172 Race Car
2011 was our 2nd season in the Classic Sports Car Clubs TinTops series and the new season started early for us, with a trackday at Brands Hatch in December 2010. We had done a few things to the car prior to the day, mainly centred around reliability. During 2010 we had several things fall off, break, come loose or generally not work as expected so our winter plan was to make sure the car was reliable and had no issues before the season started.
A few weeks before the first race we managed to squeeze in a test at Mallory Park, the car performed very well and the diff had made a huge improvement to the times around there. The car only needing minor adjustments to get a reasonable balance. Mallory proved to be a good track for us last year with the setup suiting the layout. We hoped it would work for Brands as it was.
Our 2nd race of the season was at Donington Park. To try to sort out our handling woes, we managed to get a few hours on the trackday the day before. Every change we made was a slight improvement but we needed more. We went for a big change on rear spring rate and it worked, the car was so much better. A couple of more adjustments and short runs and we had a car that was actually driveable. The next day and qualifying was damp. We were on new tyres so it was very slippery to start with. We both struggled to find a clear lap and ended up 11th. I took the start and it was to be a rolling getaway, the first one I had done. The car felt very good straight away, nicely balanced and gave me confidence to push on. I made several places including having a nice battle with an Integra. We pitted and rejoined 6th. Tony was just getting into it when the safety car came out, shortly followed by the chequered flag. The race was cut due to a few incidents. A very promising weekend, the car was so much better to drive and our pitstop was the quickest yet.
Our next meeting was one of a favorites, at the Anglesey Coastal circuit. The weather on Friday was lovely and we had a test in the afternoon. Mainly working on minor setup adjustments and practice pitstops. The car was quicker than last year but we ran out of time to really get it dialled in. It was a little lazy on turn in. The forecast for race day was mixed and we woke up to a damp start to the day. 30mins before quali we had to make a decision on what tyres to run. The circuit was wet but the sun was just coming out. We took the safe option and went for road tyres. It turned out that in the end we were one of only 2 cars that choose that option. Early on in the session it looked like our gamble would pay off as we were 2nd quickest, but as the track dried we tumbled down the order and ended up 11th. The race was dry and sunny so we were back on familiar tyres. Tony took the start and had a great first lap, coming around in 6th place. By lap 8 Tony was up to 3rd place after a few laps scrapping with a rapid Saxo. We pitted at the half way mark, we had jumped an Integra in the pits and were up to 2nd place. He caught me at 3 seconds per lap. I was running quite a bit slower than Tony’s pace and was never going to hold off the Integra. All I wanted to do was bring the car home and gie us our first top 3 finish. A good day and quite a relief after 2 missed opportunities in 2010.
Next up was Mallory Park. We had been looking forward to this race all year, since we missed out on a good result in 2010 with alternator failure. We shared the track with another series for practice and it was a busy and interrupted session. Surprisingly we qualified 3rd, our best ever grid position. I took the first stint and it was my first standing start since October last year. As we sat in the assembly area it started to spit with rain but it came to nothing and luckily the race was dry throughout. A reasonable first lap saw me 4th and chasing the Dibble Civic hard for most of my stint. A lack of straight line speed really started to show as we were much quicker through Gerards and could close the gap but the Civic would pull the gap back on the straight. I was really happy with my run, I pushed hard in the early laps and then tried to keep as close to the Civic as i could as he began to pull away. I knew we might be able to jump them in the pits with a good stop. Just before the pitstop the engine had started to get a little warm and some understeer was creeping in. We pitted at the end of lap 25 and it was a good stop but the car wouldn’t restart. We lost 10 seconds having to bump start the car, the starter motor had failed.
Tony came out 2nd, way ahead of the Dibble Civic who had a slow stop. He pushed hard for the rest of the race, the understeer got steadily worse as the tyres had taken a lot of abuse early on. Tony had to conceded 2nd to the Integra driven by ex Btcc driver Mike Jordan leaving us 3rd at the flag for the 2nd race running. We were so pleased with the result, we felt like we earned it. It was a very consistant race pace with very few mistakes. All our laps had been within a second and we made very few mistakes all day.
