Turbos.
The Britcar 500 is a 6 hour version of the 24 hour race you may have seen on Top Gear. With the Elise's previous fragility, it was never really on the cards, but with our main competitors not attending, it provided a chance for us to go for a win in their absence.
I've never raced on the Silverstone GP circuit before, so the first thing we did was a trackday with our co-driver Rob Barff. Rob works at Silverstone and probably knows it better than anyone. By the end of the day we'd learnt the lines well in a rented Elise.
As the day came to a close, we met up with the race team who were unpacking all the gear for the weekend.
Some tasty cars were already in the car park too!
Everyone agreed that it was best to save the car for the race and do as few laps as needed. The car was prepped and we simply went over our lines and altered things like the pit lane limiter.
Worringly, the car wasn't running well from the start, despite a fresh engine! After replacing a few bits, it turns out the coil pack was knackered where the car was idling rich for ages. Thankfully, it was easy to sort and we were back out.
The next day was qualifying, where we had to do a mandatory 3 laps per driver at both day and night.
Rob (an ex-milkman and vinyl graphic designer) became sticker b**ch, applying some day-glo stripes so we could be seen better!
The car was checked over with fresh brakes fitted.
Qualifing at night was pretty scary, we relied on Rob setting a decent pace!
The lights worked, but they were a bit crap in all honesty. We couldn't add too much as the alternator isn't much cop...
The little LED light fitted on the roof was meant to make us easy to see in the pitlane. It mysteriously disappeared in the race LOL...
We then got bored and started mincing around as the race wasn't until 4 'clock the next day.
Race day objective was pretty simple. Our main competitor bluffed, as he'd turned up. Essentially we needed him to DNF in order to make Brands the decider. Because of that, it didn't really matter where we came, but obviously we still wanted to do well!
Before all that, there were a number of pitwalks for the public.
It was decided that Rob would do the first stint of the race. The idea was that he could put pressure on the rival M3 CSL, increasing chances of its known transmission issues over long distances.
Rob made a great start, but it was nervous watching the first few laps!
I was next to get in the car after an hour and a half. Avoiding the night, i thought i would have an easy ride. Little did i realise the sunset would mean a few corners couldn't be seen at all!
I brought the car in after my stint without any major problems, other than the tyres were shagged. Unfortunatley, as my dad got in to take over it started to rain. He was going out in pitch black, in the rain, with slicks...
After a few laps, we had to bring him in for wets, costing an additional pit stop. Worse still, the Ferrari team next door came out at the same time as our mechanics. My dad accidently stopped at their pits wasting more time! Even worse, we had a stop go penalty for overtaking under yellows... despite the fact the car had spun!
Our other driver James did his stint that involved a safety car thanks to an old E-Type dumping it's oil everywhere. This gave our competitiors a chance to get a 'free' pitstop. We were 2 laps down.
With an hour to go, Rob got back in the car to bring the car home. Almost unbelievably, the little Elise was still running fine but it looked impossible for Rob, despite being the 3rd fastest car on track.
Rob took the chequer flag in an admirable 10th place and 3rd in class. Although we'd beaten many faster cars, we were disappointed not to win class.
The guy in the CSL did in fact DNF, but finished 40% of the race which was enough to get him classified. The championship is therefore out of our reach.
The car finished totally unscathed. Nice collection of rubber in the engine bay though!
We're now 2nd in the championship with a small lead over a Seat Leon Supercopa. It will be essential for us to beat him at Brands next month to get the runners up spot!
Finishing with a photo of the team...
Come and join us at Brands on the 7th/8th where both cars will be racing
I've never raced on the Silverstone GP circuit before, so the first thing we did was a trackday with our co-driver Rob Barff. Rob works at Silverstone and probably knows it better than anyone. By the end of the day we'd learnt the lines well in a rented Elise.
As the day came to a close, we met up with the race team who were unpacking all the gear for the weekend.
Some tasty cars were already in the car park too!
Everyone agreed that it was best to save the car for the race and do as few laps as needed. The car was prepped and we simply went over our lines and altered things like the pit lane limiter.
Worringly, the car wasn't running well from the start, despite a fresh engine! After replacing a few bits, it turns out the coil pack was knackered where the car was idling rich for ages. Thankfully, it was easy to sort and we were back out.
The next day was qualifying, where we had to do a mandatory 3 laps per driver at both day and night.
Rob (an ex-milkman and vinyl graphic designer) became sticker b**ch, applying some day-glo stripes so we could be seen better!
The car was checked over with fresh brakes fitted.
Qualifing at night was pretty scary, we relied on Rob setting a decent pace!
The lights worked, but they were a bit crap in all honesty. We couldn't add too much as the alternator isn't much cop...
The little LED light fitted on the roof was meant to make us easy to see in the pitlane. It mysteriously disappeared in the race LOL...
We then got bored and started mincing around as the race wasn't until 4 'clock the next day.
Race day objective was pretty simple. Our main competitor bluffed, as he'd turned up. Essentially we needed him to DNF in order to make Brands the decider. Because of that, it didn't really matter where we came, but obviously we still wanted to do well!
Before all that, there were a number of pitwalks for the public.
It was decided that Rob would do the first stint of the race. The idea was that he could put pressure on the rival M3 CSL, increasing chances of its known transmission issues over long distances.
Rob made a great start, but it was nervous watching the first few laps!
I was next to get in the car after an hour and a half. Avoiding the night, i thought i would have an easy ride. Little did i realise the sunset would mean a few corners couldn't be seen at all!
I brought the car in after my stint without any major problems, other than the tyres were shagged. Unfortunatley, as my dad got in to take over it started to rain. He was going out in pitch black, in the rain, with slicks...
After a few laps, we had to bring him in for wets, costing an additional pit stop. Worse still, the Ferrari team next door came out at the same time as our mechanics. My dad accidently stopped at their pits wasting more time! Even worse, we had a stop go penalty for overtaking under yellows... despite the fact the car had spun!
Our other driver James did his stint that involved a safety car thanks to an old E-Type dumping it's oil everywhere. This gave our competitiors a chance to get a 'free' pitstop. We were 2 laps down.
With an hour to go, Rob got back in the car to bring the car home. Almost unbelievably, the little Elise was still running fine but it looked impossible for Rob, despite being the 3rd fastest car on track.
Rob took the chequer flag in an admirable 10th place and 3rd in class. Although we'd beaten many faster cars, we were disappointed not to win class.
The guy in the CSL did in fact DNF, but finished 40% of the race which was enough to get him classified. The championship is therefore out of our reach.
The car finished totally unscathed. Nice collection of rubber in the engine bay though!
We're now 2nd in the championship with a small lead over a Seat Leon Supercopa. It will be essential for us to beat him at Brands next month to get the runners up spot!
Finishing with a photo of the team...
Come and join us at Brands on the 7th/8th where both cars will be racing
