My Mini Cooper Race Car
Discussion
soad said:
Much prefer it in white (wasn't a fan of shooting stars either) - not that it suffers any lack of performance in pink. I appreciate that race car livery stands out on most occasions though.
I had considered leaving it pink because as said, it gets attention. But pink-my-ride was Chris' project and as he's now mentioned, its personal to him.The wheels are staying pink though as a legacy
Hey Chris, racecar related stress? Duno what you mean...
Tell you what though, regardless of the stress, late nights in the workshop, lack of sleep, moments tearing my hair out (some due to my own stupidity it has to be said!) etc etc, it all seems worth it when you are ten tenths!
Now back to today's annoyance, race 1 entry fee due and I've run out of cheques...
Race 1 is this weekend so yet more sleepless nights ahead I fear as there will no doubt be some last minute panic.
Had the car through in Edinburgh for the MissEdinburgh competition on Friday so here's a pic of her just before I went through. Most of the race graphics are on the car here, just the bonnet graphics and numbers missing really.
Dont know whether I'm excited or petrified at this point!
Had the car through in Edinburgh for the MissEdinburgh competition on Friday so here's a pic of her just before I went through. Most of the race graphics are on the car here, just the bonnet graphics and numbers missing really.
Dont know whether I'm excited or petrified at this point!
The test day a month or so back was my first ever time with the car on track (indeed, first time ever in a car on a track really). Know roughly what times the others were running and had some mandraulically recorded times of my runs done by my dad and mate who were up with me. Was pretty happy with them. Right now I have so much to learn I'm more worried about getting consistency in to my times so I can change things with how I'm driving (lines, braking points etc) and see the difference on the clock. Then I can start to worry about whether the car's as good as it can be in terms of setup etc.
Good example being for the first testing session I didnt have enough fuel cans for the whole day so started out in the first session with a full tank of fuel (literally brimmed). Took me till the final session to get down to the fuel load I'd actually carry in a race. Probably about 25kgs less than I started with in other words!
The series is going to be on MotorsTV again, no idea when though as I havent seen a schedule yet.
Good example being for the first testing session I didnt have enough fuel cans for the whole day so started out in the first session with a full tank of fuel (literally brimmed). Took me till the final session to get down to the fuel load I'd actually carry in a race. Probably about 25kgs less than I started with in other words!
The series is going to be on MotorsTV again, no idea when though as I havent seen a schedule yet.
Edited by emicen on Monday 12th April 15:48
Well, Saturday and Sunday were the first races of the season. Rushed about the week before getting all the last niggles sorted out and Friday afternoon she was all done and ready for the weekend. Fresh paint, fresh graphics, freshly powdercoated wheels with a couple of new tyres on.
Set off on Saturday up to Knockhill to be greeted by glorious sunshine. Well pleased. Out for the first session and came back in running 65 flat as my best. Not happy, should be faster than that, I’ve run 64.3 previously. Tweeked the tyre pressures and that improved things a touch.
Second session, my windscreen wipers jammed on due to a problem with the body control unit. Coming out the hairpin I was busy fighting with them trying to get them off and buzzed the limiter in second. Limp home mode being the result. Bugger. Game over for the day, Craig Noble at Minimax helped me out though and reset the error codes and that reset things for Sunday so not all hope lost.
Sunday arrived, pissing down. Even sleet at times. Now my set up is a finger in the air one (albeit researched a bit online and actually not too bad in the dry). In the wet, all I could do was loosen off the rear ARB and see how she went (oh, and bought a couple more fresh tyres, not having part worns on the back in those conditions with KH’s notorious slippy kerbs!). Talked to Sandy Forrest before going out (KH instructor who did my ARDS test) and he re-iterated the whole stay away from the kerbs thing.
Well, my set up in the wet was horrific. Only way I could get her to turn through the top of Duffus without understeering on to the litter was to trail brake and then poke it in to a slide and just catch it before Leslies was negotiated backwards. (these are the corners used for the UK Drift series!)
I got held up a bit in traffic but got my 3 laps in, backed off a bit to take a flying lap, got a good drive out the hairpin up the start finish straight and… b
kS, chequered flag out. Net result, qualified 11th.
Off we went in the first race, my best start ever. (also my only start ever!) Was slightly hectic for a few laps then I got my head down and took off after Geoff Gillies. Had a really good battle with Geoff, really close but no contact, had him a couple of times then messed up the hairpin and let him back past and missed 3rd gear going up the straight the second time to let him past again. Finished in 10th.
Second race things were drying up. I didn’t get off the line very quick and found myself having to defend for the first few laps whilst the pack got away. Once I got rid of the following cars I again took off after Mr Gillies. Finished up chasing him across the line again but now that the track was drying and my setup was more at home, I posted the 6th fastest lap in the race so was quite hopeful of moving up the field in the final as I reckoned there was more to come.
