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Final Race Testing
- Thread starter Englebert
- Start date
1.4 16v Clio
Looks Great!!!
Mounting the drivers seat in the middle must have been a bit of a job with moving round steering columns etc.
Mounting the drivers seat in the middle must have been a bit of a job with moving round steering columns etc.
Fletcher
ClioSport Club Member
great looking car.
MarkCup
ClioSport Club Member
Ooh, come on then?
Weeman sucks ****
Benton should race it. Now that is something i would turn up to watch
182cup & 172 racecar
I bets its a bit twitchy in the wet,looks good.
Tom is the Brands master: [YOUTUBE]eyBNQo5pPgA[/YOUTUBE]
Weeman sucks ****
indeed. i am the perfect co-driver aswell
Turbos.
Ok then, so here is a little write up of the race. Big thanks to Oliver Read to the pictures on this thread BTW!
Since my last report, the 'box now had a flat upshift and the splitter was re-designed with a honeycomb under tray to stop it breaking. Otherwise the car was the same as before.
Being the last race, it had attracted a few new entries. Some people also got some cheeky second drivers, including an ex-touring car champion, Carrera Cup champion and one of The Stigs! Typically we qualified around 5th so we were really chuffed to be the top amateurs in 4th, but with Brands being a short circuit it was probably more advantageous for us over the BMWs.
What we were really hoping for was rain. In testing the day before, the gap between us and the already championship winning BMW was closer. Of course, things never work out weather wise and the October weekend was bright and sunny!
We did get a bit of luck however, as 3rd place had trouble and didn't start the race from the grid. This was crucial as being in 4th meant starting from the outside and getting barged out of the way! Despite this, the rolling start killed us, with 1st and 2nd (both BMWs) pulling a lead straight away. However, the dicing resulted in one having a major slide and my dad zipped into 2nd place before the end of the first lap.. result!
Behind, dicing was helping us increase a gap as people battled for position. The E30 M3 barged off another BMW, with the experienced Stig slicing through the aftermath into 3rd in the yellow Exige.
The E30 eventually made it up to 3rd before dramatically retiring. This was of course great for us as we had an even bigger safety margin. Meanwhile the leading BMW was an easy second ahead each lap.
Halfway through the race, we did the driver change. My dad reported some gearchange issues, and the car stalled in the pits.
Unfortunately some confusion between me, pit radio and a marshall meant i left 16 seconds too early! More on this later!
Thanks to my cheeky quick pit stop we were in the lead, and i was starting to lap the field.
Then, just two laps after relinqushing 1st place to the BMW again, he pulled off! This was possibly connected to the sole Clio mistakenly going wheel to wheel with him.
Whatever it was, i was back in the lead and with not long to go, i had lights a blaze and was looking forward to our first victory!
Then, suddenly, the gearchange problem mentioned by my dad reared its head. I downchanged at druids and the rear wheels locked up. Tyre smoke filled the cabin and i was coming to terms with the the thoughts of having to retire. Fortunately, as long as i kept to 4th and 5th gear i could still get round. With a few laps to go, one of the BMWs was edging closer. I pushed on and actually set my best times whilst using just two gears!
Race finished, i thought i had won. It was a hollow victory, seeing as the fastest car pulled out so i wasn't really celebrating. I was then told the BMW catching me was actually still a lap behind. Problem was, my pit stop infringement meant a 1 minute penalty + the 16 seconds. We were demoted to 2nd...
The car wasn't in a good state either. As i got back to the pits it stalled and wouldn't come out of gear. Good thing the race ended there! Unfortunately the gearbox - a quaife sequential - never recovered and we couldn't do the second race. Wasn't all bad though, we played our Joker (double points) and ended up finishing 2nd Overall in our class :approve:
We're not sure about next season, but probably doing Britcar again. We are going to go for a paddleshift conversion on the 'box, but if funds allow swap for a Hewland beforehand. We're also going to build up a de-tuned spare engine as currently our one that revs to 8600rpm probably won't last a 6 hour race!
Since my last report, the 'box now had a flat upshift and the splitter was re-designed with a honeycomb under tray to stop it breaking. Otherwise the car was the same as before.
Being the last race, it had attracted a few new entries. Some people also got some cheeky second drivers, including an ex-touring car champion, Carrera Cup champion and one of The Stigs! Typically we qualified around 5th so we were really chuffed to be the top amateurs in 4th, but with Brands being a short circuit it was probably more advantageous for us over the BMWs.
