Not Your Everyday Race Car - The Mighty Citroen
Discussion
My garage man called yesterday afternoon to ask whether I'd forgotten to take some parts, apparently the Gaz setup doesn't fit the standard top mounts. Nothing came with them to adapt the aluminium top of the strut so he went down the road to an engineering firm to get them to machine them to fit.
Glad I got someone else to do this now, and glad I picked them as he has the wherewithal to engineer a proper solution, not just bodge it.
Should be ready for me to pick up today, trip home will be a test drive.
Glad I got someone else to do this now, and glad I picked them as he has the wherewithal to engineer a proper solution, not just bodge it.
Should be ready for me to pick up today, trip home will be a test drive.
All done.
The steering arm needs shortening a small amount, then an extension is added, then the track-rod end is screwed onto the extension, this is how it ends up:
I did this on the ramps at the garage, they were reluctant to modify standard parts as they weren't sure where it left them regarding insurance, so the solution was that I did the cutting and fitting of the extensions, they'd do everything else. I now want a ramp at home, so much easier.
The car was then tracked, we went for 1 deg toe out but we'll play with it on Friday and see what works best. The drive home was very noisy, the coilovers were set too low and the tyres rubbed on the arches, when I checked they were about 3cm below the minimum ride height so out with the 'C' spanner and set to just over 57cm from floor to the top of the arch (regulation height for Gaz suspension cars) the collars were nearly at the top of their range:
Hard to see, but it's 57.3:
Once they were set the same each side, the collars were locked off and marked up so we'll see any movement. Last job is to go round and mark some of the more crucial nuts and bolts with a paint pen, mine's dried up so another is on order.
The steering arm needs shortening a small amount, then an extension is added, then the track-rod end is screwed onto the extension, this is how it ends up:
I did this on the ramps at the garage, they were reluctant to modify standard parts as they weren't sure where it left them regarding insurance, so the solution was that I did the cutting and fitting of the extensions, they'd do everything else. I now want a ramp at home, so much easier.
The car was then tracked, we went for 1 deg toe out but we'll play with it on Friday and see what works best. The drive home was very noisy, the coilovers were set too low and the tyres rubbed on the arches, when I checked they were about 3cm below the minimum ride height so out with the 'C' spanner and set to just over 57cm from floor to the top of the arch (regulation height for Gaz suspension cars) the collars were nearly at the top of their range:
Hard to see, but it's 57.3:
Once they were set the same each side, the collars were locked off and marked up so we'll see any movement. Last job is to go round and mark some of the more crucial nuts and bolts with a paint pen, mine's dried up so another is on order.
skeggysteve said:
Very good of the garage to allow you to do the mods on their ramp. I know what you mean about wanting a ramp!
The steering arm extension looks like it will made the rack arm the weak link - don't hammer the kerbs to much!
Toe out should help the understeer but I'd watch tyre wear.
Can't you get spacers for the shocks to give you more adjustment?
WRT marking nuts and bolts any bright touch up or Tippex work fine.
Hope Friday goes well.
We don't have Ralston driving, so kerb hopping should be kept to a minimum Steve The steering arm extension looks like it will made the rack arm the weak link - don't hammer the kerbs to much!
Toe out should help the understeer but I'd watch tyre wear.
Can't you get spacers for the shocks to give you more adjustment?
WRT marking nuts and bolts any bright touch up or Tippex work fine.
Hope Friday goes well.
Also, the control tyre lasts a long time on the cars built so far, 6 needed in total for the Spa24 last year (and only £40 a corner, so positively bargain basement compared to the 888s we were going through on the Clio) so assuming we keep the toe as it is (subject to Friday's testing) then it shouldn't be too much of a worry.
test drive last night:
Testing on the road is useful as far as checking for leaks and that everything remains bolted down and bedding the brakes in, but jeez it's bumpy. I felt 6" shorter after I got out, the amount of spine crushing bumps I bounced over. Definitely a track car.
There are four outlets on our extinguisher, 2 in the engine bay - one over the fuel rail (most likely source of flammable liquid) and one over the exhaust manifold (most likely source of heat to ignite an oil leak) then the other two route internally and point at the driver.
Make sure if you're planning to go to Spa that you have the FIA 4 litre extinguisher, as the MSA compliant ones won't be accepted by the Belgians I believe.
Make sure if you're planning to go to Spa that you have the FIA 4 litre extinguisher, as the MSA compliant ones won't be accepted by the Belgians I believe.
Test day went well, car ran faultlessly for a total of 2 hours in 30 minute sessions.
