Spire GT3 RGB Racer
Discussion
chriswhitlock said:
That's impressive. Are you competing again next year?
Yep no intention of stopping any time soon. I may try something else at some point but it's tricky because I don't want to race anything slower and everything faster runs on slicks and is therefore a hell of a lot more expensive to stay competitive, as they cost so much more and have a bigger performance drop off. I think Sports 1000 is an amazing sweet spot in club racing because of this. Very fast and enjoyable cars to drive but I only used two sets of the AR1's this season, that's £800.
I know some guys in F1000 and Bikesports are using two sets of slicks a weekend.... One set is more than my entire seasons tyre spend this year!!! That's just chequebook Racing. Even if the club limit their tyre allocations is still a huge increase but it would help.
I suppose that's where sponsors come in but I've never had any proper help to that sort of extent. Unfortunately the only people who get help these days are either people who don't need it or are getting it through some sort of woke cause.
Went off on a bit of a tangent there but that's the predicament I'm in, don't really feel like I can do anything else without some support, kinda stuck where I am but that's not a bad thing. Would just be nice to have the option to prove myself in other championships.
chriswhitlock said:
You have certainly got your eye in with the Spire. Its eye opening when you say that a set of slicks cost more than your season.
That Croft race was spectacular to watch from trackside. Good luck for 2024 Ryan
Thanks Chris That Croft race was spectacular to watch from trackside. Good luck for 2024 Ryan
Yes it's difficult to justify the performance increase of going to a slicks and wings championship Vs the cost increase, at least it is if I'm paying..which I am
What is annoying is that some people have a very warped view that the fastest championships produce the most skilled drivers, which really isn't the case. The lap times are faster because the cars are faster.
The beauty of sports 1000 is we all have the same limiting factors and that is the output of the standard engines, the tightly regulated aero and the control tyres. Money helps but ultimately you can buy speed in sports 1000 beyond making sure you have a good car and getting loads of testing in to improve your own driving, which is the case in all forms of racing.. but at least we don't have issues with expensive engines and tyres.
Edited by Yazza54 on Friday 5th January 09:19
Edited by Yazza54 on Friday 5th January 09:58
SpudLink said:
Yazza54 said:
I suppose that's where sponsors come in but I've never had any proper help to that sort of extent. Unfortunately the only people who get help these days are either people who don't need it or are getting it through some sort of woke cause.
Just tell people you now identify as non-binary. These days you don't surgery, or even be clean shaven. Just register for next season as 'Rita Yarrow' and the sponsorship should start rolling in. 
It's race week!
If anyone's interested, the races will be streamed live on alpha live YouTube channel, it should be easy to find on there but there should be links on 750 motorclub website and FB page too.
Nice that Nankang have come onboard as main sponsor for our championship too.
Weather is looking reasonably good, looking forward to it.
Decided to stick with lucky no. 54 this year rather than running the no.1.
If anyone's interested, the races will be streamed live on alpha live YouTube channel, it should be easy to find on there but there should be links on 750 motorclub website and FB page too.
Nice that Nankang have come onboard as main sponsor for our championship too.
Weather is looking reasonably good, looking forward to it.
Decided to stick with lucky no. 54 this year rather than running the no.1.
First weekend went quite well.
Testing was crap, so many red flags, bit of a waste of time and could've got the setup better potentially had the testing time been more useful.. but anyway
Qualifying - pole position by about a tenth. Was on a mega lap at the end of the session but they put the chequered flag out late or early depending on how you look at it (I was the leading car on track but didn't get a flag), so never managed to complete the lap. Came round last corner and there's a bloody queue coming in the pits.
This theme would continue through the weekend!
Race 1 - terrible start, clattered the kerb into clervaux and the car felt a bit ponderous after that. Managed to get back to the lead after two laps and lead until the start of lap 13, after a long defense with Rich Miles hot on my tail, when a upper wishbone inner joint let go, i was dragged offline and lost the lead. 3 or so very slow laps to the end and I came in 3rd, but the results were later wound back a lap unbeknown to me due to the chequered flag being put out late. I lost P2 on the lap that shouldn't have happened so got reinstated, which was a silver lining at least.
Fixed her up and got up early to do a half decent alignment and corner weight on the only remotely flat patch I could find at croft.
