Not anymore, i found them up there on Friday afternoon PM me your offer




Update on the car sometime today seeing as we're nearing SSO and round 2 of TA

 

I'll phone you later

 

Kev, we're all still waiting for this update

 

Right, got a few spare minutes so i'll update this thread and see if i can do an event review or two

 

First off, i'd like to quash a few rumours about the car, it isn't a tuner entry run by ScoobyClinic, the car is 100% owned, run and paid for by me & Mikee, they help us out with the preparation on the car in return for sponsorship and i hope we're giving them value for money They put alot of effort into helping us get to each event and for that we are extremely grateful, i'd name names but they know who they are

 

Right, **** licking out the way, onto SSO

The new 2.3 engine was about 4 days too late from being finished to be fitted into the car for the SSO weekend, so it was decided on Thursday afternoon that we'd borrow one of Scoobyclinic's SC450 engines mated to the new SC50 turbo. The guys at Clinic did an absolutely amazing job to get it built from scratch and fitted by Friday teatime (it's a testament to them that the engine is still running without a hiccup after 2 events and the amount of punishment it's gone through). I turned up on Saturday to run the engine in, so off i went into the Peak District to put some mileage on the engine, i managed to get just 70 miles onto the engine before it was time to put it onto the dyno and get it mapped, by this time it was gone 7pm. Pat got to work and managed to get 495bhp/540ft/lb out of it in such a short space of time, we went for a quick hair-raising blast over the moors to check the map on the road and it was ready for Elvington the next day.

For once the drive up on the Sunday went without a hitch and i arrived in good time, signed on and it was time to go, i decided to do a couple of runs up the strip to get the engine, gearbox & tyres warmed up, i was still running my Pirelli Corsas at the time as i thought it would rain and they had the best grooves for a wet surface, one tentative go down the drag strip and there was a problem shifting to 3rd, it wasn't a positive shift from 2nd as it should be so my next go i shifted a bit slower and got 3rd perfectly and recorded a 11.5, which wasn't bad as the gearing required 5th over the line so i held in it 4th a bit too long just to clear the finish line, my fastest time in the car and rightly so with the new engine!

I then went straight to the handling queue, waited my turn and got my sighting lap in and headed to the start line again for my first flying lap, all was going well until i got to the last corner and forgot it tightened up and spun trying to make the corner so off i headed to the back of the queue to get another go in, 15 mins later and we were set to go again, but guess what, it starts to spit with rain, i'm a bit hestitant into the first corner not knowing what the grip level is like but soon found out it wasn't that bad so get on with my lap as before, i get towards the last corner and i'm too overly cautious of it from last time and don't really attack, i'm thinking more of getting the lap in and trying harder on my next go.

I get back to the pit area to let the car rest for a few minutes before Mikee goes out in it for his drag runs he's so patiently waited for all morning. We check the tyre pressures as we'd not had a chance before i went out only to find out i had 40 psi in them! doh! we swap the wheels to the Dunlops and i let Mikee do his thing on the drag strip for a few runs, he also comes back complaining that the gearbox isn't quite right but still manages a low 11.

I go off to find out my times thinking i'd be mid-field to find that i'm lying 2nd wasn't expecting that and went back to the pits in a good frame of mind, but knowing i'd need to improve my times if i wanted stay there.

Time for my second set of runs and i'm confident i can improve on my times, do my usual couple of drag runs to get things up to temperature but on my return to the pits from my 3rd run there's something not right in the gearbox, and i'm stuck in gear, i get back to the pits to report the bad news thinking my day is over, we let the gearbox cool down hoping it's just overheated slightly. Then, while i'm sat eating a bag of crisps waiting for a bit a light drizzle to clear, the inevitable happens, it chucks it down! I stand there for over an hour and it's begins to become quite obvious it isn't going to dry up, then i'm told i'm the news i'm down to 5th place not one to give up i get in the car and see if the problem has gone, i find that i've lost 2nd gear, great! i think sod it and drive over to the handling course intent on getting my 5 goes come rain or shine, by this time it's 2.30 and i've lost all hope of reaching the top 4 shootout, but give it my best go in the wet, short shifting from 1st to 3rd i find the grip level isn't as bad as i thought on the Dunlops even though there is standing water and post what i felt wasn't a bad lap given the conditions, i queue up for my last go and try to push that little bit harder, i can feel the rear wanting to swap with the front on every corner and wind the diff up a little bit more, but 2 corners from the end i push that little bit too hard and end up having a massive tankslapper with the inevitable consequences i park up and pick up my lap times just out of interest and sit back and watch the top 4 battle it out for the top spot, with Olly Clark setting an unmatchable pace to win the shootout i enquire what the times were just to see if i was on the pace, to find out my time would have been good enough for 2nd

