KSport Impreza Race Report 2011 Time Attack Round 6 August 28th Anglesey
05 September 2011, 12:40 AM
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KSport Impreza Race Report 2011 Time Attack Round 6 August 28th Anglesey
KSport Impreza Race Report 2011 Time Attack Round 6 August 28th Anglesey
Following an engine bay oil fire during round 5 at Cadwell Park a few weeks earlier the KSport team were keen to make our local knowledge of the Anglesey circuit work to our advantage. While taking the pro title outright remained a mathmatical possibility it would rely on both Gavin in the NR Autosport Evo IX and Marcus in the MPR Skyline dropping points at the remaining two rounds...All we could hope to do was go out and make a credible challenge to both title contenders.
Preparations for round 6 included the build and installation of a Kaps supplied full sequential R4 gearbox. The box build took place at the KSport Impreza's Wirral HQ, with installation managed by Scoobytechs of Little Sutton.....also worthy of note was repairs to the power steering system following the problems at round 5.
The journey to Ty-Croes racetrack on Saturday afternoon was uneventful although it would be no exaggeration to describe the persistant rain as "monsoon" like, I did think that we may have our first wet Time Attack for several years......I was glad I'd fetched the waterproofs and the RainX!
Dawn broke at Anglesey and while the track was dry rain still looked a distinct possibility. Final preparations got underway on the car after the gearbox oil had been refreshed in the trackside garage the evening before....all pre-checks looked good so the engine was warmed through and we were out for the warm-up session....
Both Gav Renshaw and I put down 1.16 laptimes in the 1st session with Gavin marginally quicker... The good news was the new gearbox was 100% and the engine was pulling like a train....the bad news was the car was not handling as well as we would like with understeer on lowspeed corner entry and snap oversteer on corner exit....hmmmmm.....back to the pit and a little headscratching as to how to get the car to go were it was pointed.....Was it just a greasy track combined with cold tyres?...A few adjustments were made and all to soon the second session was upon us....
The car felt marginally better turning in to the corners but still fell short of what was required in the handling department...the engine was pulling as strong as ever though and there were no signs of any problems that had the potential to compromise the reliability of the car....that was of course until the gear linkage came away from the box on the 6th lap.....this fault marooned me in 5th gear which I managed to use to limp off the track and all the way back to the garage for investigation.....
I was worried that the new gearbox may have developed a problem, but on inspection it was simply a selector rose joint bolt that had vibrated loose....the flat floor was removed and mechanics Dave Grice and Big Mick soon had the transmission fully functional once more....A little more difficult to resolve was the handling problems.....This time some rather bold and significant changes were made in an attempt to make the car go where it was pointed....after all qualifying was nearly upon us so we had little to loose....
As per normal service Gav Renshaw in the Evo lead the cars out for the qualifying session and a single hot lap of 1.15.3 would be all Gavin needed to secure the qualifying topspot and the valuable ten points it brings.....the good news for me was we had got to the bottom of the cars tendency to understeer, but this was at the expense of huge oversteer mid corner....almost to the point were the car was undriveable....In an effort to push for qualification points I came off the track on several occasions and when I did keep her on the blackstuff it was full on sideways action around each and every corner!!!....one particular off and pirouette on the corkscrew section left me far too close to the tyre wall than one would like!!!....shortly after that I received the black and white warning flag on the start finish straight.....oooopps.....back to the garage via the Clerk of the Course, were I was officially warned for drifting!!....what would Olly Clark make of such a policy!!
A review of the qualifying sessions results gave no suprises, 3rd place and more than one and a half seconds down on Gavs 1.15.3 lap....hmmmmm were would we go from here....well we had got halfway there with the set-up changes, if we set the car up to not get too tail happy in the corners then I was sure I could find a second maybe a even a touch more....we had to try and go for it....
So to the final, it was no surprise to see the NR Evo first at the gate waiting to be called into the pitlane, out the car for a brief chat with Gav and Phil and my pitcrew and then ushered through to the pitline by the marshalls.....very shortly the serious business would begin......
