CSCC Magnificant 7s - 2018
Discussion
We were there this weekend too supporting my friend in his first Mag Sevens race (Previously raced in the 750MC RGB) What a great change it is to be doing the longer races. A nice big grid too, I hope it stays like this throughout the season. Roll on Silverstone. We also played around with a new 360 degree panning camera, just need to sort out the noise! https://youtu.be/bxNh_1-J4n0
Another friend of mine did the Graduates in 2016 in the Super class and enjoyed it too. Both very nice to watch from my point of view. The 40 min races in my opinion are more fun to watch, but I prefer the two days events as we make a weekend of it.
Good luck for the next race
Another friend of mine did the Graduates in 2016 in the Super class and enjoyed it too. Both very nice to watch from my point of view. The 40 min races in my opinion are more fun to watch, but I prefer the two days events as we make a weekend of it.
Good luck for the next race
andy97 said:
Can any of the Caterham experts out there tell me if there is a difference in engine spec between a K Series Supersport and a K Series Mega Grad engine? I assumed they were the the same.
The car i was battling with yesterday was faster down the straights but i was quicker through the corners and on rxit speed.
Not had the car on the dyno but all seems healthy enough. Just seems odd thst the other car was faster in a straight line!
From memory the only difference was that the grads stuck an ali plenum and bigger throttle body on them. As far as I'm aware it only really achieved an increase in noise and vibrations (I think it moved the peak power further up the rev range too).The car i was battling with yesterday was faster down the straights but i was quicker through the corners and on rxit speed.
Not had the car on the dyno but all seems healthy enough. Just seems odd thst the other car was faster in a straight line!
sfaulds said:
andy97 said:
Can any of the Caterham experts out there tell me if there is a difference in engine spec between a K Series Supersport and a K Series Mega Grad engine? I assumed they were the the same.
The car i was battling with yesterday was faster down the straights but i was quicker through the corners and on rxit speed.
Not had the car on the dyno but all seems healthy enough. Just seems odd thst the other car was faster in a straight line!
From memory the only difference was that the grads stuck an ali plenum and bigger throttle body on them. As far as I'm aware it only really achieved an increase in noise and vibrations (I think it moved the peak power further up the rev range too).The car i was battling with yesterday was faster down the straights but i was quicker through the corners and on rxit speed.
Not had the car on the dyno but all seems healthy enough. Just seems odd thst the other car was faster in a straight line!
Maybe a silly question but are you using all the revs? Rev limiter is circa 7800rpm so change around 7500.
Even with sealed engines in the grads some cars are quicker on the straight - maybe a recent head rebuild for the other car? Maybe the other car has some tweaks over a standard supersport spec?
Even with sealed engines in the grads some cars are quicker on the straight - maybe a recent head rebuild for the other car? Maybe the other car has some tweaks over a standard supersport spec?
MR2_SC said:
Maybe a silly question but are you using all the revs? Rev limiter is circa 7800rpm so change around 7500.
Even with sealed engines in the grads some cars are quicker on the straight - maybe a recent head rebuild for the other car? Maybe the other car has some tweaks over a standard supersport spec?
Must admit i was changing up at about 7000 as thought rev limit was 7200. Spoke to McMillan Motorsport yesterday and they told me that rev limit was 7600 with peak power virtually near the end. Even with sealed engines in the grads some cars are quicker on the straight - maybe a recent head rebuild for the other car? Maybe the other car has some tweaks over a standard supersport spec?
Must admit that i am more used to racing torquey engines (inc turbos) with peak power lower down the rev range. It sort of seems difficult/ scary to convince myself to rev almost to the red line.
Interesting!
Edited by andy97 on Tuesday 10th April 11:07
7600 rings a bell.
There are circuits/times when I’ll leave it in gear and bounce on the limiter briefly rather than change up just before a corner (ie. mountain to hall bends at Cadwell). The Mega engines have forged pistons and a short stroke so are happy to rev up to the limiter all day long.
Google suggests that the piston stroke is 79mm so even at 7600rpm the mean piston speed is only 20 metres per second. Compare that to an oem K20 Honda engine that has a stroke of 86mm and makes peak power at 8000rpm.
Wring it’s neck- it’s built for it!
Ps - just to confuse you I changed my username as mr2_sc seemed a little out of date.
