Rallycross supercar build - gc8
02 April 2012, 12:15 PM
#155
After last weekends performance, i'm hiding from the world steve!
Honestly, it could not have gone very much worse for a opening weekend of the season. I knew right from word go it was going to be one of "those" weekends.
If I must go blow by blow, then heres how the weekend went.... (this is going to be like story time)
Normally we race on a sunday, so the travelling situation isn't normally an issue on a race weekend, but after a full weeks work, a late finish on friday and then a 380 mile drive, it did seem like the longest drive in the world.We seemed to get stuck in every traffic jam and delayed at every section of roadworks on the motorways, arriving at a extremely foggy circuit in kent at 2am. To top it all we had to pitch up the tents and try and get some rest.
Just 5hrs later, we were up and unloading the car / prepairing for scrutineering. Seem's that after been tucked up in it's nice warm garage all winter, a night in the cold was not what the scooby wanted and so would the car start.. would it hell. With scrutineering finishing at 9am and nearly 100 cars to get through, time was against us. We whipped the plugs out, warmed them all up and then she came to life (nearly had to fetch the slippers and a cup of tea too)
On a normal race weekend, before we hit the track we get chance to walk the track and inspect the conditions after the winter, but due to the rush at getting the car started and scrutineered, I didn't get chance to do this and so we had to make a quick decision to go to practise with a safe suspension setting and go for it. Although there was no mechanical issues during practise, we had gone far too conservative with the suspension and the car was like a ship at sea, way too soft. The net result of this is we gained no useable data, apart from we had to go massively stiffer on the dampers and roll bars and we got some mileage under my belt and blew the cobwebs away. The second issue was this was my first time driving on totally slick tyres, so again we needed to gather some data on pressure's / temps etc, so this really was supposed morning for learning.
The first heat can only be described as been unlucky, but EXTREMELY luck at the same time. I went to the grid as normal and took up my position on the start line. Checked all the gauges and set the launch control for go and waited for the lights. We got the 5 second board and I brought the car to biting point and held on the handbrake, when someone jumped the lights. At this point everyone goes as they instantly think they have been left standing, but the race was instantly flagged and pulled back to the starting grid. As this happened I could see a haze of smoke rising from the bonnet vent and the marshalls ushering me off the track quickly. On first inspection it looked like we had ruptured the oil cooler or damaged an oil line as the car had started to dump all it's oil all over the engine bay, it was just chaos and oil was everywhere. We had the car recovered to the pits and we set too locating the leak (after some serious cleaning first). It turns out that the oil filter had worked it's way loose on the remote filter head, but because this was hidden at the back of the engine bay behind the oil cooler it was almost impossible to locate to begin with.
Now some people must be wondering why the oilcooler is at the back of the engine bay, In rallycross we tend to have quite a few front end incidents and i've had a few engine bay fires over the years due to holed oil coolers. So on this car we routed the oilcooler pipework back under the engine and along the front subframe near the steering rack and up to the rear passenger side section of the engine bay, so it's out the way of stone / crash damage and away from all the heat of the exhaust manifold. The rad is fed by air coming in from the bonnet scoop and works really well, but you couldn't really run this setup on a road car.
So to explain why I say it was unlucky but lucky at the same time. Because someone jumped started, the race was stopped immediately. If the race had continued, the engine would have dumped all it's oil and seized the engine (and yes they cost a lot!) or i would have had a huge fire if oil vapor had hit the manifold / exhaust. So I definatelly owe someone a beer for jumping the start lights.
The second heat was basically my first proper race of the day, it was all a mad dash to get the car back together after the oil incident and get the car to the grid in time (we only get about 90 mins to turn a car around between races). In the rush to fix the car, the wire for the clutch pressure sensor which is used for the launch control had been caught and the damaged, so from this point on the car had to be launched manually. Now this isn't normally an issue, but you definatelly loose split seconds loose compaired to proper launch control and this does cost you off the line.
Still, I made a reasonable start and was running a fairly consistant race and was heading for 4th position ahead of the a Xgames winning C4, before disaster struck again. I turned into a tight left hander at the bottom of hairy hill only for the car to understeer into the grass and the car wouldn't steer anymore. I'd broken the track rod end ball joint.