Green Lights and Gav out first, Mike Mahoney in the Wallace Evo, then Duncan Graham in the BC Impreza then me with the remaining Pro and Club Pro field in procession behind....I purposely left a decent gap between Duncan and I.....warm-up lap done....through the corkscrew section before a sideways blast through the Bus Stop corner and up the pit straight reaching over 100mph.....dare not glance over to the pit crew as my eyes are glued to the next apex, turn 1, entry speed 90mph and apex a shade under 80....onto and around the high lateral G banked 3rd gear hairpin then flat until a quick stab on the brakes to set her up for church.....through the backstraight and up onto the rocket complex....car still understeering through the 2nd gear hairpin of rocket, but through without loosing too much time.....just Peel and the the corkscrew to negotiate before smashing into the start finish straight with the back end twitching out of line....keep your foot in....and over the line.....1:14.87....quickest lap of the day yet!!!...Result
My nearest challenger and series leader, Gavin Renshaw had managed a 1:15.5 on his first quick lap, 7 tenths down on my time, with Mike Mahoney next on the scoreboard with a 1:16.5....
Having pitted Gavin went back out to chase my time......another quick lap....he was really going some.....1.15.0.....very close now only 2 tenths in it......
I had stayed out on track attempting to better my time....but a boost hose blew halfway through the session sending me limping into pit lane.....that would be the end of the session for me....
Gav pits again.....but not for long....he is out once more for a 3rd hot lap.....pushing harder still....sideways onto the pit straight and this time its a 1:14.91.......only four hundredths now split us....
With my lead intact by the thinest of margins Gav heads out for a fourth time....with the clock counting down realistically this would be his last attempt.....His last hot lap recorded was a 1.16.3 and wouldn't be enough to steal top spot from me on the day....
The chequed flag came down and my first lap of 1:14.87 in the final was enough to take the outright victory!!
It was great to get the first pro win for both myself and all of the KSport team....we now turn our efforts toward the final Time Attack event of 2011 at Snetterton racetrack, Norfolk, on September 25th.....with the pro title still up for grabs its sure to be an exciting weekend....
Thanks to all my pit crew, sponsors and supporters.....
Bren at KSport Uk
Enginetuner
Lateral Performance
EBC Brakes
AET Turbos
Zen Performance
Motul
and Dave Grice at Scoobytechs
See Youtube video of my hot lap on the link below
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYRiHVdR1pY
Following an engine bay oil fire during round 5 at Cadwell Park a few weeks earlier the KSport team were keen to make our local knowledge of the Anglesey circuit work to our advantage. While taking the pro title outright remained a mathmatical possibility it would rely on both Gavin in the NR Autosport Evo IX and Marcus in the MPR Skyline dropping points at the remaining two rounds...All we could hope to do was go out and make a credible challenge to both title contenders.
Preparations for round 6 included the build and installation of a Kaps supplied full sequential R4 gearbox. The box build took place at the KSport Impreza's Wirral HQ, with installation managed by Scoobytechs of Little Sutton.....also worthy of note was repairs to the power steering system following the problems at round 5.
The journey to Ty-Croes racetrack on Saturday afternoon was uneventful although it would be no exaggeration to describe the persistant rain as "monsoon" like, I did think that we may have our first wet Time Attack for several years......I was glad I'd fetched the waterproofs and the RainX!
Dawn broke at Anglesey and while the track was dry rain still looked a distinct possibility. Final preparations got underway on the car after the gearbox oil had been refreshed in the trackside garage the evening before....all pre-checks looked good so the engine was warmed through and we were out for the warm-up session....
Both Gav Renshaw and I put down 1.16 laptimes in the 1st session with Gavin marginally quicker... The good news was the new gearbox was 100% and the engine was pulling like a train....the bad news was the car was not handling as well as we would like with understeer on lowspeed corner entry and snap oversteer on corner exit....hmmmmm.....back to the pit and a little headscratching as to how to get the car to go were it was pointed.....Was it just a greasy track combined with cold tyres?...A few adjustments were made and all to soon the second session was upon us....
The car felt marginally better turning in to the corners but still fell short of what was required in the handling department...the engine was pulling as strong as ever though and there were no signs of any problems that had the potential to compromise the reliability of the car....that was of course until the gear linkage came away from the box on the 6th lap.....this fault marooned me in 5th gear which I managed to use to limp off the track and all the way back to the garage for investigation.....
I was worried that the new gearbox may have developed a problem, but on inspection it was simply a selector rose joint bolt that had vibrated loose....the flat floor was removed and mechanics Dave Grice and Big Mick soon had the transmission fully functional once more....A little more difficult to resolve was the handling problems.....This time some rather bold and significant changes were made in an attempt to make the car go where it was pointed....after all qualifying was nearly upon us so we had little to loose....
