2007 - End of year

One final posting before the new year celebrations kick in.
Just a few updates for the car over the Christmas period. I now have a fully calibrated fuel stick which will be especially useful as I plan to run some extra fuel as the ballast I need in the short term until I get the car to a point where I want to corner weigh and set the location of ballast. I have also removed the spare upright part of the roll cage that Rob used to mount a head restraint. This is way above my head and the resulting gap is perfect for a modified air intake for the air box, as per a single seater.

Apart from those small items, we have a couple of modification to make to the cockpit, extending the seat to better support my legs and some sort of simple left foot rest beside the clutch. Not quite as industrious as some others like Tim but the car was in very good shape when we picked it up which is nice.

The new year should see an order going into Demon Tweaks for some consumables, such as chain oil, engine oil, etc, which will mean we are fairly well setup of a few tests. One the list of items for the next two tests are:

1. Test with a lower front ride height to see how that effects the mid corner behavior in medium to fast corners.
2. Continue the tests started in the last session to understand what the car feels like with a full range of adjustments on the rear dampers and the front anti-roll bar.
   
3. Test on a rather more complex circuit than Snetterton, something like Cadwell for example so I can get a feel for undulation and rapid changes in direction.

One last big thank you to the many people who have helped me over the last year of racing and Happy New Year to all. Just 11 more weeks to go before the first round of the 2008 season!

Derek

BDN - First Test

Snetterton, Saturday 15th Dec. Cold but dry and almost sunny at times.

Aims

1. Shake down of car although not expecting any major issues, we had made a new seat, modified the steering position, dash mountings and break pedal setup so there were items that needed testing.
2. For me to get used to the car and its basic balance, increased power over the Fury
3. For John to get used to the operational support side of the car, ease of turnaround from a session (fueling, visual checks, ease of access, bodywork removed etc
4. For us to gather some basic information as to suspension changes and the resulting feel of the car.
5. Initial weigh in
6. Feel and running of the car in cold conditions (oil and water cooling) as it may be like this at snett in March for the first race.
   

Shake Down went brilliantly.
We spent a few short sessions just getting used to the car and finding a good starting point for the brake bias. Steering position is great, small padding area needed for left arm, dials all accessibly, telemetry working. The seat is good but I could do with more side of leg support as well as a better clutch foot rest for the high speed corners.

Basic Balance
Very good, in fact I got into the swing very quickly and was able to try lots of different styles. Balanced is a good word for the car, I do of course need to get more used to the added speed and therefore the larger amount of time spent slowing down as well as the ability to use the wider power band to smooth my inputs. A good example of this is the first corner at Snett. Initially I was going from 6th down to 4th for this corner, running a good line through, on the power for the 2nd apex and full throttle from there to the braking zone for the 2nd corner. Arriving at that braking zone at the top of the rev range for 4th gear. This felt good but gave a lot of work to get down 2 gears before turning in to the first corner. After chatting with Paul I tried going down just 1 gear, carrying more speed into the first corner and using the extra pull of the ZX12 out of the corner and found myself arriving at the braking zone for the 2nd corner considerably faster! Now of course that leaves me more work to do for that 2nd corner but hey!
All of this is just observational at the moment as I am yet to download the telemetry let alone compare to Robs data from the 2007 season.

Operational side – well we found it takes a little practice to remove the rear body work and this is a common activity as its needed for every refuel. We may alter this but for now we either need to bond in the fastener sockets as they ping out when you remove the bodywork or change to using a different type of clip as used on the front bodywork. Re-fueling is easy especially with the new setup we have. It uses quite a bit more fuel though so we need to get used to that and we now have a good way of measuring the fuel level so I can calibrate this in the garage over the next few weeks.

Setup
At the end of the day, we made some basic suspension changes, mainly focusing on the front dampers and gained the results we expected which was great. We tested full stiffness on the front dampers and then a middle ground as the base setup was almost at full soft on the front. Our next change will probably be to change the rake of the car, adding some forward weight and seeing what effect that has on aero balance as well.

• Initial turn in gets my thumbs up.
• From there to apex is a little pitch sensitive for my liking but there are quite a number of options, including trailing throttle to work the rear a little more.
• Apex to exit is again very good, maybe a little soft in roll for the dry but I need to try a more technical circuit to be sure its not just masked by grunt!

Post Christmas Diet needed?
Weigh in was excellent, with almost zero fuel we are well under the min weight so we can either used extra fuel in reserve as ballast and give some margin for red flags/restarts etc (tank is foam filled and in the centre of the car so no movement or balance issues) or we can use ballast to help corner weights.

Cold Weather
In the 4deg weather we had at Snetterton we needed to partially block the water radiator at the front as well as the oil cooler mounted in the passenger side pod so as to get any decent operating temperature! Tyre temperature was not difficult to achieve and was more balanced on cold tyres than the Fury used to be.

So overall a very good day was had. Car worked well, it has given us the confidence to continue on with some of the upgrades we want to do over the Winter period and I am lookind forward to 08!

2008 Challenger - BDN race car

Before I go into a lot of detail about the new car, I had at least mention that we had a great time during the Birkett 6 hour race at Silverstone. I have some notes and photos that I will make into a post of its own.

A couple of weeks ago, John (now named Champion race engineer!) and I headed all the way over to Herefordshire to collect the 2008 race car. Brian, Ian and Rob have continuously developed this car of the last few years, culminating in a good number of race wins this year in Robs progress to 3^rd overall in the 2007 RGB Championship.

Their focus has now moved onto developing an S3 model and so the option of buying the current S2 presented itself quite a few months ago. Brian and Ian gave us a very extensive walk around the car, going into details of how and why it has been developed as it is. Along with the documentation, it was a great handover.

The car has been in its new home for the last 2 weeks and each time I have been in the garage, the car has become increasingly less complete! Rob, as many who follow the RGB series will know, is about 9 feet tall and therefore his seating and steering wheel position are quite different to my requirements. John and I have so far, reposition the steering column and made a new seat, along with fitting my new 6 point harnesses. As we have moved everything down by quite some distance, we have also dropped the dash lower in the cabin which allows us as a next step to remove the top 2” form the trailing edge of the front clam, as it attaches to the dashboard.

My seating position is quite laid back and my eye line is well below that of the existing bodywork so this is the last of the items on the must do list before I can get the car out on track. One main benefit we are hoping to gain from this modification is to allow substantially more air to reach the rear spoiler where before it was being direct over the passenger compartment and missing the rear of the car.