We still arn't sure if it was damaged by hitting a curb early in the lap, accident damage or an aged component, but the part failed and I didn't complete the race.
This suddenly made a long weekend even longer, as we had done all the work over the winter, driven all that way and now I couldn't qualify for a final as I hadn't completed 2 heats. Massively frustrating for everyone and if we could have prevented the problems or not, I felt I had let the whole team and myself down.
After the lunch break and the repairs completed, it' was time for heat 3. I quickly called into race control to check that I couldn't sneek into a final, but they confirmed that was a no. So, nothing to play for except pride, we went to the grid. I took the early joker lap along with pat doran and tried to hang with him, but it was clear that after just one lap something was definatelly not happy and I was losing time every lap and the car was handling like a pig, even though we had made no further changes to the settings. I finished in 4th and amazingly set some reasonable lap times in the process, but on returning to the pit we discovered I had broken a front drive shaft and this was what was causing the wild handling. Again people will probubly ask "how did you not hear it break", with the noise of a straight cut dog box transmission, the engine and antilag popping and banging (105db), other cars around you, gravel rattling under the floorpan and your helmet on, you can't hear a great deal of "normal noises", but you definatelly feel things are not right as the diffs try and move the power round and get some traction.
So their we have it, probubly one of my worst weekend racing in years. I'm not proud of the weekend and I think that due to my extensive work commitments in march, it cost me taking the extra time to pay attention to detail and ultimatelly cost me a race weekend. I think if i'm totally honest with myself, I had taken my eye off the ball and paid the price for it. April is a lot better with workload and i'll have more spare time to focus on the racing.
Having got back and reflected on the situation and now understanding the faults and the corrected the issues, I can now promise that I'll be in a much better position for knockhill in may when we tackle a night race and i'm just praying it doesn't rain.
Si
Honestly, it could not have gone very much worse for a opening weekend of the season. I knew right from word go it was going to be one of "those" weekends.
If I must go blow by blow, then heres how the weekend went.... (this is going to be like story time)
Normally we race on a sunday, so the travelling situation isn't normally an issue on a race weekend, but after a full weeks work, a late finish on friday and then a 380 mile drive, it did seem like the longest drive in the world.We seemed to get stuck in every traffic jam and delayed at every section of roadworks on the motorways, arriving at a extremely foggy circuit in kent at 2am. To top it all we had to pitch up the tents and try and get some rest.
Just 5hrs later, we were up and unloading the car / prepairing for scrutineering. Seem's that after been tucked up in it's nice warm garage all winter, a night in the cold was not what the scooby wanted and so would the car start.. would it hell. With scrutineering finishing at 9am and nearly 100 cars to get through, time was against us. We whipped the plugs out, warmed them all up and then she came to life (nearly had to fetch the slippers and a cup of tea too)
On a normal race weekend, before we hit the track we get chance to walk the track and inspect the conditions after the winter, but due to the rush at getting the car started and scrutineered, I didn't get chance to do this and so we had to make a quick decision to go to practise with a safe suspension setting and go for it. Although there was no mechanical issues during practise, we had gone far too conservative with the suspension and the car was like a ship at sea, way too soft. The net result of this is we gained no useable data, apart from we had to go massively stiffer on the dampers and roll bars and we got some mileage under my belt and blew the cobwebs away. The second issue was this was my first time driving on totally slick tyres, so again we needed to gather some data on pressure's / temps etc, so this really was supposed morning for learning.
The first heat can only be described as been unlucky, but EXTREMELY luck at the same time. I went to the grid as normal and took up my position on the start line. Checked all the gauges and set the launch control for go and waited for the lights. We got the 5 second board and I brought the car to biting point and held on the handbrake, when someone jumped the lights. At this point everyone goes as they instantly think they have been left standing, but the race was instantly flagged and pulled back to the starting grid. As this happened I could see a haze of smoke rising from the bonnet vent and the marshalls ushering me off the track quickly. On first inspection it looked like we had ruptured the oil cooler or damaged an oil line as the car had started to dump all it's oil all over the engine bay, it was just chaos and oil was everywhere. We had the car recovered to the pits and we set too locating the leak (after some serious cleaning first). It turns out that the oil filter had worked it's way loose on the remote filter head, but because this was hidden at the back of the engine bay behind the oil cooler it was almost impossible to locate to begin with.
