Your favourite 'cheats' in motorsport
Discussion
slopes said:
There is the case of the Whittington Brothers "buying" a refuelling stamp from one of the refuelers at the '79 Le Mans, adjusted the fuelling rig by about 1 or 2 %, stamping it, then giving him his stamp back. It's funny but they seemed to be filling up faster than everyone else.
If you look on the vinwki youtube channel, some american historian goes into their shenanigans in some detail.
Motorbikes wise, i can remember in the early 80's in South African Proddie racing you had to be very creative because the tech inspectors were on the ball.
Reports of the Suzuki Katana 1000 engine in the 750 frame, dimensionally the same but weighed less.
Forks dropped through the stanchions by about 2 mm or so giving a slightly nose down stance to aid with take off from the line and avoid wheelies
Also, wasn't their allegations against Roger Penske and the late Mark Donohue over a couple of trans am cars they ran?
Seen that video on the whinington brothers real insight of that era of motorsport.If you look on the vinwki youtube channel, some american historian goes into their shenanigans in some detail.
Motorbikes wise, i can remember in the early 80's in South African Proddie racing you had to be very creative because the tech inspectors were on the ball.
Reports of the Suzuki Katana 1000 engine in the 750 frame, dimensionally the same but weighed less.
Forks dropped through the stanchions by about 2 mm or so giving a slightly nose down stance to aid with take off from the line and avoid wheelies
Also, wasn't their allegations against Roger Penske and the late Mark Donohue over a couple of trans am cars they ran?
Edited by slopes on Wednesday 6th January 16:59
Edited by slopes on Wednesday 6th January 18:37
Nick_F said:
Smokey Yunick - owner of the 'best damn garage in town' if I recall correctly.
Acid-dipping to thin the steel in bodyshells for TransAm is one that springs to mind, and I rather like Nelson Piquet's alleged lightweight qualifying crash helmet.
done in uk single make formulas too along with lowered floors tooAcid-dipping to thin the steel in bodyshells for TransAm is one that springs to mind, and I rather like Nelson Piquet's alleged lightweight qualifying crash helmet.
Seem to remember the great Peter Brock got caught at Bathurst using a his fire extinguisher to help cool the intercooler or along those lines. He got bumped down the grid for that one.
I also seem to recall Steve Soper saying he caught Klaus Ludwig removing the battery earth lead.
"What are you doing Klaus?"
"Don't tell anyone but if you remove the battery lead, the Motec re sets itself and until it does it over boosts"
So Soper tried it and out qualified Ludwig
I'm faily sure Steve Soper mentioned that one during his Lunch with Interview in Motosport Magazine.
I also seem to recall Steve Soper saying he caught Klaus Ludwig removing the battery earth lead.
"What are you doing Klaus?"
"Don't tell anyone but if you remove the battery lead, the Motec re sets itself and until it does it over boosts"
So Soper tried it and out qualified Ludwig
I'm faily sure Steve Soper mentioned that one during his Lunch with Interview in Motosport Magazine.
Edited by slopes on Thursday 7th January 17:50
I'm not sure whether this has been mentioned yet and whether you would class it as cheating or a loophole.
A few teams in the 80's running Gr.A RS500s had their turbo exhaust housings cut open, machined out and then welded back together. Repairs to the turbo weren't permitted in the English FIA rulebook but were permitted in the French translation.
A few teams in the 80's running Gr.A RS500s had their turbo exhaust housings cut open, machined out and then welded back together. Repairs to the turbo weren't permitted in the English FIA rulebook but were permitted in the French translation.
There were loads of shenanigans going on with the old RS500’s, I’ve heard some great tales like boost adjusters hidden in the cigar lighter, exhaust tube roll cages, fabbies and the engineers cutting the shells up in the workshop over Christmas so they could move the hard points without the mechanics knowing...
