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Burpspeed Version 2: Race Car Build



  172 Race Car
**Update**


Tuesday 4th May 2010 - Ready For Brands



Final prep needed to be done. The whole car was spanner checked after its trip to Combe last weekend. We noticed some rubbing on the inner arches so raised the ride height very slightly. No other problems were found.





The MSA Blue Book has a list of tyres acceptable for use in the series. These are all road legal but more like a semi slick tyre. We have run on Toyo R888's at track days over the last few years and we have been happy with them. But they have increased in price recently putting them in a price bracket with many other brands of track spec tyres. After much searching and investigating we took a punt on Hankook Z211's


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At Castle Combe we ran the car on an old set of Toyo R888 tyres, so these came off and the brand new Hankook's went on. The supplier advised not to inflate them over 40psi when fitting. The boys at our local ATS (who always look after our tyres) really struggled to get them to seat on the wheel, the sidewall construction is very stiff.


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Photographer Dan volunteered to give them a gentle run on his road car for a few days. They came back nicely scrubbed in.

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We also had to upgrade our oil catch tank as the regulations require it to be of 2 litre capacity.


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After 2 alternator failures at Combe we had to fit yet another for Brands. We have no idea why the regulators keep failing exactly but have several theories. We have sourced an alternator from a different supplier, ran a new wire to the dash light and fitted a bigger Odyssey battery. Fingers crossed.


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While the dash top was off we installed some more warning lights on the switch panel. One for indicators and one for the pit lane speed limiter. The limiter is not currently working as we need to sort out the speed sensor signal. A job that was well down the priority list was to block off the stock speedo head hole in the dash top, just to neaten it up. But with the stuff all sat ready to do it and the dash out it only took a few minutes to do. Quite pleased with how it turned out.



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WERE READY!
 

Greeny.

ClioSport Club Member
  440i + 182
Awesome, I wanna come see you guys race, whens brands? Ill book the day off.
 
  182cup & 172 racecar
Don't get too excited,we finished and the car ran smoothly just a bit of understeer to sort out and no scratches:D.
I expect Jay will tell the whole day's story soon.
 
  Qashcow
hope your pit crew did something rather than just standing there texting me throughout the day...lol

look forward to hearing the results

oi cheeky, 3 txts! thats more than emma got all day;)

will let Jay tell all, am just sending some photo's over now for him. got picked up at 5am, got back 10 minutes ago. time for bed soom
 
  172 Race Car
Might have to give me a day or 2 to get it all written up, photos uploaded and the video edited.

Was a great day, as Tony said the car has some understeer that caused a problem or 2 but nothing that can't be cured with a little bit of time.

Very happy with how we got on for our first time out, it was a very eventfull day and we learned so much.

Will tell all soon :approve:
 
  Mazda 3 MPS Mk1
Just read the whole website and thread, v impressive work, just starting to do marshalling so hopefully wont see you too close at silverstone lol
 
  172 Race Car
So Brands is out of the way and taking everything into account it was a great day. The car was reliable and we organised ourselves and pit area well. Many things to improve on including the car setup.

The single lap in qualifying put us 20th but the fastest lap from the race was 1.1 seconds quicker and woudl of ment starting 14th. The safety car caught us out a bit by coming our at the time we were planning to pit but again it was all taken on board and was a great learning experiance.

Since Combe we have fitted new tyres and made a very slight ride height change and ended up with mega understeer. We have plenty of ideas on why its happened and will be working to set it up better.

Booking a test session at Anglesey the day before racing to try and work through some changes.

Not much else to report. Everything worked, we were comfortable in the car. Apart from me still driving in trainers and catching the throttle while braking.


8 Days till Anglesey :D
 

Bluebeard

ClioSport Moderator
  Whichever has fuel
Jay, all sorted today thanks mate. Will sort you out (Oo-er) first thing in the morning.
 
  172 Race Car
Mascott/reserve driver getting bigger, still cant reach the pedals tho so niether me or Tony have to worry about being replaced just yet



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  172 Race Car
Its his destiny, even if he's crap at it.

Altho he will have to watch his weight, hes gained 1kg in the last month, Fatty!
 
  TrackCar & F30 330d
Ha ha, his destiny, my big influence in motorsport is from my dad and he said he only started to go grey when i started to drive, as he knew i'd end up in a race car at some point!
 