First few laps of race 3 were quite hectic but I closed in on the leading pack rapidly and found myself at the back of a 10 car train. Got round the outside of the car in front coming through Carlube on to Hislops/Railway but then there was contact with his front wheel clipping my drivers side rear wheel, ending with both of us in the tyres. I recovered the initial slide to stop her going headfirst in to the tyres, but it whipped back the other way and I tank slapped the tyre wall at ~80mph and its been widely commented it’s a miracle the car didn’t roll.
Lots of late nights coming up if I’m going to get her out for the 8th/9th May meeting.
Set off on Saturday up to Knockhill to be greeted by glorious sunshine. Well pleased. Out for the first session and came back in running 65 flat as my best. Not happy, should be faster than that, I’ve run 64.3 previously. Tweeked the tyre pressures and that improved things a touch.
Second session, my windscreen wipers jammed on due to a problem with the body control unit. Coming out the hairpin I was busy fighting with them trying to get them off and buzzed the limiter in second. Limp home mode being the result. Bugger. Game over for the day, Craig Noble at Minimax helped me out though and reset the error codes and that reset things for Sunday so not all hope lost.
Sunday arrived, pissing down. Even sleet at times. Now my set up is a finger in the air one (albeit researched a bit online and actually not too bad in the dry). In the wet, all I could do was loosen off the rear ARB and see how she went (oh, and bought a couple more fresh tyres, not having part worns on the back in those conditions with KH’s notorious slippy kerbs!). Talked to Sandy Forrest before going out (KH instructor who did my ARDS test) and he re-iterated the whole stay away from the kerbs thing.
Well, my set up in the wet was horrific. Only way I could get her to turn through the top of Duffus without understeering on to the litter was to trail brake and then poke it in to a slide and just catch it before Leslies was negotiated backwards. (these are the corners used for the UK Drift series!)
I got held up a bit in traffic but got my 3 laps in, backed off a bit to take a flying lap, got a good drive out the hairpin up the start finish straight and… b
kS, chequered flag out. Net result, qualified 11th.Off we went in the first race, my best start ever. (also my only start ever!) Was slightly hectic for a few laps then I got my head down and took off after Geoff Gillies. Had a really good battle with Geoff, really close but no contact, had him a couple of times then messed up the hairpin and let him back past and missed 3rd gear going up the straight the second time to let him past again. Finished in 10th.
Second race things were drying up. I didn’t get off the line very quick and found myself having to defend for the first few laps whilst the pack got away. Once I got rid of the following cars I again took off after Mr Gillies. Finished up chasing him across the line again but now that the track was drying and my setup was more at home, I posted the 6th fastest lap in the race so was quite hopeful of moving up the field in the final as I reckoned there was more to come.
First few laps of race 3 were quite hectic but I closed in on the leading pack rapidly and found myself at the back of a 10 car train. Got round the outside of the car in front coming through Carlube on to Hislops/Railway but then there was contact with his front wheel clipping my drivers side rear wheel, ending with both of us in the tyres. I recovered the initial slide to stop her going headfirst in to the tyres, but it whipped back the other way and I tank slapped the tyre wall at ~80mph and its been widely commented it’s a miracle the car didn’t roll.
Lots of late nights coming up if I’m going to get her out for the 8th/9th May meeting.
New:
- quarter panel
- door
- arch trims
- A-panel
- bonnet
- headlight
- bumper
- grille
- sidelight
- radiator
- front panel
- water pump (whose bright idea was it having the water pump powered via an external belt and mounted right at the front of the engine with a plastic pulley?!)
- bumper bar
- gas lifter
- skirt
- suspension arm
- track control arms
Shell survived, the door even opens and closes with no protest now the A-panel has been removed and its not fouling it. Mini's are actually remarkably sturdy.
- quarter panel
- door
- arch trims
- A-panel
- bonnet
- headlight
- bumper
- grille
- sidelight
- radiator
- front panel
- water pump (whose bright idea was it having the water pump powered via an external belt and mounted right at the front of the engine with a plastic pulley?!)
- bumper bar
- gas lifter
- skirt
- suspension arm
- track control arms
Shell survived, the door even opens and closes with no protest now the A-panel has been removed and its not fouling it. Mini's are actually remarkably sturdy.
Whatty said:
Great write up, bad luck, have another go!
Is it me or is that tyre wall spitting its contents on to the track?
Thats a fairly good indication of how hard I hit it (and why I'm still walking like RoboCop, whiplash is not a joke all you buggers that claim for it after supermarket car park dings!)Is it me or is that tyre wall spitting its contents on to the track?
Got the rear quarter panel off now and the door etc. She's looking a bit naked, cant decide if its better or worse than with dents in 
Anyhoo, here she is stripped down ready to begin rebuilding. Got myself a new water pump since the radiator took care of the old one's pulley:
Here's a section/slab of the fibreglass/cataloy that was on the rear quarter from a previous repair before my time. Once all fixed up she may well be lighter than when she started, and she was already one of the lightest on the grid I believe. Might have to look at ballast
Anyhoo, here she is stripped down ready to begin rebuilding. Got myself a new water pump since the radiator took care of the old one's pulley:
Here's a section/slab of the fibreglass/cataloy that was on the rear quarter from a previous repair before my time. Once all fixed up she may well be lighter than when she started, and she was already one of the lightest on the grid I believe. Might have to look at ballast
Race meeting two this weekend, a double day affair because we were sharing the event with the British GT champsionship card. So Global Lights (distinct “meh”), British Formula Ford and the GT Cup.