when I worked at TWR there were a few stories
the Sd1 toruring cars had a billet cam when the rules said it had to be based on a stock casting
when scrutineering had to observe the engine being stripped, the cam was pulled out and 'dropped' into the oil bath / drip tray under the engine which was full of oil
the technician reached under the oil to retrieve the cam and when inspected all was well
as the real cam was still in the oil.... the legal stock cam being clipped in place under the oil the entire time
the le-mans winning Jaguars with their V12 engines were a 'little out' on bore and stroke
the inspected and lockwired engine had some false fasteners on it that enabled the lockwired heads and water pump to be lifted away off the block as one and then fitted to the 'race' block
those cars also had a fuel tank inside the fuel tank so the outer tank when dipped had the approved fuel whereas the inner tank had a full on ping-pong tiddly brew for an extra 20 bhp
the Sd1 toruring cars had a billet cam when the rules said it had to be based on a stock casting
when scrutineering had to observe the engine being stripped, the cam was pulled out and 'dropped' into the oil bath / drip tray under the engine which was full of oil
the technician reached under the oil to retrieve the cam and when inspected all was well
as the real cam was still in the oil.... the legal stock cam being clipped in place under the oil the entire time
the le-mans winning Jaguars with their V12 engines were a 'little out' on bore and stroke
the inspected and lockwired engine had some false fasteners on it that enabled the lockwired heads and water pump to be lifted away off the block as one and then fitted to the 'race' block
those cars also had a fuel tank inside the fuel tank so the outer tank when dipped had the approved fuel whereas the inner tank had a full on ping-pong tiddly brew for an extra 20 bhp
eligibility here....
The TWR camshaft trick is an old one and all eligibility scrutineers know not to let the parts at strip down - out of your sight. In fact, they should be marked before they go anywhere near any piece of equipment. Just turning up with another scrutineer can upset their plans. Been there, T-shirts obtained.
There are some interesting stories about the TWR Volvo cylinder heads, which are probably best left off a public forum. A rumour is out there – that there were known to be issues with them before even they hit the circuit as they were spotted at the machine shop prior to delivery to TWR by an eagle eyed scrutineer, who was there inspecting something else. The machine shop foreman was rather open about – “Oh yeah - there’s a bent head you might find interesting”! Do not underestimate this effect. Most of the “news” we get about illegalities is from someone in the know. Most cheaters aren’t that nice as people, and tend to wind others up. These people get their own back…
Others known about
A 2 day meeting - The road legal car that was scrutineered at the circuit leaves the circuit in the evening, after we have gone home/BnB, and an exact (but not exact enough) replacement returns the next day, and can they have a new ticket as the old one fell off over night. “Has the car been scrutineered?”, “yes”, “OK here’s your ticket”. This would have worked well if the clown hadn’t very quickly overtaken me on the way home on the Saturday evening, with his race numbers not covered up. It was a different car. His fellow competitors were not impressed with him. Silverstone - a Prod Saloon formula.
Extinguishers pulled out at Parc Ferme prior to weighing, as “we think its leaking mate” and replaced with a very heavy replacement. Thruxton - Monoposto
Drivers handing over their helmet to a friend at Parc Ferme gate/fence and a very heavy exact replacement handed back to them. Historic meeting at Silverstone – captured on video. Although its happened elsewhere - more than once.
Pulling over in the pit lane (common at Silverstone) and a mechanic ripping off the self-adhesive illegal Gurney flap prior to reaching Parc Ferme. Donington as well. Formula 4. It would have been a good idea not to do it front of another team who got it on their phones. What a dick!
ECUs and the compulsory telemetry using a secondary management chip placed in the video/dashcam with a well-hidden cable from the ECU to the Dashcam. I found this one and the chief informed the team it wouldn’t be on the car next time – would it? This is how a HUGE amount of ineligibility is dealt with - rightly or wrongly…,British GTs.
A very clever interpretation of the word “normal type polyurethane suspension bush” from the regs compared to what was seen on the car. This part of the regs was rewritten for the next year. Golfs.
Golf turbocharger waste gate hoses with very specific bleed holes placed in. So the extra boost would explain the car’s voracious appetite for its clutches then? I made them fit a proper hose for the next race and they were nowhere. VAGs
There are some drivers who are known to never turn out a straight car. We know of one historic racer who is tolerated by his fellow competitors as long as he doesn’t do that well in the actual race. He asked the eligibility guy why he was always picked on for extra inspection. Being told “because your fellow competitors told us you always have a bent car – and we always find something wrong it” wasn’t quite the reply he was expecting.
Someone running enough nitro in their petrol, to make your eyes water. You could smell it. Hence the requirement for the fuel break couplings in the Blue Book. You can thank 2 or 3 rallying Sierra Cosworths for that expense.
