2013
Race Season
| Club |
Race
Date |
Race
Location |
Qualified 1-Overall 2-GT300 Class 3-MR2 Racing |
Race
Result 1-Overall 2-GT300 Class 3- MR2 Racing |
| Track
Attack |
March
16th |
Snetterton
300 |
10th(1) 3rd(2) | 8th & 7th(1) 4th & 4th(2) |
| Track
Attack |
April
6th |
Rockingham |
10th(1) 4th(2) | DNF,DNE |
| Track
Attack |
May
27th |
Castle
Combe |
12th(1) 4th(2) | 9th(1) 3rd(2) |
| Track
Attack |
June
29th |
Brands
Hatch |
DNE | DNE |
| Track
Attack |
August
3rd |
Mallory
Park |
5th(1) 3rd(2) | 5th & 4th(1) 2nd & 2nd(2) |
| Track
Attack |
August
31st |
Cadwell
Park |
DNE | DNE |
| Track
Attack |
September
28th |
Oulton
Park |
15th (3) 11th (3) | 11th (3)
7th (3) |
| Track
Attack |
October
20th |
Donington
Park |
27th (1) 10th (3)17th (1) 6th (3) | 17th (1) 6th (3)12th (1) 3rd (3) |
Donington Park
Donington Park was the venue for the clubs Autumn Series, open to all cars and with the classes based on engine size.
The MR2 was in class D, by far the biggest class but dominated by the Mk1 MR2's
After the changeable weather on Saturday, the forecast was still thunder storms on Sunday.
We are able to sign on and go through scrutineering on Saturday afternoon which took a bit of pressure off.
We were first out for Qualifying, my plan was do my 3 steady laps and then see what we could do in on the damp/greasy track.
Yellow flags became an issue, particularly with one car that seemed to spin off every time he reached a corner after passing me, this happened around 5 times and I began to wonder if Kamizuki was actually qualifying or auditioning for the automotive Bambi on Ice.
Anyway. I managed a Kamizuki free lap and timed a 1:48, that put me 27th overall and 10th of the MR2’s
Race 1
Track was pretty much dry, I was lined up behind temporary returning MR2 driver Adam Lockwood’s MR2 and planned to stick with him as much as possible.
On the green flag lap I spotted Kamizuki driving with his bonnet up, this resulted in him starting from the back.
Off the line I made a good start and was keeping with Adam and the other MR2’s. I had seen Kamizuki making his way through the pack, on the run down to Clearways I stayed right giving more than a cars width, when Kamizuki punts me off the track, I managed to keep the car straight and coasted across the grass to rejoin just before the old bridge at Starkys
This meant I rejoined second to last and I was after blood.
The car felt ok and I pushed on, soon picking off cars. Just before I got to half distance I found Kamizuki scrabbling back out of the gravel, he soon caught me and I was fully expecting to be door banged out of the way again.
On the run up to McLeans I caught Steve Hennessy #64 and slipped up the inside. Steve had started just behind me on the grid, so I was back in the area of where I started the race, Kamisuki came through, but I didn’t make it too easy for him, though I was not going to stoop to his door banging level.
The lead cars were now lapping which I used to my advantage to pass the Hyundai, next up was
another Hyundai, a slim move into the Esses moved me up another. I soon came upon Kamizuki recovering from another spin, fortunately he got rolling before I got to him. I was then catching
2 squabling MR2's, but letting leading cars through hurt my times and it was not to be.
I recovered to 17th overall and 6th of the MR2’s.
Race 2
Made a reasonable start and found myself on the back bumper of Paul Lawries Celica, he went left a little to defend against
an MR2 going around him, this left an MR2’s width to slip through into Redgate.
