Discussion
It is with great regret that I must inform you that I am splitting up with Grumpy, my Griff 500. We have been very close and had a lot of fun together, but sadly, it is time to part.
I am ashamed to say that there is another vehicle involved. My head has been turned and I am the proud new owner of one of these:
The car will remain as a race car, and I hope to get on track in it for a race at Castle Coombe in June - the Motorsport Mania weekend - although a few things need to fall into place for that to happen.
Until this Sunday I had never raced before, so racing a Tuscan will be a very steep learning curve. I hope the Pistonheads community will give me some support - I'll need all the help I can get!!
Big thanks to Insane Racing www.insaneracing.co.uk/ for putting me up to all this! The name fits methinks. Thanks guys
I am ashamed to say that there is another vehicle involved. My head has been turned and I am the proud new owner of one of these:
The car will remain as a race car, and I hope to get on track in it for a race at Castle Coombe in June - the Motorsport Mania weekend - although a few things need to fall into place for that to happen.
Until this Sunday I had never raced before, so racing a Tuscan will be a very steep learning curve. I hope the Pistonheads community will give me some support - I'll need all the help I can get!!
Big thanks to Insane Racing www.insaneracing.co.uk/ for putting me up to all this! The name fits methinks. Thanks guys
ehasler said: So, let's get this straight - 4 days ago you do your first ever race, at Cadwell, in a Caterham. Then you buy yourself a Tuscan racer to race in the Tuscan Challenge next month?
You are a complete nutter!
Good luck to you though!
>> Edited by ehasler on Thursday 22 May 14:13
I won't be able to enter Tuscan Challenge races until I have another 3 signatures and get my National A - but I'm plotting something for the Coombe weekend. Be nice if it came off and I could get some track time in the Tuscan and get another signature simultaneously.
But I am hoping to do at least a couple of the Challebnge races later in the season
Until this Sunday I had never raced before, so racing a Tuscan will be a very steep learning curve.
Good luck with Tuscan. Though with Wayne's driving as your mentor not so sure you'll be doing to much damage to the car/wallet. 10th of 11 in race one at Knockhill and 11th out of 11 in race 2 at Knockhill maybe you'd better off talking to Phil Keen for driving tips
hope things work out for you it's a big step up from a Caterham to a Tuscan, they do not take prisoners alive
little buggers that they are
d_drinks said:
Until this Sunday I had never raced before, so racing a Tuscan will be a very steep learning curve.
Good luck with Tuscan. Though with Wayne's driving as your mentor not so sure you'll be doing to much damage to the car/wallet. 10th of 11 in race one at Knockhill and 11th out of 11 in race 2 at Knockhill maybe you'd better off talking to Phil Keen for driving tips
hope things work out for you it's a big step up from a Caterham to a Tuscan, they do not take prisoners alive
Luckily I'm not used to the Caterham, so I'll hardly notice!!
Very harsh on Wayne!! He had gearbox and diff problems (again) at Knockhill - other than that he's been doing well this year.
If I emulate Phil then I'll be needing some extra reinforcement around the bonnet area
I doubt I will get close enough to anyone for that! In reality I will take my place at the back of the grid and most likely stay there. Be a bloody good laugh though
griff2be said:
donatien said: All the very best Andy. Thanks for the recent help concerning you know what
Dave
It was a pleasure mate. I hope the clinic were discrete, and if I were you I wouldn't see her again
She's got a bigger problem - hasn't walked for weeks and it still hurts when she sits down
No rumour, I came clean on the Tuscan Challenge forum last night and admitted what a pratt I'd been.
I was at Lydden for my last upgrading signature, so just needed to finish.
Only I qualified 3rd on the grid. And despite Steve Howard saying to me 'remember you're just here to finish', I forgot all that once I was on the grid and there was just one car in front of me. I switched from 'just finish' mode to 'race' mode :shakesheadindisbeliefhecouldbesodaft:
After a few laps (2-4?) I was coming down the hill to Paddock Bend, turned in slightly too early, ran a little wide onto the dusty side of the track, too much power and spun. It was one of those 2 part 360 spins - did the first 180, had time to clock 2 Caterfields exit the corner towards me, then did the remaining 180 to face the right direction. Unusually I stayed on the same line for the whole spin - i.e. straight down the track.
One Caterfield passed safely to my right - the other I thought was going to go to my left. I think he changed his mind, maybe there wasn't room, anyway, he didn't quite make it and caught my rear offside quarter. The rear wheel took most of the impact, broke the rim and sheared a lot of the bolts in the suspension. The glassfibre always looks bad but is a fairly standard repair. The impact didn't feel too bad at the time, but I knew straight away that my race was over.
Clambered out of the cage and up over the tyre wall onto the bank - only then saw the mess that the Caterfield was and how hard the hit must have been.
Fortunately we were both ok, but race over and with it my chance of a signature.
I felt pretty bad, as Steve and I have worked very hard to get my car ready for Oulton, and I had thrown it away by forgetting why I was at Lydden at all.
There is a slim prospect I might be able to do an Advanced ARDS course before the weekend and get my final signature that way. So fingers are crossed...!
By the way - first impression of the Tuscan racer: predictable - it will spin up the wheels very easily in most gears, but it is generally very controllable. The weird thing is that is is deceptive. It is amazingly fast, yet it doesn't feel fast. 50mph in a Caterham feels like 100mph. Its the other way round in the Tuscan - 100mph feels like 50mph. So I didn't feel like I was pushing it that much, but was actually going boody fast - this is danger territory!! I averaged over 85mph on my qualifying lap - that's a pretty high average speed when you think how slow some of the corners are at Lydden.
Anyway, a salutory lesson learned. The right mental approach is absolutely essential, and I got this wrong yesterday.
I was at Lydden for my last upgrading signature, so just needed to finish.
Only I qualified 3rd on the grid. And despite Steve Howard saying to me 'remember you're just here to finish', I forgot all that once I was on the grid and there was just one car in front of me. I switched from 'just finish' mode to 'race' mode :shakesheadindisbeliefhecouldbesodaft:
After a few laps (2-4?) I was coming down the hill to Paddock Bend, turned in slightly too early, ran a little wide onto the dusty side of the track, too much power and spun. It was one of those 2 part 360 spins - did the first 180, had time to clock 2 Caterfields exit the corner towards me, then did the remaining 180 to face the right direction. Unusually I stayed on the same line for the whole spin - i.e. straight down the track.
One Caterfield passed safely to my right - the other I thought was going to go to my left. I think he changed his mind, maybe there wasn't room, anyway, he didn't quite make it and caught my rear offside quarter. The rear wheel took most of the impact, broke the rim and sheared a lot of the bolts in the suspension. The glassfibre always looks bad but is a fairly standard repair. The impact didn't feel too bad at the time, but I knew straight away that my race was over.
Clambered out of the cage and up over the tyre wall onto the bank - only then saw the mess that the Caterfield was and how hard the hit must have been.
Fortunately we were both ok, but race over and with it my chance of a signature.
I felt pretty bad, as Steve and I have worked very hard to get my car ready for Oulton, and I had thrown it away by forgetting why I was at Lydden at all.
There is a slim prospect I might be able to do an Advanced ARDS course before the weekend and get my final signature that way. So fingers are crossed...!
By the way - first impression of the Tuscan racer: predictable - it will spin up the wheels very easily in most gears, but it is generally very controllable. The weird thing is that is is deceptive. It is amazingly fast, yet it doesn't feel fast. 50mph in a Caterham feels like 100mph. Its the other way round in the Tuscan - 100mph feels like 50mph. So I didn't feel like I was pushing it that much, but was actually going boody fast - this is danger territory!! I averaged over 85mph on my qualifying lap - that's a pretty high average speed when you think how slow some of the corners are at Lydden.
Anyway, a salutory lesson learned. The right mental approach is absolutely essential, and I got this wrong yesterday.
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