As per normal service Gav Renshaw in the Evo lead the cars out for the qualifying session and a single hot lap of 1.15.3 would be all Gavin needed to secure the qualifying topspot and the valuable ten points it brings.....the good news for me was we had got to the bottom of the cars tendency to understeer, but this was at the expense of huge oversteer mid corner....almost to the point were the car was undriveable....In an effort to push for qualification points I came off the track on several occasions and when I did keep her on the blackstuff it was full on sideways action around each and every corner!!!....one particular off and pirouette on the corkscrew section left me far too close to the tyre wall than one would like!!!....shortly after that I received the black and white warning flag on the start finish straight.....oooopps.....back to the garage via the Clerk of the Course, were I was officially warned for drifting!!....what would Olly Clark make of such a policy!!
A review of the qualifying sessions results gave no suprises, 3rd place and more than one and a half seconds down on Gavs 1.15.3 lap....hmmmmm were would we go from here....well we had got halfway there with the set-up changes, if we set the car up to not get too tail happy in the corners then I was sure I could find a second maybe a even a touch more....we had to try and go for it....
So to the final, it was no surprise to see the NR Evo first at the gate waiting to be called into the pitlane, out the car for a brief chat with Gav and Phil and my pitcrew and then ushered through to the pitline by the marshalls.....very shortly the serious business would begin......
Green Lights and Gav out first, Mike Mahoney in the Wallace Evo, then Duncan Graham in the BC Impreza then me with the remaining Pro and Club Pro field in procession behind....I purposely left a decent gap between Duncan and I.....warm-up lap done....through the corkscrew section before a sideways blast through the Bus Stop corner and up the pit straight reaching over 100mph.....dare not glance over to the pit crew as my eyes are glued to the next apex, turn 1, entry speed 90mph and apex a shade under 80....onto and around the high lateral G banked 3rd gear hairpin then flat until a quick stab on the brakes to set her up for church.....through the backstraight and up onto the rocket complex....car still understeering through the 2nd gear hairpin of rocket, but through without loosing too much time.....just Peel and the the corkscrew to negotiate before smashing into the start finish straight with the back end twitching out of line....keep your foot in....and over the line.....1:14.87....quickest lap of the day yet!!!...Result
My nearest challenger and series leader, Gavin Renshaw had managed a 1:15.5 on his first quick lap, 7 tenths down on my time, with Mike Mahoney next on the scoreboard with a 1:16.5....
Having pitted Gavin went back out to chase my time......another quick lap....he was really going some.....1.15.0.....very close now only 2 tenths in it......
I had stayed out on track attempting to better my time....but a boost hose blew halfway through the session sending me limping into pit lane.....that would be the end of the session for me....
Gav pits again.....but not for long....he is out once more for a 3rd hot lap.....pushing harder still....sideways onto the pit straight and this time its a 1:14.91.......only four hundredths now split us....
With my lead intact by the thinest of margins Gav heads out for a fourth time....with the clock counting down realistically this would be his last attempt.....His last hot lap recorded was a 1.16.3 and wouldn't be enough to steal top spot from me on the day....
The chequed flag came down and my first lap of 1:14.87 in the final was enough to take the outright victory!!
It was great to get the first pro win for both myself and all of the KSport team....we now turn our efforts toward the final Time Attack event of 2011 at Snetterton racetrack, Norfolk, on September 25th.....with the pro title still up for grabs its sure to be an exciting weekend....
Thanks to all my pit crew, sponsors and supporters.....
Bren at KSport Uk
Enginetuner
Lateral Performance
EBC Brakes
AET Turbos
Zen Performance
Motul
and Dave Grice at Scoobytechs
See Youtube video of my hot lap on the link below
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYRiHVdR1pY
Last edited by popeyedoyle; 06 September 2011 at 10:38 PM.
05 September 2011, 07:08 AM
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Top write up there glad it all came good for the k sport team in the end nice result !
Last edited by leecalcars; 05 September 2011 at 07:10 AM.
05 September 2011, 03:08 PM
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Usual excellent report there Paul. We were properly made up at this end. Having a part of a Pro class Time Attack win has justified our faith in your competitive spirit, along with the dedicated team who support your every move!
More fabulous pictures to add to our collection, we're going to paper the walls with them..
More fabulous pictures to add to our collection, we're going to paper the walls with them..
06 September 2011, 10:40 PM
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