It is possible to contact the right (but dodgy!) people and have the scrutineering sealing sticky labels professionally removed overnight, in the garages say and an exact pirate replacement stuck in in its place. Its £500-1000 a label. We get round this by sticking more labels on it! We might as well make it more expensive for them.
The plastic wired seal modifications are £1500 each. Again, sticking more seals on is easy enough.
There’s probably another chapter on people cheating but getting it wrong or misunderstanding the actual method of cheating. Now THAT is funny….
The TWR camshaft trick is an old one and all eligibility scrutineers know not to let the parts at strip down - out of your sight. In fact, they should be marked before they go anywhere near any piece of equipment. Just turning up with another scrutineer can upset their plans. Been there, T-shirts obtained.
There are some interesting stories about the TWR Volvo cylinder heads, which are probably best left off a public forum. A rumour is out there – that there were known to be issues with them before even they hit the circuit as they were spotted at the machine shop prior to delivery to TWR by an eagle eyed scrutineer, who was there inspecting something else. The machine shop foreman was rather open about – “Oh yeah - there’s a bent head you might find interesting”! Do not underestimate this effect. Most of the “news” we get about illegalities is from someone in the know. Most cheaters aren’t that nice as people, and tend to wind others up. These people get their own back…
Others known about
A 2 day meeting - The road legal car that was scrutineered at the circuit leaves the circuit in the evening, after we have gone home/BnB, and an exact (but not exact enough) replacement returns the next day, and can they have a new ticket as the old one fell off over night. “Has the car been scrutineered?”, “yes”, “OK here’s your ticket”. This would have worked well if the clown hadn’t very quickly overtaken me on the way home on the Saturday evening, with his race numbers not covered up. It was a different car. His fellow competitors were not impressed with him. Silverstone - a Prod Saloon formula.
Extinguishers pulled out at Parc Ferme prior to weighing, as “we think its leaking mate” and replaced with a very heavy replacement. Thruxton - Monoposto
Drivers handing over their helmet to a friend at Parc Ferme gate/fence and a very heavy exact replacement handed back to them. Historic meeting at Silverstone – captured on video. Although its happened elsewhere - more than once.
Pulling over in the pit lane (common at Silverstone) and a mechanic ripping off the self-adhesive illegal Gurney flap prior to reaching Parc Ferme. Donington as well. Formula 4. It would have been a good idea not to do it front of another team who got it on their phones. What a dick!
ECUs and the compulsory telemetry using a secondary management chip placed in the video/dashcam with a well-hidden cable from the ECU to the Dashcam. I found this one and the chief informed the team it wouldn’t be on the car next time – would it? This is how a HUGE amount of ineligibility is dealt with - rightly or wrongly…,British GTs.
A very clever interpretation of the word “normal type polyurethane suspension bush” from the regs compared to what was seen on the car. This part of the regs was rewritten for the next year. Golfs.
Golf turbocharger waste gate hoses with very specific bleed holes placed in. So the extra boost would explain the car’s voracious appetite for its clutches then? I made them fit a proper hose for the next race and they were nowhere. VAGs
There are some drivers who are known to never turn out a straight car. We know of one historic racer who is tolerated by his fellow competitors as long as he doesn’t do that well in the actual race. He asked the eligibility guy why he was always picked on for extra inspection. Being told “because your fellow competitors told us you always have a bent car – and we always find something wrong it” wasn’t quite the reply he was expecting.
Someone running enough nitro in their petrol, to make your eyes water. You could smell it. Hence the requirement for the fuel break couplings in the Blue Book. You can thank 2 or 3 rallying Sierra Cosworths for that expense.
It is possible to contact the right (but dodgy!) people and have the scrutineering sealing sticky labels professionally removed overnight, in the garages say and an exact pirate replacement stuck in in its place. Its £500-1000 a label. We get round this by sticking more labels on it! We might as well make it more expensive for them.
The plastic wired seal modifications are £1500 each. Again, sticking more seals on is easy enough.
There’s probably another chapter on people cheating but getting it wrong or misunderstanding the actual method of cheating. Now THAT is funny….
bucksmanuk said:
ECUs and the compulsory telemetry using a secondary management chip placed in the video/dashcam with a well-hidden cable from the ECU to the Dashcam. I found this one and the chief informed the team it wouldn’t be on the car next time – would it? This is how a HUGE amount of ineligibility is dealt with - rightly or wrongly…,British GTs.
