A raft of upgrades has put paid to all of last season’s frustrations and 2021 has started with a win at Thruxton.
2018. Going better than ever!
The blog has been quiet for almost 2 years but not because of a lack of activity. More because of too much activity!
2017 season never happened unfortunately but there was a very good reason for this. I spent the whole year busily building a much improved car!
As is often the case with these things, an escalation of improvements occurred during the rebuild and I found the mantra, "Might as well do it now, while everything is apart" got frequent use culminating in an entirely renewed chassis and running gear with many improvements and every nut, bolt, bush and bearing being refreshed along the way.
The months following the catastrophic failure at Thruxton were spent researching and listing, researching some more and ultimately ordering a carefully considered component specification for the new engine.
Quotations were gathered for engine building, but after picking my jaw off the floor a couple of times I decided to get my head down and engage my engineering skills, many of which had last been employed way back in the 90's.
A specialist firm was chosen for all the machining work and balancing of the bottom end. The rest I would handle in my workshop.
The spare block was collected from Mark Fish and stripped
Between running my other business and waiting for components to arrive, not to mention one or two hiccups along the way, (like a bent crankshaft from the destroyed engine that I was hoping to re-use!) progress was fairly slow for the first half of 2017.
As the car was stripped much of the engine and chassis was also sent away for blasting and powder coating. I was loath to put anything dirty or rusty back on the car after making this much effort.
Steering rack bushes had seen better days.
This is the rebuild in pictures
The car has been treated to all new AST suspension, new poly bushes, new brakes, electric power steering and of course a new high compression race engine built for decent power but more importantly, durability.
Tuning and teething
After my resident tuner came to help me with the first start which went well once we located a disconnected earth. The car was taken down to Rainham for running in and tuning at Track n Road.
After several hours the car had a basic map done but we hit trouble when the power runs began. Clutch slip and an oil leak pointed towards a leaking main seal behind the flywheel. So it was off to Mark Fish for the gearbox to be removed and seal to be replaced. Fortunately the company who balnced and assembled the bottom end took responsibility for this and picked up the bill. Unfortunately we also discovered the clutch had failed so a new 4 puck Helix was duly ordered.
A week later back on the dyno the car behaved and made a fairly respectable 212bhp and with our first race approaching I was happy that all seemed well.
Silverstone Race 1
Having missed the season opener at Snetterton we were keen not to miss Silverstone, but having never raced there both Ryan and I needed some practice. Fortunately we still had some credit with Silverstone from an aborted corporate trackday 2 years previously with Portal Motorsport that Silverstone kindly honoured. So we booked ourselves on to the test day on the Friday before our race on Sunday 6th May.
It was great to get back out in the car after over a year and initial impressions were good. The suspension set up was going to need work and the car was spluttering a bit low down which was odd.
A few tweaks and the handling was improving but the running was getting worse and we were unable to run without a stutter unless the tank was almost full. This didn't bode well for a 40 minute race.
We were in good company on Friday, with several Clios testing with us.
Saturday we spent enjoying spectating some racing, interspersed with ponderings on the fueling problem and by Sunday morning we had decided we needed to investigate before qualifying.
Starting at the back we first removed the fuel pump from in the tank. And our problem was immediately apparent. Some old foil baffles that we had filled the tank with some years ago were disintegrating and blocking the pump.
Not ideal to find these at the bottom of your tank
A quick clean out as best we could and we went in to qualifying hopeful that our problems were solved.
In quali the car ran nicely for the first 4 laps and I was starting to build up speed until it all of a sudden misfired. As it was on the last bend I was able to peel straight into the pits. The misfire wasn't like the fuel surge and my first thought was coil pack.
With cars flying past and the clock ticking I jumped out and changed the coil pack while Ryan my race partner jumped in to do his stint.
Ryan managed 2 laps before the misfire returned and by then quali had finished.
So we qualified a dissapointing 32nd out of 45 when we knew the times we were doing on Friday should have had us up around 19th or so.
Back in the garage more head scratching ensued.
We decided to clean the original pump and put that back in the tank, checked the inline fuel filter and have another look at the coil pack.
After the tank was done, (with a few more baffles and crap removed) I went about checking the connection on the coil pack. That was when I got a huge shock from it which defintely didn't seem right.
With other friends and racers gathered round someone more experienced than me noticed that the car seemed to drop onto 3 cylinders on idle sporadically. We swapped back to the other coil but it continued to do it. Then, just to be sure he went and got his own spare coilpack. Bingo! it worked thank god.
So we made it to the race and the only unknown was whether we would still be plagued by fuel surge before the end.
Ryan started and in 5 laps was up to 26th. As the pit window opened we brought him in for me to do my stint to the end of the race. Driver change was not the quickest as we hadn't had time to practice with all the other dramas going on and then to make matters worse the car wouldn't restart.
After a push start I got going again but we had dropped back down to 36th and were a lap down.
But despite that, the car was running great. I proceeded to reel in plenty of places and ended up battling with the same 2 or 3 cars until the end of the race. (Only later did I discover that they were a lap ahead!) But we finished in 24th and the fuel surge only started to show itself on the last 2 laps. The suspension needed much more tuning as I was being mugged at the corners by slower cars and then just cruising past them on the straights!
Plenty to do before Oulton on the 2nd June!
A constant battle in the bends to fend off other cars.
But we finished! And Ryan got his all important final signature.
Improvements
Following on from Silverstone I was determined to eradicate the fueling gremlins. A new tank was ordered along with foam baffles and a new swirl pot assembly.
Once done it was back to the dyno.
What should have been an hour or so of tweaking turned into a complete remap. (and a very late night!)
It turns out that the fueling issue had been strangling the engine from the start and the new assembly had transformed the engine along with gaining another 8 bhp.
Oulton Park Race 2
Ryan decided to quit while he was ahead and bowed out of the next race, so a call for drivers available for a paid drive in the car resulted in one of the most accomplished drivers in the Tin Tops series signing up to join me in Cheshire.
Paul Mensley comes from a long line of racing stock with his father being a former stock car world champion and his brother also a regular front runner in another Clio.
Again, not having raced at Oulton before meant a test day was booked for the Friday and a promise of Paul joining me to help set the car up and give some much needed feedback on how it drove.
Many comments regarding colour coded bins ensued at Oulton!
Having only ever driven at Oulton on one track day 2 years ago I was expecting a steep learning curve ahead of me. But fortunately Paul had won at Oulton on several occasions. He was keen to get a race in as he is still building his Bathurst Cosworth 500 so hadn't raced this season yet and his brother is a front-runner in our series also in a Clio. (albeit 100kg lighter than mine!)
So we had Friday to start dialling the suspension in as well as learn the track.
Thankfully the car ran faultlessly and the sun shone all day so we were able to concentrate on the job in hand.
Paul's first impression of the car's setup was along the lines of, "It's like driving a f****ing blancmange!" So we set about stiffening up the dampers and also making some adjustments to the camber and setting tyre pressures more accurately.
It was a pretty full on day so I had little chance to take any photos unfortunately.
As other racers arrived throughout the day the usual camaraderie and banter ensued, culminating in about 10 of us going out for dinner that night and eventually crashing at the hotel at about 12.30. Not ideal the night before a race although I heard a few kept going until 1.30!
The morning of race day I opened the curtains to a very wet Oulton. Not what I wanted as I have had very little running in the wet and my last wet race at Cadwell ended in tears.
Still we managed to get to the track in time for signing on and scrutineering fueled by an all you can eat breakfast at the hotel.
Quali was at 9.50 and although the rain had eased off and several quali sessions had already taken place, the track was still very damp. So I took the car out and eased it around for a few laps slowly building speed and confidence until the rain began to fall again.
After a lockup coming down towards Hizzy's and having to run down the escape road I took the car in for Paul to work his magic.
2 corners in to his outlap he locked up and ended in the gravel bringing out the safety car! This was not in the plan.
However the nice marshalls pulled him out and let him get on his way again as there was no damage to the car. But he only had time for one lap and now in pretty treacherous conditions he still managed pull us up another 8 places!
So we qualified right in the middle of the pack in 18th out of a grid of 31.
During our checks over the car afterwards we discovered that the front brake caliper bolts had all come loose and the bottom one on both sides had fallen out completely! Everything was loose and this explained the locking up issues. I can only imagine that I had never fully tightened them during assembly because I have never had this happen before.
The pads fell out looking like this!
Clearly the brakes had been overheating and the piston dust seals had been fried to a crisp too.
Luckily I had a part used set of DS1.11 pads on board so we banged them in, fitted some new bolts (with threadlock!) and a quick spin around the padock proved that all was well again.
So at 3pm I lined up on the grid on a thankfully dry track!
Sadly the GoPro stopped working at the last second so all I have is footage from the VBox which is not the best resolution but better than nothing. Personally I didn't have much of a race as the safety car took up a good proportion of my stint. But I had a good start making up 8 places on the first lap and leaving Paul to do the rest.
As at Silverstone this was a great result as far as I was concerned. First bit of silverware for me which I will take any way I can!
And a weekend of learning a lot more about the car and a plan for some improvements before Brands Hatch mid July.
New Ultraleggeras ordered (as the start of the diet). New brake seal kit and new DS1.11 pads ordered. And a conversation with AST saw the front coilovers going down to them for stiffer springs and re-valving / shimming. Oh, and 2 new sets of AO50s also.
Better order a trophy cabinet!
More improvements
Following Oulton plans were made and things were ordered. One interesting experiment which some of you may have seen on FB was the weighing of all my wheels with the tyres removed.
When I bought the car 4 or so years ago it came with 2 sets of Speedline Corse wheels. These look great but I always knew they were heavy. they are a wheel designed for rallying after all. Since then I've accumulated a few other wheels with the purchase of a couple of other race cars and I've tried to keep a decent selection to use as spares.
After ordering the ultraleggeras I was keen to know exactly how much weight I was saving and the result was quite impressive.
As you can see that's a saving of over 4kg per corner which is a lot in terms of unsprung weight.
In addition I also weighed my ProRace 2.1s (newly powder coated to match the Ultraleggeras)
Still a good saving. And while I was at it I also weighed a phase 1 O.Z. alloy (7.61kg) and also a different Speedline Corse which had come with the car supposedly Magnesium alloy but seemingly not quite at 7.25kg. Still a lot lighter than the standard Speedlines, so my wet tyres will be going on them which have been powder coated in a surprise colour!
While AST had my front coilovers to install new 130N springs and re-valve them accordingly they gave them a bit of a service and returned them very quickly. This now of course meant I needed to have the car corner weighted again, so that went back on the list.
Then the brakes got stripped after the loose bolt incident at Oulton. There must have been some serious heat going through them to end up looking like this!
so the brakes were cleaned and repainted and another new set of seals inserted. They were only done in November and the car has done 2 test days and 2 races but I'm sure if they had stayed together this wouldn't have heppened. They went back together with threadlock and cap head bolts.
Soon after this, the car was back together and arrangements were being made for yet another guest driver.
130N springs replacing the 100N that they came with.
Brakes back together with new DS1.11 pads
...and a funky, colour coordinated colour for the wets!
Ready for Brands
More fettling
Dan Turner of Advanced Motorsport Engineering (AME) was to partner me at Brands for my 3rd race of the season. As he is a mapper and has a dyno I took the car to Silverstone where his workshops are for a bit more dyno work and corner weighting.
More POWER!
The engine has been getting stronger and stronger each run it has. After a bit of map adjustment Dan had the engine to 220bhp at the hubs and was suitably impressed with my engine building skills. All that remained was for him to drive the car which we duly arranged for the Wednesday before our race on a trackday at Brands Hatch.
Brands Hatch Race 3
Wednesday was to be the first time Dan had driven the car although he is an accomplished racer it was going to be interesting to get yet another point of view on the car's driving characteristics.
And I'm glad to say he loved it! The comments were that it was the nicest, most well balanced car he had ever driven around Brands. Whether he was just being flattering I don't know, but I do know that the car certainly did feel the best it has ever felt around Brands and by far the most stable since the rebuild.
With new wheels and tyres as well the car now feels noticeably more lively.
Sadly, despite Dan's best efforts at tweaking the map we couldn't stop the pops and bangs from tripping their noise meter. So by lunch time we were sent home.
It didn't matter though, we had both settled into the car and were feeling ready for the race.
So Sunday was an early start and by 8am I was all set up in the paddock and ready for scrutineering.
Once signed on and scrutineered without incident we went in to Qualifying at midday feeling hopeful.
I went out first and quickly put us on provisional pole which then slipped to 5th after some of the quicker cars got up to speed. And then I had the first "Doh" moment of the day as the car began to run out of fuel! We had completely forgotten to top it up before going out.
Thankfully some kind gents in one of the pit garages who had just finished their qualifying session gave us 5ltrs to get Dan out and try and set a decent time.
Which he duly did, sticking us in 3rd with a 55.1s.
Sadly at the end of the session we were demoted back to 5th as he had exceeded track limits during that lap so it was disallowed. No matter, in a grid of 33 cars I was well happy with 5th!
As the track temperature went over 40 degrees tyre pressures were going to be critical but having monitored them carefully on Wednesday on an albeit cooler day, we had a fair idea of where they needed to be. Left hand front was set at 17psi! But we knew it would get up to temp and pressure in no time in the heat.
Also during the qualifying we were experiencing increasing amounts of vibration through the compression at the bottom of Paddock Hill Bend which we attributed to the drive shaft hitting the diff. It's something I've experienced before and the solution is simple. Undo all the engine mounts, get a large breaker bar and lever the engine over and tighten everything up. Job done and it cured it for the race.
But also while checking over the car my 14 year old daughter spotted fuel dripping under the car from the spare wheel well. Popping off the swirl pot cover revealed a mess of melted paint and fuel from a leaking union on the filter. Some PTFE and a load of wasted fuel later and all was good. Thank god for young eyes!
At race time it was decided that I would start and this would be my first rolling start. But we had decided that all we needed was the class win which we were fairly confident of as long as we finished. So it was to be a cautious start with no heroics and being on the inside of the track I was fairly safe from being punted in to the gravel on the first corner.
The race went well...
And this picture tells it all..
3rd overall and 1st in class (by 2 clear laps!)
And as the winner was BTCC driver Mike Bushell I'm even tempted to disregard 1st place and call it a 2nd!
In any event, this was my first podium and we were rather pleased.
A few things to do before my next race at Donington in September. The car will not start when it's hot. the battery just doesn't have enough juice, so I'm going to relocate it from the back of the car to just in front of the gear lever if I can, shortening the cable considerably and also lowering it in the car which is no bad thing. If that doesn't work then it's going to need a bigger battery.
I also need to look again at my brake combination. The DS1.11 are very agressive and the discs are looking very sorry for themselves. I may just skim them and resign myself to doing this regularly; either that or accept that the discs will be as much a sacrificial part as the pads are.
Also, pedal was getting soft towards the end so may look at a different fluid too.
Gearbox is also deteriorating with syncro in 4th showing signs of ware and the oil leak from the drive shaft and also the selector getting progressively worse. I was hoping it would last until the end of the season but I'm going to think about doing it now, which will also mean a diff rebuild.
other than that it's just small non essential things on the list which I will do as and when. For the moment I shall just be basking in the glory and telling anyone who will listen about my weekend!
2016- the season that wasn't and 2017 - Cautious Optimism
Well here we are again, another season round-up and more tales of woe! This time a little less dramatic thankfully but also a little shorter.
With the disbanding Portal Motorsport at the end of 2015 due to increasing work commitments for Ryan and me and other changes in circumstances we entered the 2016 season in slightly unchartered territory and so decided not to get stressed about it but just to have a relaxed season and fit in a few races around the rest of our lives and see where it took us.
This began in April with a trip back to Snetterton for an unusually sunny weekend.
Loaded up and ready for Snetterton
We took the car number 73 which needed very little doing to it over the winter months so after a check over at Mark Fish's we headed straight into qualifying on a chilly, drying track early on Sunday morning.
With Ryan having been driving this car for the last couple of seasons he headed out first and set a respectable pace putting us firmly in the middle of the pack. And this is where I start with the excuses!
This car is a very different animal to 'my' number 74. With no throttle bodies but a lightened flywheel and fairly lumpy cams its power delivery is quite different for starters. It's also considerably lighter, has a much more aggressive suspension setup and no power steering. Consequently it can be a bit of a handful, locking up very easily (especially on a damp track) and hard work on the arms through the bends. That being said, this used to be my favourite one to drive too so my lack of pace I can only assume was down to lack of practice. But I was hopeful for the race where I could look forward to knuckling down to 20 minutes of solid racing.
On this occasion the CSCC had decided that a rolling start was the order of the day and again we opted for Ryan to start.
With the race beginning straight after lunch the track was nice and warm and the sun was shining. Ryan made a solid start taking a couple of positions on the first lap and hunting down the next victim. But after lap 2 I waited for him to come round again, only to see him back in the position he started in. Another lap down and he was heading in to the pits with the car sounding less than happy.
Being the first car into the pits drew attention however, and before I knew what was happening I had a microphone shoved in my face while I frantically looked for the gremlin under the bonnet. It seemed Snetterton’s very own Karun Chandhok was keen to keep the crowds informed. Unfortunately for us though the exposure was short-lived and minutes later we were wheeling the car back into the garage with a failed injector.
This was the second time an injector on this car had let us down although previously it had happened straight after a qualifying session and so we had been able to replace it before the race.
So, an early bath and not a great start to the season.
June was the next time I got out on track. This time back in 74 with David for the first test after the rebuild over the winter.
Ready for testing at Brands Hatch
David and I spent the day getting back in the swing of things and the day was only hampered mid-afternoon by a power steering leak which after a run out to pick up a replacement pressure switch failed to cure the problem. So we managed a few more laps and then called it a day.
This year the CSCC had managed to secure a race meeting at Thruxton. The fastest circuit in the UK and rarely available for club motorsport race meetings. I was keen to do it of course and to add a further carrot the event was going to be televised and shown on Motors TV!
With Thruxton being a fast circuit a further helping of jeopardy is added to the standard racing jeopardy by being rather unforgiving if you make a mistake. And with so many race entrants never having driven there before and very few track days ever held there we jumped at the chance to secure a day there in early July. However, the only caveat being that race cars were not allowed. Road cars only.
So I pulled the covers off my trusty Seat Leon Cupra R track car, that hadn't been driven for about 8 months and gave the fluids a change and loaded it onto the trailer.
At thruxton where they have the narrowest garages ever!
So David joined me and we spent the day spanking the Seat around Thruxton and gradually getting quicker.
Fortunately our friendly ARDS instructor regularly teaches at Thruxton so although he couldn't join us for the day he had given us plenty of pointers.
At about 3.30 with David behind the wheel the Seat decided it had had enough and unceremoniously dumped its coolant over the track. At about 3.35 David finally realised that my frantic waving from the pit wall was to indicate something was wrong but by that time the engine was beyond help.
With help we pushed it on to the trailer and headed home. But we felt confident that we stood half a chance when we returned there in August.
A week later and I was back at Snetterton, again for testing and this time with our friendly ARDS race instructor primarily to get David up to speed on a track that he hadn't driven before. But it's always useful to get some professional input into my driving too.
The car ran without fault and all in all we came away feeling positive. David by the way, was racing there that weekend, but not with us this time. I think he felt far happier about it, having had the day with us though.
Ready for a day at Snetterton
Following our day at Snetterton I had one more thing to do before our next race at Thruxton. The car had not been mapped since we bought it but I had always wanted to return it to Emerald for them to do it. The down side to this was that they are based in Ipswich and when I called them, they couldn't do anything for about 6 weeks. Luckily though my local garage, Perfect Touch (dodgy name but really great guys who know their stuff) knew someone who could work with the Emerald ECU. So I duly booked the car in for a day on their dyno and cleared my diary so I could keep an eye on proceedings.
I wasn't disappointed! This was the ignition that was on the car... (The injection map was similar)
And this was after a day of mapping on the dyno...
After mapping the print out suggested a slightly optimistic 226bhp and much better torque curve. Definitely an improvement though.
Thruxton came around before we knew it so David and I headed down to the very swanky Holiday Inn near Stonehenge the day before. Doing this enabled us to drop the car off in the paddock at the circuit at the end of Saturday's racing ensuring us a good spot for the following day. Pit crew consisted of David's brother-in-law.
The next morning we had a fright. We were signed on, scrutineered and ready for a cup of coffee with plenty of time to spare! This has never happened before and subsequently I spent the whole time panicking that we had forgotten something.
Anyway, we hadn't and it turned out that it was to be all in vain anyway...
We were on fresh tires and David opted for me to go first into qualifying and out on track the car was feeling great. I was getting faster and looking quite competitive until the engine went bang.
And that was it. Over as quickly as it had begun. No drive for David and a whacking great hole in the side of the engine and the radiator.
Conrod exit here..
Unless you have a spare engine and a team of mechanics there was no question that this was the end of the day for us.
My last outing for 2016 was back teamed with Ryan again for a trip to one of our favourite circuits, Cadwell Park.
I've had one good race and one DNF at Cadwell, but every time I go there I like it more and more. It's well suited to the Clio and rewards bravery if you know the track. (It bends you over and smacks your bum if you don't treat it with respect though)
As per our usual routine Ryan and I convened at Cadwell complete with tent and stove the night before and prepared number 73 for action the following day. Ryan had had a local garage replace all the injectors and test them. The car seemed ok although the mechanics had not been 100% happy that all was well.
Qualifying was fractious to say the least. Coming to the end of the season many of the teams seemed to be wearing their 'all or nothing' t-shirts this weekend and Ryan's qualifying session was cut short by another Clio hitting the tire wall. So after about 20 minutes stoppage it was decided that the 2nd drivers should now go out and complete the rest of the session. After a quick swap I headed out on to track. One lap to warm the tires and then get my head down. That was the plan anyway but someone else had other ideas when one of the nicest prepared cars in our series, (and one of the fastest) a fluorescent green Peugeot 306 ex-touring car also decided to explore the tire wall. With quite considerable force this time which ended qualifying and leaving us in the back half of the grid. Thankfully no injuries though.
Ready for qualifying
There was a long wait between qualifying and our race so we soaked up some autumn sun, watched a bit of racing and had some lunch. All very relaxed.
Then we were called to the assembly area and Ryan jumped in. (he was starting again)
As I wandered down behind the car I finally caught up to a worried Ryan as the car seemed to be misfiring. We got the car into the assembly area and then got stuck in under the bonnet. It seemed to be an injector again but we couldn't fathom why it should happen now when it ran fine in the morning.
The marshalls were being patient and we had a little bit of time. Various participants or other pit team members came to offer advice but all to no avail and then finally someone spotted fuel pouring out under the car. Bizarrely nowhere near the fuel lines which added further puzzlement until we realised that it was coming out of a joint in the exhaust!
It turns out that a fault was causing one injector to permanently squirt fuel into the engine, which of course was far more than the engine could ignite hence the misfire and the unburnt fuel exiting below.
Needless to say, at the site of fuel on or near an exhaust the marshalls decided to call time on our day and we were duly towed back to our pitch.
So, for me 2016 was very much a 'non' year when it comes to racing. Equally frustrating for Ryan who still just needs to complete 1 more race to qualify for his National A license and no longer have the 'Novice' yellow and black X on the back of his car.
There is some uncertainty for 2017, (which could be said for the whole world really) but I have registered with CSCC for the year which should spur me on. I have decided that we need a proper engine in the car now and have been spending time getting advice and putting together a specification for an engine that should make the car competitive and reliable. This of course is going to take a bit of time as it's an expensive proposition if left to the experts completely. So as I’m not a total buffoon on the spanners I will be doing as much of the work as I can.
And of course, while the car is apart I will take the opportunity to make other improvements, like more weight reduction, new fuel lines run internally and the same with rear brake lines and at the same time adding a brake bias valve.
So if I don't race until the second half of the season so be it. There is a meeting at Castle Coombe this year which I'd love to make, as I had one of my best ever races there a few years back. Only time will tell though, so watch this space.
We may not have raced but at least we got on the telly!
Trigger's broom
At the end of last season we finally managed to successfully complete a couple of races but if you read my roundup of last season you will also know that number 74 didn't come away unscathed.
David's argument with a Lotus Evora left the car with a deceptive amount of damage.
In fact no part of the right hand side of the car was undamaged, so during the off-season (and part way into the current season) the car has had a fair amount of work done to put it straight.
The bulk of the work involved cutting out the rear quarter panel and welding a new one in. this has certainly challenged the old welding skills. And when I say old it is probably close on 20 years since I was welding and fabricating on a daily basis, so apart from the repairs follwing the roll at Donington last September the welder has been sitting idle for a very long time.
Finally after a couple of months of evenings and weekends the car was finally back together and ready for re-wrapping (half of it at least).
Since the start of last season then, no 74 has had 2 new doors, 2 new wings, a new front bumper, 1 new back bumper, a new roof, a new rear quarter, a new side skirt and new windscreen and side windows. Hence the title of this post. I wasn't planning on having a new car for this season but barring a tailgate, one rear quarter and a bonnet I'm almost there.
Back at GPG Signs for the 3rd time!
A brief (not that brief) review of the 2015 season
It's always good to approach a new season with a plan. In January 2015 we had a plan. By February it had changed and by March it had changed again. It's always good to have a flexible plan.
As 2014 drew to a close we had a couple of sponsors lined up for the next season, both having agreed a deal in principal "verbally". So the first lesson of 2015 was, always take verbal agreements with a pinch of salt. By the end of Jan one sponsor was out and the deal with the other was moving forward albeit slowly.
A friend of mine, David runs a company with his wife called CommsQuest. An internal communications company that helps big companies communicate between departments or train staff or assist in transitions with mergers. That's about all I understand about it. Check them out if you're interested. www.commsquest.com
While we were still lining up this deal we headed to Brands Hatch in March for a pre season test day with Ollie Jackson, BTCC driver and friend of Portal Motorsport joining us to put down some benchmark times.
Activity in the garage at Brands
Despite technical problems I did get a few laps in
Sadly, the day didn't quite go to plan with the engine blowing on Ollie's first outing in car number 73 and No 74 suffering fuel surge prblems throughout the day. It left us with a lot to do before the first race, starting with sourcing a new engine.
New engine going in to 73, Graphics removed from 74 for new sponsors
David and his team at CommsQuest had already spent a few days with us over the past couple of years on our corporate days under the Portal Motorsport banner and he was enjoying refining his track driving skills. By the end of 2014 he was keen to take his race license test and start a bit of racing.
So we put a deal together where CommsQuest would sponsor one of our cars for the season and David would share the driving with one of us in the endurance series that we enter each year. This took far longer than we had anticipated but we got David through his ARDS test after a day of tuition with Jake Hill (BTCC driver 2016) in our Nissan 350Z and finally we were ready for our first race weekend at the end of June at Cadwell Park.
Clio getting wrapped in CommsQuest branding.
Looking slick in gloss yellow and matt green wrap.
Race 1 Cadwell Park 20th June
We had both cars entered into the 750mc Roadsport series on the Saturday but booked onto the test day on the Friday also as David hadn't even driven the car up to this point. Ryan and Antonio were paired up in the other Clio with Antonio also a race virgin after a gearbox failure at the end of the last season put an end to his first race without him getting into the car.
Camping at Cadwell for Ryan and me. David and Antonio took the soft option and stayed at a B&B down the road
Testing went well on the Friday with the weather holding and both cars behaving. Saturday however was a different story.
David getting some seat time on the test day
David drove first in qualifying and put in some decent times and keeping the car on the tarmac. I went out second and posted a couple of decent times before the car lost all power and left me stranded at the pit lane entrance at the end of the session.
After much panicking and rallying round we located a slighly frayed wire that was shorting out in the engine bay and blowing fuses. Thankfully a simple fix.
So after lunch as the race approached the heavens decided to open and more panic ensued as we rushed to change the tyres to wets. We had no time to adjust suspension settings and my car had a set of used wet tyres on it that we had never run on before. So as I lined up on the start line I wasn't the most relaxed.
I had a terrible start, wheel spinning pretty much all the way up to the first turn which in the dry is a flat-out corner. Less so in the wet and I had already lost a lot of places including being passed by Ryan in the other Clio. That didn't last long though and I was back past him after turn 2. Caught up in the pack though had left a large gap between me and a bunch of front runners and on lap 3 in my enthusiasm to catch them my unknown tyres ran out of grip a millisecond before I ran out of talent and found myself sliding over wet grass with a tyre barrier fast approaching.
In hindsight I should have restarted the car and try to carry on. But at the time the impact was pretty shocking and I had no idea what damage I had done to the car until I got dragged out by the marshalls. It turned out to be mainly cosmetic and with the radiator having escaped being punctured I finally got back in the car and limped back to the pits. Only to find Ryan had also retired with a puncture.
So neither of our race virgins got to race that day which is not a good start for a sponsor.
Making up places
Not looking so slick now
Race 2 Donington Park 6th September
After various conflicting personal commitments we didn't visit a track again until September when we trekked up to Donington Park for a spot of testing a couple of days before and then racing on the 6th.
Testing went well again and with some tuition from a young lady racer, Sarah Reader for whom Donington is home from home we both were making good gains around the circuit.
Race day arrived and a bright sunny day promised some great racing. Alas, not for us (again!).
It was decided that I should drive first. I can't remember who decided that. It may or may not have been the right decision but either way I wanted to get a clear quick lap in as early as possible so that David could get out there too. And after 2 or 3 laps working through traffic I finally had a clear track ahead as I came over the start finish line. Out of turn one and heading into the Craner curves I was already half a second up when, before I knew what was happening I was sliding sideways across the tarmac, then the grass and finally the gravel which unceremoniously tipped me over onto the roof. BUGGER!
The wavey windscreen gives away what's happened here.
I've never felt so angry with myself as I ran it over and over in my head. What had I done differently? Was I really just pushing on too hard? Only on inspection many days later did we discover a big power steering leak had coated the underside of the car in fluids which we now think got on to one of the rear tyres. (not everyone believes this theory but I'll take it)
Either way, I had another dissapointed sponsor and a lot of work ahead of me.
Race 3 Donington Park 3rd October
The upside down action a month previously put paid to our appointment with Silverstone unfortunately so our 3rd race was a return to Donington to "try again".
This time we had a "Race Manager" with us in the form of David Roucka-Brown our race instructor at Portal Motorsport. The strategy this time was for me to drive first again! But only a short stint and then get David out for as much time as possible.
So I did my minimum number of laps and brought the car in for David. All was going well...
Until, after a few laps David didn't come around again and we had to wait for the end of the session to find out what had happened. This time it was mechanical failure. The bottom pulley had slipped and bent all the valves. Game over again and yet more spanner time for me.
We had a spare cylinder head and a quick strip down revealed no damage to the bottom end so a rebuild ensued with tips and pointers from Mark Fish along the way. A fortnight later and we were ready once more.
Race 4 & 5 Brands Hatch 31st October
We were determined to go out with a flourish. The last meet of the season and we had secured a second driver to partner Ryan in the No73 Clio. Alex Roberts is the proprietor of GPG Signs in Stevenage, www.gpgsigns.co.uk and the man responsible for the lovely CommsQuest livery on our car. He also happens to be a veteran of MX5 racing and fancied getting his racing boots on again.
We had 2 races lined up this time and the phillosophy was "JUST BLOODY FINISH".
Which I'm glad to say we did. With both cars! no lap records were set and no trophies were brought home but we finished! with our families watching and the sun shining it couldn't have been a better end to a somewhat crap season. And, as is the way with this addictive sport a finish like that leaves you chomping at the bit for the next season to start.
Watch this space for the 2016 season...
A test day the day before gave us the pick of the parking lot to set up in
Feeling a lot happier at the end of the day here.
The car didn't escape totally unharmed though.
Who has time to Blog?
I tell myself that I lead a full life. I'm always on the go; I'm always juggling more balls than seems to be comfortable; I constantly struggle to find time so I can catch up with friends, not to mention see my family. Yet, there always seems to be someone else who is getting more done; doing more "stuff", catching up with more friends and finding time to jet off on an exotic holiday 2 or 3 times a year!
So what am I doing wrong? Is it time management? Poor organisation, or are there just people in the world who have buckets more energy than other people and a knack for squeezing loads into their diary?
I have a very good friend who lives in New York (in fact he was best man at my wedding). He is VP of a certain Swiss Bank, and we catch up once or twice a year when he's over in London. (If I can find time!)
Whenever we meet he speaks of 15 hour days, flying all over North and South America on a weekly basis and socialising until the small hours at least twice a week. He manages to hold down his high flying job and still has time for fantastic holidays 3 or 4 times a year (at least).
I have to conclude, for my own sanity if nothing else. That the grass will always be greener and that it's very easy to look at other people's lives and see the good bits; the bits they want other people to see. Maybe my friend is under 5 times more pressure in his job than I am. Maybe he has high blood pressure? Maybe he is lonely?
To feel better, all I need to do is take a step back and look at my own life as if through someone else's eyes.
I love what I do.... I vowed years ago, only to ever have a job that I loved doing no matter what. And the day you stop loving the job is the day you quit and try something new.
So far I have managed to stick with that vow. I have 3 great businesses that definitely keep me busy and definitely don't make as much money as the VP of a Swiss bank. But I love all of them! Since the last day I worked for someone else back in 2000 I have never once woken up in the morning and not wanted to go to work. And of course I've never called in sick!
On top of that I have a beautiful wife and 2 beautiful daughters. I love watching them grow and endeavour to give them all the opportunities they need to try everything in life.
So, I may not have much time but it's only because I'm making the most of all of my time engaging in my passions.
After my family, cars have always been my one real passion and hopefully that passion rubs off on anyone I meet. Especially if they want to talk about cars.