We agreed I'd go out for the first session as I know Croft, coming in after 10 mins just to do a quick check over - in the event I stayed out, the car running well but it's clear it needed a bit of fine tuning on the handling, as it was prone to understeer.
We had an alignment gauge but no batteries, and by the time we'd messed about for a while it was clear a quicker way of doing things - and more accurate - would be to get it to a local tyre place in the lunch break.
So at 12 o clock, the Northallerton branch of Kwik Fit had it up on the ramps and we discovered the alignment was way out - this was corrected and Rich brought the car back to the circuit.
Handling was much improved in the afternoon, but to me it needs more testing. I think with a better setup we could knock a couple of seconds off a lap (I know it'll never handle like a touring car, but I still think there's potentially more in there) so we're going to treat the Snetterton race on Sunday as an extended test day and make some setup changes during the race to see what each one does to lap times.
We agreed I'd go out for the first session as I know Croft, coming in after 10 mins just to do a quick check over - in the event I stayed out, the car running well but it's clear it needed a bit of fine tuning on the handling, as it was prone to understeer.
We had an alignment gauge but no batteries, and by the time we'd messed about for a while it was clear a quicker way of doing things - and more accurate - would be to get it to a local tyre place in the lunch break.
So at 12 o clock, the Northallerton branch of Kwik Fit had it up on the ramps and we discovered the alignment was way out - this was corrected and Rich brought the car back to the circuit.
Handling was much improved in the afternoon, but to me it needs more testing. I think with a better setup we could knock a couple of seconds off a lap (I know it'll never handle like a touring car, but I still think there's potentially more in there) so we're going to treat the Snetterton race on Sunday as an extended test day and make some setup changes during the race to see what each one does to lap times.
Well, a pretty good weekend all told:
We arrived on Saturday evening and waited for the Britcar teams to vacate the garages so we could take up residence - it was quite incongruous seeing Ferraris and C1s parked up next to one another - both ends of the motorsport scale but as seems usual with the C1, the professional teams were just as interested in the cars and the series as anyone else.
All we had to do when we arrived was to check fluids, put a set of race wheels on and wash and sticker up the car:
As we do most of our testing together at Donington (owing to the fact it's about half way between where we each live) we're calling this outfit 'Craner Motorsport' as it's likely we'll sell seats for some of the races so we felt it should be a semi-commercial entity, although for this race, it was to be just Rich and I, supported by one mechanic.
I don't have any race pictures, I was a bit busy, however we had a disappointing qualifying session, the understeer apparent at Croft really hurt us at Snett and we managed a poor 13th out of 15 starters. I was disappointed as I expected us to be mid-table but we'd planned this race as an extended test session so that's clearly what it was going to be.
For the race proper, I was to start, and then we would swap each hour and come in for adjustments as and when we felt we needed to. I decided to give myself and the car a good long period in the first session before changing anything as the circuit in a 68bhp C1 is a very different one to that in a 270bhp Porsche, which was what we raced there last year.
From the line I was involved with two other cars in a 3 way fight for last place, which unfortunately slowed us down but fortunately allowed me to explore the handling of the car and where it felt poor - understeer, lots and lots of understeer. Understeer turning in, power understeer coming out of a corner and the inability to brake as late as the cars I was racing in a straight line.
So - we have a car with the most frustrating of vices, I can't outbrake (my preferred way of overtaking), I can't undercut in a corner and I have less traction coming out of the corner.
So I completed my stint and while Rich was out, I had a think.
We made a few changes to damping, to the rake of the car (raising the rear spring platforms) and to our style of driving to combat the understeer and it certainly improved things, but the problems never really left us. I'm not unfamiliar with FWD cars, having raced a Clio Cup for a couple of years so while I know understeer is always a possibility, I feel we can do better, even in a C1.
I'm left to conclude that the springs (bought through the club, who have since decided to use softer ones) are too stiff for the car as it's set up so we're going to book some more testing time and see if reducing some of the camber and toe will help. We could swap out the springs, but as we can only use club mandated parts, we'd probably have to change the dampers too, which would cost us another £400 and we'd have wasted the £600 we've already spent.
Anyway, back to the race - we were lapping consistently and with some intelligent fuelling were slowly making our way up the order, despite the odd stop for setup changes - some thanks to retirement (at least one clutch), some on the road. We were up to 8th by the midpoint, where we hovered for most of the remaining race but in the last stint something clicked for Rich and his lap times dropped dramatically (by 9 seconds on his initial times and somewhere close to mine) and he made another place, reeling in the car in front at 7 or 8 seconds a lap then dicing with him until he made his way past for good and put a good gap on him 10 minutes from the finish - we were about to settle for 7th when, on the last lap one of the leading cars ran out of fuel and Rich brought the car in 6th.
