24 Hour Race - Blow by Blow for PH#1
Discussion
Heyup everyone!!
I thought I'd post up my log of what the PH#1 car got up to during the 24 hour race. I'm pretty amazed we made it to the end of the race let alone finished 23rd considering the 'race' car that was deposited in garage 13 mid-morning on Friday :/
16:00 Race start with Ed Hasler in the car. Starts 34th out of 35.
16:20 1st safety car, pulled car in for a fuel top up.
18:30 Driver change to Petrol Ted. Refuelled.
20:45 Driver change to James. Refuelled.
21:30 PH#1 makes it into the top 20
22:20 PH#1 takes 16th place!!!
22:55 Driver change to Iain (Chassis33). Refuelled.
Cable tied front splitter back on after James drove over a rear wing that had been knocked off another car*.
23:05 Iain comes in complaining of no electrics. Change alternator back to
the one that was originally came on the car.
23:23 Car back in with more alternator probs. Changed it again to a spare
from one of the other cars in our garage. PH#1 is down to 22nd
00:12 Safety car. Car in for a refuel and check of the rear end after a tap
from the car behind in the snake following the safety car. It's all ok
except for a small dent. The driver came in afterwards and was ever so
apologetic. I think the Red Bull hadn't taken effect yet
01:54 Driver change back to Ed. Refuelled.
02:59 Another safety car and another fuel top up.
03:55 Driver change to Ted. Refuelled.
06:05 Driver change to James. Refuelled.
08:06 James comes in with the engine pissing oil everywhere. Change engine.
08:34 Car goes back out with Iain driving. We're now 22nd and 53 laps behind
the lead car.
09:30 Iain comes in with the oil light on and the engine grinding. The new
engine has an oil leak that we'd missed the day before as it was
disguised by a major leak from the rocker cover that had been fixed on
Sat. Decided to top the oil up and send Iain back out. James goes to
see if he can beg, borrow or steal a spare engine from one of the
other teams in case the leak gets worse but topping the oil up
regularlly should take less time then doing an engine change :/
10:20 Driver change to Ted. Refuelled and oil topped up.
11:02 More oil.
11:47 Another oil top up.
12:13 Driver change to James. Refuelled and oil topped up.
12:48 Car gets flagged into the pits with both rear wings hanging off!
Reattached them with cable ties and gaffer tap Topped the oil up
some more. Car now 21st
13:30 More oil.
13:42 Yet more oil.
13:45 Engine is dead. Find out James had arranged to borrow a spare from
Tete Rouge next door before he went out for his stint. The deal is if
we blow this one up they get me for Monday evening - Ooo Err!!!!!
14:05 Car back out on track with Ed driving. Down to 23rd.
16:00 Car takes the chequered flag!!!!
Cheers to all the guys at Griffin who were running the car on Saturday and Sunday. And many, many thanks to all the guys at Tete Rouge especially Tim and Paul without whom we'd never have made the start line let alone the finish
Cheers, Charlie
I thought I'd post up my log of what the PH#1 car got up to during the 24 hour race. I'm pretty amazed we made it to the end of the race let alone finished 23rd considering the 'race' car that was deposited in garage 13 mid-morning on Friday :/
16:00 Race start with Ed Hasler in the car. Starts 34th out of 35.
16:20 1st safety car, pulled car in for a fuel top up.
18:30 Driver change to Petrol Ted. Refuelled.
20:45 Driver change to James. Refuelled.
21:30 PH#1 makes it into the top 20
22:20 PH#1 takes 16th place!!!
22:55 Driver change to Iain (Chassis33). Refuelled.
Cable tied front splitter back on after James drove over a rear wing that had been knocked off another car*.
23:05 Iain comes in complaining of no electrics. Change alternator back to
the one that was originally came on the car.
23:23 Car back in with more alternator probs. Changed it again to a spare
from one of the other cars in our garage. PH#1 is down to 22nd
00:12 Safety car. Car in for a refuel and check of the rear end after a tap
from the car behind in the snake following the safety car. It's all ok
except for a small dent. The driver came in afterwards and was ever so
apologetic. I think the Red Bull hadn't taken effect yet
01:54 Driver change back to Ed. Refuelled.
02:59 Another safety car and another fuel top up.
03:55 Driver change to Ted. Refuelled.
06:05 Driver change to James. Refuelled.
08:06 James comes in with the engine pissing oil everywhere. Change engine.
08:34 Car goes back out with Iain driving. We're now 22nd and 53 laps behind
the lead car
.09:30 Iain comes in with the oil light on and the engine grinding. The new
engine has an oil leak that we'd missed the day before as it was
disguised by a major leak from the rocker cover that had been fixed on
Sat. Decided to top the oil up and send Iain back out. James goes to
see if he can beg, borrow or steal a spare engine from one of the
other teams in case the leak gets worse but topping the oil up
regularlly should take less time then doing an engine change :/
10:20 Driver change to Ted. Refuelled and oil topped up.
11:02 More oil.
11:47 Another oil top up.
12:13 Driver change to James. Refuelled and oil topped up.
12:48 Car gets flagged into the pits with both rear wings hanging off!
