750mc Mk2 Golf Gti Race Series 1st Round at Cadwell write up
Discussion
As some of you may know, a new race series for the Mk2 Golf Gti has just been launched and it is being run in conjunction with the 750mc, anyway it was the 1st round at Cadwell Park over the weekend and I thought Id post up a write up.
Im part of the spanner monkey team for No 22 Richard Marsh who is running an 8v this year and another mate James Colbourne is also running a 16v in the series.
Fri - we got there around 12am after a 4 and a half hr drive and pitched the tents in the pitch black and chill of the clear night, we were hopefully of some clear weather the next day.
Rich had entered the Toyo Tyres Pre 93 Touring car race on Saturday to get some practice in for the Golf race on Sunday as he couldnt make the thursdaya or friday practice days.
Sat - Up early for scutineering at 7.30am, the car was fine except the extinguisher pull was a bit sticky so we had a quick sort out of that. Practice for the Toyo tyres Pre 93 Touring cars was about 9ish iirc (its been so mad this weekend I cant remember when was when etc!), he put it on 13th for the race, mixing it with the BMW E30's, leaving the M3's, and a bloody loud RX-7 to battle it out at the front. Rich had a good start making up one place into the 1st corner, the car seemed to be going really well and by lap 5 or 6 he was in 7th catching 6th, but then he mis judged his entry into the last corner, put the rear right wheel on the grass, the rear end washed out, Rich tried to correct but he ended up sliding across the track and hitting the armco, all in our sight as we were in the pit lane. Its a shame because he was going so well. The car was recovered and we started to assess the damage. It was bent, very bent, basically the front of the car from the turrets to the grill were pointing around 6 inches or in the wrong way, each side parellel to each other. The cross member resembled this movement and as such the engine mount had moved over and hit the oil filter, splitting it and dropping all the oil. Luckily it hadnt damaged the oil cooler. On a bit of closer inspection we also found that the oil filter housing and the water cooling housing had cracked, meaning a new one had to be found, but more on that in a bit! We got the car back to the paddock and out came the porter power, Stu and Gav began slowly bending the car back into shape, whilst James (Oak Green No 2 16v) took the wings off and began panel beating them back into shape. Back to that oil filter housing, we had a word to one of the Marshalls who pointed us in the direction of a scrapyard a few miles down the road. We rang them to see if they had any Mk2's or something 8v VAG and suitable, but the guy wasnt sure and said we would have to come and check. So off we went. We got there and were greeted with about 40 cars in the yard, all around 5 yrs old and we got a little diflated. Then to our amazement we noticed the huge barn with a walk through in a field which much have had about 500 cars in! We seperated and started to look for something suitable, handily the yard was in car make sections so finding VW was was easy. 2 Mk2s there but not the housing we wanted (only the oil filter housing not with the water cooler bit), then a Scirocco, in we dived, yes it was there and in tact. We had 10 mins until the yard closed, we ripped the rad out, spraying coolant into my eyes! Then smashed a screw driver into the oil filter, but it was made of chocolate and kept tearing, time was running down and we were getting frantic. Finally a few taps and it came off, we whipped the housing off the bloke and happily paid £15 for the bit. He had a Gti grill behind the counter but wanted £40 + vat for it - Yeh right! We got back to the track and couldnt believe the state the car was in, bar a few scrapes in the paint and a ding here and there you would have hardly believed it had been so bent earlier on! Rich was over joyed, we got the oil housing on and a new filter etc... Unfortunately we missed the 2nd race as there was only about 2 hrs between them, but by about 7pm or so the car was fully repaired and running once again. We headed off for a bit of tea in the cafe, then made the foolish mistake to walk the track as James hadnt driven it before. Half way round the top section it absolutely hammered it down, we got drenched. I dont think the rain let up that night and my tent had a few drips inside by the morning!
Sun - the weather was so unpredictable with huge rain showers rolling in then bright hot sunny spells, not good when trying to decided on how to set the car up. We took the plunge and Rich ended up 5th overall for the race. There were a few hours between practice and the race so we checked and double checked everything, packed the tents away and got ready for the race. Due to the weather the program was about 20 mins or so behind so the race eventually got underway about 5ish. Rich made a good start passing the Helious Blue and bright green trimmed 16v into the first corner. He managed to hold him off for a few laps but made a slight mistake in the top section and the guy behind had a good run at him and passed. Rich remained about a second or so off him, until he made a mistake through the chicane area by the club house, letting Rich through and into 4th, he held postion and claimed a well deserved 4th overall and 1st in Class! Making all the hard work the day before worth while! James also did well to finish 7th overall, 4th in 16v class.
Some pics:
Rich
James with sun strip starting to peel off!
Us walking the track at 10pm on Sat evening getting hammered by the rain
The team!
The drivers!