Great stories 
Funny enough, I can remember we had real issues back when I raced in the GT4 class. We had the Evoras when they were brand new, they needed some development but we could run at the front of the European series no problem.
But we couldn't beat these bloody KTM X-Bows. They'd never been competitive in anything else but the ones in BGT were annoyingly fast. They were only ever there or thereabouts in Quali, probably managing their advantage, but gave it away by seemingly being able to pull anything up to 3 seconds a lap out of their arse when they needed it.
We moaned for half a season that they must have been fiddling with the boost outside the BOP but nothing seemed to be happening. They'd even started baiting us with it, I can vividly remember one of them in Quali at Brands absolutely hauling up alongside me coming out of Clearways, backing off as he went over the speed trap, then still ending up in front of me by the first corner! Bearing in mind our strength was meant to be straight line speed with theirs as a lightweight car being gentle on their tyres.
One of my team mates in the sister car (who shall remain nameless!) had worked out that the front of the Evora was particularly robust and that only time he could get actually near one was into the first corner of a race so started using that sole opportunity pretty much every race to nail the lead Xbow square up the rump where there was plenty of vulnerable gubbins sticking out, with an impressively high success rate to be fair
It took until past the half way point of the season when I remember them enforcing something like an F3 air restrictor on them. My recollection was that it should have made little or no difference as theoretically the BOP power was almost the same as the F3 engine number but immediately they dropped a chunk of pace, then started blowing up engines!
By that time it was too late though, they'd already won the championship.
Pretty sure my NDA has expired now but I don’t think it matters either way as the team who ran the car when I was involved no longer exists and neither does my old employer so here goes...
A team which used to field several cars in a one make series and a couple of pointy hatchback NGTC cars with a long lifespan approached us to make exhausts, boost pipes and radiators for them when they bought the BTCC cars, as they were running the TOCA engine not the one they were built with.
On all the NGTC cars, the intercooler core is an off the shelf item supplied by one company and if memory serves correctly, they’re individually numbered so they can be traced.
We had a supplier who make a really efficient intercooler with more surface area in each of the tubes, our customer got wind of that and asked us to replace the standard, spec core with the better ones but make them look the same as they always had.
They then asked us to do the same with the other cars they ran, which used another off the shelf intercooler but from a well known UK based company, cut the tanks off, bin the core, weld it all back up with the better bits...
The data guys from Swindon always remarked about how cool the engines ran and how the intake temps were a tiny bit better than the other cars on the grid but nobody ever worked out why.
The same team also asked us to fill the tubular bumper support with lead to get more weight over the front wheels, something they wanted to try since the manufacturer’s WTCC entry which was the same shape was caught with metal ballast inside the wooden front splitter.
All of the cars have moved on to other teams and have subsequently been retired but nobody outside of the people involved at the time would have known so the more recent owners have probably been running bent cars without any idea!
A team which used to field several cars in a one make series and a couple of pointy hatchback NGTC cars with a long lifespan approached us to make exhausts, boost pipes and radiators for them when they bought the BTCC cars, as they were running the TOCA engine not the one they were built with.
On all the NGTC cars, the intercooler core is an off the shelf item supplied by one company and if memory serves correctly, they’re individually numbered so they can be traced.
We had a supplier who make a really efficient intercooler with more surface area in each of the tubes, our customer got wind of that and asked us to replace the standard, spec core with the better ones but make them look the same as they always had.
They then asked us to do the same with the other cars they ran, which used another off the shelf intercooler but from a well known UK based company, cut the tanks off, bin the core, weld it all back up with the better bits...
The data guys from Swindon always remarked about how cool the engines ran and how the intake temps were a tiny bit better than the other cars on the grid but nobody ever worked out why.
The same team also asked us to fill the tubular bumper support with lead to get more weight over the front wheels, something they wanted to try since the manufacturer’s WTCC entry which was the same shape was caught with metal ballast inside the wooden front splitter.
All of the cars have moved on to other teams and have subsequently been retired but nobody outside of the people involved at the time would have known so the more recent owners have probably been running bent cars without any idea!
Edited by Robmarriott on Wednesday 3rd March 16:20
Edited by Robmarriott on Wednesday 3rd March 21:08
Edited by Robmarriott on Wednesday 3rd March 21:34
Historic racing - Silverstone - big meeting ....
