Well done at the weekend
TANGO R - Full race report
First race weekend
Leading up to the weekend had a 50/50 mix of excitement and pure fear! Thankfully there seemed to be little time to think about it once the weekend was upon me.
Friday
Met Dan somewhere on the M1 on Friday evening to collect the car. Drove it down in pouring rain. Really happy with the way the car has come together.
Saturday – Qualifying
Was awake at 6am and on the road by 7am. Preoccupied myself with trying to work out how much fuel was in the car (the gauge was stuck at full). Arrived at about 8 to a fairly deserted paddock. By 10 things were getting a bit more lively. The rest of TSE arrived and prep started in earnest. Attended the new driver briefing and then it was time for scrutineering unfortunately Andy and myself ended up at the back of a long queue of Loti with both of us failing! We had 20min to get things sorted. Andy and my cars both had the same issue with the battery isolator switch, cutting ignition but not power to lights etc. Andy also had issues with his fog light. Thankfully Simon S was on hand and found the issue immediately just had to separate out the earth. Dave (Maddog) was also to hand with a much steadier hand to sort it. Thanks Simon and Dave! Passed scrutineering and straight into Qualifying, my first time to see how the car handled. First lap things did not feel good felt like a loose wheel nut so straight back into the pits where yet again Dave saved the day and tightened the wheel nut. Cross with myself for not checking them I headed back out. Managed 2 laps not very quick laps before the inertia switch was triggered and that was the end of qualifying.
As I sat contemplating what might have broken I was pleased to see Robin had obviously sorted Andy’s wiring issues as he was out on track learning the track.
Once the session was finished shared a tow back to the pits with Sarah. At that point I was more concerned about what had happened to my car than if my 2 laps were enough to let me race. A meeting was called and was informed that with the green flag lap tomorrow I would have the required 3 laps – just need a car that works!
Spoke to Dan and possible thoughts were no fuel but I could rule this one out as I had put 25 litres in to be safe plus what ever was already in the tank. Robin eventually traced the issue to the inertia switch that seemed extra sensitive and had clearly been activated by running over a curb.
Big thank you to Robin and Kelvin for all their help sorting the wiring and trying to improve the seat position so my legs were not around my ears! Thank you to Simon S for pointing out the issues with the wiring and for drilling the seat runners.
Sunday - race day
Race 1
Was not too sure how the race would go as I was sitting in 18th on the grid with Gav ahead of me and Andy behind and still did not really know how my car was handling. Before I new it we were on the grid and my short-term aim was to not get punted off in the first lap! First corner I vaguely remember being on the outside and maybe loosing a place. Second corner I arrived a little fast with cold tyres and went wide again. Andy got in front and said later he has some comedy footage of me all sorts of trouble. Recomposed myself on the back straight and the rest was a bit of a blur although I got stuck behind Doug in class C #24 car who was having some issues in the corners but could pull away on the straights. Then the safety car came out and that was the end of the race.
After the race had a chat with Robin about the really bad understeer I was getting and a bit of tweaking and I was confident I could do better in race 2.
Race 2
Was not really sure what to expect but was determined to have some fun! Turned out I was in the 2nd group to be let away with Nick and Chris both Sced Hondas who both just disappeared on the back straight leaving me alone to get on with it. I knew Randy and Andy Walsh were all in the group behind so was expecting them to come by at some point, which they did. Andy Walsh passed me on the pit straight only for him to jettison his roof which thankfully hit the bridge and landed on the grass. Randy went passed too only to spin. Then it got a bit crazy when I came across massive groups of class A cars. I then caught up with Doug in number #24 again and again could not get passed him. Probably out of frustration I spun letting Andy G un-lap himself only for him to return the favour the on the final lap while Steve passed me and it was over!
Really enjoyed the 2nd race as the car was a lot better and I had got used to passing peeps. Big thank you to Andy G, Neil, Kelvin and Robin for guiding me through my first race weekend. And well done to both Andy and Neil for great drives. An amazing weekend with great peeps bring on CC.
Leading up to the weekend had a 50/50 mix of excitement and pure fear! Thankfully there seemed to be little time to think about it once the weekend was upon me.
Friday
Met Dan somewhere on the M1 on Friday evening to collect the car. Drove it down in pouring rain. Really happy with the way the car has come together.
Saturday – Qualifying
Was awake at 6am and on the road by 7am. Preoccupied myself with trying to work out how much fuel was in the car (the gauge was stuck at full). Arrived at about 8 to a fairly deserted paddock. By 10 things were getting a bit more lively. The rest of TSE arrived and prep started in earnest. Attended the new driver briefing and then it was time for scrutineering unfortunately Andy and myself ended up at the back of a long queue of Loti with both of us failing! We had 20min to get things sorted. Andy and my cars both had the same issue with the battery isolator switch, cutting ignition but not power to lights etc. Andy also had issues with his fog light. Thankfully Simon S was on hand and found the issue immediately just had to separate out the earth. Dave (Maddog) was also to hand with a much steadier hand to sort it. Thanks Simon and Dave! Passed scrutineering and straight into Qualifying, my first time to see how the car handled. First lap things did not feel good felt like a loose wheel nut so straight back into the pits where yet again Dave saved the day and tightened the wheel nut. Cross with myself for not checking them I headed back out. Managed 2 laps not very quick laps before the inertia switch was triggered and that was the end of qualifying.
As I sat contemplating what might have broken I was pleased to see Robin had obviously sorted Andy’s wiring issues as he was out on track learning the track.
Once the session was finished shared a tow back to the pits with Sarah. At that point I was more concerned about what had happened to my car than if my 2 laps were enough to let me race. A meeting was called and was informed that with the green flag lap tomorrow I would have the required 3 laps – just need a car that works!
Spoke to Dan and possible thoughts were no fuel but I could rule this one out as I had put 25 litres in to be safe plus what ever was already in the tank. Robin eventually traced the issue to the inertia switch that seemed extra sensitive and had clearly been activated by running over a curb.
Big thank you to Robin and Kelvin for all their help sorting the wiring and trying to improve the seat position so my legs were not around my ears! Thank you to Simon S for pointing out the issues with the wiring and for drilling the seat runners.
Sunday - race day
Race 1
Was not too sure how the race would go as I was sitting in 18th on the grid with Gav ahead of me and Andy behind and still did not really know how my car was handling. Before I new it we were on the grid and my short-term aim was to not get punted off in the first lap! First corner I vaguely remember being on the outside and maybe loosing a place. Second corner I arrived a little fast with cold tyres and went wide again. Andy got in front and said later he has some comedy footage of me all sorts of trouble. Recomposed myself on the back straight and the rest was a bit of a blur although I got stuck behind Doug in class C #24 car who was having some issues in the corners but could pull away on the straights. Then the safety car came out and that was the end of the race.
After the race had a chat with Robin about the really bad understeer I was getting and a bit of tweaking and I was confident I could do better in race 2.
Race 2
Was not really sure what to expect but was determined to have some fun! Turned out I was in the 2nd group to be let away with Nick and Chris both Sced Hondas who both just disappeared on the back straight leaving me alone to get on with it. I knew Randy and Andy Walsh were all in the group behind so was expecting them to come by at some point, which they did. Andy Walsh passed me on the pit straight only for him to jettison his roof which thankfully hit the bridge and landed on the grass. Randy went passed too only to spin. Then it got a bit crazy when I came across massive groups of class A cars. I then caught up with Doug in number #24 again and again could not get passed him. Probably out of frustration I spun letting Andy G un-lap himself only for him to return the favour the on the final lap while Steve passed me and it was over!
Really enjoyed the 2nd race as the car was a lot better and I had got used to passing peeps. Big thank you to Andy G, Neil, Kelvin and Robin for guiding me through my first race weekend. And well done to both Andy and Neil for great drives. An amazing weekend with great peeps bring on CC.
Last edited by jamie on Mon Jun 18, 2007 11:19 am, edited 2 times in total.
Cheers again for your helpk12chu wrote:hmmm... not bad... quite what i had in mindjamie wrote:
and jamie, thanks for the little space for me
SPICEDABBA goes on track.
The best bits on the front and back had to be left off as he thought it beyond his skills
Will get them sorted at some point even if i have to do it myself 
