Fiat Twin-Cam Powered Westfield
Discussion
ol said:
Thanks to your advice I'll probably be at Croft to try my first sprint. Mine is just finishing an engine transplant - I'm meant to be picking it up next week, so it's all dependent on it being back in time so I haven't booked on yet. I think I would be in class B1 due to the bike engine.
Tried to ping you a mail but it's not working - just a heads up, the entry list for Croft closes in a couple of days 
ETA: Just to keep the thread on track, here's a picture of the tonneau that I finally got round to fitting. Should keep the worst of the weather out while towing...
Edited by BenWRXSEi on Monday 10th August 10:19
Hmm, not received anything. Must be another result of the 'upgrade.'
No worries - the guys at Javelin are more than reasonable - just wanted to make sure you didn't miss the boat. Don't worry too much about the class structure - last time I did it I was in the same class as a 270bhp Duratec V6 westfield who was 6 seconds faster, and a K- series Caterham who was a couple of seconds slower. For me the thrill was very much about beating my own time, and looking at others in different classes who were of a similar level. I ended up having a lot of fun with a couple of rally-prepped mk1 and mk2 Escorts
Looking at the entry list a lot of the guys in C1 are seriously quick, so there'll be plenty of competition. Have a look at the overall results from last round and you'll see what I mean:
http://www.javelintrackdays.co.uk/trackday/images/...
I'm hoping my soft-compound R888s will give me a couple of seconds this time around
No worries - the guys at Javelin are more than reasonable - just wanted to make sure you didn't miss the boat. Don't worry too much about the class structure - last time I did it I was in the same class as a 270bhp Duratec V6 westfield who was 6 seconds faster, and a K- series Caterham who was a couple of seconds slower. For me the thrill was very much about beating my own time, and looking at others in different classes who were of a similar level. I ended up having a lot of fun with a couple of rally-prepped mk1 and mk2 Escorts
Looking at the entry list a lot of the guys in C1 are seriously quick, so there'll be plenty of competition. Have a look at the overall results from last round and you'll see what I mean:
http://www.javelintrackdays.co.uk/trackday/images/...
I'm hoping my soft-compound R888s will give me a couple of seconds this time around
Good to hear it's running again!
I can understand the noise concerns, IIRC Croft is the one venue that can be a bit noise sensitive. The westy measured 96db static at Woodbridge so hopefully will be OK here...!
I'll keep an eye out either way - whichever car you turn up in should be fairly obvious
ETA: No idea about the PMs. Facility seems to be borked.
I can understand the noise concerns, IIRC Croft is the one venue that can be a bit noise sensitive. The westy measured 96db static at Woodbridge so hopefully will be OK here...!
I'll keep an eye out either way - whichever car you turn up in should be fairly obvious
ETA: No idea about the PMs. Facility seems to be borked.
ol said:
Good to meet you yesterday. Your car was sounding great down the main straight!
Felt a bit like I'd brought a knife to a gunfight at the beginning with all the stripped out track car, spoilers, stickers and rollcages, but the big barge did OK in the end. Really enjoyed the format so will be trying to get the the remaining events in the kit car. Did you say that you wouldn't be at the Cadwell day on the 30th? If not then see you at Blyton
Cheers - good to meet you too! It may be a big old barge but given the machinery you beat in a 'standard road car' you did bloody well. It sounded good too Felt a bit like I'd brought a knife to a gunfight at the beginning with all the stripped out track car, spoilers, stickers and rollcages, but the big barge did OK in the end. Really enjoyed the format so will be trying to get the the remaining events in the kit car. Did you say that you wouldn't be at the Cadwell day on the 30th? If not then see you at Blyton
The format usually goes a bit smoother - I think the number of cars and the bloody 'noise bucket' cut the track time down. You'll almost certainly get all 8 runs at Blyton.
Had a really good day with only a couple of minor complications which I'll try and iron out before Blyton (nope, sorry win't be at Cadwell). I've also got a few hundred pics to sort through taken by a friend with my camera - there's probably a few of yours on there if you don't mind me posting up?