A bunch of D-types are out racing - so big budget motorsport- and one guy comes into the scrutineering bay office and says….
Innocent driver - “Can you have a look at Mr X’s car . It’s much quicker than mine.”
Chief “- Why do you say that?”
Innocent driver – “Well I can accept he’s later on the brakes, better on the corners, and can set up a car better than me – but I can’t accept him pulling out a car’s length on each gear change. I’ve got the best legal 3.8 in the country – so I’m sure his is bent. His just sounds different too…”
Chief - “OK, but we can’t just take heads off on cars like that - it would have to be an official protest”
Innocent driver – “How much is that?”
Chief - “Well its £400 for a protest and you pay his rebuild bill if it’s all legal” – not a small amount….
Innocent driver – “Right - where do I sign and hand my cheque over to? – but I want to be there or have a full on official there when the engine is stripped”.
Chief - “Well- I’ll be there” Innocent driver is happy with that.
Protest is out and Mr. X takes immediate umbrage at having his car protested – how very dare he? And counter protests innocent driver’s car and others.
The innocent driver immediately says “you can take the head off mine here if you like - as soon as it’s cold enough”. His engine is fine.
Mr X’s engine is sealed – and then some. It’s carted off to a mutually accepted engine builders with no skin in the game. 2 weeks later all are there with Mr X present still protesting his innocence “what a waste of time all this is etc.…”
The engine looks exactly as it should be, but the engine builder comments on how it “just looks a bit different.”
Its stripped down and measured. The engine has been stroked to 4.7 litres. A size thought impossible with any Jaguar 3.8 litre block. I think this is correct…
The engine builder just happens to have a correct 3.8 litre block on the premises. They put the 2 next to each other, and Mr. X is now conspicuous by his absence. No-one saw him leave. The block is NOT a Jaguar block at all - it’s a brand new casting with the appropriate dimensions altered to get the big crank in. externally - they are identical, same features, casting finish, logos, etc...
So new patterns had been made, new castings, crank, sump, engine mounts - the list goes on and on. All made to look exactly like the original items – but not quite….
This must have been a £100k cheat at least, and Mr. X got 1 race finish out of it, and that was found to be illegal.
Off to Colnbrook for thorough b
king, fines etc.… no tea and medals for Mr. X
I've plenty more....
A bunch of D-types are out racing - so big budget motorsport- and one guy comes into the scrutineering bay office and says….
Innocent driver - “Can you have a look at Mr X’s car . It’s much quicker than mine.”
Chief “- Why do you say that?”
Innocent driver – “Well I can accept he’s later on the brakes, better on the corners, and can set up a car better than me – but I can’t accept him pulling out a car’s length on each gear change. I’ve got the best legal 3.8 in the country – so I’m sure his is bent. His just sounds different too…”
Chief - “OK, but we can’t just take heads off on cars like that - it would have to be an official protest”
Innocent driver – “How much is that?”
Chief - “Well its £400 for a protest and you pay his rebuild bill if it’s all legal” – not a small amount….
Innocent driver – “Right - where do I sign and hand my cheque over to? – but I want to be there or have a full on official there when the engine is stripped”.
Chief - “Well- I’ll be there” Innocent driver is happy with that.
Protest is out and Mr. X takes immediate umbrage at having his car protested – how very dare he? And counter protests innocent driver’s car and others.
The innocent driver immediately says “you can take the head off mine here if you like - as soon as it’s cold enough”. His engine is fine.
Mr X’s engine is sealed – and then some. It’s carted off to a mutually accepted engine builders with no skin in the game. 2 weeks later all are there with Mr X present still protesting his innocence “what a waste of time all this is etc.…”
The engine looks exactly as it should be, but the engine builder comments on how it “just looks a bit different.”
Its stripped down and measured. The engine has been stroked to 4.7 litres. A size thought impossible with any Jaguar 3.8 litre block. I think this is correct…
The engine builder just happens to have a correct 3.8 litre block on the premises. They put the 2 next to each other, and Mr. X is now conspicuous by his absence. No-one saw him leave. The block is NOT a Jaguar block at all - it’s a brand new casting with the appropriate dimensions altered to get the big crank in. externally - they are identical, same features, casting finish, logos, etc...