Next up was our home race at Silverstone. There was a very stong field entered and we didn’t hold out much hope for a repeat of our previous two results due to our serious lack of speed on the straights. I only did one lap in the race in 2010 due to the throttle cable breaking so it took me a while to get the hang of the place. Tony managed a lap time 1 second quicker than last year and we lined up 5th, not as bad as we expected. I took the start again, Lights out and I got a flyer! I went through the middle of the 2 Honda’s ahead of me and was 3rd into Copse. Russ in the MG had an even better getaway and passed at the exit. I held onto 4th for the rest of the lap despite a slide into Brooklands but could sense that it was going to be hard to maintain it. For the next few laps I went backwards, loosing 1 place per lap, mostly on the back straight. By lap 8 I was down to 9th and struggling to keep up with the group ahead. My times were equal to Tony’s quali lap, the car had no more to give. A brilliant pitstop at the end of lap 16 saw Tony rejoin in 5th position. He tried to catch Russ in the MG ahead but he was too quick and pulled out a gap of 6 seconds. Late on in the race it began to spit with rain. As the rain began to fall heavier, Russ began to lose time and Tony started to reel him in. On lap 32 the rain turned from light drizzle to a full on down pour.
Tony was right with the MG now but a massive moment at Becketts on the last lap put paid to any chance of getting by and Tony crossed the line 0.3 seconds behind in 5th. 5th on the road and 3rd in class so another trophy. An amazing result considering the nature of the track. We were over the moon. We had got as much out of the car as we both could and our fastest laps were a second quicker than in 2010. But the engine was beginning to struggle. It was starting to blow some oil out of the breather and get very tired. It just had one more race to complete.
Our last race of 2011 and after some strong results and the car working well recently, we were really looking forward to the meeting. The weather leading up to the day had been
amazing, with temperatures reaching 28 degrees. The forecast was for a dry and sunny day, it turned out to be one of the hottest race days we’d ever done. After 2 races with me doing the start, Tony was back in first. Oulton is such a long lap so in a 30min session 11 to 12 laps is about all we can squeeze in. Tony was doing well so we decided to leave him out as long as possible and id just do 4 or 5 laps at the end. His fastest lap was good enough for 4th at the end of the session, it was a very committed lap. The weather began to get even hotter as midday approached. During our pre race prep we found that the engine had been breathing heavily and had spat some oil out. The race began and Tony got a decent start and was side by side with the # 80 Saxo around the first corner. He dropped behind and went up the inside into Cascades. He left room on the exit as the Saxo was still on the outside but they touched and our door mirror went flying. The Saxo started to spin and collected Tony again, knocking him across the track and narrowly missing Jerry in the Peugeot 306. The car had survived and we were in 4th. By the end of the lap the front 2 had pulled away and that left the #28 Civic in 3rd, us 4th and Ian, in 5th in his Clio.
The engine temperature began to climb to over 100 degrees and Tony had the heater on flat-out to try to help cool it. Not pleasant on a day with 29degree weather and in a 3 layer fireproof suit. I hoped it would last the distance as we might be able to jump the Civic in the pits and the leader had a success penalty to take, we were looking at a good result, but was worried we’d get black and orange flagged. It didnt last till the stops, coming out of the hairpin on lap 7 it lost power. Ian went by and Tony gunned it out of the chicane, it was making a nasty noise and went bang just before Knickerbrook. So that was it, a disappointing end to a great season. 3 trophys this year is more than we ever hoped for so we can’t be too downbeat. It was a shame not to end on a high tho. The damage to the car was fairly minor but it’s getting some mechanical TLC over the winter, along with a new engine of course.
Roll on next year. Thanks to everyone who has helped and supported us this season, we couldn’t do it without you.
Season Stats:
Starts – 6
DNF – 1
Trophys – 3
Best Finish – 3rd (Anglesey, Mallory)
Best Grid Position – 3rd Mallory
Racing Laps – 174
Quickest pitstop – Silverstone, 16.5 seconds
Lap Of The Year – Tony, Oulton Quali
Panels Damaged – 2
We didn’t get much running as the day was cut short by snow.
Our next track running was at Llandow in February, again it was just a reliability day and the car ran faultlessly for nearly 3 hours. Our weather curse was still around, it was a very wet and foggy day. It was nice to do a decent amount of laps in the car again.
We had a big window in our race calendar during the summer, due to work and holidays so we had planned to do some upgrades around that time. Mainly fit a Quaife diff. But with another look at our budget and timescales we decided to go for it and try to get it done before Brands. The benefit was too great to wait. this meant a rush against time to get our spare gearbox stripped, the old diff sent off to Quaife to be machined and have the box all built back up and fitted in the car. We must say a massive thanks to Phil at QK Performance for sorting the diff for us and Martin at Agency Transmissions for getting the box all built up in time, it was a bit of a mess.
A few weeks before the first race we managed to squeeze in a test at Mallory Park, the car performed very well and the diff had made a huge improvement to the times around there. The car only needing minor adjustments to get a reasonable balance. Mallory proved to be a good track for us last year with the setup suiting the layout. We hoped it would work for Brands as it was.
