All the plastic windows are in, heated screen going in this afternoon. They will pop out at any speed over 80 there are a few ways to stop it happening, hoping what we've come up with something that'll work. Building a frame is the best solution, just not had time, maybe after Silverstone when i've got a bit more time.

 

Didn't quite go according to plan this evening Everything was on schedule, the guys at Scoobyclinic had done a great job of getting the engine fitted and everything else back in the car, car was mapped, it just needed checking on the road, so off we set, car felt amazing as always, we decided to do one more lap to check the map in 5th and as you can imagine you're not hanging about in 5th, hit a crest in the road which usually doesnt unsettle the car too much, but with the new stiffer springs on the new DT2s it just launched the car into the air, must have been doing something close to 130 and when it came back down to earth it stripped 5th gear, drove back to clinic with a very ill sounding gearbox much to everyone's dismay.
Now most garages would say that's it, game over! not so at Scoobyclinic, the car was on ramps 5 minutes later and 30 or so minutes later the gearbox was out and stripped!! We've got a few options for the morning so all is not lost just yet, just means i miss out on my test session in the afternoon, no big lost really and at least i don't have to get up at stupid o'clock!!

 

Excellent win again, well done even with the nightmare.

Andy

 

Excelllent Kev, especially as you're about 100-200 BHP down on some of the other front runners

 

Cheers guys, just about awake now after getting in a 3am Top weekend, even with all the setbacks, surprised myself how quick i could go, said i wouldn't beat my 55.1 in qualifying only to go and do a 54 dead in the final! Shame i broke the gearbox again 10 minutes into it as i reckon i could of done a 53 if my tyres had recovered and got a clear lap

 

Top work Kev , it was awesome trying to keep up with you in the superbattle, and watching your conmplete ***** out approach.

Cant believe how much TA Club has moved on in less than a year. I ran nearly 2 seconds quicker than last year, yet still only managed 12th fastest

Steven

 

Cheers Steven, think i knocked 4 seconds off my time from last year it was either the conditions or the toyos are better than i give them credit for Don't expect to see Silverstone times to drop 4 seconds though

Best get a write up done...

 

Yep, you knocked over 4 seconds (just) off last years dry time, and incidently this years time would have given you 3rd fastest time in Pro last year !!!

Animal, fecking animal. Must remember to steal my car before i drive it next

 

Well, after the setbacks from Friday night we chose to scrap trying to get to the afternoon test session and decided on getting a few more things done on the car then drive up straight to the hotel. A temporary gearbox (PAR gearset) was fitted before i even got to Scoobyclinic in the morning, top work again by the guys there a) to let me borrow a gearbox and b) fit it for us in such short notice, it was almost at the point that i was taking the car i borrowed for Donny again but decided i needed to be in my own car, what with all the work over the last 8 weeks to get it ready. Last few jobs were done and we set off for Scotland at 5pm, arrived at the hotel at 10.30pm, few beers in the hotel bar and off to bed at 1am

Sunday arrives and we arrive at Knockhill, sign in, briefed and ready to go for the first session at 9.35am. We're running a bit late and don't manage to get a transponder in time for the first session, no lap times for the first session at least, check the car over and head over to the pits, first blast out the pits and something's wrong, i'm hitting what feels like a rev limiter at around 4k, limp round and straight back into the pits, not a good start! I get the guys to have a look, they set to work under the bonnet checking for pipes and such but nothing, times ticking by and i'm already at a dissadvantage from not running on the Saturday to set the car up, i've not had chance to even remotely set the suspension up and losing time like this isn't helping. Back to the problem in hand and i have a brainwave, we've cable tied the map selector, launch control, antilag ***** up under the dash as i didnt get time to fit them properly and wondered if i'd caught one the day before, a quick check and the launch control is on! and it's not released on the lap round as the speedo isn't reading from the dash and it thinks im standing still (another job i need to fix asap) We're off out, down to the first corner and we're back to normal, i set about trying to learn the circuit again and i'm back into the swing of it pretty quickly but the session ends. Back into the pits and i'm fairly happy with how the short session goes but the suspension isn't right, too much roll, bump isn't far off so i set about working out how much to adjust the rebound. The times are in and it's obvious that my quickest lap of 58 from last year probably won't even qualify!