So new patterns had been made, new castings, crank, sump, engine mounts - the list goes on and on. All made to look exactly like the original items – but not quite….
This must have been a £100k cheat at least, and Mr. X got 1 race finish out of it, and that was found to be illegal.
Off to Colnbrook for thorough b
king, fines etc.… no tea and medals for Mr. X I've plenty more....
bucksmanuk said:
Historic racing - Silverstone - big meeting ....
A bunch of D-types are out racing - so big budget motorsport- and one guy comes into the scrutineering bay office and says….
Innocent driver - “Can you have a look at Mr X’s car . It’s much quicker than mine.”
Chief “- Why do you say that?”
The engine looks exactly as it should be, but the engine builder comments on how it “just looks a bit different.”
Its stripped down and measured. The engine has been stroked to 4.7 litres. A size thought impossible with any Jaguar 3.8 litre block. I think this is correct…
The engine builder just happens to have a correct 3.8 litre block on the premises. They put the 2 next to each other, and Mr. X is now conspicuous by his absence. No-one saw him leave. The block is NOT a Jaguar block at all - it’s a brand new casting with the appropriate dimensions altered to get the big crank in. externally - they are identical, same features, casting finish, logos, etc...
So new patterns had been made, new castings, crank, sump, engine mounts - the list goes on and on. All made to look exactly like the original items – but not quite….
This must have been a £100k cheat at least, and Mr. X got 1 race finish out of it, and that was found to be illegal.
Off to Colnbrook for thorough bking, fines etc.… no tea and medals for Mr. X
I've plenty more....
Thanks for sharing, I have been following this thread since the start and todays posts have been fascinating!A bunch of D-types are out racing - so big budget motorsport- and one guy comes into the scrutineering bay office and says….
Innocent driver - “Can you have a look at Mr X’s car . It’s much quicker than mine.”
Chief “- Why do you say that?”
The engine looks exactly as it should be, but the engine builder comments on how it “just looks a bit different.”
Its stripped down and measured. The engine has been stroked to 4.7 litres. A size thought impossible with any Jaguar 3.8 litre block. I think this is correct…
The engine builder just happens to have a correct 3.8 litre block on the premises. They put the 2 next to each other, and Mr. X is now conspicuous by his absence. No-one saw him leave. The block is NOT a Jaguar block at all - it’s a brand new casting with the appropriate dimensions altered to get the big crank in. externally - they are identical, same features, casting finish, logos, etc...
So new patterns had been made, new castings, crank, sump, engine mounts - the list goes on and on. All made to look exactly like the original items – but not quite….
This must have been a £100k cheat at least, and Mr. X got 1 race finish out of it, and that was found to be illegal.
Off to Colnbrook for thorough b
king, fines etc.… no tea and medals for Mr. X I've plenty more....
bucksmanuk said:
Historic racing - Silverstone - big meeting ....
A bunch of D-types are out racing - so big budget motorsport- and one guy comes into the scrutineering bay office and says….
Innocent driver - “Can you have a look at Mr X’s car . It’s much quicker than mine.”
Chief “- Why do you say that?”
Innocent driver – “Well I can accept he’s later on the brakes, better on the corners, and can set up a car better than me – but I can’t accept him pulling out a car’s length on each gear change. I’ve got the best legal 3.8 in the country – so I’m sure his is bent. His just sounds different too…”
Chief - “OK, but we can’t just take heads off on cars like that - it would have to be an official protest”
Innocent driver – “How much is that?”
Chief - “Well its £400 for a protest and you pay his rebuild bill if it’s all legal” – not a small amount….
Innocent driver – “Right - where do I sign and hand my cheque over to? – but I want to be there or have a full on official there when the engine is stripped”.
Chief - “Well- I’ll be there” Innocent driver is happy with that.
Protest is out and Mr. X takes immediate umbrage at having his car protested – how very dare he? And counter protests innocent driver’s car and others.
The innocent driver immediately says “you can take the head off mine here if you like - as soon as it’s cold enough”. His engine is fine.
Mr X’s engine is sealed – and then some. It’s carted off to a mutually accepted engine builders with no skin in the game. 2 weeks later all are there with Mr X present still protesting his innocence “what a waste of time all this is etc.…”
The engine looks exactly as it should be, but the engine builder comments on how it “just looks a bit different.”
