A hopeful start

I viewed my new car, for sale, on Friday 6th July and had faxed my entry form for Cadwell by 6am on Saturday morning. The car was collected the following Wednesday and after a series of very late nights we were slightly ready and on our way to Cadwell.

I had been trying to decide what to race after Vee for 3 years. At Xmas we were seriously looking at Britcar and V-de-V, both series using 2 Seater Open topped Sports cars for endurance races. Due to cost constraints the only way to do it was to buy an old sportscar and develop it. The plan was to use a Ford Duratec engine running up to 300BHP. The new Sports 2000 Duratec class cars seemed like a good start, and when it became apparent that I could not extend to the cost of the more powerful classes we decided on Sports 2000. We went to a race at Snetterton in the middle of June and were very impressed with the hospitality of the competitors and organisers and the cars looked great on the track..

We looked at buying a new car in kit form but due to costs and impatience (rekindled by the Snetterton visit) went for the first 2nd hand car I saw. The car is a Class B Sports 2000 Duratec a Gunn TS6. It is class B as it was not originally built as a Duratec car and has had no modification other than the engine installation. (the car will all most certainly become a Class A car shortly after Dad gets his hands on it)

So with only a few mods. to allow me to fit in the car and a brief quizzing of Dad on the whereabouts of 1st gear (left and back!) I set out for free practice at a very wet Cadwell park.

Would I like the car? Yes! I loved it. A few laps in the wet and it was clear that the grip and power/ weight levels were significantly more than I had driven before. We only got 10 minutes but the half-hour qualifying in the dry, on slicks confirmed I had chosen the right series.

Qualifying went okay. Spots of rain at the beginning caused me to try a go quickly early on, which caused a fuel pump relay to disconnect. A brief visit to the pits and off again. In the end my best time was a 1:34.2, which put me 10th of 12 on the grid (poor turn out for Cadwell!)

The race was a slightly frustrating affair, essentially holding position and enduring the frustration of the cars in front pulling gently away. The races are 30 minutes and my lack of racing this year started telling very early on, my neck suffering the most.

In the end I came 6th overall and 1st in class B (only finisher) with a new class B lap record. The good news though was my lap time. My best was 1:32.1, which was a match for most of the field. And only 3.5 seconds off the best of the day. Not too bad for my first time in a Sports car, at the very tricky Cadwell park and with very little sleep for the week before.

So we are now deep in preparation for Thruxton on the August bank Holiday. Hopefully if we can fix the engine, reduce the under-steer and I can get fitter, then I can start getting amongst the pack and having some proper racing.

Thruxton

It had been quite a rush preparing the car for Thruxton. We rebuilt the engine, improved the gearshift and redesigned and made the rear suspension mount that had failed at Cadwell. (and had a weeks holiday). Qualifying started slowly as I had to run the engine in. 4 gentle laps and started to build it up. It took a few laps before I could take the back section of the circuit flat out, having clipped the curb on the inside the first time I tried which nearly caused me to go off. And a few more laps before I could take the first corner flat. Unfortunately I was still suffering heavy understeer in the slow corners and slight understeer in the fast section, but the engine felt okay and during the slowing down lap I sorted all my issues with the gearshift. My quickest lap of 1:19.0 was 107mph average which felt very fast. Having sorted my seat and increased my level of exercise my neck was managing fine. The only issues I had was breathing. I was not breathing from the exit of the complex, around the quick section and was starting to feel the effects of asphyxiation approaching Church corner half a mile later. I was pleased with 9th on the gird, only 2.5 seconds off the pace. I am still getting back into driving, getting used to the speed and we are currently making large set-up changes to the car to understand any issues before the winter development.

We are still operating with the familiar team of Dad, Em and Mum, and thank you to them or all the support. Great to see some familiar supporters on Sunday. Thanks for your help Tom, Laura and Rich.

Unfortunately the race did not live up to qualifying. A stupidly cautious first lap left me stuck behind a Juno I could not get past. I would get alongside out of the fast corners but loose out before the next turn in. After 4 laps there was a safety car period. Once we set off again I was feeling much more up for it. Got past Dave Mountain (Global GT2) in the complex and past another round the back section and the fuel vaporisation started, the power dropped and my competitive race ended. Since I was the only class B car we finished the race very gently, although later found out there was another class B car that I was unaware of.

The engine issue was obviously due to fuel vaporisation due to low pressure and the extremely high temperature of the engine bay and specifically the fuel system. Also our significant roll bar changes to reduce understeer made no difference. At least this gives us something to work on over the next 10 days, before the next race on Saturday 8th September on the GP circuit at Silverstone supporting the excellent Britcar 24 Hr race.