To further this improvement we also have plans to relocate the air intake from in the centre of the car and instead make use of the body work cowling that sits behind the driver head. As my head is so much lower than before, we can use the top of this cowling as an air intake a bit like an offset F1 air intake.

The first planned outing for the new car is Saturday 15^th at snetterton so all we have to do is keep the car in working condition, holding off from any major work before that point. Once I have a base line indication of the cars feel and performance with me driving, we can look at the bodywork of any other modifications to suite.

We have kept the same DL1 telemetry setup as used last year so we should be able to do some good back to back comparisons to see which areas I need to concentrate on with driving and where any improvements may have come from modifications.

An exciting few months ahead I think, despite the lack of racing and full steam ahead for the first races of 2008 in March. Only 4 months left!!!

Some more progress.

In the last week we have brought the car back into working condition with one exception.

The seat is now complete, although I need to get some more gaffa tape to make it look better. The seat belts are in and although we were concerned with the top adjusters being too close to my neck, all seems to clear ok. With the steering column in the right place, seat and belts sorted , we were able to see the line we need for the front body work. This was marked up against the top of the dashboard and cut away. The view out is much improved, it should help more air get to the rear spoiler and it also improved the look of the car as well. More of the impression of a radical from the front.

The one item that is holding us up at the moment is that we found a considerable amount of play in the bias adjustment for the brake pedal. John is sorting out the spherical bearing for this as we speak and should be back by the weekend. Of course we will then need to find a way to estimate the correct bias from which to start!

So with the exception of new tyres, that is all of the ‘have to do’ items completed. It would seem that Polley don’t have any 48R tyres in stock at the moment so I cant even replace the existing used set let alone test the new ‘wet’ tread pattern for next year. Not a very good state when introducing a new variable that all of the drivers will have to take into consideration.

Final 2007 rounds at Snetterton

Race one on Saturday
Due to the rather truncated qualify session for me, I started the penultimate race of the season behind the two class B leaders of Paul and Colin as well as behind Mike Atkinson and John Cutmore.
I managed to get past John on the first lap, passed colin on the next and then lap 1 latter passed Mike as well.

I swapped places with Mike again on lap 5, then a lap later retained the lead. Well that is the story if you look back at the race results but the start finish line is on the opposite side of the track to the main back straight where most of the slipstreaming happens. Mike and I actually swapped places a number of times, we just returned to the same position by the time we completed the lap. It was quite a risk free race from my point of view, the car being well under control and within the pace most of the time and its always easier at Snetterton when there is only two cars in the picture.

With the battling with Mike for the lead and with Paul needing to come from the back of the grid, Paul managed to get fastest lap in class B with a time quicker than Mike and I in class C even though he finished down in 18th place. So in front of us were just the top three Class A cars for Rob, Gordon and Steve. Another victory for Rob in the car I will be running next year and another win for my 2007 season as well!

Race two on Sunday
There was some debate on the lead up to the race that I had actually one both championships before the second race. As we all go racing for the fun rather than the glory or price money there was no point in just taking the start and then pulling in and sitting out the race! So the final round of the season was all about finishing for me, oh and not getting disqualified I guess. I had also already sold the car so I needed to return the car in one piece. I was also thinking that I had only ever finished 3rd (once) or won at Snetterton and the racing is always lower risk at the front.

I spent most of the race, keeping off any of the curbs, controlling my speed, running behind Mike whilst wishing we could run just a little bit quicker to stay well out of the reaches of Al in 3rd place. Part way through the race I realised that I had never raced at Snetterton without touching the drain on the inside of and the exit curb for the bomb hole. A few laps from the end of the race, I passed Mike from a slipstream but decided against the risk of holding the position when we came around for the straight on the next lap.
So in the end, I came in 2nd place behind Mike to wrap up the Class and overall Championship

Sometimes you hear drivers comment about strange noises you hear when you are out in the lead. Well a 5 year old Fury with a fireblade makes so many noises that would be impossible but I was constantly feeling different vibrations, leading my mind into considering whether the wishbone might give way again. Of course the likelihood, especially as I hardly touched a curb the entire race!

Final round of the season - Saturday Qualify

I went into the final weekend with some good points advantage over Mike in class C, as well as Rob and Gordon in class A. I also had the advantage of a double header at my home circuit of Snetterton

The day dawned nice and bright and I was all prepared, having taken the car down to the circuit the night before. I was ready for a nice relaxed weekend until we headed down for scrutineering and I realised I did not have my race suit with me! So as the car sat in the queue, I sprinted home and returned just in time to see the car being pushed into the scrutineering bay.

I was really looking forward to the qualify session and it all went quite well from the start. I was running just behind Paul and the car was turning in well, I had a little more understeer through the fast Corum corner but was stopping well for Russels and I was able to get good traction out onto the back straight. I did not have any idea of the times as the Digidash was playing up and then as I was getting comfortable the car felt a little strange when I came to the entrance of the Esses where the car seemed to lack turnin all of a sudden.

Then a few seconds later, as I exiting Corum and came to brake for Russels, the car suddenly grabbed to the right, pulling the wheel from my hands and spun at well over 100mph. It slid sideways, scrubbing off most of the speed and backed onto the grass on the outside of the circuit. I waited for the traffic to clear and then drove back to the paddock. Each time I touched the brakes or tried to turn the steering grabbed again.

In the pits it was obvious that the bottom front drivers side wishbone had failed at a weld point. Amazingly the 5 laps I completed before it broke gave me 3rd in Class for the first race later on the Saturday and 2nd in class for the final rounds of the 2007 championship season on the Sunday. Between qualify and the race, we headed back to Johns and he did an amazing job of rewelding the failed wishbone as well as welding a new anti-rollbar fixing onto the spare. We got the new part back on and the car into running order just as we were called to the assembly area. Sometimes its all about the support you get from your pit crew rather than the driver.

RGB 2007 Final Round at Snetterton

I will leave the summary of the final two rounds of the 2007 championship to the local newspaper report and a couple of photos from the podium at Snetterton showing the championship standings!
A full report of the weekend will follow when I have a spare few minutes!

Firstly that report from the Eastern Daily Press.

Here is a photo showing the championship results for Class C.


Here is a photo showing the championship results for the Overall Championship!

Pre-season finale test at Snetterton

Took the car down to Snetterton on Saturday for a very quick run just to make sure all is well before the final round of the championship this coming weekend.
The task for the test was simply to test the airbox and carbs were seated correctly by making sure we could get full acceleration through the gears. After the misfire at Silverstone I did not want any doubts leading into the Qualify session Saturday morning of the 29th.

