Not Your Everyday Race Car - The Mighty Citroen
Discussion
Did you do Spa this years Mark, Rich?
I think there were about 40 C1 on a 100 plus (?) grid, and I'm told that most of the C1s were Brits. I knew a few people racing them in different teams.
The club have also announced their own 24 hour race for 2018, at Rockingham in May.
Our build stalled due to work commitments so no further forward but one of our team went to watch the Spa race and has come back enthused, again and rang me straight away when he got back to discuss paying the deposit for the Rockingham race!
I think there were about 40 C1 on a 100 plus (?) grid, and I'm told that most of the C1s were Brits. I knew a few people racing them in different teams.
The club have also announced their own 24 hour race for 2018, at Rockingham in May.
Our build stalled due to work commitments so no further forward but one of our team went to watch the Spa race and has come back enthused, again and rang me straight away when he got back to discuss paying the deposit for the Rockingham race!
andy97 said:
Did you do Spa this years Mark, Rich?
I think there were about 40 C1 on a 100 plus (?) grid, and I'm told that most of the C1s were Brits. I knew a few people racing them in different teams.
The club have also announced their own 24 hour race for 2018, at Rockingham in May.
Our build stalled due to work commitments so no further forward but one of our team went to watch the Spa race and has come back enthused, again and rang me straight away when he got back to discuss paying the deposit for the Rockingham race!
Ours made it out sans moi (car 318)! There were 30+ UK teams in the C1 class so good numbers I reckon, team reported back that the track and car a great deal of fun and they thoroughly enjoyed the weekend.. We are already entered into the Rockingham event as well, however need a couple of repairs first thanks to another car on track being driven like an utter weapons grade cock (seriously its a 24 hour race what is wrong with people?) however got to say giving the knock it took and looking at some of the damage these little cars are tougher than they look. Engine was a bit down towards the end but a quick refresh should sort that and we have enough left on the pads (we bought the Mintex ones) to do Rockingham as well.I think there were about 40 C1 on a 100 plus (?) grid, and I'm told that most of the C1s were Brits. I knew a few people racing them in different teams.
The club have also announced their own 24 hour race for 2018, at Rockingham in May.
Our build stalled due to work commitments so no further forward but one of our team went to watch the Spa race and has come back enthused, again and rang me straight away when he got back to discuss paying the deposit for the Rockingham race!
andy97 said:
The Rockingham 24 hour race has been confirmed for May. Entry list of 53 max is already full with 25 reserves! Discussions now taking place about holding a second 24 hr race in August!!!!
Amazing.
Oh, and we are one of the lucky 53.
There's been a demand for this type of thing for a while, none of the existing clubs have seen it. Hopefully the non-24hr races in 2018 are well attended too.Amazing.
Oh, and we are one of the lucky 53.
We did make it to Spa.... Unfortunately the car didn't make it back.
We started well on Friday being 2nd fastest of the C1s in testing - the car flew round Spa and oh, what a circuit! Flat through Eau Rouge at 90mph - what a buzz!
We were all set for Saturday quali. Then it rained and our lap times tumbled, I managed to spin at Pouhon and reverse it into the wall. 2 poor sessions, struggling to find a more benign setup meant we ended up mid pack at 24th for the start.
Rolling Start....
.....and Ian, our first driver got us up to 11th but then didn't come in on the Code 60 lap when he was supposed to (full course 60kph limit - avoids the use of the safety car and is slow enough that you can do a driver change and refuel without dropping a lap) and dropped us down to 20th.
The next driver did the day-into-night session but hadn't driven the car before Friday, never raced at Spa and never at night and found the whole thing a struggle.
One thing about the C1 is that it doesn't respond well to over-driving and by his own admission, Sid over-drove the car in frustration. Down to 26th.
Me next - the first thing I noticed was how great the car felt - we'd really nailed the setup and it flew. The next thing was how every car seemed to be driving the 24 hour race like a sprint race - every lap was immense fun, swapping places with C1s all over the place, being blocked by one or two belligerent 2CVs and generally being on a very busy track in a very busy race for 2.5 hours. Drifting round Pouhon alongside BTCC drivers - it really doesn't get much better and the car itself really didn't matter. In the last 20 years I've raced all sorts of cars on all sorts of tracks and this stint is one of the most fun racing experiences I've ever had. Great track, great car, great fun. I brought us down to 19th place. We were looking good for a rise up the rankings overnight.
Rich into the car and I could see from his laptimes that after 5 or 6 laps he'd settled into a rhythm and was making good time - time for me to get a couple of hours sleep as by then it was midnight. Just as I was about to leave the garage however, Rich didn't update on the timing screens and a code 60 was thrown. We waited and waited, then our worst fears were confirmed....
Rich had hit a stationary car at Radillon - the blind crest after Eau Rouge. There was nothing he could have done to avoid it (he couldn't see it until the last second) and the officials had not had time to put out the yellows. He came back with the car and we called the medic down to see him. He'd hit the car at 90mph, he was bruised and felt a tightness in his chest where the HANS device and harnesses had done their work. The medic took him to the medical centre, where they decided to take him to hospital as a precaution.
The car was a mess:
He'd hit the corner of the stationary car and the little C1 had performed amazingly well, directing all the force of the impact into the chassis. The engine, although the mounts sheared as the chassis flexed was absolutely fine - the shell however was not, nor were any of the components in front of the engine and the steering rack had moved and bent the column. We decided to retire the car, 8 hours and 50 mins into the race.
The car now needs a new shell (we have a spares car which will now be a donor) but we'll miss the Race of Remembrance in a couple of weeks, we don't want to rush to get the car out.
Rich was discharged t5he following morning after X-Rays and a CT scan, bruised and battered but ultimately a testament to the strength of the car and the safety gear - if anyone questions the use of a HANS, I have a mate I can introduce to them who might not be here if it weren't for one.
We are entered for Rockingham and we plan to do the other 2018 races too - there's a day-into-night one at Croft, 5 miles from me which I'm greatly looking forward to. This is a good series, run by people who understand what racers want.
We'll be back!
We started well on Friday being 2nd fastest of the C1s in testing - the car flew round Spa and oh, what a circuit! Flat through Eau Rouge at 90mph - what a buzz!
We were all set for Saturday quali. Then it rained and our lap times tumbled, I managed to spin at Pouhon and reverse it into the wall. 2 poor sessions, struggling to find a more benign setup meant we ended up mid pack at 24th for the start.
Rolling Start....
.....and Ian, our first driver got us up to 11th but then didn't come in on the Code 60 lap when he was supposed to (full course 60kph limit - avoids the use of the safety car and is slow enough that you can do a driver change and refuel without dropping a lap) and dropped us down to 20th.
The next driver did the day-into-night session but hadn't driven the car before Friday, never raced at Spa and never at night and found the whole thing a struggle.
One thing about the C1 is that it doesn't respond well to over-driving and by his own admission, Sid over-drove the car in frustration. Down to 26th.
Me next - the first thing I noticed was how great the car felt - we'd really nailed the setup and it flew. The next thing was how every car seemed to be driving the 24 hour race like a sprint race - every lap was immense fun, swapping places with C1s all over the place, being blocked by one or two belligerent 2CVs and generally being on a very busy track in a very busy race for 2.5 hours. Drifting round Pouhon alongside BTCC drivers - it really doesn't get much better and the car itself really didn't matter. In the last 20 years I've raced all sorts of cars on all sorts of tracks and this stint is one of the most fun racing experiences I've ever had. Great track, great car, great fun. I brought us down to 19th place. We were looking good for a rise up the rankings overnight.
Rich into the car and I could see from his laptimes that after 5 or 6 laps he'd settled into a rhythm and was making good time - time for me to get a couple of hours sleep as by then it was midnight. Just as I was about to leave the garage however, Rich didn't update on the timing screens and a code 60 was thrown. We waited and waited, then our worst fears were confirmed....
Rich had hit a stationary car at Radillon - the blind crest after Eau Rouge. There was nothing he could have done to avoid it (he couldn't see it until the last second) and the officials had not had time to put out the yellows. He came back with the car and we called the medic down to see him. He'd hit the car at 90mph, he was bruised and felt a tightness in his chest where the HANS device and harnesses had done their work. The medic took him to the medical centre, where they decided to take him to hospital as a precaution.
The car was a mess:
He'd hit the corner of the stationary car and the little C1 had performed amazingly well, directing all the force of the impact into the chassis. The engine, although the mounts sheared as the chassis flexed was absolutely fine - the shell however was not, nor were any of the components in front of the engine and the steering rack had moved and bent the column. We decided to retire the car, 8 hours and 50 mins into the race.
The car now needs a new shell (we have a spares car which will now be a donor) but we'll miss the Race of Remembrance in a couple of weeks, we don't want to rush to get the car out.
Rich was discharged t5he following morning after X-Rays and a CT scan, bruised and battered but ultimately a testament to the strength of the car and the safety gear - if anyone questions the use of a HANS, I have a mate I can introduce to them who might not be here if it weren't for one.
We are entered for Rockingham and we plan to do the other 2018 races too - there's a day-into-night one at Croft, 5 miles from me which I'm greatly looking forward to. This is a good series, run by people who understand what racers want.
We'll be back!
t! A 2CV? Was the guy in that OK? 
andy97 said:
Ours is due out for it's first run at Donington next Saturday and our entry for the May 24 hour race at Rockingham has been accepted.
We haven't started the re-shell for 339 yet. Need to clear some space in the workshop this week so we can get started. It is on the list for next week. We are hoping to do our first test of the new car in late Jan / early Feb which will be about the time I'm able to test again after the accident at Spa.
Edited by RichUK on Sunday 3rd December 21:07
How big a job is it re-shell a car? Are you going to strip the donor car first and then swap everything (which isn't damaged) from this car to the donor shell?
Also, I read somewhere (either in this thread or in one of its links) that the race organisers recommend only using cars with low mileage. I think they said that the engines tend to blow up after 60,000 miles. Is that because the engines aren't reliable and are stressed with running flat out a lot of the time. I suppose racing makes things worse, but I imagine that even on the road a C1 will be driven pretty hard due to its relatively low performance.
Also, I read somewhere (either in this thread or in one of its links) that the race organisers recommend only using cars with low mileage. I think they said that the engines tend to blow up after 60,000 miles. Is that because the engines aren't reliable and are stressed with running flat out a lot of the time. I suppose racing makes things worse, but I imagine that even on the road a C1 will be driven pretty hard due to its relatively low performance.
We had bought another blue car to use for spares, now we will re-shell into that car. Should take about 40 hours or so.
We will strip everything that can be used again from the original car for spares, rear axle, engine etc. At Spa one of the teams had an issue and simply pulled a ready built axle and fitted in half the time it would have taken to fix the old one.
Current plan is to refresh the engine in the new shell and use that as our main engine, and then use the one from the old car as a spare.
We will strip everything that can be used again from the original car for spares, rear axle, engine etc. At Spa one of the teams had an issue and simply pulled a ready built axle and fitted in half the time it would have taken to fix the old one.
Current plan is to refresh the engine in the new shell and use that as our main engine, and then use the one from the old car as a spare.
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