Well, managed to get a few pics sorted from the weekend at Croft. This was my second sprint and, again, on a track I'd never driven. Croft certainly takes some balls to drive fast!
The sheer volume of cars meant I only got 6 timed runs, which meant less time to get to know the track. My first three were still feeling my way around a bit, and then on the lunch break I did a bit of homework (known as 'frantically watching youtube videos from last year to learn the track better!). My best run was straight after lunch - a 1:44.02 (after a first run of 1:51.44) which I was pretty happy with. I even knew where I could make up more time, but alas it was not to be. I got a really good start on my last run and then locked up into Tower Bend, resulting in a fairly spectacular spin.
I ended the day third in class, behind the same 3.0 V6 Westfield who beat me at Woodbridge and a Chevy V8-powered Ultima. I'm not too sad about that given that I have at least 100bhp less than either of them, and with my new sticky R888s I was only 3.2 seconds off the pace (as opposed to ~6 seconds last time around).
Only one slight issue to sort before the next round - apparently it was throwing fuel out on fast right handers. Probably something worth fixing....
Anyway, a couple of pics of the day:
Next round, Blyton. I'm looking forward to that a lot - not only is it a shorter, twistier circuit which should negate my comparative lack of power a tad, but I've driven it a handful of times before. Fingers crossed
The sheer volume of cars meant I only got 6 timed runs, which meant less time to get to know the track. My first three were still feeling my way around a bit, and then on the lunch break I did a bit of homework (known as 'frantically watching youtube videos from last year to learn the track better!). My best run was straight after lunch - a 1:44.02 (after a first run of 1:51.44) which I was pretty happy with. I even knew where I could make up more time, but alas it was not to be. I got a really good start on my last run and then locked up into Tower Bend, resulting in a fairly spectacular spin.
I ended the day third in class, behind the same 3.0 V6 Westfield who beat me at Woodbridge and a Chevy V8-powered Ultima. I'm not too sad about that given that I have at least 100bhp less than either of them, and with my new sticky R888s I was only 3.2 seconds off the pace (as opposed to ~6 seconds last time around).
Only one slight issue to sort before the next round - apparently it was throwing fuel out on fast right handers. Probably something worth fixing....
Anyway, a couple of pics of the day:
Next round, Blyton. I'm looking forward to that a lot - not only is it a shorter, twistier circuit which should negate my comparative lack of power a tad, but I've driven it a handful of times before. Fingers crossed
Thanks. More pics here (and these ones are free!):
https://www.flickr.com/photos/h3pat1c/albums/72157...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/h3pat1c/albums/72157...
A few people were asking what it sounds like. Given the on-board footage sounds a bit pony, I managed to get hold of a short drive-by filmed by a friend of mine to give you an idea
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeluAt2iCwg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeluAt2iCwg
Pretty well, as it happens!
Despite the weather looking like this when we turned up:
...and a resulting hour delay in the start, we still got a practice run and all eight timed runs in. I was pretty nervous sizing up my competition - three Caterhams and a 360bhp Supercharged Westfield, and my first few runs had me firmly down in fourth. Fortunately I had a stonking couple of runs after lunch (despite a very hairy void lap!) and managed to bag second in my class, fifth fastest overall and my first piece of silverware
Will you be at Cadwell, do you think?
Despite the weather looking like this when we turned up:
...and a resulting hour delay in the start, we still got a practice run and all eight timed runs in. I was pretty nervous sizing up my competition - three Caterhams and a 360bhp Supercharged Westfield, and my first few runs had me firmly down in fourth. Fortunately I had a stonking couple of runs after lunch (despite a very hairy void lap!) and managed to bag second in my class, fifth fastest overall and my first piece of silverware
Will you be at Cadwell, do you think?
Thanks 
I'll never be up there with the big-power cars but there was some fantastic competition for second place. Still can't believe there was only twelve hundredths between second and fourth!
