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.