TVRCC Challenge race report
The recent Knockhill event was wet, dry, wet...
Graham Walden reports on races five and six at KnockHill in the 12-race, TVRCC Challenge season
 Graham Walden in the spray of Marc Hockin's Griff   Steve Hall's Chevy-engined monster  Marc Hockin takes the corner chased by Steve Hall's lurking Tasmin  Kevan Gore's Cosworth-engined Tasmin holds off Tim Broughton  Broughton's 2.8-litre Tasmin makes it past Hockin  Gary Coulson heads a damp Tasmin |
It was tight, very tight to get the car ready for Knockhill.
Only ten days between getting back from Pembrey and the car being picked up by Moore Racing for the run to Scotland. Take out another two days for my daughter's third birthday, and add a busy schedule at work and it starts to look even worse.
Preparation
Still the old box was out and with Universal Transmissions in Kidderminster by the Wednesday, and the following day a rebuilt box was sourced from John Ried at the factory. This was collected on the Sunday from the services on the M5 as John headed to the Tuscan race at Castle Coombe.
Now the Tuscan engineers will tell you that a gearbox change is a simple 20 minute job. On an AJP car maybe, but our box sits four inches higher and six inches further back, and needs the engine half out to get enough space. To move the engine needs the oil pump taking off and it becomes quite involved.
Still after a false start which entailed the half-fitted box coming back out so we could swap the front housing for the correct one, by Wednesday night it was all back together. A quick test up the road to check everything worked, and it was on the trailer for a handover meeting at another service station the following morning.
Moore Racing had some space in the truck and awning for this weekend so, for a fee, they offered to take the Tuscan and let us work out of the awning. Knowing what the weather can be like it seemed a good idea.
So it was at 6am (I don't do mornings) that I set off to pick up Pops and head for Scotland. I kept feeling that we had forgotten something, as the Discovery felt very empty, with the car, tools and spares already in Scotland.
Testing
The Friday test consisted of two 25 minute sessions the first at 2pm. Arriving at the circuit in glorious sunshine at midday, we set about checking the car over and walking the track. Worryingly, during the lunch break they were laying new patches of tarmac.
At two, under the beating sun I set off to learn the track. Knockhill is a short track at 1.3 miles but it packs in a lot to keep you busy. There are eight corners, three of them blind and at least three opportunities to get airborne on each lap. I took the first session fairly gently just to learn which way it went; it’s surprising how well a few hours with the Playstation can help.
The first session safely complete with the car back in the awning in one piece, I spent the next couple of hours working out where to go quicker, while Richard Thorpe and the RT Racing Guys replaced a driveshaft on Steve Hall's Thorpedo.
For the second test session I was much more committed, knowing which way things went and the times dropped quickly and we finished the day topping the A & B class times.
Overnight
For a change we weren't sleeping in a truck or a tent this time but staying with friends. After checking the car over and putting it to bed in the Moore Racing awning, we quickly headed for a shower, food, an the local pub quiz -- which we took to a tie-breaker. This as it turned out was a much better idea than staying at the track, as soon as we left the heavens opened.
Saturday morning greeted us with low cloud, mist and a very damp looking Knockhill. I quickly signed on and hung about for the drivers' briefing. Ten minutes before we were due to go on track, I checked the briefing times again to discover that I had misread the chart and mine wasn't until after our qualifying session. Oops. A large dish of humble pie from the clerk of the course and I left race control fully briefed and with my cheque book fortunately still in my pocket.
Qualifying 1
By this time, the sun had come out and the track was dry. Due to messing about with the drivers brief I hadn't managed to bag my customary head of the queue for qualifying, and there were two class A cars in front of me. Once released onto the track though they were quickly dispatched leaving me with a clear track to get down to work. In a largely uneventful qualifying I managed class pole .7 seconds ahead of Marc Hockin, but two seconds down on the Thorpedo.
Race 1
During the lunch break the weather changed from sun to cloud to rain and by the time it came to form up for our race the track was damp but starting to dry. As we formed up in the holding area though, the rain started up again. It hammered down with the Legends looking more like jet skis as they slithered around the circuit. Cunningly, both Steve Hall and Tim Broughton were late to the holding area as they hurriedly switched from dry to wet weather tyres. The rest of us sat there wondering if chess might be a better sport. Strapped into an open top race car sitting in the holding area with horizontal rain, watching it bounce off the dashboard is great fun.