Testing on Friday was the first time I’d been in the car since the smash, hadn’t even managed a road test. Indeed, as of Friday morning the car wasn’t fully assembled and the bumper still needed painting! Session one, missed due to running late. Session two, car wasn’t turning in at all, panic. Scratched my head a bit, checked tyre pressures, scratched some more, phoned Kenny Brown and he gave me a couple of ideas. Session three, back in the game!
Saturday morning and it was an early start getting her through scrutineering since we hadn’t had time on Friday. Another rather disappointing qualifying from me, only myself to blame really, lines in to Clarks and the hairpin were abysmal. So tenth on the grid for race one.
Got off the line really well which got me the jump on Steven Brewster. The next 4 laps were spent with him chomping on my bootlid and having to play a serious defence to keep him behind me. He briefly managed to dive past coming in to MacIntyres when I wasn’t fast enough to defend but I knew he wouldn’t get it slowed down and nipped back through on the inside in to Butchers as he ran through the gravel. After that his car seemed to drop off a bit which allowed me to get my head down and chase down Alan Waugh who was chasing Carol Brown. Last lap so decided it was time to make the move. Took an absolute flyer through Duffus and Leslies and got right up behind him coming in to the chicane and luck shined in my favour with him running wide on to the gravel. Up the inside in to Clarks, defended along Hislops/Railway straight (exactly where race 3 ended last time out!) and in to the hairpin. He got a better run out the hairpin but I managed to out drag him up the hill and got 8th by about 12 inches.
Race two starts in the finishing order from race one so I was in 8th along side Geoff Gillies with Carol Brown in front. Good start but I had to back out coming through Leslies due to traffic and had Alan pushing me hard for the first couple of laps. Thankfully traffic behind turned their attention on him and with Alan having to play defensive I could chase down Geoff and Carol battling for 6th. Just to ensure my mother had her heart in her mouth one more time, last lap, last corner, side by side past my previous crash site in to the hairpin. Again, snuck past on the inside coming up the start finish straight and managed to out drag Geoff to the line. (photo robbed from AMD87’s flickr account, Carol leading in to the hairpin with me defending from Alan Waugh)
Race three the grid is reversed somewhere between 5th and 8th depending on the draw, same as race 3 in the BTCC. 8th place was picked so 6th ever race would see me lining up on the front row.
Race 3 on the Sunday had me a touch nervous. There was the feint drizzling that can mean rain is coming or nothing to worry about roughly 20mins before the start. We elected not to change set up hoping it would pass. Bright sunshine as we moved in to the holding area. Sweet. Half way through the race before us with the cars now in the holding area and not really able to change set up, skies darken and it drizzles that bit heavier. bks! Luckily it didn’t lie and going out for our green flag lap a quick test of the kerbs said Knockhill’s notoriously greasy kerbs were still fit for riding!
Off the line I got a flier, two car lengths ahead of Geoff by the time we went under the Beatson’s bridge. Unfortunately there was an “ambitious” dive up the inside that saw me taking to the gravel to avoid a smash, the diver airborne and 3 other cars hobbled taking avoiding action as cars went across the grass before turn 3 to avoid the carnage and others had to drive blind through the plume of dust. Came back on track in 8th but the driver’s side front suspension had taken a knock and the tracking was out (the post race hot pressure being 6psi north of where it normally would be). Made up a couple of places to finish 6th. Much better result than last race weekend, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed.
Lots of pictures of the carnage on www.power-images.co.uk
Got a couple of TV interviews over the weekend but seems appropriate to re-iterate my thanks. Hugh at HWS Motorengineers ( www.hwsmotorengineers.co.uk ) has worked tirelessly over the last 2 weeks getting the car back together and fit for the race. Also the marshals from the previous race weekend, when it all goes pear shaped its remarkable just how quickly they are on the scene making sure your car isn’t about to fireball, making sure you are ok and get the appropriate medical attention and getting everything back in order so everyone else can go racing again.
Think the next race meeting for me is going to be the round at Knockhill on July 25th now. The Speedfair double driver endurance race in June would be fun but the accident repair bill from the shunt has dented my budget quite a bit and since its all out my back pocket at the moment, unless I find a sponsor I'll need to preserve my budget for the rest of the season. The Speedfair race not being a championship round means I'm not losing points by missing it.
Testing on Friday was the first time I’d been in the car since the smash, hadn’t even managed a road test. Indeed, as of Friday morning the car wasn’t fully assembled and the bumper still needed painting! Session one, missed due to running late. Session two, car wasn’t turning in at all, panic. Scratched my head a bit, checked tyre pressures, scratched some more, phoned Kenny Brown and he gave me a couple of ideas. Session three, back in the game!