Race 2 - started 2nd, my race lap setting the starting position which was a smidge slower than Rich's. Another crap start, slotted in behind Rich and applied pressure everywhere I could. He was defending very well as you'll see in the video but I had faith that an opportunity would come in some way. Upon catching back markers I saw a chance and managed to cut underneath him around hawthorn and then it was a case of pushing on and not losing time when lapping cars. Held the lead and managed to open a gap to the end and set the fastest lap for an extra point.
Another one of those weekends where it could've gone a bit better, but also could've been so so much worse if the joint failed out the back section at 128 mph into tower or flat through the Jim Clark esses. So I have to be happy enough.
My video here and also below it Rich's video, a great perspective of both our weekends!!
Testing was crap, so many red flags, bit of a waste of time and could've got the setup better potentially had the testing time been more useful.. but anyway
Qualifying - pole position by about a tenth. Was on a mega lap at the end of the session but they put the chequered flag out late or early depending on how you look at it (I was the leading car on track but didn't get a flag), so never managed to complete the lap. Came round last corner and there's a bloody queue coming in the pits.
This theme would continue through the weekend!
Race 1 - terrible start, clattered the kerb into clervaux and the car felt a bit ponderous after that. Managed to get back to the lead after two laps and lead until the start of lap 13, after a long defense with Rich Miles hot on my tail, when a upper wishbone inner joint let go, i was dragged offline and lost the lead. 3 or so very slow laps to the end and I came in 3rd, but the results were later wound back a lap unbeknown to me due to the chequered flag being put out late. I lost P2 on the lap that shouldn't have happened so got reinstated, which was a silver lining at least.
Fixed her up and got up early to do a half decent alignment and corner weight on the only remotely flat patch I could find at croft.
Race 2 - started 2nd, my race lap setting the starting position which was a smidge slower than Rich's. Another crap start, slotted in behind Rich and applied pressure everywhere I could. He was defending very well as you'll see in the video but I had faith that an opportunity would come in some way. Upon catching back markers I saw a chance and managed to cut underneath him around hawthorn and then it was a case of pushing on and not losing time when lapping cars. Held the lead and managed to open a gap to the end and set the fastest lap for an extra point.
Another one of those weekends where it could've gone a bit better, but also could've been so so much worse if the joint failed out the back section at 128 mph into tower or flat through the Jim Clark esses. So I have to be happy enough.
My video here and also below it Rich's video, a great perspective of both our weekends!!
Yep I had no idea, a few people quipped that I had complained which was total b
ks as I was confused by it.. But watching it back later it was obvious why. Yep it's ultimately a solid start to the season, could have been a clean sheet but also could've been me in a field injured / heavily damaged car. So I have to be pleased.
ks as I was confused by it.. But watching it back later it was obvious why. Yep it's ultimately a solid start to the season, could have been a clean sheet but also could've been me in a field injured / heavily damaged car. So I have to be pleased. Hey mate, cheers yeah I know I'm biased but I think my car looks amazing now with the green and yellow/gold bits.
The grid was OK but expected better, there's a few people with personal issues / just couldn't make it so I expect the numbers to improve as the season goes on. We are having a bit more of a social media push too and going to keep sharing footage as is Rich which I hope will help... I honestly don't understand why people race anything else, these cars are so fun to drive and the £/performance beats anything else out there particularly when it comes to running costs. No 1200 quid set of slicks with a cliff edge performance drop off here, one set of AR1 control tyres from polleysport is £395 and theyll do 2-3 race weekends.
Due to us having a couple of wet races last year I did the full season on less than £800 of tyres. All other faster (slicks and wings) championships people are spending nigh on double that in one weekend, not to mention their tuned/hybrid long stroke/big bore busa engines that cost a fortune etc. I've felt for a long time that sports 1000 is one of the best championships out there, I think what we struggle with is USP. Kinda just good on all fronts.. I suppose the USP is bang for buck, but that doesn't always get people starry eyed.
There seemed to be a bit of an exodus not long ago where a lot of people went racing objectively more exotic cars in other multi class championships etc. Still club racing but fking expensive and arguably a smaller pool of talent, just people with money. The racing apparently not half as good but racing exotic cars in a class of 5 looks good on the gram.
I suppose some people choose a category to race in so they can post about it on social media and look like they're going places.. the rest of us in the know, know it's a complete load of bks 
There's so many people out there now trophy hunting in class championships where there's little to no competition and plastering it all over the place, it honestly boils my piss. Why no one checks the results for themselves is beyond me. Gone off on a tangent here but the point I'm making is that Sports 1000 is as pure as it gets. We have the MKs on the grid at the moment to help them get off the ground but they are a separate "cup", not a class. They are also helping bump our numbers post COVID as things undoubtedly took a hit. So it's a mutual benefit but not the long term plan for either of us.
