Race 1 - 0.15 of a lap - Short lived..
Race 2 - All 15 minutes - The real deal!
Thursday 26 June 2008
Sunday 22 June 2008
Brands Bonaza
Brands – 21st June 2008, Big Al at the wheel
Double header at Brands where Al qualifies 6th for his first race, 5th for his second race, gets up to 3rd place off the start-line, and brings home a 3rd in class trophy in his second race. A very busy day, action packed, read below to find out more.
With no time for a pre-race track or test day, the team rolled up at Brands at 8am on the Saturday morning in-time for a track walk, to re-assess the brake points, turn-in points, and get a general feel for the rises and falls that Brands Hatch Indy circuit offers. The morning flew by in no time, quickly arriving at our 10:30 practice slot. Due to low grid sizes, we were out on track practising with Hot Hatch, with us onto circuit first. Practice went very well, with the track walk paying huge dividends.
I could see from our lap timer, that I hadn’t broken any lap records, but that my times should be competitive.
Times were soon out, and I had secured 6th place overall on the grid for my 1st race, and 5th place for my 2nd race. In terms of our Class-C, I had qualified 4th in class and 3rd in class respectively. So, very pleased, and the team set about a few minor changes to try and improve the handling of the car.
The first of our many supporters arrived, Jason, Tina and young Joshua King. Shortly followed by Nigel Seeds, then Ben, Catherine, Ewan and Finlay Barry. Next were Suz, Ste and Sarah, bringing with them a welcome dose of food, muffins and other assorted naughties! Last but not least, Nick Clark and son James.
So, onto my first race, 6th place means 3rd row of the grid and on the outside of the track. I got a fantastic start, and literally catapulted myself into 3rd place by the time we were at Paddock – the first bend. Going into Druids (hairpin at the top of the hill) I saw in my mirror that someone was making a move up the inside, actually I could see tyre smoke and front wheels locked up! So, I kept out wide and saw Jim Goodwin fly up the inside, shortly followed by Mark Alexander Williams who had also locked up and collided with my front RHS and sent us both into the gravel. I kept the car moving, and with a bit of creative driving was able to get back out of the gravel, in the end had to reverse out, slightly unconventional!!
With that I was last in the race, and by quite some margin. The car felt ok, so I started pushing on, in an attempt to re-capture the pack. Just as I came past the pit entry, I saw red flags and so immediately eased off and parked up on the grid. Knowing that the other cars had to complete a full lap of the circuit, I jumped out of the car to check the damage from the impact. The brand new steering rack was bent and we were not going to be joining the re-start. With that, we took the car back to the pits. The next two hours were spent franticly repairing the rack, a hug team effort enabling us to repair the car in time* - Nigel and Steve rebuilt the bodywork, me, Des and Mike repairing the rack, Big thanks for Glen Boyer (aka the Carrot Cruncher) and the Cherrington’s for all of their help with spares, and a vice!
*in –time – We actually got to the forming area with a whole 30 seconds to spare. I literally had to throw the tools, umbrella and water from the car before heading out onto the track.
So, the second race was on with me in P5, still on the 3rd row of the grid, but this time on the inside. Again, got a great start and got up to 3rd place again! This time kept the door firmly shut on the way into Druids. Next few laps were pretty busy, seeing me lose two places down to 5th, then regain one and into 4th, managing to get past the V8 Dax on the way into Surtees. I seemed to be gaining on P3 car in some places, and losing out in others. Clearways was particularly difficult and quite frustrating - I just could not get the power down, the rear inside was just spinning up and for up to 100m on some bends! Anyway, on about Lap 10, I missed my turn-in for the Surtees and as a result went in completely off line. Resulting in a rather spectacular spin. I rejoined the circuit, and held my position. After my visit to the grass, I knew that there was no chance to catch P3 car, and so settled in to a more gentle rhythym and fiunished the race 4th overall and 3rd in class.
So, overall a pretty damn fine result, only marred by the fact that I was not able to complete Race 1. Practice and Race 2 had gone extremely well, and so overall a great days racing.
I’d like to thank all my supporters for the day (as mentioned above) for their help and support through the day and in getting the car repaired. We were also top tip for a couple of racing fans who had travelled from Colchester and who had been rallying for us all day – Big thanks!!
Check all the photos from the day here:-
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/ajullie2/BrandsBonaza
Next event is Donington on Sunday 20th July, where Uncle Mike takes the wheel one more time.
