Boyndie Sprint 4th & 5th July....Report

[Mikie711]

A little later than intended but here’s a recap of my Boyndie sprint weekend for those that are interested………………….

Friday night turned into a bit of a mare, Vic arrived in the afternoon and we set about the cars geo. Reset the front camber and the cars ride height. All was going well, nip in for some dinner and then take the car up to Boyndie was the plan. Only the car had a different idea, on moving it to make room on the drive for my misses coming home the throttle stuck open at 1500-2500rpm. Airbox off and a bit of a fiddle but no change. Plug in laptop and back off the ignition timing seemed to cure it but phone Ricky and he said to pop by and see “fit like”.
Out to his and to cut along story sorted a sticky throttle linkage and after a couple of (warm) beers take the car to Boyndie and back to the house at midnight!!

Saturday morning up at 06:00 and load up CRV and out to Boyndie for sign on and scrutineering. Blistering hot day with the sun splitting the sky, perfect.
Set up the base suspension settings and time for first run.
Few more tweeks as the morning progressed and the car feeling better and better with each change which was reflected in the times which for Vic at least were heading in the right direction. For me I just couldn’t seem to get to grips with the car. I guess not driving it for so long has certainly had an effect on my confidence in the car, that and it’s completely different from last year. New engine was going well with the rev limit set at 7800 for the Saturday morning and no oil leaks.
Time for the timed runs and things again moved forward, Vic especially had a couple of really good runs with his first being his quickest at 71.34. My best on the day was a second down at 72.31. we finished the day in second for Vic and 4th for me. Which I was quite pleased about as it showed the car had the pace and had survived day one with no real issues.

Sunday. We had decided that the settings from Saturday were close enough so we concentrated on tyre pressure changes only which seemed to work as the times picked up from where we left off the previous day. Again Vic was quicker and from an initial practice run of 70.74 ended the first timed runs at 70.47 a little over ½ sec off the class record, top job and had we got a final run before the heavens opened may well have got even closer. My day started well with an initial 72.84 but left me wondering were I was going wrong being 2.5 sec slower than Vic….. Some discussion between ourselves and looking at some of the logs showed where I was loosing time but hard as I tried I couldn’t commit to the first corner and continued to over brake.
Time for a few Walshy days me thinks.
My times continued to fall and I ended the day with a 71.86 which, even though I was still a second and a half down, still quite happy with.
So, we ended the weekend with Vic 1st in class and me 3rd overall a very successful weekend and one thing it highlighted is the benefit of have a second driver. Fantastic drive by Vic (aka John) especially as it wasn't his car and he had never driven it before and never having been to the track either .

From the cars point of view a good first outing, 2nd and 4th on Saturday, 1st and 3rd on Sunday shows it definitely has the pace. Rev limit crept up to 8200 by Sunday and will be set to max 8500 at Fintray in August. For this event it had the CR box in but will be refitting the UCR which I think will make a huge difference to the times. Will find out in Sept after going back to Boyndie if it’s dry!!. Few little issues to sort, not least the return of the sticking throttle and a new MOT, but other than that should be ready for Fintray.

Some video on You tube but can’t post a link from this computer at work will sort all that out when I get home.

[Victor Meldrew]

Very daunting driving somebody else’s car. Didn’t want to push it too much.

Saturday was very much a shake down and test day, with changes made to the car pretty much every run. We changed the anti roll bar setting and tyre pressures through the day. It was difficult to get a direct comparison as we were both still learning where the track went. The one thing that did help was the data logger. I got to get me one of those. Very useful for comparing two drivers and discussing the different speeds and how we approach the corners. It was easy to see who was quicker at each section and we learned from each other as a result. I think I made time in the brake zone, the data logger (if I was reading it right) showed that I could slow the car down harder and later prior to turn in. That’s something Walshy teaches you about as well. The turn in on Mike’s car if very different to mine. Mikes car initially felt just a little more hesitant initially but that’s likely down to different spring, ride height and anti roll bar rates. We made a few changes and managed to get the front tyres working perfect with good even spread across the tread. The turn in was much improved at the end of the first day. Not telling the pressures, Mikes secret.. but totally different to what I used on the 888's. It worked well in combination with his chosen geo setting..

I quite enjoyed doing a run on the Sunday during practice using left foot braking on every corner, most of the lap was in second so you didn’t need to go near the clutch. I think there were seven corners in a row in the same gear so it was worth trying it to see if any time could be made by balancing the car on the left foot. I think maybe there is one maybe two corners at Boyndie that would benefit but I needed more practice. The first timed run on Sunday was driven normally, the plan being to try the left foot on the second run but the heavens opened and rain stopped play.

I found Boyndie a lot more technical than I was expecting, the infield was a nightmare that we eventually managed to come up with a decent compromise line that kept the momentum up a bit more, need a lot more practice at the entry onto the main straight. Still couldn’t get the power on properly as you are almost unsighted with a strange painted line on the corner that actually hinders finding a turn in point. The curve continues unbroken further round onto the Kart track, so when your looking for a datum point to pick your apex, there isn’t one.

Fantastic weekend, good driving, good company.. Not enough beer.. will be camping next year