Icemans Britcar Endurance project 182

[IcemanUK]

Dont worry im not gonna start stripping it this close to my first race, just thinking out loud. I will do the oil pump and gaskets etc though and possibly the diff as I have a test day on friday 23rd at Brands and race on the Saturday. Diff is 1500 quid inc VAT to do at gearboxman as they replace bearings etc and machine it to fit too so you get a recon box pretty much.

 

[IcemanUK]

Heres a thought. On the Saturday morning at Brands it was hellishly slippy, made my heart skip a couple of times. Would I be better off having a set of great wet type tyres from list 1A that I could put on instead of the Direzzas in case it's raining or damp? (will have to check regs to see if you can change wheels in pit stop as we do a 2 min stop)

 

[Porkie]

Heres a thought. On the Saturday morning at Brands it was hellishly slippy, made my heart skip a couple of times. Would I be better off having a set of great wet type tyres from list 1A that I could put on instead of the Direzzas in case it's raining or damp? (will have to check regs to see if you can change wheels in pit stop as we do a 2 min stop)

They will be worse in my opinion and experience. They are tyres... they cant work miracles. A slippery track is a slippery track. Once you get some heat in them a track orientated tyre like a Direzza will work better in the rain and slippery track than a road tyre.

For me in damp and wet... the 888 is the best track biased tyre. Dunlop 02 and 03 and Yoko a048 better in dry for ultimate grip IMHO

Road based tyre will only be the better option once they is MASSIVE MASSIVE amounts of standing water.

Unless they are PROPER wet slicks. They are incredible even in massive amounts of puddles!

 

[Tony Hunter]

We only use our Pilots if its chucking it down, as soon as it eases off or starts to dry, they just melt.

 

[Jay Payne]

R888's as Porkie says, surprisingly good in cold/damp conditions. Direzzas very hard to get heat in at this time of year from our experiance

 

[IcemanUK]

One job I forgot is to add the ballast posts, I think I need 4 according to blue book. Tony? Jay?

 

[Jay Payne]

No idea. Dont need it on our car

 

[IcemanUK]

Ok I'm having fun

The car went to TDI for its official power test and whoa Neddy has come back with 181.1 at the hubs on their hub dyno. Suffice it to say this is slightly more than NMS 168 and has sent me out the top of B class and into a now non existent A class

I am not the only one to have suffered this and there is much discussion on the TDT drivers forum about it. It means I have to ballast the car which is being done now. My cartech cutoff decided to pack in too so have had to get a new one of those last minute also. NMS have moved my cameras now and also fitted wide angle lenses so it should look better for my next video on race day next weekend. Got a test day all day Friday next week at brands.

Mark

 

[Jay Payne]

How much ballast do you have to add?

 

[Tony Hunter]

Mark, good luck for next weekend.

 

[Jonny1*2]

There are a few recommended rolling roads for TDT, could you not get a second opinion?

 

[Tony Hunter]

Or cheat.Clever mapping

 

[Steviant]

There are a few recommended rolling roads for TDT, could you not get a second opinion?

For 2012 there are only two centres that are approved as they both have the Rototest VPA hub system. Ultimately this is a good thing, because it makes it more of a level playing field.

 

[Steviant]

Or cheat.Clever mapping

Not like last year all over again.

 

[Tony Hunter]

It's a joke.

 

[IcemanUK]

How much ballast do you have to add?

About 25kg Tony we will see next week when we weigh the car again.

 

[BIGASH]

One job I forgot is to add the ballast posts, I think I need 4 according to blue book. Tony? Jay?

Just noticed this Mark, I was having a flick through the bluebook the other day and I'm sure it said in these cars that the ballast post has to be located where the passenger seat would be and it stipulated the size of the fixings etc so if you still haven't found out then it would be worth a quick read Off the top of my head it was pg150ish of the 2011 BB.

Shame that you have to put weight into the car but it's not too much!

Best of luck for the race next weekend and can't wait to see how it goes for you

 

[chrispy.clio]

Hi Mark, shame you've now been bumped up a class. But adding 25kg isnt too bad I'm sure NMS will be able to set the car up just as well with the weight!

You must be soooooo excited about the race next week! Good luck I hope it's all goes well!


P.s is Johns race car ready too?

 

[IcemanUK]

I actually feel quite sick about the race this week to be honest. I am very nervous when I think about it and don't mind saying so. On a good note I just looked at my best lap time from my track day which was 57.35 and then looked at 2010 march TDT results from BH and best quali time was 57.289 so I guess im not to far off then I know I can go faster too. Still feel sick mind you LOL, God knows how F1 drivers feel.

So ballast. The ballast specified in blue book is success ballast. Normal car weighting ballast can go anywhere Over the back wheels for me then. Checked this out with the race scrut. Got a Autotel radio fitted now and we also moved the whole video unit so its vertically mounted and easier for me to start. Will post pics soon. The car is at the wrappers tomorrow and I am at brands on Friday testing.