Silverstone GP

Some serious work had been undertaken in to 2 weeks between Thruxton and Silverstone. The exhaust had been re-routed and much heat reflective material used to protect the fuel system and the twin front radiators had been replaced with one big rear mounted one. Qualifying was going to be interesting as we did not know if the cooling would be substantial enough.

In the event cooling was not the issue. The rear left hand wheel fell off twice. A quick final repair meant I only got one competitive lap and was very pleased to be only 2.5 second off pole in 9th place.

Come the race I managed 2 competitive laps before oil surge at Luffield caused catastrophic engine failure!

Oulton Park – September 22nd

A very early start up to Oulton. Qualifying started well. The car felt balanced and I still love the track. After 5 laps came into the pits to adjust the tyre pressures. The grip improved but unfortunately this increase in grip bough the understeer back. It was much quicker but frustrating as I knew without understeer we would be a lot quicker. Completed the session with no overheating which was 1 major question answered and in 5th place. This was more like it. Our first decent session since Cadwell and we were starting to show some pace.

So pleased was I that a new pair of front tyres were fitted in a hope to improve the understeer.

I made a reasonable start, although as Thruxton lost a place to the Juno of Robert Oldershaw, but gained a place from the slow starting Harry Chapman. I struggled for 2 laps to pass Robert twice being blocked whilst alongside, until whilst recovering from the grass, Harry got buy. Robert then pushed him but unlike myself Harry did not back off so they crashed.

This allowed me past into 4th place 5 seconds behind Rupert Russell. I managed to catch him in 1 ½ laps, setting my fastest lap (0.3 off the fastest lap by Richard Johnson and 1.5 seconds quicker than the next best). I had a great dice with Rupert eventually outbraking him on the outside into the knickerbrook chicane. So into 3rd. This is where I remained until the end for my first Sports 2000 podium. Well done to Richard (1st in race and Championship) and Tom Mills (2nd in race)

A very satisfying result. The car is close to the pace, the Oulton Park result exceeded expectation and I now lead the class B championship.

Can’t wait for Brands.

Brands Hatch Indy 20 / 21st October

A long journey down to Brands on Friday afternoon, but got there, unloaded and set up our pit garage before retiring to the B&B for an early night.

Since Oultons success we had replaced the exhaust valves (I missed a gear in the Oulton race and over-revved) and completed more mods to try and solve the understeer.

I was last out for qualifying as I needed to determine if it was possible to warm the brakes (do not work at all until hot) and tyres in 1 lap. The answer was no, so the race start on Sunday was going to be interesting. To make matters worse the understeer was back and worse than ever. Managed 30 odd laps getting down to a 48.4 second lap which put me 6th on the grid.

The rest of the afternoon was spent fixing the understeer. We had a very good idea which of our changes had caused it, but also tried some fairly extreme methods to get rid of it. This included turning the front roll bar into a roll inducer similar to the one we had used on the rear of the Formula Vee to stop oversteer.

Got the start sorted for the first time. Chris Gilbert directly in front got a bit sideways and then gripped causing us to rub sides, but I contined around Paddock okay and entered Druids on the outside of John Finch (4th). Unfortunately on the exit he shut the door so I had to take to the grass allowing Chris back past and Mike Dodd in another Gunn. I managed to get back past Mike into Paddock at the start of the second lap, and then the safety car came out.

I made a poor restart after the safety car came in and spent the next 20 laps just holding onto John and Chris but unable to make any serious attempts to get by. The second safety car period allowed me to get my breath back. A good restart, in Chris’s slipstream, dropped back a bit up the straight but with a wide entry into Paddock managed to sweep up the inside into Druids.

Whilst following Chris and John it was obvious that John was struggling to get on the gas out of Druids so the next lap with a wide entry and good exit I managed to get alongside on the run down to bottom bend. I even managed to brake in time to get round the corner although only just.

So in to 4th with 3 minutes to go and Rupert Russel in 3rd place 2 seconds ahead. Unfortunately a missive slide into Clearways the next lap halted my push and nearly allowed Chris back past, but in the end held on to 4th and 1st in class B.

So again an excellent race. The pace still needs to improve to catch-up with Tom and Ric who were 1st and 2nd, but we have learnt enough about the car to fix this for next year.

And I am now Sports 2000 Duratec Class B Champion! (And 10th Overall)