I'll never be up there with the big-power cars but there was some fantastic competition for second place. Still can't believe there was only twelve hundredths between second and fourth!
ol said:
Are you booked on?
Yep, booked on today. There's still plenty of spaces, but at some point it'll be opened up to the general public so worth booking on before then if you can.The last Javelin sprint of the year is coming up on Saturday at Cadwell Park. The westy hasn't had a huge amount of use since the last round at Blyton - a combination of crappy weather and busy life dictated that. I did manage to get a decent run down to my parents' place in Surrey a couple of weeks back though (partly due to necessity - the OH had taken my Subaru for the weekend and omitted to leave me the only key she has for her 996...).
Fortunately the weather was kind and I managed to have a pleasant drive down there, although the track-oriented setup isn't particularly relaxing on the pot-holed Surrey back roads. Caught up with the old man though, and this lovely old thing he's currently looking after:
Unfortunately the drive back was slightly less smooth, and it quickly became clear that I was getting a blow from the exhaust manifold. Manifold gaskets are pretty much a service item on this due to the fairly crude craftsmanship used in the construction of the exhaust system, so without really investigating I whipped the manifold off, changed the gasket, and... the blow was still there.
Damn.
This was on Sunday evening, and on Monday evening I was due to travel up to Stoke for the week. I managed to throw in a cheeky half-day on Monday with the intention of changing the gasket again, but when Monday came a bit more investigation revealed:
Cue a brief 'where the hell am I going to find a welder on a Monday afternoon?!' panic, before I gave the chaps at Haynes Car Care in Wallingford a call. They did most of my servicing when I lived round the corner so are fairly used to me turning up with weird and wonderful cars at short notice, but Mark really excelled himself. 20 minutes after phoning (and after a very foggy drive down) he'd got the welder out and patched it up for me.
Hooray!
Past experience with cracking exhausts suggests that lightning will probably strike twice, but if it can get me through this weekend I'll be happy. I'll look at a more long-term repair/replacement this winter.
Oh, did I mention the weather forecast looks wet for Cadwell tomorrow? My tyre choices are either Federal 595RSRs or Toyo R888s. This should be interesting
Fortunately the weather was kind and I managed to have a pleasant drive down there, although the track-oriented setup isn't particularly relaxing on the pot-holed Surrey back roads. Caught up with the old man though, and this lovely old thing he's currently looking after:
Unfortunately the drive back was slightly less smooth, and it quickly became clear that I was getting a blow from the exhaust manifold. Manifold gaskets are pretty much a service item on this due to the fairly crude craftsmanship used in the construction of the exhaust system, so without really investigating I whipped the manifold off, changed the gasket, and... the blow was still there.
Damn.
This was on Sunday evening, and on Monday evening I was due to travel up to Stoke for the week. I managed to throw in a cheeky half-day on Monday with the intention of changing the gasket again, but when Monday came a bit more investigation revealed:
Cue a brief 'where the hell am I going to find a welder on a Monday afternoon?!' panic, before I gave the chaps at Haynes Car Care in Wallingford a call. They did most of my servicing when I lived round the corner so are fairly used to me turning up with weird and wonderful cars at short notice, but Mark really excelled himself. 20 minutes after phoning (and after a very foggy drive down) he'd got the welder out and patched it up for me.
Hooray!
Past experience with cracking exhausts suggests that lightning will probably strike twice, but if it can get me through this weekend I'll be happy. I'll look at a more long-term repair/replacement this winter.
Oh, did I mention the weather forecast looks wet for Cadwell tomorrow? My tyre choices are either Federal 595RSRs or Toyo R888s. This should be interesting
Right, time for a final season update. A little later than planned, I’ve been off in Iceland for a week doing this:
Anyway, back to the Westfield. Cadwell Park was the last sprint of the season, and allowing for the end-of season awards do the Toyota guys were holding it was being run on a Saturday. Having already had a mid-week panic with the cracked manifold I was still feeling a bit disorganised and out-of-sorts when I headed up the M40, and a traffic-ridden 5-hour drive to the hotel didn’t help much. Still, it was a lovely clear night when I turned up so I had high hopes for a dry day’s racing.