All oil leaks have been fixed and we also fitted a new oil pump and ARP rod bolts too.


Mark

Jons car is not ready as he has just sold his soul to the devil and bought a house

 

[IcemanUK]

Ballast is 25 if I weigh 90kg in kit with 10 litres of fuel in the car.

 

[IcemanUK]

Some pics of the Track day at Brand Hatch

Mark

 

[JackJack]

Needs silvervisions. Looks good.

 

[Jay Payne]

57's not a bad time around Brands mate.

 

[IcemanUK]

What are silvervisions? I didnt realise Jay that although my dash was not working or the overlay the GPS was recording my laps along with the video. I was having a play trying to learn the analysis software and loaded up my run and then overlaid it with the track map. I then added the sectors and all the times popped up Ill post up the data later so you can see my sectors but im very happy if you say 57 is good as that means im not slow

 

[Jay Payne]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECtZaXsf69U


Pole in Tintops last season was low 55's, we were doing 57's at trackday last week. The car can do mid-low 56's we think

 

[Grant89]

Looking good Mark, shame about the ballast issues but needs must and all that

The pictures from Brands look good, I've got to upload mine still but my internet at home's playing up and I have got a few of yours that I'm pretty pleased with

 

[IcemanUK]

Car is back from the wrappers now Mmmmm Pics tomorrow night after my test day.

 

[shiftspark]

Best of luck for the race, I am sure your nerves will settle after you start the race !!

 

[IcemanUK]

Good day yesterday. Best time was 57.15 with 35kg of ballast and half a tank of gas so I'm pleased with that. The Ebay BTCC Beemer was doing 54's I think.

Tony you didn't tell me nerves would be this bad!!

 

[BIGASH]

Glad to hear it went well Mark That sounds like a great time to me! I couldn't believe the other day that the the clio cup boys were doing 52.055's it's incredible to think how they can make up so much time just on slicks! Best of luck today I really hope it goes well for you and I can't wait to see how you get on.

I hope the nerves aren't too bad for you!

 

[Nafoff]

echo the above... good luck and have a great day

 

[Jay Payne]

Looking forward to hearing what happened/went wrong. Quali looked brilliant

 

[BIGASH]

Me too! Great result with qualifying ! I got all confused when I saw the time sheet and though that was the race result Hope you and the car are okay!

 

[Jay Payne]

looks like he was in the toilet calming his nerves when the race started

 

[BIGASH]

Were you there Jay or see the results on TSL like me?

 

[Tony Hunter]

Good day yesterday. Best time was 57.15 with 35kg of ballast and half a tank of gas so I'm pleased with that. The Ebay BTCC Beemer was doing 54's I think.

Tony you didn't tell me nerves would be this bad!!

Nothing like actually being there is there.

Good luck

 

[Jay Payne]

Were you there Jay or see the results on TSL like me?

TSL mate

 

[Tony Hunter]

Hi.

 

[Jonny1*2]

Great job mark. Nerve control comes with time I'd imagine. Even f1 drivers have nerves

 

[IcemanUK]

So here we go the short version

1. Qualified in P3 Can you believe that! I was soo pleased

2. At race start I only realized I had NOT practiced race starts when the 5 seconds board cam out and I sought of went inside ooo s**t now what do I do. Suffice it to say I decided to stay on the line waving at my ten friends on pit wall whilst spinning my wheels for effect and losing about 10 places.

3. Got going and all seemed well until clearways where I either lost the backend or got punted and ended up just in the gravel on the edge.

4. The marshals would not push me back on and called for a safety car and tractor which took no less than 8 laps to organize

5. Got going again very disappointed but determined to enjoy myself

6. Darren (he runs an Audi with my team) and I Got called to the stewards office and both given 2 points on our license for overtaking under yellow at hailwoods!!!!!


WHAT A DAY

Yes I was disappointed after such a good quali but i quickly realized that ALL these things will happen to you in motorsport and if I am to enjoy it I have to learn to cope with them in the right way or ill just be unhappy and stressed which I don't want from this hobby.

Bubble and Kick are awesome and worth ten times what I pay them to be honest. The hospitality was awesome and it's nice not having to do anything but drive the car.

So what have I learnt

1. Practice starts, a lot

2. Don't start a race on tyres that have done two track days one test day and one 30 min quali session

3. Enjoy my day no matter what happens

I am HOOKED

Now to the questions Tony and Jay and anyone else with race experience?

1. My back inside wheels lift a LOT I am told in cornering, is that a bad thing?

2. I lock my wheels occasionaly up hailwoods hill, should I refit my ABS do you think?

3. Occasionally under heavy braking I get a bang/clonk frown the back, is that the cup bias thing clonking do you think as all is tight under there?

I think the car has the measure of the field apart from the the Pug and the civic. They were very quick in both quali and race too, the pug left me on the straight like I was standing still.

PS
I shall appeal my points now I have seen the video footage.