Prizegiving takes place and go up to show my appreciation to the winners to find out i came 2nd in the 11.3 category, so not all bad then

 

Well done Kev nice writeup



I hope your going to buy a spell checker with the prize money

 

In the week inbetween SSO and the 2nd round of Time Attack we decide not to swap the engine out for the new one and keep this one in for another event, it's working and the last thing we want is a last minute disaster, we decide to map the car a bit richer and lose a few vital horses under the bonnet but it's better to be safe than sorry The gearbox turns out to be a broken 5th gear selector fork with the bit that had broken off getting stuck in the 2nd gear selector hence the lack of 2nd gear, i suppose it's better than it getting stuck in the teeth I pop up on Saturday to do a few last minute things on the car, make a few alterations to the front bumper as tomorrow was looking like being a hot day and cooling way the order of the day to keep the engine in one piece. I drive home in the car and everything feels great, 4th feels a bit snitchy but i'm not overly worried about it.

The drive down to Silverstone is incident free and im hoping for a good result. The first 15 minute sessions starts and i'm a bit late out the pits as i thought the Pro guys were getting the rest of their session restsarted after the DCY had hit the pit straight wall in an incident no one injured thankfully. I do a few laps to get myself familiar with the circuit and start to up the pace, but there's a problem, the gearbox isn't very happy going into 4th from 5th, the first time i find this out is going into Copse, the first corner, i end up in neutral rather than 4th and run wide and onto the run off area, i continue the lap and the same happens into the next right hander and the next, i'm starting to not get the engine braking i need and start to run wide and too hot into all the corners a few more laps of this and i'm starting to think of different ways to take the corners, i do a regrouping lap to cool things off and try taking the first corner in 5th, it seems to work but i'm not getting any power coming out of the corner as it bogs down too much, the next corner comes up and i try 5th to 3rd but it's too much of a jump in gears and the engine breaking is a bit too aggressive and it's unsettling the car on the brakes, the same with the next corner into the luffield complex, i'm getting terminal understeer too but that's the least of my worries. I have a look at the lap times afterwards to find myself 3rd somehow but over 3 seconds off the pace and where i thought i'd be (1.05/6).

I have a word with a few people on trying to cure the problem, but nothing is going to sort the gearbox problem out, we set the anti-roll bar to its stiffest setting for the last practice sesssion in an effort to sort the understeer and play around with the suspension compression/rebound but it's all a bit of guesswork. Sessions starts and i'm at the front end of the queue hoping the changes have done at least something to help the handling and that i can drive around the gearbox, but i know it's going to be hard work to get a decent finish if everyone around me ups the pace. I take a few laps to warm things up and then i try to push to get a decent lap in, the roll bar has helped the car turn loads better but has increased the turn-in oversteer a huge amount, it's controlable but i could do without it, and it shows as i go too hot into Copse trying to use 5th gear still and have a massive spin as i turn in at god knows what speed and lose the rear end, i end up facing the right way after a couple of 360s and i managed to get the clutch in for a change and i drive off not wanting to do that again in a hurry by this time i'm starting to panic that my times aren't going to be up to much with the downshifting problem making a mess of my braking & corner entry and come in for a quick change of the tyre pressures and a tweek of the suspension at the rear, it works and i set a late 1.05 but my laps are a bit of a lottery as to if i get a full lap without a mistake or not, more often not. The sessions ends and i'm not that confident i can get one clean lap in on my hot lap. I end up 3rd again to my surprise but it looks like a few others didnt get a fast lap in that i know will go quicker than me if they get it together.

