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Chase Racing Clio Build Blog (TinTops Entry)



  Chase Racing Clio
10 – July Update & Castle Combe Race Report

Another break between races and another holiday to fit in; Ryan and I went down to Le Mans for the 24 hour race and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! As soon as we got back though, it was time to crack on with a few jobs that needed to be complete in time for the upcoming race at Castle Combe.

First up, we needed to fix the cooling issues. Changing the water pump was a must, but we also had a look at how we might be able to increase the cooling capacity. A bit of research and we found an alloy radiator from a VW golf that fitted with millimetres to spare and even had the pipe fittings in the same location! All for a bargain price of £87.50… I love eBay!

One other job we wanted to do before Combe was to fit a sliding seat rail. We have constantly been messing around with the seating position in order to compromise for our various body sizes, so we decided the best way to fix it was to rip it all out and start again. As you can see from the picture, we cut out the original ribs and welded in a new set which the rails will sit directly on to.

Once all these jobs had been completed, we were ready and raring to go for the race weekend. The race was scheduled for Sunday, but Ryan had decided to go down separately with his caravan on the Friday evening to watch Saturday’s races. Rob and I followed down on the Saturday, still worried about the weather forecast. We had decided to get hold of a dedicated set of wet tyres, opting for the Nankang NS-2R’s…. we were hoping not to need to use them.

Sunday morning broke and the skies were still overcast, but the track seemed to be dry. The car sailed through scrutineering and we made the call that the track was definitely dry enough not to warrant the wet tyres. Rob took to the track first, gradually building the pace in the car. Soon enough his 15 minutes were up and it was my turn.
A quick check of pressures, a swift driver change and out I went. The skies were still overcast but no rain had yet fallen. I get up to speed reasonably quickly and manage to pop in a time of 1:19.391 just before the rain comes down! We were 7[SUP]th[/SUP] on the grid, yet again, just tenths behind the black Clio of the Collins boys and with that pesky Civic of Dan Turner alongside us in 8[SUP]th[/SUP].

Race time was soon upon us and we’d decided that I would start the race. I was really looking forward to the race as I anticipated a nice tight battle between ourselves and the other two aforementioned competitors. The race began smoothly at the front of the field, but little did we know about the mayhem behind us. By the first chicane the red flags were out and we were told to line back up on the grid. A few minutes past and we were told it may be a while, so we jumped out of the cars to cool off; the weather was quite nice by this time. Five minutes later we were told to return the cars to the pits and that they would get the next race out on track.

Due to the fact that it was our race that had caused the hold up, they decided to try and move everything forward with the aim to get us back on the track at the end of the day. So, with no real guarantee of whether we would even get a race we sat in the paddock, watched some racing and waited to hear what would happen. At 5.45, with the track curfew of 6.30 fast approaching, we found out that the race was to last approximately 15 minutes and that it would be a single driver race.

So, we had to make a decision as to who was to drive. The deciding factor was that I needed a few more signatures on my license in order to hit the magic six by the end of the year. Rob kindly agreed that I would drive…I’ll have to make it up to him somehow.

Due to the fact that the race was limited for time, there was to be no green flag lap and we’d be heading away from the grid at race speed on cold tyres. I was a little overly cautious off the line and lost a couple of places in the first few corners, dropping to 9[SUP]th[/SUP]. I managed to keep my speed up coming out of the first chicane and managing to dive back inside the No.1 Puma in to the right hander of tower. Once I was passed, it was time to get after the DC2 Integra that had got passed straight off the line.

After a couple of laps I was lining up to pass the Integra. He made me work for it, but I was able to stick it up the inside in to the first chicane. By this time, the Collins Clio had pulled a gap on me, but the Woods Focus and one of the 306s had bumped in to each other and knocked themselves out of the race. We were then running 6[SUP]th[/SUP] on the road.

I got my head down and tried to be as fast and smooth as possible, clocking 6 laps all with a quarter of a second of each other!! The gap seemed to be closing, but by just tenths at a time. I had also seen the Ainge DC5 Integra had been given a 5 second time penalty for track limits and I could see him only a few seconds ahead of me on the road. So, seeing that I was barely catching the Civic and Clio in front of me, tried to make sure I remained within 5 seconds of the Integra so I would inherit 5[SUP]th[/SUP] place. Despite a bit of lapped traffic getting in the way, I just managed to do that and gained a place by default. On the final lap, the Carl Chambers 306 had a very unlucky engine blow out and I inherited another place.

A solid 4[SUP]th[/SUP] place finish in a one-off sprint race was a good result, still a sense of what could’ve been though, with quite a bit of understeer that needs to be remedied. A big thank you to all those who came to support and personally to Rob for letting me take the seat for this race. Our attention now shifts to the Anglesey round where we’ll be looking for more progression and hopefully another successful event.

 
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  Chase Racing Clio
Well done guys, 1:18's is not a bad pace around Combe.

Are you suffering from bump steer ?

Yeh, happy with 1.18... just know there's still a bit more to come from it. I'm pretty sure the bump steer isn't an issue, we spent enough time modifying the subframe that it betta had be! I don't think we need to change the hardware too much any more, it's just setup work. Having 3 drivers doesn't help that when we all have a different opinion of what needs to be done. Rob's got some plans for Angelesy which we hope will promote a little more front end grip, then we'll take it from there.

When's your beast back on the track?
 
  182cup & 172 racecar
Only asked, as you seem to fighting the wheel in some unusual places.

You will get some understeer at Anglesey, nature of the circuit.

Glad all is going well, and yes it must be tricky with three of you, trying to find a set up that suits you all.

Keep it up. :)
 
  Chase Racing Clio
Anglesey Race Report - August 2014

Anglesey is quite a long way from where we’re based and it’s similar for most other people in fact. With that in mind, we decided that rather than setting off in the early hours of the morning we would travel up on Saturday afternoon, and stay at the circuit overnight. We managed to negotiate the loan of a Land Rover Discovery for the weekend (work benefits) which meant we could travel up in one vehicle. Big thanks to Brian for that one.
IMG_0199_zps12027035.jpg

We had packed a tent and began to set it up at around 8.30 pm. Unfortunately before we had finished putting the tent up, a stiff gust of wind snapped most of the poles and we had to find somewhere else to stay. There was a free room at a B&B about a mile down the road which came in handy, so £89 later we were out of the wind and in a warm room.
The next morning, after a nice spot of breakfast at the B&B we made our way to the track. After signing on and rolling the car through scrutineering we drove around the paddock a bit. The brakes hadn’t quite felt right since we changed all the pads and they weren’t get any better. We decided to bleed some fluid through them and got the car up on axle stands. It soon became apparent that only the rear brakes were working which gave us some cause for concern. It turned out, one of the hoses that supplies the master cylinder was kinked and wasn’t allowing fluid to flow in from the reservoir and we weren’t actually bleeding fluid through. We had moved the reservoir away from the exhaust manifold after the fire at Castle Coombe. So, with Rob holding the pipes, we managed to bleed out the trapped air and got our brake pedal back. The brakes were faultless all day after this mild panic.This weekend the CSCC were offering another race for pretty much anyone who fancied it, called “Sports vs Saloons”. There were a few Caterham 7 type cars, a couple of BMW M3s, a Porsche 968, Lotus Cortina, BMW 1800 and a few Jags as well as a couple of cars from our series. We had signed up to this along with the usual Tin Tops but had to contend with qualifying and race sessions back to back.
IMG_0197_zps3aa642d4.jpg

The Tin Tops was first of the sessions and there was some light drizzle and with no dry line appearing. Along with some scare stories from Northerners Masters and Lawton, we decided to fit our new wet tyres. They didn’t work very well and the track turned out to be just a little bit damp and nothing to be concerned about. We managed to qualify down in 15[SUP]th[/SUP] with a time of 1.26.5. For the next qualifying sessions, we changed back to the usual Dunlops and posted a time 5 seconds quicker which put us 8[SUP]th[/SUP] in that race and would have put us 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] on the grid for the Tin Tops race rather than the 15[SUP]th[/SUP] that we had managed. It was nice to know that our lack of pace was down to the tyres and we should be able to make up a fair few places in the race, provided we weren’t too far back to catch some of the cars further up the grid.
We also found ourselves getting rather involved with some friends of Ryan’s who were racing an M3 in the future classics race. We gave them a hand with the pit stop along with some swift repairs to the bumper and light cluster after they had a coming together with another BMW. This kept us occupied between our morning sessions and the Tin Tops race, before we knew it the races were upon us.We were to start 13[SUP]th[/SUP] on the grid after a few cars ahead of us had dropped down after qualifying for various reasons. Nevertheless, Ryan made a decent start and was up to 9[SUP]th[/SUP] by the end of the first lap. He managed to make up a few more spots until he came in for the driver change in 5[SUP]th [/SUP]position. Rob took over and after making another spot in the pits, came out with a BMW compact in front who pitted just before us. There was a bit of a gap to the quicker pairing of Woods in his Focus and the Tongue/Hammersley in the Peugeot 306. Rob managed to slip ahead of the BMW at Rocket after a couple of laps and then a few laps later the Focus was parked in the middle of the circuit, the alternator apparently having fallen off which meant we were up to second. Towards the end of the race, we noticed Rob was catching the 306 at a reasonable rate, but there were a few back markers to make it through too. We assumed he had a problem and Rob was trying his upmost to get in front of him before time ran out. Unfortunately, there’s wasn’t quite enough time left and we finished just half a second behind over the line! Second overall and first in class is our best result so far so we’re really pleased.The Sports V Saloons race was up next and after a frantic change over where we had to throw a can of fuel in, we were soon on the grid, the brakes and tyres still fairly warm from the Tin Tops race. We were 8[SUP]th[/SUP] on the grid lined up behind 6 Caterhams and an E36 M3. Rob started the race this time, having come straight from the Tin Tops race. The start wasn’t the best with a Porsche and an E46 M3 getting past, then an XJS also having the best part of a (very long) half car length in front into the banked hairpin. The car seemed to have far more traction than everyone else out of the hairpin though and we soon left them all behind through the quick section. The field spread out with the Caterhams starting to lap people about 2 laps later and the first M3 was off in to the distance. The other M3 caught up and over took for half a lap a bit later but seemed to suffer some sort of problem (loose wheel we found out later) and slowed again, so we got a place back. Rob entered the pits at the halfway mark, managing to get away with locking the wheel on pit entry. Ryan took over at half time and put in a good solid stint, the car didn’t seem to show any signs of slowing down and he posted our fastest lap of the weekend in the last 5 laps of this second race. We finished where we qualified, 8th overall, 3rd in class and the second car on the road with a proper roof.
IMG_0225_zps6087c720.jpg

Overall we’re really happy with how the weekend went and particularly pleased with the consistency and reliability the car showed. There is still a bit of work to do on the set-up but we’re now looking forward to Donington Park on August 30
[SUP]th[/SUP]
.

 
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  Chase Racing Clio
What happened at the weekend guys? I was spectating at Donny and saw you had problems, didn't get a chance to come and say hello as I was with the mrs + little one.
Russ

We suffered an alternator failure.... we actually spotted something was wrong in the assembly area! Just went out hoping it would fix itself with a bit of engine speed, but not to be. Ryan managed to knock the fuel pump off on the first lap too, whilst trying to turn the lambda gauge off in a vain attempt to save some electrons.

We're pretty sure we've just cooked it 'cause of where it's positioned and the lack of air flow, so it should be a simple fix. It's just a massive wounder, the car was on song in practice and my only clear lap, which was a little messy got us 1st in class on the grid. So there was plenty of pace in the car, just totally gutted we didn't get a chance to show it.
 
  Chase Racing Clio
I was feeling confident all week that we had the ability to beat them this time out and the qually time showed that, just really gutted we didn't get a chance to show it. They go well at Oulton and know it a fair bit better than we do, so we'll have to see what that race brings. We'll get the little issues sorted and get back out there!
 
  Chase Racing Clio
Sorry to hear you had issues - no spare alternator? I've yet to get a spare too, must get one soon as a few have gone for various teams this year.

No spare...and it was too late by the time we'd spotted it anyway. We were in the assembly area when we noticed. So, not only get a couple of them, but a change to process to make sure we check the car over for faults like that as soon as it gets in from qually.
 
Sorry about the issues mate. I did carry a spare alternator myself but used it not long ago.

I think I might get another one just in case.

Car looks great by the way!
 
  clio cup
That's a shame guys,
I've had one fail too, it's purely down to the high constant RPM and lack of cooling, I've now fitted a larger diameter pulley to slow it down a bit,
When I inspected the old one I could see how hot the comm had been, from then it just overheats and fries the regulator,
 
Where did you get the pulley from Dave?

Sounds like a good idea to me.


That's a shame guys,
I've had one fail too, it's purely down to the high constant RPM and lack of cooling, I've now fitted a larger diameter pulley to slow it down a bit,
When I inspected the old one I could see how hot the comm had been, from then it just overheats and fries the regulator,
 
  clio cup
Damn!
I've given the game away, lol , I have a mate that repairs rotating electrics so just had a rumage round his workshop
 
  Chase Racing Clio
Sorry about the issues mate. I did carry a spare alternator myself but used it not long ago.

I think I might get another one just in case.

Car looks great by the way!

Yeh, it'll be a purchase of 2 i think...just in case.

And thanks, I'm in charge of how it looks and it's gradually turning in to the blue and green monster I've always imagined!

Thats a shame guys... How many alternator failures has there been this season now? Just goes to show its worth carrying one as a spare. So was it down to ambient heat that made it fail?

We're pretty sure ambient heat has killed it, it's packaged in a position that can't be great for air flow. Rob's pulling it out tonight, so we should have confirmation that is the case tomorrow.

Damn!
I've given the game away, lol , I have a mate that repairs rotating electrics so just had a rumage round his workshop

It is a good idea, did you do any maths to figure out by how much you've slowed it down?
 

Ph1 Tom

ClioSport Club Member
It is a good idea, did you do any maths to figure out by how much you've slowed it down?

Alternators generally work at their best around 2-3k rpm. So if you double the pulley size then your making its optimum around 4-6k rpm :)

I think mine is going slowly so I'll be changing mine with a bigger pulley too.
 
Alternators generally work at their best around 2-3k rpm. So if you double the pulley size then your making its optimum around 4-6k rpm :)

I think mine is going slowly so I'll be changing mine with a bigger pulley too.


Bigger pulley will make it run even more slowly mate.
 
  Chase Racing Clio
Here's the slow death of our car and the crushing of my Donington dreams. Started 12th on the grid, just ahead of the Collins Clio.... a little bit of a steady start and we lost a few places. Then, in a vain attempt to shut the driver vent, Ryan knocked the fuel pump switch off heading down craners! He gets it back on after the old hairpin and gets back up to speed..... but it only lasted 5 more laps before the misfiring became unbearable.

 
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  Chase Racing Clio
Here's my qualifying stint from the weekend.... lap 5 was the quickest one, but it wasn't perfect, there was a few errors. Lap 6 I went off at McLeans, hehe

 
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  Chase Racing Clio
How did Oulton go chaps? Think it was the same weekend we were at Cadwell?

Not too bad, we managed to complete both races. I've updated the blog on the website....chaseracing.co.uk

Photobucket was irritating me, so I haven't updated this thread
 


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