As the Legends finished their paddling session and sploshed off the circuit, the rain had eased but the circuit was more like a lake, so the Clerk of the Course delayed our race by half an hour to allow the recovery of variously parked Legends and for the circuit to dry out -- via a combination of drainage and lots of marshals with brooms.
With the circuit damp rather than waterlogged, we finally ventured out. The two green flag laps just proved it was still very wet out there and grip was at a premium.
I lined up on the grid, conscious that getting off the line hadn’t been up to my usual lightning standards of last season. In short they had been more burnout than getaway. So the plan was second gear very gently on the throttle, nip into the lead and then run and hide.
It didn’t work.
Even on a light throttle, the back end just lit up and snaked up the road, allowing Steve Hall (Chevy-engined Tasmin) and the Class A car of Tim Broughton (Tasmin) through together with Marc Hockin (Griffith 500) before we got to the first corner. Steve and Tim romped off into the distance on their wet tyres while I followed Marc with Kevan Gore (Cosworth-engined Tasmin) snapping at my heels.
The next six laps were very hairy, the three of us driving in very close formation. Marc was slow through the corners, and almost caught me out with some early braking on a few laps, but with the slippery conditions, it was difficult to pass and he could get enough of a run on me down the straights to keep me at bay, and with Kevan right behind me I had the car right on the edge, with lots of under steer and snap over steer, still it gave the commentator something to mention.
Coming down the back straight on lap four Marc touched some standing water with his inside wheel and got a very big tank slapper on. Being so close, I had to slow to avoid being taken out, so couldn’t capitalise on it.
On the sixth lap as we headed through the hairpin at the start of the main straight, Marc ran a little wide so I tried to nip up the inside, there was just about enough room in the dry, but in the wet I understeered and Marc kicked the back out as he tried to put the power down. This caused him to slow slightly and as he fishtailed, the side of his car connected with the front wing on mine. Oops! This pushed the front of my car back on line and I managed to sneak past. Not my preferred method of overtaking.
After that I managed to pull away from Mark and Kevan at two to three seconds a lap, trying to close the 20-second gap to Tim for track position rather than class results. Over the next eight laps I managed to get that gap down to eight, despite a very wild ride and a big tank slapper on the back straight.
At the flag, the two wet-tyre equipped cars came home first with Steve Hall taking first and Invitation Class and Tim second and Class A, while I came in third with the Class B win.
After I got past them, Marc and Kevan continued to fight until Kevan span coming out of McIntyre’s. The grass was so wet Kevan lost two laps trying to get back on the circuit and came in last.
Race aftermath
After the race the rain came back in a bid to drown everyone in the paddock, including the large number of TVR owners who had come along to cheer us all on. We stayed for the BBQ laid on by Noel from V8 Sports and classics and the local TVRCC region, before heading on for a meal with local relatives.
Day Two
Sunday morning came and it was more of the same -- the mountain at the end of the garden was still shrouded in mist.
It was a slightly more relaxed TVR paddock on the Sunday with no scrutineering to worry about or drivers' briefing to miss. The only concern was the weather. With a wet race a certainty, we dug out a set of wets and bolted them to the car. We also backed off the rear dampers a little in an effort to gain some rear end grip and reduce snap oversteer, although I think the real solution is some softer springs.
Qualifying 2
I led the pack out onto a wet track for qualifying, the wet tyres making a huge difference. The back of the car much more forgiving than in the race, while still being lively enough to keep me on my toes. Running first on the track without any traffic I managed to put in a couple of good laps coming in on overall pole ahead of the Thorpedo by less than six hundredths of a second.
Race 2
For the second race the rain had held off long enough for the track to become reasonably dry, so it was back to dry tyres, although we left the car with the softer rear suspension.
I lead the pack round for the green flag lap and formed up on the grid, stopping on pole ready for the off. As the lights went out, I managed to hook up a reasonable start, as did Steve Hall who launched into the lead. I managed to hold off a fast starting Kevan Gore into Duffus -- going through sideways made it more difficult for him to get past -- and held onto second place.