We also have the sporting cup to keep people interested that are mid pack, essentially if you score a overall podium you get knocked out of it. Generally 4th-6th overall is 1st-3rd in sporting cup.
So there's something for everyone, but the main prize is a prize that means something and not one that will come easily.
Fingers crossed people see just how amazing these cars are both in accessibility and performance and there's a bit of a resurgence. I am very passionate about this as you can probably tell
The grid was OK but expected better, there's a few people with personal issues / just couldn't make it so I expect the numbers to improve as the season goes on. We are having a bit more of a social media push too and going to keep sharing footage as is Rich which I hope will help... I honestly don't understand why people race anything else, these cars are so fun to drive and the £/performance beats anything else out there particularly when it comes to running costs. No 1200 quid set of slicks with a cliff edge performance drop off here, one set of AR1 control tyres from polleysport is £395 and theyll do 2-3 race weekends.
Due to us having a couple of wet races last year I did the full season on less than £800 of tyres. All other faster (slicks and wings) championships people are spending nigh on double that in one weekend, not to mention their tuned/hybrid long stroke/big bore busa engines that cost a fortune etc. I've felt for a long time that sports 1000 is one of the best championships out there, I think what we struggle with is USP. Kinda just good on all fronts.. I suppose the USP is bang for buck, but that doesn't always get people starry eyed.
There seemed to be a bit of an exodus not long ago where a lot of people went racing objectively more exotic cars in other multi class championships etc. Still club racing but f
king expensive and arguably a smaller pool of talent, just people with money. The racing apparently not half as good but racing exotic cars in a class of 5 looks good on the gram. I suppose some people choose a category to race in so they can post about it on social media and look like they're going places.. the rest of us in the know, know it's a complete load of b
ks There's so many people out there now trophy hunting in class championships where there's little to no competition and plastering it all over the place, it honestly boils my piss. Why no one checks the results for themselves is beyond me. Gone off on a tangent here but the point I'm making is that Sports 1000 is as pure as it gets. We have the MKs on the grid at the moment to help them get off the ground but they are a separate "cup", not a class. They are also helping bump our numbers post COVID as things undoubtedly took a hit. So it's a mutual benefit but not the long term plan for either of us.
We also have the sporting cup to keep people interested that are mid pack, essentially if you score a overall podium you get knocked out of it. Generally 4th-6th overall is 1st-3rd in sporting cup.
So there's something for everyone, but the main prize is a prize that means something and not one that will come easily.
Fingers crossed people see just how amazing these cars are both in accessibility and performance and there's a bit of a resurgence. I am very passionate about this as you can probably tell
Edited by Yazza54 on Tuesday 23 April 20:39
The side of being a traditional run yourself clubbie that no one sees!
This week was this Yarrow Racing bangbus MOT, a time I fear every year because there's always something that comes up. Last year was some anti knock bushes on the front torsion bars that literally do nothing and perish for fun on these Ivecos. I got a particularly jobsworth type and he failed it .. so I wrote to VOSA and they agreed with me that it was an advisory at best and of no detriment to the vehicle and gave me a pass. I fought the law and all that!
It's much more stringent on a HGV and I always fear the smoke test, revving the absolute tits off a big diesel in neutral, just horrible.
So this year it absolutely sailed through until the dreaded smoke test. The guy was really sound and gave me a few goes, it was getting better each time but struggling probably due to general lack of use. He was adamant I should floor it and hold it down which felt horrible, anyway... On the final attempt the fan ripped itself to bits and took out the radiator.
So I'm 30 mins from home with a HGV that's just dumped all it's coolant. I can only think that the viscous clutch fan kicked in when the engine was already at high RPM and had to go from nothing to flat out in an instant and it just shed all it's blades through the rad.
I pleaded with the MOT place for a quiet corner to work on it, as recovering would cost a fortune. They were quite helpful, probably because I'm a private owner and there's no money to be made out of me but either way it was a big help.
My old man came out to give me a hand and my Mrs went to collect a rad for me. Got it all fitted and back up and running in about 90 minutes, luckily it's an easy job and I was driving the vehicle that carrys all my tools!!
Went back the next day and passed the smoke test pretty easily. I realised that 3/4 throttle it sailed under by miles, also it had been for a good run before etc so that probably helped.
So the MOT was £150 ISH, rad £180 and then £47 for re test... Expensive week.
Relieved to have that done for another year.
It had an old AC rad that has never worked mounted Infront of the rad so I ditched that but kept the spal fans off it. I managed to figure out how they are wired and used the old clutch fan switch to trigger the relays that work the two spal fans. Would rather have had them behind the rad but they are push fans so had to go Infront. A replacement clutch fan was £280 so I said no thanks to that...!
The upshot of the new rad and fans is that it actually is better than it was before especially without a crusty old AC rad blocking it. I may reinstate AC later on with a new rad in a better location but for two half days work I'm proud to have the thing back in working order.
All in good time for Silverstone National next week.... Not my favourite track but it does normally produce some fast and close racing with it being quite a basic layout. Here's a fast lap from the last time I went there..
I have been busy on the car too, gearing change, new chain, oil and filter, general prep and full string line plus some setup changes to try and aid a bit of grip as I was spinning up a lot at Croft. Also had a little extra capacity added to my fuel tank as last time I did Silverstone national I got fuel surge on the last lap and lost the lead... It's worse than every other circuit for this as it's flat out for such a large % of the lap.
I'll post up the timetable when it's released... There's no live stream but they are doing some paddock videos / interviews etc that'll be up on the main 750MC Facebook page and the live timing will be on TSL.
This week was this Yarrow Racing bangbus MOT, a time I fear every year because there's always something that comes up. Last year was some anti knock bushes on the front torsion bars that literally do nothing and perish for fun on these Ivecos. I got a particularly jobsworth type and he failed it .. so I wrote to VOSA and they agreed with me that it was an advisory at best and of no detriment to the vehicle and gave me a pass. I fought the law and all that!
It's much more stringent on a HGV and I always fear the smoke test, revving the absolute tits off a big diesel in neutral, just horrible.
So this year it absolutely sailed through until the dreaded smoke test. The guy was really sound and gave me a few goes, it was getting better each time but struggling probably due to general lack of use. He was adamant I should floor it and hold it down which felt horrible, anyway... On the final attempt the fan ripped itself to bits and took out the radiator.
So I'm 30 mins from home with a HGV that's just dumped all it's coolant. I can only think that the viscous clutch fan kicked in when the engine was already at high RPM and had to go from nothing to flat out in an instant and it just shed all it's blades through the rad.
I pleaded with the MOT place for a quiet corner to work on it, as recovering would cost a fortune. They were quite helpful, probably because I'm a private owner and there's no money to be made out of me but either way it was a big help.
My old man came out to give me a hand and my Mrs went to collect a rad for me. Got it all fitted and back up and running in about 90 minutes, luckily it's an easy job and I was driving the vehicle that carrys all my tools!!
Went back the next day and passed the smoke test pretty easily. I realised that 3/4 throttle it sailed under by miles, also it had been for a good run before etc so that probably helped.
So the MOT was £150 ISH, rad £180 and then £47 for re test... Expensive week.
Relieved to have that done for another year.
It had an old AC rad that has never worked mounted Infront of the rad so I ditched that but kept the spal fans off it. I managed to figure out how they are wired and used the old clutch fan switch to trigger the relays that work the two spal fans. Would rather have had them behind the rad but they are push fans so had to go Infront. A replacement clutch fan was £280 so I said no thanks to that...!
The upshot of the new rad and fans is that it actually is better than it was before especially without a crusty old AC rad blocking it. I may reinstate AC later on with a new rad in a better location but for two half days work I'm proud to have the thing back in working order.
All in good time for Silverstone National next week.... Not my favourite track but it does normally produce some fast and close racing with it being quite a basic layout. Here's a fast lap from the last time I went there..
I have been busy on the car too, gearing change, new chain, oil and filter, general prep and full string line plus some setup changes to try and aid a bit of grip as I was spinning up a lot at Croft. Also had a little extra capacity added to my fuel tank as last time I did Silverstone national I got fuel surge on the last lap and lost the lead... It's worse than every other circuit for this as it's flat out for such a large % of the lap.
I'll post up the timetable when it's released... There's no live stream but they are doing some paddock videos / interviews etc that'll be up on the main 750MC Facebook page and the live timing will be on TSL.
Gassing Station | UK Club Motorsport | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff