911virgin.com race report
Discussion
The 25 hours of Britcar:
sorry it`s a bit long.
Arrived at the circuit on Wednesday for a quick shake down to make sure there were no issues following a fairly extensive rebuild. Hadn`t touched the engine but gearbox and chassis all stripped and rebuilt. All went well with no issues at all.
Thursday was the official test day and the rest of the drivers arrived. Myself & Craig went out in the morning session, Pete and Steve (Rance) went out in the afternoon. We weren`t pushing the car at all, just a few laps to make sure everyone was familiar with the car. I`d already set the car up and we weren`t looking to work further on that, a nice friendly car that wasn`t going to eat tyres. We were a little down on power compared to some of the other cars but our fuel burn was great. I was hoping for a minimum 1.40 hours per tank and in reality we managed to better that my longest single fuel leg was over 2 hours. Once again no issues with the car at all. All the other teams had obviously arrived by now and it was very tempting to pop round for a couple of beers but on a strictly no booze, tea, coffee or sugar diet. Loads of water.
Friday and the official qualifying. We put Pete out on new tyres and gave him 4 or 5 laps to put in a time, nothing mad just a safe quick lap. We saw a 2.03 and called it a day. Then it was the necessary 3 laps per driver and park the old girl up. I went round for a lap at the end of the session to make sure nothing had altered on the car and finished up with a re-fueling run to give everyone a chance to see how things went at the pumps. 8.00pm and night time qualifying. Once again we put everyone in the car for the required 3 laps and then once it was properly dark I did a couple of runs to set the lights up. Then the car was handed over to Craig & Steve so they could get used to night time driving, it`s a whole different skill and as they hadn`t raced in the dark they needed to get used to the car. The night qualifying is probably one of the most dangerous times as loads of people are trying to put their cars round the track in the pitch back with varying degrees of success. Lots of spins and journeys into the undergrowth, you just need to make sure you have room to avoid them. We weren`t bothered about any times and went off the first page of the timing screen to 35th position ! (The grid positions were determined by the fastest time from either session so we were on slot 20 from the morning).
Saturday warm up & I did a few laps to bed in some brakes and scrub the last of the tyres in. A quick stop to fill up with fuel and then we parked up for the 4.30pm kick off. 3.45pm off to the assembly area to be formed up ready to take to the circuit. A bit of banter with some of the other teams. I was starting and I noticed most of the larger teams had fielded their bigger guns to make a good impression from the off - just what I needed! We had slightly different plans. For sure we needed to keep up with the pack but not at any cost. It was going to be a long race and we didn`t want any heros just yet. Onto the grid and the mood changed from drivers and banter to a frenzy of activity with cameras, crew, lightly clothed women, officials and a plethora of other folk. A final handshake with a couple of fellow drivers and then into the car as the grid was cleared. I`ve finished a 24 hour race before but never started one.
Obviously a grid of 60 cars means you need to have your wits about you if you are to avoid opening lap dramas. It`s not just people trying to get past you, they can be managed, the biggest danger is from cars collecting each other in front of you, not only do you have to avoid the accident you also have to make sure the guys behind don`t barrel into you. As it was I could see there was a waved yellow on the grid which turned out to be a TVR that had stalled. We all drove round him and set off on the green flag lap. Once rolling as a driver at least you`ve got something to think about. It was a painfully slow green flag lap which meant it was hard to get any temperature in the tyres. We were using Dunlop rubber as is the norm on these occasions and they do take a bit of time to wake up, certainly compared to the Michelin`s which come in quickly and welcome you with a few laps of invincibility the Dunlops are a stubborn old bugger which never really come on in a blaze of glory. Eventually they start to work but when the grip goes you feel the tyre sliding away and it doesn`t bust it`s balls trying to regain acquaintance with the tarmac certainly they lack the Michelin`s elasticity when they decide to call time out.
As it was the opening lap of the race was fine, there was a bit of jostling around but eventually things settled down and I managed to find a clean bit of the track. I wasn`t long before we started to lap slower cars and from then on the race was on. I`d spent the past month trying to make sure all the drivers approached their driving from the right angle. It wasn`t about ultimate lap times, more about looking after the car and taking care when you were overtaking so I was going to look a right prat if I collected someone myself. I`m happy to say there were no alarming moments. The only problem was a very slippy circuit from the previous races. Club corner was like an ice rink and even as we started there was loads of debris which caused quite bad pick-up. What happens is you drive over a lump of rubber which sticks to your tyre, there is a big bang and you lose grip as well as feeling a vibration through the car which can take a couple of laps to drive off, not a huge problem other than the fact a puncture gives exactly the same results so you have to make your mind up which one it is!
As my couple of hours came to an end I was starting to ache a bit in the car and used the hanger straight to stretch out a bit. I got out of the car around 6.30 and handed over to Steve. There was the usual de-brief with the crew and then it was off for a bite to eat and a rest. It`s important to try and relax in between stints otherwise you suffer next time in the car. According to my master plan I was going to get in the car next around 11.30, out just after 1.00am grab some sleep and hop in again in the morning. Things never go to plan though do they! A combination of safety cars & better fuel consumption meant it was going to be 1.00am before I got in. We had managed to claw our way up to 4th place and were jostling the Paragon Porsche for 4th & 5th spot based on fuel stops. We could run longer than them on a tank though and ultimately would win the battle based on 3 stops for every one of their 4. Unfortunately just as we were going to pull Steve in for fuel they threw a safety car. He was on reserve and so we didn`t dare run him until it pulled in, the rules say you are only allowed to take on 25 litres of fuel during a safety car (rather than our usual 105 litres) so we were forced into an extra stop. Steve actually caused us a small heart attack when he radioed in to say the pumps were shut and there were no lights on. It turns out he`d come off after bridge and rather than turn behind the barriers into the refueling bay he`d driven down the national straight back onto the circuit. Eventually he found his way to the pumps and normal order resumed.
As I got ready to get in the car for my second stint we had our bit of bad luck. Pete was driving and must have driven over some debris left over from a BMW rolling on the Hanger straight. The debris penetrated the wheel arch liner and ripped the steel hydraulic clutch pipe wide open. Obviously he had no clutch and was forced to pit. He managed to take on fuel before driving into the garage. As I sat waiting in the car the crew took another pipe from the spares car we had brought along, they also used the stoppage to carry out our planned maintenance which we were going to do around hour 16, this was basically a front pad change, fingers crossed they would last. My biggest fear driving 1.00am - 3.00am was that I would fall asleep. This would be one of the most dangerous sessions with drivers loosing concentration and not paying attention.
Eventually I made it out onto the circuit and was relieved to find it a lot less oily than my first session at the start of the race. It takes a while to bring in tyres at night, the lights of the cars behind are dis-orientating and it`s hard to judge speed as they close on you whilst your tyres are cold. Eventually you get some heat into the rubber, get on the pace and then it`s not too bad. The odd car passes you but the closing speeds are ok, mostly it`s making your way past slower cars and you make you own luck there. Loads of people complain about the cars they are overtaking "turning in on them" whilst they are trying to get past, it`s a simple thing to avoid just make doubly sure the bloke`s seen you and use your car`s body language to let the other chap know exactly what you`re planning on doing. My overalls were still damp from my first session in the car and that coupled with a bit of air flow meant the cabin temp was lovely, a GT3 is normally like a furnace but this was gorgeous.
Some people struggle a bit at night but it doesn`t effect me too badly, I use timing and peripheral vision to place the car on track rather than distant objects (which you obviously can`t see at night). It`s a fair bet to assume the tarmac will be in roughly the same place so whilst you can`t always see exactly where you`re going you just trust your timing and imagine where the exit points are, sure enough they usually come into view eventually. There were a lot of cars missing the tarmac and throwing up dust & grass, at one stage someone ran through the gravel at Brooklands and you couldn`t see a thing, I slowed right down just in case the car was still stationary somewhere in the cloud of dust, luckily it wasn`t. After an hour or so transmission oil (funnily enough you can tell which type of oil it is from within the car), went down on 3 corners. It`s hard to spot at first but the slide lets you know!! Just as that was clearing it went down on 3 more corners. Lap times went right down but I managed to get back on the ball as soon as was practical. The stint came to an end, I popped in for a re-fuel and handed the car over to Steve again. Another de-brief then off to bed after a quick snack.
My final drive started around mid day as the race had been neutralised during the early morning following fog. This was a most bizarre stint. The GTS BMW of David Leslie, Rob Wilson, Jo Macari & Stuart Wright was just ahead of us but had to pit following a mechanical problem, we passed it and I was told to drive economically so we avoided the need for a splash & dash at the end. We were going to need around 25 litres of fuel but If I drove at half throttle and shifted gears early I thought I could make that up during my drive. Radio messages passed between myself and the pit wall, I was then told to ignore the fuel message and drive normally again. It was a strange thing, I was shooting round the track passing cars and all the time I was discussing tactics and various re-fueling strategies with Peter on the pit wall. He suggested a solution, I disagreed and we had a debate at 120 miles an hour. I came very close to a fixed penalty notice and 3 points for driving whilst on the phone! Eventually my argument won through and I finished my drive.
All that remained was for Steve to hop in and take us to the end. My plan came good when a safety car was thrown to clear up debris from the track. This allowed Steve to have a splash of fuel, some new tyres and rejoin the safety car only 1 lap down. We were now on the same lap just 9 seconds behind the GTS car. Unfortunately it was just a bit quicker than us and eventually passed us to finish a lap ahead. Steve drove his heart out and nearly collapsed as he got out of the car through lack of fluid. I got told off for passing him a beer and we all lived happily ever after. 7th overall in such a class field was a hell of a result but if I`m honest it was slightly tinged. Had it not have been for the 1 in a million hit on the clutch pipe we`d have taken 3rd overall and 1st in class. Ah well that`s racing.
The more observant of you might have noticed I said at the start the 25 hours of Britcar and so far we`ve only covered 24 of them. On Sunday night we went out for a bite to eat and a few beers with a load of reprobates we met at the circuit and I awoke the next morning to the sound of engines being warmed up in readiness to take to the circuit. It was a BRDC member`s track day. I just couldn`t resist it. A BRDC member who shall remain anonymous (thanks John), invited me on as a guest. I borrowed a spanner to torque up the wheels (with workshop tyres on!!!), popped round to the fuel station to slip in a bit of petrol and hit the track. A truly wonderful hour or so spent throwing the old girl round a circuit that was now an old friend only this time without the pressure of letting a side down in a 24 hour team event. I left Silverstone a happy bunny that evening. The car didn`t have a single mark on it, it drove as well in the final hour as it did the first, all be it with one of the tyres down to the canvas by now and it was all done in the company of good friends.
Well done to everyone who took part, you all have your special memories and will be more rounded drivers as a result.
Simply racing did have a bit of a problem with a leaky engine in their RS, they asked me if I knew anyone with an RS for sale so I loaned them the one from own 964 RS. A testament to Porsche`s build quality the car had laid dormant for probably 18 months then went out and won it`s class
A big well done to all the EERC team. A very well organised meeting indeed. The whole team pulled together as one unit and from the banners welcoming us all on Wednesday through to clearing up on Sunday night & we didn`t experience any hassles at all with EERC`s side of things. I still think the circuit or someone missed a few tricks but there you go, we`ve said it all before. The EERC has clearly built on the previous year`s events and if next year`s event shows the same leap forward surely someone will have to encourage crowds through the door by allowing it to blossom into a British Le Mans, camping, crowds, car clubs, fun & all.
Well done also to everyone who took part, you all have your special memories and will be more rounded drivers as a result.
As ever - keep smiling
Henry
sorry it`s a bit long.
Arrived at the circuit on Wednesday for a quick shake down to make sure there were no issues following a fairly extensive rebuild. Hadn`t touched the engine but gearbox and chassis all stripped and rebuilt. All went well with no issues at all.
Thursday was the official test day and the rest of the drivers arrived. Myself & Craig went out in the morning session, Pete and Steve (Rance) went out in the afternoon. We weren`t pushing the car at all, just a few laps to make sure everyone was familiar with the car. I`d already set the car up and we weren`t looking to work further on that, a nice friendly car that wasn`t going to eat tyres. We were a little down on power compared to some of the other cars but our fuel burn was great. I was hoping for a minimum 1.40 hours per tank and in reality we managed to better that my longest single fuel leg was over 2 hours. Once again no issues with the car at all. All the other teams had obviously arrived by now and it was very tempting to pop round for a couple of beers but on a strictly no booze, tea, coffee or sugar diet. Loads of water.
Friday and the official qualifying. We put Pete out on new tyres and gave him 4 or 5 laps to put in a time, nothing mad just a safe quick lap. We saw a 2.03 and called it a day. Then it was the necessary 3 laps per driver and park the old girl up. I went round for a lap at the end of the session to make sure nothing had altered on the car and finished up with a re-fueling run to give everyone a chance to see how things went at the pumps. 8.00pm and night time qualifying. Once again we put everyone in the car for the required 3 laps and then once it was properly dark I did a couple of runs to set the lights up. Then the car was handed over to Craig & Steve so they could get used to night time driving, it`s a whole different skill and as they hadn`t raced in the dark they needed to get used to the car. The night qualifying is probably one of the most dangerous times as loads of people are trying to put their cars round the track in the pitch back with varying degrees of success. Lots of spins and journeys into the undergrowth, you just need to make sure you have room to avoid them. We weren`t bothered about any times and went off the first page of the timing screen to 35th position ! (The grid positions were determined by the fastest time from either session so we were on slot 20 from the morning).
Saturday warm up & I did a few laps to bed in some brakes and scrub the last of the tyres in. A quick stop to fill up with fuel and then we parked up for the 4.30pm kick off. 3.45pm off to the assembly area to be formed up ready to take to the circuit. A bit of banter with some of the other teams. I was starting and I noticed most of the larger teams had fielded their bigger guns to make a good impression from the off - just what I needed! We had slightly different plans. For sure we needed to keep up with the pack but not at any cost. It was going to be a long race and we didn`t want any heros just yet. Onto the grid and the mood changed from drivers and banter to a frenzy of activity with cameras, crew, lightly clothed women, officials and a plethora of other folk. A final handshake with a couple of fellow drivers and then into the car as the grid was cleared. I`ve finished a 24 hour race before but never started one.
Obviously a grid of 60 cars means you need to have your wits about you if you are to avoid opening lap dramas. It`s not just people trying to get past you, they can be managed, the biggest danger is from cars collecting each other in front of you, not only do you have to avoid the accident you also have to make sure the guys behind don`t barrel into you. As it was I could see there was a waved yellow on the grid which turned out to be a TVR that had stalled. We all drove round him and set off on the green flag lap. Once rolling as a driver at least you`ve got something to think about. It was a painfully slow green flag lap which meant it was hard to get any temperature in the tyres. We were using Dunlop rubber as is the norm on these occasions and they do take a bit of time to wake up, certainly compared to the Michelin`s which come in quickly and welcome you with a few laps of invincibility the Dunlops are a stubborn old bugger which never really come on in a blaze of glory. Eventually they start to work but when the grip goes you feel the tyre sliding away and it doesn`t bust it`s balls trying to regain acquaintance with the tarmac certainly they lack the Michelin`s elasticity when they decide to call time out.
As it was the opening lap of the race was fine, there was a bit of jostling around but eventually things settled down and I managed to find a clean bit of the track. I wasn`t long before we started to lap slower cars and from then on the race was on. I`d spent the past month trying to make sure all the drivers approached their driving from the right angle. It wasn`t about ultimate lap times, more about looking after the car and taking care when you were overtaking so I was going to look a right prat if I collected someone myself. I`m happy to say there were no alarming moments. The only problem was a very slippy circuit from the previous races. Club corner was like an ice rink and even as we started there was loads of debris which caused quite bad pick-up. What happens is you drive over a lump of rubber which sticks to your tyre, there is a big bang and you lose grip as well as feeling a vibration through the car which can take a couple of laps to drive off, not a huge problem other than the fact a puncture gives exactly the same results so you have to make your mind up which one it is!
