could hold him off in twisty sectiomn of the track, but his speed down the straights was impossible to live with. My biggest concern was i could see ben behind him, and if Andy got past me coming down the straight towards Honda it would compromise my speed down the main straight. This eventually happened and Ben caught right up with me, for the last few laps my mirrors were full of westfield and i was convinced i wouldn't be able to hold him off much longer as my tyres were seriously screwed and was struggling to get the power down early from the last hairpin before the main straights. For the frst time ever i had set the timer running omn the dash at the start of the race, so actually knew the next time past the start finish line the last lap board would be held out, but then i saw Paul, who was leading the race, passing Ben and about to pass me, this meant next time past the finish line would be the chequered flag! I have never been so happy to be lapped!!
Race 2 on sunday didn't go so well, after a nudge from Phil on the start straight the old red mist descended and i span out on the 2nd corner, trying to over cook it with cold tyres. AFter getting going again I was dead last, by the end of the next lap i had got past Judy, but over shot the exit at Honda and had an arse clenching trip down the grass trying to hold the car straight and edge it back onto the track. Luckily i got back on but Judy was past again. I managed to get past her again at the spot where i spun on the first lap and then noted Adrian spinning across the grass and rejoining with me. I had resigned myself to a 5th in class, but settled down to have a tussle with Adrian, which was great fun, his car was faster down the straights and he was quicker around honda than me, but i could gain round the twisty section, and he was also struggling to stop for the hairpin (as did i a couple of times), so a few good laps followed with the added bonus (for me) that Phil and Ben both spun putting me back to 3rd in class. I thought i should stop pushing to race with Adrian and take the points, but that lasted less than 2 seconds and we carried on all the way to the line.
So all in all decent results and some good racing! My tyres are screwed (and have been for a while) and a new set ordered for silverstone, so hopefully can get a bit closer to Al. And hopefully myself or Colin wont spin on the first lap and we can have a battle!!
Photos:-
There is no footage from Cadwell as the Flip camera footage turned out to be crap, there was lots of shake and it made the viewer feel sick. It was mounted well, so all i can put it down to is the lack of image stabilisation in the software, although i doubt very much my £10 MD cameras have these, so probably down to the physical size causing very small movements within the camera. I have now ordered the newer HD version of the cheapo cameras (£40 "big eye" off ebay) and awaiting its arrival from Hong Kong. I have some footage from Pembrey captured on the old Oregon, so will try and get this up as soon as i get chance to edit it, but hopefully a new and improved version will be available from Silverstone if the Big Eye arrives.
Due to work commitments and trying to hold down 3 jobs and a family i had absolutely no time to prep the car for Pembrey. I always said i would never do this and hated the fact i was turning up to testing with a car i hadn't even looked at since i wheeled it out of the bus from Cadwell. I was also convinced something wasn't right with the engine after Cadwells dismal performance, but the plan was to fit the newly cleaned Carbs on Friday evening when Andy arrived.
I arrived mid morning Friday after a lovely drive through shropshire and south west wales, it was a real treat to travel down cross country with next to no traffic and fantastic scenery rather than being stuck on the M40! Just a shame i wasn't on a motorbike, although i was still overtaking a fair few coffin dodgers in their micras which is very amusing as you see their double take as the 7.2m disabled van comes tearing past!! I had never been to Pembrey before, so when we turned up at what looked like a disused industrial estate it was a bit of let down compared to the norm. No electricity, pitched up on grass, 1 small toilet block and 2 shower trays for the entire male population! I must make it a priority to get the bus completely finished this winter!!! I pitched up at the end of the RGB stretch of grass, next to Ben and leaving a space for Bob so we could set up our usual camp. A nice touch was that as we were right next to the track we could actually view the circuit while sitting in the bus, very handy when it started peeing down!!!
By the start of the afternoon session the rain had virtually stopped and the track was actually dry, so at least i could get some dry laps in to learn the circuit. The afternoon went without a hitch, the car performed well, and i felt that by the end of the 3rd and final session i was getting to grips with the circuit. And what a great circuit, a good technical flowing section, 2 fats straights with a couple of balls out corners, and a couple of heavy braking tight hairpins. There are some massive curbs that the car really shouldn't be driven over, which i discovered followed by a fairly fast spins!! I do love going to new circuits and trying to learn them, wondering of you can actually hold it flat through a bend, discovering a slight lift rather than a dab of brakes is possible, or the braking point is actually 50 meters further back than you just tried, as smoke pours off your tyres as you're trying frantically trying to get the car round the corner rather than out of a tyre wall!!
The car had gone well and the lap times were ok so i decided that i would leave the carbs alone, if it isn't broke don't fix it!! The last thing i wanted to do was ruin qualifying on saturday morning!
Saturday was a leisurely timetable, 11am scruitineering, mid day practice and 1 race, mid afternoon, Sunday was set to be even more leisurely as we weren't racing until 4.50pm! Practice went ok, i qualified 2nd in class, but Al was over a second quicker. Colin had had problems involving underwear in his airbox so was at the back of the grid, but i was alongside super starter Bob, with Phil and Ben behind us. I got a decent start followed by couple of frantic laps involving a spinning car and lots of cars taking to the grass, followed by Colin out braking himself trying to get past me into the hairpin, spinning, resulting in Phil hitting his rear end. This destroyed Phils front end and ended his race. Colin got away with it, well apart from some flailing under tray and bodywork damage. After this lot I was 2nd in class with not that much around me, so sett;ed down to see if i could catch Al up, this never happened and he slowly pulled away. Al is going great this year and i just can't live with him, especially over the last few races. My car seemed to be going well but the shot tyres were definitely losing me time. I saw Andy Grants green Fury slowly catching me, i could hold him off in twisty sectiomn of the track, but his speed down the straights was impossible to live with. My biggest concern was i could see ben behind him, and if Andy got past me coming down the straight towards Honda it would compromise my speed down the main straight. This eventually happened and Ben caught right up with me, for the last few laps my mirrors were full of westfield and i was convinced i wouldn't be able to hold him off much longer as my tyres were seriously screwed and was struggling to get the power down early from the last hairpin before the main straights. For the frst time ever i had set the timer running omn the dash at the start of the race, so actually knew the next time past the start finish line the last lap board would be held out, but then i saw Paul, who was leading the race, passing Ben and about to pass me, this meant next time past the finish line would be the chequered flag! I have never been so happy to be lapped!!
Race 2 on sunday didn't go so well, after a nudge from Phil on the start straight the old red mist descended and i span out on the 2nd corner, trying to over cook it with cold tyres. AFter getting going again I was dead last, by the end of the next lap i had got past Judy, but over shot the exit at Honda and had an arse clenching trip down the grass trying to hold the car straight and edge it back onto the track. Luckily i got back on but Judy was past again. I managed to get past her again at the spot where i spun on the first lap and then noted Adrian spinning across the grass and rejoining with me. I had resigned myself to a 5th in class, but settled down to have a tussle with Adrian, which was great fun, his car was faster down the straights and he was quicker around honda than me, but i could gain round the twisty section, and he was also struggling to stop for the hairpin (as did i a couple of times), so a few good laps followed with the added bonus (for me) that Phil and Ben both spun putting me back to 3rd in class. I thought i should stop pushing to race with Adrian and take the points, but that lasted less than 2 seconds and we carried on all the way to the line.
So all in all decent results and some good racing! My tyres are screwed (and have been for a while) and a new set ordered for silverstone, so hopefully can get a bit closer to Al. And hopefully myself or Colin wont spin on the first lap and we can have a battle!!
Photos:-
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