Fiat Twin-Cam Powered Westfield
Discussion
I did a thing! 
And how did I achieve this never-seen-before and never-to-be-seen-again (probably) feat, you ask? Well, I’m not altogether sure really.
This weekend just gone was the first Javelin Sprint Series event of the year. A wonderfully varied field of 80-odd cars rocked up to Snetterton, a good mix of previous competitors and new entrants. Cars ranged all the way from a Smart For-Two (yes, really) to a 458 Scuderia.
My winter preparation complete the morning before I drove up on the previous day – by way of an el cheapo fibreglass rear diffuser in an attempt to curtail the parachute-like tendencies of the rear end – I was more than a little nervous. I reckon the car had done less than 30 miles since the last event of 2016 (also at Snet, as it happened) and I’d not had time to book in a corner-weight or alignment since I’d taken all the suspension to bits. Three times.
Loaded up (note new diffuser):
My main objective really was to beat my time from last year – a 2:17.63 lap, 2nd in class and 18th overall. I also wanted to not break the car! I had to come to terms with the new staggered tyre setup – I’ve gone wider at the rear with my new R888Rs on recommendation of another competitor who pointed out I had a pretty wayward read end (snigger). Plus I have the novelty of a limited slip diff which isn’t totally knackered.
Scrutineering was over with the evening before without too much fuss:
Fortunately the weather the following day was about as perfect as we could hope for in March – dry overnight, sunny and temperatures in the high teens.
Weighing up the competition was interesting at this stage as well. Two drivers who beat me consistently last year (a Caterham R400 and a Locost bike-engined kit) were back in pretty similar spec (although a new engine and set of lairy-looking cut slicks set off the Locost nicely!), and there was a newly-purchased Caterham RoadSport as well. Confidence at this point was pretty low in obtaining anything other than last place in class! However after the usual sighting and practice runs I was already impressed with the new tyres, a confidence which was confirmed when I pulled a 2:14.something on my first timed run. Result!
I was even more pleased upon finding out that my run was enough to put me first in class and in the top 10 overall, and what followed was a fantastically fun and close-fought battle for class F2. After flirting around the 2:13s for a while and losing the lead I was disappointed to drop to 2:14, but my fifth run started really well and as I entered the penultimate corner I thought I was aiming for a 2:12. Unfortunately the car before me had had issues causing them to almost lose a rear wheel, so I caught them on the last corner and had to slow. Fortunately the Javelin team were on it and I was called forward for a re-run, and managed to get down to 2:11.35. I was pretty chuffed with myself, but with one run to go (which I voided after running off track twice) I was nervous about the competition!
As it happened, it was all rather close...
Best of all, I even managed 6th fastest overall which is far higher than I’ve ever managed before!
Video of my best and worst runs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cELR9VzjKLo
As you can probably tell I’m still getting to grip with the car’s new dynamics (I certainly need to work on that understeer!) but overall I’m hugely pleased with the progression. Next round is Blyton in 3 weeks time, and there’s already seven cars in my class alone.
Until next time!
And how did I achieve this never-seen-before and never-to-be-seen-again (probably) feat, you ask? Well, I’m not altogether sure really.
This weekend just gone was the first Javelin Sprint Series event of the year. A wonderfully varied field of 80-odd cars rocked up to Snetterton, a good mix of previous competitors and new entrants. Cars ranged all the way from a Smart For-Two (yes, really) to a 458 Scuderia.
My winter preparation complete the morning before I drove up on the previous day – by way of an el cheapo fibreglass rear diffuser in an attempt to curtail the parachute-like tendencies of the rear end – I was more than a little nervous. I reckon the car had done less than 30 miles since the last event of 2016 (also at Snet, as it happened) and I’d not had time to book in a corner-weight or alignment since I’d taken all the suspension to bits. Three times.
Loaded up (note new diffuser):
My main objective really was to beat my time from last year – a 2:17.63 lap, 2nd in class and 18th overall. I also wanted to not break the car! I had to come to terms with the new staggered tyre setup – I’ve gone wider at the rear with my new R888Rs on recommendation of another competitor who pointed out I had a pretty wayward read end (snigger). Plus I have the novelty of a limited slip diff which isn’t totally knackered.
Scrutineering was over with the evening before without too much fuss:
Fortunately the weather the following day was about as perfect as we could hope for in March – dry overnight, sunny and temperatures in the high teens.
