416 replies to this topic

[rob999]

How's it going Duncan?

[siztenboots]

lunch break now , then back with some proper racing just before 1pm

Pirelli Ferrari Open RACE 8 12:55 00:25 13:20
CSCC Tin Tops RACE 9 13:30 00:40 14:10

[techieboy]

then back with some proper racing just before 1pm

Well, assuming you call 80's Magnum-style Ferrari's proper.

[siztenboots]

Race results , http://www.tsl-timin...3/131564ctt.pdf

Finished in 20th , 4 laps behind , 2nd in class , best lap 1:36.535 which is a 2s improvement on qually lap

Plus issues with timing transponder

[techieboy]

Well done guys. Hope you enjoyed yourselves and congratulations on finishing (hopefully) in once piece.

[darronwall]

well done all!!

[rob999]

Well done team VX/saxo!

[siztenboots]

not sure what happened on lap 18 but lost 2 mins , driver change was on lap 12 1m:31s changeover

[Mangham54]

Enjoy yourselves as, for your first race, surely this must be the most important part?

Edited by Mangham54, 14 April 2013 - 03:52 PM.

[NickB787]

Great drive, we'll done

[VIX]

Great achievement. Well done all.

[AliM]

Thanks for the support all, we think due to an intermittent transponder we actually finished 19th 3 laps behind, 2nd in class *cough* out of two *cough* podium finish lol but we had a lot of fun anyway. Full write up tomorrow, its been a long day

[siztenboots]

confess , who was the driver 1 and 2 in each session

[Duncan_F]

its been a long day

I'm absolutely shattered, when my alarm went off this morning it felt like I'd been asleep for about 3 minutes.

[AliM]

confess , who was the driver 1 and 2 in each session

Duncan was the fastest

Best Lap times:
Duncan - 1:36:535
Ali - 1:38:931

Edited by AliM, 15 April 2013 - 08:11 AM.

[siztenboots]

move the seat back a couple of notch, its only fair.

[Tony H]

in-car footage

[AliM]

Someone forgot to charge the GoPro

Edited by AliM, 15 April 2013 - 08:16 AM.

[LY_Scott]

Well done you two Very jealous!

[AliM]

We’d pretty much run to the wire with the car prep, the swirl pot and 2^nd pump set up had been side lined due to time constraints and welding was still being done 30 minutes before we set off on Saturday. We arrived at Snetterton on Sunday morning with master cut off switches that didn’t cut the ignition off and the race seat and harness in the boot of the Saxo. If we couldn’t get the car through scruitineering, it would have been a wasted 10 hour return journey, we had everything crossed that we’d be able to finish the car off in the paddock in the hour we had before our first briefing and sign on. Thankfully, it was a quick fix and we sailed through scruitineering with no problems.
Looking around the Tin Tops area of the paddock it was clear that there had been some serious investment in our fellow competitors cars, this was incredibly daunting because we’d not touched the engine of the Saxo and had done the basics we needed to put the car in to see how we got on. We already knew that we weren’t going to be competitive, and that it was just going to be a learning curve this season, but you still hold out hope that there’s someone you can have a bit of a battle with! As it happens, there was only 2 cars running in our class; our massively underpowered Saxo, and the Ford Puma of Lisa Selby and Toby Harris who have been racing with the CSCC for a few years now and have a wealth of experience in sprints and rallying between them.

The test day in March had been on the 300 layout, and the first time either of us had driven the car on track. We found out on arrival at the circuit on race day that we’d actually be racing the 200 layout, so the few familiarisation laps we’d managed on the test day went out the window! Qualifying got underway and the track was busy as we’d been paired up with the Modern Classics. Duncan took the first half of the session and produced a 1:38.6 on lap 7, some 5 seconds quicker than my best qualifying lap. On the new set of R888’s I found that I could fly round Coram with the much quicker cars not able to pull away, but I couldn’t find the right line or speed to take through Murrays, which resulted in me falling off the track in a cloud of sand. Duncans greatt performance was enough to put us on row 11, with 3 cars behind us. I was starting the race, and knowing that I’d never catch the puma I was going to concentrate on keeping the MG ZR and the 2 Fiesta’s behind me. We lined up on the grid and I wasn’t sure what was going on but the car that should have been on my right appeared on my left, was I in the wrong place? I just went with it anyway and after the formation lap he appeared on my left again, I thought maybe I’d got it wrong but decided just to go with it! It turns out that as they’d brought the race forward nearly 30 mins, one of the competitors further up the field (a Saxo VTR) had missed it and that must have shuffled everything forward! I’d never done a racing start before, I think I missed a trick by not having the revs high enough, but that will come with time and practice I imagine. I managed to make the first corner without hitting anything but lost a couple of places in the process. The aim of the game was to get round safely, and as long as we didn’t come last I was happy with that. I took the first 12 laps of the race and had some fun for a couple of laps with the Fiesta of Ernest Hammond, and the aforementioned Saxo VTR that appeared from nowhere behind me after the race had started! My best lap of the race was a 1:38.9 in lap 8, but by this time I was getting blue flagged a lot as the faster cars were coming round to lap me again and I was just trying to keep out of the way. In hindsight, I won’t let the faster cars put me off my game again. I need to focus on what I’m doing and not take the wrong line through corners just to allow them passed. They’ll go round me, and I’ll find a few seconds a lap for it.
Our driver change was slow compared to other cars, and was something we need to practice but Duncan was a few seconds a lap quicker than me and managed to bring his times under 1:40 within his first 2 laps. The pack was well split out by this time, so he could concentrate on putting in the quick laps to catch up our nearest competition. He managed a 1:36.5 on lap 17, and had one squiffy moment at Murrays which we think may have affected the transponder in some way as his time for lap 18 was 3:22.8 which was definitely wrong. On paper we finished P20, but because the transponder was intermittent we think may have really finished P19 with only 3 laps behind, rather than 4.

Overall, we didn’t set any new lap records, but we made it through our first race with no incidents and we had a lot of fun in the process. The other club members that we got to chat to were great and really helped us settle in to the days proceedings, giving us help and advice as the day went on. We’ve come home with a little list of things to do, both a little more confident in our own abilities and more optimistic about getting the most out of the standard car. Next stop is Brands on 6^th May, and the only way is up.

Edited by AliM, 15 April 2013 - 10:57 AM.