Reattached them with cable ties and gaffer tap
Topped the oil up some more. Car now 21st
13:30 More oil.
13:42 Yet more oil.
13:45 Engine is dead. Find out James had arranged to borrow a spare from
Tete Rouge next door before he went out for his stint. The deal is if
we blow this one up they get me for Monday evening - Ooo Err!!!!!
14:05 Car back out on track with Ed driving. Down to 23rd.
16:00 Car takes the chequered flag!!!!
Cheers to all the guys at Griffin who were running the car on Saturday and Sunday. And many, many thanks to all the guys at Tete Rouge especially Tim and Paul without whom we'd never have made the start line let alone the finish
Cheers, Charlie
- The wing was pretty flat by the time the marshals returned it to it's owners in the garage next door. One of their driver's bet Tim the mechanic 20 quid he couldn't get it to fit back on the car. It not only fitted on the car but took the finish flag
Good report Charlie, and well done the PH team! 
However, I think your log reveals a lesson to be learned: don't let "Wrecker Hall" out in your race car.
However, I think your log reveals a lesson to be learned: don't let "Wrecker Hall" out in your race car.
OSR said:
Cable tied front splitter back on after James drove over a rear wing that had been knocked off another car.
James comes in with the engine pissing oil everywhere. Change engine.
Driver change to James....Car gets flagged into the pits with both rear wings hanging off! .... Engine is dead.
James comes in with the engine pissing oil everywhere. Change engine.
Driver change to James....Car gets flagged into the pits with both rear wings hanging off! .... Engine is dead.
Lol!!! I always thought Iain's TVR broke down a lot 'cause it was a TVR but I think it might just be that he's jinked. I'm not sure who caused more damage James or Iain. Ed and Ted were far to well behaved all I had to do was top them up with fuel and show them the occasional pit board.
Paulmegamaniac said:
Hi charlie , I'm pleased you all had a good time in the end .When i eventually saw ted smiling i guessed things were better .Glad to be of service and i won't mention THE CHAV LIGHTS to anyone. Hi Paul - thanks for all your help during the weekend!The Chav lights were great weren't they - until one of them shorted out with all the water dripping on it, and filled the cabin with smoke and a few small flames a few laps into my 2am stint
Morning everyone, just about to start tidying up from the weekend, but first I need to offer a vote of thanks to everyone who's helped us out in the past week. The pit crew who I roped in, Charlie, Elliot, Vicki and Ben. The guys from Tete Rouge, especially Tim, Paul and Trev. The Griffin boys for a brilliant job finishing the car for us. Steve and Kay for the loan of their Discovery and Richard for the load of his caravan. Finally, my team mates Ed, Ted and James for helping put together a brilliant weekend, once we had finished building that slug of a car that was dumped on us on Friday morning and the guys from Griffin had fettled it it became one hell of a snail.
If anyone wants to learn how to pedal a car quickly get out in a 2CV, they've no power so keeping corner speed up is paramount non of this point and squirt nonsense I'm used to in my Chimaera. There are some seriously quick drivers out there, to the extent that they make the BTCC and Britcar drivers that were out there look positively ordinary.
Several of us are hooked now an looking around for cars or drives, and I'm hoping I can get out for some more races this season, hopefully in a car that isn't an arrive, build it and drive.
Regards
Iain
P.S. For the record I never broke the car, James just handed over a broken car on each occasion and never said anything
If anyone wants to learn how to pedal a car quickly get out in a 2CV, they've no power so keeping corner speed up is paramount non of this point and squirt nonsense I'm used to in my Chimaera. There are some seriously quick drivers out there, to the extent that they make the BTCC and Britcar drivers that were out there look positively ordinary.
Several of us are hooked now an looking around for cars or drives, and I'm hoping I can get out for some more races this season, hopefully in a car that isn't an arrive, build it and drive.
Regards
Iain
P.S. For the record I never broke the car, James just handed over a broken car on each occasion and never said anything
What a buzz!
I've never had so much fun driving a car! I was apprehensive of the rain having never been a confident driver in damp conditions. I soon got over that though. The cars all drift through the bends, catching the occasional dry line. Three abreast through Coram with almost no grip for anyone was something else.
The car control that the top drivers were exhibiting was amazing. Flinging them about across oil and water soaked corners - something else
Many, many thanks to all those that assisted us, particularly Paul and his colleagues. The progress made in 48 hours with that car was amazing. Finishing was quite an ambitious target, but to finish 23rd was a fantastic result. We peaked at position 16 which was more than we ever dreamed of on Friday night.
Congratulations to PH #2 car. Those guys were all novices and finished in 8th place!!!
I've never had so much fun driving a car! I was apprehensive of the rain having never been a confident driver in damp conditions. I soon got over that though. The cars all drift through the bends, catching the occasional dry line. Three abreast through Coram with almost no grip for anyone was something else.
The car control that the top drivers were exhibiting was amazing. Flinging them about across oil and water soaked corners - something else
Many, many thanks to all those that assisted us, particularly Paul and his colleagues. The progress made in 48 hours with that car was amazing. Finishing was quite an ambitious target, but to finish 23rd was a fantastic result. We peaked at position 16 which was more than we ever dreamed of on Friday night.
