So this weekend we have the silverstone round, after a nice month and a bit break in the season. As I had gearbox issues at Pembrey I decided to sort the engine out and work on whatever might have been causing the issues in addition to any driving errors I did.
So the first action point was to remove the engine and get it down to Andy. Andy has sourced for me a replacement engine to run so that I can the original engine repaired and have a spare. So Tony very kindly helped in removing the old and refitting the new one.

In addition to the engine I have worked on trying to understand the issues that would cause the gearbox failures and put some work in trying to resolve these.

1.
The paddle shift mount has quite a bit of flex, well actually its the entire dash / steering collumn mount that moves. John has made me some bracing brakets to make this much more secure. Unfortunately I forgot to photograph this before putting the dash back on last night - next time I promise!

2.
Fuel starvation may be the problem. Well maybe because its hard to link up with the telemetry but it could so I might as well be proactive about it. I have installed a swirl pot post fuel pump which now means I have quite a bit of fuel in presurised state which should buffer any major starvation situations. I have also plumbed in a fuel pressure guage to run to the dash which I might get wired in before Silverstone.

3.
Air Filter. In the first race at pembrey the air filter was so clogged it was causing issues with the engine not pulling at low speeds. When the speeds increased their was enough ram air to help out. It was cleaned for the second race but still having an effect towards the end of the race and might have cuased the engine to drop revs quicker than normal in gear changes and stress the gearbox some. So replaced that with a new one.

 

Circuit Driver Photo Shoot

 
  

Mark Hales test RGB cars - part 2

Gordon describing the backing foil and cable ties in the back of his Mission
 
Post session discussions around Jons car
 
Magazine Photographer
 
Photo shoot up at Corum.
  

Mark Hales test RGB cars at Snetterton

Last week a few RGB stars arranged for Mark Hales or CircuitDriver and many other publications to have a test for some RGB cars which will lead to an article in the September edition of said magazine.
I was hoping to have my car down there for the test but illness the weekend before and the required engine replacement did not allow. So instead I went down to chat with all involved and make sure (with great assistance from Andy) that Pauls car was there and ready for Marks test, Paul being on holiday at the time.

Here are some pictures from the event.

Mark sitting in Pauls car, talking to Colin.


Mark sitting in Gordons car.


Mark driving Colins car


Mark driving Pauls car on track


Mark driving Jons car on track

Pembrey Saturday Qualify

The Saturday dawned nice and hot from the start. Had a good nights sleep in the tent and the paddock was buzzing early.
Qualifying went very well. I gradually worked my way up to some really good times. The first few laps had quite a bit of traffic but I managed to find some space on lap 3 to record my first banker lap in the 1:04’s. A couple of laps to cool things down and find some space and I banged in a 1:03.98 which was almost down to my fastest from the Friday testing session. I was quite happy with those times but guessed I would need something a little lower to be troubling the front of the field. Again a few laps to find some space and a little practice on a later turn into Honda and using more curb over the Esses. On lap 9 and 10 I had some space and recorded a 1:03.63 for the first race and a 1:03.73 for the second race. The question however was how well would Tim, Mike and John do?

So the line up for the two races.

• Well my 1:03.63 fastest lap would place me 3rd on the grid, just 1 hundredth of a second behind Mikes 2nd place time and 12 one hundredths of a second behind John Goodwin’s excellent pole position time!
• My 1:03.73 second fastest lap time would also give me a 3rd place for the second race. This time with Mike in Pole and John in 2nd.

Another interesting point was that there were only 2 class A cars ahead of us, meaning my class C 3rd place grid position was a 5th place start overall. It felt a little strange to have Rob behind me but it might work out well as Tim had to get past him and James’s Busa Fury before getting up to us!


Comparing my practice and qualify fastest times it would seem that was a little smother in the qualify session, which meant I was a touch slower but more consistent. The telemetry image shows I was less erratic but had slower peak and minimum speeds through Dibeni but most of that was compensated for by a better run into and out of the Brooklands Hairpin.

Comparing my 2 fastest qualify laps it would seem that the faster lap comprised of a better run on the straight from the lap before. A better run out of the first corner hairpin, due to less wheel spin and slide. A smoother run through Dibeni. A worse and slower line through the Brooklands hairpin and a slightly higher peak speed before entering Honda. These added together made a 10th of a second difference! Interest that 3 improvements were almost entirely rubbed out by a poor run through the hairpin leading to the main fast back section. The circuit guide was right, that is the more important corner for time.

Pembrey Race Weekend - Practice

Friday Practice
I headed down to Pembrey on the Thursday evening, stopping overnight with some friends near Swindon after a visit to Polley for some new rear tyres. The old ones were down to the wear markers and past their best after the heat of Brands.
On the Friday morning I completed the trip to Pembrey which is about as far as you can get diagonally across the country for me, ready for an afternoon test.

The first session after lunch was just a matter of learning the circuit and making sure the car was all sound. The track is really lots of fun, a great technical and slippy inner section and a lovely flowing fast back section. Just what I like! In fact Tim H made a comment that it’s a Derek kind of circuit. Indeed it is Tim! I am not sure of the lap times for the first test session as my lap blank was not long enough and I was picking up more than one transponder signal.

After the first session I decided to run a little more understeer to help me feel the grip on the first 2 parts of Dibeni and help with some stability through the very fast Honda curve. Oh and a little less rear brake to help with the brake whilst turning at the Brooklands hairpin. By lap 4 in the second session I saw a 1:04.51 come up on the dash which sounded about right from what I had heard from the paddock. I got a few more low 1:04s and then near the end clocked a nice 1:03.59.

The rumors were that Mike had been in the mid 1:03’s in the morning and after chatting with John G, it would seem that the afternoon session had been slower, more like very high 1:03s which meant I was in the right ball park at least. In fact modestly apart I was very happy to be around the fastest 4 after just a few short sessions on the track.

A good walk around the track that even resulting in a clearer picture of how I could improve my line through the Esses and also take a later line into the Honda curve.