As my couple of hours came to an end I was starting to ache a bit in the car and used the hanger straight to stretch out a bit. I got out of the car around 6.30 and handed over to Steve. There was the usual de-brief with the crew and then it was off for a bite to eat and a rest. It`s important to try and relax in between stints otherwise you suffer next time in the car. According to my master plan I was going to get in the car next around 11.30, out just after 1.00am grab some sleep and hop in again in the morning. Things never go to plan though do they! A combination of safety cars & better fuel consumption meant it was going to be 1.00am before I got in. We had managed to claw our way up to 4th place and were jostling the Paragon Porsche for 4th & 5th spot based on fuel stops. We could run longer than them on a tank though and ultimately would win the battle based on 3 stops for every one of their 4. Unfortunately just as we were going to pull Steve in for fuel they threw a safety car. He was on reserve and so we didn`t dare run him until it pulled in, the rules say you are only allowed to take on 25 litres of fuel during a safety car (rather than our usual 105 litres) so we were forced into an extra stop. Steve actually caused us a small heart attack when he radioed in to say the pumps were shut and there were no lights on. It turns out he`d come off after bridge and rather than turn behind the barriers into the refueling bay he`d driven down the national straight back onto the circuit. Eventually he found his way to the pumps and normal order resumed.
As I got ready to get in the car for my second stint we had our bit of bad luck. Pete was driving and must have driven over some debris left over from a BMW rolling on the Hanger straight. The debris penetrated the wheel arch liner and ripped the steel hydraulic clutch pipe wide open. Obviously he had no clutch and was forced to pit. He managed to take on fuel before driving into the garage. As I sat waiting in the car the crew took another pipe from the spares car we had brought along, they also used the stoppage to carry out our planned maintenance which we were going to do around hour 16, this was basically a front pad change, fingers crossed they would last. My biggest fear driving 1.00am - 3.00am was that I would fall asleep. This would be one of the most dangerous sessions with drivers loosing concentration and not paying attention.
Eventually I made it out onto the circuit and was relieved to find it a lot less oily than my first session at the start of the race. It takes a while to bring in tyres at night, the lights of the cars behind are dis-orientating and it`s hard to judge speed as they close on you whilst your tyres are cold. Eventually you get some heat into the rubber, get on the pace and then it`s not too bad. The odd car passes you but the closing speeds are ok, mostly it`s making your way past slower cars and you make you own luck there. Loads of people complain about the cars they are overtaking "turning in on them" whilst they are trying to get past, it`s a simple thing to avoid just make doubly sure the bloke`s seen you and use your car`s body language to let the other chap know exactly what you`re planning on doing. My overalls were still damp from my first session in the car and that coupled with a bit of air flow meant the cabin temp was lovely, a GT3 is normally like a furnace but this was gorgeous.
Some people struggle a bit at night but it doesn`t effect me too badly, I use timing and peripheral vision to place the car on track rather than distant objects (which you obviously can`t see at night). It`s a fair bet to assume the tarmac will be in roughly the same place so whilst you can`t always see exactly where you`re going you just trust your timing and imagine where the exit points are, sure enough they usually come into view eventually. There were a lot of cars missing the tarmac and throwing up dust & grass, at one stage someone ran through the gravel at Brooklands and you couldn`t see a thing, I slowed right down just in case the car was still stationary somewhere in the cloud of dust, luckily it wasn`t. After an hour or so transmission oil (funnily enough you can tell which type of oil it is from within the car), went down on 3 corners. It`s hard to spot at first but the slide lets you know!! Just as that was clearing it went down on 3 more corners. Lap times went right down but I managed to get back on the ball as soon as was practical. The stint came to an end, I popped in for a re-fuel and handed the car over to Steve again. Another de-brief then off to bed after a quick snack.