Saturday morning and it was an early start getting her through scrutineering since we hadn’t had time on Friday. Another rather disappointing qualifying from me, only myself to blame really, lines in to Clarks and the hairpin were abysmal. So tenth on the grid for race one.
Got off the line really well which got me the jump on Steven Brewster. The next 4 laps were spent with him chomping on my bootlid and having to play a serious defence to keep him behind me. He briefly managed to dive past coming in to MacIntyres when I wasn’t fast enough to defend but I knew he wouldn’t get it slowed down and nipped back through on the inside in to Butchers as he ran through the gravel. After that his car seemed to drop off a bit which allowed me to get my head down and chase down Alan Waugh who was chasing Carol Brown. Last lap so decided it was time to make the move. Took an absolute flyer through Duffus and Leslies and got right up behind him coming in to the chicane and luck shined in my favour with him running wide on to the gravel. Up the inside in to Clarks, defended along Hislops/Railway straight (exactly where race 3 ended last time out!) and in to the hairpin. He got a better run out the hairpin but I managed to out drag him up the hill and got 8th by about 12 inches.
Race two starts in the finishing order from race one so I was in 8th along side Geoff Gillies with Carol Brown in front. Good start but I had to back out coming through Leslies due to traffic and had Alan pushing me hard for the first couple of laps. Thankfully traffic behind turned their attention on him and with Alan having to play defensive I could chase down Geoff and Carol battling for 6th. Just to ensure my mother had her heart in her mouth one more time, last lap, last corner, side by side past my previous crash site in to the hairpin. Again, snuck past on the inside coming up the start finish straight and managed to out drag Geoff to the line. (photo robbed from AMD87’s flickr account, Carol leading in to the hairpin with me defending from Alan Waugh)
Race three the grid is reversed somewhere between 5th and 8th depending on the draw, same as race 3 in the BTCC. 8th place was picked so 6th ever race would see me lining up on the front row.
Race 3 on the Sunday had me a touch nervous. There was the feint drizzling that can mean rain is coming or nothing to worry about roughly 20mins before the start. We elected not to change set up hoping it would pass. Bright sunshine as we moved in to the holding area. Sweet. Half way through the race before us with the cars now in the holding area and not really able to change set up, skies darken and it drizzles that bit heavier. b
ks! Luckily it didn’t lie and going out for our green flag lap a quick test of the kerbs said Knockhill’s notoriously greasy kerbs were still fit for riding!Off the line I got a flier, two car lengths ahead of Geoff by the time we went under the Beatson’s bridge. Unfortunately there was an “ambitious” dive up the inside that saw me taking to the gravel to avoid a smash, the diver airborne and 3 other cars hobbled taking avoiding action as cars went across the grass before turn 3 to avoid the carnage and others had to drive blind through the plume of dust. Came back on track in 8th but the driver’s side front suspension had taken a knock and the tracking was out (the post race hot pressure being 6psi north of where it normally would be). Made up a couple of places to finish 6th. Much better result than last race weekend, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed.
Lots of pictures of the carnage on www.power-images.co.uk
Got a couple of TV interviews over the weekend but seems appropriate to re-iterate my thanks. Hugh at HWS Motorengineers ( www.hwsmotorengineers.co.uk ) has worked tirelessly over the last 2 weeks getting the car back together and fit for the race. Also the marshals from the previous race weekend, when it all goes pear shaped its remarkable just how quickly they are on the scene making sure your car isn’t about to fireball, making sure you are ok and get the appropriate medical attention and getting everything back in order so everyone else can go racing again.
Think the next race meeting for me is going to be the round at Knockhill on July 25th now. The Speedfair double driver endurance race in June would be fun but the accident repair bill from the shunt has dented my budget quite a bit and since its all out my back pocket at the moment, unless I find a sponsor I'll need to preserve my budget for the rest of the season. The Speedfair race not being a championship round means I'm not losing points by missing it.
Been rather slack with my updates of late (in a bit of a huff if I'm honest, more on that later)
[edited to add pics etc]
Round 3:
Another *bleep* poor qually but I got the adjusters for my rear dampers afterwards. In the dry you want to run full hard on the rear, mine have been on full soft (ie wet setting) all year.
Set them to full hard for race one and went out to see how it behaved. Car was like night and day. Much better on turn in and could push on through corners I previously had to feather the throttle through. Very close battle but I ended up stuck in a group of cars holding each other up, same story in race two in fact. Although my results were pretty poor, the racing was awesome, closest racing I've been involved in and absolutely no contact despite being under half a meter off each others bumpers through the chicane on occasion.
Race 3 was another close one, ended up being towed in after some contact knocked the roll pin out my gearbox but thankfully it didn't give until the cool down lap.
Back to the workshop and repaired, ready for Oulton Park this weekend!
Race 3, little bit of leaning trying to get through on the inside at the hairpin. Last corner, last lap, got to give it a go really!
Sneakily papp'd by a lad who knows me across the paddock! Don't know why I appear to be counting on my fingers...