Weighing up the competition was interesting at this stage as well. Two drivers who beat me consistently last year (a Caterham R400 and a Locost bike-engined kit) were back in pretty similar spec (although a new engine and set of lairy-looking cut slicks set off the Locost nicely!), and there was a newly-purchased Caterham RoadSport as well. Confidence at this point was pretty low in obtaining anything other than last place in class! However after the usual sighting and practice runs I was already impressed with the new tyres, a confidence which was confirmed when I pulled a 2:14.something on my first timed run. Result!
I was even more pleased upon finding out that my run was enough to put me first in class and in the top 10 overall, and what followed was a fantastically fun and close-fought battle for class F2. After flirting around the 2:13s for a while and losing the lead I was disappointed to drop to 2:14, but my fifth run started really well and as I entered the penultimate corner I thought I was aiming for a 2:12. Unfortunately the car before me had had issues causing them to almost lose a rear wheel, so I caught them on the last corner and had to slow. Fortunately the Javelin team were on it and I was called forward for a re-run, and managed to get down to 2:11.35. I was pretty chuffed with myself, but with one run to go (which I voided after running off track twice) I was nervous about the competition!
As it happened, it was all rather close...
Best of all, I even managed 6th fastest overall which is far higher than I’ve ever managed before!
Video of my best and worst runs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cELR9VzjKLo
As you can probably tell I’m still getting to grip with the car’s new dynamics (I certainly need to work on that understeer!) but overall I’m hugely pleased with the progression. Next round is Blyton in 3 weeks time, and there’s already seven cars in my class alone.
Until next time!
Round 2: Blyton. Bit of a different story!
Basically, it rained at the wrong time. That't my excuse. I stuffed up the first (and only dry) run so had no hope of even a half-decent result, and then spent the rest of the day in these conditions:
I also managed to void my first three runs (a personal record!) and spin a grand total of five times during the day
Somewhat frustratingly, my untimed practice run was on par with my previous personal best, and had it rained earlier my (one good!) wet time would have put me in a fairly reasonable 13th place overall. Ah well - we can drop two rounds during a season so I think this'll be one of them!
It also gave me the opportunity to cock around with some video editing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dot41Jk0VUc
And a couple of stills from the most frustrating day's sprinting I've ever had:
Next up for me is Croft in a couple of months. Need to sort out the replacement gearbox and a corner-weight/alignment session. And also have a stern word with myself
Basically, it rained at the wrong time. That't my excuse. I stuffed up the first (and only dry) run so had no hope of even a half-decent result, and then spent the rest of the day in these conditions:
I also managed to void my first three runs (a personal record!) and spin a grand total of five times during the day
Somewhat frustratingly, my untimed practice run was on par with my previous personal best, and had it rained earlier my (one good!) wet time would have put me in a fairly reasonable 13th place overall. Ah well - we can drop two rounds during a season so I think this'll be one of them!
It also gave me the opportunity to cock around with some video editing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dot41Jk0VUc
And a couple of stills from the most frustrating day's sprinting I've ever had:
Next up for me is Croft in a couple of months. Need to sort out the replacement gearbox and a corner-weight/alignment session. And also have a stern word with myself
Now for sale, sadly.
New sprint-car project, for anyone interested! https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
New sprint-car project, for anyone interested! https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
How did you find the javelin sprint series for cost/hassle/enjoyment? Ive got a westy and been thinking about doing some sort or racing, would like something low hassle/relaxed and as sensibly priced as possible. Did you find it much more rewarding than track days? Shame to see your selling up, whats next ?
stevec33 said:
How did you find the javelin sprint series for cost/hassle/enjoyment? Ive got a westy and been thinking about doing some sort or racing, would like something low hassle/relaxed and as sensibly priced as possible. Did you find it much more rewarding than track days? Shame to see your selling up, whats next ?
Hi Steve,Sorry - totally missed this! In terms of what's next, have a read here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
I would heartily recommend the Javelin Sprint Series. In terms of cost to seat time it;s obviously nowhere near a track day, but for £140/160 (depending on circuit) you'll get at least 2 sighting laps, a practice run and six timed runs. Typically this means you're out in the car every 40 minutes or so, which give you enough time to recover, give the car a quick check over and chat to your mates (they're a friendly bunch even of you don't know anyone) before you go again. As a taster to competitive driving it's spot on, and so much more rewarding than track days. Several times our places have been split by hundredths of a second, so every gearchange, line and braking point matters
Next round is at Blyton on the 23rd July and there are still spaces left. Feel free to drop me a pm if you want any guidance
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