Cheers, Al
Double header at Brands where Al qualifies 6th for his first race, 5th for his second race, gets up to 3rd place off the start-line, and brings home a 3rd in class trophy in his second race. A very busy day, action packed, read below to find out more.
With no time for a pre-race track or test day, the team rolled up at Brands at 8am on the Saturday morning in-time for a track walk, to re-assess the brake points, turn-in points, and get a general feel for the rises and falls that Brands Hatch Indy circuit offers. The morning flew by in no time, quickly arriving at our 10:30 practice slot. Due to low grid sizes, we were out on track practising with Hot Hatch, with us onto circuit first. Practice went very well, with the track walk paying huge dividends.
I could see from our lap timer, that I hadn’t broken any lap records, but that my times should be competitive.
Times were soon out, and I had secured 6th place overall on the grid for my 1st race, and 5th place for my 2nd race. In terms of our Class-C, I had qualified 4th in class and 3rd in class respectively. So, very pleased, and the team set about a few minor changes to try and improve the handling of the car.
The first of our many supporters arrived, Jason, Tina and young Joshua King. Shortly followed by Nigel Seeds, then Ben, Catherine, Ewan and Finlay Barry. Next were Suz, Ste and Sarah, bringing with them a welcome dose of food, muffins and other assorted naughties! Last but not least, Nick Clark and son James.
So, onto my first race, 6th place means 3rd row of the grid and on the outside of the track. I got a fantastic start, and literally catapulted myself into 3rd place by the time we were at Paddock – the first bend. Going into Druids (hairpin at the top of the hill) I saw in my mirror that someone was making a move up the inside, actually I could see tyre smoke and front wheels locked up! So, I kept out wide and saw Jim Goodwin fly up the inside, shortly followed by Mark Alexander Williams who had also locked up and collided with my front RHS and sent us both into the gravel. I kept the car moving, and with a bit of creative driving was able to get back out of the gravel, in the end had to reverse out, slightly unconventional!!
With that I was last in the race, and by quite some margin. The car felt ok, so I started pushing on, in an attempt to re-capture the pack. Just as I came past the pit entry, I saw red flags and so immediately eased off and parked up on the grid. Knowing that the other cars had to complete a full lap of the circuit, I jumped out of the car to check the damage from the impact. The brand new steering rack was bent and we were not going to be joining the re-start. With that, we took the car back to the pits. The next two hours were spent franticly repairing the rack, a hug team effort enabling us to repair the car in time* - Nigel and Steve rebuilt the bodywork, me, Des and Mike repairing the rack, Big thanks for Glen Boyer (aka the Carrot Cruncher) and the Cherrington’s for all of their help with spares, and a vice!
*in –time – We actually got to the forming area with a whole 30 seconds to spare. I literally had to throw the tools, umbrella and water from the car before heading out onto the track.
So, the second race was on with me in P5, still on the 3rd row of the grid, but this time on the inside. Again, got a great start and got up to 3rd place again! This time kept the door firmly shut on the way into Druids. Next few laps were pretty busy, seeing me lose two places down to 5th, then regain one and into 4th, managing to get past the V8 Dax on the way into Surtees. I seemed to be gaining on P3 car in some places, and losing out in others. Clearways was particularly difficult and quite frustrating - I just could not get the power down, the rear inside was just spinning up and for up to 100m on some bends! Anyway, on about Lap 10, I missed my turn-in for the Surtees and as a result went in completely off line. Resulting in a rather spectacular spin. I rejoined the circuit, and held my position. After my visit to the grass, I knew that there was no chance to catch P3 car, and so settled in to a more gentle rhythym and fiunished the race 4th overall and 3rd in class.
So, overall a pretty damn fine result, only marred by the fact that I was not able to complete Race 1. Practice and Race 2 had gone extremely well, and so overall a great days racing.
I’d like to thank all my supporters for the day (as mentioned above) for their help and support through the day and in getting the car repaired. We were also top tip for a couple of racing fans who had travelled from Colchester and who had been rallying for us all day – Big thanks!!
Check all the photos from the day here:-
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/ajullie2/BrandsBonaza
Next event is Donington on Sunday 20th July, where Uncle Mike takes the wheel one more time.
Cheers, Al
Wednesday 18 June 2008
Tuesday 17 June 2008
Racing for Girls
Last weekend saw yet another trip to support the boys and their toy car. Fortunately after 7 years of racing, the girls of Mad racing have now learnt how to give the boys the support they need.............Last weekend saw Mel, Suz and Liz travelling to North Wales, Jo was doing her bit by helping Al calm his nerves Whilst he lay on his sunbed in the Mediterranean sunshine.