Into Old Hall an MR2 came up the inside, though I was sure I had covered it off, all done with no contact, getting boxed in by a recovering Clio meant
another MR2 also passed through. I was able to regain the position at Redgate, the exit of The Old Hairpin I found Kamizuki driving out of the gravel. I was now up on
the 2 MR2's I could not catch in race 1, a good run out of Coppice saw me making a move on
one as he made a move on the other. Only for Kamizuki to barrel past, out brake, dive across the gravel at the Esses and rejoin kicking stones up and damaging my screen, (my tally of damage from Kamizuki was growing).
Into Redgate I was catching Kamizuki and keeping up through Craner, I was able to place myself on the inside at the Old Hairpin only for Kamizuki to power past and then brake test me at Starkeys.
The pack of MR2’s behind now included Dave Hemmingway who was keen to recover from an earlier off, running a little wide at Coppice bought me some breathing space.
A lap or so later I found Kamizuki scrabbling out of the gravel at McLeans, giving him a wide berth when he powered through again.
I then had a clear track ahead of me, slowly reeling in the 2 of the front
running MR2's, a clean move on one into Redgate had my sights on the 2nd place
MR2 who was trailing bodywork and looking a little wounded.
Having a run down the back straight, I found myself drawing alongside on the run to the Esses. My rapidly evolving plan was to nip through and take both apexes.
The MR2 had a different plan of side by side through both apexes and a run to the line, this led to a slight misunderstanding which saw me take to the kerbing sausage that launched me onto 2 wheels. Landing, facing the right direction I was able to drop it into 2nd gear,
The other MR2 came back through and we ran to the line. I finished 3rd of the MR2’s
Oulton Park
Despite Oulton Park being my local circuit, this was to be only my second ever race there. Added to that it was to be in a Mk1 MR2 I had never driven before, on tyres I had never run before and a few of my family were going to be there, no pressure then.
I had been really looking forward
to my Mallory Park return, as it was here last year that I first raced the
Pulsar. I was still running the spare engine and it was performing faultlessly. Since Combe I had made some
suspension changes to reduce the understeer and was trying a different braking
set up on the front. Out for qualifying my laptimer
refused to play, but I was happy with my pace and I did not suffer too much
traffic. Qualifying 5th overall and 3rd in Class was my highest in the
Nippon and the highest I had taken the Pulsar. Race 1 Got a stunning start, but then
lost a place to the faster Celica GT4. the car was going well and I soon found
myself gaining on the Mitsubishi GTO of Mark Firth, knowing he had led at the
start of the race, I tasted blood of a wounded animal and slowly reeled him in.
He would power off on the straights but I could then reel him in through the
twisty bits. the GTO is so wide mark was able to park it on an Apex or slap bang
in the middle of the track and I was not able to get round. Finishing 4th, I
missed out on a podium place by only 2/10ths. Race 2 30 mins before the race, the
heavens opened and we had to make a decision on tyres, Jayne checked Accuweather
and confirmed it would soon pass. My "wet" tyre is the Federal 595RSR,
they are actually quite good in the dry as well as the wet, so I elected to run
those hoping the rain continued as many were staying on the dry bias tyre. Sat
in the assembly area the sun came out - bugger. With a damp track, I got the jump
on Adam Lockwood in his rapid 200SX off the line, I was able to keep him at bay
for a couple of laps, but defending was costing us both times, so I did not put
up too much of a fight down the straight. By now the top 3 were off and away,
the cars behind were not going to catch me if I kept my laptimes going, so a
lonely race in the end. Another 4th overall and 2nd in Class. After the engine problems at
Rockingham, I was too short of time to build the engine, I was very lucky to
find a local Pulsar GTiR owner selling a Norris Design Stage 1 engine. This
would have forged pistons and a lightened and balanced bottom end, but stock
head. More than adequate for GT300 class. The race weekend at Castle Combe
was all on the Bank Holiday Monday, we normally make a weekend away of a race