There are circuits/times when I’ll leave it in gear and bounce on the limiter briefly rather than change up just before a corner (ie. mountain to hall bends at Cadwell). The Mega engines have forged pistons and a short stroke so are happy to rev up to the limiter all day long.
Google suggests that the piston stroke is 79mm so even at 7600rpm the mean piston speed is only 20 metres per second. Compare that to an oem K20 Honda engine that has a stroke of 86mm and makes peak power at 8000rpm.
Wring it’s neck- it’s built for it!
Ps - just to confuse you I changed my username as mr2_sc seemed a little out of date.
Probably worth investing in some shift lights because the Mega engine really needs to be taken to within a couple of hundred RPM of the limiter.
The Supersport is likely to have different gear ratios which may be a factor.
It’s worth saying that without an LSD there is a real skill to getting the power down in a mega and in some corners avoiding spinning the inside wheel can influence your line.
The Supersport is likely to have different gear ratios which may be a factor.
It’s worth saying that without an LSD there is a real skill to getting the power down in a mega and in some corners avoiding spinning the inside wheel can influence your line.
Racing in Mag 7s at Oulton Park this coming Saturday. Not been out in the car since Snetterton. Sharing it with a F. Vee driver of my acquaintance, too, so it will be interesting to see how he gets o compared to me.
The only change to the car has been the fitting or a large convex rear view mirror to improve my view of those lapping me, LoL!
A good entry overall, and 10 cars in my Class B again.
The only change to the car has been the fitting or a large convex rear view mirror to improve my view of those lapping me, LoL!
A good entry overall, and 10 cars in my Class B again.
Thought I would bring this up to date.
Oulton Park was a massive challenge - hideously wet in the morning and survival was the order of the day. I think everyone did well to get through qualifying without a red flag. I qualified last but one but way off the pace. 38 cars on the grid, including 10 Class B cars and 4 x Class C cars (Class B is where I sit) so plenty of relatively lower powered cars. One of the Class B cars, Harry Senior, qualified 5th - ASTONISHING.
The race was dry and I got away well ahead of a couple of people but missed a gear after the first corner and dropped back. I struggled to be honest and didn't drive very well. I had a spin at Druids after putting a wheel on the wet grass but everyone missed me, and then I went off at Lodge as well. I thought something had broken but all seemed OK and maybe it was just crap on now wet tyres meaning I went straight on. Confidence lost, I struggled round a couple of more laps before I came in for my pit stop and changed drivers. I was sharing the car for the first time. Mike brought the car home but the race was cut short and that was that. We finished last but one in 29th place; several others didn't finish.
Must admit I felt very disappointed in myself afterwards and was all for giving up! I was way off anyone else's pace and way off the sort of lap times that the car had previously done around Oulton with the previous owner. We had had several tech challenges which didn't help my mood either, and the car needed a new fuel tank (a crack), an intermittent starter issue needed investigating and I decided to investigate the set up (I have driven it as I bought it up to now, but I am 20Kg (ish) heavier than the previous owner and he had had ballast in the passenger footwell too).
A few weeks later, with the corner, cross weights, ride heights and toe out adjusted, and I was out at Donington on a track evening with an instructor for company. The instructor spotted a few basic flaws in my technique and we worked on those and I felt a lot happier.
I raced at Brands Indy last weekend, driving on my own again. Another packed grid and some awesomely quick front runners, but 9 in my Class and a Class A car and 3 Class C cars for company, too. Its getting close to the time when the "Group 1" Mag 7s (Classes A, B and C) might be able to have their own grid. Come on folks, come and join us! It would be fantastic to get our own grid and would mean we don't have to spend so much time looking in our mirrors for rocket ships.
This time I qualified ahead of 2 other cars. Success!! (apart from one trip in to the gravel when I tried to use more of the road on the entry to paddock Hill than was there!!).
The race was a bit lonely but I finished 29th out of 32 finishers. More importantly, perhaps, I was quicker than the driver I had been nip and tuck with at Snetterton and only a second off the last owners previous pace. Maybe I am getting a bit less poor! The instruction certainly helped and I enjoyed it. I am no longer contemplating giving up and back in love with racing a Caterham. I do need to get the hoover out, though, to try to get rid of the last of the gravel! And there were some low oil pressure indications (c19 psi) in the corners for 2-4 seconds on most laps; see my "I have just agreed to buy a MegaGrad" thread.