So then to the first race and back at where it all began a year before. We felt much more settled this year as we knew what we were doing and the car had been good all winter. Tony took the first stint in quali and just went out to do a short run. I was doing the lions share of
practice due to not testing the car at Mallory. A 56.7 second lap was the best I could manage, the car was very tail happy, especially at paddock bend but it was a second up on our time from 2010 and gave us 10th on the grid. We didn’t have much adjustment left to dial out the oversteer so did all we could and had to live with it for the race. Tony took the start and lost places early with the balance. As the tyres got warm he began to claw back some places. We pitted just after half way and I rejoined in 9th place. Some oil went down around druids and down the hill which made things interesting. I lost out to Tom in the 205 into Graham Hill bend and was a little annoyed at myself for letting hm through, but im still learning. 10th at the flag was a steady way to start the season.
practice due to not testing the car at Mallory. A 56.7 second lap was the best I could manage, the car was very tail happy, especially at paddock bend but it was a second up on our time from 2010 and gave us 10th on the grid. We didn’t have much adjustment left to dial out the oversteer so did all we could and had to live with it for the race. Tony took the start and lost places early with the balance. As the tyres got warm he began to claw back some places. We pitted just after half way and I rejoined in 9th place. Some oil went down around druids and down the hill which made things interesting. I lost out to Tom in the 205 into Graham Hill bend and was a little annoyed at myself for letting hm through, but im still learning. 10th at the flag was a steady way to start the season.
Our 2nd race of the season was at Donington Park. To try to sort out our handling woes, we managed to get a few hours on the trackday the day before. Every change we made was a slight improvement but we needed more. We went for a big change on rear spring rate and it worked, the car was so much better. A couple of more adjustments and short runs and we had a car that was actually driveable. The next day and qualifying was damp. We were on new tyres so it was very slippery to start with. We both struggled to find a clear lap and ended up 11th. I took the start and it was to be a rolling getaway, the first one I had done. The car felt very good straight away, nicely balanced and gave me confidence to push on. I made several places including having a nice battle with an Integra. We pitted and rejoined 6th. Tony was just getting into it when the safety car came out, shortly followed by the chequered flag. The race was cut due to a few incidents. A very promising weekend, the car was so much better to drive and our pitstop was the quickest yet.
Our next meeting was one of a favorites, at the Anglesey Coastal circuit. The weather on Friday was lovely and we had a test in the afternoon. Mainly working on minor setup adjustments and practice pitstops. The car was quicker than last year but we ran out of time to really get it dialled in. It was a little lazy on turn in. The forecast for race day was mixed and we woke up to a damp start to the day. 30mins before quali we had to make a decision on what tyres to run. The circuit was wet but the sun was just coming out. We took the safe option and went for road tyres. It turned out that in the end we were one of only 2 cars that choose that option. Early on in the session it looked like our gamble would pay off as we were 2nd quickest, but as the track dried we tumbled down the order and ended up 11th. The race was dry and sunny so we were back on familiar tyres. Tony took the start and had a great first lap, coming around in 6th place. By lap 8 Tony was up to 3rd place after a few laps scrapping with a rapid Saxo. We pitted at the half way mark, we had jumped an Integra in the pits and were up to 2nd place. He caught me at 3 seconds per lap. I was running quite a bit slower than Tony’s pace and was never going to hold off the Integra. All I wanted to do was bring the car home and gie us our first top 3 finish. A good day and quite a relief after 2 missed opportunities in 2010.
Next up was Mallory Park. We had been looking forward to this race all year, since we missed out on a good result in 2010 with alternator failure. We shared the track with another series for practice and it was a busy and interrupted session. Surprisingly we qualified 3rd, our best ever grid position. I took the first stint and it was my first standing start since October last year. As we sat in the assembly area it started to spit with rain but it came to nothing and luckily the race was dry throughout. A reasonable first lap saw me 4th and chasing the Dibble Civic hard for most of my stint. A lack of straight line speed really started to show as we were much quicker through Gerards and could close the gap but the Civic would pull the gap back on the straight. I was really happy with my run, I pushed hard in the early laps and then tried to keep as close to the Civic as i could as he began to pull away. I knew we might be able to jump them in the pits with a good stop. Just before the pitstop the engine had started to get a little warm and some understeer was creeping in. We pitted at the end of lap 25 and it was a good stop but the car wouldn’t restart. We lost 10 seconds having to bump start the car, the starter motor had failed.
Tony came out 2nd, way ahead of the Dibble Civic who had a slow stop. He pushed hard for the rest of the race, the understeer got steadily worse as the tyres had taken a lot of abuse early on. Tony had to conceded 2nd to the Integra driven by ex Btcc driver Mike Jordan leaving us 3rd at the flag for the 2nd race running. We were so pleased with the result, we felt like we earned it. It was a very consistant race pace with very few mistakes. All our laps had been within a second and we made very few mistakes all day.
Next up was our home race at Silverstone. There was a very stong field entered and we didn’t hold out much hope for a repeat of our previous two results due to our serious lack of speed on the straights. I only did one lap in the race in 2010 due to the throttle cable breaking so it took me a while to get the hang of the place. Tony managed a lap time 1 second quicker than last year and we lined up 5th, not as bad as we expected. I took the start again, Lights out and I got a flyer! I went through the middle of the 2 Honda’s ahead of me and was 3rd into Copse. Russ in the MG had an even better getaway and passed at the exit. I held onto 4th for the rest of the lap despite a slide into Brooklands but could sense that it was going to be hard to maintain it. For the next few laps I went backwards, loosing 1 place per lap, mostly on the back straight. By lap 8 I was down to 9th and struggling to keep up with the group ahead. My times were equal to Tony’s quali lap, the car had no more to give. A brilliant pitstop at the end of lap 16 saw Tony rejoin in 5th position. He tried to catch Russ in the MG ahead but he was too quick and pulled out a gap of 6 seconds. Late on in the race it began to spit with rain. As the rain began to fall heavier, Russ began to lose time and Tony started to reel him in. On lap 32 the rain turned from light drizzle to a full on down pour.
Tony was right with the MG now but a massive moment at Becketts on the last lap put paid to any chance of getting by and Tony crossed the line 0.3 seconds behind in 5th. 5th on the road and 3rd in class so another trophy. An amazing result considering the nature of the track. We were over the moon. We had got as much out of the car as we both could and our fastest laps were a second quicker than in 2010. But the engine was beginning to struggle. It was starting to blow some oil out of the breather and get very tired. It just had one more race to complete.
Our last race of 2011 and after some strong results and the car working well recently, we were really looking forward to the meeting. The weather leading up to the day had been
amazing, with temperatures reaching 28 degrees. The forecast was for a dry and sunny day, it turned out to be one of the hottest race days we’d ever done. After 2 races with me doing the start, Tony was back in first. Oulton is such a long lap so in a 30min session 11 to 12 laps is about all we can squeeze in. Tony was doing well so we decided to leave him out as long as possible and id just do 4 or 5 laps at the end. His fastest lap was good enough for 4th at the end of the session, it was a very committed lap. The weather began to get even hotter as midday approached. During our pre race prep we found that the engine had been breathing heavily and had spat some oil out. The race began and Tony got a decent start and was side by side with the # 80 Saxo around the first corner. He dropped behind and went up the inside into Cascades. He left room on the exit as the Saxo was still on the outside but they touched and our door mirror went flying. The Saxo started to spin and collected Tony again, knocking him across the track and narrowly missing Jerry in the Peugeot 306. The car had survived and we were in 4th. By the end of the lap the front 2 had pulled away and that left the #28 Civic in 3rd, us 4th and Ian, in 5th in his Clio.
The engine temperature began to climb to over 100 degrees and Tony had the heater on flat-out to try to help cool it. Not pleasant on a day with 29degree weather and in a 3 layer fireproof suit. I hoped it would last the distance as we might be able to jump the Civic in the pits and the leader had a success penalty to take, we were looking at a good result, but was worried we’d get black and orange flagged. It didnt last till the stops, coming out of the hairpin on lap 7 it lost power. Ian went by and Tony gunned it out of the chicane, it was making a nasty noise and went bang just before Knickerbrook. So that was it, a disappointing end to a great season. 3 trophys this year is more than we ever hoped for so we can’t be too downbeat. It was a shame not to end on a high tho. The damage to the car was fairly minor but it’s getting some mechanical TLC over the winter, along with a new engine of course.
Roll on next year. Thanks to everyone who has helped and supported us this season, we couldn’t do it without you.
Season Stats:
Starts – 6
DNF – 1
Trophys – 3
Best Finish – 3rd (Anglesey, Mallory)
Best Grid Position – 3rd Mallory
Racing Laps – 174
Quickest pitstop – Silverstone, 16.5 seconds
Lap Of The Year – Tony, Oulton Quali
Panels Damaged – 2
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