Re: James/BigAsh 182 Race Car by TDF... It doesn't get much better than this! *Pic He
Update:
So as a follow on from my last post about the sump being cracked, Matt called me first thing Friday morning and we had a chat about the sump and I described to him what I could see, we were both surprised as the sump hasn't taken any hit as far as I know so I am still baffled as to how i've done it but I'm just going to put it down to a dodgy casting and forget about it
Matt said to bring the car down and they will sort it out along with the other race prep before the race at Brands next Monday. I had the day free on Friday because of the cancelled Teeside test so I slowly worked through my list of jobs to do on the car, I got the passenger seat removed, removed the intercom, got the new R888's fitted to the freshly repainted OZ's, labelled up the control panel, fitted the sunstrip and got my name on the side windows lol
The stickers on the rest of the car will be fitted the day before the race because the wrap is getting a few things done to it in the mean time.
When I do work on the car it always takes me 10 times longer than I imagine it will take so I still didn't get chance to setup the video and data systems yet again but I will do this on raceday. I then set off to drop the car off at TDF
I really can't thank Matt and everyone at TDF enough, A lot of people ask me why I travel over 3 hours to get work done on the car and the reason is because I can't imagine anybody offering the personal level of service that TDF give while still doing great work and coming in at a good price. I know a lot of people will think that these are fan boy comments but without TDF I doubt I'd still be smiling about everything. I was supposed to arrive to Matt's at about 6.30pm on Friday but got stuck in traffic on the M1 and didn't arrive until 7.15pm I was that tired and worn out that I didn't even think to call on and let them know. Upon arriving then Matt and co were still patiently waiting for me and weren't bothered in the slightest with my late arrival. Instead Matt and the boys instantly got to work and unloaded the car from the trailer and started investigating and to see what the plan was for work next week. I was expecting to just drop it off and hear back from them next week but Matt could see that I was stressed out by it all and took a long time late on Friday to explain everything including the prep work they were going to do on the car and how they would fix the sump. We then discussed a few other bits and pieces for the first race and I mentioned about needing to collect the car before the race so that I could get chance to put the stickers on. I offered to drive down and collect it on Saturday but Matt went totally out of his way and offered to go into work on Sunday open up to allow me to collect the car en-route to Brands. He then offered to let me use the workshop to apply all the stickers and keep everything dry. These are all things that he never needs to offer but things that make my life much easier, Because of me he now doesn't have either Sunday or Bank holiday Monday off work which just goes to show his dedication to keeping customers happy. He has really helped me out with a few other things also and I am so grateful to him for everything!
I am now confident that everything will be sorted out and the car will be ready to roll on the 7th May for the race, Alan and Chris from TDF are supporting the car for the day which will be good although I do feel bad for Al having to come to work on a bank holiday which is the day after his B'day lol! Matt is also going to come down and see how I get on! I feel like they are all going well beyond what they need to do for me and its nice to know that I have so much support from them!
I am going to collect the car at TDF and then head down to Brands where apparently we are not allowed to enter the paddock until 7.30 so I will then get sorted and then get a decent nights sleep ready for raceday. The plan for the day is sign on and scruiteneering at 10, Qualifying at 11.20 and then the race at 17.30. I am really looking forward to it all and luckily am not feeling nervous like I expected I would. I have always said the aim for my first weekend is just to finish the race doesn't matter to me if I come last, I know this might sound boring but I need to just build up experience at the moment and not get ahead of myself.
Sorry if none of the above is written well but I still haven't had a decent nights sleep since last Tuesday so it's finally time for me to catch up on some sleep after a hectic few days and get myself ready for another busy weekend next week
Thanks as always for reading and i'm looking forward to letting you all know how I get on at the race
I have got a few pictures below of the car when I was at home