I'll take that as a success.
I'm sure with some testing time we can do better, but I'm very proud to think that a car I built in my garage, with no prior experience not only ran for 4 hours at race pace but finished 7 places above it's grid position.
Mention too to Duncan and his friend who sought us out having read this thread - do it chaps, you won't find a more rewarding way into racing in terms of cost or satisfaction.
There are now a total of 41 kits sold by the club, so the future looks pretty good for this series and it deserves to succeed, what a great weekend we had.
We arrived on Saturday evening and waited for the Britcar teams to vacate the garages so we could take up residence - it was quite incongruous seeing Ferraris and C1s parked up next to one another - both ends of the motorsport scale but as seems usual with the C1, the professional teams were just as interested in the cars and the series as anyone else.
All we had to do when we arrived was to check fluids, put a set of race wheels on and wash and sticker up the car:
As we do most of our testing together at Donington (owing to the fact it's about half way between where we each live) we're calling this outfit 'Craner Motorsport' as it's likely we'll sell seats for some of the races so we felt it should be a semi-commercial entity, although for this race, it was to be just Rich and I, supported by one mechanic.
I don't have any race pictures, I was a bit busy, however we had a disappointing qualifying session, the understeer apparent at Croft really hurt us at Snett and we managed a poor 13th out of 15 starters. I was disappointed as I expected us to be mid-table but we'd planned this race as an extended test session so that's clearly what it was going to be.
For the race proper, I was to start, and then we would swap each hour and come in for adjustments as and when we felt we needed to. I decided to give myself and the car a good long period in the first session before changing anything as the circuit in a 68bhp C1 is a very different one to that in a 270bhp Porsche, which was what we raced there last year.
From the line I was involved with two other cars in a 3 way fight for last place, which unfortunately slowed us down but fortunately allowed me to explore the handling of the car and where it felt poor - understeer, lots and lots of understeer. Understeer turning in, power understeer coming out of a corner and the inability to brake as late as the cars I was racing in a straight line.
So - we have a car with the most frustrating of vices, I can't outbrake (my preferred way of overtaking), I can't undercut in a corner and I have less traction coming out of the corner.
So I completed my stint and while Rich was out, I had a think.
We made a few changes to damping, to the rake of the car (raising the rear spring platforms) and to our style of driving to combat the understeer and it certainly improved things, but the problems never really left us. I'm not unfamiliar with FWD cars, having raced a Clio Cup for a couple of years so while I know understeer is always a possibility, I feel we can do better, even in a C1.
I'm left to conclude that the springs (bought through the club, who have since decided to use softer ones) are too stiff for the car as it's set up so we're going to book some more testing time and see if reducing some of the camber and toe will help. We could swap out the springs, but as we can only use club mandated parts, we'd probably have to change the dampers too, which would cost us another £400 and we'd have wasted the £600 we've already spent.
Anyway, back to the race - we were lapping consistently and with some intelligent fuelling were slowly making our way up the order, despite the odd stop for setup changes - some thanks to retirement (at least one clutch), some on the road. We were up to 8th by the midpoint, where we hovered for most of the remaining race but in the last stint something clicked for Rich and his lap times dropped dramatically (by 9 seconds on his initial times and somewhere close to mine) and he made another place, reeling in the car in front at 7 or 8 seconds a lap then dicing with him until he made his way past for good and put a good gap on him 10 minutes from the finish - we were about to settle for 7th when, on the last lap one of the leading cars ran out of fuel and Rich brought the car in 6th.
I'll take that as a success.
I'm sure with some testing time we can do better, but I'm very proud to think that a car I built in my garage, with no prior experience not only ran for 4 hours at race pace but finished 7 places above it's grid position.
Mention too to Duncan and his friend who sought us out having read this thread - do it chaps, you won't find a more rewarding way into racing in terms of cost or satisfaction.
There are now a total of 41 kits sold by the club, so the future looks pretty good for this series and it deserves to succeed, what a great weekend we had.
Edited by Mark Benson on Thursday 11th May 08:16
skeggysteve said:
Thanks for the race report Mark.
I 'watched' a little of the race via TSL and noticed Rich getting quicker also noticed that you had 5 pit stops and all others had 3 or 4 so all in all I'd say 6th is a good result.
WRT understeer - softer front spring are the best option, It's a bit off of the club to change the spring they supply and not offer a refund/replacement on the ones you bought.
