Here are the race videos from our first and second rounds for 2009.
Saturday Race1 - Aborted 1st lap due to red flag when Aaron spun and was collected by Bob
Saturday Race1 - Restarted race and my early battle with Steve
Saturday Race1 - Part2, lapping a few cars and a rather eventful end to the race when my rear suspension failed on the last corner of the last lap. Dragged the car over the line on three wheels to get 2nd place.
Sunday Race 2 - Highlights of the rather more successful Sunday race. From Pole to race victory with fastest lap along the way. The car was working better as I had the correct tyre pressures.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Testing Tomorrow
A very quick post to bring you up to speed on the developments this week, off for a days testing at Snetterton tomorrow.
B&C Express were fantastic and delivered a new sprocket and chain the day after it was ordered so that was installed on Tuesday evening.
Old and new sprocket comparison
The car is not all completed and packed up ready for the short trip to Snetterton tomorrow morning. Saturday we have qualifying and an afternoon 30min race. Sunday we have a 15min sprint race in the morning.
B&C Express were fantastic and delivered a new sprocket and chain the day after it was ordered so that was installed on Tuesday evening.
Old and new sprocket comparison
Sprocket off
Sprocket On
Drive Shaft On
Air filter cleaned and refitted.
Sprocket On
Drive Shaft On
Air filter cleaned and refitted.The car is not all completed and packed up ready for the short trip to Snetterton tomorrow morning. Saturday we have qualifying and an afternoon 30min race. Sunday we have a 15min sprint race in the morning.
Friday, March 06, 2009
With just one week before we do our first test and only 8 days before our first race, its just down to the small things in our prep list, thankfully.
This week, John and I, attached the Shaw patented towing eye and cut out a suitable slot in the front bodywork. The slot is a little larger than the attachment, to ease the fitting of the bonnet and at worse will just a little more cooling for the front wheel. It actually looks quite neat in Red and does not protrude beyond the front splitter which is nice.
Its attached to the front chassis support for the floor and wedged between the two bars so the entire car could probably be hung from it without a problem! Its also nice and low down on the car which will aid the marshals if they need to drag the car out of a gravel trap as it will stop the car from digging the nose in.
Apart from a good spanner check, the only other task at the front of the car was to bleed through all of the old brake fluid and replace with nice clean Castrol Response 4. We did that for both circuits and reset the brake bias. We have already replaced the front pads as the old ones were almost complete down to metal, interestingly the brake bias was wound all the way to the front. I must have been moving this forward throughout the two long birkett sessions, compensating for the reducing front pads, although I have not recollection of this being the case. Interesting how your concentration is focused on the variety of cars and huge variances of speed in a race like that.
At the rear of the car, the K&N filter has been cleaned and refitted, the repacked exhaust and CAT has been fitted (pending a couple of spacer to help clear the rear from the undertray that I need to fit). All of the interior panels have been refitted, some even repainted, belts installed and seat refitted. If I decide against giving the dash a quick spray then all I need to do is refit a few screws and its all complete.
Items for the coming week are down to tracking and sorting out the chain. The chain at minimum needs to be swapped for a new one which should be with us by mid week but that's a quick job. We may also have a replacement rear sprocket through before the test session on Friday so we may have a go at fitting that. Trouble is it requires removing the driveshaft from the diff which is a new activity for us so we may opt not to undertake that in the time we have! You can see from the photo that the sprocket is showing signs of wear as you would expect from Ali being attacked by the chain for a race season.
The start of the season is really close and its all getting exciting. Oh and my new helmet and HANS device has arrived so it feels a little like Christmas.
This week, John and I, attached the Shaw patented towing eye and cut out a suitable slot in the front bodywork. The slot is a little larger than the attachment, to ease the fitting of the bonnet and at worse will just a little more cooling for the front wheel. It actually looks quite neat in Red and does not protrude beyond the front splitter which is nice.
Its attached to the front chassis support for the floor and wedged between the two bars so the entire car could probably be hung from it without a problem! Its also nice and low down on the car which will aid the marshals if they need to drag the car out of a gravel trap as it will stop the car from digging the nose in.
Apart from a good spanner check, the only other task at the front of the car was to bleed through all of the old brake fluid and replace with nice clean Castrol Response 4. We did that for both circuits and reset the brake bias. We have already replaced the front pads as the old ones were almost complete down to metal, interestingly the brake bias was wound all the way to the front. I must have been moving this forward throughout the two long birkett sessions, compensating for the reducing front pads, although I have not recollection of this being the case. Interesting how your concentration is focused on the variety of cars and huge variances of speed in a race like that.At the rear of the car, the K&N filter has been cleaned and refitted, the repacked exhaust and CAT has been fitted (pending a couple of spacer to help clear the rear from the undertray that I need to fit). All of the interior panels have been refitted, some even repainted, belts installed and seat refitted. If I decide against giving the dash a quick spray then all I need to do is refit a few screws and its all complete.
Items for the coming week are down to tracking and sorting out the chain. The chain at minimum needs to be swapped for a new one which should be with us by mid week but that's a quick job. We may also have a replacement rear sprocket through before the test session on Friday so we may have a go at fitting that. Trouble is it requires removing the driveshaft from the diff which is a new activity for us so we may opt not to undertake that in the time we have! You can see from the photo that the sprocket is showing signs of wear as you would expect from Ali being attacked by the chain for a race season.The start of the season is really close and its all getting exciting. Oh and my new helmet and HANS device has arrived so it feels a little like Christmas.
Sunday, March 01, 2009
2 weeks to go!
Inspired by seeing Pauls new car fire up for the first time this weekend, I thought it was about time to get my old car running again and ready for our first race in just 2 weeks time.
Since the last update, I have had the CAT fitted, changed the Oil, Oil filter and fuel filters, replaced the front brake pads and checked the exhaust packing.
This weekend, I put some fuel into the car and checked for any leak around the filters that I replaced and after fitting the final fastener, I refitted the repainted interior panels. The belts and seat are back into the car. I am waiting for some exhaust packing to arrive and then I can refit the exhaust system to the car. Other than that, outstanding items include fitting the front towing eye once its finished being painted, a slit needs to be cut into the front bodywork for the towing eye and the I need to check the tracking.
In the meantime we have purchased a newer motorhome like the one pictured here. We decided to go with something large enough for Dad, John and I to comfortably spend time in, a garage at the rear and facilities to enable us to use to for holidays as well as the racing.
Since the last update, I have had the CAT fitted, changed the Oil, Oil filter and fuel filters, replaced the front brake pads and checked the exhaust packing.
This weekend, I put some fuel into the car and checked for any leak around the filters that I replaced and after fitting the final fastener, I refitted the repainted interior panels. The belts and seat are back into the car. I am waiting for some exhaust packing to arrive and then I can refit the exhaust system to the car. Other than that, outstanding items include fitting the front towing eye once its finished being painted, a slit needs to be cut into the front bodywork for the towing eye and the I need to check the tracking.
In the meantime we have purchased a newer motorhome like the one pictured here. We decided to go with something large enough for Dad, John and I to comfortably spend time in, a garage at the rear and facilities to enable us to use to for holidays as well as the racing.
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