Now some people must be wondering why the oilcooler is at the back of the engine bay, In rallycross we tend to have quite a few front end incidents and i've had a few engine bay fires over the years due to holed oil coolers. So on this car we routed the oilcooler pipework back under the engine and along the front subframe near the steering rack and up to the rear passenger side section of the engine bay, so it's out the way of stone / crash damage and away from all the heat of the exhaust manifold. The rad is fed by air coming in from the bonnet scoop and works really well, but you couldn't really run this setup on a road car.
So to explain why I say it was unlucky but lucky at the same time. Because someone jumped started, the race was stopped immediately. If the race had continued, the engine would have dumped all it's oil and seized the engine (and yes they cost a lot!) or i would have had a huge fire if oil vapor had hit the manifold / exhaust. So I definatelly owe someone a beer for jumping the start lights.
The second heat was basically my first proper race of the day, it was all a mad dash to get the car back together after the oil incident and get the car to the grid in time (we only get about 90 mins to turn a car around between races). In the rush to fix the car, the wire for the clutch pressure sensor which is used for the launch control had been caught and the damaged, so from this point on the car had to be launched manually. Now this isn't normally an issue, but you definatelly loose split seconds loose compaired to proper launch control and this does cost you off the line.
Still, I made a reasonable start and was running a fairly consistant race and was heading for 4th position ahead of the a Xgames winning C4, before disaster struck again. I turned into a tight left hander at the bottom of hairy hill only for the car to understeer into the grass and the car wouldn't steer anymore. I'd broken the track rod end ball joint.
We still arn't sure if it was damaged by hitting a curb early in the lap, accident damage or an aged component, but the part failed and I didn't complete the race.
This suddenly made a long weekend even longer, as we had done all the work over the winter, driven all that way and now I couldn't qualify for a final as I hadn't completed 2 heats. Massively frustrating for everyone and if we could have prevented the problems or not, I felt I had let the whole team and myself down.
After the lunch break and the repairs completed, it' was time for heat 3. I quickly called into race control to check that I couldn't sneek into a final, but they confirmed that was a no. So, nothing to play for except pride, we went to the grid. I took the early joker lap along with pat doran and tried to hang with him, but it was clear that after just one lap something was definatelly not happy and I was losing time every lap and the car was handling like a pig, even though we had made no further changes to the settings. I finished in 4th and amazingly set some reasonable lap times in the process, but on returning to the pit we discovered I had broken a front drive shaft and this was what was causing the wild handling. Again people will probubly ask "how did you not hear it break", with the noise of a straight cut dog box transmission, the engine and antilag popping and banging (105db), other cars around you, gravel rattling under the floorpan and your helmet on, you can't hear a great deal of "normal noises", but you definatelly feel things are not right as the diffs try and move the power round and get some traction.
So their we have it, probubly one of my worst weekend racing in years. I'm not proud of the weekend and I think that due to my extensive work commitments in march, it cost me taking the extra time to pay attention to detail and ultimatelly cost me a race weekend. I think if i'm totally honest with myself, I had taken my eye off the ball and paid the price for it. April is a lot better with workload and i'll have more spare time to focus on the racing.
Having got back and reflected on the situation and now understanding the faults and the corrected the issues, I can now promise that I'll be in a much better position for knockhill in may when we tackle a night race and i'm just praying it doesn't rain.
Si
02 April 2012, 12:47 PM
#156
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Originally Posted by sihorton
After last weekends performance, i'm hiding from the world steve!
Don't take offense, but it looked like you were having a crap day! Sounds like that was a very lucky escape in the first Heat. I was sitting up on North Bend so couldn't see exactly what was going on, but we noticed you got pulled to the side pretty sharpish after the jump start and there looked to be some wisps of smoke from the front end, so good thing that didn't turn into something more serious (and expensive!).
Guessed the issue in Heat 2 was steering related as I was still up on North Bend at that point and, as the car was pointing up the hill, the two front wheels looked a bit cross eyed. I was in the paddock shortly afterwards and saw you walking about; was going to stop you for a chat but you looked like you were on a mission so I left you to it!
Heat 3 certainly looked a bit more successful, you didn't look massively out of touch with the other cars. Guess you can take some encouragment to have have got at least some decent times under your belt with the car not at 100% performance? Managed to catch you coming past me on the chicane during Heat 3...