Hot lap time comes around and i'm reluctent to make any changes to the car, i'm in the last group of 4 to go out and first to leave after the last 4 have done their laps, i exit the pits and go for it on my warm up lap to get myself up to speed straight away but i have problems with the downshift in the first corner and it doesn't put me in the right frame of mind for my hot lap, i enter Copse in my now familiar 5th gear but run far too wide and have to take to the grass and the tarmac run off, not a great start i'm soon back on it and make it round the next corner so so and onto the back straight, then my next problem arises, the last car of the last group is right infront of me on his slowing down lap, bugger! I turn my lights on to see if they'll see me but i'm closing at a fair rate, i start to brake for the left hander and looks as if he's gong to stay out right and let me through but then takes the racing line, this just takes away my consentration for a split second and the next thing i know i'm running wide and heading for the gravel trap, i take the decision to go through it rather than avoid it and come back onto the track but i've lost shed loads of time and decide to abort the lap and come back down pitlane and see if they'll give me my lap back, i knew you could do this but it was a big risk to give up some sort of a lap for nothing at all if they didn't see my point of view. I get to the end of pitlane and explain what had happened and they radio to race control to see what they think, an agonising minute goes by and they come back and say i can run again, but i have to be quick! I exit pitlane and give it full beans round the lap, i make mistake after mistake on my outlap and i'm not fully focused at all after the incident, i get through Copse better but still run wide and lose time, into the next right hander and i completely fluff it, i get 5th instead of 3rd and have to fumble for gears, i get 3rd eventually and im off down the back straight, i'm starting to think it's all gone wrong already, into Luffield and leave my braking a bit later to get some time back, big mistake, i go in too hot and the rest is a bit of a blur, i get through there okayish but the tyres have gone past their best, this being my 4th lap not my 2nd, and i understeer badly but get it back online for the right hander that leads into woodcote and the front straight, i put my foot down mid corner and find i'm in 5th, i've no idea how i got 5th and what gear i must have been in to get it in the first place i find 3rd and floor it and onto the front straight, i'm convinced i'm dead last with what was a complete shambles of a lap and trundle back into the pits knowing i've let everyone down who's worked so hard on the day to get the car ready for each session. I get out the car to be told i'm 5th with a late 1.06! **** knows how the hell i managed that but i'll take it, i said I have a look at the time sheet a few minutes later to find it was sooooo close to being a whole lot worse, being only a few hundredths ahead of 6th & 7th. 3rd was a real possiblity if i had managed to put in the same lap that i had done it practice but i guess that's the beauty of the one shot lap

It's 6 weeks to the next round up in Scotland, i'm joint 4th in the Championship but the leading 3 are starting to edge away just that bit too far now having had back to back podium finishes. There's always next year, right?

 

I'm sure you'll find even more typos in that lot ^^^ if you can be arsed to read it

 

Well done Kev

I also had a 'what if', and set a decent wet lap time just before the final at SSO, i didn't even know it had bee brought forward

Good lap time at TA round 2, I was gutted i couldn't go

See you at KH

 

 

He was going well enough to give the thumps up...

 

Think that was before it all went pear-shaped you can post the others if you like, not got the links anymore

 

OK





And a trying to be arty but it makes my head hurt pic.



More to come

 

Thought i'd better post an update seeing as we're nearing Round 3 up at Knockhill The new engine is being run in all this week ready for mapping tomorrow (and i've got to say, it feels fantastic and i've only got a 5k rev limit and no boost ) we've got a few new things to try out on the suspension and handling side of things to try and dial out the understeer that plagued us at Silverstone and the gearbox woes should be well and truely behind now aswell, can't wait!

 

About time

So Kev do you think you can make it to the top step then??

PS anychance of listing the new spec or is it hush, hush

 

I'm in competition with people, 'cause it's hush hush that, or i can't remember the exact spec i have plenty of new whiteline stuff, i know that much

top step? hmmm, it should have been podium finishes the last 2 rounds if things had gone my way, so who knows lots of wild card entries this time round with plenty of local track knowledge, could be difficult...

 

Right, write up time for Round 3 at Knockhill


The 2 weeks leading up to Knockhill are taken up by running the new engine in, a tricky job in the torrential rain we had with semi slick tyres on but we managed close on 600 miles of country roads. Time was ticking away and it was looking like another last minute job again (something i swore we'd never do again after Silverstone) I turn up at Scoobyclinic to make a few last minute mods to the car and give it a clean to find it on the dyno still with Pat trying to get some more power out of it, but he needs more time on it to get what we want from it. I end up with 460bhp which is a long way from what i want the engine to be producing, but i'm promised with a few more tweeks here and there we can get the power required but that will have to wait until Brands.