weekend, but with no racing on the Sunday there was no point of getting there on
the Saturday. Arriving on the Sunday just after lunch it was eerily quiet. With
only a few other around we set up and enjoyed the sunny weather. Out for Qualifying, I had some
space around me, I soon caught Andy McLennan, rather than peddling his usual
Swift Swift, he was running a Swift turbo. It was certainly lively but I was
happy following it around. Qualifying 4th in class and 12th overall with the new
engine was great. Race 1 Off the line I got a great start,
but not as good as Rich Senter in the Silver Subaru, with Nick Reid in his MR2
turbo chomping at my back bumper I was struggling to get by him, coming out of
Bobbies the Subaru lost power and I nearly took us both out. With clear track
ahead I slowly pulled away from Nick in the MR2 Turbo. Finishing 3rd in class
and 9th overall was the first Silverware for the Pulsar ! Various reasons meant I had not
raced at Rockingham before, but I was eager to scratch that itch, as we blame
Rockingham for the financial drain that is Motorsport, Jayne bought me a single
seater driving experience here in 2006 and it has been all uphill/downhill
(depending on your viewpoint) from there. Leaving early Friday afternoon, as
we joined the slow moving car park that is the M6 at Knutsford the brake pedal
of the motorhome sank to the floor. Furious pedal pumping and swearing provided
a modicum of retardation and we limped to the services only a short distance
away. A quick inspection saw no fluid loss, but the brake reservoir was dark
leading me to believe it was the master cylinder seals. No luck in sourcing one
in the UK, by previous savior US Automotive could not even be bothered to come
back to me so we arranged to get the Motorhome home. We were home by late
afternoon, fellow Stocktonian and racer Neil Stratton had contacted me to say he
was taking a car to the circuit and there was space on the flat bed for the
Pulsar, added to that fellow racer and all round good guy Rob Jefferies offered
to put me up in his Motorhome, lets go racing then ! Jayne decided to stay at home, the
first time she will have missed a race and it would not seem the same without
her there. We arrived at Rockingham in the
wee small hours of Saturday and retired to Rob's motorhome for the night. Saturday morning was cold &
bright out for qualifying. I took it easy for the first few banker laps, keen to
get to know the circuit and to better know the car. After the overboost issues,
I was pleased to see it stable at 1bar, I was happy with my pace and knew where
I could be faster in the race. I qualified 10th overall (8th in
the Nippons and 4th in GT300 class) which I was more than happy with. Race 1 I made a stunning start, slipping
between the 2 French Trophy class Clios before they closed the door and moved up
to 5th. One a left hander I heard a
knocking, initially I though I may have come a little too close in the hairpin
and it may have been the wheel and bodywork, all the gauges looked ok, then the
sudden loss of power and I retired. Our first DNF since 2010. Back in the paddock the slight
metallic finish to the oil did not bode well, time for an engine strip down. Having not raced at Snetterton
since 2010, this was my first time on the new 300 circuit. The 5 hour drive was
pretty uneventful and we arrived mid afternoon to a wet & windy circuit. One
unfortunate team had already seen one of their awnings make a bid for freedom,
causing a Red flag on circuit as it tried to mingle (or mangle) with the cars on
track. With our awnings well strapped
down, we were able to relax for the evening. Due to various restrictions, all
the races were being held on the Saturday, this had a knock on effect, in that
there was no separate MR2 & Nippon grids, all the Nippon, MR2 & Hyundai
would be starting on the same grid. Rather than have the cars in their
qualifying places, the Nippon would be gridded together, the MR2 gridded
together etc. Saturday morning we were up early
for Scrutineering, the wet weather was in for the day. Out for qualifying, took the first
half of the lap easy looking for grip, onto the back straight to push a little
more... Turbo overboost still !! With such long laps I did not have time to stop
in the pit to try ans remedy and get back out to complete my minimum 3 laps.