The good news is that it all ran perfectly. The car felt really responsive in the cool and damp conditions, pulling very strongly through all the gears and completely mullering the plethora of MX5's on the test session!

It was quite slippery on the track, as Snetterton can be early in the day when the suns not out, so it was quite a gentle first outing. Snetterton, in my opinion feels very different when you can really lean on the car through the fast corners. As all was well with the engine, I decided to do a quick set of setup tests whilst the session was ongoing. First was to reduce the rear dampers a little to give better slow speed traction in the damp which helped a little but it was still a little too twitchy at the rear. So I came in again and reconnected the front anti-roll bar to run a setup in between my dry and wet configuration, one I had not run before. This seemed to work very well, giving me a little more understeer to lean onto in the slippery conditions. Two small changes, one at a time and a definite change with both which is a good result from a test. So the car is back in the garage, all tucked up with just the need for some more fuel before next weekend.

Car Sold

A big Welcome to the RGB racing family goes out to the new owner of my race car.

It will be great to see it racing next year in our series.

I had better make sure if does not get any damage during the final two races of the season, coming up in a couple of weeks time at Snetterton.

FOR SALE

Championship leading RGB Fury Fireblade for sale
Perfect car for a beginner with an excellent existing setup, simplicity of components, full telemetry and videos included and of course, excellent value from an all you need to go racing package.
You too could jump into this car and be at the front of the pack in the 750 motor clubs RGB series, arguably the most competitive and exhilarating race series in club racing.

Price: [Deal available for whole package]
• Race Car, spares and wheels: £7,800
• Spare Race Engine inc Carbs from AB Performance: £700
• Single Axle Woodford Trailer inc Tyre rack: £800

Background:
Built by Warwick Barnes in 2000 and raced in the inaugural year of RGB in 2001. Raced by Graham Hills for 2002/3/4 and half of 2005. Raced by myself for 2006 and 2007.

Extremely competitive car. 3rd in class in 2006 in novice season, currently leading both class and overall championships with 2 races to go. Lap record holder at Mallory, 5 Race wins, 7 Poles in class this year.

Specification:
AB Performance paddle shift
AB Performance Airbox and low mileage RRX Engine
Full roll cage
Live rear axle with Quaife ATB limited slip differential
Hi Spec 4 pot alloy calipers with 270mm vented front discs
Rose jointed adjustable front wishbones, adjustable front anti-roll bar
Plumbed in fire extinguisher – engine bay and driver
New carburetors, dyna jetted with correct size main jets
Reliable Electric reverse
Cockpit Adjustable brake bias
Uprated clutch springs
Digi-dash 2 with full datalogging, shift lights and in-car timing:
Custom quiet exhaust
Fitted car cover
Includes Spares Package

Contact: derekandrewjones@gmail.com

Tasks before Snetterton.

The race car is now officially up for sale. Even though I am about to sell the car, I do need to buy some more headlights. They have so many stone chips in them that it looks like the helicopter tape over them is the only thing that is keeping the glass from falling out. We did the fibreglass repairs, after the minor touch with Steve, whilst at the track but now the car is back home I can see that the underside could do with some improvements and there is a real need to do some sanding and a little filler to smooth out around the leading edge of the bonnet. If I get a chance, I will also do the same of the rear bodywork. I now have some more blue paint as well so I can clear up the bodywork ready for the cars sale. To cure the misfire, we have removed the carbs and given them a good clean, although there did not seem to be any dirty within them. Obviously as part of that we have also taken the airbox off and after a little fiddling around we have re-seated the box. Personally I think that was the culprit but it would have be stupid not to check the carbs out whilst we were on the job. So bar a quick test to make sure the engine is on full song, we are ready to fly at Snetterton at the end of the month. There has been lots of talk about what I need to do to wrap up the championship but as it depends upon what results Gordon, Mike and Rob get, I have decided the best approach is just to go out and aim for pole and 2 race wins. So far my record at Snetterton is as follows.

• Race 1 (2006, 2nd ever race) 3rd place after a minor spin
• Race 2 (2006 3rd ever race) Disqualified after finishing 1st
• Race 3 (end of 2006 season) Race win
• Race 4 (2007) Race win
• Race 5 (2007) Race win.

Silverstone Race Report

Silverstone Race Report

The Silverstone weekend started rather well, although it did not feel it at first.

Took a turn for the worst during the race although I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Ended quite well although not for the best of reasons!

Silverstone was the weekend at the end of my Holiday, so it was a little strange but nice feeling to get back into racing. The qualifying session went very well, I had to complete the bedding in process for the new rear brake shoes and get back into the rhythm of Silverstone. It’s a wide circuit and for that reason it can be hard to get the exact line. The car felt quite good, a little too much understeer than I am used to but it was very consistent and I could get the power down early which is key on a circuit like this with 2 decent length straights. Just nearing the end of the session, Steve Robinson in the Class A Genesis came up behind and we had a little ‘racing incident’ as he passed and I let him through. He braked a little earlier than I estimated and I slowed a little less than I had thought, we touched, he went a little wide and I had a nice tyre shaped gash in the front of the bonnet! I wasn’t trying to get Steve back but I did manage to hit him nevertheless!

I came back in from qualifying thinking that I had done ok but not sure it would be enough for pole. In fact without lap timing during the session I felt a little lost. The lap that felt the fastest was compromised by a small mistake into the final complex. Well it turned out that I had managed Pole and with a 1:05.55, which is about half a second faster than my lap time from last year (and the pole time from last year). In front were just the top 3 class A cars of Gordon, Rob and Steve. Behind was Paul with an excellent 1:05.68. Mike Atkinson being the next best class C car with a 1:05.73. So not too bad a start.