I was woken up at 3am to the sound of rain crashing off the roof of the hotel lodge. Bugrit.
So, off to Cadwell in the rain – we arrived fairly early but the paddock was already quite full, and unloading the trailer on the rain-soaked grass wasn’t much fun. I finally managed to get off and through to scrutineering, whereupon I measured 108dB on the noise test. f
k. A bit of jiggery-pokery and we managed to get through with a barely-on-the-track-limit 105 and I was waved on my sheepish way, protesting cries of “I’ll get a new exhaust!” meeting stony-faced expressions from the Cadwell scrutineers. Oops.
We finally headed out onto the sighting laps, my first time at Cadwell, and it was still soaking wet. There was a lot of standing water along the start/finish straight, and even more along Park straight. Plus there were a lot of leaves on the track through the woodland section. My tyres? R888s that are almost on the wear limits.
Fortunately I had actually done a bit of homework this time round and had spent a fair amount of time learning the track on YouTube, and of course everyone else was in the same boat (almost literally!) as me. My first two runs I managed to keep pretty tidy, and when the timing sheets came out I was very surprised to see I was leading my class – ahead of a Duratec-powered Westfield and a Caterham on wets. My confidence started to build (despite aquaplaning at 100mph down Park a couple of times!) as the track started to dry, but this meant the more powerful Duratec car could get his power down and he ended up knocking a couple of seconds off my time which I couldn’t claw back. Still, I was happy with steady improvements in my times until the rain started again mid-afternoon, at which point I knew I couldn’t beat my best time of 1:50.45. My last two runs of the day were me taking the opportunity to explore the limits of the car in the wet a bit more – leading to a void run after over-steering over the kerb at Mansfield, and then on my final run carrying too much speed through the Gooseneck and cutting off the apex…. Still, you’re not trying hard enough until you fall off, eh?
I ended up runner up in my class but down in 11th overall – not my best result but given that the Westy struggles to get over 100mph on track (@ almost 7,000rpm in 4th) I tend to be less competitive on fast tracks. I was also very chuffed to be awarded overall class runner-up for the season as well
So that’s it for sprinting until March (probably, depending on Javelin’s calendar next year). I’ve enormously enjoyed my first foray into competitive motorsport and will definitely be running in the series next year.
I’ve got a few bits to keep me busy over winter though – after cracking the manifold and, apparently, blowing all of the baffles out of the silencer it’s time to invest in a new system. It has always been a bit noisy (apparently you could hear me going round Cadwell from the main road….) and it has got steadily worse this year, so ideally I’ll be after a system that will see it comfortably under 100dB. On top of that I need to experiment with raising the gearing a bit – the 13” track wheels I have are currently running 185/60/13 R888s all round and one pair are pretty low, so I might try a pair of 205/60/13s on the rear to raise the gearing slightly (this would match the overall diameter of my road wheels, so I’ll try these on a track-day and see if an extra 5-10mph at the top end is enough). On the other hand I think my diff could do with a rebuild, so it may be worth biting the bullet and getting it rebuild with a different final drive. Some head-scratching to do there I think. Other than that it will get some routine servicing and another alignment check to make sure everything’s in order, and hopefully we’ll have some nice sunny winter days so I can get it out and about!
Anyway, back to the Westfield. Cadwell Park was the last sprint of the season, and allowing for the end-of season awards do the Toyota guys were holding it was being run on a Saturday. Having already had a mid-week panic with the cracked manifold I was still feeling a bit disorganised and out-of-sorts when I headed up the M40, and a traffic-ridden 5-hour drive to the hotel didn’t help much. Still, it was a lovely clear night when I turned up so I had high hopes for a dry day’s racing.
I was woken up at 3am to the sound of rain crashing off the roof of the hotel lodge. Bugrit.