We set off for Scotland at 5pm on the Friday and hit rush hour traffic, great start after crawling up the M1 for hours we hit the A1/M then the A68 towards the border, 6 & half hours later and we're at the Holiday Inn in Dunfermline, a few pints later and it's time for bed. The morning greets us with sunshine and we head off to the track for the morning SIDC track day to get some familiarisation of the track before the TA sessions starts in the afternoon, i'm soon into my stride and get to learn the track pretty quick, and what a track it is!!! shame it's so far away or i'd be there every weekend

First session of TA starts and i soon realise i need more fuel in my car as it's fuel surging like a *******! i don't bother coming in and settle on practicing my lines and forgo any lap times. A look at the lap times shows that there's only going to be one winner in Club class, as the Extreme Evo (a Pro class car if it had a roll cage) is going to walk it what with local track knowledge and 700bhp! but i'm pleased to be told that they won't score any points.

2nd session and i've got enough fuel to last me the session without fuel surge making a reappearance, this time i'm on it and i feel alot happier with my pace against everyone else in the class, i try to get a few hot laps in but keep getting baulked into the hairpin lap after lap, i come into the pits happy with my pace but not sure the lap times are there, a look at the timing sheets says otherwise and i'm 2nd fastest to the Evo with a 58.1 This was to prove valuable in the championship as i collected a point for fastest lap of the day

3rd session is about to start and it pisses it down, great! and to make matters worse i'm in the first group out so i'll get the worst of it by the time the sessions starts it's still wet but the rain has eased, i make the decision to go out to see what the grip levels are like at certain points on the track with the track tyres but decide not to push to the point of falling off the track, i suceed by keeping it out the kitty litter but with the dry setup on the car still it's extremely tricky, i have a couple of moments on the brakes into the hairpin and the first corner but manage too stay on the island for the whole session. i wait around for the next session to end knowing forwell that i'll be at the wrong end of the times as the track has almost dried for the 2nd session.

The time comes for the final but in true Scottish fashion the heavens have opened again, this time it's more persistant and the track's looking in worse shape than i've seen it all day, we have a meeting with the organisers about if we run or not, the consensus is it's not safe to run just one lap in the unpredictable conditions and with tyres not up to temperature it could spell disaster for someone so we take the decision to have 2 flying laps, by the time this has been agreed most of the field has lined up in the holding area and the running order has gone out the window i go to fetch my car which while all the argueing has been going on has had some nice Eagle F1s fitted, i'm going to need them, by the time i'm in my car and driving to the pitlane the session's underway, and i've ended up near the back of the field, i'm sat there waiting my turn and notice my fuel is too low and i'm going to get fuel surge on my hot lap, **** it! i get out of my car and run off back to the pits to get a jerry can, i get back and i'm directed out of the pitlane to fill up. By the time i'm done i'm now right at the back of the grid bar a few cars that have come in to get their lap back for various reasons. I set off out of pitlane 20 or so seconds behind an Escort Cosworth and the track is still wet, there's no dry line so i'm glad i've got the F1s on i try and find the grip levels on the sighting lap and get things up to temperature, the changes to the suspension settings and the tyres have made the car actually driveable in the wet compared to the previous session and i'm happy to push alot more on my first flying lap. End of the first lap and i'm too late onto the brakes after a decent lap and run wide into the hairpin, no problem i think, i've got another lap to go yet. Halfway into my second lap and all is going well, i reckon it's going to be a better lap than before, then i see the Escort infront of me coming out of the chicane and it's obvious i'm catching him too quickly, i enter Railway Bend and he's about 100m infront of me, brake into the hairpin and i'm right on him, onto the pit straight and i make the decision to try and overtake him rather than lift off the throttle, i go to overtake on the right as he's on the left handside of the track (a big no-no under the rules but i don't think i have a choice) i move to the right and he moves over to the right "****!" i swerve to the left and have to lift off for fear of ramming him, not a wise move at over a 100 in the wet! i cruise round the rest of the lap thinking that once again i've fooked it up come into the pits and no-one knows what time anyone's got, i park up and head to the timekeeping hut for the final times expecting another top ten maybe and to my surprise find myself 2nd (yes, you guessed it, to the Evo ) and by a clear second aswell, to say i was over the moon was an understatement, i don't think the grin disappeared from my face until i got to bed that night

Big thanks to the guys from ScoobyClinic who gave up their weekend to come and help out in the pits, couldn't have done it i don't think without their help

Course the weekend was far from over, after the poduim presentations had finished we packed up and were back on the road to York for TOTB the day after.....