After spending a lovely romantic night at a little B&B in the Brecon Beacons with Des, we [Damn it - I never even noticed Liz and Suz at the B+B - Ed (Des)] drove up through Wales via snowdon (in the mist and rain) to arrive Thursday night at Mum and Dad's caravan in AberConwy (its 6 star..don't you know!!!) The evening was spent listening to romantic music in the cosy ambient atmosphere of the luxury static home enjoying a lovely glass of wine.....Then in burst Uncle Mike, JB and Liz, the time was 2am.
The boys left early whilst Liz and I thought about what to do over a leisurely breakfast overlooking the Snowdonia national park. Racing or stroll along the beach? Racing or stroll along the beach? It was a difficult decision but we felt that if we went racing, we would have been a distraction for the boys and that really wasn't fair so a gentle stroll along the beach it was. We had a lovely lunch in the marina watching the world go by with a beer in hand and then did some window shopping in the boutiques of Conwy. Prior to the stroll we did attempt to climb a mountain but as we were in sandals and Liz was getting married in 4 weeks we felt the risks were too great.
In the evening, the boys arrived back looking sweaty and smelling of engine oil. They were ushered immediately into the hot steamy clean shower to freshen up [not all at the same time - Ed]. Liz and I had gone to the effort of pampering ourselves in the spa so we felt it was only fair that the boys should make the effort as well.
We though about cooking a lovely meal for everyone but after our hard day we were just too tired. Suz arrived just in time to join us for a nice pub dinner in the snowdonia hills. We all were tucked up in our soft cosy horizontal beds fairly early that night as we all had had a very busy day.
Saturday morning was spent snoozing and lazing around enjoying the peace and quiet of the countryside. We made lunch and headed up to the race track to offer our support for U. Mike. After watching 1 race. (well done U. Mike) we ate cake and went to explore the local beach, just far enough away to hear the gentle rumble of engines. Our fine tuned ears were able to tell which was Mike's engine and so we were still able to support in spirit.
After sunning ourselves and paddling in the sea we headed back to the race track to check on the boys. The seemed OK so we felt that our presence was again causing distractions and the spa was calling, so we headed back to the caravan to spend the afternoon in the comfort of the spa. We did think about making dinner but unfortunately for the boys the bar was in the way of the caravan so we had to pop in and have a few beers. The boys arrived back, joined us for more few beers and then went off to buy us fish and chips. We spent the evening relaxing in front of the box and had an early night.
Sunday was a more active day for Liz and I, we hiked up the mountain, walked into Conwy and sunbathed on the beach.
Once again, thank you Mike for racing, I had a great weekend and looking forward the the next one (especially if it involves, luxury accommodation, sun sea and sand!)
Mel (Sole member of Des's fan club)
Monday 16 June 2008
Brands times
Brands Hatch times are out, and are as follows:-
Sat June 21st
Scrut: 9.25
Practice: 10.35
Race 1: 14.55
Race 2: 17.10
Big Al at the wheel....see you there.
Sat June 21st
Scrut: 9.25
Practice: 10.35
Race 1: 14.55
Race 2: 17.10
Big Al at the wheel....see you there.
Tuesday 10 June 2008
Anglesey covers all the angles
Well, what a weekend that was! Not 5 minutes after the car had been readied for the journey North and we found ourselves driving up the M1, onto the M6 and then west-ward bound towards Anglesey. Weather in Anglesey is unpredictable at best, wet and windy at worst and so it was with great anticipation that we awoke on the Friday test morning to a glorious day. Des and JB headed off early from the very comfortable caravan in which we were staying (a big thanks to Mel's mum and dad) to put the final finishing touches on the car before I arrived, chauffeured by Mel a little later on. We had four 25-minute sessions in which to check out the car after the mammoth amount of work that had just been completed, to learn the circuit which I had never been to before and finally to set the car up to get the best out of it for the racing.
The first session revealed arm-fulls amount of understeer and the engine running slightly hot. So whilst JB set to enlarging the ducting exit from the bonnet with various drills and files, Des tweeked the front dampers to try to dial out the understeer. The second session showed the understeer still present and so spring changes were the order of the day. We quickly realised though that a new set of spings were required from Demon Tweeks which Suzanne picked up on her way across. By the end of the day, my lap times had just dipped below 1m 18s.
After some nosh in a local pub and a couple of drinks, we were quickly off to sleep with the promise of a great day's racing the next day.
Saturday was to be another glorious day weather-wise, with hardly a cloud in the sky. A minor wiring issue had to be fixed before we were allowed through scrutineering which then quickly led to qualifying. I managed to settle in pretty quickly in practice, with the new rear springs having sorted the handling and wheel-spin better than I'd hoped for. I found some good space in which to set some fast lap times and when the grid was published, I had qualified 4th in class (6th on the grid) for both races 1 and 3. Race 2 was the Lydden re-run and I was 8th on the grid for that.
I made a great start in the first race, and quickly made it up to 5th place, then back down to 6th but the red flags were shown after about 6 laps. So back to the grid for the re-start. Following another good start I then lost a couple of places and found myself back in 8th overall. I had a close race with the two cars in front but just could not find a way through and so by the end of the race, I was in 8th place, which was 5th in class. Not too bad.
The 2nd race was the Lydden re-run (after it was snowed-off in April). It turned out to be basically a re-run of the first race (but no red flag), with more close racing and so after an exhausting 20 minutes of racing, I finished in 7th place (4th in class).
A good night's sleep on the Saturday and a review of the video with my coach a.k.a. Des allowed me to fully concentrate on where I needed to improve on my lines and race craft for my third and final race. A quick check over of the car showed no issues and so to the grid for the race. After a green flag lap it was quickly to the countdown and away again. Another good start saw me battling with cars from the two classes above, with lots of hussling for position and my lap times had improved again. After another hot and tiring 20 minutes bumper to bumper racing, I again finished 5th in class (8th overall).
The whole weekend had been a great success with fantastic reliability from the car and great support from Des and JB in keeping the car running and for Suz, Mel, Liz and Des' mum and dad for their encouragement and more along the way. The circuit turned out to be quite challenging with a tricky fast section leading to a heavy braking zone and into a twisty hilly section. Great fun in a fantastic setting.
Next out in our car is Al on Saturday June 21st for a double-header at Brands Hatch. Hope to see you there.
The first session revealed arm-fulls amount of understeer and the engine running slightly hot. So whilst JB set to enlarging the ducting exit from the bonnet with various drills and files, Des tweeked the front dampers to try to dial out the understeer. The second session showed the understeer still present and so spring changes were the order of the day. We quickly realised though that a new set of spings were required from Demon Tweeks which Suzanne picked up on her way across. By the end of the day, my lap times had just dipped below 1m 18s.
After some nosh in a local pub and a couple of drinks, we were quickly off to sleep with the promise of a great day's racing the next day.
Saturday was to be another glorious day weather-wise, with hardly a cloud in the sky. A minor wiring issue had to be fixed before we were allowed through scrutineering which then quickly led to qualifying. I managed to settle in pretty quickly in practice, with the new rear springs having sorted the handling and wheel-spin better than I'd hoped for. I found some good space in which to set some fast lap times and when the grid was published, I had qualified 4th in class (6th on the grid) for both races 1 and 3. Race 2 was the Lydden re-run and I was 8th on the grid for that.
I made a great start in the first race, and quickly made it up to 5th place, then back down to 6th but the red flags were shown after about 6 laps. So back to the grid for the re-start. Following another good start I then lost a couple of places and found myself back in 8th overall. I had a close race with the two cars in front but just could not find a way through and so by the end of the race, I was in 8th place, which was 5th in class. Not too bad.
The 2nd race was the Lydden re-run (after it was snowed-off in April). It turned out to be basically a re-run of the first race (but no red flag), with more close racing and so after an exhausting 20 minutes of racing, I finished in 7th place (4th in class).
A good night's sleep on the Saturday and a review of the video with my coach a.k.a. Des allowed me to fully concentrate on where I needed to improve on my lines and race craft for my third and final race. A quick check over of the car showed no issues and so to the grid for the race. After a green flag lap it was quickly to the countdown and away again. Another good start saw me battling with cars from the two classes above, with lots of hussling for position and my lap times had improved again. After another hot and tiring 20 minutes bumper to bumper racing, I again finished 5th in class (8th overall).
The whole weekend had been a great success with fantastic reliability from the car and great support from Des and JB in keeping the car running and for Suz, Mel, Liz and Des' mum and dad for their encouragement and more along the way. The circuit turned out to be quite challenging with a tricky fast section leading to a heavy braking zone and into a twisty hilly section. Great fun in a fantastic setting.
Next out in our car is Al on Saturday June 21st for a double-header at Brands Hatch. Hope to see you there.
Monday 9 June 2008
Mike Makes the Most of Anglsey
Mike again showed his class with a fabulous hall of points over a packed weekend of racing in North Wales. A full days testing, followed by a practice, and then 3 races. Mike rewarded the team's reacent massive efforts rebuilding the car, and put the happenings from Cadwell behind us with a two 4th places and a 5th 
- and importantly no damage to the car - A brilliant result! Mike's full race report to follow......
- and importantly no damage to the car - A brilliant result! Mike's full race report to follow......Friday 6 June 2008
Live update from Anglesey Test - 6th June
11.30 Update
Just had a quick call from the team at Anglesey, the car is running and behaving on it's test day.
Issues with understeer (perhaps we should set the dampers next time) and running at a steady 103degrees C, so some quick fettling to fix these issues ready for the next session and away.
1635 Update
All still going well.
Understeer is better, but now have rear wheelspin back again. The lads are trying another spring change to kerb this problem...
Cooling, ~5 degree drop in coolant temp thanks to some drastic bonnet modifications.
All going well thus far, full report later on.
Just had a quick call from the team at Anglesey, the car is running and behaving on it's test day.
Issues with understeer (perhaps we should set the dampers next time) and running at a steady 103degrees C, so some quick fettling to fix these issues ready for the next session and away.
1635 Update
All still going well.
Understeer is better, but now have rear wheelspin back again. The lads are trying another spring change to kerb this problem...
Cooling, ~5 degree drop in coolant temp thanks to some drastic bonnet modifications.
All going well thus far, full report later on.
Sunday 1 June 2008
Highs and Lows..
The team have had a busy couple of weeks trying to get the car ready for Anglesey, procuring new parts, designing new custom made widgets, and of course a fairly hefty chassis repair to boot. Everything was coming together nicely, such that this weekend (30th May & 1st June) it was planned that whilst the girls were all in France for Liz’ hen do, that the lads including young Oliver would camp out at Mad-racing TC to re-assemble the car, so that it would be spangley and new ready, for it’s outing at Anglesey on the 6th, 7th&8th June.
All was going well until mid-afternoon Saturday, when JB mentioned something about momentous occasion and re-starting the engine after the front half of car rebuild. I wondered what he was making such a song and dance about, the engine always started and in my head, always would. The only thing was that it didn’t. Not a cough, wheeze or a pop. Attention suddenly turned from paintwork, fettling and finalising to – re-think, we don’t have an engine.
Satuday afternoon was spent trying to fault diagnose the problem, but with no success. And ended up with us retiring for the evening to scratch our heads, and try to figure out what the problem was. Sometime around midday Sunday, Mike found the problem, a shorted pair of wires that go to the crank position sensor. Without this signal, the EEK didn’t know if the engine was turning or not, and therefore when to send a spark. Consequently, the engine was dead.
After a neat repair, the shorted wires were no more, and the engine instantly leapt into life.
Thank god…we now have a fighting chance of making Anglesey. Huge thanks to Des, Mike JB & Will for all their hard work this weekend, between us all something like 100man-hours this weekend alone, the car is taking great shape, so thankyou guys.
Mike has a test day on Friday, then over the course of Sat & Sun (7th & 8th June) he has 3 races…watch this space for his update early w/c 9th June.
Al
All was going well until mid-afternoon Saturday, when JB mentioned something about momentous occasion and re-starting the engine after the front half of car rebuild. I wondered what he was making such a song and dance about, the engine always started and in my head, always would. The only thing was that it didn’t. Not a cough, wheeze or a pop. Attention suddenly turned from paintwork, fettling and finalising to – re-think, we don’t have an engine.
Satuday afternoon was spent trying to fault diagnose the problem, but with no success. And ended up with us retiring for the evening to scratch our heads, and try to figure out what the problem was. Sometime around midday Sunday, Mike found the problem, a shorted pair of wires that go to the crank position sensor. Without this signal, the EEK didn’t know if the engine was turning or not, and therefore when to send a spark. Consequently, the engine was dead.
After a neat repair, the shorted wires were no more, and the engine instantly leapt into life.
Thank god…we now have a fighting chance of making Anglesey. Huge thanks to Des, Mike JB & Will for all their hard work this weekend, between us all something like 100man-hours this weekend alone, the car is taking great shape, so thankyou guys.
Mike has a test day on Friday, then over the course of Sat & Sun (7th & 8th June) he has 3 races…watch this space for his update early w/c 9th June.
Al
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
