Club Racing for beginners...

Club Racing for beginners...

Author
Discussion

lucadiella

Original Poster:

20 posts

105 months

Thursday 27th August 2015
quotequote all
After reading the excellent thread 'A Baptism of Fire' I have been inspired to write my own account of my first year in club racing. I'll try not to say anything that has already been mentioned in that thread, and instead try to focus on where my experience has differed.

I'm a 23 year old student from Brighton studying Motorsport Engineering at Brunel University. I don't come from money, so the story as to how I have ended up racing at this age is an unlikely one.

Me and a friend Josh were unlucky enough to be hit by a car in our first year of university (3 years ago). I wont go into detail, but we were fairly badly injured while avoiding anything life threatening. Compensation was paid and I went straight out and bought myself the car I had always wanted, a Civic Type R EP3, and booked myself onto a trackday (which my friend also attended in his Polo GTI).

That day at Bedford Autodrome was a formative one - I did a few laps in the morning and realised I had no idea what I was doing, cars flying past me everywhere. I then had some instruction, and wow. He showed me the car could do things I couldn't believe, and got my lines and inputs in check. I then bottled it and lifted halfway through the chicane at 100mph, spinning with the instructor in the car - luckily no damage except for my underpants. I got faster through the day and was utterly hooked, I had never had a buzz like it.

I enjoyed the Civic on the road for 2 years and 5 trackdays, until I got a call from my Josh in summer 2014. After 2 years of physio he had received his compensation and wanted to use some of it to do something enjoyable and worthwhile. The plan was hatched to race in 2015, sharing a car in some form or another.

Financials and 'man maths' are an enormous part of club racing, and the amount you spend is dizzying. However if its something you dream of doing, you just have to forget about it. We had enough cash to get a car ready and at least make it to our first race. We both enjoyed the way the Civic drove on track and were convinced it would make a great race car, so it was decided we would use that, thinking that a known quantity might be better than purchasing a race car which we knew little about.

Initially we planned to race MSV Trackday Trophy - a 45 min endurance race with a driver swap. We had a number of concerns with this however - the regulations were fairly open, which gave opportunity for people with big budgets to turn up with incredibly capable cars. We knew we couldn't compete and would have to settle with racing whoever fell near us on the track.

Our rollcage was fitted by Shaun Woods (SW Motorsport) who happened to run the Civic Cup - this was a series we were both a big fan of but 1) didnt think we could afford and 2) did not think was suitable for 2 driver teams. Shaun told us we could do 1 race each on every weekend. When he mentioned the Nankang control tyres for the season were £340 a set and we shouldn't expect to use more than 6 tyres all season our minds were made up - we had calculated tyres to be a major expense to be competitive in Trackday Trophy (planning to run R888's like most of the field). The TV coverage also opened up opportunities to attract sponsors, and all cars in the Civic Cup were built to identical spec - our car would be as competitive as the front runners.

4 things we learned over winter:
1) Car prep takes a long time if you do it yourself. We were fairly experienced spanner monkeys and found it to be a big undertaking.
2) Read the regs. Things like disabling your steering lock can take time to work out.
3) ARDS test is fine if you have done a few trackdays - don't worry about it
4) Autosport International in January is a great opportunity to get some discount racewear - I saved nearly £200 on my helmet.

So a week after our dissertation deadline and we arrived at Donington Park for the first weekend. We had each done 10 laps of Donington on a test day but that was all the seat time we had had in the car. Being the UK it was of course, absolutely p*ssing with rain.

We had fortunately brought several friends with us, one of whom had raced the year previously so had a good idea. This is hugely helpful, as a driver you have SO much to think about so having some people to offer a hand is amazing especially at the first few rounds. After being expressly told not to, in the rush to prepare the car we missed our new driver briefing. You have to do one of these at every circuit you have not raced at before, and its a £175 fine if you miss it. They let us off being newbies but made it clear it wouldn't happen again.

Due to the fact we were 2 drivers our weekends work like this - One of us qualifies with the Civic Cup and does race 1, the other qualifies out of session (with another series) to do the 3 laps required by the MSA to race. That person then starts from the back of the grid in race 2. Starting from the back in race 2 is the price we pay for sharing the car in what is really a single driver series.

Josh got out for quali with the Civics and using our VBOX laptimer (incredibly effective piece of kit giving you live splits on your fastest laps) managed to stick the car P7 out of a 34 car grid! In a contrast to the 'Baptism of Fire' thread we had actually massively overperformed in qualifying. This left Josh starting his first motor race in very wet conditions right in the middle of a pack of fast title chasers.

He went backwards at the start of the race down to 23rd place, finding it desperately difficult to deal with the lack of visibility. However as he settled into a rhythm he managed to get past some cars and finished 14th! We couldn't believe it, although we had obviously been helped by the wet conditions throwing alot of experienced drivers out of their comfort zone.

I then jumped in for race 2 - with adrenaline pumping as hard as I had ever felt, I chased the pack, and got stuck behind a slower car. I felt like I was really driving close and attacking him, but my footage shows just how far away I was! Getting used to driving close to cars is a big learning curve! I eventually got past him and finished somewhere in the 20's of position, after a few other retirements. I was a long way from last, due to the fact so many people span, a clear example of 'first you have to finish.' Hugely emotional crossing the line and realising a childhood dream of racing a car. Winding down the window, waving to the marshalls while they all wave and clap and soaking it all up was amazing - its a great little moment to yourself you get at the end of a race to reflect, before you are back in the paddock with your team mates and family asking 10,000 questions!

I'll leave it there for now, more stories to come about mistakes at future rounds, our first contact, putting it in the barrier testing at croft and why safety is so so important in club racing......

If you want to see some videos or images of the car/keep up with our season please check out facebook.com/onelightracing

Hope people enjoy reading, and I'd love to answer questions especially if you are thinking of getting into club racing!

Luca


designndrive62

743 posts

156 months

Thursday 27th August 2015
quotequote all
A good story, just out of curiosity why didn't you decide to split the racing by racing on alternate race weekends, with one doing one weekend, and the other guy doing the next and so on, rather than sharing the car over a weekend? Surely this would give a better crack at some results as you get to progress over the weekend and qualify properly for both races?

lucadiella

Original Poster:

20 posts

105 months

Thursday 27th August 2015
quotequote all
We did consider this. As it was our first year, experience was first in our mind rather than results, and we therefore elected to share the weekends in order to have a chance to both race at every circuit. We take it in turns to qualify, so we both get a shot at starting further up the grid.

Next season we will be doing exactly as you say though - racing an entire weekend each and gunning for better results! Its gutting to not take advantage of the reverse grid in race 2!

andy97

4,691 posts

221 months

Thursday 27th August 2015
quotequote all
Another good story, and I hope that more people are encouraged to try club racing as a result.

I think you can also use the Civic in 750 Roadsports on the same weekend so you can do a 2 driver shared 45 min pit stop race. The Civic can also be used in Cscc Tin Tops and the 360mrc series of 2 hour races and even their 6 hour race.

Good luck.

lucadiella

Original Poster:

20 posts

105 months

Thursday 27th August 2015
quotequote all
Roadsports looks great although we haven't given it a go yet. I am racing the all comers at snetterton on 12th Sept in addition to the Civic Cup on Sunday, and we are hoping to do the Birkett 6hr Relay at Silverstone GP in October. Once you have a car, licence and racewear you can do anything you can afford!

ccgoose

37 posts

177 months

Friday 4th September 2015
quotequote all
Loved reading it so thanks for sharing. I'm getting married in April so shortage of fuel tokens but once that's done with I hope to get a few track days done and then aim to get into a race o some sort. Very inspiring!

PMS Honda boys

5 posts

180 months

Tuesday 8th September 2015
quotequote all
Really enjoyed reading that mate, it's really good to know that not everyone is as cool and collected as it seems, I am currently finishing my civic cup car ready for next year, I have been to silverstone and donington rounds this year just to get a feel of things and it's all very daunting

PMS Honda boys

5 posts

180 months

Tuesday 8th September 2015
quotequote all
Really enjoyed reading that mate, it's really good to know that not everyone is as cool and collected as it seems, I am currently finishing my civic cup car ready for next year, I have been to silverstone and donington rounds this year just to get a feel of things and it's all very daunting

lucadiella

Original Poster:

20 posts

105 months

Tuesday 8th September 2015
quotequote all
Thanks everybody - I am glad people are enjoying reading. Bearing that in mind I will carry on a bit.

By the time we got to our next round at Brands Hatch we were confident. The Civic Cup is full of northerners and we are based near London, so our local tracks (Brands) are everyone else's furthest. Me and Josh had a few laps of Brands under our belts. Despite this some members of the grid tested Wednesday, thursday AND friday leading up to the race (you soon realise how serious people are/how much money they have!).