What we were really hoping for was rain. In testing the day before, the gap between us and the already championship winning BMW was closer. Of course, things never work out weather wise and the October weekend was bright and sunny!
We did get a bit of luck however, as 3rd place had trouble and didn't start the race from the grid. This was crucial as being in 4th meant starting from the outside and getting barged out of the way! Despite this, the rolling start killed us, with 1st and 2nd (both BMWs) pulling a lead straight away. However, the dicing resulted in one having a major slide and my dad zipped into 2nd place before the end of the first lap.. result!
Behind, dicing was helping us increase a gap as people battled for position. The E30 M3 barged off another BMW, with the experienced Stig slicing through the aftermath into 3rd in the yellow Exige.
The E30 eventually made it up to 3rd before dramatically retiring. This was of course great for us as we had an even bigger safety margin. Meanwhile the leading BMW was an easy second ahead each lap.
Halfway through the race, we did the driver change. My dad reported some gearchange issues, and the car stalled in the pits.
Unfortunately some confusion between me, pit radio and a marshall meant i left 16 seconds too early! More on this later!
Thanks to my cheeky quick pit stop we were in the lead, and i was starting to lap the field.
Then, just two laps after relinqushing 1st place to the BMW again, he pulled off! This was possibly connected to the sole Clio mistakenly going wheel to wheel with him.
Whatever it was, i was back in the lead and with not long to go, i had lights a blaze and was looking forward to our first victory!
Then, suddenly, the gearchange problem mentioned by my dad reared its head. I downchanged at druids and the rear wheels locked up. Tyre smoke filled the cabin and i was coming to terms with the the thoughts of having to retire. Fortunately, as long as i kept to 4th and 5th gear i could still get round. With a few laps to go, one of the BMWs was edging closer. I pushed on and actually set my best times whilst using just two gears!
Race finished, i thought i had won. It was a hollow victory, seeing as the fastest car pulled out so i wasn't really celebrating. I was then told the BMW catching me was actually still a lap behind. Problem was, my pit stop infringement meant a 1 minute penalty + the 16 seconds. We were demoted to 2nd...
The car wasn't in a good state either. As i got back to the pits it stalled and wouldn't come out of gear. Good thing the race ended there! Unfortunately the gearbox - a quaife sequential - never recovered and we couldn't do the second race. Wasn't all bad though, we played our Joker (double points) and ended up finishing 2nd Overall in our class :approve:
We're not sure about next season, but probably doing Britcar again. We are going to go for a paddleshift conversion on the 'box, but if funds allow swap for a Hewland beforehand. We're also going to build up a de-tuned spare engine as currently our one that revs to 8600rpm probably won't last a 6 hour race!
182cup & 172 racecar
Nice story,glad you did well,shame about the pit stop but these things happen in the heat of the moment.
We did an enduro race at Brno with driver swap and petrol,it was a nightmare when your not used to it.
Well done.
We did an enduro race at Brno with driver swap and petrol,it was a nightmare when your not used to it.
Well done.
MarkCup
ClioSport Club Member
Nice one Rob, I bet you were proper buzzing as the chequred flag loomed!
Poopensharten
ClioSport Club Member
Golf R
Very good mate always intresting reading these!
I dare say you need deep pockets to participate in somthing like this?
I dare say you need deep pockets to participate in somthing like this?
Thats what i love about you! x
Providing you don't bang it...It can be manageable with sponsers and shared drives.
Insurance, entry's, controlled fuel, tracktime, hotels, travel is the majority of the costs.
Ironically in karts we were spending over 3k a weekend in the uk...Alot more abroad, In the caterhams and radicals it was less!!
Turbos.
Reason i stopped karting was i couldn't afford to travel abroad, plus my mums desires for me to be schooled properly! Even something like Foruma Ford is getting over £100k a season these days, just look at the support vans absolutely filled with tyres... £10k alone!
We (i say we, my dad lol) was paying up to £10k for a race weekend. That is Friday-Sunday, paying for about 3 mechanics, hospitality, hotels for everyone and consumables. It all adds up. If you are good with your hands and look after your car its not that expensive. Its just my dad just wants to do 'arrive and drive.'
We (i say we, my dad lol) was paying up to £10k for a race weekend. That is Friday-Sunday, paying for about 3 mechanics, hospitality, hotels for everyone and consumables. It all adds up. If you are good with your hands and look after your car its not that expensive. Its just my dad just wants to do 'arrive and drive.'
182cup & 172 racecar
Thats why I ended up in Hungary's clio cup,Arrive and drive £15k inc damage(within reason)per year.