Ending up short shifting I was glad to see the end of session. Back in the Paddock, the way the
boost pipes were set up, should have given 14psi/1bar of boost, but I had been
seeing much more. I decided to run it back in the stock configuration of
10psi/0.7bar, this would loose me a sizable chunk of power, but give chance to
see how the car performs otherwise. Race 1 Due to the way the grid was laid
out, I ended up being gifted 10th place starting slot, Race 2 Mitsubishi colt mirage cyborg r
rs racing in the UK Nippon Challenge & CSCC Tin Tops. powered by the 4G92
MIVEC engine, similar weight and performance to the Honda Civic Vtec nissan pulsar sunny gtir gti pembrey, Snetterton, Brands
Hatch, Oulton Park, Anglesey, Donington, Mallory Park & Cadwell
There were a couple of raised eyebrows that I was going into Qualifying with a car I had never driven before, well it worked with the Pulsar last year at Mallory.
I had no expectations of where I would be, I planned to reacquaint myself with the MR2 handling and scrub the new tyres. I knew the front running MK1's in the Nippon had done 2:11 so I was reasonably happy with 2:14.
2:14 put me 16th on the grid, soon to be gifted 15th on the grid due to another cars time being disallowed up front.
I did not get a particularly good start and saw Steve Hennessy #64 make a storming start, I had passed
the Hyundai Coupe and into turn 1 he was just to my right at the same time an
MR2 was having a moment and I had to change direction to avoid him, luckily Dave
in the Hyundai saw this unfolding and gave me room.
I was then tucked up behind an MR2 doing a good job of making the car rather wide.
I got a good run out of Lodge and passed him into turn 1.
I spent the remainder of the race fending off Dave in the Coupe, I built myself a safe gap toward the end of the race and was slowly catching
another Coupe.
The end of the race came too soon and I crossed the line 11th overall
Race 1
A better start for race 2 and was chasing after the Hyundai Coupe that had eluded
me in race 1, loosing to him on the straights but taking chunks out of him on the corners. We found ourselves catching
an MR2, I had another good run out of Lodge, helped by the Coupe running wide I was able to pass before turn 1, out of Shell
the MR2 ahead was slowing and we passed. I spent the remainder defending against
the Coupe.
Finishing 7th overall
Race 2
I got a good start, getting the leap on the #3 Subaru and #78 GTO, who appeared
to have not noticed we had started without him... I soon found myself on the
MX5’s and #83 Integra. The Subaru soon caught back up, but
then threw it away at the scenery a few corners later. The GTO had finished his
butties and was now picking off cars coming back, #43 MR2 was punching above his
weight again.
The Subaru came back out of nowhere and pulled off a move into The Esses, even
the Marshals were poised with Yellow flags it was so bold.
After that it settled down and I powered down the straights and pottered round
the corners while I got to grips with the car and conditions, eventually picking
off the MX5’s. Well they let me go, probably cheesed off with fast/slow
antics.
I happily followed the #3 Subaru to the end of the race and crossed the line in
8th overall.
I was lined up behind the #78 GTO, hoping above hope that he was not having
a late lunch and may actually join the race start this time, luckily for both of
us he did, as I was heading for that piece of tarmac whether he was there or
not. Being a decent chap he powered off and left me a nice long space to get
past the #83 Integra. The Subaru left the line shortly after, only to make a
late lunge into turn 2. I was pleased I was able to see what was going to happen
and turned in late, while he headed off toward the next postcode.
I was able to hold off the Subaru for quite a while, In truth I think we was
playing with me, as when he decided to pass it was like being passed by a raped
ape. This left the Integra behind me, I would power off down the
straights and not so quick in the corners, round Coram he would take chunks
out of me, I figured this would be where he would make a move. Much to my
delight (and probably someone else’s misery) much mud was dropped just before
Russell making a move risky and I was able to stay ahead. Crossing the line 7th
overall with a PB of 2:38.1, some 7 seconds quicker than my race 1 PB and a full
calendar month quicker than my Qually time.
With only a couple of weeks before Rockingham I really need to get something
sorted with the boost, I also need a dab more camber all round.