 

Excellent stuff Kev.
Just what output are you expecting from the engine?

 

Nice write up Kev, Its a shame we didn't have the 15 minutes open session for the final, I think the Extreme crew were scared so said it would be dangerous

If you go again, stick to the A1 all the way, 20 miles longer but much quicker

I saw a few times on the way back

Well done to yourself and the clinic

 

Time for my final write up of the year, the final round at Brands Hatch has been and gone and i've finished a very creditable 3rd place in the Club Challenge Forced Induction Class

The build up to Brands Hatch this time round was less frantic to the previous rounds as we had pretty much got the car sorted throughout the season, i just wanted a quick change to the geometry of the car and a change of roll bars, all this was done and the car was ready to go a week or so before the event for a change.....but we still had the issue with the engine creating too much back pressure for the turbo to be able to make any decent boost and not forgetting the fuel surge that plagued us at the last 2 rounds.

At the start of the year the game plan was to run ScoobyClinic's new bolt-on turbo so they could learn valueable data and feedback to create the perfect bolt-on turbo, but we've had a problem on our car where we've built the engine with too hot a timing for this type of turbo, an oversight on our part when speccing the engine and it's creating too much back pressure, the easy way out would be to got to a rotated GT__ turbo and our problems would be solved in an instant but that's not what we set out to do, so we've stuck with it and learnt loads more than if we'd given up at the first sign of a problem, it's also a testament to the guys at SC who've worked tirelessly with us to sort it.

So it's Thursday before Brands and we've booked a track day at Donington on the Friday afternoon to do a bit of testing and get a bit of familiarity with the car after being out of it for a month or so. We decide to try out something with the turbo to try and get a bit more power, it's a massive gamble, we could end up with less power than at Knockhill or we could gain that vital few horses to make the car competitive against the higher powered cars in the class, get it wrong and we'd not have time to swap it back The result is in......and we've lost 35bhp, down to 430bhp not good on a circuit that's got a few slow corners where you need that bit extra bit of torque and power to pull you out of the bends.

We pack the car up Friday and head to Donington wondering just how well the car will perform. The afternoon session is a complete disaster, there's so many cars there that they've had to turn the open pitlane format into sessions and there's 70 cars waiting to go out every session decision is made to forget it and wait till the evening session and hope they run the open pitlane that we need to do the changes we need.

5pm comes and we're signed on and straight out on track, but we've got a 98db noise limit this is going to take some doing not to get black flagged, the car is 105db static! we put the bung into the exhaust and this makes a big difference but there's no way i can floor it past the noise meters, so i back off down all the straights just so we can stay out. Course, we're not going to be able to chack if it's holding boost down the straights, so i concentrate on getting the handling right. The car's soooo much better into the fast bends from the last time i was here in April it's untrue, i'm taking Craners almost flat! Fuel surge is rearing it's head again, we thought we'd fixed it but we're needing 3/4 tank to be sure it's eliminated, so all of 20+Kg added weight! The session ends and i feel confident that the car will get me round the corners at Brands but we're none the wiser if it's got the power or if we've sorted the fuel surge.

We decide to get a hotel Saturday night so we don't have to be up and on the road at stupid o'clock Sunday morning, a good nights sleep and we're on the road at 8, sign on, drivers briefing and we're good to go for the morning warm up.