Round 4:
So this weekend was round 4, our first away meeting at Oulton Park in Cheshire on the international circuit (biggest layout).
Jacked work in early on Thursday and headed up the road to borrow a transporter from Gerry at www.PerformanceTek.co.uk and went to get the car packed up.
At this point I was reminded why we name our cars after women. No matter no much love, money and attention you give them, they'll still hate you :lol: In this case I spent the next 2 hours chasing an electrical gremlin that was making the car cut out. Finally sorted it out and loaded up the car, 10pm. So 2 hours to get home and pack all my race gear and everything else for the weekend and get to Asda for BBQ supplies.
Core kit:
Just time for chips'n'cheese'n'donner before going out to collect Hugh from www.hwsmotorengineers.co.uk and head down south.
1am we left Glasgow, 5:30am we got to Oulton Park. 1 hours sleep, time for testing!
Now, oh my *bleep* god what a track Oulton is! Soooooo much faster and at the same time more technical than Knockhill. After last weekend I wad really debating whether or not to make the trip but seriously glad I did. There's so much history with this track and names that anyone really in to motorsport is familiar with. Cascades, Island Bend, Druids, Shell Oils hairpin, Knickerbrook. It's a completely different challenge to Knockhill.
Testing went quite well with my times falling all day, once I got my head round staying flat in 4th round island bend anyways (110mph, turn in, lift a bit to swing the tail in to a drift, peg it flat, BRAAAAAKE! down to 50 for the Shell Oils hairpin). Actually found myself having to lift in testing and on one occasion brake mid corner to avoid running up the backside of a couple of Caterhams out testing in the same session. Its quite ridiculous how much corner speed our cars can carry!
Then the rain came. *bleep* it down!
Cowering under the gazeebo:
Dry on Saturday morning though for qualifying, but slight problems emerged with my brakes. Enough meat for a couple of Knockhill sessions wasn't enough for the faster braking zones at Oulton and the pads got very low, making the passenger front start binding and by the time I came in it was metal on metal. Managed to borrow some pads from the guys at Tynecastle Garage to see me through and had a spare disc with me.
Touch worn:
11th on the grid for race one and the skies grew dark. In to the holding area, it started raining, again. Right, pull a set up out thin air. Rears down 8psi, dampers to full soft, leave the roll bar hard.
Good start but I nearly got squeezed in to the pit wall and had to let out, so instead hammered down the inside in to Cascades, cold tyres made that pretty exciting but I got through and held position. Carnage reigned mid race, I'd got past a couple of people as they ran wide on the damp patches of the track that were extremely greasy, but Carol and Adam had an unavoidable thump at Cascades leaving cars in dangerous places and the safety car came out, unfortunately just as my setup was starting to go off.
I was being chased by Alan Waugh at that point and he was catching me on the straights and I was just about managing to run away again through Island, Druids and Oldhall. After the safety car went in, the track was near as dammit dry and I was having to defend like crazy. With one lap to go I couldn't hold off Alan anymore and he got past in to Lodge, leaving me to defend against Michael "Rambo" Rowan, just holding him off to the line. 11th to 6th, I can live with that.
Train heading out of Old Hall down to Cascades, last in the train, but finished first out of this lot:
Alan Waugh chasing me hard in to Oldhall:
Train of cars following the safety car:
The draw for race 2 landed me on pole. Oh boy! 5 whole hours to stew on it but we lined up in the dry hopeful of a good run. Then I royally muffed my start and went from 1st to 5th by the first corner (not actually all my fault as we found out later). Not happy! Chris Smiley managed to out drag me in the run up to Island but me being me, I decided cold tyres were not an obstacle in going straight round the outside of him and regaining the position in to Shell Oils (even though I remember full well one of the biggest smashes in the 95 BTCC was David Leslie trying to do just what I did round Derek Warwick!). 3/4 of the way through lap one the safety car came out, just after Chris had managed to drag past me on the run up to Druids. Midway through lap two the reds came out. A big first corner shunt had left Louise needing medical attention and they were being very careful getting her out the car. 15mins later we got moved in to parc ferme all rather worried it was taking so long. 10mins later the air ambulance rocked up and we all started to really worry! Turns out they were just dropping in for a nosey, but that was when we got confirmation our racing was done for the day, no re-grid, race two scratched.
Air ambulance leaving empty, thankfully:
Now it's time for post event teardown. Gearbox rebuild, suspension bushes, brake pads and steering rack rebuild. Oh the joys...
More pics from this race available on MotorsportPhotographic
[edited to add pics etc]
Round 3:
Another *bleep* poor qually but I got the adjusters for my rear dampers afterwards. In the dry you want to run full hard on the rear, mine have been on full soft (ie wet setting) all year.
Set them to full hard for race one and went out to see how it behaved. Car was like night and day. Much better on turn in and could push on through corners I previously had to feather the throttle through. Very close battle but I ended up stuck in a group of cars holding each other up, same story in race two in fact. Although my results were pretty poor, the racing was awesome, closest racing I've been involved in and absolutely no contact despite being under half a meter off each others bumpers through the chicane on occasion.