Rich hanging onto 4th
Rich making a move down the straight
This is how the calender for the rest of the year shapes up, if anyone fancies coming to watch:
July 29th - Brands Hatch
Aug 19th - Silverstone
Sept 30th - Snetterton
Oct 14 - Mallory
Im part of the spanner monkey team for No 22 Richard Marsh who is running an 8v this year and another mate James Colbourne is also running a 16v in the series.
Fri - we got there around 12am after a 4 and a half hr drive and pitched the tents in the pitch black and chill of the clear night, we were hopefully of some clear weather the next day.
Rich had entered the Toyo Tyres Pre 93 Touring car race on Saturday to get some practice in for the Golf race on Sunday as he couldnt make the thursdaya or friday practice days.
Sat - Up early for scutineering at 7.30am, the car was fine except the extinguisher pull was a bit sticky so we had a quick sort out of that. Practice for the Toyo tyres Pre 93 Touring cars was about 9ish iirc (its been so mad this weekend I cant remember when was when etc!), he put it on 13th for the race, mixing it with the BMW E30's, leaving the M3's, and a bloody loud RX-7 to battle it out at the front. Rich had a good start making up one place into the 1st corner, the car seemed to be going really well and by lap 5 or 6 he was in 7th catching 6th, but then he mis judged his entry into the last corner, put the rear right wheel on the grass, the rear end washed out, Rich tried to correct but he ended up sliding across the track and hitting the armco, all in our sight as we were in the pit lane. Its a shame because he was going so well. The car was recovered and we started to assess the damage. It was bent, very bent, basically the front of the car from the turrets to the grill were pointing around 6 inches or in the wrong way, each side parellel to each other. The cross member resembled this movement and as such the engine mount had moved over and hit the oil filter, splitting it and dropping all the oil. Luckily it hadnt damaged the oil cooler. On a bit of closer inspection we also found that the oil filter housing and the water cooling housing had cracked, meaning a new one had to be found, but more on that in a bit! We got the car back to the paddock and out came the porter power, Stu and Gav began slowly bending the car back into shape, whilst James (Oak Green No 2 16v) took the wings off and began panel beating them back into shape. Back to that oil filter housing, we had a word to one of the Marshalls who pointed us in the direction of a scrapyard a few miles down the road. We rang them to see if they had any Mk2's or something 8v VAG and suitable, but the guy wasnt sure and said we would have to come and check. So off we went. We got there and were greeted with about 40 cars in the yard, all around 5 yrs old and we got a little diflated. Then to our amazement we noticed the huge barn with a walk through in a field which much have had about 500 cars in! We seperated and started to look for something suitable, handily the yard was in car make sections so finding VW was was easy. 2 Mk2s there but not the housing we wanted (only the oil filter housing not with the water cooler bit), then a Scirocco, in we dived, yes it was there and in tact. We had 10 mins until the yard closed, we ripped the rad out, spraying coolant into my eyes! Then smashed a screw driver into the oil filter, but it was made of chocolate and kept tearing, time was running down and we were getting frantic. Finally a few taps and it came off, we whipped the housing off the bloke and happily paid £15 for the bit. He had a Gti grill behind the counter but wanted £40 + vat for it - Yeh right! We got back to the track and couldnt believe the state the car was in, bar a few scrapes in the paint and a ding here and there you would have hardly believed it had been so bent earlier on! Rich was over joyed, we got the oil housing on and a new filter etc... Unfortunately we missed the 2nd race as there was only about 2 hrs between them, but by about 7pm or so the car was fully repaired and running once again. We headed off for a bit of tea in the cafe, then made the foolish mistake to walk the track as James hadnt driven it before. Half way round the top section it absolutely hammered it down, we got drenched. I dont think the rain let up that night and my tent had a few drips inside by the morning!
Sun - the weather was so unpredictable with huge rain showers rolling in then bright hot sunny spells, not good when trying to decided on how to set the car up. We took the plunge and Rich ended up 5th overall for the race. There were a few hours between practice and the race so we checked and double checked everything, packed the tents away and got ready for the race. Due to the weather the program was about 20 mins or so behind so the race eventually got underway about 5ish. Rich made a good start passing the Helious Blue and bright green trimmed 16v into the first corner. He managed to hold him off for a few laps but made a slight mistake in the top section and the guy behind had a good run at him and passed. Rich remained about a second or so off him, until he made a mistake through the chicane area by the club house, letting Rich through and into 4th, he held postion and claimed a well deserved 4th overall and 1st in Class! Making all the hard work the day before worth while! James also did well to finish 7th overall, 4th in 16v class.
Some pics:
Rich
James with sun strip starting to peel off!
Us walking the track at 10pm on Sat evening getting hammered by the rain
The team!
The drivers!
Rich hanging onto 4th
Rich making a move down the straight
This is how the calender for the rest of the year shapes up, if anyone fancies coming to watch:
July 29th - Brands Hatch
Aug 19th - Silverstone
Sept 30th - Snetterton
Oct 14 - Mallory
Gassing Station | General Motorsport | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff