The trials & tribulations of racing a Clio

[colesy]

Yes BRSCC. it's worth a look, the top class is 230hp per tonne and weirdly it's done at the fly. There's a couple of PMS engined cars running in class A. I was right at the top end of B.

Grids were generally decent but could have been bigger at some rounds. At Oulton we were 30 cars but at Cadwell only 12.

As above. The preliminary calendar is out now if you want to have a look.

Regs are very open but as it's power to weight it means you don't have to go totally crazy. I'm 216 atf at 1046kg to be at the top of B and it's definitely the biggest class

Cool I’ll check it out. My car is built to class B of hot hatch which is 175 bhp/tonne limit. Mine makes 182bhp and is 1070kg with me in it.

 

[robzracing]

Yes BRSCC. it's worth a look, the top class is 230hp per tonne and weirdly it's done at the fly. There's a couple of PMS engined cars running in class A. I was right at the top end of B.

Grids were generally decent but could have been bigger at some rounds. At Oulton we were 30 cars but at Cadwell only 12.

As above. The preliminary calendar is out now if you want to have a look.

Regs are very open but as it's power to weight it means you don't have to go totally crazy. I'm 216 atf at 1046kg to be at the top of B and it's definitely the biggest class

Yeah, mine is only 850kg so I’d struggle to get into class B even with a standard engine and definitely not with my race engine at 230bhp. Unless I ballast it up. We’ve got a calendar meeting in the next few weeks to decide what to do next year but with a couple of 2 hour races on the calendar next year, if anything we’re going longer rather than shorter!

 

[Hollidog]

Cool I’ll check it out. My car is built to class B of hot hatch which is 175 bhp/tonne limit. Mine makes 182bhp and is 1070kg with me in it.

I think that would be class c for us but that's all good

Yeah, mine is only 850kg so I’d struggle to get into class B even with a standard engine and definitely not with my race engine at 230bhp. Unless I ballast it up. We’ve got a calendar meeting in the next few weeks to decide what to do next year but with a couple of 2 hour races on the calendar next year, if anything we’re going longer rather than shorter!

850kg is wild! Is that with you at race fuel? My 1046 is ballasted up to get me to the class limit.

 

[robzracing]

I think that would be class c for us but that's all good

850kg is wild! Is that with you at race fuel? My 1046 is ballasted up to get me to the class limit.

Fueled but without me in it.

 

[Nafoff]

Interesting catching up on this, and then learning about the power to weight considerations in different championships/classes.
Worth knowing for if/when I come to sell the phase 1...
Surprised @robzracing that yours is 850kg with the carbon roof... Feel like I could lose so much more weight from the phase 1 based on that.


Good to see that the 'grey shell' went to a good home. Look to see that coming along/being developed at some point.

 

[robzracing]

So, continuing from my last update...
At the end of September we returned one final time to Snetterton. Feeling confident we went into the weekend to round off our season with the CSCC Tin Tops once again.

We qualified P12 on the road and P2 in class, just 9 tenths off pole in class. So with all to play for it was decided that I start the race and with a rolling start this time it seemed that the pressure would be slightly less.

And that’s where I was starkly reminded that, a: a race isn’t won at the first corner and b: motorsport is dangerous.

Coming up to the end of the start/finish straight I had made a good start, making up a few places but I was on the outside. Two cars a little way in front touched - no drama there but I stayed out wide in anticipation of something more happening. They continued but I found myself coming in a little too hot and heavier on the brakes than I would normally. Cold tires and out on the marbles, I very quickly found the back end coming around faster than i could catch it. With right foot buried and opposite lock applied I did my best to try and save the slide.

What actually happened though was that the tires bit when I was already over 90 degrees turned which then led me darting across the track amongst all the traffic until the inevitable collection by one car on the inside with three quarter to three quarter connection that span me around and spat me back off the outside edge of the track to roll into the barriers. Race over and car done…

worst start ever



Thankfully of course these race cars are build strong and neither I or the driver that collected me were hurt. I spoke to him afterwards and naturally he wasn’t happy but I’ve known him for many years and we both know what one signs up for when you go racing.

Equally Rob, (who’s car it is) was cool with the situation and again, we all know the risks and he knows that we are in it together and i will play a major part in building him a new car. (more on that later)

So we headed home already making plans for QB3. (this is his second Clio already)

The last race of the season for many in club racing in the UK is the Birkett 6 hour endurance race at Silverstone. Entered in teams it is effectively a relay race usually with teams having a minimum of 3 cars in which you could have potentially 6 drivers.

teams can be bigger but of course the more changes you make, the harder it is to do well.

So, with no race engine yet I quickly put together a spare engine with standard internals. A look over revealed it hadn’t been terribly well put together before so I ordered some new big end bearings and ARP bolts and booked a session on the dyno.

The dyno session was long. Being a new dyno there were some teething problems but we spent a good 5 hours building a map and doing some runs. Strangely, the engine didn’t seem to want to make the power I expected though. More on that later…

The Birkett came…and went disappointingly quickly. After being held for almost an hour in the assembly area, once we headed out onto track for qualifying the engine immediately started to play up. By lap three it was done, with the cabin filling with smoke and noises coming from the engine that were not good.

All very odd after it surviving the dyno but maybe the low power was the tell-tale.

Returned to the paddock after engine failure, just as friends arrived to watch!
Onwards and upwards…

 

[robzracing]

Plans for '26
So, with another engine failure Rob Q and I came up with a plan.
Since the Birkett we took the engine from his "Darth Vader" and installed it in my car. Although a standard engine it means we have a working car to start a 2026 campaign.
With the engine installed, it started after a few attempts and then the car rolled under its own steam. Out of the garage and on to the road. Leaving a nice trail of fuel!
Sure enough, the tank appeared to be leaking and further investigation seemed to show it was the joint between the rubber flexi from the filler neck and the tank. But no amount of tightening of the pipe clip seemed to cure it. Even after doubling up the clips - nothing.
It was difficult to see clearly but we figured that it was possible that there was a break in the tank around the neck of the flexi. Replacement tank ordered.
This seemed like an opportunity to sort out the fuel level sender too. As the tank is baffled with foam cubes the traditional float style sender doesn't work so I purchased a "dip tube" style sender to install somewhere in the tank.

Which needed some modification. I thought it would come with its own shroud but sadly not.

40mm waste pipe fitted perfectly!

...and a few holes drilled to try and keep the sensor as accurate as possible.

location found that seems to work

Calibrating this with the Aim dash will be the next challenge.
So in the meantime I started to prepare to build a new race engine. Taking 2 spare blocks over to Gosnays Engineering to have them bored to 83mm and ordering all the parts required.

With these now back and everything for the bottom end now acquired these have gone off to my engine builder who will select the best block to build with and we'll keep the other one for the next engine.
So while that's being assembled I'll start work on the top end and in between that we'll book the car onto the dyno with RobQ's engine so we can be ready for the opening round at Donington in March.