So, off to Cadwell in the rain – we arrived fairly early but the paddock was already quite full, and unloading the trailer on the rain-soaked grass wasn’t much fun. I finally managed to get off and through to scrutineering, whereupon I measured 108dB on the noise test. f
k. A bit of jiggery-pokery and we managed to get through with a barely-on-the-track-limit 105 and I was waved on my sheepish way, protesting cries of “I’ll get a new exhaust!” meeting stony-faced expressions from the Cadwell scrutineers. Oops.We finally headed out onto the sighting laps, my first time at Cadwell, and it was still soaking wet. There was a lot of standing water along the start/finish straight, and even more along Park straight. Plus there were a lot of leaves on the track through the woodland section. My tyres? R888s that are almost on the wear limits.
Fortunately I had actually done a bit of homework this time round and had spent a fair amount of time learning the track on YouTube, and of course everyone else was in the same boat (almost literally!) as me. My first two runs I managed to keep pretty tidy, and when the timing sheets came out I was very surprised to see I was leading my class – ahead of a Duratec-powered Westfield and a Caterham on wets. My confidence started to build (despite aquaplaning at 100mph down Park a couple of times!) as the track started to dry, but this meant the more powerful Duratec car could get his power down and he ended up knocking a couple of seconds off my time which I couldn’t claw back. Still, I was happy with steady improvements in my times until the rain started again mid-afternoon, at which point I knew I couldn’t beat my best time of 1:50.45. My last two runs of the day were me taking the opportunity to explore the limits of the car in the wet a bit more – leading to a void run after over-steering over the kerb at Mansfield, and then on my final run carrying too much speed through the Gooseneck and cutting off the apex…. Still, you’re not trying hard enough until you fall off, eh?
I ended up runner up in my class but down in 11th overall – not my best result but given that the Westy struggles to get over 100mph on track (@ almost 7,000rpm in 4th) I tend to be less competitive on fast tracks. I was also very chuffed to be awarded overall class runner-up for the season as well
So that’s it for sprinting until March (probably, depending on Javelin’s calendar next year). I’ve enormously enjoyed my first foray into competitive motorsport and will definitely be running in the series next year.
I’ve got a few bits to keep me busy over winter though – after cracking the manifold and, apparently, blowing all of the baffles out of the silencer it’s time to invest in a new system. It has always been a bit noisy (apparently you could hear me going round Cadwell from the main road….) and it has got steadily worse this year, so ideally I’ll be after a system that will see it comfortably under 100dB. On top of that I need to experiment with raising the gearing a bit – the 13” track wheels I have are currently running 185/60/13 R888s all round and one pair are pretty low, so I might try a pair of 205/60/13s on the rear to raise the gearing slightly (this would match the overall diameter of my road wheels, so I’ll try these on a track-day and see if an extra 5-10mph at the top end is enough). On the other hand I think my diff could do with a rebuild, so it may be worth biting the bullet and getting it rebuild with a different final drive. Some head-scratching to do there I think. Other than that it will get some routine servicing and another alignment check to make sure everything’s in order, and hopefully we’ll have some nice sunny winter days so I can get it out and about!
Thanks Steve. Yes, although in my case it was actually the breather that was the issue not the cap. The tank had a breather hose which did a single loop under and over the tank, but the fuel was still sloshing out during hard cornering. I added a second loop of breather hose and one of these which did the trick
stevec33 said:
Thanks, thats very useful info i will look into it. I guess the valve just mounts straight in the top of the tank? And then has a hose coming off it going up higher?
The breather hose mounts to (IIRC) the top-left corner of the tank - the opposite side to the filler. My setup is a loop of breather hose going over and under, then the valve mounted up next to the tank, and then another loop of hose for good measure.Well, it’s been a while since we had an update on the Westfield. Unfortunately the awful winter we’ve had means I haven’t been able to drive it a huge amount, but I have managed to brave the greasy roads once or twice. Had to test out the new GoPro as well
After this, with Christmas and NY out of the way it was time to set about the winter improvements needed for the next season of the Javelin sprint series. Best take it to bits then…
First on the list to be sorted (again) is the suspension setup. The temporary rear shocks have helped, but are a bit short, and the adjusters on the fronts are shot. A quick call to Nigel @ Avo confirmed that they were serviceable units, and a week and £108 later I received these back in the post:
I’ve since swapped the new, soft springs onto the refurbished longer damper units, so now I have the best of both worlds: decent suspension travel and decent ride height! Kudos to Avo as well, who got the coilovers back to me in half the quoted time and for less than the quoted price
Might need to raise the front up a bit, though…
I’ve also finally gotten round to fitting the tow strap. A minor thing I know, but aside from anything else, this should make loading it up onto the trailer easier!