Ah, we'll work it out Steve. It's clear the car is quick in the fast corners (Coram was great) so hard springs work for us as well as against.I 'watched' a little of the race via TSL and noticed Rich getting quicker also noticed that you had 5 pit stops and all others had 3 or 4 so all in all I'd say 6th is a good result.
WRT understeer - softer front spring are the best option, It's a bit off of the club to change the spring they supply and not offer a refund/replacement on the ones you bought.
We'll take some toe off and play with rear camber (we can use shims) and see what we end up with. I don't want to spend any more on suspension so a track day and a bit of playing will see us right I'm sure.
Edited by Mark Benson on Thursday 11th May 08:23
Munter said:
I thought you could run the standard road springs or optionally the ones from the club. I'm assuming the standards are softer.
As we understand it, you have to run the springs and dampers as a package - ie. if you go with Gaz, you need to run the corresponding springs.Regs said:
12.1.4 If Gaz dampers are being used, they must be fitted with coil-over springs supplied by the C1 Series Organisers
So if we want softer springs, we need to bin the £600 worth of kit we bought in October.We took the car to PT Sportscars who did a full geometry setup and then on to Cadwell for testing (and to let Rich have a bit of a test as he's never been). I love Cadwell and the car went very well round there - catching up with a 911 in Charlies that flew past me on the bottom straight was a particular highlight - we may not have power but when you simply don't brake from Barn to Park you can make up a lot of distance on more powerful machinery.
On the whole the car is a lot better than it was a Snett after the trip to PT, but I feel that the springs are still not ideal - they're a bit short at the back (there's a danger that if we go off a particularly high kerb they could drop off the mountings - they have zip-ties holding them on now but....) and the front springs are still a little stiff, but the setup is a lot better and we've lost most of the understeer.
Rich has emailed the club asking of we can change the springs out for something more suitable but keep the (very expensive) dampers that the club recommended then told us we couldn't use after the end of this season which seems a bit rum to me.
Rich is racing at Pembrey later this month, unfortunately I'm on holiday and will miss that weekend then it's Cadwell in September, Spa in October and Race of Remembrance in November. Think we might have a seat at Pembrey (though Rich might have filled it).
On the whole the car is a lot better than it was a Snett after the trip to PT, but I feel that the springs are still not ideal - they're a bit short at the back (there's a danger that if we go off a particularly high kerb they could drop off the mountings - they have zip-ties holding them on now but....) and the front springs are still a little stiff, but the setup is a lot better and we've lost most of the understeer.
Rich has emailed the club asking of we can change the springs out for something more suitable but keep the (very expensive) dampers that the club recommended then told us we couldn't use after the end of this season which seems a bit rum to me.
Rich is racing at Pembrey later this month, unfortunately I'm on holiday and will miss that weekend then it's Cadwell in September, Spa in October and Race of Remembrance in November. Think we might have a seat at Pembrey (though Rich might have filled it).
geeks said:
We bought the Bilstein kit as soon as we were given the nod. Could you not get a set of neutral helper springs for the rear to stop that shifting? Gaz do sell them if you are allowed to use them! (appreciate you aren't at present owing to the regs, but given as they are not yet a championship and thus don't need approval from the MSA to make reg changes it couldnt hurt!)
Ideally we'd just put the Bilstein springs over the Gaz dampers and be done. Neither of us is keen to go full Bilstein as we spent a large proportion of the budget on the Gaz stuff, only to be told they were only of use for a year however we'd go with OEM if we had to - at present though to change the springs we'd have to ditch the dampers which doesn't seem fair.I don't know what the current state of affairs is as Rich has the car at the moment and will be doing Pembrey so he's been speaking to Caryl & co. - it may have been resolved by now.
geeks said:
Mark Benson said:
geeks said:
We bought the Bilstein kit as soon as we were given the nod. Could you not get a set of neutral helper springs for the rear to stop that shifting? Gaz do sell them if you are allowed to use them! (appreciate you aren't at present owing to the regs, but given as they are not yet a championship and thus don't need approval from the MSA to make reg changes it couldnt hurt!)
Ideally we'd just put the Bilstein springs over the Gaz dampers and be done. Neither of us is keen to go full Bilstein as we spent a large proportion of the budget on the Gaz stuff, only to be told they were only of use for a year however we'd go with OEM if we had to - at present though to change the springs we'd have to ditch the dampers which doesn't seem fair.I don't know what the current state of affairs is as Rich has the car at the moment and will be doing Pembrey so he's been speaking to Caryl & co. - it may have been resolved by now.
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!
ph9 said:
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.
Any engine that's 60,000 miles old, especially one that used primarily for short journeys (as you'd expect a C1 to be) is going to be 'tired'. Asking it then to do 24 hours at high revs is a lot for any engine. 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.
