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BIGASH/FF-Racing X85 Clio Cup Racer Project



Just got back from holiday this morning which was nice but time to get on with getting the car ready for its many outings!

Got some new tyres and brake pads ordered while I was away so should get cracking with the car middle of the week.

I’ve also entered the Birkett Relay race which should be good fun but 4 race weekends in 6 weeks will be a bit of fun!

Will update with pics as and when anything happens :)
 
Cadwell Park Weekend

Had a very busy few days getting the car ready for Cadwell, the car needed a full fluids change, spark plugs, dodgy injector replacing, new air filter, swap track day brake pads to the ones I use for racing and the list goes on.

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Lock wire rear brake pads to stop them escaping!
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The harnesses needed replacing as they were out of date so spec'd a set of HANS specific 6 point ones, then realised the extinguisher was out of date so a very quick rush job to get that serviced.

The new bumper I'd fitted at the beginning of the year needed wrapping so that was done!

New harness time
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Quick clean while the seat was out
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New harnesses in and done
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Wrap done apparently!
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That's more like it :)
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Setting up the flat patch and corner weight scales
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Quick geo and cornerweight check
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Back on the ground just awaiting a clean and stickers
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So then it was time to pack up the car and head to Cadwell! I've got http://www.apexmotorsportlogistics.co.uk/ helping me this weekend with taking the car and a lot of the stuff up which is a massive help!

So I got to Cadwell earlier and setup camp in the dark, gazebo is up and the new generator working well to light us up. Got a little gas BBQ so we can have some nice warm food to look forward to tomorrow.

Tony has arrived so had a quick catch up and now time to go to sleep in the car on a double air bed! It's really comfy actually much better than the drivers seat of the coupe :)

Going to see what time I wake up but will probably do a bit of testing at some point!

Only other thing has been my new helmet I bought the other week just came back today from painting. Really love the work Pier's Dowell (PDP Designs) have done!

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Bed time now!
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Thanks for reading, James
 
Car looks great! Love that you corner weight it yourself too :)

Good luck this weekend, can't wait to watch the footage and read the post race report. Bed looks pretty comfy!!

That Birkett relay should be great fun. I was planning on coming up to watch so i'll see you there. From what I've heard it's 6 Clios per team? I'm pretty sure my mate @GW200 has entered into it too...

Are the old harnesses for sale, and the extinguisher ;) ?
 
A friend crashed his Clio at Brands when a rear pad fell out, but this was due to the bottom retaining bar and papaer clip falling out, always thought it was standard that the retaining bar was lock wired in place.

Agree those air beds are comfy, good to see updates on the car,.

See you in a few hours James, hope the testing went well.
 
Thanks for the kind words :) today didn't go to plan update to follow!

That Birkett relay should be great fun. I was planning on coming up to watch so i'll see you there. From what I've heard it's 6 Clios per team?

Are the old harnesses for sale, and the extinguisher ;) ?
It's just 6 cars per team so I'm in a team with another Clio, a Caterham, a Morgan, a Ferrari and something else.

Yes old harnesses will be for sale but only the drivers ones need the passenger side still for laps ;)
Lovely stuff! Helmet looks great and the car looks lovely as ever. Will see you two tomorrow :)

Ps. Who was big spoon and who was little spoon in the 5er? ;)
Haha thanks mate :)

Lol Lee brought 'hotel disco' so we had a car to ourselves ;)
 
So not the greatest day, slight judder on the brakes which I think was the new pads. Also the new pads stop the car so well but love locking up so I flatspotted a tyre on the first lap of the day. Went out in the second session on new tyres to bed them in and set pressures for the race but after only a few laps lost all drive. Managed to get out to a save place and get over the barrier.

I presumed with the bad luck I've had with the gearbox that it was broken again. Had a quick look and seemed to be correct. Set about trying to source another gearbox and an engine crane to set about fixing it. Thankfully chip came to the rescue for both so Apex Lee went off to go and collect them. I started pulling the car apart and then we have been working to sort it out until now. It turns out it was the centre of the clutch plate that's exploded hence no drive. I have an uprated one on the shelf which I'm due to fit the next time the engine came out I just didn't plan on fitting it at Cadwell. Thankfully Chip also had a clutch so that is now in the car. Massive thanks to everyone who helped! Tony yet again a legend and cooked me and Lee an epic dinner while we were cracking on with the car. Huge thanks to Lee to as he had a full days work and then messed around getting parts and staying up late to fit them.

Oh well it's too easy to give up and I can now tick off my list engine removal at a race track on wet grass!

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What a day so far! On pole this morning by a second but then put it in the tyre wall at 30mph after dodging a slowing car.

Won the first race and had a good tussle but was on the wrong tyres for the conditions so the car wasn't great to drive. Hopefully it'll dry up or get damp again rather than 50:50.
 
Excellent result James for the first race of the season, car seemed to be going very well, makes all the hard effort the night before getting the engine in and out make it and the late night make it all worth while :)

See you at Oulton
 
Cadwell weekend report:

This time a week ago we were trucking upto Cadwell, it was a great weekend wish I could do it all again every weekend!

So testing didn’t really go to plan, New brake pads causing vibrations and the new tyres not working well were annoying but coming into the Mountain complex I went over a kerb in 2nd gear and suddenly lost all drive. I presumed it was the gearbox what with its less than perfect track record. So 8 laps into testing and that was the day over. It would of been all too easy to load the trailer up and call it a day but i’d taken 4 days of work for the weekend and to get the car ready so I wasn’t going to give in easily! Started to ring around some friends and Chip based less than an hour away was a great shout by another friend of mine (thanks Steve) Chip being his usual generous self offered me a selection of gearboxes of which I chose to go no diff but better gearing rather than worse gearing with a diff. I also went through the symptoms with Chip who suggested it could be the clutch so he also provided me a 2nd hand clutch and an engine crane. Thankfully Lee from Apex had been doing a job down south and it was only about an hour out of his route back to Cadwell to go and collect the parts. He’d started work at 6am and it wasn’t looking like it was going to be an early night.

Once the parts were arranged I got out of my race suit and into some scruffy clothes to get the car stripped down ready for the parts arriving. Thankfully for the weekend I had bought a generator and some site lights, without these we would have really struggled to get the job done. Lee arrived a couple of hours later with the parts just as it was getting dark. Engine crane came straight out of the trailer and into action. With the engine on the floor and me splitting the gearbox from the engine thoughts turned to food. Tony very kindly suggested cooking while me and Lee carried on with the help of David Clark and his friend (Sorry I didn’t catch your name :() I selected the gears under the box and tuned the input shaft and all felt fine. Then we saw metal shavings in the bell housing, took the clutch off and sure enough the centre splined section of the friction plate had shattered away from the friction material so was just spinning and not giving any drive. So time to put the clutch back in that Chip had donated and put the normal box in too. The food Tony made was amazing and then it was time to get the engine back in the car and running. It took about 75 minutes from the engine sat on the floor to being back in and finished. That wasn’t even going mental at it. Huge thanks to everyone for the moral support and mostly to my buddy Lee for helping out after such a long day! You couldn’t ask for anyone more helpful!

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Race Day:

Next morning and it was time for scrutineering, Sailed through and got my little sticker for the new helmet. Then it was onto tyre choice for the qualifying session it looked like R888 weather so went with that. Got out first in quail so tried to get some heat into the tyres and build up to a hot lap before I caught up with traffic. Just coming round the final corner of my first hot lap the red flag dropped. Doh that wasn’t going to count :( Fortunately my warm up lap the lap before was good enough for pole by a second. In the hot lap I was already up by 3 seconds but didn’t really matter now I was on Pole for the Tricolore series. After the red flag I did an outlaw and caught up to a slowing (trying to find a gap in the traffic) Nippon front runners I went past him and had a big lock up and couldn’t avoid hitting the tyre wall. This took off the front bumper, damaged the rad and a few other bits but Lee managed to get it patched up nicely. Managed to reverse it out and carry on but not enough time to set a better time with the traffic.


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Race 1:

Had to make a call on the tyres and opted to stay on the R888’s as we thought it was still damp. On the green flag lap realised this wasn’t the case but too late to do anything about it now. I got an okay start or so I thought but Simon in the saxo flew past like I was stood still. After Charlies Mr Lockwood in the Jap car came flying past also like I was stood still. No point trying to block him when he’s in another class. Tried to close Simon in but then on the second lap the safety car came out which we followed for a lap. On the restart the civic didn’t seem to react, Simon went to the right and ended up on the grass I was going to follow him until he was on the grass so I chinked right and then was in the lead of the Frenchies. The civic (racing in the nippon and much quicker) caught up quickly so I held off my entry into goose neck and let him through and then tried to manage the gap to Simon. The tyres were well out of their comfort zone and I was understeering all over the place. Keeping Simon behind was going to be tricky especially with his straight line advantage I had to really focus on great corner exits to try and get a jump on him each straight. He got a run on me heading out of Charlie's which I chose not to defend, I braked a touch after my usual reference and he wasn’t braking so was doubting he was going to make the corner. I took a later entry to try and cut back on the inside but he ran even wider than I expected and then it was just a matter of getting to the end of the race with those tyres without throwing it at the scenery so backed it off and come over the line for the win. Was a good race albeit annoying with the tyre choice but still fun and enjoyed the battle with Simon. Apparently the first Renault to win a race this year!

Video:

[video=youtube_share;Gk9IoUmGSnU]http://youtu.be/Gk9IoUmGSnU[/video]

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Race 2:

Dry for the start of race 2 so onto the Dunlops although tyre pressures were a guess as lack of testing the day before. Bogged down off the start a bit so a bit more gas and clutch back in a touch and then we were off, Simon was right on my back bumper with nowhere to go, Civic on the inside of me going into the first corner which put me offline. Then into the second corner back end of mine came round a bit thankfully caught quickly not so lucky for the civic in front who had a full spin and head backwards onto the racing line, trying to decide which way to go was a tricky one but thankfully managed to get through okay... Just.

Then time to crack on with the dunlops on I had the pace on Simon. Russ then got past Simon and came after me. Unfortunately he had a lock up and couldn’t make the final corner, I had a fear he wouldn’t make it so didn’t turn in but unfortunately he came into the side of me :( He was very quick to apologise so fair play to him, mistakes happen and these things are always going to happen in racing just hopefully not too often :)

While this happened Simon sneaked through, I wasn’t sure on the damage to my car so was cautious but managed to get onto the back of Simon, The rear end of mine was all over the place. I wasn’t going to get past Simon without a bold risky move or him making a mistake so just had a nice close bumper to bumper last few laps to bring the car home. Really enjoyed the battle with the Saxo and it seemed a fair fight what he gains on the straight I seem to make up for in the corners. So finished in second.

Video:
[video=youtube_share;qQHA6oi8CAw]http://youtu.be/qQHA6oi8CAw[/video]

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So overall not a bad set of results to say the engine was out the night before and with the changeable conditions. I had lots of fun and did better than I thought going into the weekend as I knew the competition had picked up the pace since last year.

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So moving forwards the engine and box need to come out to swap to my uprated clutch and repair the car from my antics. Need yet another set of catches for the front bumper, New bonnet and some wrapping. Then sort the side think the door should be repairable where its cracked and the car is at the bodyshop at the moment. The impact has shortened the drivers side from where its gone in but its going on the jig so will be pulled back straight hopefully which will correct this. Thankfully that explains the lively rear end after the accident as the impact didn’t touch any of the wheels so was an odd one. Then just a matter of re wrap it and put a new side skirt on :) Looking forward to getting it back fixed as was annoying walking past it everyday this week looking so battered!

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At the bodyshop :)
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Thanks for reading as ever and really looking forward to Birkett and Snetterton next :)
 
Well done bud! When is the snett race? I will try make it, I say this every time I know but one day I might not work and make it a race there! ha.


Also im a massive fan of fixing the car on site and driving round with no bumper, big thumbs up from me as ever!
 
  Audi A6 & 172 Cup
Cracking write up James, your car looks to be going really well.
Obviously a pity about the wee mishap with Russ but at least you both still managed to get a decent result at the end of it.

Have you strung the car to see how far the axle has moved?
Hard to tell but that 1/4 panel doesnt look that bad from those pictures, pretty sure it'll pull out and repair ok.
Are there any tell tale cracks in the paint around the axle mounts?
 
  182
Great write up and a very enjoyable read.

I'm Dave Clarks Son, it was a pleasure to lend a hand refitting the box' and to see the car back up and running again.

From a spectators point of view you provided some great racing and it was nice to see a new car at the front because Simons Saxo has been so dominant all season.

I'll be at the Birkett so will be good to see the car back out in action. The Birkett is such a fantastic event I'm sure you'll do really well.

Have a good one

Jack
 
Thanks guys :)

Well done bud! When is the snett race? I will try make it, I say this every time I know but one day I might not work and make it a race there! ha.
Haha thanks mate! Its the 1st of November would be good to see you there :)
Cracking write up James, your car looks to be going really well.
Obviously a pity about the wee mishap with Russ but at least you both still managed to get a decent result at the end of it.

Have you strung the car to see how far the axle has moved?
Hard to tell but that 1/4 panel doesnt look that bad from those pictures, pretty sure it'll pull out and repair ok.
Are there any tell tale cracks in the paint around the axle mounts?
Thanks mate, Yeah wasn’t too bad the car could be better :)

Yeah exactly!

Yes should pull fine, the bodyshop are hoping they dont need to weld in a rear wing or sill but will have to see when they start pulling it

Its deformed the inner sill and up the inside of the car on the rear 3/4 along with pushing the sill down and rippling the floor. Yes from my measurements 3mm which I didn’t think sounds a lot but apparently isn’t great. I guess they will do it when it’s on the jig too. The main concern was a ping in the rear wing about 2ft away from the nearest contact which seemed a concern but the bodyshop have done great stuff for me before so have every confidence by this time next week it’ll be good as new :)
 
Great write up and a very enjoyable read.

I'm Dave Clarks Son, it was a pleasure to lend a hand refitting the box' and to see the car back up and running again.

From a spectators point of view you provided some great racing and it was nice to see a new car at the front because Simons Saxo has been so dominant all season.

I'll be at the Birkett so will be good to see the car back out in action. The Birkett is such a fantastic event I'm sure you'll do really well.

Have a good one

Jack
Hi Jack I did wonder if you were his Son or a friend sorry didn’t want to offend anyone lol!

Was great to meet you both and your help was massively appreciated. I think my brain must of been very tired the amount of times I messed the release bearing up!

Yes I was really surprised when Simon said I was the first Renault to win this year he’s got a great little car to be fair to him!

Yes really looking forward to the Birkett and see you and your Dad then.

Thanks again and speak soon

James
 
  Audi A6 & 172 Cup
Thanks guys :)


Haha thanks mate! Its the 1st of November would be good to see you there :)

Thanks mate, Yeah wasn’t too bad the car could be better :)

Yeah exactly!

Yes should pull fine, the bodyshop are hoping they dont need to weld in a rear wing or sill but will have to see when they start pulling it

Its deformed the inner sill and up the inside of the car on the rear 3/4 along with pushing the sill down and rippling the floor. Yes from my measurements 3mm which I didn’t think sounds a lot but apparently isn’t great. I guess they will do it when it’s on the jig too. The main concern was a ping in the rear wing about 2ft away from the nearest contact which seemed a concern but the bodyshop have done great stuff for me before so have every confidence by this time next week it’ll be good as new :)

For a race car, it's all relative. So long as you can get the side looking right, you can adjust the axle to get your alignment back to where it should be.
Where else did it ping on the 1/4 panel? just at the base of the C-pillar near the window?
 


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