...just 1wd!
Originally Posted by sihorton
Having got back and reflected on the situation and now understanding the faults and the corrected the issues, I can now promise that I'll be in a much better position for knockhill in may when we tackle a night race and i'm just praying it doesn't rain.
02 April 2012, 01:12 PM
#157
No offence taken, and you should have stopped me for a chat, i'll talk to anyone anyway 
Yeah it was a crap day, an i'm not going to hide it. What it has done is given me a very big reality check and given me a big kick up the ****. I think if i'm brutelly honest with myself, after the run last year at croft at the end of the season I was half expecting a fairly plain sailing meeting at lydden as the performance at croft was right on the money.
My plan for the year was to be consistantly in the top 8 (A final) and keep the car reliable and look at the championship as a bigger picture, However it's become apparent that this is no longer the case and the class has moved along and i'm not keen to get left behind. So in reality now, i've already dropped my points for the season and so now I HAVE to push for the maximum result possible at every event.
The ERC was never on the cards for this year, I haven't exactly set the world on fire in the domestic championship, so no point in me wasting budget and risking possible damage to the car in a european event.
Yeah it was a crap day, an i'm not going to hide it. What it has done is given me a very big reality check and given me a big kick up the ****. I think if i'm brutelly honest with myself, after the run last year at croft at the end of the season I was half expecting a fairly plain sailing meeting at lydden as the performance at croft was right on the money.
My plan for the year was to be consistantly in the top 8 (A final) and keep the car reliable and look at the championship as a bigger picture, However it's become apparent that this is no longer the case and the class has moved along and i'm not keen to get left behind. So in reality now, i've already dropped my points for the season and so now I HAVE to push for the maximum result possible at every event.
The ERC was never on the cards for this year, I haven't exactly set the world on fire in the domestic championship, so no point in me wasting budget and risking possible damage to the car in a european event.
02 April 2012, 02:35 PM
#158
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My plan for the year was to be consistantly in the top 8 (A final) and keep the car reliable and look at the championship as a bigger picture, However it's become apparent that this is no longer the case and the class has moved along and i'm not keen to get left behind. So in reality now, i've already dropped my points for the season and so now I HAVE to push for the maximum result possible at every event.
Steve Hills Evo still looked a bit hit-and-miss, but that seems a quick car when its working properly. Couple that with the other regulars (Godfrey, Grant, Scott etc.) and cracking the "A" Finals this year, even with an 8 car grid, is looking like quite a challenge in itself.
(...but then so are some of the domestic ones as well!)
08 April 2012, 10:55 AM
#159
Just watched it in HD. Sadly only saw Si disappear into the joker lap from the start... and no more coverage.
Hopefully we'll see more of him at the next round.
BTW, who's is the 22B bodied white Classic?
Hopefully we'll see more of him at the next round.
BTW, who's is the 22B bodied white Classic?
Last edited by joz8968; 10 April 2012 at 06:59 PM.
10 April 2012, 09:40 AM
#160
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04 June 2012, 12:02 AM
#162
Time for an update - knockhill 2012
Knockhill 2012 race report
Highland attack for Horton
Clitheroe based Rallycross driver Simon Horton recently made a trip north of the border into Scotland to compete at the Knockhill racing circuit, just north of Edinburgh. For his 2012 British Rallycross Championship campaign Simon has been proudly promoted to car number 8 from his previous number of 22, after his successful 2011 season meaning he finished in the top 10 drivers in the UK.
Prior to this event Simon had endured a very tough opening round to the season at Lydden Hill in Kent, where lady luck was definitely not on his side. “Round 1 was a total disaster with bad luck, racing incidents and small mechanical failures. The preparation for round 2 started the minute we finished the first race meeting as I didn’t want to endure a repeat weekend at the next race, otherwise my championship would have effectively been over before it even started” quoted Simon.
With the whole Hortonracing team re-focused after the round 1 disappointment’s, Simon was quickly out the blocks for first practice proving to himself and the team that they had it within themselves to be a force to be reckoned with during 2012, and promptly set one of the fastest lap times during the practice session. Before Simon could improve any further in practice, the session was red flagged by an accident on track and there was no more time left to complete any more laps before the qualifying heats. On returning to the pits the Clitheroe based driver declared himself happy with the cars setup and was ready to race.