First session and my first time at Brands so i'm not out to set the world on fire with my lap times, first 2 laps are just to get an idea where the lines are. I try a bit harder on my next lap and set my fastest lap of the session while i've got a bit of empty track (57.7) but i'm not happy with boost, it's dropping too low and i'm struggling to get out the corners quicker than the people around me, but i decide to stay out and keep learning the track....then fuel surge kicks in as i drop to low on fuel and i finish the next 4-5 laps having to feather the throttle out of the all the bends, not the best way to know what your car is capable of

The time between warm up and the 1st practice session is spent try to figure a way to stop the boost from tailing off so badly (we're only making 1.2-1.3 bar of boost where i need it most!) further investigation we discover that the actuator is faulty and it's causing the wastegate to creep open and lose boost, we decide that we can wire the wastegate shut to stop this and set to it. We get it done and i'm told in the next session i need to do a few warm up laps then see how well it will hold up then come in, datalog the ECU to see if it's working, make any adjustments then try it again. This pretty much takes up the whole session and i set my fastest lap on my 2nd lap (55.9) the car is faster than in the morning but the session is too disjointed with me coming in and out the pits and i don't feel i've got my braking points and turn in sorted to get a decent lap. I just need the final session uninterupted so i can get a load of laps in and get my lap times down.

The final session is upon us and i'm ready to go, firs lap out and the car feels a bit sluggish, 2nd lap round and i've got no boost, WTF?! i crawl into pitlane and into the pit garage, a quick investigation finds the wire has snapped on the wastegate and it's a frantic 12 minutes to get it fixed and get me out on track again, i get 5 laps in but i'm trying too hard to get a lap time in and i'm not helped by traffic slowing all of my laps. Back in the pits after the session and that's it, i've got to do my flying lap next, i've not got a braking point i'm happy with for Paddock Hill, my line through there just isn't right. My entry into Graham Hill is all wrong and i'm not getting any drive out the corner either with my boost problem. Surtees, i've tried every conceiveable line into there but don't feel i'm quick enough still. Think the only place i'm happy with is Druids and the entry onto the pit straight, the top speed times show that as i'm 3rd/4th quickest in all the sessions, so i'm doing something right at least!

The final is upon us and it's the same for everyone, all the sessions count for nothing and it's down to my last lap of the year, the queuing system goes out the window so i just go down pitlane when i feel i'm ready, get to the bottom and queu behind Steven Darley (at least i know i won't catch him up on my hot lap llike the last 2 events where i've had slower cars in front of me) we sit there for what feels like and age, then we get the go ahead to make our way onto to track. First lap out and i really give the tyres a workout to get heat into them as it's such a short track, come onto the pit straight and the red lights have come on, someone's gone off at Paddock Hill, turns out it's Barrie Rycroft in the Evo, he's lucky not to roll as he's gone in sideways. We crawl back round to pit lane to queu up again to get a second shot at it, it's a shame as the car was feeling good, the tyres felt right. We sit around for what feels like 10 minutes waiting for the track to clear and we're off out again, the sighting lap out of the way and we're onto the hot lap. Brake for Paddock Hill a bit too early and turn in to early aswell and have to correct my line, not the best start but tell myself there's plenty of time to go, into the dip and i'm hard onto the brakes for Druids, exit Druids a bit crossed up as i try to over compensate for my mistake at Paddock Hill, down the hill into Graham Hill and this is where the lap goes wrong, i try (foolishly) to try a different line to what i've been taking all day as i know i need to do something to getmy lap back and run it out wide to the grass, brake too hard and the back end steps out widely, ****! correct it but by this time i've run wide and i've lost all my drive and dropped out the powerband and it takes and age for the car to spool up. Into Surtees and i just go for it, take as much kerb as i can and brake late into Clearways, fire it out of there sideways and onto the straight for the last time. Bollocks is my first reaction, i know it's a crap lap but how crap?

Back into the pits and i've time to get out the car and wander over to the Zen garage to check my time on the TV, i'm 7th or something and there's still 4 or 5 cars to go, i knew then 2nd place in the Championship was gone but would i hold onto 3rd, Sam Kerr had been quick all day and i couldn't lose more than 5 points to him. We watch as Ron Kiddell and Kev Aktins go flashing past with mega quick times, there was no way i was going to beat them this weekend, but was i 3rd? final look at the timing screen and i've ended up 12th! ****, that's torn it then, we try and do the maths to see how many points everyone's got but there's so many wildcards in for this round who don't score points we're a bit lost with who's who and start to think i've lost 3rd by a point to Sam, I even go over to congratulate him and everyone else for a great season thinking i'd blown it

It's prize giving time for season's trophies and we head over to the Kentagon for a quick drink and to applaud the winners, N/A pick up their trophies, F/I is next up and to my amazement my name is read out for 3rd, i stand there in shock for a brief second as i really thought we'd blown it, turns out there were at least 5 non point scores in the top 10 and i ended up with 8th place and 3 points, enough to ****** 3rd place by a single point

So, the season is over, i've had a great time over the last 4 rounds, the series is brilliantly run and a big thanks has to go out to Rob, Glen and everyone at Time Attack for making it a great year. I've had some highs and some lows but i guess that's motorsport. I started the year thinking a top 5 place would be the best we could do, we were giving away 200bhp to some cars in our class but it goes to show that you can mix it with these cars and still get the results. Plans are already underway for next season to close the gap!.....

 

I make no apologies for any grammer or spelling mistakes in any of that ^^^^

 

I forgot to say a huge thanks to everyone at Scoobyclinic that helped us prepare the car they helped us out at each and every round this year and without that we wouldn't have got the results we did, thank you

 

Well done Kev, sadly i had the problem of catching the slower car on my quick lap. I didnt truly catch him, but i was close enough to loose my concentration!

You did well!

 

Well done on 3rd Kev, its a great achievement.

I think everyones had a lot of what ifs, and if it was running properly etc.
Unfortuneately luck plays a part, can't wait for next year

 

Indeed it does phil, i had lots of luck this year, its a shame it was mostly bad

 

Well done Kev and Steven

one thing missing from you post Kev













Photos of wimmins

 

7 months later and i think it's time for an update


Decided to make a few changes here and there for the new season, nothing major, turbo upgrade and a few other engine mods (made circa 550bhp), upgraded to the Hotbits DT2 coilovers and that's about it bar a few bodywork mods. Managed to get the car sorted and ready for yesterday's first round of Time Attack a week in advance for a change, no last minute late night sessions That was until last Tuesday when it went slightly wrong The engine dropped a liner and i was without a car for the opening round as we were never going to get an engine built in time.

In step Scoobyclinic on Wednesday, who very generously said i could borrow an ex-customers car they had under covers out back, on inspection it wasn't going to be as good as my car but this was my only lifeline so we went with it. Could we make it meet the regs in the time we had? In true Time Team fashion we only had 3 days to find out!

Last thing i wanted to do was start robbing parts off my car so we kept as much as we could on my car, only things we needed were my seats and harnesses, everything else we needed to source elsewhere, calls went out to suppliers who'd already supplied us with parts for my car and by friday we had everything ready to bolt on.
On went my old Hotbits DT1s and geomed it up to what i was running on my car, we couldn't get the rollbars that i had on my car so had to run alot softer ones which i knew wouldn't be ideal if it was dry but had no choice on the matter and went with them. In went all the safety stuff along with the rear wing, the car was taking shape. One thing we overlooked were the brakes, it had standard 4 pots on, by the time we realised it was too late to get anything else ordered so fitted some newage Brembo 4 pots with performance friction discs and pads, no way these were going to be good as the AP 6 pots on the other car!

Last thing to do was dyno the car, the bit i wasn't looking forward to. There was a reason the car was under covers, as the engine & gearbox was a little suspect, it had been overheated the last time it was used and it wasn't known if there was any damage or not, turns out that one of the cylinders was down on compression by as much as 30%, dyno result was in, 450bhp, so down by over 60bhp since it's last run (engine is a 2.3 running a SC50 bolt on turbo). The gearbox turned out to be missing 3rd so a new box had to go in too!

Saturday came and it was time to go and pick it up, decals were all on and it looked like race car

 

And STILL!! NO photos of wimmins


Well done mate

 

Race day dawned and i was greeted like the majority of the competitors to a covering of snow, i was expecting something overnight but it's still a shock when you open the curtains, i de-iced the car and set off wondering how 888s handle black ice found the roads on the major roads to be pretty ok so took some time to lap a few roundabout sto find what the 888s could do in the wet and was strangely surprised with the grip, good job as i didn't have any other tyres for the day! One thing this car does have that mine doesn't is the heaters, thank **** for that!