  Qashcow
:) porky bugger, cant have him destroying the power to weight in 2028. clio will be in the classic car series by then lol?
 
  172 Race Car
2 days till our Anglesey adventure.

Sunny intervals and temperatures in the low teens forcast.



The car has had a quick spanner check and no issues found, testing on Friday afternoon to try and sort the balance. We've got plenty of track time this meeting as im taking part in the 'Sports vs Saloon' race at the end of the day on Saturday on my own! Tintops is the main event tho and we hope do slightly better than at Brands now we know how the races are and safety car regs etc.

We were slightly under prepaired for Brands but that was down to the lack of testing before hand and the lack of time with our reserve driver's late arrival.

Feeling much happier going into this weekend.
 
  CLIO PH1 172
looking good hope the cars ok and you get a good days racing cant wait for the write up of the week end - good luck guys!!
 
  172 Race Car
Thought id post the race report here aswell just to kep everything in one place. Makes the thread easier to follow





Sunday 9th May 2010 - Brands Hatch Tintops Race



A grey and overcast morning met us at Brands Hatch for our first race meeting.


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We setup our area for the day and got the kettle on. With us for the day were our friends Bomber and Mike. They were a fantastic help throughout the day. To make sure we didn't miss anything we had made up a notice board but left it too near the kettle.



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There wasn't much to do on the car as all the prep had been done but we did modify the bumper slightly to improve the airflow to the alternator and swapped the wheels over for our race wheels.

At 9:30 we made our way to signing on and Bomber took the car in to be scruiteneer'd. A very quick visual check under the bonnet, followed by a seat and seatbelt check, lights check, engine cutout test and an inspection of our race wear and we were done. No issues and a pass sticker issued. First step accomplished.

Matt from Tour-De-Force had come up bright and early to make sure we had no issues with the car. He couldn't stay for the whole day. After he had given the car a quick check over, me, Matt and Tony went for a walk around the perimeter circuit to benefit from his circuit knowledge. We discussed lines, and braking points whilst watching the Formula Palmer Audi boys make a right mess of the place in their first race.


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We made our way back to the paddock and got our race suits on ready for qualifying. It was a long way from where we were based in the outer paddock to the pit lane. Me and Tony hung out the back of the car and Bomber drove us over. We planned to run qualifying as a practice for the race. Tony would start the race so he ran the first stint in qualifying. Using the pit signalling board we would give him a 3 lap countdown to pit for the driver change. He set off from the pit-lane and joined the track. It was quite a busy session with 32 cars in our race. He was stuck in traffic for the first few laps and gradually warmed up the tyres and got used to how everything felt. Having brand new tyres was something new to us and the balance of the car was massively different to what it was at combe. The car had developed quite a bit of understeer on the new rubber. On lap 5 he had a clear lap and posted a 58.8second lap. The next lap the understeer caught him out at Clearways. Instead of forcing the car, he let it run gently into the gravel and just nosed the car in. It was stuck! The marshals tried to push it back out but the gravel at Brands actually works. So that was it, with 24mins of the session still to go we were out of it and I hadn't driven a lap.


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I ran up to the clerk of the course to have a chat about how I was going to get into the race that afternoon. The regulations state that every driver must complete at least 3 laps of the circuit before taking part in the race. There wasn't time to get out in another practice session as ours was the last but one. The officials were very helpful and advised us to sort out the car, make sure it was all ok and go back and see them. The car was towed out and Tony drove back to the paddock. Our pit crew of Bomber and Mike set about removing as much gravel as they could find, that stuff gets everywhere. Front brakes stripped down to remove all the loose stones and the bumper off as well.



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The guys worked all through out the lunch break to get the car as free of gravel as possible as me and Tony attended the drivers briefing. Bomber then drove the car around the paddock to shake loose the remaining gravel. Race control got me to complete the mandatory 3 laps behind the safety car after the FPA's 2nd race. I followed the safety car at a very steady pace for the 3 laps, avoiding several Palmer Audi cars that were being dragged, looking very battered, out of various gravel traps around the track. I didn't really learn anything, but it ticked the box, made sure the car felt ok and went through the gears fine and meant we were both in the race. With all the rush with getting the car cleaned up we hadn't even looked to see where we had qualified. Turns out we were in 20th position. Not bad considering Tony only got 1 clear flying lap. So everything calmed down, we all sat down for a bit of a rest and we watched the video footage of Tony's off.