Congratulations to PH #2 car. Those guys were all novices and finished in 8th place!!!
PetrolTed said:
What a buzz!
You can say that again - bit I liked best was night qualifying - it was so atmospheric just peering out into the pit lane - but three laps in the dark had me _so_ wired! Great to meet you Ted & Ed, it was really good to see you moving up the rankings given the problems on Friday. I had a hard time accepting how well we (PH#2) were doing - even five minutes from the end I feared catastrophic failure.
One of the many highlights was the very end - cheering every car coming in - you don't get that in the Porsche Club series!
On a final note - thank you Ted
for putting up your "Novice Racer Wanted" post - if it wasn't for that I wouldn't have done this! Kinda glad I didn;t make it into your team tho! 
Hope we've inspired some more people to give it a try...
Hello PH'ers
i'm really glad to see that some of you got onto the track this year with not one car but 2!. Having been a fan of 2cv since the age of about 13 (don't ask) it great to see people who have much more exotic machinery go and enjoy the car for what it is. I have had 2 TVR's and an Evo 8MR recently but do you know what? there is still a 2cv in the garage. You now know why we all grin like idoits.
The event this year was a touch wet which spoilt the camping and BBQ's and all the other stupid things that go on other than the racing but it was at least eventful - if you can drive on dark, wet, muddy, oil and fuel covered circuit at any speed and stay on it, you've done well. Something I think both PH teams should be proud of.
I really hope that you want to come back and have another shot and improve on this years results.I believe that it will be very helpful to get out in other races during the season, even given the fact they have no power, they are difficult to make go quickly (someone pointed this out earlier and were spot on), getting out and learning what the car will do will help massively. I would also recommend you look for your team now and start working on a cunning plan for 2008, preparation is the key.
Anyway, just wanted to say well done for getting out and actually doing it - I didn't think you would.
regards
Pete Sparrow - Tete Rouge 1
(unofficial PH 1 test driver)
Don't forget there is alway help and advice at the end of the phone - you'll find me on the 2cv racing club website www.2cvracing.org.uk - see you next year!
i'm really glad to see that some of you got onto the track this year with not one car but 2!. Having been a fan of 2cv since the age of about 13 (don't ask) it great to see people who have much more exotic machinery go and enjoy the car for what it is. I have had 2 TVR's and an Evo 8MR recently but do you know what? there is still a 2cv in the garage. You now know why we all grin like idoits.
The event this year was a touch wet which spoilt the camping and BBQ's and all the other stupid things that go on other than the racing but it was at least eventful - if you can drive on dark, wet, muddy, oil and fuel covered circuit at any speed and stay on it, you've done well. Something I think both PH teams should be proud of.
I really hope that you want to come back and have another shot and improve on this years results.I believe that it will be very helpful to get out in other races during the season, even given the fact they have no power, they are difficult to make go quickly (someone pointed this out earlier and were spot on), getting out and learning what the car will do will help massively. I would also recommend you look for your team now and start working on a cunning plan for 2008, preparation is the key.
Anyway, just wanted to say well done for getting out and actually doing it - I didn't think you would.
regards
Pete Sparrow - Tete Rouge 1
(unofficial PH 1 test driver)
Don't forget there is alway help and advice at the end of the phone - you'll find me on the 2cv racing club website www.2cvracing.org.uk - see you next year!
Edited by pete2cv on Thursday 31st May 19:20
Edited by pete2cv on Thursday 31st May 19:21
pete2cv said:
sorry forgot - get good lights, HID conversions are available, you will have noticed these i think.....
Pete, I was told that we weren't allowed to change the lamps - you'll notice from the pic above that car 31 had a fairly dim outlook!Equally I saw you driving - how you did it I don't know - but hats off to you buddy!
Sounds obvious now - but I should have wandered over for advice!I'm sure we only did well because of the torrential weather - in the dry I'd have been so far off the pace...
I may have said this already - but 2CV's & race circuits are pretty improbably partners - but hey they work _so_ well & it's such a hoot - DO IT!
You are allowed to upgrade the headlight bulbs (originally 40/45W!) we use an H4 conversion lens from ECAS an put in 80/100W and just use the 80W dip. As far as spot lights go you are allowed one set, no set size or position (normally mounted off of the main headlight bar) HID kits are easy to fit into cheap driving lights like Rally Giants and it doesn't matter if they get smashed. HID only use 35W but seem to produce 3 times this amount. easier on the poor old alternator.
See, learning all the time..
Thanks for the comments on the driving - we did have a bit of catching up to do mind.
See, learning all the time..
Thanks for the comments on the driving - we did have a bit of catching up to do mind.
Apparently we were offered HID but they were £250 extra, considering what we ended up getting for our money its probably best we didn't waste any more. Having said all that I went off at Corum at the start of my first stint simply cos the battery was down to 9v (alternator failure) and I lost sight of where the road was; Just made a B-line to the pitlane lights after that.
Regards
Iain
Regards
Iain
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