I am not doing Thruxton, sadly, but may have 2 races to come at Donington and one at Mallory.
Oulton Park was a massive challenge - hideously wet in the morning and survival was the order of the day. I think everyone did well to get through qualifying without a red flag. I qualified last but one but way off the pace. 38 cars on the grid, including 10 Class B cars and 4 x Class C cars (Class B is where I sit) so plenty of relatively lower powered cars. One of the Class B cars, Harry Senior, qualified 5th - ASTONISHING.
The race was dry and I got away well ahead of a couple of people but missed a gear after the first corner and dropped back. I struggled to be honest and didn't drive very well. I had a spin at Druids after putting a wheel on the wet grass but everyone missed me, and then I went off at Lodge as well. I thought something had broken but all seemed OK and maybe it was just crap on now wet tyres meaning I went straight on. Confidence lost, I struggled round a couple of more laps before I came in for my pit stop and changed drivers. I was sharing the car for the first time. Mike brought the car home but the race was cut short and that was that. We finished last but one in 29th place; several others didn't finish.
Must admit I felt very disappointed in myself afterwards and was all for giving up! I was way off anyone else's pace and way off the sort of lap times that the car had previously done around Oulton with the previous owner. We had had several tech challenges which didn't help my mood either, and the car needed a new fuel tank (a crack), an intermittent starter issue needed investigating and I decided to investigate the set up (I have driven it as I bought it up to now, but I am 20Kg (ish) heavier than the previous owner and he had had ballast in the passenger footwell too).
A few weeks later, with the corner, cross weights, ride heights and toe out adjusted, and I was out at Donington on a track evening with an instructor for company. The instructor spotted a few basic flaws in my technique and we worked on those and I felt a lot happier.
I raced at Brands Indy last weekend, driving on my own again. Another packed grid and some awesomely quick front runners, but 9 in my Class and a Class A car and 3 Class C cars for company, too. Its getting close to the time when the "Group 1" Mag 7s (Classes A, B and C) might be able to have their own grid. Come on folks, come and join us! It would be fantastic to get our own grid and would mean we don't have to spend so much time looking in our mirrors for rocket ships.
This time I qualified ahead of 2 other cars. Success!! (apart from one trip in to the gravel when I tried to use more of the road on the entry to paddock Hill than was there!!).
The race was a bit lonely but I finished 29th out of 32 finishers. More importantly, perhaps, I was quicker than the driver I had been nip and tuck with at Snetterton and only a second off the last owners previous pace. Maybe I am getting a bit less poor! The instruction certainly helped and I enjoyed it. I am no longer contemplating giving up and back in love with racing a Caterham. I do need to get the hoover out, though, to try to get rid of the last of the gravel! And there were some low oil pressure indications (c19 psi) in the corners for 2-4 seconds on most laps; see my "I have just agreed to buy a MegaGrad" thread.
I am not doing Thruxton, sadly, but may have 2 races to come at Donington and one at Mallory.
Edited by andy97 on Tuesday 17th July 10:31
Great update Andy. Sorry to hear Oulton didn’t go well. I’ve been there 3 times and it’s been wet, wet or snowing. It seems to have a climate of its own! It’s great if/when it dries out...
Glad to hear Brands was better to you! Keep at it. The mega’s take a bit of learning but they’re a great car and rewarding when it you get it all right.
Glad to hear Brands was better to you! Keep at it. The mega’s take a bit of learning but they’re a great car and rewarding when it you get it all right.
It was all pretty good to be fair. I was surprised on a couple of occasions (outside of Paddock Hill Bend exit, once :-O ) but the overtaking cars were good, and i found that a panoramic mirror helps!!!
It would be great if we could get back to 2 x big grids though!
By the way, i am not annoyed by the high powered cars, just jealous and slightly in awe of being able to race a Caterham with that much power and (usually) a sequential ‘box!
It would be great if we could get back to 2 x big grids though!
By the way, i am not annoyed by the high powered cars, just jealous and slightly in awe of being able to race a Caterham with that much power and (usually) a sequential ‘box!
Edited by andy97 on Wednesday 18th July 10:22
Another update, if no one minds.
Raced at Donington Park yesterday and had a good day by my own (low) standards!
39 cars practiced. 12 in Class, the largest group.