The exhaust manifold cracked just before Cadwell last year and was quickly patched up by a local garage. It’s also now measuring 105dB, which is too loud for most tracks, so really I need to invest in a new system. I’m still investigating this, but need to get a move on really….
Otherwise, all that’s needed (hopefully!) is a comprehensive fluid service (job for this weekend I think) and a geo setup. Then it can be out terrorising the locals again
After this, with Christmas and NY out of the way it was time to set about the winter improvements needed for the next season of the Javelin sprint series. Best take it to bits then…
First on the list to be sorted (again) is the suspension setup. The temporary rear shocks have helped, but are a bit short, and the adjusters on the fronts are shot. A quick call to Nigel @ Avo confirmed that they were serviceable units, and a week and £108 later I received these back in the post:
I’ve since swapped the new, soft springs onto the refurbished longer damper units, so now I have the best of both worlds: decent suspension travel and decent ride height! Kudos to Avo as well, who got the coilovers back to me in half the quoted time and for less than the quoted price
Might need to raise the front up a bit, though…
I’ve also finally gotten round to fitting the tow strap. A minor thing I know, but aside from anything else, this should make loading it up onto the trailer easier!
The exhaust manifold cracked just before Cadwell last year and was quickly patched up by a local garage. It’s also now measuring 105dB, which is too loud for most tracks, so really I need to invest in a new system. I’m still investigating this, but need to get a move on really….
Otherwise, all that’s needed (hopefully!) is a comprehensive fluid service (job for this weekend I think) and a geo setup. Then it can be out terrorising the locals again
Edited by BenWRXSEi on Monday 1st February 09:42
Totally forgot to update this – not that anyone appears to have noticed
Things have been picking up for the Westfield over the last few weeks. A week after dropping it up to Graham at EBD I was back to collect. To say I’m pleased with the new exhaust is an understatement – the new 4-2-1 manifold is a work of art and came complete with a much larger re-packable silencer. I’ve not yet had it measured but it’s certainly markedly quieter than before – from the driver’s seat (next to the exhaust) I can now hear a decent amount of induction from the R1 carbs, something I could never hear before. It has also eliminated the terrible exhaust drone I used to get whilst wearing a helmet – on long trips the noise seemed to bounce around inside my lid, meaning I’d turn up places half-deaf….
Coupled with the new suspension I was keen to get it on a pre-season shakedown to see how it handled. Cue a well-timed Silverstone Sunday Service with 40-min ‘taster’ track sessions. An early start in freezing temperatures was a bit of a shock, but we had a good (if cautious) run up with a couple of local PHers. After skating around the icy paddock for a bit it was decided that the first two sessions would be cancelled – meaning our ‘third’ session was to be the first of the day. At this point it was hovering around 2-3 deg C, and the track was soaking wet. After almost missing my slot, getting my paper slip lost in my overalls and then going the wrong way at Becketts on the sighting lap I was beginning to wonder what I’d let myself in for. Fortunately I managed to catch up with the rest of the procession and work out where I was going!
DSC_0019 by Jason.Easton, on Flickr
To say it was slippery is an understatement – I’ll let the below video do the talking!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uswoRCiYZc8&fe...
The benefit of the complete lack of grip meant that I could really get to grips with the car’s handling characteristics. I’m please to say that it’s very predictable – a touch of understeer through Luffield would shift very easily to mild oversteer approaching Woodcote (a touch alarming in 4th going past the pit wall!) but it always gives plenty of time to dial in the necessary lock. It’s really very flattering.