For the first race of the day Simon took his Subaru Impreza to the centre of the front row for the start. As the lights changed the car pulled off the line well enabling him to enter the first corner in second position and allowing him to hold off the rest of the pack for the remainder of the race. This second place result boosted the confidence of Simon and his team for the rest of day and upon checking the timed results confirmed that he had set the third fastest lap of the day during this heat.
Race two was a more tricky affair for the Lancashire based driver who had to fight tooth and nail to cement his position in the final. Simon battled lap after lap with fellow Supercar driver Steve Harris in his x-games winning Citroen C4 which had more pace on the tarmac sectors of the track than the Hortonracing prepaired Subaru Impreza. Simon’s greater driving experience and committed driving style suited the long and loose gravel sections which gave him an added advantage against Harris in what is arguably a superior machine. This mixture of different strengths of both cars and drivers, resulted in lots of overtaking between the two competitors during the race and would be split at the chequered flag by just 0.7 of a second. As the flag dropped, Simon pipped Harris to the line and secured his position in the finals.
In order to preserve the car and reduce the risk of an accident or mechanical failure on his highly strained Impreza, the team took the tactical decision to sit out the final qualifying heat and accept a safe second row start on the final grid amongst the fastest cars of the day.
The final took place just before 8pm as the sun was setting over the Knockhill circuit. Simon made a good start again and held fifth position going into the first corner but was hampered by the low sun and dusty conditions making visibility very difficult from behind the wheel as the pack entered the gravel sector for the first time. As Simon started his second lap he was caught and passed by Devon based driver Andy Grant as the pair of them hunted down multiple British Championship winner Pat Doran in his brand new Monster Energy backed Citroen DS3. As the three drivers battled lap after lap, it became apparent that they were fighting between themselves for fourth place and a possible podium finish. Again the strengths of Simon in his Subaru over the loose gravel sections kept him in contention and enabled him to compete with the top UK drivers making for a nail biting finish to the race. In an almost repeat of an early heat only 0.9 of a second covered the three drivers over the line. This time however and despite his best efforts Simon was beaten to the chequered flag and was classified as 6th over the line.
Even so this was a highly credible result for the Clitheroe based driver and his team this early in the season and was a much needed boost after the disastrous opening race to the season. This result was Simons best ever in the elite Rallycross Supercar class and confirmed that both driver and car after many months of hard work are now on par with the very best in the UK.
Photo's
Flickr Images from the event
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67086095@N03/
Britishrallycross.com high res images
http://www.britishrallycross.com/wp-...5/TW_L6426.jpg
http://www.britishrallycross.com/wp-...5/TW_L5642.jpg
http://www.britishrallycross.com/wp-...5/TW_L6479.jpg
http://www.britishrallycross.com/wp-...5/TW_L6246.jpg
Supercar A final onboard footage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAZOJrayf-U
Video
Supercar Heat 2 onboard footage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoRQXr7UZQQ
Spectator Supercar A final footage (3.00 min onward)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWF86hMVFJc
Motors TV supercar A final footage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3EZV6BVjYc
Highland attack for Horton
Clitheroe based Rallycross driver Simon Horton recently made a trip north of the border into Scotland to compete at the Knockhill racing circuit, just north of Edinburgh. For his 2012 British Rallycross Championship campaign Simon has been proudly promoted to car number 8 from his previous number of 22, after his successful 2011 season meaning he finished in the top 10 drivers in the UK.
Prior to this event Simon had endured a very tough opening round to the season at Lydden Hill in Kent, where lady luck was definitely not on his side. “Round 1 was a total disaster with bad luck, racing incidents and small mechanical failures. The preparation for round 2 started the minute we finished the first race meeting as I didn’t want to endure a repeat weekend at the next race, otherwise my championship would have effectively been over before it even started” quoted Simon.
With the whole Hortonracing team re-focused after the round 1 disappointment’s, Simon was quickly out the blocks for first practice proving to himself and the team that they had it within themselves to be a force to be reckoned with during 2012, and promptly set one of the fastest lap times during the practice session. Before Simon could improve any further in practice, the session was red flagged by an accident on track and there was no more time left to complete any more laps before the qualifying heats. On returning to the pits the Clitheroe based driver declared himself happy with the cars setup and was ready to race.
For the first race of the day Simon took his Subaru Impreza to the centre of the front row for the start. As the lights changed the car pulled off the line well enabling him to enter the first corner in second position and allowing him to hold off the rest of the pack for the remainder of the race. This second place result boosted the confidence of Simon and his team for the rest of day and upon checking the timed results confirmed that he had set the third fastest lap of the day during this heat.
Race two was a more tricky affair for the Lancashire based driver who had to fight tooth and nail to cement his position in the final. Simon battled lap after lap with fellow Supercar driver Steve Harris in his x-games winning Citroen C4 which had more pace on the tarmac sectors of the track than the Hortonracing prepaired Subaru Impreza. Simon’s greater driving experience and committed driving style suited the long and loose gravel sections which gave him an added advantage against Harris in what is arguably a superior machine. This mixture of different strengths of both cars and drivers, resulted in lots of overtaking between the two competitors during the race and would be split at the chequered flag by just 0.7 of a second. As the flag dropped, Simon pipped Harris to the line and secured his position in the finals.
In order to preserve the car and reduce the risk of an accident or mechanical failure on his highly strained Impreza, the team took the tactical decision to sit out the final qualifying heat and accept a safe second row start on the final grid amongst the fastest cars of the day.
The final took place just before 8pm as the sun was setting over the Knockhill circuit. Simon made a good start again and held fifth position going into the first corner but was hampered by the low sun and dusty conditions making visibility very difficult from behind the wheel as the pack entered the gravel sector for the first time. As Simon started his second lap he was caught and passed by Devon based driver Andy Grant as the pair of them hunted down multiple British Championship winner Pat Doran in his brand new Monster Energy backed Citroen DS3. As the three drivers battled lap after lap, it became apparent that they were fighting between themselves for fourth place and a possible podium finish. Again the strengths of Simon in his Subaru over the loose gravel sections kept him in contention and enabled him to compete with the top UK drivers making for a nail biting finish to the race. In an almost repeat of an early heat only 0.9 of a second covered the three drivers over the line. This time however and despite his best efforts Simon was beaten to the chequered flag and was classified as 6th over the line.
Even so this was a highly credible result for the Clitheroe based driver and his team this early in the season and was a much needed boost after the disastrous opening race to the season. This result was Simons best ever in the elite Rallycross Supercar class and confirmed that both driver and car after many months of hard work are now on par with the very best in the UK.
Photo's
Flickr Images from the event
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67086095@N03/
Britishrallycross.com high res images
http://www.britishrallycross.com/wp-...5/TW_L6426.jpg
http://www.britishrallycross.com/wp-...5/TW_L5642.jpg
http://www.britishrallycross.com/wp-...5/TW_L6479.jpg
http://www.britishrallycross.com/wp-...5/TW_L6246.jpg
Supercar A final onboard footage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAZOJrayf-U
Video
Supercar Heat 2 onboard footage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoRQXr7UZQQ
Spectator Supercar A final footage (3.00 min onward)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWF86hMVFJc
Motors TV supercar A final footage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3EZV6BVjYc
04 June 2012, 10:38 AM
#163
Great Driving! The Sun certainly did take its toll, you could tell from the characteristics of the driving that he held back due to a serious lack of vision going through the dust/sunlight.
Good result going through the heats, and great to see a local (to me) driver operating
Keep up the good work guys.
Rob
Good result going through the heats, and great to see a local (to me) driver operating
Keep up the good work guys.
Rob
05 June 2012, 12:06 PM
#166
Got Mallory before Lydden Steve
Definately starting to get to grips with the car now. I'm not saying i'm going to be catching Julian or Steve Hill at the moment, but keeping pace with the like of Andy Grant in the ex will gollop focus is my next realistic target. In reality my main target when I visit Lydden will be to beat Steve Mundyin his focus as he's a veteran and last november we had some very close racing at Croft, so he's a good bench mark for progress. When I set my targets to be a few years ago, my aim was to be the best of the clubmans competitors and then to try and mix it with some of the professional run teams and i'm happy to be getting near and nearer to those goals.
Also i've got some of my favourite events still to come. My home event at Croft and Pembrey have both been happy hunting grounds for me and i'll be looking for strong results at both these round. Mallory is a little bit unknown and Lydden has been tough in recent years (since joining the supercars to be honest), so I really need to turn that situation round at that venue as back in my stockhatch days it was one of my best tracks. Plus the crowds at lydden are great, really appreciate the sport and the drivers appreciate the support too, so they deserve a good race from myself.
As a side note, one noticable thing this year in the paddock is the top boys just seem to have more bhp than previous seasons and (even with the restrictors) I'm hearing the figure of 600bhp more and more, rather than the old bench mark of 550. I'm pushing out just shy of 540, but to find another 60 is beyond me were I get that from. For me the next steps in performance increase are big costs, like a Sequential gearbox or chucking massive money at the engine but i'm not in a position to do that at the moment or at least not without a major sponsor coming onboard next season. The perfect partners for me would be someone looking to develop new parts or gearbox, as you know if it can survive in rallycross it will fairly much survive anything as it's such a harsh sport for mechanical components.
So honestly I think it's going to be more focus on details and fine tuning setup to maximise everything I have to gain the extra bits of time and look for some major updates in 2013.
Next event is at mallory park on July 22th and we will be going there confident and focused on getting another solid result.
Definately starting to get to grips with the car now. I'm not saying i'm going to be catching Julian or Steve Hill at the moment, but keeping pace with the like of Andy Grant in the ex will gollop focus is my next realistic target. In reality my main target when I visit Lydden will be to beat Steve Mundyin his focus as he's a veteran and last november we had some very close racing at Croft, so he's a good bench mark for progress. When I set my targets to be a few years ago, my aim was to be the best of the clubmans competitors and then to try and mix it with some of the professional run teams and i'm happy to be getting near and nearer to those goals.
Also i've got some of my favourite events still to come. My home event at Croft and Pembrey have both been happy hunting grounds for me and i'll be looking for strong results at both these round. Mallory is a little bit unknown and Lydden has been tough in recent years (since joining the supercars to be honest), so I really need to turn that situation round at that venue as back in my stockhatch days it was one of my best tracks. Plus the crowds at lydden are great, really appreciate the sport and the drivers appreciate the support too, so they deserve a good race from myself.
As a side note, one noticable thing this year in the paddock is the top boys just seem to have more bhp than previous seasons and (even with the restrictors) I'm hearing the figure of 600bhp more and more, rather than the old bench mark of 550. I'm pushing out just shy of 540, but to find another 60 is beyond me were I get that from. For me the next steps in performance increase are big costs, like a Sequential gearbox or chucking massive money at the engine but i'm not in a position to do that at the moment or at least not without a major sponsor coming onboard next season. The perfect partners for me would be someone looking to develop new parts or gearbox, as you know if it can survive in rallycross it will fairly much survive anything as it's such a harsh sport for mechanical components.
So honestly I think it's going to be more focus on details and fine tuning setup to maximise everything I have to gain the extra bits of time and look for some major updates in 2013.
Next event is at mallory park on July 22th and we will be going there confident and focused on getting another solid result.
05 June 2012, 12:31 PM
#167
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I won't be at Mallory, so I wasn't counting that one: so don't bend the car before Lydden!
I think thats a very realistic view to take with regards to who your competition is. Don't get me wrong, it would be fantastic to see you challenging the cars at the front of the grid but, as you say, the difference in budget is so great it makes those cars very difficult to compete with.
With the level of competition in the Supercars at the moment though, I think just getting the car the end of a race weekend is an achievement in itself!
I think thats a very realistic view to take with regards to who your competition is. Don't get me wrong, it would be fantastic to see you challenging the cars at the front of the grid but, as you say, the difference in budget is so great it makes those cars very difficult to compete with.
With the level of competition in the Supercars at the moment though, I think just getting the car the end of a race weekend is an achievement in itself!
its my dream to do so but never had any motorsport experience! Will be watching out for you 26th & 27th august!
28 July 2012, 08:36 PM
#169
Horton score best result so far!
Round 3 - Monster British Rallycross Championship - Mallory Park race report.