Into Taylor’s for the first time, and Steve slowed very early having trouble with his brakes. This caught me off guard a little and I slowed a little to much, and didn’t cover the inside well enough. As I went inside Steve, Kevan went inside me and I got squeezed as we went around three abreast. The result was Kevan emerging in the lead with Steve Hall between us. In the drag up the hill on the start finish straight, my slow exit speed and lower power showed and Marc shot past as well. Great. Second to fourth in one corner.
Through Duffus for the first time, I had the inside line on Steve, and then held on the outside of the left hander to force Steve wide into the following right hander. I was right on the dirty line so it was a little slippery but it worked and the three of us Kevan, Marc and myself were now line astern with Steve struggling with lots of power and grip but suffering brake problems.
Kevan took the wide line through Taylor’s and Marc took him on the inside, I tried to follow him but Kevan had it covered, again they pulled away from me up the hill but I closed up under braking. Steve also had the power to get past but had to brake early letting me back through. Kevan also managed to out-brake Marc into Duffus to take the lead again.
I was all over the back of Marc through the twisty section but just couldn’t stay close enough on the straight to get in front and make it stick. Kevan again went wide at the hairpin allowing Marc through. We stayed in that very close formation for the rest of the lap. Holding back a little through Clark allowed me to carry more exit speed and stay with them down the back straight. Into Taylor’s, I got past on the inside, and almost held onto second place through Duffus, but Kevan just managed to hold onto the outside as we both went through sideways. We continued side by side for the next couple of corners, with Kevan taking second before I grabbed in back through the inside at Clark.
I held on until losing the place on the way into Duffus, on the next lap. We continued this game of high-octane cat and mouse for the next couple of laps, swapping places everywhere, although this fighting allowed Marc to build up a lead. The in car video shows just how close things were, and how hard we were both trying. On about lap seven, Kevan ran wide at the exit of Clark. This sent him sideways straight across the track in front of me and I must have missed collecting him by the width of a respray.
Avoiding Kevan, as he buried his car in the tyre wall allowed Steve Hall back through, but with his increased braking areas I quickly nipped through to try and chase Marc down. The gap to Marc had stretched to almost seven seconds.
Over the next four laps I brought this down to almost nothing and I tried to line him up for a move through Clark. I took a little too much curb on the way in and this launched me to the outside of the track. I bounced over the exit curb onto the grass, and very gently tried to coax the car back onto the black bit without loosing too much speed. I almost made it but at the last moment there was a dip in the grass and it shot the car sideways a full ninety degrees to the road facing the outside of the circuit at about seventy miles an hour.
The only thing going through my mind at the time was how much time I was losing -- and if I hit that barrier how much is it going to cost.
Fortunately I managed to wrestle control and keep the car going in the right direction and out of the barriers. A good save even if I do say so myself! By the time I made it back to the track, Steve Hall had made his way through. The rest of the race was fairly uneventful. I’d lost about eight seconds, but it took a couple of laps to get the mud out from the wheels that was causing vibration and worries about suspension damage.
At the flag, Marc took a well-deserved win and I limped home third on the road and second in class B, taking another fastest lap on the way. I was a little disappointed as it was a fantastic race and it was great to go wheel to wheel again with Kevan but, if it wasn’t for a little mistake it should have been another win.
With the long journey back home everyone was keen to get off so the cars were quickly packed away, and once the prize giving was over we all headed off quite quickly.
The tally for the weekend was a win, a second two fastest laps, some silverware and some more vouchers from ToolsNStuff, so at the end of the day quite a good result. The race for the class and series win is wide open with just about everyone in with a shout.
Cadwell Park
There is now quite a gap until the next race at Cadwell park on the 17 July. So with the Tuscan back in the garage the engine is now out and in pieces for checking. There should be plenty of time but we all know what usually happens to 'plenty of time'.
Expect to see the lights on in the garage until early in the mornings the week before Cadwell.
Just thought Id say, Nice one Steve, I watched you at cadwell and donington nd thought you was great.
At least you know that next time you can win
I think it would go even fast if the girls would polish the car more because it would make it more streamlined.
I cant wait to see you at the next races
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