Race 3 was another close one, ended up being towed in after some contact knocked the roll pin out my gearbox but thankfully it didn't give until the cool down lap.
Back to the workshop and repaired, ready for Oulton Park this weekend!
Race 3, little bit of leaning trying to get through on the inside at the hairpin. Last corner, last lap, got to give it a go really!
Sneakily papp'd by a lad who knows me across the paddock! Don't know why I appear to be counting on my fingers...
Round 4:
So this weekend was round 4, our first away meeting at Oulton Park in Cheshire on the international circuit (biggest layout).
Jacked work in early on Thursday and headed up the road to borrow a transporter from Gerry at www.PerformanceTek.co.uk and went to get the car packed up.
At this point I was reminded why we name our cars after women. No matter no much love, money and attention you give them, they'll still hate you :lol: In this case I spent the next 2 hours chasing an electrical gremlin that was making the car cut out. Finally sorted it out and loaded up the car, 10pm. So 2 hours to get home and pack all my race gear and everything else for the weekend and get to Asda for BBQ supplies.
Core kit:
Just time for chips'n'cheese'n'donner before going out to collect Hugh from www.hwsmotorengineers.co.uk and head down south.
1am we left Glasgow, 5:30am we got to Oulton Park. 1 hours sleep, time for testing!
Now, oh my *bleep* god what a track Oulton is! Soooooo much faster and at the same time more technical than Knockhill. After last weekend I wad really debating whether or not to make the trip but seriously glad I did. There's so much history with this track and names that anyone really in to motorsport is familiar with. Cascades, Island Bend, Druids, Shell Oils hairpin, Knickerbrook. It's a completely different challenge to Knockhill.
Testing went quite well with my times falling all day, once I got my head round staying flat in 4th round island bend anyways (110mph, turn in, lift a bit to swing the tail in to a drift, peg it flat, BRAAAAAKE! down to 50 for the Shell Oils hairpin). Actually found myself having to lift in testing and on one occasion brake mid corner to avoid running up the backside of a couple of Caterhams out testing in the same session. Its quite ridiculous how much corner speed our cars can carry!
Then the rain came. *bleep* it down!
Cowering under the gazeebo:
Dry on Saturday morning though for qualifying, but slight problems emerged with my brakes. Enough meat for a couple of Knockhill sessions wasn't enough for the faster braking zones at Oulton and the pads got very low, making the passenger front start binding and by the time I came in it was metal on metal. Managed to borrow some pads from the guys at Tynecastle Garage to see me through and had a spare disc with me.
Touch worn:
11th on the grid for race one and the skies grew dark. In to the holding area, it started raining, again. Right, pull a set up out thin air. Rears down 8psi, dampers to full soft, leave the roll bar hard.
Good start but I nearly got squeezed in to the pit wall and had to let out, so instead hammered down the inside in to Cascades, cold tyres made that pretty exciting but I got through and held position. Carnage reigned mid race, I'd got past a couple of people as they ran wide on the damp patches of the track that were extremely greasy, but Carol and Adam had an unavoidable thump at Cascades leaving cars in dangerous places and the safety car came out, unfortunately just as my setup was starting to go off.
I was being chased by Alan Waugh at that point and he was catching me on the straights and I was just about managing to run away again through Island, Druids and Oldhall. After the safety car went in, the track was near as dammit dry and I was having to defend like crazy. With one lap to go I couldn't hold off Alan anymore and he got past in to Lodge, leaving me to defend against Michael "Rambo" Rowan, just holding him off to the line. 11th to 6th, I can live with that.
Train heading out of Old Hall down to Cascades, last in the train, but finished first out of this lot:
Alan Waugh chasing me hard in to Oldhall:
Train of cars following the safety car:
The draw for race 2 landed me on pole. Oh boy! 5 whole hours to stew on it but we lined up in the dry hopeful of a good run. Then I royally muffed my start and went from 1st to 5th by the first corner (not actually all my fault as we found out later). Not happy! Chris Smiley managed to out drag me in the run up to Island but me being me, I decided cold tyres were not an obstacle in going straight round the outside of him and regaining the position in to Shell Oils (even though I remember full well one of the biggest smashes in the 95 BTCC was David Leslie trying to do just what I did round Derek Warwick!). 3/4 of the way through lap one the safety car came out, just after Chris had managed to drag past me on the run up to Druids. Midway through lap two the reds came out. A big first corner shunt had left Louise needing medical attention and they were being very careful getting her out the car. 15mins later we got moved in to parc ferme all rather worried it was taking so long. 10mins later the air ambulance rocked up and we all started to really worry! Turns out they were just dropping in for a nosey, but that was when we got confirmation our racing was done for the day, no re-grid, race two scratched.
Air ambulance leaving empty, thankfully:
Now it's time for post event teardown. Gearbox rebuild, suspension bushes, brake pads and steering rack rebuild. Oh the joys...