After Horton’s recent successful result at Knockhill Circuit in Scotland last month, attentions turned to the Midland based circuit of Mallory Park for the latest round of the British Rallycross Championship. At the previous round Simon secured his best ever result to date with a 6th position finish in the elite supercar class and was looking to build on this result and continue his championship push. As Horton approaches the midpoint in the season, consistency and reliability has now become as important as raw speed as the championship points start to close between drivers. Simon has firmly set his targets on a top 5 finish for the 2012 season and on recent for this is a possibility for the Clitheroe based driver.
Mallory Park was bathed in glorious sunshine as the cars took to the grid for practise and qualifying. Simon was quickly out the blocks collecting valuable data of the revised circuit layout and set 5th fastest time during free practise in the process. Upon returning to the pits, the team make some minor modifications before declared himself happy with the cars setup and taking up his starting position for the first qualifying heat of the day.
The first race was a story of 2 halves. As the supercars left the start for the first time, Simon slotted up the inside of 3 competitors into the first corner and secured 5th position on the opening lap, but the race was red flagged when 2 drivers (Julian Godfrey & Steve Harris) spun out during the opening phase of the race and their cars were in dangerous positions at the end of the long & fast gravel section, forcing a restart. At the second attempted restart, Simon’s Subaru Impreza developed a serious misfire on the grid and forced him to complete the race with a huge loss in power and have to drive defensively to secure a 6th position finish. As the cars pulled into the pits, the hortonracing pit crew instantly set too at analysing the issue, finding the faulty components and solving the problem, allowing Horton to continue the day’s action.
With the venerable Impreza fixed, Simon showed his true colours in the second qualifying heat, pulling off some spectacular overtaking manoeuvre’s and claiming a fantastic 3rd position as the chequered flag fell. “In heat 2 I knew I had to push, and push hard, to make up for the issues in the first race and I was fully committed behind the wheel every lap” commented Horton
After claiming a 3rd and 6th position in the heats, a position in the supercar A final was secured and took some of the pressure off the team, allowing more time to focus on minor details and maximising the setup changes to the Subaru.
Horton was issued with 5th position on the grid for the final race of the day and presented him with the chance of securing his best result to date in the supercar class. As Simon took up his second row slot he started to believe that a potential first podium finish was on the cards if things went his way. As the lights went green, Simon made a dream start off the line and was holding 4th position into the first corner, unfortunately the Clitheroe based driver was pushed wide onto the grass and lost multiple positions in the process as he re-joined the race. With Simon in maximum attack mode, he charged back through the field during the next 3 laps and was closing back on 3rd position when disaster struck on the final lap. As he entered the final lap, the car lost 2nd and 4th gears at this crucial point and setup a grandstand finish as the rest of the pack closed back up to the ailing Impreza. As the drivers entered the last 3rd of the lap, Simon was passed by Colin Anson, who he had been fighting with all day, but he wasn’t for letting the position go cheaply. As Colin passed Simon on the entry into the corner, Horton then slipped back up the inside on the exit to the corner and managed to hold onto his 4th position over the finishing line. An ecstatic Horton quotes “I battled hard all day for that 4th position and I wasn’t going to lose it at the final corner! At the beginning of the weekend I targeted myself with a 5th or 6th place finish, so to secure a 4th position is a fantastic result and I’m extremely pleased for the whole hortonracing team as we all deserved this. I may drive the car, but we win and lose as a team and I couldn’t do this without them.”
Simon and his team next travel to the Lydden Hill circuit in Kent on the August bank holiday weekend as the season enters its second half.
22 October 2012, 07:27 PM
#170
Last outing of 2012...
Evening All
I'm racing at this weekend's finale of the 2012 season at croft on saturday and also the Rallycross Grandprix on sunday.
I'm just wondering if there are any members of scoobynet who are going to be trackside on either or both days? If so, make yourself known and make some noise in the grandstands as both myself and Gary Pusey are aiming for top 5 finishes in the British Championship this season and both part of the scooby brigade.
If any SN members are visiting, pop down to the garages and say hello
Si
I'm racing at this weekend's finale of the 2012 season at croft on saturday and also the Rallycross Grandprix on sunday.
I'm just wondering if there are any members of scoobynet who are going to be trackside on either or both days? If so, make yourself known and make some noise in the grandstands as both myself and Gary Pusey are aiming for top 5 finishes in the British Championship this season and both part of the scooby brigade.
If any SN members are visiting, pop down to the garages and say hello
Si
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