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Our race was due to start at 17:05 so at around 16:30 we made our way to the assembly area.

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Tony lined up on the outside of row 10 and when the lights went out made a good getaway. He stayed to the outside along the pit straight and into paddock hill bend. Trying to stay out of trouble. The last thing he wanted was to have to drag the car back to the pits with bits hanging off before id had a proper run. Meanwhile further back on the grid there had been a very nasty start line shunt after a car had stalled and the safety car came out. With cars 2 or 3 wide along the back straight everyone had to brake very hard to avoid each other as the safety car slowed the field, Tony had slipped up the inside of a few cars by this point and was up to P18.


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The safety car stayed out for 6 minutes as the mess was cleared from the grid, thankfully everyone was ok. In the pits we discussed what to do about strategy. We had planned to bring Tony in around half way through the race and give him a 3 lap count down. I decided to leave him out a little longer and start the count with 22 Minutes to go. Tony out on track was trying to get heat into the rear tyres and leaving a gap to the car in front so he could take the corners slightly faster. This meant he didn't see the lights on the safety car go out and was quite far back when it went green. He settled into a good pace and was lapping in the high 58's and starting to close on the 2 cars in front, an Alfa 156 and Honda Civic. He managed to get a good run at the Civic coming along the main straight and bravely passed on the inside into paddock hill bend. A little defending was needed into Druids but the Civic had another car behind him so Tony got into some clear air. The following lap he did a 58.6 to beat his qualifying time by 0.3sec. Then the safety car came out again. Tony hadn't seen the board on the start finish line and he passed a 205 GTI at the bottom of the hill and had to let him back past. By this stage he was in P13.


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We were now at 22 minutes remaining and in our pit window. Other people around us were starting to pit. We dispensed with the 3 lap countdown and called him straight in but he had to do a full lap behind the safety car. We hadn't had a chance to practise our driver change so we just winged it. Stationary for 38 seconds, it wasn't too bad but something we can improve on. I drove to the end of the pit lane ready to join the circuit but the safety car was approaching with the queue of cars behind and we had to wait at the exit of the pit lane. We had lost a lap, and I exited the pits in 24th place. I had 1 lap at safety car speed before the green and this helped to settle my nerves a bit. As I approached Paddock for the first time a racing speed I found a bump in the braking zone that I didn't know about and the back end twitched. Half way around my first lap 2 cars in front of me were slowing each other up fighting and I got a run up the inside of one. I then remembered that it was the first lap of my first ever race and changed my mind. I settled in to the driving and could see why Tony had gone off, the balance of the car was massively different to how it was at Combe. The new tyres had great grip but the thing was reluctant to turn in. I lost quite a bit of time passing some slower cars but was being quite cautious. A few laps later a Fiesta started to spin in front of me as i came on to the pit straight and I lifted slightly. The car behind got a run on me and I stayed to the inside to stop him passing but he flashed his lights and just went around the outside!



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I ran up the inside into Druids and he defended. The next few laps were great fun, I had more power than him and could catch him at the end of the straight but was loosing time in the corners with the understeer. We both caught the Alfa that Tony had passed earlier and I managed to pass him along the pit straight. We were now P17.

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We were nearing the final minutes of the race and the leading Integra's caught me so I waved them passed. A Civic was with the group so I waved him by too, thinking I was being lapped. I didn't know that it was for position and it was the Civic Tony had passed earlier.

So that put us P18 at the end and 2 laps down. I was thrilled after the chequered flag as I really didn't expect to feel as comfortable as I did during the race. Better still, when I got back to the pits Bomber and Tony told me that my fastest lap was 57.8 seconds, a time that would of put us 14th on the grid in qualifying. Comfortably mid grid. It was a great day and we learned so much, it was far from straight forward but we got through it and will have a better idea of how to go about the day next time out at Anglesey. Cant wait!




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  172 Race Car
I know who you mean, nice car that is. Not spoken to him but had a chat with his team mate David at Brands
 
  172 Race Car
ahh the no.15 car, Honda Civic 1800 is my friends Dad.. last name Hampshire :)
He mentioned you today. Assumed we were friends, Lol. Told him we had never met and he thought it quite strange that you knew so much about me.
 


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