However the Toyota engine in the C1 is a strong unit - ours had done just under 50k miles, wasn't burning oil and was still strong, regularly appearing in the top 5 lap times at meetings and apart from oil changes, ran all season without issue. There were several engines which finished the Spa 24h with considerably higher mileage than ours too but obviously the fresher your engine the more reliable it's likely to be.
There's a Photobucket fix for Chrome here and a Firefox one here.
If I get time I'll go through and rehost them, but at the moment that's not possible - the fixes above should help - I use the Firefox one successfully.
The car is being rebuilt at PT Sportscars in Berkshire - although we built it in my garage PT have been running the car for the last few races of the season so they're doing the work over winter for us, including the engine rebuild. Fixing the car is the responsibility of the driver at the time of the incident so Rich took the decision to use PT (who have been great and know their stuff), rather than attempt it himself as he just doesn't have the time (which I'm glad about!).
PT will be running us next year too - with paying drivers potentially at all the meetings next year it's sensible I think to hand off responsibility to someone else so that things run smoothly, especially in the pits. It's not the cheapest option but for us it means we can sell seats to people and be better equipped to deliver some decent racing to them. It's one thing to do it yourself with mates as I've done for years, but I'd be annoyed with myself if people who'd paid for a drive missed out because we couldn't do what was required to get the car out or we took longer than necessary and paying driver's sessions were shortened.
2018 dates and entry fees are confirmed too:
April 20th 2018 Rockingham Testday & BBQ
May 11th – 12th 2018 Rockingham 3hr Race £500
May 11th – 13th 2018 Rockingham 24 hr endurance. £2600 Reserve entries only
June 9th – 10th 2018 Pembrey 4 hr Race £700
Aug 4th – 5th 2018 Snetterton 300 4hr Race £800
Aug 16th 2018 Rockingham Testday & BBQ
Aug 31st – Sep 1st 2018 Rockingham 3hr Race £500
Aug 31st – Sep 2nd 2018 Rockingham 24 hr endurance. £2600 Reserve entries only
Sept 22nd – 23rd 2018 Croft 4hr Race £700
Oct 5th-7th 2018 (tbc) Spa 24hr endurance
November 2018 Anglesey RoR 12hr Race
If I get time I'll go through and rehost them, but at the moment that's not possible - the fixes above should help - I use the Firefox one successfully.
The car is being rebuilt at PT Sportscars in Berkshire - although we built it in my garage PT have been running the car for the last few races of the season so they're doing the work over winter for us, including the engine rebuild. Fixing the car is the responsibility of the driver at the time of the incident so Rich took the decision to use PT (who have been great and know their stuff), rather than attempt it himself as he just doesn't have the time (which I'm glad about!).
PT will be running us next year too - with paying drivers potentially at all the meetings next year it's sensible I think to hand off responsibility to someone else so that things run smoothly, especially in the pits. It's not the cheapest option but for us it means we can sell seats to people and be better equipped to deliver some decent racing to them. It's one thing to do it yourself with mates as I've done for years, but I'd be annoyed with myself if people who'd paid for a drive missed out because we couldn't do what was required to get the car out or we took longer than necessary and paying driver's sessions were shortened.
2018 dates and entry fees are confirmed too:
April 20th 2018 Rockingham Testday & BBQ
May 11th – 12th 2018 Rockingham 3hr Race £500
May 11th – 13th 2018 Rockingham 24 hr endurance. £2600 Reserve entries only
June 9th – 10th 2018 Pembrey 4 hr Race £700
Aug 4th – 5th 2018 Snetterton 300 4hr Race £800
Aug 16th 2018 Rockingham Testday & BBQ
Aug 31st – Sep 1st 2018 Rockingham 3hr Race £500
Aug 31st – Sep 2nd 2018 Rockingham 24 hr endurance. £2600 Reserve entries only
Sept 22nd – 23rd 2018 Croft 4hr Race £700
Oct 5th-7th 2018 (tbc) Spa 24hr endurance
November 2018 Anglesey RoR 12hr Race
geeks said:
Yeah we (well the team, I couldn't make it owing the Compacts) were there at Spa when you guys were in the accident. No where near as bad but we had damage to repair following that one owing to a team related to the Touring Cars using other cars as brakes! Still car is now all straight again and freshly painted! Livery is up next and we are good to go! Will try and say hello over the weekend if I can!
Rumour has it that the team you mention is the reason we're all breathalysed before and during each meeting this year (an excellent idea it is too, they started at sign on for the Rockingham test day)....Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff