Time Attack - Snetterton report and vids - End of season

[gambler]

Oulton Park Update.

Things started in true motorsport style. At 2am of the day the track/test day the car was finally rolled out of my mechanics garage for a quick shakedown. Everything went fine, apart from the time attack sun visor blowing off at exactly 60 mph, honest gov! So I loaded the car on the trailer and headed off to bed. For an hour and a half. I think I must have slept for about half and hour as I was looking forward to the next couple of days.

After my great nights sleep I jumped into the tow vehicle(thanks to stan palmer subaru. http://www.stanpalmer.co.uk) and headed the 170 miles to Oulton Park for the track day. I had never been to the circuit before and thought a bit of acclimatisation would be a good idea. I had also managed to get Phil Glew who won the time attack series in 2007 and is currently doing very well in the clio cup, to sit beside me for a few laps. Phil was great in showing me some lines and working on general driving technique. This is where the 1st of the problems occurred. Pad knockoff, this is where the pistons get pushed back into the cylinder, I think , meaning you have to pump the brakes before they will work. I found this out after a few moments on the main straight when I found no pedal at 135. This could be resolved by a bit of left foot braking on the straight before to push the pads back into place. I had suffered a bit of pad knock before, but nothing major. I had just installed a whole lot of new bushings and control arms at the back to stiffen things up. I think this had made the knockoff worse. Later on in the day 4th gear decided to get a bit crunchy. In the 6 speed box I have the syncro's are a bit soft, just my luck it decided to get worn now! It was getting late in the afternoon anyway so I decided to call it a day and headed back to the hotel and save the gearbox for tomorrow.

Woke up nice and early in the morning excited, like a kid on Christmas morning. We had to be at the track for the drivers briefing at 8 am. Myself and my mechanic mate, Ali was there for 7. Ali did his spanner thing over the car to make sure everything was fine. I just stood about like a spanner and drank tea. The drivers briefing was a bit like a track day. Overtaking on the left only but it can be done in braking zones and corners and does not have to be with the consent of the other driver. Although its advisable.I then had a look at the other cars in club class. Most of them seemed to have had a hell of a lot of money spent on them and they all looked like they were worth a lot more than mine. Lucky i had my hero flakes for breakfast as it looked like i was going to have to make up what i lacked in power on the bakes and corners.

Warm-up - This was a 10 minute session to just really warm up the car and make sure everything was fine. Apart from the gearbox and brakes. They are overrated anyway . I just did a few laps at a 70-80% to make sure nothing was going to fall off and headed back into the pits.

Practice - 20 mins. By now the heavens had opened. Really enjoyed this session as a lot of grip could be found at outlon park. Apart from druids which becomes a skating rink. My advice from Phil Glew for druids in the wet was,’ just survive that corner, don’t try anything fancy'. I really fancied my chances in the wet as most of the field were using the same lines as the dry and I passed most of them in that session. Back into the pits and I tried my best to do a rain dance to summon some of the wet stuff. Then the sun came out and stayed there for the rest of the day!

By now the crowds were getting pretty large is Time Attack runs alongside the Modified and Live shows. I think there was something in the region of 20 000 people there. Had a quick look about at some of the show cars and just got confused as why anyone would spend £20k on a saxo. Decided I was too old for that crap and headed back to the pits.

Qualifying - Lined myself up nice and early to get a chance to sit and focus. I don’t know whether it really makes a difference but I found in my international rowing days that it gets me into the perfect state of mind. I just sat with my eyes closed and visualized driving the circuit. Every braking point, turn in, apex and exit. The excitement started to build. Luckily I have never been bothered by nerves. I just sat there champing at the bit to go. We had to follow the pace car for a lap I cruised for another lap to get some heat into the tyres and make some space. Onto the start finish straight, lights on (to signify to the other drivers I was on a flying lap) and we were off. It was a rush of adrenaline ill never forget. It was no longer just pissing around on a track day but racing, all be it, against the clock. I had never felt so alive. Time to find out just what I was made of. I knew I had less power and than a lot of the other cars. 1st corner, perfect I was on a roll and loving every second of it. Round to druid’s right on the limit. Then the back end went big style. I must have hit some fluid. Wee bit of correction and we were back on it. Unfortunately I had forgotten to left foot brake before the last corner. NO PEDAL! few pumps and we were back in business. Ruined my entry as I missed my breaking point. Flew over the line to a time of 1:38. Just as the red flags went out. An evo had decided to make friends with a 200sx at the hairpin. Into the pits. I was in 5th place. I knew there was another couple of seconds to come off my time as the lap before was good but not perfect. Back out again, warm-up lap and I made plenty of space then I was out for another flyer. Lights on again and we were off. This lap was going perfect, I hit every point at just the right speed. Got to the chicane and some twat on a slow lap decided not to wait for me to go through. I had to go round the outside loosing me a second on the split time. Crossed the line on 1:37. I then went in to save the crunchy gearbox for the final. Checked the times and everyone had improved again. I was still 5th out of 32.Just over half a second behind a guy in an inpreza with nearly 600bhp. I was happy with that result

Final - I knew the times were close with the cars in front. If I got a clear lap I was not held in traffic I knew I could take another second off my time to put me hopefully in the high 1:35's.If I could do this I may even get into the top 3. I went out and q'd nice and early to get me some clear space at the front of the field. As the series controllers had decided to let all 32 cars out into the 15 min final and just to go out in whatever ordered you wanted. I was sitting focusing away. Quick look at the fuel gauge and it was a lot less than it had been in the paddock, must have been on a hill. I decided I did not want the distraction of worrying about fuel so I decided to stick some in. Schoolboy error. I was really annoyed with myself as I was now near the end of a long q. I had to just get that out my mind and concentrate on the job in hand. What followed was the most frustrating 15 mins of my life. With the concern of the brakes overcooking as they had done a couple of times the day before I was trying to just get 1 quick lap and cruise round to save tyres and brakes. This lap never came as everytime I was on a flyer I was seriously held up. I suppose this is the key to doing well in time attack. Session finished and I headed back to the pits. Raging that I was held up so often. Best time in the final 1:39 and 10th place. If I had have managed a 1:36 I would have been in the top 3. I was really frustrated that 1 clear lap was all I needed for a great result.

Loaded up and jumped into the jeep for the 3 hour drive home. It gave me time to reflect that this was a learning process and to qualify 5th was a pretty good effort considering I was well outgunned in the power stakes by the cars qualifying around me. I was still buzzing on adrenaline all the way home. It was a real experience of a lifetime. The mechanical issues are already being sorted. I cant wait for the next one. Roll on Knockhill

Massive thanks to Colin Telfer for Turning the car from an insurance write off to what it is now. Ali Collins for coming down to oulton and doing all my spanner work. Joel Payne for comming down to oulton and running around for a whole load of stuff and making the car shiney and my sponsors

http://www.stanpalmer.co.uk

http://www.usedcarparts.co.uk



Some Pictures


http://www.timeattack.co.uk/images/2009 ... 1_174.html

http://www.timeattack.co.uk/images/2009 ... 1_126.html

http://www.timeattack.co.uk/images/2009 ... 1_081.html

http://www.timeattack.co.uk/images/2009 ... 1_042.html

[~ ~ Cal ~ ~]

Thanks for the write up ! Sounds like you had a blast - what type of brakes and tyres were you running ?

Any video to show ?

[jj]

Huge well done, and very impressive results. Also impressive knowing how much some of the big guys will be spending on their cars and having looked round yours you are definitely "keeping it real"

[Andy G]

Tremendous write up mate - and well done in the race. Power is nothing without control, and us SE'ers are usually quite good in the wet thanks to our climate

Used to have similar issues in qually for the LOTRDC, trying to get the perfect lap in amongst 36 other cars, but sounds like initially your strategy was bang on!

Good luck with the rest of it.

And as for Druids, in the wet, in an Atom, slid towards it, through it to the exit kerb (1st half), then slid through it again and back to the exit kerb. Bloody hard corner in the wet, and just like ice. I think the Elise still has stains in the seat from Uncle Ron taking it through Druids on one of his endurance sessions on the DP tour.

My first race was at Oulton also - have been in LOVE with the circuit ever since

Sounds like another SE'er with a dream realised, and the racing bug firmly in place

[gambler]

Thanks for the kind words guys

"keeping it real"

Love that! Its going to be appearing in the car somewhere

My first race was at Oulton also - have been in LOVE with the circuit ever since

Sounds like another SE'er with a dream realised, and the racing bug firmly in place

Its a great circuit and i now cant wait to get back there. Im deffintately hooked on the racing bug now.

what type of brakes and tyres were you running ?

I have new age brembo's with ap grooved discs and mintex f series race pads. No video though. I dont have a camera yet. I'll probably be buying something for knockhill though.

[gambler]

Knockhill update -

Time attack had organized a test day on Saturday. Knockhill was its usual. Horizontal, freezing rain. I was quite pleased with some wet practice as I had moved to stiffer spring and replaced a lot of the bushings on the car which should make the car a bit stiffer. I had softened up the rear arb to an adjustable 22mm, to match the front rather than a fixed 24mm which was making the car very tail happy in the wet. Great fun but not very fast. As soon as I got out on track the car felt grippy and handled great but it was little bit sluggish. I thought it was maybe because I had to put power on a little bit later through the corners. The day dried out and I finally got a chance to do some timed laps (we were allowed to time as it was a time attack practice session). Now...... not that I would have myself timed at a track day a few weeks before. That’s not allowed. If I had done I may have found my times to be consistently in the high 57’s with a passenger and a set of ruined r888s.I think! I was also not pushing very hard that day. I had expected to get at least a second quicker with new tyres and being able to push really hard. My times were over a minute????? Went in and checked tyre pressures, suspension etc everything was fine. The car just did not feel like it was pulling out of the corners, there was a big lack of low down grunt. Then the rain started again, horizontal, well it is knockhill.

Sunday warm up-

I had noticed the car was a bit louder than usual. It’s always loud though so I did not think anything of it. Took my mechanic Ali out with me as it would give me the same ballast as my 'estimated' high 57sec lap time. We are allowed to take a mechanic or mapper out with us on the warmup sessions. This is so any last minute mapping can be done. They can carry a laptop with them . 1st few clear laps, all just over a minute. The same problem with the car, feeling sluggish and lacking torque. I pushed harder and harder and eventually got the time just below a minute. The grip was great. It just lacked power. End of session and I was not to happy with my decidedly average time.

Practice -

Much more of the same. Pushed a bit harder and got the time down into the low 59's. After practice I knew the pressure would be on as only the top 10 forced induction 4wd cars would get through. This was my home event and there was no way I was missing out in the final. I quite enjoy a bit of pressure and it usually helps me to perform well

Qualifying -

I knew there was going to be 45 cars out on track for qualifying and traffic was going to be a problem as we can only run 3 laps flat out before the tyres go off. I got myself down early and was front of the queue. I knew this would give me 1 reasonably clear lap. That should be all I needed. Followed the pace car round for the parade lap, back into the pits where we have to stop for a minute and then off for a proper warm up lap. I pushed on with a reasonable pace tying to get heat into the tyres. Back round to the start finish straight to be met by a clear lap in front. Lights on and off I went. Attacked duffus as quickly as I have take in (just short on 90 on the data logger) and then straight back on the power. Just scrubbed off enough speed and trail braked into Scotsman. Back on the power with only a slight lift over the chicane, which had been made really tight with the tyre bails far out making only a small cut possible? Missed the tyre bails by mm. Think I touched the right hand one with wing mirror (note to self, get smaller mirrors!) Trail braked again but arrived a wee bit too much speed round carlube and missed the apex slightly. Barreled down the straight only to be met with a stack of cars in front of me. Most saw I had the headlights on and got out of the way. All but one car! Braked as late as I could and really stand on brakes at the last minute, see pic! I had to end up taking a wide line and pass him mid corner at hairpin. Up the straight to post a 58.4. Not as good as I had expected before the weekend but my best time of the day. Later on in qualifying I was on for a quicker lap, by splits, but left the braking too late this time and ended up with a tour of the gravel trap. The lap time was enough to put me in 10th place in 4wd f/I and got me through to the final

Final -

Everyone had taken my idea and had q'ed up early. I run race pads and they always take a bit of warming up. Usually a bit of left foot braking on the straights on warm up gets temperature in them. In the final it took me 4 laps to get them working properly. I must have given them a good glazing in qualifying. By the time they were hot most of the guys out in the final had cooked their tyres and were doing a couple of cool down laps. Slowed down a couple of times in traffic, I only managed to post a 59.1. Then...Bang! And a loss of all power. Pulled over onto the grass and that was the end of my day. Final result 12th overall

Andy Forest was there and had a look at the car. It turned out the gasket at the exhaust header had been leaking. Causing the loss of power, especially at lower revs, coming out of corners. This had then melted my lambda sensor and the wring right up the loom. Over fuelled the car causing, the big bang which blew off the down pipe and cracked the manifold in 5 places.

I decided that as the car was comming to bits, again! It was time to go for a bigger turbo and get up to 500horsepower.

Silverstone Update and videos to follow

[Scotty C]

your going well boy

Loving the above photo of the car with red hot front brakes.

You will be giving them all a hard time with all those extra ponies.

Scotty

[gambler]

Cheers Scotty

Was having to push really hard to get some decent times that day. No wonder the brakes were a bit glazed at the start of the final

[Andy G]

thats an awesome pic!

So annoying when you cant figure out what the issue is but know its not right.

Well done regardless - sounds like you made the absolute best of a gash situation, and entering Duffus just below 90 merits a big

Top effort, and good luck with the rebuild

[Mike Scib]

Excellent work matey, car was looking good

More Power!!

BTW, what pressures do you run your tyres at? There was a couple of pics of your car with them looking pretty low, will try and find the pics and post them up.

[Mike Scib]

.....will try and find the pics and post them up.

[BigD]

Nice write up. I was wondering why the Knockhill times were relatively slow compared to last year but you've maybe explained it with the traffic.

Or maybe I just bent the rules last year.



I was expecting you to better my 57.7 as you've beat all my other times.

It's sounding like an expensive season, which is why I couldn't do it this year and to be comeptitive I'd need 500bhp and then it becomes less reliable.

Your car seems to dive quite a lot at butchers. Suspension too soft or thicker ARB's??





What brake pads are you using?

[gambler]

Mike - I was having big problems with the tyres going over pressure very quickly so was having to run them from 23-25 psi cold to get them to warm up to 32-35 hot. Scary picture though, looks like the wheels are comming off the rims. I did think the car was handling a bit 'squidgy' untill the tyres warmed up!

BigD - They had the chicane pretty tight with the tyre bails which slowed the chicane a bit. Possibly after warmup where they just had the plastic cone. Someone took it out and i took a massive cut over the chicane. I was expecting to have a word from the stewards about that. Love the pic of your massive cut at the bottom of duffus! Impressive stuff.

Good point about the lean at butchers. I have since stiffened up the springs to add a bit of stability. I may have to go for stiffer roll bars as well. Your car looked very flat and stable through there.

The pads im using are mintex f2 or f4 race pads. To fit my brembo brakes and AP discs the pads actually come from a ferarri F40, not sure if they are the front or back and they have a couple of mm from the insides milled off. They seem to work pretty well. I have been told from the pit wall that im the latest on the brakes.

The power stakes also seem to be going mad this year. I know Duncan Graham is running close to 600 and supposedly some of the skylines are running nearly 700. There were also roumors that the whifbitz supra's were running even more power than that for silverstone. Its looks like your going to need 500, which i have now, just to be the least bit competitive. If only it had rained at knockhill!!!

[BigD]

Mike - I was having big problems with the tyres going over pressure very quickly so was having to run them from 23-25 psi cold to get them to warm up to 32-35 hot. Scary picture though, looks like the wheels are comming off the rims. I did think the car was handling a bit 'squidgy' untill the tyres warmed up!

BigD - They had the chicane pretty tight with the tyre bails which slowed the chicane a bit. Possibly after warmup where they just had the plastic cone. Someone took it out and i took a massive cut over the chicane. I was expecting to have a word from the stewards about that. Love the pic of your massive cut at the bottom of duffus! Impressive stuff.

Good point about the lean at butchers. I have since stiffened up the springs to add a bit of stability. I may have to go for stiffer roll bars as well. Your car looked very flat and stable through there.

The pads im using are mintex f2 or f4 race pads. To fit my brembo brakes and AP discs the pads actually come from a ferarri F40, not sure if they are the front or back and they have a couple of mm from the insides milled off. They seem to work pretty well. I have been told from the pit wall that im the latest on the brakes.

The power stakes also seem to be going mad this year. I know Duncan Graham is running close to 600 and supposedly some of the skylines are running nearly 700. There were also roumors that the whifbitz supra's were running even more power than that for silverstone. Its looks like your going to need 500, which i have now, just to be the least bit competitive. If only it had rained at knockhill!!!

The power stakes were even worse last year with cars that would now be in Club/Pro in Club Class. There needs to be some sort of cap for power in Club class. Without that I don't think I'll do it again. My car was 380bhp for half of last year and only ever around 420bhp tops. Just no chance of getting nearer the top unless it rained.

It's actually not fair comparing times on different days anyway with track temps etc changing, at least that's my excuse for the rounds you've been quicker than me.

[gambler]

I agree with the point of putting some cap on power for club class. Suppose it would be difficult to police. There is at least 1 car there that should be moved into club pro. Or it will get to the point of whoever spends the most will win.