More pics from this race available on MotorsportPhotographic
Edited by emicen on Monday 30th August 09:40
So this weekend was round 4, our first away meeting at Oulton Park in Cheshire on the international circuit (biggest layout).
Jacked work in early on Thursday and headed up the road to borrow a transporter from Gerry at www.PerformanceTek.co.uk and went to get the car packed up.
At this point I was reminded why we name our cars after women. No matter no much love, money and attention you give them, they'll still hate you
In this case I spent the next 2 hours chasing an electrical gremlin that was making the car cut out. Finally sorted it out and loaded up the car, 10pm. So 2 hours to get home and pack all my race gear and everything else for the weekend and get to asda for BBQ supplies.
Core kit:
Just time for chips'n'cheese'n'donner before going out to collect Hugh from www.hwsmotorengineers.co.uk and head down south.
1am we left Glasgow, 5:30am we got to Oulton Park. 1 hours sleep, time for testing...
Now, oh my fking god what a track Oulton is! Soooooo much faster and at the same time more technical than Knockhill. After last weekend I was really debating whether or not to make the trip but seriously glad I did. There's so much history with this track and names that anyone really in to motorsport is familiar with. Cascades, island bend, Druids, shell oils hairpin. It's a completely different challenge to Knockhill.
Testing went quite well with my times falling all day, once I got my head round staying flat in 4th round island bend anyways (110mph, turn in, lift a bit to swing the tail in to a drift, peg it flat, brake like fk down to 50 for the shell oils hairpin)
Then the rain came. Pissed it down!
Cowering under the gazeebo:
Dry on Saturday morning though for qualifying, but slight problems emerged with my brakes. Enough meat for a couple of Knockhill sessions wasn't enough for the faster braking zones at Oulton and the pads got very low, making the passenger front start binding and by the time I came in it was metal on metal. Managed to borrow some pads from the guys at Tynecastle Garage to see me through and had a spare disc with me.
Touch worn:
11th on the grid for race one and the skies grew dark. In to the holing area, it started pissing down. Right, pull a set up out thin air. Rears down 8psi, dampers to full soft, leave the roll bar hard.
Good start but I nearly got squeezes in to the pit wall and had to let out, so instead hammered down the inside in to Cascades, cold tyres made that pretty exciting but I got through and then went round the outside at Island Bend (ballsy as fk if I'm honest). Carnage reigned mid race when the safety car came out unfortunately just as my setup was starting to go off. Pre safety car I was faster through the corners and losing a bit on the straights, after I was having to defend like crazy. With one lap to go I couldn't hold off Alan anymore and he got past, leaving me to defend against Michael "Rambo" Rowan, just holding him off to the line. 11th to 6th, I can live with that.
Train heading out of Old Hall down to Cascades (found on the talkphotography forum, only pic I have of the whole weekend on track!):
Draw for race 2 landed me on pole. Oh st! 5 whole hours to stew on it but we lined up in the dry hopeful of a good run. Then I royally muffed my start and went from 1st to 5th by the first corner. Not happy! 3/4 of the way through lap one the safety car came out. Midway through lap two the reds came out. A big first corner shunt ha left Louise needing medical attention and they were being very careful getting her out the car. 15mins later we got moved in to parc ferme all rather worried it was taking so long. 10mins later the air ambulance rocked up and we all started to really worry! Turns out they were just dropping in.
Air ambulance leaving empty, thankfully:
Now it's time for post event teardown. Gearbox rebuild, suspension bushes, brake pads and steering rack rebuild. Oh the joys...
Jacked work in early on Thursday and headed up the road to borrow a transporter from Gerry at www.PerformanceTek.co.uk and went to get the car packed up.
At this point I was reminded why we name our cars after women. No matter no much love, money and attention you give them, they'll still hate you
In this case I spent the next 2 hours chasing an electrical gremlin that was making the car cut out. Finally sorted it out and loaded up the car, 10pm. So 2 hours to get home and pack all my race gear and everything else for the weekend and get to asda for BBQ supplies.Core kit:
Just time for chips'n'cheese'n'donner before going out to collect Hugh from www.hwsmotorengineers.co.uk and head down south.
1am we left Glasgow, 5:30am we got to Oulton Park. 1 hours sleep, time for testing...
Now, oh my f
king god what a track Oulton is! Soooooo much faster and at the same time more technical than Knockhill. After last weekend I was really debating whether or not to make the trip but seriously glad I did. There's so much history with this track and names that anyone really in to motorsport is familiar with. Cascades, island bend, Druids, shell oils hairpin. It's a completely different challenge to Knockhill.Testing went quite well with my times falling all day, once I got my head round staying flat in 4th round island bend anyways (110mph, turn in, lift a bit to swing the tail in to a drift, peg it flat, brake like f
k down to 50 for the shell oils hairpin)Then the rain came. Pissed it down!
Cowering under the gazeebo:
Dry on Saturday morning though for qualifying, but slight problems emerged with my brakes. Enough meat for a couple of Knockhill sessions wasn't enough for the faster braking zones at Oulton and the pads got very low, making the passenger front start binding and by the time I came in it was metal on metal. Managed to borrow some pads from the guys at Tynecastle Garage to see me through and had a spare disc with me.