Arrive at Donington 20 minutes later and get all the signing on, briefing and scrutineering out the way, car passes first time And it's onto the warm up, the track is still pretty wet and we're told to be careful as it's know as a slick circuit in the wet and i don't think i've driven it in the wet since it's been resurfaced so take their word for it. It's a very weird feeling going round a race circuit with snow lining the sides, no running onto the grass just yet! I soon find that there is grip out there and the 888s aren't as bad as i thought they'd be and decide i should go for some quick laps as this might be the only wet practice we get if we get any rain/sleet/snow nearer the finals. I soon gain some confidence and start to put some quick laps in but still keeping plenty in reserve as i don't fancy putting a wheel on the snow, the car feels very similar to mine so i don't feel too alien to how it handles, it's apparent that not many others are pushing as much, probably rightly so! The times are in and i'm 2nd but not really much to go on.

2nd practice starts and it's dried out, but no ones told me they've mingled the 2 groups together and i'm facing over 40 cars queueing to go so have to wait at the end of pitlane for 15 mins before i can get out, i get 3 laps in and it's red flagged, by the time we restart i get time for another 5 laps, so no dry time setup gained and i'm none the wiser for the next session. The brakes aren't working as well as i'm used with the APs and i'm having to brake alot earlier, they're very progressive, perfect for the wet this morning, no so in the dry. I set a 1.21 but i know i can go faster, and i can as i've left the boost setting on the lower of the 2 settings from the wet morning warm up, doh!

I've qualified in group A and it's still dry for the afternoon qualifying session, i make a few guestimates at the suspension and go out, the car feels better but i'm not as quick in the corners as i am usually, i put most of this down to the rollbars, the car's way to soft, again, perfect for the wet. I work out i can get 2-3 laps in succession on the 888s before they off and proceed to go for a hot lap, i get a clear run and post a 1.19.1, not far off what i was hoping, only problem being is everyone else is running 1.18s! The tyres are cooked and i come into the pits with 5 mins or so to go in the session, have a look at the timing screen and decide i've done enough, i don't want to stress the engine anymore than i have to so sit back and watch the rest of qualifying pan out, i qualify 6th or 7th, easily within the top 15 of F/I that go forward to the superbattle, it's all a bit different from last year and the qualifying certainly adds a bit more to the proceedings

Looking at the times it's obvious i'm not going to make up much more on the runners infront, i'm mid pack on the top speeds table being almost 20mph down on the top 3 cars and i'm not going to make anything up in the braking zones that's for sure and i'm already pushing way too much in the corners as could be seen in the last session when i ran half the length of the pit straight on the grass! My only hope is it rains/sleets/snows if i've got any chance of beating my result from last year.

And guess what, 20 minutes before the final it snows.....and it snows, right you can stop now! There's talk of it being cancelled if it doesn't stop and just as im about to give up hope there's brightness on the horizon, the slush on the track melts and we're left with what we had this morning, the orders are given and we're good to go. I now know i'm in with a chance, i set the suspension back to what i had it at this morning and get down to the bottom of pitlane pretty quick so i get near to the front of the queue. We're off, i take a lap or so to judge the conditions, it's wetter than this morning but i don't feel any less confident in the tyres and start to put in some quick laps incase we get a red flag, i get more and more confident in what the car and tyres will allow and it starts to become apparent that i'm going alot faster than anyone else around me, about halfway through the session i decide to try the higher boost setting and see if i can get a bit more speed down the straights, i do but i also get more boost coming out the corners and more wheelspin! I'm now coming out the corners sideways and to my amazement it's actually easier to control the slides on the throttle with the higher boost, the more laps i do the more confident i am to plant the throttle coming out the corner and start to enjoy myself, i could go round all day in these conditions Then i get a bit worried, it's starting to dry, my laps are getting quicker but are the faster cars getting the power down better? *******, where's the chequered flag got to?! 2 more laps and it's still that bit too greasy for a proper dry line to form and the flag comes out, just in time in reckon. I cruise round the slowing down lap wondering where i've come, i enter pitlane and see people clapping, i then see Steven give me the number 1 as i pass, **** i think i've done!! I get out the car to handshakes and pats on the back from everyone, i then get told i've beat the field by almost 3.5 seconds (which i still can't believe while i'm sat here typing this up almost 24 hours later!).

One thing i did make a mess of yesterday were the TV interviews you'll have a laugh at my first attempt if they even air it, 5 seconds of dead airtime by my reckoning with me going "erm.......errrr.......er......."