After managing to stay out of the pit wall and getting me home safely, I was lucky enough to be invited along with my Dad to the 74th members’ meeting at Goodwood. After driving down to Surrey at Midnight on Friday having spent the evening taking pledges for Sport Relief (driving a car with no windscreen through the woods at night is a surreal experience…) we had another early start. Our little convoy of E-Type, Morgan 4/4 and Westfield had a lovely drive down via Petworth, spent the day watching hedge-fund managers blatting around Goodwood, and then set the nav to twiddly mode for a very enjoyable drive back.
Even stumbled upon my engine’s original home!
Another early start and drive home via the PHSS at Mercedes benz World completed a 250-mile weekend – plenty in a GRP seat
Final jobs this weekend just gone included a service, general check-over, wash (!) and a few miles on the track wheels to scrub off some of the winter storage. The R888s still seem to have plenty of tread, so I imagine I’ll hang onto them for this season. The first Javelin sprint is at Blyton Park next Sunday – there’s a good mix of cars in my class this year so I’m sure it’ll be plenty fun!
Things have been picking up for the Westfield over the last few weeks. A week after dropping it up to Graham at EBD I was back to collect. To say I’m pleased with the new exhaust is an understatement – the new 4-2-1 manifold is a work of art and came complete with a much larger re-packable silencer. I’ve not yet had it measured but it’s certainly markedly quieter than before – from the driver’s seat (next to the exhaust) I can now hear a decent amount of induction from the R1 carbs, something I could never hear before. It has also eliminated the terrible exhaust drone I used to get whilst wearing a helmet – on long trips the noise seemed to bounce around inside my lid, meaning I’d turn up places half-deaf….
Coupled with the new suspension I was keen to get it on a pre-season shakedown to see how it handled. Cue a well-timed Silverstone Sunday Service with 40-min ‘taster’ track sessions. An early start in freezing temperatures was a bit of a shock, but we had a good (if cautious) run up with a couple of local PHers. After skating around the icy paddock for a bit it was decided that the first two sessions would be cancelled – meaning our ‘third’ session was to be the first of the day. At this point it was hovering around 2-3 deg C, and the track was soaking wet. After almost missing my slot, getting my paper slip lost in my overalls and then going the wrong way at Becketts on the sighting lap I was beginning to wonder what I’d let myself in for. Fortunately I managed to catch up with the rest of the procession and work out where I was going!
DSC_0019 by Jason.Easton, on Flickr To say it was slippery is an understatement – I’ll let the below video do the talking!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uswoRCiYZc8&fe...
The benefit of the complete lack of grip meant that I could really get to grips with the car’s handling characteristics. I’m please to say that it’s very predictable – a touch of understeer through Luffield would shift very easily to mild oversteer approaching Woodcote (a touch alarming in 4th going past the pit wall!) but it always gives plenty of time to dial in the necessary lock. It’s really very flattering.
After managing to stay out of the pit wall and getting me home safely, I was lucky enough to be invited along with my Dad to the 74th members’ meeting at Goodwood. After driving down to Surrey at Midnight on Friday having spent the evening taking pledges for Sport Relief (driving a car with no windscreen through the woods at night is a surreal experience…) we had another early start. Our little convoy of E-Type, Morgan 4/4 and Westfield had a lovely drive down via Petworth, spent the day watching hedge-fund managers blatting around Goodwood, and then set the nav to twiddly mode for a very enjoyable drive back.
Even stumbled upon my engine’s original home!
Another early start and drive home via the PHSS at Mercedes benz World completed a 250-mile weekend – plenty in a GRP seat
Final jobs this weekend just gone included a service, general check-over, wash (!) and a few miles on the track wheels to scrub off some of the winter storage. The R888s still seem to have plenty of tread, so I imagine I’ll hang onto them for this season. The first Javelin sprint is at Blyton Park next Sunday – there’s a good mix of cars in my class this year so I’m sure it’ll be plenty fun!
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