Its stripped down and measured. The engine has been stroked to 4.7 litres. A size thought impossible with any Jaguar 3.8 litre block. I think this is correct…
The engine builder just happens to have a correct 3.8 litre block on the premises. They put the 2 next to each other, and Mr. X is now conspicuous by his absence. No-one saw him leave. The block is NOT a Jaguar block at all - it’s a brand new casting with the appropriate dimensions altered to get the big crank in. externally - they are identical, same features, casting finish, logos, etc...
So new patterns had been made, new castings, crank, sump, engine mounts - the list goes on and on. All made to look exactly like the original items – but not quite….
This must have been a £100k cheat at least, and Mr. X got 1 race finish out of it, and that was found to be illegal.
Off to Colnbrook for thorough bking, fines etc.… no tea and medals for Mr. X
I've plenty more....
That is epicA bunch of D-types are out racing - so big budget motorsport- and one guy comes into the scrutineering bay office and says….
Innocent driver - “Can you have a look at Mr X’s car . It’s much quicker than mine.”
Chief “- Why do you say that?”
Innocent driver – “Well I can accept he’s later on the brakes, better on the corners, and can set up a car better than me – but I can’t accept him pulling out a car’s length on each gear change. I’ve got the best legal 3.8 in the country – so I’m sure his is bent. His just sounds different too…”
Chief - “OK, but we can’t just take heads off on cars like that - it would have to be an official protest”
Innocent driver – “How much is that?”
Chief - “Well its £400 for a protest and you pay his rebuild bill if it’s all legal” – not a small amount….
Innocent driver – “Right - where do I sign and hand my cheque over to? – but I want to be there or have a full on official there when the engine is stripped”.
Chief - “Well- I’ll be there” Innocent driver is happy with that.
Protest is out and Mr. X takes immediate umbrage at having his car protested – how very dare he? And counter protests innocent driver’s car and others.
The innocent driver immediately says “you can take the head off mine here if you like - as soon as it’s cold enough”. His engine is fine.
Mr X’s engine is sealed – and then some. It’s carted off to a mutually accepted engine builders with no skin in the game. 2 weeks later all are there with Mr X present still protesting his innocence “what a waste of time all this is etc.…”
The engine looks exactly as it should be, but the engine builder comments on how it “just looks a bit different.”
Its stripped down and measured. The engine has been stroked to 4.7 litres. A size thought impossible with any Jaguar 3.8 litre block. I think this is correct…
The engine builder just happens to have a correct 3.8 litre block on the premises. They put the 2 next to each other, and Mr. X is now conspicuous by his absence. No-one saw him leave. The block is NOT a Jaguar block at all - it’s a brand new casting with the appropriate dimensions altered to get the big crank in. externally - they are identical, same features, casting finish, logos, etc...
So new patterns had been made, new castings, crank, sump, engine mounts - the list goes on and on. All made to look exactly like the original items – but not quite….
This must have been a £100k cheat at least, and Mr. X got 1 race finish out of it, and that was found to be illegal.
Off to Colnbrook for thorough b
king, fines etc.… no tea and medals for Mr. X I've plenty more....
bucksmanuk said:
Historic racing - Silverstone - big meeting ....
A bunch of D-types are out racing - so big budget motorsport- and one guy comes into the scrutineering bay office and says….
Innocent driver - “Can you have a look at Mr X’s car . It’s much quicker than mine.”
Chief “- Why do you say that?”
Innocent driver – “Well I can accept he’s later on the brakes, better on the corners, and can set up a car better than me – but I can’t accept him pulling out a car’s length on each gear change. I’ve got the best legal 3.8 in the country – so I’m sure his is bent. His just sounds different too…”
Chief - “OK, but we can’t just take heads off on cars like that - it would have to be an official protest”
Innocent driver – “How much is that?”
Chief - “Well its £400 for a protest and you pay his rebuild bill if it’s all legal” – not a small amount….
Innocent driver – “Right - where do I sign and hand my cheque over to? – but I want to be there or have a full on official there when the engine is stripped”.
Chief - “Well- I’ll be there” Innocent driver is happy with that.
Protest is out and Mr. X takes immediate umbrage at having his car protested – how very dare he? And counter protests innocent driver’s car and others.
The innocent driver immediately says “you can take the head off mine here if you like - as soon as it’s cold enough”. His engine is fine.
Mr X’s engine is sealed – and then some. It’s carted off to a mutually accepted engine builders with no skin in the game. 2 weeks later all are there with Mr X present still protesting his innocence “what a waste of time all this is etc.…”
The engine looks exactly as it should be, but the engine builder comments on how it “just looks a bit different.”
Its stripped down and measured. The engine has been stroked to 4.7 litres. A size thought impossible with any Jaguar 3.8 litre block. I think this is correct…
The engine builder just happens to have a correct 3.8 litre block on the premises. They put the 2 next to each other, and Mr. X is now conspicuous by his absence. No-one saw him leave. The block is NOT a Jaguar block at all - it’s a brand new casting with the appropriate dimensions altered to get the big crank in. externally - they are identical, same features, casting finish, logos, etc...
So new patterns had been made, new castings, crank, sump, engine mounts - the list goes on and on. All made to look exactly like the original items – but not quite….
This must have been a £100k cheat at least, and Mr. X got 1 race finish out of it, and that was found to be illegal.
Off to Colnbrook for thorough bking, fines etc.… no tea and medals for Mr. X
I've plenty more....
That’s excellent and ballsy!A bunch of D-types are out racing - so big budget motorsport- and one guy comes into the scrutineering bay office and says….
Innocent driver - “Can you have a look at Mr X’s car . It’s much quicker than mine.”
Chief “- Why do you say that?”
Innocent driver – “Well I can accept he’s later on the brakes, better on the corners, and can set up a car better than me – but I can’t accept him pulling out a car’s length on each gear change. I’ve got the best legal 3.8 in the country – so I’m sure his is bent. His just sounds different too…”
Chief - “OK, but we can’t just take heads off on cars like that - it would have to be an official protest”
Innocent driver – “How much is that?”
Chief - “Well its £400 for a protest and you pay his rebuild bill if it’s all legal” – not a small amount….
Innocent driver – “Right - where do I sign and hand my cheque over to? – but I want to be there or have a full on official there when the engine is stripped”.
Chief - “Well- I’ll be there” Innocent driver is happy with that.
Protest is out and Mr. X takes immediate umbrage at having his car protested – how very dare he? And counter protests innocent driver’s car and others.
The innocent driver immediately says “you can take the head off mine here if you like - as soon as it’s cold enough”. His engine is fine.
Mr X’s engine is sealed – and then some. It’s carted off to a mutually accepted engine builders with no skin in the game. 2 weeks later all are there with Mr X present still protesting his innocence “what a waste of time all this is etc.…”
The engine looks exactly as it should be, but the engine builder comments on how it “just looks a bit different.”
Its stripped down and measured. The engine has been stroked to 4.7 litres. A size thought impossible with any Jaguar 3.8 litre block. I think this is correct…
The engine builder just happens to have a correct 3.8 litre block on the premises. They put the 2 next to each other, and Mr. X is now conspicuous by his absence. No-one saw him leave. The block is NOT a Jaguar block at all - it’s a brand new casting with the appropriate dimensions altered to get the big crank in. externally - they are identical, same features, casting finish, logos, etc...
So new patterns had been made, new castings, crank, sump, engine mounts - the list goes on and on. All made to look exactly like the original items – but not quite….
This must have been a £100k cheat at least, and Mr. X got 1 race finish out of it, and that was found to be illegal.
Off to Colnbrook for thorough b
king, fines etc.… no tea and medals for Mr. X I've plenty more....
BMR said:
I just don’t understand the satisfaction of winning (or doing better) by cheating.
There are a lot of people out there for whom 'winning' (in some cases proving themselves better than others, in some cases just getting one over on someone else) is THE most important thing. You have to wonder how fragile their ego is to end up this way...Then there are those professional outfits/teams where 'winning' means more money (lots more, usually) through prizes, increased sponsorship, increased exposure, etc. etc. The motivation to bend the rules, possibly beyond recognition, is clear.
BMR said:
What a story that is. As someone who can say hand on heart every time I’ve raced my cars been legal, I just don’t understand the satisfaction of winning (or doing better) by cheating.
Same, I can see why it may be done at a level where there's money to be won. But at the level where its just a piece of plastic on the mantle how can you look at it and think I earned that.Unless the people that do it think that everyone is doing it so they still earned it.
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