As mentioned before we were taking it in turns qualifying, so this was my first quali. It was wet, but straight away I went out and knew I had pace. I was ahead of a very experienced driver who was a race winner the year before, and I was gapping him in areas of the lap. I quickly caught up with the next group of cars, and began trying to pass them. The track was drying up, and then the quali session ended. I ended up P19 - I had wasted about 9 laps sitting behind slower cars. Even though I had the pace to go quicker, I had not had the clear lap, and on a drying track, the fast guys had found some clear air towards the end and banged in some fast times. A bit gutted, but not overly as P19 out of 34 starters was not bad for my first ever qualifying (and only the team's second!)

Little did I know this was a blessing in disguise - first lap in the pack through paddock (sketchy!) then chaos into druids. I had to drive over the grass to avoid cars parked and smashed up all over the track. It was all caused by a fairly experienced driver who had jerked right before druids, clipping another car who had his nose alongside and spinning them into the fast approaching pack behind. Had I qualified a bit better, the car could well have been a write off.

After a lengthy wait in a boiling hot race car (wearing nomex is like wearing a thick bin liner, for those who don't know) the race was restarted, and with far more confidence than at Donington, I had a great race. I was catching cars in front and pulled some good moves into paddock, druids and one I am particularly proud of into Graham Hill Bend. I fell off the track next lap and gave the place back but it still felt great and I felt I was a massive step on from my race at Donington. The car by and large felt terrible throughout the race. We had set our tyre pressures way too high and the fronts went off halfway through the race. I also had no traction out of clearways whatsoever, which was partly the tyres but also something else....

When we returned to the paddock the front tyres were at 38PSI each (we target 30PSI hot) and the car had approximately 8mm of toe out at the front. We assume we must have set our geo incorrectly on the uneven surface at brands. Lesson learned - if it looks flat, it still may well not be flat enough to string up a car properly. Quick tip - if you are at brands, use the flat bit of ground specifically for doing geo up near scrutineering!

Things were sorted for Josh's race and he went out and had a great time. He then never returned from Parc Ferme......turned out he had hit someone out on circuit and span them off. Found to be a racing incident by the COC, but still - our pristine race car was now missing a front headlight and the bumper was a smashed up. Luckily it wasn't too hard to repair before croft....

....But then on friday testing at Croft, we are sorting our geometry after josh reported some understeer. We get the wheels back on, and send josh out for a few laps in the last 5 minutes of the second session of the day. 10 minutes later, and I hear he has put it hard in the barrier at the Jim Clark Esses. These are a set of particularly fearsome corners at croft that in a civic are flat in 4th gear, about 105mph. Josh was OK fortunately, but what we found of the car was worrying.

The new headlight was smashed, rear glass gone, bumpers smashed and off, rear quarter caved in. But what really worried was inside....our 60kg of ballast had come loose and almost punched a hole clean through the passenger door, and our seat mount (a sliding rail type many others were also running in the civic cup) had bent and almost sheared. Everyone on the grid pitched in, championship organiser Shaun Woods sent some spares up from his workshop and we had the car back together and ready for Quali at the end of saturday.

It was after this mad rush to get the car fixed and the quali session that we reflected how lucky we had been. With 60kg of ballast loose and a very close to totally failed seat mound in a close to 100mph impact with the tyre wall Josh could have been seriously injured or killed in that accident. It made me think long and hard about safety, and I will end with this message...

The scrutineers will have a look at your car, check your harness dates and extinguisher and have a general look over. But they CANNOT know that your car is safe in the same way you can. The bolts holding our ballast in were fractionally too short and had not held. 60kg at 100mph needs a lot to hold it down in an impact. As does an 80kg driver in a seat. I will never again race a car without a solidly mounted seat welded and bolted to the floor on FIA side mounts, nor will I ever get in a road or race car which has aftermarket sliding rails in it. They are ridiculously unsafe. If your seat moves, your harness is useless. Your HANS device is useless. And your helmet will only get you so far.

Do not skimp on safety those entering club motorsport or modifying your road cars. We were very careful and we still made mistakes which could have killed one of us.

More on our attempts at learning how to set up the car, and why having a few mates to help you out is priceless to come!

Thanks for reading! Pics and vids at Facebook.com/onelightracing