Touch worn:
11th on the grid for race one and the skies grew dark. In to the holing area, it started pissing down. Right, pull a set up out thin air. Rears down 8psi, dampers to full soft, leave the roll bar hard.
Good start but I nearly got squeezes in to the pit wall and had to let out, so instead hammered down the inside in to Cascades, cold tyres made that pretty exciting but I got through and then went round the outside at Island Bend (ballsy as f
k if I'm honest). Carnage reigned mid race when the safety car came out unfortunately just as my setup was starting to go off. Pre safety car I was faster through the corners and losing a bit on the straights, after I was having to defend like crazy. With one lap to go I couldn't hold off Alan anymore and he got past, leaving me to defend against Michael "Rambo" Rowan, just holding him off to the line. 11th to 6th, I can live with that.Train heading out of Old Hall down to Cascades (found on the talkphotography forum, only pic I have of the whole weekend on track!):
Draw for race 2 landed me on pole. Oh s
t! 5 whole hours to stew on it but we lined up in the dry hopeful of a good run. Then I royally muffed my start and went from 1st to 5th by the first corner. Not happy! 3/4 of the way through lap one the safety car came out. Midway through lap two the reds came out. A big first corner shunt ha left Louise needing medical attention and they were being very careful getting her out the car. 15mins later we got moved in to parc ferme all rather worried it was taking so long. 10mins later the air ambulance rocked up and we all started to really worry! Turns out they were just dropping in.Air ambulance leaving empty, thankfully:
Now it's time for post event teardown. Gearbox rebuild, suspension bushes, brake pads and steering rack rebuild. Oh the joys...
Post event, we figured out why my car didn't pull off the start like normal and indeed why Chris was able to drag past me twice with such ease. We knew the car had drank a litre of oil in race one, confirming the worries I had the rings were a bit worn. Problem being, after the safety car went in (when all the oil would have been sucked past the rings) there was still half a race to run, so it got its backside kicked for 4 laps with oil below the min marker on the dip stick. Race two, she was definitely down on power and on cold start she's smoking 
Diagnosis is new valve stem seals needed and rings. Thing is, that's getting on for £400 of parts, then there will be labour and all on an engine with 3.5 seasons old shells and everything else. Doesn't make much sense. Full rebuild needed, just need to figure out which orifice I'm going to magic two grand from!
Could be season over I fear. I'd stand a chance of making the October round but I'm tempted just to save my cash for next year, any chance of the newcomers championship is out the window and the money spent in one weekend's racing could go a fair bit further in testing and prep for next season. Dyno-Rod orange paint job anyone...?
In other news, I've had the car out and about at a couple of events over the summer, took it through to the Scottish Modified Car Show for a laugh. Some pics are up on www.mcnab-racing.co.uk
At least getting it a rebuild would give me a good excuse to drive it on the road for a bit, run the new engine in!
Diagnosis is new valve stem seals needed and rings. Thing is, that's getting on for £400 of parts, then there will be labour and all on an engine with 3.5 seasons old shells and everything else. Doesn't make much sense. Full rebuild needed, just need to figure out which orifice I'm going to magic two grand from!
Could be season over I fear. I'd stand a chance of making the October round but I'm tempted just to save my cash for next year, any chance of the newcomers championship is out the window and the money spent in one weekend's racing could go a fair bit further in testing and prep for next season. Dyno-Rod orange paint job anyone...?
In other news, I've had the car out and about at a couple of events over the summer, took it through to the Scottish Modified Car Show for a laugh. Some pics are up on www.mcnab-racing.co.uk
At least getting it a rebuild would give me a good excuse to drive it on the road for a bit, run the new engine in!
why not just get a used cooper engine, ive seen them go for arround 300 quid on ebay, the problem is the cooper engine is totally useless,
my cooper runs a similar spec to the cup cars but the cam done too and a bigger 4-1 de cat manifold, even when built the components in the cooper engine aren't great most of us who have built cooper engines for N/A spec use the better block out of the cooper S with the cooper S crank (as its forged) and Ricardo have released a new race spec bearing and ring kit for them now, and we use rods and pistons from JE and carrlio to bring it back to the cooper compression ratio
my cooper runs a similar spec to the cup cars but the cam done too and a bigger 4-1 de cat manifold, even when built the components in the cooper engine aren't great most of us who have built cooper engines for N/A spec use the better block out of the cooper S with the cooper S crank (as its forged) and Ricardo have released a new race spec bearing and ring kit for them now, and we use rods and pistons from JE and carrlio to bring it back to the cooper compression ratio
I may well have to buy a used Cooper engine for the rebuild seeing as mine has been fettled before, but new engine or rebuilding the existing one doesnt change the fact it would need rebuilt to the limit of the regs.
The extra horsepower is night and day when we've only got 130 to start with.
The extra horsepower is night and day when we've only got 130 to start with.
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