2nd Practice is next up and i'm ready to go, get in the car and it won't start, it's turning over so we immediately start routing under the bonnet, just when i thought we'd had out little hiccup for the day, i'm sat there for 5 minutes and i can hear the cars out of track, we get Pat over to check the ECU for any problems and he tells me it's a flat battery, it's brand new!! :@ jump leads are sourced and we get the car bump started and head over to the pits, god knows how much time i've lost and head out onto track, suspension feels better, not quite right yet but better, i get a one or two laps and the session gets red flagged, crawl back in and await for the restart, i'm told we'll have 7 minutes when we get back out. We head off again 5-10 minutes later and i'm immediately confronted with Steve Fitz. facing the wrong way at the bottom of Dufus Dip with pebbles the size of boulders littering the track (I later find out he was playing with his bias valve and went for the brakes and didn't have any ) i follow everyone around the track t crawling pace, presumably everyone thinks the session is red flagged again but i dont see anything and go for a another lap, god knows i need it, i get back to the incident and Steve has got going but the boulders are still there, not a problem as a weave through them and back on the power, get back to the start line to see the checkered flag, so much for 7 minutes!! Back into the pits to find my best lap is 1 min Qualifying is next and i'm a bit unsure what pace i can actually run, the leaders are doing 56s, **** we need to up the pace a bit here!

Qualifying is 30 mins away and i decide i need to be on track first so i can get as many laps in as i can, no more last minute hitches this time, and i'm there early as i wait for 15 minute before we're let out We're off and i'm immediately on the pace on my 2nd lap while i have a clear track infront of me, i bang in about 2 or 3 quick laps while my tyres are still good, i reckon they're quick and feel confident i'm in the 56s at least, lap 4 or 5 in and i try too hard to get on the power early out of the hairpin, light up the rear and get a massive drift, i've got it.....no i haven't and i'm sent into tge grass on the inside of the track, my first thoughts are of the front splitter, i get back on track and look behind, nothing left behind, that was lucky do a slow ish lap to try and get a bit of space and then go for another fast one, turn in to Dufus and it feel horrible the car, into the corners leading up to the chicane and i'm sliding all of the place, hmmmm, onto the back straight and i look out the back of my car, smoke thinking i've got oil on my tyres i head back to fear the worse, pull into the pits and everyone is rushing to the front of the car, i get out thinking it's game over to find my front splitter is half under the car, that'll be the blue smoke and lack of grip then. Then some good news, i'm fastest with a 55.1 i decide to call the session quits and get back to the pits get fixing the bumper/splitter arrangement, a roll of gaffer tape later and a lot of skinned knuckles the guys from Scoobyclinic have got my car back in one piece, hats off to them, i thought i was running without a bumper for the final, it may not look pretty but it'll do the job they say

It's final time, with the bumper needing to be fixed i'm not in the holding area as quick as i like so get a fairly low starting position in relationship to the traffic i'll encounter but i'm happy to be here at all what with everything that's happen today. We're out and everyone seems on a fairly even pace so i get a decent amount of free tarmac infront of me, the first few laps are going to count so make the most of them, the car feels as quick as in qualifying so the bumper must be holding up, fire in a few quick laps and reckon i'm fairly close to what i did in qualifying, take a few laps to cool off the tyres and go for another set of laps, the tyres don't feel as good as the first few runs and are sliding a bit so back off again, one more attempt at a quick lap and i head into the hairpin, i go for 3rd and i get nothing odd i think but just miss it and shift to 2nd for the hairpin, accelerate out and go for 3rd, nothing again i crawl round the lap in 4th coming to terms that i've badgered 3rd and the 2nd gearbox in 3 days and can't help but wonder if i've blown it, i pull into the pits a good 10 minutes before the session ends.......then i'm told i'm first with a 54 dead!! Awesome, nevermind the gearbox then There's still a chance it can be beaten and wait the agonising last few minutes for the session to end, but no-one goes quicker, Barrie comes closest with a 55 dead.

First again, can't quite believe it, i knew i had a good chance at the first few rounds as they're where i've gone well at last year, but to win them is something else, with it comes pressure now to do well at the other tracks, tracks i've not exactly had much luck in the past so who knows, that could be the last win this year, i just need to get good points finishes to keep the season going.

 

My thank yous, forgot them The guys at Scoobyclinic for their continued support, they don't have to help us out but always bend over backwards to get us to the track and for the mechanics that give up their weekends to help out with the general running of the car/fixing my splitter at the events, all greatly appreciated and i wouldn't be finishing where i am without their help Pat Herborn for the outstanding map on my car, was exactly what i asked for Steve Guirey, Mikee Singh....thank you all

 

For your viewing pleasure

YouTube - Time Attack 08 Rnd. 2 Knockhill - Kev Horsley | Scoobyclinic 9 minutes of laps, the good, the bad and the ugly

YouTube - 54 second winning lap @ Knockhill Time Attack 2008 and the lap that won it

 

A few photos












Hello splitter


Goodbye splitter


















Gaffer tape special

 

where did you get your bonnet????
not seen many of those............

 

Made it myself that's why

 

congrats on a great result, love the write up but most of all the two wheel acrobat pic

 

Thanks for doing us proud

O and you o owe me a third gear



thanks and top write up :

 

well done again mate, any idea what weight and power figures you have?

 

had to admire your ***** to the wall flat out style of driving, seen the above photo quite close and was seriously impressed with the way you drifted it round the hair pin!

 

Think there might be some similar photos from scooby shootout from yesterday

And on that note, had a great day yesterday, was a bit of a challenge on the handling circuit with the wind blowing the cones over, at times it was moving whole sections of the course it was like driving a moving track where the apexes moved every lap which made i hard to get a good lap in, but managed to get within .1 sec of Ollie Clarke to secure 2nd in qualifying. Final came and they relaid the track with a new course design, it was the same for all of us but suited a more powerful car more than the tight and twisty track we had in qualifying, i knew from my sighting lap that Ollie was going to get this as it had a big back straight where he'd stretch his legs, i got a good start and got through the first chicane ok but understeered on the big sweeper out the back of the course and came into the tighter corner after it a bit too wide, gathered it in and got through the final hairpin really well and through the finish........to be told the timing equipment had failed i sit and watch Ollie do his run and he's quick, 2nd place it is then if i can nail my re-run. I line up and go again, get a better run through the sweeper and it's feeling like a better run but the centre diff locks up into the final hairpin too much and it understeers like a pig and i lose what feel like a lifetime, i cross the line in my customary cloud of smoke as i lock up into the stop box happy that it's at least as good as my first attempt timewise. Get told a couple of minute later that i've got 2nd doing a 38 compared to Ollie's 36, 3rd is a 41 or something, which to be fair in a standard car is a great time given the track layout. Totally chuffed with the result, almost like a win given the opposition

On to the drag and i've let Mikee loose in my car for the day, i'd ran a 11.05 early in the morning when i was doing a few practice launches for the handling circuit, i get all my handling runs done first and hand the keys over, we decide to limit the runs as we don't want to break the car for Time Attack next weekend, i watch anxiously as he comes round time after time, he gets something like 5 or so runs in with a best time of a mid 10, easily qualifying him for the shootout. The final comes and i've somehow managed to qualify for the shootout aswell i turn down the offer to run as it seems a bit unfair the same car being in it twice and by the time all the broken cars that qualified are counted up we only have 2 semi finals to start with, Ollie wins his comfortably, it's his if he replicates that run again! Mikee lines up and gets a great start, i've warned him that the clutch was starting to slip on my handling final and to take it easy, he doesn't and disappears up the strip to take the win. He comes back round and confirms the clutch is indeed badgered, more work between now and Silverstone! Final time is soon on us and we've got no chance, a slipping clutch up against a car that's running mid 9s I tell Mikee to just go for it, they both stage, Ollie first and Mikee 2nd, the second Mikee finishes staging the lights change and it catches Ollie a bit by surprise and Mikee's got a good lead, a very good lead, Ollie's now catching at a rate of knots, it's going to be close, it's hard to split the 2 as they cross the line and we wait on the result from the xmas tree........Mikee gets it!!!! Mikee comes back round to a round of a applause, he's been trying to win the drag at SSO for years the clutch was indeed slipping as he went down the strip on the redline at 7k in all gears

So not a bad day, 2nd on Handling final and Drag shootout winner

 

Rob, power is just over 500, 514 or something, i've got a graph i need to scan in, i'm sure people don't believe it's only running that weight wise we've not even had it corner weighted yet so no idea, you'd hope it's around 1100

 

blimey your car is cleaning up everywhere...

 

Well done Kev and Mikee for your achievements over the weekend!

Kev, your car has come on so much from when you first acquired it - you seem to be setting the pace that everyone else wants to beat!

 

He does it again

full results here http://www.tsl-timing.com/attack/2008/82270.pdf

Andy

 

Bloody heck - Phil Bennett driving?

 

Well done again Kev.

Any templates for them front windows? Or did you just cut them yourself? Or ordered already cut to size?

Dill

 

Thank you, i could get used to this winning malarky




Dill, all bought pre curved and cut, clinic have the 4 door ones in stock, not sure on 2 doors though

 

Best i get writing a Silverstone write up, while you're waiting, here's the dyno graph as promised:

 

Kev,,
What was it atw please mate,,
What trans loss does it use the 20.8% theory

 

The week leading up to Silverstone i left the car in the capable hands of the guys at Scoobyclinic to check everything over, turns out the clutch was fine and nothing else major to report from Scooby Shootout, the gearbox i stripped 5th on prior to Knockhill had been re-built in super quick time for SSO so my car was back up to full spec for Silverstone, and it would need to be, any minor problem would be magnified there such is the speed of the place!

I turn up to Clinic on the Saturday to finish a few odd jobs off on the car, get the switches finally mounted into the centre console and replace a few of the decals that got wiped out at KH when the splitter fell to bits Load the car up and were ready for Sunday.

Alarms goes off at 6am and i'm ready to leave at 6.20am......apart from Mikee has decided to not wake up or leave his phone on i finally get through to him after much pacing up and down my hallway at 6.50, we're meant to be halfway down the M1 by now!! I call my mate who's doing press photos for us on the day and he's about to leave so i get a lift off him knowing i can get to Silverstone quicker with him rather than a van towing a car. I arrive just intime to get my driver's briefing and sign on, i make my way down the garage and get changed ready to go out for morning warm up.........but i'm car-less still, we're off in 15 mins and it still needs the Pirellis taking off from last weekend and scrutineered! perfect start to the day as usual Finally the car turns up and a frantic 10 minutes later the car is ready to go, i only miss a minute or so of the warm up but it's enough to get a feel for the circuit again before we're back in.

Practice comes and i'm not planning to go out and set the world on fire just yet, a look at the times from warm up and some guys are pushing already with well below last years lap record already set I've made a few suspension changes to get the car rolling a bit less through the quick corners, it works as i set sneak under 1.02, a whole 2 seconds quicker than anyone else, i've no idea where it came from but i didn't feel i had to push too much to get it so feel confident i can go a bit quicker but not a lot, it was just a case of how much everyone else could improve.

Qualifying comes and i'm a bit late out as i'm watching the Moto GP from Mugello in the pits i cruise round for a lap trying to get a clear lap and find a space pretty quickly and go for it while the tyres are good, i spot a 1.01 on the dash at the first attempt, wasn't a fluke then i try to go for another lap but decide to pit instead to see what everyone else is doing and give the tyres a rest, i make a few minor changes the car and prepare to go out again but the red lights are on, i decide to park the car up and save it for the final confident that my time should see me into the final.

Looking at the times from qualifying the margin has come down and i'm only .5 quicker than Barrie now, looks like the final could be interesting as i know a few people run race gas or up the boost for the final, not me, i'm on the same map and fuel all day so it could be close!

I sit around patiently for the final and it seems to take hours before we're called to pitlane, the time comes and i'm ready to go.......until i forget we've not filled the car up with fuel, doh! The time it takes to refuel and get the camera recording i'm last in the queue behind Steven in his wagon. WE set off and i take a few laps to get everything up to temp, then it's time to find a gap, and i could, could i bolloxs!! i try for a flying lap at least 3 or 4 laps and everytime get baulked into or exiting the luffield complex, i spot a 1.02 flash up on the dash at one of my attempts but know that might not be enough, i can't remember if i make a pitstop or not in the final, think i did i try for another quick lap, but by this time the gearbox and brakes are getting a bit hot and my braking points are lengthening as i miss 4th gear from 5th more often than not, times running out and i've not seen a good time on the dash yet, did i miss it one lap? who knows, i put in another quick lap and see a low 1.02 and reckon i'm about done with my tyres, the flag comes out and i'm crawling down pitlane wondering what time i've done, i can see they're pleased but no signal from anyone, then i spot the single digit being held up, awesome!!! Handshakes all round again as i congratulate everyone for all the hard work they've put in during the day, i know i keep saying it but without the help i get from the guys that Scoobyclinic send down for the day it might be a different story, it's one less thing to worry about when things need doing on the car, from the simple oil top up (think i could manage that one :P) to getting underneath the car to change rollbars and suspension setting, topping the oil up etc. it all helps the day and car run smoother. A look at the times and i popped in a 1.01.6 in on my 9th lap and have a winning margin .8 to Barrie and Sam gets on the podium with 5th gear missing, amazing

So another amazing result at a track i thought i would struggle at, i won't say anything ever again about where i think i'll finish as i'm always way off! The championship is still close, think i said after Knockhill that one slip up or worse still a DNF and bang goes any chance of winning and the same applies still with the same faces up in the top 6 at Silverstone keeping up the pressure. Next round is Oulton Park in 4-5 weeks time, can't wait, the longest, most challenging, most anticipated track this season for everyone i reckon

 

Off the top of my head 397 comes to mind, Paul