Qualifying was a challenge as someone dumped oil all round the track after about 4 laps and I think I was the first to experience it at Redgate (survived ok, with just a wiggle) and then at Old Hairpin I turned in and went completely broadside into the edge of the gravel, quickly followed by a couple of other pirouetting cars and a red flag. Before the red flag, though, I was worried that I was going to get hit, but fortunately luck was on my side.
After a significant delay whilst the marshals used up a sizeable quantity of Blue Circle's finest, we had another 4 laps, which was a bit of a waste of time but seat time is seat time.
I qualified 37th and 10th in class.
Rain before the start of the race led to some anxious moments and thoughts about changing tyres but I stayed on the semi-slick Nankang AR1s. We started behind the safety car because of the damp track and I then proceeded to have a good battle with another Class B car. Good, clean fun as we traded places until the pit stops. In the second half of the race I had no one to really battle with but I did start to drive quicker and settled into a good smooth rhythm, pushing the car, and me, quicker than I had previously thought I could. I had had some instruction at Donington recently and I had Jordan Sanders' advice ringing in my ears.
Towards the end I was catching the car of my close protagonist from the early part of the race, although I had no way of knowing whether that was a battle for a place or not, after the pit stops were taken in to account. I did fail to overtake him on the last lap, but the results showed that I was already ahead by most of a lap anyway. Finished 31st.
My fastest race lap was 4.7 secs quicker than my qualifying lap! The lap analysis showed that in my first half of the race I had been a couple of secs per lap slower than my fastest lap, but consistent, but after the pit stop I picked up pace and was lapping consistently near my fastest race lap. No idea why! The times also showed that if I could have lapped throughout at, or near, my later stint pace I could have been battling with 2 or 3 cars ahead of me, in theory.
My fastest lap is also nearer the pace of the previous owner on the same circuit than I have been hitherto. Progress anyway.
I really enjoyed the race and driving standards were excellent. The lapping front running cars were really good to us slow coaches, too. I really like racing a Caterham - from thinking about giving it up at Oulton, I now wish I had done it years ago!!!
Mallory Park next on October 7th.
Photographs of the event are here:
https://www.davidstallardphotography.com/ClassicSp...
My trip to the beach is in page 14/15 and the Mag 7 race photos start on page 77.
I like this one, as I braked later for the chicane. I am car 36!
https://www.davidstallardphotography.com/ClassicSp...
Raced at Donington Park yesterday and had a good day by my own (low) standards!
39 cars practiced. 12 in Class, the largest group.
Qualifying was a challenge as someone dumped oil all round the track after about 4 laps and I think I was the first to experience it at Redgate (survived ok, with just a wiggle) and then at Old Hairpin I turned in and went completely broadside into the edge of the gravel, quickly followed by a couple of other pirouetting cars and a red flag. Before the red flag, though, I was worried that I was going to get hit, but fortunately luck was on my side.
After a significant delay whilst the marshals used up a sizeable quantity of Blue Circle's finest, we had another 4 laps, which was a bit of a waste of time but seat time is seat time.
I qualified 37th and 10th in class.
Rain before the start of the race led to some anxious moments and thoughts about changing tyres but I stayed on the semi-slick Nankang AR1s. We started behind the safety car because of the damp track and I then proceeded to have a good battle with another Class B car. Good, clean fun as we traded places until the pit stops. In the second half of the race I had no one to really battle with but I did start to drive quicker and settled into a good smooth rhythm, pushing the car, and me, quicker than I had previously thought I could. I had had some instruction at Donington recently and I had Jordan Sanders' advice ringing in my ears.
Towards the end I was catching the car of my close protagonist from the early part of the race, although I had no way of knowing whether that was a battle for a place or not, after the pit stops were taken in to account. I did fail to overtake him on the last lap, but the results showed that I was already ahead by most of a lap anyway. Finished 31st.
My fastest race lap was 4.7 secs quicker than my qualifying lap! The lap analysis showed that in my first half of the race I had been a couple of secs per lap slower than my fastest lap, but consistent, but after the pit stop I picked up pace and was lapping consistently near my fastest race lap. No idea why! The times also showed that if I could have lapped throughout at, or near, my later stint pace I could have been battling with 2 or 3 cars ahead of me, in theory.
My fastest lap is also nearer the pace of the previous owner on the same circuit than I have been hitherto. Progress anyway.
I really enjoyed the race and driving standards were excellent. The lapping front running cars were really good to us slow coaches, too. I really like racing a Caterham - from thinking about giving it up at Oulton, I now wish I had done it years ago!!!
Mallory Park next on October 7th.
Photographs of the event are here:
https://www.davidstallardphotography.com/ClassicSp...
My trip to the beach is in page 14/15 and the Mag 7 race photos start on page 77.
I like this one, as I braked later for the chicane. I am car 36!
https://www.davidstallardphotography.com/ClassicSp...
Edited by andy97 on Monday 17th September 21:09
Edited by andy97 on Monday 17th September 21:22
Sunday 7 Oct was my last race of the season; 5 Mag 7s races completed, 2 half track days in the 7 and 1 C1 24 Hour race at Rockingham, but the less said about the latter the better.
Mallory Park had 24 cars entered and 8 in my class, Class B. Qualifying early was very cold and there was just a single dry line throughout the track after Saturday rain. I spun at the Esses on the Green Flag lap. Cold tyres and cold greasy track. I hardly touched the throttle!!!
On my next lap round, 3 other cars were broadside or on the grass having done the same thing! I took things very carefully from that point onwards and didn't have a great deal of confidence. I qualified 20th out of 23 in 1 min 01 something. Class pole was 53.9. Hmmmm, he doesn't have enough imagination! At least I had 3 cars behind me.
The track dried really well and it warmed up a fair bit. I got a poor start and then had a fairly lonely race to finish 16th out of 18 finishers. Unfortunately the 2 usual people I get to battle with were not entered at this meeting and I am not quick enough to trouble the rest of the people in the class. I still lapped nearly 6 secs faster than qualifying but the class fastest lap was 3 secs quicker again. Oh well, I still enjoyed it and drove faster around Mallory than I have ever gone before in a variety of cars, and Gerrards in a Caterham is great fun.
Overall It's been a good season, and I will definitely be back in Mag 7s next year. I do love racing a Caterham. A couple of spins throughout the year but no damage at all. Driving standards have been fantastic and no contact, and it's a good Paddock to be part of.
On average Class B (125-140 bhp) has been the biggest class in each race with between 8 and 12 entrants. There has usually been 2 or 3 Class C cars and one Class A car as well. If we could just get 5-6 more cars out regularly amongst this group then maybe we could persuade the club to put on a separate race for the lower powered cars.
Mallory Park had 24 cars entered and 8 in my class, Class B. Qualifying early was very cold and there was just a single dry line throughout the track after Saturday rain. I spun at the Esses on the Green Flag lap. Cold tyres and cold greasy track. I hardly touched the throttle!!!
On my next lap round, 3 other cars were broadside or on the grass having done the same thing! I took things very carefully from that point onwards and didn't have a great deal of confidence. I qualified 20th out of 23 in 1 min 01 something. Class pole was 53.9. Hmmmm, he doesn't have enough imagination! At least I had 3 cars behind me.
The track dried really well and it warmed up a fair bit. I got a poor start and then had a fairly lonely race to finish 16th out of 18 finishers. Unfortunately the 2 usual people I get to battle with were not entered at this meeting and I am not quick enough to trouble the rest of the people in the class. I still lapped nearly 6 secs faster than qualifying but the class fastest lap was 3 secs quicker again. Oh well, I still enjoyed it and drove faster around Mallory than I have ever gone before in a variety of cars, and Gerrards in a Caterham is great fun.
Overall It's been a good season, and I will definitely be back in Mag 7s next year. I do love racing a Caterham. A couple of spins throughout the year but no damage at all. Driving standards have been fantastic and no contact, and it's a good Paddock to be part of.
On average Class B (125-140 bhp) has been the biggest class in each race with between 8 and 12 entrants. There has usually been 2 or 3 Class C cars and one Class A car as well. If we could just get 5-6 more cars out regularly amongst this group then maybe we could persuade the club to put on a separate race for the lower powered cars.
Edited by andy97 on Monday 8th October 14:31
FST said:
Thanks Andy - I’ve really enjoyed your reports through the season. Good luck next year, and keep us posted!
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it. I guess my aim is to encourage as many people as possible to compete, and to show that you can be at the blunt end of the grid and still have a good time.I know that competing is usually about winning, but at my level of age, time, budget and talent I really am just enjoying taking part. It can be done without going daft on outlay and is still an awesome experience.
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