In qualifying we were deliberating over whether it would rain during the session. For the race it was never going to be anything other than rain and more rain. The green flag lap showed up the turn for the worse with a misfire, again! Between the qualify and race, we had repaired the fibre glass on the bonnet and must have knocked the air box. Tony did ask whether we should check it out but I had decided that I would rather leave it alone as it looked like it was ok and had run ok post accident in qualifying so should be ok!!! Not only that but I had a really bad start, even pulling away almost on tickover, the car just sat there with wheelspin. Gordon and Paul had the exact same problem, all I can really remember is seeing Mike Field fly past on the start. Evidently Mike Atkinson passed at the same time but I could not see him, so great was the amount of spray! At the end of the first lap I had lost out to Mike Atkinson, Mike Field and Gordon had re-passed me. The cars were moving around a huge amount and as soon as I got some purchase, the misfire hampered my progress. On the second lap, John passed me, followed by Al who’s car looked well balanced. As Al moved up to John, I started to find a little more consistency by using alterative lines and pulled in some of the gap to John. Lap 5, I saw Mike Atkinson stranded in the gravel trap which gave me the dilemma of pushing hard to get good points or taking it easy to maintain the points advantage. Just as I came up behind John, Tim Hoverd caught me and pretty much just drove past me. I had tried wider lines to gain some grip but Tim was almost twice the distance off the racing line that I had tried. To good effect it would seem, his car also looking nice and compliant like Al’s. Far superior to mine and Johns. Tim’s progress was from 17^th on the first lap to 7^th on lap 7! Two laps from the end I saw Gordon go off in the same place as Mike had earlier, Gordon being the other title contender so if I could keep it on the circuit, I could make some good points improvement in the Championship. I stayed close behind John but whenever I got along side, the misfire stopped me from making the move stick. On the final lap, John made a small mistake into turn one, I maintained to maintain some good corner speed, passed John and the yellow flags for Gordon’s off helped to secure the final stage of the lap. So in the end, despite the misfire, I came across the line 4^th place in class, behind an excellent 3^rd for Tim, 2^nd for Al and a clear win for Mike Field.

It was really impressive to see Al up in 2^nd place, to record his first podium finish in his racing. Even more impressive to see Tim make it to 3^rd after being almost last at the start of the race, completely out driving me and showing me the way in the slippery conditions. If ever somebody deserved to do well, its Tim. His improvements in speed have been really impressive this year, with some good signs of improved positions but this is the first time that they have yielded results.

Snetterton Race part 2 *** TWO RACE WINS IN THE WEEKEND ***

Race two was also quite eventful.
Due to the conditions earlier in the day during qualifying, I was starting way back in 11th overall, 6th in class for the second race and had quite a bit of traffic to make my way past before I could challenge for the class lead.
I made a really good start and straight away started to carve my way through the field, within a few laps I had caught the leading pack, having overtaken all except Mike Field, Mike Atkinson and Martin Brookes in class C but the race was red flagged due to an incident at the first corner. The race was restarted from scratch with a reduced time and we were positioned on the grid from the last complete lap so I was in 4th place in class. As we had to stop on the start finish line for the reforming and its on a hill, I had used my handbrake. How silly was that? The pads had started to break up again during the first part of the race, even though John had spent ages over lunch cleaning and sanding them down. So once I transferred more heat into them by applying the handbrake for a few minutes, they did not want to come away from the drums when I released the handle when the red lights went out. So although my reaction was really good on the restart, the car did not want to move as the handbrake pads were still engaged. Great!

I quickly held up my hand so as not to get hit from behind as I played with the hand brake and restarted the engine. Finally I got going in something like 2nd or 3rd from lap place. I had an excellent first lap, just passing at every stage of the track to come over the line for the first time in 12 place overall after passing something like 7 cars in one lap!

The passing just continued from that point onwards. Thankfully the track had not changed from earlier and I know the car was very quick already so I just maxed out each corning, sometimes running way off line throughout a complex, sometimes just backing off before a corner and having a really good run through it and passing a couple of cars straight after the exit curbing. This tactic worked brilliantly with the long straights of snetterton as I could almost guarantee a good slipstream each straight by timing the corners leading onto it and the gap to the next car (or cars!).

The progress was something like….
2nd lap, past Tim Hoverd and Richard Wise for 9th
3rd lap, past David Wale
4th lap, past Mike Field (on the inside through Corum)
5th lap, past John Cutmore
7th lap, made up another position by overtaking Martin Brookes, which meant I was just behind Mike Atkinson Paul Rogers (class B) and with the three class A leaders out in front. On the entrance to the back straight on that lap, Mike made a mistake and spun out, letting Martin and I straight through and I was leading the class C battle.
On the next lap I finished the race 8 seconds behind Paul, the finishing order being 1,2 and 3 in class A, 1st in class B and then first in class C.

Current Championship Standings

With just 1 race at Silverstone and a double header back here at Snetterton left this season, the current championship standings look like this.....

Snetterton double header - Qualify and Race 1

Qualify
Just as we went do to the assembly area it started to rain. We went back to get the allen keys and spanners needed to disconnect the anti roll bars but in the end decided that the track was going to dry as the session went on. Unfortunately although it stopped raining, it never dried off and because we were the first out on track on Sunday following a full day of racing in the dry the day before meant that the track was very very slippery. My main problem during the session was the lack of tyre temperature. I even had a nice trip into the corn fields at the exit of Riches simply by locking the front wheels up for a split second, exploring the limit of grip!
So qualifying was not a very successful start to the weekend but thankfully the day cleared up and we had 2 nice dry races.

Race 1
I had a good start off the line, followed John Cutmore close into sear, I ran a wide line in and cut to the inside for the exit, caught a slipstream for the first part of the straight and past John before we entered the the Essess.
On lap 2 as I came through Corum in front of John, I had a slight lock up in Russels, John copied me and takes out the centre post on the chicane in dramatic style. I must admit I do not remember seeing this in the race, I must have had my eyes elsewhere!




By lap3 I was catching the lead pack of Mike Field, Mike Atkinson and Martin Brookes. We all came down into Russells in a close group and had some slipstreaming fun. On the entry to the Essess there were sparks coming from the front corner of Martins car and I slipped through on the inside of the Bomb Hole as he let me though.

The following lap I overtook Mike but he took me out at Russels, spun me around and I droped back quite a long way down the field with all that work to do again. Mike rejoined just behind John Cutmore, Steve Robinson and Paul Rogers with Mike Field still leading the race for Class C and Rob leading Class A and the overall race.

After returning to the mid pack, I set about catching them all up again, starting on Lap 5 with a 1:19.72. Only Rob and Paul were running quicker at this stage of the race so there seemed to be no lasting damage from the impact with Mike!

Lap 6 was nice and clear for me which enabled me to get put my head down, concentrate on lines and carry good mid corner speed to get a 1:17.64 whilst catching Martin Brookes. This would end up being my fastest lap and the fastest lap of the race. Thats a 0.4 second improvement over last year.


Lap 7 was back into the 1:20's as I caught up with John and on the following lap I overtook John and Mike Atkinson again.


On lap 9 I managed to catch up with Mike field and got a really good run out of the Essess, closing quickly through the bomb hole and slipped up the inside at Corum to take the lead for the Class C runners. The only remain cars in front were Rob leading overall, followed by Steve and then Paul who was next on track in front.
By lap 10 I can caught Paul up and passed him on the exit of Corum. Paul ran a little wide at this point and David Wick took some fantastic pictures of Paul's wild ride on the grass which I have uploaded to Flickr here.
In fact both my Dad and David took a large number of excellent quality photos, thats my excuse for the time it has taken to do the blog, I had so many to browse through!

Amazingly Paul kept the car under control, bounced around and returned to the track to brake just like normal and continue as if nothing happened!

I then put in another 1:17 lap to catch up with Steve Robinson in the class A Genesis.

From lap 11 through to the end was just behind Steve. I slowed down to his pace and ran a little back from him as his car is very noisy and slipstreaming just meant my water and oil temps started to rise a little.



The damage from the impact was not too great. Just a bit of the rear wheel taken off as you can see from this photo.
We did need to sort out rear brakes again, in the same way as after Cadwell as they were starting to lock the inside rear into Russells occasionally and I did not want the same problem we had at Cadwell! It would seem that the compound of the rear shoes is either too soft or just faulty as it seems to be continuously breaking up. Time for some alternative shoes I think

So from a rather uncharacteristic qualify and being a lot further down the grid than I am used to, was a race win and fastest lap which will do a world of good the Championship points. In fact Gordon was to have some problems with an engine cut out dropping him down the field to record a 3rd place all be it with fastest lap and Mike Atkinson had a spin towards the end of the race which helped even more with the points gap.

Snetterton double header - Press Coverage

Well we had an excellent time at the Snetterton double header. Nice to be at my local track again and some great results. More on that shortly as the real blog entry is on its way but here is what the local press had to say.

Cadwell Park Double Header (3rd and 2nd)

The Cadwell park visit this year was a double header. It was a very enjoyable weekend but I didn't quite reach full potential but I did come away with some good points and overall lead of the RGB Championship.

Qualifying was wet to start with and drying throughout until a slight increase in track moisture for the last few mins. The lap times kept coming down, the first surprise was to see the Dash show a lap of 1:49.71 which is faster than my dry qualify from last year. Then on the next lap I saw the display read 1:48.8! The lap after this was half a second faster in the first sector but I had a misunderstanding with Neil on the back straight. I went right to pass him, just before he signaled and guess what he signaled for me to pass on the left! This left me almost completely on the grass over the brow at the fastest part of the track. I just got it back onto the track before the entry to Park corner so I could scrub off some speed but entered the corner with excessive velocity. An interesting pirouette on the grass followed and I returned without any damage but with a slightly raised heart rate. On my final lap of qualifying, I was also well up on sector times but I caught back-markers through the mountain and then between the hairpin and Barn corner which completely ruined the lap.
So although the lap time was well under that of last year with a 1:48.8, it was only good enough for 4th overall and 3rd in class C.

The first race of the Cadwell double header was on the Saturday afternoon and the rain had set in again so it was soft settings and huddling under umbrellas pre-race. Out on to the grid and a really long wait until we went for our green flag lap, why we could not have waited in the assembly area under cover whilst they towed back the cars from the race before I can not work out. The track was not too bad despite the amount of water and I got a fairly good start, getting in front of Mike for 2nd in class off the line and holding that for 6 laps. On the 7th, I had a very small lock up into Park corner at the end of the back straight, just missing the apex by a few feet and allowing Mike to come up along side me. As the visibility was quite limited and I know how slippery that next corner was, I backed off to let Mike take the inside rather than risk a tap and resulting spin into the barriers. For the next lap I could see Mike increase the gap each time we came to the exit from a slow corner, where his more compliant rear suspension enabled him to get better traction. Although I could make up some of the gap in the faster corners, I decided to be a little more cautious, reducing the risks I took as I had a 15second gap back to Matt and cross the line for 3rd in Class and 10 more championship points. Rob took a fantastic first win in Class A and with Gordon missing the race that has helped the championship standings.

Sunday dawned much brighter although still menacing clouds but delivered a dry period for our race. Off the line, I got a very good start although I got baulked by Martin on the run off from the line as Mike had a clear and easy run down the inside before we got to the first corner. I followed Mike very closely into turn 1, stopping Martin from getting to the apex and arrived at turn 2 with enough room to turn in front. I followed Mike for the remainder of that lap, although the increased slipstream effect of the head wind on the Park straight caught me out as I touched the back of his car, sorry Mike! As we came around to the end of the first lap, I dropped back a little and made a run through Barn corner which allowed me to easily overtake on the start / finish straight and into turn 1. From there on I put in some fast laps, straight into the 1:37's for 4 laps and then a final burst on lap 6 with a 1:36.84 to give me a 4 second lead over Mike in 2nd place. From there on a backed off a touch to maintain the gap , staying well within the limits of the car to bring it home for the win. Until, that is, braking downhill for Mansfield on the final lap, the rear wheels locked up expectantly and I headed sideways onto the grass! I gathered it up, arrived back on the track facing the wrong direction, flicked it back around to the right way and just as Mike passed me for the lead, I fired up the engine and recovered. From there all I could do was to follow Mike to the flag, recording 2nd in class and the fastest lap which gave me 13 points to his 15. Rob had his second win in Class A, whilst Gordon who had started from the back of the grid made it up to 2nd in class A, giving him 8 points.

So although I don't think I could have held off Mike for the entire length of the first race, I should have been able to record an easy win the second race. My plan for the weekend was to return with 2 podiums and I managed that. I am also quite happy to have recorded a 1:36.84 at Cadwell, which is the fastest anyone has managed in a race since the series moved onto the current specification of tyres.

The rear brakes issue has been diagnosed as a problem with one of the rear brake shoes braking up along with a build up of brake dust from the new pad material. We have cleaned this up, added a leading edge to the pads and will instigate regular maintenance checks to stop it from happening again.

So if my calculations are correct, I now lead the overall championship both before and after the dropped scores are taken into account.

This coming Sunday we are racing a double header at Snetterton. Cars ready to go and it will be interesting to see how much quicker we are this year at my home circuit. Amazingly there are 5 more rounds left, 3 more race weekends and only 2 more tracks.

Championship Points

Before we head to Cadwell for the next two rounds this week, I thought I would post up the current championship points positions.

The Car is all packed up in the trailer ready to head to the circuit this evening and the test day tomorrow. I just need to refill the oil which is coming from AB Performance and set the Digidash up for the correct circuit length and anticipated lap times. Last year I managed 2nd on the grid with a 1:39.06 which wasn't too bad for first time out at a complex circuit but it was 2 seconds slower than Tim's pole time for Class C. In the race I was able to get the fastest lap with a 1:38.19 but only I think because Tim was out in the lead and not pushing. All of our times this year have improved so I think I need to be in the 37's for pole and a race win. Mind you it could be wet all weekend and then its anyones guess as to the times needed.

Mallory Qualifying Video

As we build up to an exciting double header weekend at Cadwell Park, I thought I would post the first 10mins of the Mallory Qualifying session.


For Cadwell, we have replaced the fuel line running from the tank, forward to the pump as it was starting to perish, modified the mounting of the tank itself to give a slight tilt and enable all of the fuel to be used, re-calibrated the fuel 'stick' and replaced the fuel filter. More significantly we have completely changed the reverse gear engagement linkage to remove slack, changed the fuel filler design and welded up a cracked main engine mount. Appart from that, just a simple oil change!

Off to Cadwell on Thursday night for the Friday test day and the Saturday and Sunday races. Aim, well lots of points, preferably 16 each race but podiums are enough to keep the championship on target ;)

Press Coverage

Following the Mallory race, I have a bit of coverage in Autosport!

Other Press:
There was also a mention of the 'Norfolk' lads in the Local Eastern Daily Press (EDP)

Video Update - Donington Race

I know its rather late but I thought I would post up the first 10 mins of our race at Donington Park earlier this year. Interesting to compare my driving style this year with way back last year. All of the race was spent behind James Johnson in the Busa engined, class A fury with Gordon and Rob out front and the the Class B and C drivers some way behind.

Mallory Race ****OVERALL RACE WIN****

Excellent outcome to a great weekend at Mallory on our second visit.
As per my last post, nothing major required to the car before the race and a fairly relaxed schedule for race day.
I knew from some reviews of the telemetry from the first race of the season that I had some time I could save in a number of areas of the circuit, all be it small amounts each and I also knew that I had a good margin. Would that margin be sufficient?


Well qualifying went very well, I got into a good rhythm with some clear track early on in the session which meant I was not handicapped by the oil leak and subsequent oil slick on the track in the last 5 mins of the session. It was quite easy to spot the first oil line around the hairpin, a little surprising to see a second line around the hairpin the next lap, followed by a line all the way around the track and that sequence just continued for the next 5 laps as the marshals failed to pull Steve Robinson in as he continued to drop oil. On the last lap, I caught Paul and thought it would be fun to run with him a while to see our differences and he proceeded to follow me off the track at the esses when we both hit an even wider strip of oil! Fun!
So I managed to reduce my best lap time around Mallory in that session with a slightly higher entry speed and some smother driving elsewhere, we are only talking a few tenths, with a lap time of 50.53 to give me pole in class C. Just Gordon and Rob ahead of me again and a comfortable half second back to the next best in class C of John Cutmore.
Great to see Paul up in the lead Class C pack yet again with a much improved lap time of 51.32 for a Class B pole and for Tim to be 4th in class C with a 51.56

The race got off to a strange start, with Rob pulling off into the pits on the out-lap with a brake problem which left just Gordon in front of me. I got a good start, pulling up along side Gordon on the run down to the first time into Gerrards. I backed off slightly to slip in behind him but staying ahead of the rest of the pack and got my head down to gain a lead.

For the first few laps I was able to pull a gap out and from there on the race went perfectly to plan. I could see the following pack of Mike, John and Paul were keeping each other busy and although they seemed quite close each lap at the hairpin there was a good space between us and I was able to moderate my pace. The race changed as I saw Gordon slowing and pulling off after being pulled in by the marshals for loose body work and suddenly I was the overall race leader!

I had a few interesting moments as I came up to lap some of the other racers and had to pioneer the way through as I was the leader of the race. This including running a very tight line through Gerrards with the inside wheels on the grass and the needed to back off and time the place on the track to meet the back markers.

Towards the end of the race, I lapped a few drivers where I knew roughly what their lap times were compared to mine and used that to guess at the gap back to 2nd place. After analyzing the results sheet, I was 0.3 of a second out in my calculations!

The last few laps of the race seemed to take ages but even though Mallory is quite a simple circuit, it is surprisingly fun to drive with some nice challenges like the run through the devils elbow, which requires a gentle slide whilst flat out accelerating from the hairpin and of course the 'event' that is Gerrards every lap.

Crossing the lineFor once I actually saw the last lap board and was fairly animated as I cross the line for the chequered flag. Although I have won in class before and did not gain any more points for this overall win, it still felt better! You can see and hear the last two laps in the video taken by John on his digital camera.




A nice cooling down lap, waving to the crowds! and into pitlane to collect the laurel and be interviewed by the commentator.


So the old car can beat all of Class C, Class B and Class A (well as long as Gordon and Rob have problems!)

Championship Standings after Brands - Prep for Mallory

Amazingly I am still leading the Class C championship standings and second overall. A little close in points with Rob! Fastest lap and coming third at Brands has helped to restore the position but I need a good set of results this weekend and at Cadwell to maintain the position. Good job I love those circuits!

No major changes needed for Mallory this Sunday. The car was running very well at Brands and no damage from the impact with Steve. I have changed over to a new set of Coils and HT leads so that I can take the borrowed items back to Andy. Weather forecast looking like rain for Sunday afternoon so might be a chance to test out the new tires oh and have some fun sliding around Gerrard's all day :)

The incident that probably cost me class C victory

Lap2 of the third restart, saw Steve Robinson (Class A Genesis) make a mistake into the Druids hairpin and push me into the gravel trap from 1st in class. I returned to the track in 22nd place, making it up to 3rd in class by the end of the race, whilst Steve went on to his first race win.

Brands Hatch Race - Pole, 3rd Place and Fastest Lap

For me the brands hatch round of the RGB championship last weekend race filled the complete weekend, I signed up for the allcomers race on the Saturday so I had some time on the track and some time to test out our fixes for the engine misfire that limited the points from the last round at Castle Combe.

It turned out to be very valuable as for both of the Allcomers sessions I had reoccuring misfire issues. The first 2 laps of the allcomers qualify were fine and then it returned. We changed the battery, carb rubbers and remounted the airbox between qualify and the race but the same issue persisted. It did however give me a chance to learn more about the circuit all be it at a reduced pace – in fact at about the same pace as a hot hatch as I raced with a few of them for the entire duration!

Saturday evening was full of head scratching but Andy (AB Performance) took the carbs apart and found some dirt in one of the primary jets which we are associating with the earlier fuel pump failure. A quick test before dinner seemed to show it as resolved but we had thought that before of course!

Sunday dawned nice and bright and the midday qualify for RGB would be the true test. Well I am more than happy to report that the car was back on true form. In fact right back to the same as I had at the start of the season. I was able to post a lap time 52.64 which was good for pole in class and 3rd overall. In fact I was able to post 4 laps that would have given me the pole time, my closest competitor being John Cutmore with a 53 second deal. The main change over last year (and its about a 1 second improvement I think?) is down to a smoother driving style. I have continued to analyze the videos from last year, highlighting the actions that seem to unsettle the live rear axle and waste acceleration and build that into my preparation for the track. Still running the same setup for each track though which is interesting in itself.

The aftertnoon race would be in three parts as we unsuccessfuly tried the first two starts whilst making an unimpressive show for the marshals when show red flags.

Attempt 1 –
I had a rather poor start, using too many revs and not blocking the inside into Paddock Hill bend and was down to 3rd in class. Gordon span part was down the hill through paddock hill bend and cars when everywhere. I tagged on the back of John's tail and overtook Mike into hairpin and then just about to make a move on John Cutmore down the back straight when we both saw the red flags and slowed. The cars in front slowed quite a bit and by the time that concertina had rippled back a few rows, we have cars flying past us manically trying to slow down. Unsuprisingly I dont think the marshals were too impressed with that show.

Attempt 2 -
Gordon missing from the grid, with some front end damage from the first race start so in front of me was Rob all alone. I altered the starting revs based on too much wheelspin from first start and got a good start, all be it not as good as Cutmore. I defended into turn one and got a good run through the rest of the lap to give a bit of a gap and as we came around to the start finish line there was another red flag. Yet again a few of the mid field cars went in all directions to try and slow down in time after a slightly delayed reaction to seeing the flags

Attempt 3 –
After a big talking to from the clerk of the course we were allowed to restart the race as the last of the day. Originally planned to be 18mins as first defined but it turned out to be just 13 + 1lap which would be a shame for me. Third attempt at the start and this time I got a good start, into turn 1 in the lead in class and off for the first few laps sprint to get clear of the pack. All was going very well, the car handling good as usual with cold tires, I was able to attack well into Paddock Hill, holding a slight slide over the crest and keeping it straight at the point of compression. I tweaked the brake bias a little over the first couple of laps to get a better balance between stopping from wheel lockup at the hairpin and not causing too much rear effect into Graham Hill and the entry to Clearways. The gap was building when Steve Robinson in the Class A Genesis came up behind. There was no point in racing him and loosing time to the Class C pack so I opened up the door into the Hairpin by staying wide and braking early. Steve went for the inside as offered to him and then just as I was turning into the corner, expecting him to slip through, he came straight at me and barged me off into the gravel trap. I immediately grabbed second gear and planted the accelerator whilst trying ease the car around to the right and execute a 180deg turn without getting stuck. Engine screaming and a massive spray of gravel existing from the rear wheel as I slowly headed back to the black stuff and the field came screaming through.
By the time I was back on the track and trying to shake off the worst of the gravel off line, I was almost at the back of the field with a lot of work to do. I knew the car was going well and lap times were good so I put the off to the back of my head, and set about catching everyone up. The tires took a lap and a bit to come back but I soon started to catch up the field, closing nice and quickly so as not to give much opportunity for other drivers to defend. I very much agree with the train of thought that you should attempt to overtake immediately on closing up on another driver rather than settleing in on their speed. The most successful overtakes taking place into the hairpin after a good run through Paddock Hill and then again into Clearways after a good run through the chicane. I kept a very close eye on the lap times, concentrating on bring them down lap after lap, especially on the very rare occasions when I did not pass another car in a lap, and watching the time count down on the very handy timer at the end of the pit exit. Desperate to catch the leaders before it came down to zero. Of course, without a pit crew you never know the gap forward to the next car or the leaders but I was heartened by the consistently low lap times which I doubted the leaders would be able to equal if they were in a battle which thankfully they were. As I came around to a couple of minutes left in the race, I could see Mike Atkinson, Paul Rogers and John Cutmore at the front and new I had the leading pack in my sights with few other cars in the way. I was then able to concentrate on the clearways exit, trying to manage the tire heat buildup on the passenger rear. As we came around for the last lap I was less than a second behind John but ran out of time to make a move, if only it was an 18min race rather than just 13!

I was heartening to see that my fastest time on lap 11 of a 52.79 (almost identical to my pole time) was faster than anyone else’s who completed the race, including Class A and some 7 tenths of a second faster than the quickest class C time of John Cutmore’s. So as it has turned out I got 3rd place which means 10 points + 1 for fastest lap which was quite a save after being taken out. Later in the paddock in discussions with Steve it would seem he locked up the rear wheels under braking and hence was not able to turn into the corner, which is a pity but an understandable mistake I guess. Whats interesting is that I made a mistake in the last of the brands races last year and sent David Wale into the gravel at Clearways. That incident which was totally my fault, require me to present my case to the clerk of the course and could have resulted in points on my license. Seems to be less of an issue this year! Steve actually went on to record his first ever race win, after Gordon spun, taking Rob out on the exit of paddock hill bend and James retiring due to a chassis / steering failure.

So although I came away with the thought in the back of my mind that I should really have returned with Pole, Win and Fastest lap, the fact that the car is now fixed and back on speed as well as getting some good points and remaining in the championship lead is actually quite a result. I also have a new found fondness for the Kent circuit. Amazing how different results can leave you with different impressions of the same circuit. I must admit I really enjoyed that race, a race that was probably as hard as any I have completed so far but boy did I have a grin on my face at the end!

All is set now for some minor checks and off back to Mallory in 2 weeks where I will attempt to recreate the success of the first race this season once again.

Lydden, Castle Combe and lead up to Brands Hatch - phew!

Blog Update

I have had a few comments about the delay in updating this blog so I thought before we head to the next round at Brands this weekend, I should make the effort.

To stop this from being a massive post going, through every item of the last two races I will keep it short and expand a little later. The good news is that both for the Lydden races and for the last round at Castle Combe, I am able to post the videos so they can form most of the commentary!

Lydden
I have drafted a more detailed version of this but quick summary is as follows:
Flew in from South Africa overnight, was collected at the airport and driven to the circuit where my car was waiting for me all ready to go! The glamour of motorsport ☺ Many thanks for Andrea for the chauffeuring, Andy Bates (AB Performance) for transporting my car to and from the circuit and to John for the preparation on the car before and at the circuit. Qualifying went quite well, I came away without the feel that I had the circuit completely sorted but it was good enough to get me onto the second row for both races and considering the jet lag was not too bad.
As I drove down to the assembly area later in the day however for the first race the engine did not want to keep running below 6k so I sat on the grid, in gear, hoping not to overheat. The first lap was quite good, I was quicker than those in front but did not try anything too risky. As we started lap 2, I got a good run on John Curtmore and headed on the outside into the chessingtons drift. It was a little dusty out there but I held the slide until the engine stalled on me, locked my rear wheels and sent me straight towards the tyre wall. Exit speed from the circuit was somewhere between 80 and 90mph I think and there was not a lot of deceleration on the grass! From there on I had a nice view of the Class C race battle whilst wondering what damage there was to the car. It was good to see the close racing throughout the grid and brilliant to see Mike Atkinson take his first ever class C race win. After the race we set about repairing the car with lots of fibreglass and resin and diagnosed the engine problem/reason for the crash down to a split pipe used to balance the carbs. All repaired on the Sunday morning and ready to race for the afternoon. Many thanks for John for the fibreglass repair kit, Andy for the engine diagnosis and John and Paul for their assistance in car repairs. Great team.
The Sunday race was a hot one and I needed to catch up on the learning curve as everyone else had completed a race distance more than me. I had a good start and a great battle throughout the race with Mike Atkinson, John Cutmore and Mike Field. Mike Atkinson drove a great race and was on for a great race win, repeating his win from the first race on Saturday until he spun towards the end of the race, letting John, Mike and I through. John and Mike subsequently being disqualified in post race scrutineering due to reverse gearbox failures, leaving Mike Field with the win and me with second place. The car was quite OK after the accident, the only noticeable difference being a slight reluctance to turn in which we latter diagnosed to be a tracking issue, not too surprising really as the entire left side of the car hit the tyre wall! The main reason however that I was not able to attack as much as normal in the race was that the front brake pads that I had planned to replace before hand but didn’t were just completely at the end of their usefulness. They got hard and very hot early in the race and the braking reduction was quick severe. Time for a change and the need for somewhere to bed them in.

So despite the accident and the lost points from that race, I came away from the weekend with a second place and quite a liking for this small Kentish circuit.

Between the Lydden weekend and Castle Combe, we reset the geometry and competed some more repairs to the bodywork as well as replacing the front brake pads. Took the car down to snetterton to check out the handling and brakes and all was running very well (brakes back to being awesome again!) until the last session where the car started to misfire.

Castle Combe
In the last few weeks we have replaced almost everything you can imagine to trace this misfire, heading to Castle combe with the expectation that we have solved it, only to find that during a very wet qualifying that it still persisted. Mind you I qualified 4th in class despite a 7k rpm limit! Between the qualifying and race sessions, we pulled out the fuel pump, fuel pipes and pressure sensor and replaced with a new pump just in case. The trouble is you need to get the car under good load to find the issue. Well the short story is that it did not fix the problem and as I tried to pull away from the lights at the start of the race, the car died on me and by the time I had it moving, most of the pack had passed, from there it was just a matter of hassling the back few drivers as I could run much faster through the corners but gave away metres and metres on every straight. Quite some fun for a few laps and then as the race progressed and I was on my own at the back, I just concentrated on having fun on the circuit, not slowing down for the corners and sliding around for the spectators! Fun and the circuit is brilliant but I can not help but think I was in for a potential win if the car was all OK, where as I just came back with 3 points instead.

So as we lead up to the race at Brands this weekend I think we have finally worked out the issue resides around the fitment of the carbs into the new AB Performance airbox. It would seem that ever since we first installed this new airbox, the carbs have been sitting at a slight angle and maybe post accident or maybe just because the carb rubber mounts are starting to get looser, they are starting to let some air bleed in under high load and therefore creating the misfire. Hopefully we have this fixed by some alterations to the mounting and edges of the box but we have also modified the original Honda airbox to take air directly from the NACA duct and will run that if we have to.
I am signed up to compete in the Allcomers qualify and race this Saturday and I will use that as our test and then hopefully we will be all set for a great battle in the RGB race on the Sunday. Hopefully!

Donington Reflections

Overall reflections

Air box, carbs and air intake have definitely improved the top end pull and especially the pull through 5th and 6th gears. The new throttle pedal, modified linkage and its revised position had definitely made a difference at Mallory but as I was not running the video it was quite hard to remember the details. At Donington when I had the video, you can actually hear nice well defined throttle blips throughout the braking zones. The handling had been nice and consistent throughout the race as well. I was running with the slightly softer setup I had tried in the one winter test session I completed in the run up to the race. It had worked well over the bumps at Mallory and helped me a little with the undulations and curbs of Donington.

Last year my fastest in race lap was a 1:20.55 and I know I was in a pack quite a bit of the time but it surprising what some track time can do, this year with the car improvements adding up to some part but not all of the improvement to a new fastest lap for me at the circuit of 1:19.40. I wonder if I can transition this into a similar improvement at the other tracks I have raced at before?

A very impressive run from Rob and Gordon out in front, some fantastic lap times there, just a pity there are not a few more racing together at the front of class A.
Class B showed some really promise as well. Paul running almost identical times as me in the all comers race, Tim showing his usual brilliance at Donington by getting Ian Gray's Phasar to very impressive 1:18.28 before it lunched itself.(1:19.76 in the Class C Phoenix last year)I think this might be a good indication that a class B version of the Phoenix or Fury class C cars should be capable of running around 2 to 3% quicker. Although Colin Duce had a rather eventful race and finished back in 13th overall despite winning class B, he did manage to get fastest lap for class B of 1:19.41 on lap 12 which again shows great promise. (1:22.77 best from last year)

Two very noticeable improvements for Donington this year were Tim and Paul. Firstly Tim for an excellent 3rd place in class for the start and an equally impressive improvement in lap times, from a 1:25.00 last year reduced down to a 1:21.47 this year. I am sure his new AB Performance airbox and pimp my ride alloys have made a different but most of that must come from driving.

Paul's lap time improvements have definitely come from seat time and improved confidence. Last year Paul managed a fastest lap of 1:23.19 during the race and this year he brought that down to a 1:20.33 before being taken out by John Cutmore. Even better still, he managed to get into the low 1:19s in the all comers race when we were running within sight of each other. We have been able to sit down and compare that last lap of the allcomers race through the DD2 and the results are quite interesting. I definitely carry some more speed into and through the corners, that faster corners especially but Paul is much smoother out of the corners and makes up all if not more of the time through that and the better pulling power of his R1 engine. So Donington is like Snetterton, where we are both improving and now running at almost identical lap times. Bring it on !.