My final drive started around mid day as the race had been neutralised during the early morning following fog. This was a most bizarre stint. The GTS BMW of David Leslie, Rob Wilson, Jo Macari & Stuart Wright was just ahead of us but had to pit following a mechanical problem, we passed it and I was told to drive economically so we avoided the need for a splash & dash at the end. We were going to need around 25 litres of fuel but If I drove at half throttle and shifted gears early I thought I could make that up during my drive. Radio messages passed between myself and the pit wall, I was then told to ignore the fuel message and drive normally again. It was a strange thing, I was shooting round the track passing cars and all the time I was discussing tactics and various re-fueling strategies with Peter on the pit wall. He suggested a solution, I disagreed and we had a debate at 120 miles an hour. I came very close to a fixed penalty notice and 3 points for driving whilst on the phone! Eventually my argument won through and I finished my drive.
All that remained was for Steve to hop in and take us to the end. My plan came good when a safety car was thrown to clear up debris from the track. This allowed Steve to have a splash of fuel, some new tyres and rejoin the safety car only 1 lap down. We were now on the same lap just 9 seconds behind the GTS car. Unfortunately it was just a bit quicker than us and eventually passed us to finish a lap ahead. Steve drove his heart out and nearly collapsed as he got out of the car through lack of fluid. I got told off for passing him a beer and we all lived happily ever after. 7th overall in such a class field was a hell of a result but if I`m honest it was slightly tinged. Had it not have been for the 1 in a million hit on the clutch pipe we`d have taken 3rd overall and 1st in class. Ah well that`s racing.
The more observant of you might have noticed I said at the start the 25 hours of Britcar and so far we`ve only covered 24 of them. On Sunday night we went out for a bite to eat and a few beers with a load of reprobates we met at the circuit and I awoke the next morning to the sound of engines being warmed up in readiness to take to the circuit. It was a BRDC member`s track day. I just couldn`t resist it. A BRDC member who shall remain anonymous (thanks John), invited me on as a guest. I borrowed a spanner to torque up the wheels (with workshop tyres on!!!), popped round to the fuel station to slip in a bit of petrol and hit the track. A truly wonderful hour or so spent throwing the old girl round a circuit that was now an old friend only this time without the pressure of letting a side down in a 24 hour team event. I left Silverstone a happy bunny that evening. The car didn`t have a single mark on it, it drove as well in the final hour as it did the first, all be it with one of the tyres down to the canvas by now and it was all done in the company of good friends.
Well done to everyone who took part, you all have your special memories and will be more rounded drivers as a result.
Simply racing did have a bit of a problem with a leaky engine in their RS, they asked me if I knew anyone with an RS for sale so I loaned them the one from own 964 RS. A testament to Porsche`s build quality the car had laid dormant for probably 18 months then went out and won it`s class
A big well done to all the EERC team. A very well organised meeting indeed. The whole team pulled together as one unit and from the banners welcoming us all on Wednesday through to clearing up on Sunday night & we didn`t experience any hassles at all with EERC`s side of things. I still think the circuit or someone missed a few tricks but there you go, we`ve said it all before. The EERC has clearly built on the previous year`s events and if next year`s event shows the same leap forward surely someone will have to encourage crowds through the door by allowing it to blossom into a British Le Mans, camping, crowds, car clubs, fun & all.
Well done also to everyone who took part, you all have your special memories and will be more rounded drivers as a result.
As ever - keep smiling
Henry
Edited by Henry-F on Wednesday 12th September 00:12
zac510 said:
Good report Henry.
Are they giving you that engine back as is?
No, I think I heard a very slight knocking just at the end of the race Are they giving you that engine back as is?
Only joking, we had already discussed that it would be stripped down and rebuilt before going back in the car. I`ll probably use it as a catalyst to spend a few quid on the old girl, deciding which way to go (ie how track focussed to make it).
Henry
Nice report Henry.
Always interesting to read about experiences. Shame about the clutch line thats proper bad luck. Allot of the BMW runners were shafted by bad luck with punctures which just blurs the efforts put in.
Goes to show no mater how much anyone puts into the race, good old lady luck still has to play her hand.
Always interesting to read about experiences. Shame about the clutch line thats proper bad luck. Allot of the BMW runners were shafted by bad luck with punctures which just blurs the efforts put in.
Goes to show no mater how much anyone puts into the race, good old lady luck still has to play her hand.
Gassing Station | General Motorsport | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff