TrackDriver Magazine 18

where every track driver turns

issue 18

£4.75

100 YEARS of Race Car Development n Lotus Cortina – racing and enjoying an icon

n Online Racing – learning in the digital classroom

n Readers’ Drives – Noble M12 GTO

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A warm welcome to new faces

t’s been a while since last we met, during which time a lot’s been happening at TrackDriver. Carl Owen’s name has already been seen in these pages recently – he has started out on the rocky road which is building and racing his own Audi TT – but he’s also a seasoned businessman and a veteran of the music industry. Carl is now in charge of TrackDriver’s business side and future development. This is good news for the rest of us who are more interested in driving, racing and writing about cars and circuits.

Talking of new faces, this issue sees a few more. Richard ‘Dickie’ Meaden is well known to readers of evo magazine as one of the best driver/writer combinations to be found anywhere. Richard has hitherto been a feature in the cockpit of more modern GT machinery and he has become something of an expert round the Nürburgring in cars with both grip and downforce. Of late though, he has been driving a 1965 Lotus Cortina to very good effect, a detail which is pleasing in that it brings a new voice to these pages, and only slightly annoying in that yours truly has been driving a thoroughly unsorted version in the same races. As Dickie says, an unsorted Cortina can be a deeply frustrating experience. Oh yes it is. You can read about a good one on page 34.

We also welcome Andrew Bentley who is part of the Silverstone driving school and whose instructional insights are especially well observed. Andrew guests in the Coaching Corner slot and we’ll be hearing more from him in subsequent issues, as we will from Nigel Rees, who makes his TrackDriver debut on page 22. Nigel is a vastly experienced engineer at all levels from F1 downwards and he begins with a fascinating journey through 100 years of motorsport. Evolution in the first few years was just that, as we found out things we didn’t know, but which in particular made cars stop and corner faster. Now it seems we know everything and top-level designers spend their time trying to stay one step ahead of regulators. Regulation often seems like unwelcome interference but as Nigel explains, grand prix cars had already reached the limit of human endurance by the 1990s, so rules to restrict some aspects of their performance are probably a necessity.

We’ll hear more from Nigel in forthcoming issues when he turns to the black art that is making your car handle better.

If you drive a Cortina, or anything that has been modified, you will already know why that is an ability to be prized.

Portrait: Oliver Brown. Background image: Jakob Ebrey

There have been a couple of shows in the meantime, too, and having been to more than a few over the years, there’s evolution to be seen here as well. Haymarket does a fine job organising and promoting the annual Autosport International at the NEC. There’s no better opportunity in the UK for players, administrators, rule-makers and the industry that supports them to gather in one giant networking opportunity.

There were a lot of new cars there too, and if some of the major manufacturers gave this year’s show a miss, there was renewed interest from others, such as motorsport veteran Ford. The world of motorsport needs big players like Ford, just as it does Renault and Mercedes, and it was good to see Ford keeping the faith with Formula Ford, and spreading its influence as an engine supplier to Caterham and Radical. We talked to Ford’s Vice President of Marketing, Sales and Service, Roelant de Waard (who owns a trackday Caterham), and we’ll bring you his thoughts on his employer’s place in the sport – together with some more driving experiences of the training-level FF200 single-seater – in the next issue.

From a personal point of view, there seemed to be fewer of my colleagues and friends at Autosport this year.

Those I spoke to afterwards said they had been either put off by the costs, or that the show was no longer for them.

Haymarket says that more visitors than ever came through the gates, so the general public clearly didn’t feel the same way.

Maybe it’s just that the show is evolving, just like motorsport itself, but there is no doubt that I felt more at home at Race Retro, which recently made its annual visit to the Royal showground near Coventry. It’s smaller and more intimate, and there are more old motors there.

So yes, I know, that could be the reason I feel comfortable…

The point is that we need both and if there is a divergence between their focus, that is only a good thing.

Finally, thank you to all who have subscribed to the printed version of TrackDriver. The online version will remain as a free subscription and we welcome new subscribers, in any form. And as the sun streams in through my office window, there is at last the prospect of some dry track time to contemplate. We hope to see you at a circuit somewhere very soon • Mark Hales: Editor

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he Boss introduces new writers and T has sage thoughts about Autosport

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enos, the new trackday special; Z NISMO GT-R; Autosport Show; new McLaren

21 Clipping point

Fisticuffs in the paddock? It’s up to the race organisers to stamp it out quickly

22 RAMBLINGS/peter dron

A man of modesty, Peter Dron recalls a particularly entertaining Escort race

62 walker’s wisdom

Gazing into the future, Mr Walker sees drive-by-wire taking off in club racing

74 Team Cars

Audi TT’s race debut; Alfa’s highs and lows; MG starting to come together

94 TrackDay Diary Editor Mark Hales Editorial design Ryan Baptiste Sub editor Brett Fraser Technical contributors Ray Collier, Dave Walker Track test contributor Jim Cameron Contributing Racer John Mawdsley Digital editors/app design Martin and Oliver Dickens Business Development manager Carl Owen Advertising sales manager Sandra Owen Marketing manager Tony Murray Contributing writers Peter Dron, Nigel Rees, Andrew Bentley, Richard Meaden

Regular contributing photographers Owen Brown, Jakob Ebrey, Jeff Bloxham, John Colley, David Stallard www.davidstallardphotography.com, Andy Morgan, Paul Harmer, Ralph Lunt, Jenny South, Keith Lowes, John Laycock, Andy Glenister, www.frozenspeed.com

Contributing photography/illustration Ian Wilkie, Patrick Watts, Peter Collins, Carl Owen, Tony Murray, Dave Walker, Ray Collier, LAT Photographic, hirundomotorsport.com, dwmotorsportphotography. com, snappyracers.com, Tony Matthews, James A Allington, Dropout Media

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Spring is sprung, the grass is ris’, I wonder where the track action is…

CONTENtS issue no 18 2014

FEATURES 24 100 YEARS OF RACING It’s all a matter of balance when it comes to setting up your aero

36 LOTUS cortina

Richard Meaden discovers the delights of Historic favourite, the Lotus Cortina

44 RACER REQUIRED

When Milltek needed a driver it turned the quest into a competition

48 play to win

Carl Owen on why simulators can be brilliant at helping you race for real

56 coaching corner

Optimising your ‘track vision’ will make you a better racer, says Andrew Bentley

64 readers’ drives

First of a new series: Andy Bull tells us all about his Noble M12 GTO

68 golf gti donington

J ohn Mawdsley fondly revisits old times with a drive in the Production GTi series

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ZENOS PUTS ELISE IN ITS CROSS-HAIRS

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ith its factory pretty much on the edge of the Lotus test track at Hethel, and with its co-founders Ansar Ali and Mark Edwards ex-employees of both Lotus and Caterham, there was never any doubt what sort of car the new Zenos marque was likely to develop – a road-legal trackday special cum club racer with the Elise as one of its primary targets.

The rear-drive Zenos E10 promises light weight – just 650kg – a back to basics approach to the driving experience and cabin ambience, a power-to-weight ratio of 300bhp per tonne, thanks in part to a mid-mounted 200bhp 2.0-litre Ford GDI engine, and a base price of £24,995. In other words, a formula not dissimilar to that of the original Elise when it was launched back in 1996.

Also in common with the little Lotus, extruded aluminium is at the core of the Zenos’ chassis.

But instead of using several components bonded together with advanced adhesives to create a monocoque, the Zenos has a single central

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extruded aluminium ‘spine’, to which the front suspension is directly bolted, whilst bolted to the rear is an extruded aluminium subframe, said to be moderately easy to remove trackside to facilitate engine repairs, or to replace in the case of a crash. The passenger tub is formed from a composite of recycled carbonfibre with a thermoplastic core: twin roll-hoops and side impact bars are integrated into the tub.

The chassis design and materials are what enable the Zenos to sit so delicately on the scales, although the lack of a windscreen or doors – the E10 is described as being a ‘step into’ design – obviously helps, too. Zenos is currently examining possibilities for an optional windscreen to make the E10 more road-friendly, although there’s no word yet on wet weather equipment. The cockpit is claimed to accommodate bodies from 5ft 1in tall through to 6ft 3in, and minimalism is the design motif du jour. Directly ahead of the driver is a very small digital display for the most vital vehicle

information, while a larger colour display for road and track data sits in a central position in what you might loosely describe as a facia; there really isn’t anything else to disturb a driver’s focus.

It’s probably no surprise to learn there are Ford logos stamped all over the engine, as the massive multinational seems to have become the Fairy Godmother of the entire specialist sports car industry. Zenos claims to have chosen the 2.0-litre, naturally aspirated, direct petrol injection unit because its oversquare configuration makes for a high-revving powerplant, while its variable cam timing arrangement provides both power for the track and torque for toddling around comfortably on the road. At present the GDI engine knocks out 200bhp – good for 0-60mph in less than 5.0sec and 135mph top speed – but Zenos hints strongly that there’s more to come. For now there a five-speed manual transmission as standard and an optional six-speeder, but the company is

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SEQUENTIAL ’BOX HIGHLIGHT OF REVISED R300 RACER

also examining other transmission options and alternative final drive ratios.

Compared with an Elise, the styling of the E10 seems wild and modern, although perhaps not so very different to Caterham’s AeroSeven Concept or the Vühl 05, or even the KTM X-Bow. Regardless of any similarity either real or imagined, the E10 is going to cause quite a stir when it rolls up into the paddock, and it will have a hefty price advantage over both the Vühl and KTM. Production is likely to start late this year – there’s still plenty of development work to be done and production processes to be sorted – with first customer deliveries planned for early 2015. The first batch of 75 cars will be the E10 Launch Edition, that comes complete with the six-speed ’box, limited-slip diff, Zenos’ own bespoke composite seats, four-point race harness, quick-release steering wheel, ‘performance’ wheels pack, and special paint. All of which elevates the price to £28,995.

Caterham has given its 175bhp R300 a little present for the 2014 season in the form of a Sadev six-speed sequential gearbox (already used in the 620R road car) to replace the previous manual. Flat-shift electronics allow for clutchless upshifting, increasing the speed and precision of shifts, which in turn should lead to even closer racing.

Looking less dramatic on the spec sheet but arguably even more important, is a change in rubberwear, from the previous Avon CR500 tyre to the company’s newer ZZR, mounted on new, lighter 13in alloy wheels.

The ZZR is said to offer better all-round performance and last longer, which combined with the more robust transmission should lead to lower running costs for the nimble racer. Because the new tyres have such different performance characteristics, Caterham has had to redesign the upper wishbones to make the most of them.

The 2.0-litre R300 costs from £32,495 and its championship season starts at Snetterton on April 19.

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McLAREN UPS THE ANTE WITH NEW 650S

Not shy of making a bold claim or two, McLaren describes its new 650S as having “the widest breadth of abilities of any supercar.” Stylistically a cross between McLaren’s 12C upon which it’s largely based, but with a nose treatment derivative of the limited run P1 hypercar, the 650S takes its nomenclature from the power output of its M838 twin-turbo V8 – 650PS, or 641bhp in old money.

The ‘S’ denotes Sport, just in case you’re confused about the car’s purpose.

We may mock about that last point, but the truth

is that McLaren was stung badly by criticism that despite its undoubted pace, the 12C felt a bit aloof and uninvolving to drive. Apparently a lot of work has been put into the 650S to make it more engaging for the driver: to put in some ‘rough edges’, if you like.

Among myriad improvements is an active aero package that delivers 24% more downforce at 150mph than the 12C’s does. And the 650S’s huge airbrake has a more ‘intelligent’ operating strategy. McLaren’s multi-mode suspension system, ProActive Chassis Control (PCC), has been

ROAR OF NOSTALGIA

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recalibrated for use in the 650S, especially within its Sport setting: the settings can also be adjusted independently of the prevailing drivetrain mode.

Driving enjoyment may be high on the car’s development agenda, but the 650S is also plush inside with a wealth of standard equipment.

That said, prominent on the options list is a pair of carbon-shelled sports seats for owners likely to succumb to the lure of the track. The 650S coupe costs £195K, while the Spider with its folding metal roof is £215K.

Bellowing powerplants and wide-bodied silhouettes will be the order of the day when the Classic Sports Car Club’s Special Saloons and Modsports series hits four of Britain’s premier race tracks this season.

The series will be bringing together the wilder creations of the 1970’s circuit racing scene for double-header events at Silverstone, Brands Hatch, Donington Park and Oulton Park. And a change of rules mean that two drivers can share a car at each event (taking a race each), which may help to lower costs.

Series representative, Ricky Parker-Morris, is keen to hear from anyone with an appropriate car who hasn’t raced with the CSCC before; if you fancy unleashing your beast, head on over to www.classicsportscarclub.co.uk.

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HONDA HOTS UP

At the same time as pushing its environmental credentials for all they’re worth, Honda is also trying to inject more sass into the brand with high profile motorsport forays and a ballsy new entrant to the hot hatch market.

Unfortunately the road car debutant won’t be with us until 2015, but the new Civic Type R (main pic) is already out testing at the ’Ring, and has had input in its development from Honda’s World Touring Car Championship driver, Gabriele Tarquini. Unlike previous versions of the hot hatch, the latest Civic Type R has

a turbocharged VTEC 2.0-litre motor, said to produce in excess of 280bhp.

Shame it won’t look quite as brutally attractive as the WTCC Civic (topleft), with its super-fat arches and ground-grazing stance.

The aforementioned Tarquini is one of the team drivers for 2014, and Tiagro Monteiro his teammate.

Meanwhile for UK home consumption, Honda is fielding a brand another brand new model in the 2014 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship. The Civic Tourer might not be

GT-R GETS NISMO’D Already brutally quick in standard form, Nissan’s GT-R has been worked over by the company’s Nismo motorsport and aftermarket division. Now with 600bhp from its 3.8-litre twin-turbo V6 and boasting an extra 100kg of downforce at 186mph(!), the GT-R Nismo is on sale in Japan right now, but won’t reach official European sales channels until September.

The Nismo’s extra pace has already allowed Nissan to indulge in another round of Porschebaiting – the car has circulated the Nürburgring in 7:08.679, which Nissan is claiming as a record for a ‘volume production car’. Only in the small print do you see that the Nismo was fitted with ‘track options’. Even so, we wonder if Porsche will bite…

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the most obvious choice for a brand-building exercise, but it will be the only estate car on the grid. And chances are that since Honda has won the Team and Manufacturer’s BTCC titles for four years on the trot, it will probably be quite good.

The driver line-up for the Honda Yuasa Racing team is unchanged from 2013 – Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden. But there will be some ‘new’ competition for them this season, as former double champions, Alain Menu and Fabrizio Giovanardi, are returning to the BTCC. Should be entertaining…

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DRIVEME PLANS TO DEVELOP SEIGHFORD BASE

Staffordshire-based driving experience provider, Driveme, has recently announced ambitious plans to develop the former RAF airfield of Seighford, which has been its base since 2006. The 100-acre site is already busy and has processed nearly half a million guests in seven years – 19,000 of them in the last 12 months – offering a straightforward

opportunity to blast upmarket cars round a simple rectangular circuit or drive a 4X4 on an off-road facility and the hope is to attract car industry.

The intent is to develop the site into a proving ground and test centre with modern facilities. Five circuits are planned, together with a technical centre and the hope is to

attract the car industry clients as well as those looking for on-track thrills.

Many of these projects stumble over planning consent but this hurdle has already been cleared and the centre can operate for five days a week, 48 weeks a year. More information from Driveme’s Paul Evans: paul@driveme.co.uk.

NEW PRODUCTION PORSCHE SERIES LAUNCHED Date

March 27 April 13 May 11 June 1 June 27/28/29 July 12 August 3 August 30 September 20 October 18 The Classic Sports Car Club has joined forces with a major tyre company to create the 2014 Dunlop Production Cup for Porsche.

With an emphasis on keeping the cars as close to standard as safety concerns allow, the idea is to make it affordable to compete in – the organisers reckon you could have a 986-series Boxster on track for about £10,000.

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All the UK race weekends will be doubleheaders, with a 20-minute qualifying session followed by a pair of 20-minute races. There will also be the opportunity to race at the Spa Summer Classic, where competitors will enjoy a 30-minute qualifying session and a brace of 40-minute races.

Control tyres are, of course, Dunlops, and it’s predicted that racers should only need two

Venue Snetterton – test day Snetterton (300) Silverstone (National) Brand Hatch (Indy) Spa Francorchamps Castle Combe (tbc) Anglesey (Coastal) Donington Park (National) Oulton Park (International) Snetterton (200)

sets of the treaded rubberwear for the whole season. For folk who fancy making a truly big weekend out of the Porsche races, their cars will also be eligible for the CSCC’s Future Classics or Modern Classics series.

Full details and regulations can be found at www.dunlopproductioncup.co.uk, or you could email chrisclark@ dunlopproductioncup.co.uk.

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HUNT’S HESKETH UP FOR GRABS He may famously have won the 1976 Formula One Championship in a McLaren, but amongst (aged) enthusiasts James Hunt will be forever associated with the privateer Hesketh team.

The car that Hunt drove for Lord Hesketh in 1974, chassis 308-1, is coming up for sale at RM Auction’s Monaco sale, this May 9-10. Although the car ultimately wasn’t hugely successful, Hunt did put this chassis on pole a couple of times during the ’74 season and at the International Trophy race at Silverstone gave Hesketh its first-ever F1 victory – in the process Hunt spectacularly passed Ronnie Peterson’s Lotus down the inside into Woodcote.

If you fancy sticking up your hand to bag a slice of British motorsport history, visit www.rmauctions.com. But be prepared to back up your actions with between ¤400,000 to ¤650,000.

BERRY WAVES GOODBYE TO MSV

Ian Berry, MSV’s long-standing Group Circuit Hire Manager, left the company at the end of January.

Ian said, “I’ve really enjoyed my time at MSV, but having been in the role for nine years, I now feel my work at MSV is done. I’m very proud of the progress that MSV has made since it took over the circuit business in 2004. The people there are wonderful and it’s great to have been a key part of that growth. I have no idea what I will do next, so I’m just going to chill out for a few months until I find my next challenge.”

As well as successfully filling up the MSV circuits each year, Ian was responsible for the growth of the company’s in-house trackday business and steered the extremely successful novice race series Trackday Trophy and its graduate series, Team Trophy: between them these series have converted more than 370 trackday drivers into racers.

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TITBITS • TITBITS • TITBITS • TITBITS

NEW BRANDING FOR BARC After more than 100 years in the motorsport business, the British Automobile Racing Club – or BARC as it’s more usually known – has treated itself to ‘a dynamic new brand identity’, spearheaded by a shiny new logo.

The idea is that it reflects the club’s focus on the future, whilst also retaining a strong grip on its heritage.

The BARC runs Thruxton, Croft and Pembury circuits, as well as the Gurston Down and Harewood hillclimbs, and operates more than 30 high-profile national championships including the BTCC, amongst many others.

James Hunt has been inducted into Motor Sport magazine’s Hall of Fame. The 2014 intake also includes Alain Prost, Ross Brawn and John McGuinness. This year also marks Motor Sport’s 90th anniversary.

Caterham has scooped the Motorsport Industry Association (MIA) gong for ‘Business of the Year’ at the association’s annual Business Excellence Awards.

Because of the high level of interest in its dedicated Tricolore Trophy race series for Citroëns, Peugeots and Renaults launched this year, Track Attack Race Club has committed to run a full 14-race schedule for 2014; it’s also created a similar series for German cars called the Deutsche Marques Cup. Provisional schedule is: Rockingham –April5/6; Castle Combe – May5; Brands Hatch – June 8; Donington Park – July 12/13; Silverstone – August 9/10; Oulton Park – September 13; and Cadwell Park – October 11.

More information at www.trackattackraceclub.com Jann Mardenborough, winner of the 2011 Nissan GT Academy – which turns gamers into real racers – has earned a drive with the Arden International GP3 team for 2014, and has been signed up for an intensive driver training programme with Infiniti Red Bull Racing. During his first two years away from his gaming console, Mardenborough has competed in GT cars, Le Mans Prototypes and single-seaters.

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• Track Days • Tuition • Testing • Sprints • Club Weekends

For TRACKDAY dates see CALENDAR page at www.blytonpark.co.uk Contact Email: richard@blytonpark.co.uk Tel: 01427 628 922 Mobile: 07967 442 352

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UK TRACKS CELEBRATE MASERATI’S 100TH ANNIVERSARY IN STYLE It’s Maserati’s 100th anniversary this year and to celebrate the occasion two British circuits will be hosting events dedicated to the legendary Italian marque.

Jointly organised by Motor Racing Legends (MRL) and the Maserati Club UK, the Maserati Centenary Trophy will be staged during the Donington Historic Festival this May 3/4/5. Open to all Maseratis and OSCAs built before 1966, the trophy will be a double-header run across two of the Festival’s three days.

Meanwhile, Maserati will be the ‘Celebration Marque’ at this year’s Silverstone Classic (July 25/26/27).

Although there’s no one-make race for the marque, there will be a Maserati cavalcade around the full Silverstone Grand Prix circuit on Sunday 27.

LYDDEN HILL RETURNS TO WORLD STAGE

Britain’s shortest circuit, Lydden Hill in Kent, is to host the British round of the newly created FIA World Rallycross Championship, sponsored by energy drink maker, Monster Energy, over the Spring Bank Holiday Weekend, May 2425. Last year Lydden staged the only UK round of the FIA European Rallycross Championship.

Now marketed as an ‘extreme sport’ in the same vein as snowboarding and cliff diving, Rallycross is becoming sexy again, so there could be good crowds for the Lydden event.

Certainly the cars have got what it takes to thrill – 600bhp and the ability to accelerate from zero to 60mph quicker than an F1 car, but on a loose surface. The new-style series has attracted some big-name drivers, too, including Petter Solberg and Jacques Villeneuve.

RACING FOR CHARITY

What started out as a group of mates from Kent Fire & Rescue Service restoring a 1978 Mini to take out on trackdays, has now become a charity venture in support of the FireFighters Charity. The project was begun by David Franks, whose original plan to build a trackday car was steered down a different path following a visit to Harcombe House Rehabilitation Centre for injured firemen.

It’s hoped that the FireFighters Race Team will raise awareness of their charitable cause through visits to car shows, sprints, hillclimbs and trackdays.

And provided that the team can find sufficient sponsorship, it also hopes to compete in BARC QMN saloon racing, and the Classic Sports Car Club Special Saloon series. As well as raising the profile of the FireFighters Charity, the firemen will be campaigning for greater road safety awareness.

The FireFighters Race Team is still on the hunt for sponsors, so if you fancy helping out, drop a line to info@firefightersraceteam.com.

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Higher visitor numbers prove the formula is a success, but this year the ambience felt a little different…

CROWDS POUR THROUGH THE DOORS FOR AUTOSPORT 2014 S

tormy weather didn’t deter record numbers of visitors from cascading through the doors of the NEC for the 2014 edition of Autosport International, The Racing Car Show. So it’s odd that it felt as though there were fewer of the usual ‘race crowd’ roaming through the halls.

However, the Autosport event once again championed the minnows of the sports car world, and there were several exciting new launches. You can read about the Zenos E10 trackday special on page 6; Lotus also took the opportunity to publically unveil its track-only Elise S Cup R, which develops 217bhp from its supercharged motor and will set you back £46,950.

Meanwhile Radical has headed down the turbocharged route for a new high-powered version of its road-legal RXC model: a pair of turbos mated to a 3.5-litre Ford-sourced EcoBoost engine results in a power output of 454bhp in a car that weighs just 940kg, and a claimed 0-60mph time of 2.6sec…

The TrackDriver crew were also at the show, and we were pleased to welcome a goodly number of you, our loyal readers, onto the stand for a chat and a look around the cars we had on display. We signed up scores of new subscribers during the course of the event, met up with our suppliers and forged some exciting new relationships for the coming season.

So, a good time was had by all. Well, mostly. It would be remiss of us if we didn’t mention our reservations about the new ticketing arrangements. Autosport’s organisers talked of ‘free’ entry into the Live Action Arena, conveniently glossing over the fact that the entry price for the show has risen to c£30 (and with a tenner on top for parking).

Frankly the Live Action Arena doesn’t hold a great amount of interest for the seasoned racer, and we thought there were fewer of the usual race crowd attending as a consequence.

Why do we care? Because we’d prefer to talk to people about fuel injector sizing or differential ramp angles than who their favourite F1 driver is. It’s great that the show continues to spread the word to those new to racing and trackdays, and that it continues to be the forum for seeing what cars, widgets and gadgets are available, but we hope they don’t lose sight of the core audience; the mass of trackday drivers and amateur racers who the show should serve.

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Far left, top: the TrackDriver stand was open for general chin-wagging, and we signed up lots of new subscribers, too. Nick Mason’s Maserati 250F was our major attraction (below, right). Far left, central: Radical’s new twin-turbo high-po version of the RXC caused a stir. The Gadget Show’s Pollyanna Woodward was one of the hosts of the Live Action Arena (far left, bottom). Above, left: Ford’s ultra-efficient EcoBoost has become engine of choice for many small sports car makers. Above, right: Zenos is a newcomer to the scene, although its founders have held senior positions at Lotus and Caterham. Left: Bentley GT3 racer looks a brute. Shark Performance (below, left) is remapping our Audi TT next issue. Caterham’s AeroSeven concept car was eye-catching (bottom, left). Bottom right: next best thing to the real thing

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clipping STACYpoint SAYS

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The paddock is no place for pugilists

ome years ago a friend wanted to give his faithful Ford Sierra estate a fitting send-off. He suggested I race it at the Ringwood banger racing oval, and maybe, if I fancied, the demolition derby. It sounded like a great idea and I asked around some people I know for advice.

The first explained in conspiratorial tones: “There’s no adrenaline rush like it. I do the team events and in those you’re going out there to maim people.” R-i-g-h-t.

Thanks for that.

The next guy said simply: “Listen, you’ll turn up in your fancy suit and helmet, and I reckon if you get through the first lap you’ll probably win. The trouble is there will be a queue of 20 cars in a line behind you trying to put you in the wall – hard.” He added, “If I were you I’d leave that fancy helmet on for half an hour after the race.

Just in case…” At no stage did he give the impression he was joking.

I decided to see for myself. The clothing of choice for both competitor and spectator was a fluorescent yellow jacket that had presumably been lying at the bottom of a skip for a few months, and during the finale – a demolition derby led by local hero ‘Spider’ in his XJ12 – I observed the hordes of spectators gripping and shaking the chain-link fence around the circuit while chanting his name. Replace the fluorescent jackets with animal skins and you’ve got Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.

It’s hardly ‘the right crowd and no crowding’ of Goodwood, but it’s not meant to be. It serves the purpose and the audience, and frankly it’s a good time. You should try it.

Circuit racing paddocks are a different place altogether. The cars involved have more invested in them, the drivers are undertaking the business of racing more professionally, (or the business of relaxing with like-minded friends more seriously). There is less of the fence shaking and chanting, and more polite nods and chinwags with overalls tied around your waist. I’ve yet to be at a paddock I wouldn’t bring my children to.

It isn’t always the case nowadays, though, as recent events at a Project 8 race meeting will attest. Project 8 organises and runs the budget racing Production BMW and the more modified BMW-based Racing Saloons series under the MSVR banner. After race-ending contact in a Racing Saloons event at Silverstone, a long-time racer with the club, Driver A, decided to speak to the person whom he felt was at fault, Driver B. He described himself as being sarcastic to Driver B, who he says responded by punching him in the face… Once

Portrait: Oliver Brown. Background image: Jakob Ebrey

on the ground, he claims several people joined in the conversation. Physically.

As you might expect, Driver B’s version differs.

He claims he acted in self-defence, and that the group involved subsequently were merely trying to separate the two. Either way the end result was a torn Achilles tendon for Driver A, who limped back to his preparer’s motorhome.

A group headed by a ‘burly’ individual later visited Driver A’s preparer, asking if he was Driver A: he reports never to have felt so intimidated in a paddock. Driver A left soon after and did not visit the Clerk of the Course.

Driver B spent several hours with the Stewards of the meeting and went home with six points on his licence, which was also held over. Three weeks later he received his licence back with an instruction that because of a police investigation the MSA will not take further action until that investigation had concluded.

Meanwhile, Project 8 Racing hasn’t taken direct action, waiting instead for the police and the MSA to progress matters. We understand that criminal proceedings have now been dropped, and there has been no notification of further interest from the MSA beyond the points penalty already applied.

In Driver B’s view Project 8 Racing has taken the line that “it’s nothing to do with us,” and that “their behaviour has been nothing short of atrocious.” Driver A also felt Project 8 was unwilling to get involved. Julian Newman of Project 8 Racing confirmed the matter had been deferred to “higher authorities” and that it wasn’t the club’s place to take action: the club can, of course, choose who to accept 2014 memberships from…

Whatever the rights or wrongs of the incident, physical aggression is wholly unacceptable to the majority of those in the racing paddock. It is absolutely the organising club’s responsibility to provide a safe and welcoming environment to its drivers and if they don’t you’d have to question the point of their existence. Being an organising club sometimes means dealing with unpleasant situations and taking difficult decisions: through direct action sending an unequivocal message to your membership that you’re managing their wider interests.

The mechanisms to do so are present: failure to act risks sending the signal that the club won’t get involved in the future, either. That could encourage a repeat and brings the vision of muddy fluorescent jackets shaking the chain-link fence at Brands Hatch • STACY VICKERS

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Not quite good enough

P

eter Dron (writes Peter Dron in the third person) contributed to The Daily Telegraph, mostly about cars, but occasionally about ships and shoes and sealing wax, for 17 years, including a column in the Saturday edition, initially every fortnight and then weekly. Before that, he was editor of the monthly magazine Fast Lane from its launch in 1984 until he was sacked in 1991. Before that, he was on the staff of Motor, at that time Britain’s biggest-selling motoring weekly, for seven years, starting as a road tester and eventually becoming features editor. He has contributed to numerous other publications, some of which still exist despite his interventions.

He has lived in France for several years and has a very sensible car, a five-door Honda Civic with the ‘magic’ rear seats.

He bought it for its practicality and above all because it allows him to move about without drawing attention to himself. He also has a 2013 Morgan three-wheeler.

Peter Dron’s elder brother Tony had a long and distinguished career as a professional racing driver, winning countless races and several championships. Peter has had a patchy and, by his own admission, “fairly rubbish” career as a racing driver.

“I was not bad but really not quite good enough,” (he writes candidly, in the first person).

Peter Dron (returning to the third person) has expressed the wish to wallow in self-justification and to present some more or less plausible excuses for his abject failure to become a circuit superstar. The editor, in an absent-minded moment, has indulgently offered him some space.

As in any field of human endeavour, very few people get to the top of motor racing. Those who do so generally possess a combination of unfair advantages: either an enormous amount of natural talent and just enough financial backing to emerge from the lower reaches, or just enough natural talent and unlimited financial backing. To qualify that, ‘just enough’ on the talent side of the equation is a seriously high hurdle. A few people have become seriously successful racing drivers after

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starting off with virtually nothing. But if the skill is below a certain level, you might as well forget it from the start. There is no such thing as a rubbish driver in modern Formula One, even if modern Formula One is rubbish: but that is something to be discussed elsewhere.

Lots of people sneered at Pedro Diniz, for example, but to be a mediocre Formula One driver, you are already well above the base camp. Ninety-nine point nine nine nine percent of those who laugh at Taki Inoue, imagining themselves to be superquick in the back roads of Essex in their Subarus, would get comprehensively blown away by him on any circuit in any car of their choice. There are many drivers with exceptional talent who never reach the ultimate peak because of death, injury, lack of backing, or being in the wrong place at the wrong time. There is a substantial element of luck involved, even for the most gifted, which the winners do not always acknowledge.

Lower down the scale, people who take part in motorsport – the vast majority – do so because they enjoy it, especially if they feel that they are gradually improving. Some become very good and a few – very few – emerge to compete successfully at the highest level. Some people enjoy driving on circuits but are staggeringly hopeless, never improve, never will do, but they are stinking rich and not bothered about people sneering at them. It seems to me like an expensive form of masochism, but provided they pay their bills, thus keeping some people in employment, and keep out of the way of quicker people when they are being lapped, they do no harm.

In any sport, if you find that you are utterly useless, you will probably not enjoy it and stop, unless you are heroically thirdrate in the tradition of Eddie the Eagle. And while he may have been third-rate, he was undeniably heroic. Have you ever looked down from the summit of a ski jump? I did once. I cannot recall where or why but I was there to observe, not to jump. I decided you would have to be Finnish or nine-parts drunk, preferably both, to set off down that steep, slippery slope, almost a

ramblings STACY SAYS

Main image: Clearways, lap nine, a sideways Terry Grimwood (no.6) catching Peter Dron (no.5). Above, from top to bottom: first lap, Bottom Bend, Grimwood (no.6) clouts Richardson, sending him thumping into an earth bank; at Paddock on lap ten, Grimwood bangs doors with Dron; as Dron laughs at Grimwood spinning off, he spins too!

precipice, and fly, perchance to land still alive. Perhaps it looks slightly less terrifying if you wear jam-pot specs and have limited imagination. Especially after a few shots of muscle relaxant.

One of the most frustrating things in life is when you enjoy something and you are not bad at it, almost quite good, but at the same time not quite good enough. So it was with motor racing and me.

Before my first circuit race at Brands Hatch in 1976, I had done a few races in a Villiers-engined gearbox kart, but I was too heavy and too tall (sitting upright had a noticeable braking effect).

Also, I was a lousy mechanic. In addition, or rather subtraction, it cost me money and I did not have anyone in the background nonchalantly burning tenners for me; I have a sufficiently large proportion of Scots blood for that kind of thing to hurt.

In the sultry summer of 1976 I was scratching around, doing this and that, and as much of the other as possible. I did bits and pieces of freelance motoring journalism, but was seeking full-time employment. I leapt at the chance when I was invited to take part in a Shell Sport Escort race for motoring journalists round the Brands Hatch Club Circuit, as it was then called. I was surprised to be fourth on the grid after qualifying, behind Terry Grimwood, editor of Cars & Car Conversions, Clive Richardson, assistant editor of Motor Sport and Tony Scott, deputy editor of Motor.

When the flag dropped (this was long before the use of lights), we all set off in a swarm, buzzing through Paddock and Druids two or three abreast. On the approach to Bottom Bend, Grimwood and Richardson collided, the former having a halfspin and the latter thumping heavily into the earth bank. He is still grumpy about that, almost 40 years on. A gap appeared between them. Scott and I went through it without lifting. I was second from there until Paddock on the last lap when Grimwood caught me, using the right side of my Escort for deceleration rather than troubling to brake, which I thought rather uncouth.

There were two impacts, each making a loud bang. We continued uphill into Druids and then down to Bottom Bend, side by side, banging panels a few more times. I was surprised when I inspected my car that there was little sign of damage; the door mirror had been knocked awry but was not broken.

Grimwood gained a small advantage through Bottom Bend but my right front wheel was still level with his left rear as we entered Kidney, which meant that he could not get the perfect line. He spun off onto the infield. I laughed so much that unfortunately I also spun, but stayed on the hard surface and continued, finishing sixth. Terry was invited to have a long conversation with John Webb, the legendary circuit director, who apparently seemed more upset about Grimwood’s treatment of the grassy patch on the inside of Clearways, which Webb cherished like a suburban lawn, than about his habit of banging body panels, though he did discuss that at length as well.

Tony Scott said how impressed he was that I had pushed him all the way. I wisely decided not to say cockily, “Two more laps and I’d have got you.” In fact, I had struggled to maintain his pace over the 10 laps. He told me that there was a vacancy for a road tester on Motor and suggested that I should apply. I did and after a long process I was on a shortlist of 10 and then of three, and finally of two. The other chap considerately had a car accident, breaking a leg, so I got the job. I was now in full-time employment, which was a relief, as I had a mortgage to pay.

I found myself in an editorial team including some very quick drivers, such as Roger Bell (editor), Rex Greenslade (deputy technical editor) and Gordon Bruce (road test editor), all of whom raced with some success, as well as Tony Scott. I was also under the illusion that I was potentially a real racer and that I just needed a bit more practice to become a circuit superstar, a champion and all that…• PETER DRON

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HISTORY LESSON

A Century

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HISTORY LESSON

of Race Car Development Nigel Rees is a mechanical engineer by training, more recently turning his hand to the setup of race cars at all levels.

A consultant for Williams Grand Prix in the mid-’80s he is also a time served racer, competing for nearly 20 years in singleseaters. In the first of a series which looks at the mysteries of car setup, he sets the scene with a fascinating 100-year journey through race car development, from the very first cars to present day wings, slicks and aerodynamics

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HISTORY LESSON

John Colley

Top: 1913 grand prix Peugeot had advanced engine yet comparatively crude chassis.

Below: by the mid-1930s Mercedes’ gp racers had sophisticated suspension

H

istorians seem unable to agree whether the 1894 Paris to Rouen, or the 1895 Paris to Bordeaux, was the world’s first motor race. Either way, most cars at the time were based on horse-drawn carriages fitted with early internal combustion engines and steered by means of a tiller, such as you’d find on the rudder of a small boat.

The 20 years of automotive development from then until the eve of the First World War in 1914, saw engines and transmissions develop much faster than chassis and suspension. The 1914 Peugeot grand prix car was designed by Ernest Henry, a 29-year old Swiss draughtsman and boasted an engine with double

overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder – much the same basic configuration as today’s F1 engines.

Chassis and suspension design though, lagged far behind. Live beam-type rear axles, beam front axles, leaf springs, friction dampers and simple ladder chassis predominated through to the early 1930s – with all the attendant problems of axle tramp, difficult steering, gyroscopic ‘shimmy’ of the front suspension and poor traction. In 1936, the prominent Siamese driver Prince Bira commented that his Maserati was stable on the straights, but his ERA still had to be actively steered in a straight line.

Silver Arrows

John Colley

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The period between 1934 and 1939 saw the German companies Mercedes and Auto Union design and develop large capacity supercharged engines that delivered unprecedented power outputs – in excess of 600bhp. They also introduced streamlined, low-drag bodywork.

Mercedes’ layout remained conventional with the engine in the front – a supercharged straight-eight – but the company took chassis development forward with De Dion rear suspension using torsion bars, independent front suspension via wishbones, and coil springs and the use of hydraulic dampers instead of the friction type. The chassis was still a twintube ladder, although later variants featured large section oval tubes to improve torsional stiffness. These were highly successful cars, outperforming the Auto Unions throughout 1934-36. The latter, designed by Dr Porsche – who was also responsible for the VW Beetle and Porsche 356 – were much more radical.

HISTORY LESSON

A 25-year setback?

Dr Porsche chose a supercharged V16 mounted in the rear with a fuel tank between the driver and engine – to minimise weight distribution change with fuel burn – and a five-speed transmission mounted behind the engine. Sound familiar? A similar layout is universally used in F1 today. So far, so good… Like the Mercedes’, the chassis was a twin-tube ladder, but front suspension was via trailing arms while swing axles with radius arms for fore and aft location, were used at the rear. Both ends featured torsion bars instead of coil springs with old style friction type dampers.

The front trailing arms gave a front roll centre at ground level (see sidebar), while the rear swing axles gave an extremely high rear roll centre, probably more than 380mm above ground level. This caused high vertical loadings on the outside rear wheel when cornering, causing oversteer, exacerbated by ‘jacking’ – again caused by the high rear roll centre. To compound the felony, the swing axles gave excessive camber change with bump and droop suspension movement, leaning the wheels in or out and causing unpredictable changes in rear grip over bumps and ripples, leading to severe oversteer and unpredictable handling.

Unfortunately, the suspension problems outlined here were not well understood at the time. The Auto Union’s tricky handling was incorrectly attributed to the rear-mounted engine – which meant that front engine designs predominated for the next 20 years until Cooper demonstrated the superiority of the rear-engined layout in the late 1950s. Despite the poor handling, Auto Unions won races thanks to their powerful engines, good straight line traction – and the genius of drivers Tazio Nuvolari and Bernd Rosemeyer.

Audi

Audi

Roll centres The roll centre is the point about which the chassis rolls on the suspension when cornering. The line drawn between the front and rear roll centres is the roll axis. High roll centres are generally undesirable because they reduce the effect of anti-roll bars and springs on handling balance. A high front roll centre tends to cause understeer, a high rear roll centre (as on Auto Unions) tends to cause oversteer.

High roll centres also cause ‘jacking’ – the tendency of the chassis to rise upward when cornering.

Above: Auto Union had supercharged V16 but its mighty power output was hindered by its rear location. It won races yet was always considered a bit of a beast to drive quickly

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HISTORY LESSON

Maserati 250F (top) has engine in the front, gearbox in the tail, affording predictable handling.

Vanwall (right) reaped benefit of spaceframe chassis, and also of improved engine efficiency

The 1950s – more of the same The post-war period from 1946 to 1957 saw little significant chassis development, although Vanwall demonstrated the benefits of triangulated spaceframe chassis construction in place of ladder frames. Ferrari, Maserati, Vanwall and BRM improved the thermal and volumetric efficiency of normally aspirated engines.

In 1954 and ’55 Mercedes used desmodromic valve operation – where the engine’s valves are closed by a cam rather than a spring – but the advantages were not sufficient to justify wide adoption.

The Maserati 250F, however, was the iconic car of this period. With a front-mounted double overhead camshaft 2.5-litre straight-six engine, a twin-tube ladder chassis, wishbone independent front suspension with coil springs, and De Dion rear suspension with a transverse leaf spring, the 250F was conventional but effective. Power output reached 270bhp in 1957 and the rear-mounted transverse five-speed transmission improved weight distribution and was beautifully engineered.

Tyres of this period generated a relatively low Coefficient of Friction, or Mμ (see sidebar), close to 0.9 at large slip angles (approaching 10 degrees) with a gentle breakaway characteristic (see sidebar). This,

Coefficient of Friction [Mµ] is a measure of grip.

A car without aerodynamic downforce will achieve maximum cornering acceleration in ‘g’ equal to the Coefficient of friction – Mµ – of its tyres.

Polar Moment of Inertia is a measure of the car’s resistance to turning, or the ‘dumbbell’ effect. Cars with large masses widely separated (such as the engine in the front and gearbox in the rear) have a high Polar Moment of Inertia and respond more slowly to a given steering input. Cars with masses concentrated near the centre (such as a conventional

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together with the 250F’s high polar moment of inertia and reasonably effective suspension, gave stable, benign handling. The car’s natural frequency in yaw was a relatively leisurely 1 Hertz (1 cycle per second) and the torsional stiffness of the chassis was probably not better than 700lb ft/degree – yet the 250F could be cornered in an elegant four-wheel drift while generating cornering forces of almost 0.9-g.

mid-engined single-seater) have a low Polar Moment of Inertia and respond rapidly to steering inputs.

Natural frequency in yaw is a measure of the car’s overall speed of response to steering inputs. This is affected both by the Polar Moment of Inertia and the turning force generated by the tyres for a given steering angle. It is measured in Hertz or cycles per second. Higher frequencies imply a more responsive car – but one which requires faster reactions to control. One Hertz is a fairly slow response, five Hertz is very fast – near the limit of human capability.

HISTORY LESSON

Science and reason prevail In 1959 and 1960, John Cooper demonstrated the superiority of the mid-/rear- engine layout with an engine immediately behind the driver, a rear-mounted transaxle and dual wishbone independent suspension front and rear. The mid-/rear-engine layout gave improved weight distribution and traction, a smaller frontal area and a reduction in overall weight. Polar moment of inertia was also reduced, giving a natural frequency in yaw nearer 1.5-2.0 Hertz. By 1960, coils had replaced leaf springs, disc brakes made drum brakes obsolete and the telescopic hydraulic damper had achieved ubiquity.

The 1.5-litre Formula introduced in 1961 for grands prix saw power reduced to 200bhp, but it drove development in chassis, suspension and tyres. In 1962, Colin Chapman pioneered the use of aluminium monocoque construction with the Lotus 25, doubling torsional stiffness to 2500lb ft/degree. It also achieved a lighter chassis with lower frontal area and improved driver protection. Rocker arm inboard suspension and reclined driving positions further reduced frontal area and drag.

Contemporary race circuits such as Spa, Reims, Rouen and Monza were typically fast, flowing and bumpy with few slow corners. Tyre contact patch load control was therefore more important than traction, encouraging soft, long travel, low natural frequency (1.5-1.7 Hertz), heavily damped suspension and relatively soft anti-roll bars. Weight distribution was typically 60% rear, roll centre heights were three to four inches above ground and designers crafted camber change curves to keep the outside tyres close to upright when cornering.

Suspension natural frequency is the rate at which

a car will bounce up and down on its springs without any dampers. Frequency is measured in Hertz or cycles per second. Low frequencies imply soft suspension, high frequencies stiff suspension. Frequencies below one Hertz (eg 1950s Vauxhalls and Chevrolets) cause travel sickness, whereas higher frequencies in the four to eight Hertz range cause rapid fatigue in humans. Current road cars operate in the 1.5-1.8 Hertz range. 1980s ground effect F1 cars operated in the 5-6 Hertz range.

John Colley

Above: Cooper pioneered the mid-mounted engine layout in 1960. Lotus soon followed (left) then introduced the monocoque chassis tub to make things smaller, lighter and stiffer

James A Allington

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HISTORY LESSON

From 1964, competition between Dunlop, Firestone and Goodyear resulted in increased grip, taking Mμ beyond 1.0 and allowing braking and cornering accelerations to exceed 1g. Fuel injection consigned carburettors to history and maximum engine speed crept beyond 10,000rpm. New F1 regulations for 1966 called for 3.0-litre normally aspirated engines, or 1.5-litre forced induction, although no-one tried the forced induction route until 1977. In 1967 the Cosworth DFV was introduced – a DOHC 32-valve V8. This simple, elegant design used a pent-roof combustion chamber and was designed as a stressed chassis member, allowing yet more weight reduction and increased torsional stiffness.

John Colley

Top: Jim Clark, Cosworth DFV, Lotus 49 – a collection of genius. Above: High wing on Lotus 49 was soon banned on safety grounds after some snapped at high speed

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HISTORY LESSON

LAT Photographic

Is it a bird; is it a plane?

In 1956, a 22-year old Swiss engineer and amateur racing driver, Michael May, had tried an ‘upside down’ aerofoil above the cockpit of his Porsche 550 Spyder, but surprisingly it wasn’t adopted by anybody else. Nine years later, Jim Hall’s Chaparral Can Am team successfully introduced variable incidence – or movable – aerofoils. A year later, in 1968, Lotus and Ferrari both tried wings in F1, and motor racing changed forever. With the benefit of hindsight, one wonders why it took so long.

By May 1969, huge, high-mounted, variable incidence wings mounted on the suspension uprights were generating 1000lb ft (450kg) of downforce at 150mph, allowing cornering and braking accelerations close to 2g. Inevitably, serious accidents to Graham Hill and Jochen Rindt – both caused by wing failures – resulted in a regulation change, restricting wing heights and enforcing fixed incidence. Wings were required to be mounted on the chassis, not on the suspension uprights, forcing designers to use stiffer springs.

Downforce levels fell to 400-500lb ft at 150mph.

Simultaneously, Jackie Stewart led a safety campaign which led to proper roll-over structures, six-point harnesses, on-board fire extinguisher systems, aircraft fuel cells – and later, deformable crash structures.

During 1969, most F1 teams experimented with fourwheel drive, but improvements in tyre compounds

and the advent of wings rendered all-wheel drive unnecessary and it was quickly dropped. A period of incremental development followed from 1969 to 1977.

The dominant engine was the Cosworth DFV, but Ferrari and Alfa Romeo were successful with flat-12 designs, while BRM and Matra had moderate success with V12s.

Outputs rose from 409bhp in 1967 to 490bhp in 1977 – in excess of 150bhp per litre. Maximum engine speeds rose to 11,000rpm – close to the limit imposed by ‘surge’ in conventional valve springs.

Aerodynamic refinement saw downforce back at the 1000lb ft (450kg) levels previously seen with high wings. Cold air boxes improved induction for the engine and aerodynamic efficiency (measured as L/D – lift divided by drag) was improved. The most significant developments in this period though, were in tyre technology. Tread widths increased, profiles were lowered (too much in 1971, causing destructive tyre vibration), treadless slicks were introduced, softer compounds developed and Mu increased to well over 1.3. Cornering and braking accelerations crept over 2g. Great engineers emerged in this period, including Gordon Murray, Tony Southgate and Derek Gardner; I was recently reminded that in a short career, every one of Derek Gardner’s Tyrrell designs won races, including the innovative six-wheel car. Two of them won World Championships.

In the 1970s (top) wings were reduced in height. Era also saw drive for greater safety.

Below: looking for the advantage; six-wheel Tyrell of 1976 was an attempt to cut frontal area

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HISTORY LESSON

Tony Matthews

A bit o’ skirt Two key developments appeared in 1977. Renault entered F1 with a 1.5-litre turbocharged engine and – almost by accident – Lotus discovered in the wind tunnel that a half-venturi-shaped underbody would develop huge downforce, provided you could effectively seal the outer edges to the ground. Thus dawned the era of ground-effect aerodynamics and sliding skirts.

The Lotus 79 utilised half-venturi side-pods, sliding skirts and a single fuel cell behind the driver and it dominated the 1978 season in the hands of Mario Andretti, who became World Champion. For 1979, Frank Dernie and Patrick Head at Williams further optimised the ground effect concept with the Williams FW07. Downforce reached an astonishing 3000lb ft (1350kg) at 150mph, necessitating extremely stiff springs and anti-roll bars. Suspension frequencies were now close to five Hertz, cornering and braking accelerations surpassed 4g and corner speeds reached alarming levels.

The venturi effect tunnels moved the aerodynamic Centre of Pressure (balance point) forward, so designers moved the Centre of Gravity forward to match. This entailed moving the driver forward so that his feet were ahead of the front wheels – and vulnerable. Front tyre sizes increased to match.

Aerodynamics mandated very narrow chassis – but the increased chassis loads demanded increased torsional stiffness so designers turned to honeycomb aluminium composite materials, increasing torsional stiffness to 5500lb ft/degree. John Barnard’s 1981 McLaren MP4/1 pioneered carbonfibre composites and torsional stiffness rocketed to over 10,000lb ft/degree.

Carbon composite chassis are still used on all F1 cars.

Huge cornering accelerations demanded substantially increased levels of fitness from the drivers, at the same time changing driving techniques.

For 1981, sliding skirts were banned and a 6cm minimum ride height regulation was imposed.

Designers circumvented this, so for 1983, a flat bottom rule was imposed, reducing aerodynamic downforce by over 35%. Designers compensated by fitting large multi-element wings, and set about regaining downforce from the flat underbody by running very

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low front ride heights, carefully controlled rake (the downslope of the chassis from rear to front), large rear diffusers to extract the air from under the car, and ‘Coke bottle’ side-pods. Pushrod operation of springs/dampers was introduced to reduce flex in suspension components.

These designs were very pitch sensitive, so Lotus and Williams developed ‘active suspension’ to control rake and pitch. Nigel Mansell dominated the 1992 season in an ‘active’ Williams FW14 – but the technology was banned for 1994, along with ABS, traction control and automatic gearchanges. In 1991, Harvey Postlethwaite at Tyrrell introduced the raised nose and underbody bib/splitter ‘tea tray’ which increased downforce and reduced pitch sensitivity – it is still used today.

Above: 1980s saw the introduction of composites for strength and lightness. Top: Williams FW07 used ground effect to great effect. Right: turbo era cars of ’70s and ’80s could muster huge horsepower, but it took a while to iron out the lag

HISTORY LESSON

Turbo power and rocket fuel From 1977, Renault progressed rapidly with turbocharged engine development. By 1979, the Renault RS10 developed 500bhp-plus and won the French Grand Prix with Frenchman Jean-Pierre Jabouille at the wheel. Ferrari, BMW, McLaren TAG and Honda were all forced to follow suit, precipitating intense development activity. Low inertia turbochargers, charge intercooling, oil-cooled pistons, ‘Nikasil’ cylinder liners and electronic engine management all helped to minimise turbo ‘lag’ and increase power to over 700bhp by 1983.

The two factors still limiting power were pre-ignition which limited the amount of boost, and valve spring ‘surge’ which limited engine rpm. BMW solved the first problem through fuel chemistry: industrial chemists at BASF Winterschall used a toluene-based cocktail to produce a dense, high specific energy, detonationresistant fuel which somehow passed the FIA ‘pump fuel’ test. Nelson Piquet’s Brabham BMW pipped Alain Prost’s Renault to the 1983 World Championship, developing more than 850bhp in qualifying.

By 1986, Renault had solved the second problem by introducing pneumatic valve closure, allowing engines to exceed 13,000rpm. This was a significant innovation, still used on all F1 engines. Boost pressures reached 5.3-bar (5.3 times atmospheric pressure) in 1986, giving an astonishing 1380bhp in qualifying and 900bhp in the races. Inevitably, turbocharged engines were banned for 1989, when a 3.5-litre normally aspirated formula was introduced.

John Colley

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HISTORY LESSON

Radials, sticky rubber, ‘Quallies’ – and chicanes Two further significant changes occurred in the period 1977 to 1986. Radial ply tyres were introduced, giving better diameter and contact patch control, allowing softer compounds and more grip. Mμ reached 1.7 in race conditions and a staggering 2.2 in qualifying.

Radial tyres achieve maximum adhesion at less than 4.5-degree slip angle, compared with 7-8 degrees for a crossply tyre, so radial tyres consume much less power in tyre drag in ‘flat-out’ corners. Even so, 150bhp is consumed in tyre drag in a 150mph corner.

The breakaway characteristic of the radial tyre is much sharper than a crossply, making the driver’s task more difficult.

The second significant change was in the circuits, which became much tighter, slower and billiard table smooth, with improved run-off areas and safety. Chicanes proliferated. Traction assumed greater importance.

Top: at the pointy end; the 1980s saw drivers’ legs way up by the front axle.

Below: Senna’s death in 1994 demonstrated that despite all the tech, F1 was a dangerous pursuit

LAT Photographic

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1994: high-tech yet tragic A Formula One car of 1994 had a 3.5-litre V10 engine that developed over 800bhp at 16-17,000rpm, using sophisticated engine management, pneumatic valve closure, ultra-short stroke and many of the improvements that had been developed in the turbo era. Paddle-shift systems operated sequential sixor seven-speed transmissions. Carbonfibre chassis achieved 22,000lb ft/degree torsional stiffness.

Sculptured multi-plane wings, raised noses, tea trays, barge boards and diffusers combined to develop over 3400lb ft of downforce at 150mph. Yaw natural frequency exceeded five Hertz. The tragic accidents involving Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger at Imola in 1994 drove wholesale regulation changes to reduce cornering speeds and improve driver protection.

John Colley

HISTORY LESSON

Mercedes AMG Petronas

Regulations rule…

Developments since 1994 are difficult to summarise, because most were rapidly banned. Significant developments (in no particular order) included:

BANNED

• ‘Fiddle’ brakes: braking the inside rear wheel to assist turn-in • Rear-wheel steering • Steering assistance through rear-wheel torque control • Engine speeds over 18,000rpm • Automatic transmissions • Continuously variable transmission • Closed loop differential control systems • ‘F’ duct rear wing drag reduction • Mass dampers • Double diffuser • Hot and cold off-throttle exhaust blown diffuser

in use

• Open loop electronic differential control • ‘J’ dampers/inerters • Seamless gearchange • Kinetic Energy Recovery (KERS) • Drag Reduction System (DRS) • Separated bump and roll damping These are just a sample, but these banned technologies illustrate the extent to which technology is regulated by the need to ensure safety, contain speeds and provide entertainment. Regulation has still driven design and evolution, but basically the 2013 F1 car has changed little in principle from its 1994 ancestor.

Finally, it is interesting to look at the changes to the

driver’s task. The 1914 driver needed stamina to cope with very long races over bumpy, dusty roads, heavy steering, kickback and shimmy. He also needed to repair frequent punctures and change tyres.

Drivers of the 1950s and ’60s needed fine car control and judgement, but lateral and longitudinal g-forces were relatively low and yaw frequency was relatively leisurely.

Drivers demonstrated ‘artistry’ in the four-wheel drift.

The lack of downforce meant ‘linear’ control tasks.

Risks were very high and courage essential.

Current race drivers need to monitor and operate complex technical systems while subjected to braking and acceleration loads over 4.5g. The driver must control a car with yaw natural frequency near five Hertz, close to human capability limits. The square laws governing aerodynamic downforce mean that he must be able to judge available grip in corners of different radius, according to the square law. In addition, he must cope with incredibly short braking distances – and be able to modulate brake pressure as downforce and grip ‘bleed off’ with speed reduction. Throughout this, his engineer will nag him over the radio…

The 2014 Formula One regulations mandate 1.6-litre turbocharged engines, enhanced kinetic and thermal energy recovery systems and further aerodynamic constraints. It should be interesting…

For 2014 the regs mandate a 1.6-litre turbo engine, along with enhanced kinetic and thermal energy recovery systems. Restraints on aerodynamics will mean even more radical front wing treatments

Nigel Rees currently heads up Vehicle Dynamics Consultancy GSD Racedyn. He has been responsible for the setup and development of more than 200 cars, from 1930s grand prix racers, to current LMP2 aero cars. www.racedyn.co.uk.

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lotus cortina

After two decades competing in contemporary machines, Richard Meaden was invited to take a lesson in Historics, behind the wheel of a mk1 Lotus Cortina in the U2TC championship.

He quickly learned that there’s nothing ‘yesteryear’ about the racing Riccardo Carbone: hirundomotorsport.com

Inside rear in the air, the Lotus Cortina doesn’t corner like a modern car, but that’s its charm 36

lotus cortina

HISTORY BOY

Riccardo Carbone: hirundomotorsport.com

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lotus cortina

I

f there was ever a year to race a Lotus Cortina it was 2013, when the iconic white-and-green cars celebrated their 50th birthday. Whether or not you’re old enough to remember them racing in period – I’m not! – we’ve all been captivated by those evocative black-and-white images of Jim Clark, Jack Sears and Sir John Whitmore three-wheeling their way to victory after victory in the works cars. That’s why the Lotus Cortina is part of the fabric of motorsport and a true stalwart of Historic racing.

So you can imagine my delight when a friend – Grant Tromans – invited me to share his Lotus Cortina in the U2TC championship (for pre-1966, under 2.0-litre Touring Cars). My first full season of motorsport since I started racing some 20 years ago, it would also be my first ‘proper’ go at Historic racing.

I’m conscious some of you may know me, but most won’t, so I should confess now that I’m one of those jammy gits who has spent the last two decades racing other people’s cars, mainly in the line of duty as a motoring writer for magazines such as Performance Car (God rest its soul), evo and Octane.

Like many of you my first race was in a Caterham.

That was quickly followed by a season-long drive in the inaugural VW Vento VR6 Challenge. Since then I’ve made a nuisance of myself in everything from Vectra V6 Challenge to Renaultsport Spider (what a wild car that was!), Porsche GT3 Cup, Formula Palmer Audi and Maserati Gransport Trofeo. Since 2006 I’ve been extremely fortunate to do a significant amount of endurance racing, with three Britcar 24-Hours, three Dubai 24-Hours and eight consecutive Nürburgring N24 events, mostly in GT4 Nissans and an assortment of V8 and V12 Aston Martins.

That’s a lot of racing, which I mention only to put my experience into context, for with a few glorious exceptions such as Tour Auto and a drive at the last Le Mans Classic, all my racing experience has been gained driving modern stuff. That means cars with tractable, fuel-injected engines, powerful brakes (often with ABS), slick tyres and sometimes a paddle-shift gearbox and a bit of aero to make life even easier. Of course, all that seat time has been invaluable in terms of building

“Were it not for the original door cards and spindly 1960s-spec roof pillars, you could be sat in a modern Touring Car. Strapped into a HANS seat and surrounded by a roll-cage designed with modern thinking, you feel very safe”

Mike Hoyer: Jakob Ebrey Photgraphy

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racecraft, but as I discovered the very first time I drove the Cortina, the skillset – and mindset – required to go well in an Historic car is quite different from that of the modern racer. Bugger.

Historic racing has been one of the main growth areas in motorsport, even through the tedium of this apparent perma-recession. Of course it helps that many of the drivers are wealthy and have the means to indulge their passion whatever the economic climate. It also helps that compared with racing a modern car in, say, British GTs (the gentleman racer’s other championship of choice), Historic racing is something of a bargain, because the cars tend to hold their value, or massively increase if the car in question has provenance and does well in high-profile events.

Fortunately the race format for many of the popular

lotus cortina

Mike Hoyer: Jakob Ebrey Photgraphy

Historic series allows for two drivers, which is where interlopers like me get a look in.

U2TC is one of the more accessible areas of top-end Historic racing, but still the cars are costly to build and pricey to run if you want to be competitive. A potentially race-winning Cortina built from a bare ’shell to Appendix K spec will cost the thick-end of £80,000.

That sounds a lot until you realise an engine could account for 25 per cent of that figure. Like any roadbased competition car, bodyshell preparation is key, especially when your starting point is a 50-year old Ford.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I first climbed into the Cortina, but what I found blew me away. The standard of preparation in this Raceworks Motorsportbuilt car is exceptional and meticulous: the ’shell being dipped, stripped and seam-welded prior to

fitment of the extensive roll-cage. Indeed, were it not for the original door cards and spindly 1960s-spec roof pillars you could be sat in a modern Touring Car. Strapped into a modern HANS seat and surrounded by a roll-cage designed with modern thinking and built to modern standards, you feel very safe. As my main concern about racing Historics was feeling vulnerable, this was very reassuring.

The U2TC Championship itself has become increasingly competitive in recent years as the cars have got quicker and professional drivers entered the fray. Whether regulars or guest drivers it’s not uncommon to find yourself racing against top-class modern pro racers such as Frank Stippler, Andy Priaulx, Olly Bryant and Phil Keen. And then, of course, there’s U2TC’s resident legend, Jackie Oliver,

Far left: author Meaden picks up silverware at the 2013 Silverstone Classic meeting.

Above: Lotus Cortinas a tad popular for U2TC racing

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lotus cortina

Peter Collins Peter Collins

Cesare V. Vicentini: hirundomotorsport.com

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plus established Historic hotshoes Simon Hadfield, Martin Stretton and Andy Wolfe. Suffice to say the competition is fierce.

There might be a fond notion that Historic racing should be motorsport in a vacuum, with cars rendered immune from the relentless development that defines the modern side of the sport, but the truth is that if you want to win in any series you have to try to make the car go quicker year-on-year, while remaining within the rules and regs. In U2TC that means sweating the details, which in the Cortina means paying great attention to the brakes. Racing flat-out for an hour in any car puts immense strain on the brakes, but imagine putting all that energy into brake pads the size of fag packets and brake shoes designed for more sedate Sixties motoring.

Fortunately U2TC regs allow for different pad and shoe materials so long as they remain the same surface area, but finding the balance between the endurance of a hard pad and the feel and progression of a softer material takes time to perfect. When I first tested the Cortina I kept locking front wheels with hard pads, but by the time we began the season we’d found a material that delivered feel and stamina. Even so, it’s still possible to overwhelm the brakes, as I found at Monza.

Having built a decent lead I handed the car over to Grant after 40 minutes, but by then the brakes had gone and he spent the last 20 minutes of the race nursing a very long pedal. Lesson learned.

Race-winning pace also means buying the best engine you can afford. In our case that involved going to Geoff Richardson, an engine builder wellknown for his dry-sump DFVs and other high-end race

lotus cortina

motors, but new to wet-sump Lotus twin-cams. It was a risk, but Tromans’ logic was that you won’t find an advantage running the same hardware as your rivals.

As it happens the gamble paid off: our Richardson motor turned out to be an absolute firecracker.

In bald terms a U2TC Lotus Cortina weighs a smidge over 750kg and has around 180bhp from the legendary 1.6-litre in-line four-cylinder engine. These motors have a hard life, spending much of their life being revved to a little over 8500rpm in the hourlong, two-driver races. Still, barring any over-revving, they seem to be quite happy to go all season between refreshes, which I find amazing. Though allowing for some modern thinking and materials, Appendix K rules mean the car stays true to the original in terms of the four-speed manual transmission, limited-slip differential and rear leaf springs, plus those small disc brakes at the front and drums at the rear. There’s an anti-roll bar up front, but none at the rear and the dampers have to be oil-filled with limited adjustment.

Like any race car a good set-up is crucial, but the changes you can make are pretty basic. The upshot of all this is that once you’ve got the car handling close to how you want, the biggest advantage is in the driver and their ability to adapt to the car and compensate for any handling issues that can’t be dialled-out

through setup changes. Personally that suits me, for I’m neither an engineer nor very patient, so a car that requires you to think on your feet, or more accurately on your seat, is a challenge I enjoy.

I’ll be honest. If you derive childish pleasure from sliding a car then it’s very easy to overdrive a Lotus Cortina. I think it’s the combination of abundant steering lock, minimal inertia and an hilarious propensity to oversteer through low, medium and high-speed corners that makes you go a bit giddy. I have no idea what you’d have to do to spin a Lotus Cortina in the dry, such are the elastic limits of its handling and the transparent, forgiving way in which it loses and regains traction and lateral grip. This is good and bad, because even though the car is perfectly happy to swing from lock-stop to lock-stop once you’ve let the car slide beyond its sweet spot, you’re losing precious forward momentum. That needn’t necessarily make an adverse impact on your enjoyment, but in a series as closely fought as U2TC, you need to maximise forward momentum at every opportunity.

So I’m told by people with far more experience than I: a poorly-sorted Lotus Cortina is a uniquely horrible thing. But when perfectly set up, it’s a thing of rare beauty. I’m pleased to say Raceworks delivered the latter, but still you can sense the Cortina has the

Far left top/centre: Tight racing and extreme attitude at Brands, while Monza provides backdrop in shot at bottom. Below: Synchronised sliding at Brands Lotus Festival

“ Good setup is crucial, but the changes you can make are basic. Once you’ve got the car handling close to how you want, the biggest advantage is in the driver and their ability to compensate for any handling issues that can’t be dialled out through setup changes”

snappyracers.com

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lotus cortina

Ian Wilkie

“ You don’t so much steer the nose towards the apex as nudge it, applying just enough lock with just enough aggression to then tip the tail into the beginnings of a slide. From here everything hinges on your ability to catch and then balance – but not correct – the oversteer with one smooth steering input” The Lotus Cortina doing what comes naturally during the Silverstone Classic last year.

It’s such an involving steer that all those lucky enough to drive it fall for its idiosyncrasies

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potential to both understeer and oversteer to extremes through clumsy driving alone. The trick is not to overwork the front-end, which is achieved by using the rear end to do much of the work for you. You don’t so much steer the nose towards the apex as nudge it, applying just enough lock with just enough aggression to then tip the tail into the beginnings of a slide.

From here everything hinges on your ability to catch and then balance – but not correct – the oversteer with one smooth steering input. The challenge is to simultaneously apply just enough power to sustain, but not exceed, this delicate balance of lateral grip and forward motion.

It all sounds a bit scientific, but the Lotus Cortina is a wonderful teacher and will soon tell you whether you’ve got it right or wrong. Better still, it’ll tell you which phase of the process let you down. Work the front end too hard and it’ll resolutely push wide no matter how hard you then try to unstick the rear: tip it in too aggressively, or with a hint of trail braking, and it’ll slide straight through your window of opportunity and require an armful of opposite lock to contain. Get it right, though, and from the point you turn in you hardly seem to do anything at all, the car adopting an attitude that requires less than a quarter-turn of opposite lock to contain. As you see the corner begin to open out you can squeeze the throttle to the floor and hear the revs just begin to rise with the smallest hint of wheelspin, like the perfect standing start.

Sometimes you can even use this to keep the engine on-cam through corners that would otherwise leave you becalmed between gears.

Helpfully it remains pretty consistent through slow, medium and high-speed corners. All you need do is be more mindful of inducing terminal understeer in the slow turns and resist the urge to get too sideways through the medium-speed stuff. It’s through the quick stuff that the Lotus Cortina feels majestic, floating through with the throttle pinned in a classic four-wheel drift.

I’ve driven some amazing cars and enjoyed some incredible moments in the last 20 years, but the bond I’ve built with the #63 Cortina and the level of confidence I have in it, and the enjoyment I get from driving it, is unique in my experience. Grant, who races a Lola T70 mk3B and a Chevron F2 car amongst other things, holds the Cortina in similar affection. We did pretty well, too, leading four rounds of the six-race U2TC championship, including an epic dice with Andy Priaulx in the Silverstone Classic. Two podiums and a fastest lap in the non-Championship Lotus Cortina 50th Anniversary race at Brands Hatch, a win at Paul Ricard and hard-won pole position at Spa were other vivid highlights. We had some bad luck, too, with a couple of electrical issues early in the season, but tardy pit stops were our biggest issue, turning possible wins into seconds and thirds. Still, that’s nothing a bit more (well, some…) driver change practice and fewer bacon sarnies won’t fix for this season.

A force to be reckoned with for the last half century, it’s amazing to see what constant detail development can do to preserve a car’s winning ways. The Lotus Cortina’s pace and competitiveness are certainly showing no signs of fading. I can’t wait to try adding to its tally of victories in its 51st year.

track lotus driver cortina apps

The 2014 Classic K series for pre 1966 GT and Touring cars running to Appendix K is now open for entries.

The popular Snetterton 300 test day is priced at just ÂŁ125 to members of the CSCC. Dunlop historic tyre support is provided

by Adams and Page with race fuel available from Anglo American Oil Company at all 5 UK rounds.

2014 Calendar

All UK rounds are priced at just ÂŁ425 each for 30 minutes qualifying and a 60 minute race, for one or two drivers.

27 March Snetterton 300 (Test Day)

12 April Snetterton 300

11 May Silverstone

31 May Brands Hatch

27-29 June Spa Francorchamps

31 August Donington Park

27 September Oulton Park

www.classicsportscarclub.co.uk info@classicsportscarclub.co.uk 0844 8843260 Classic Sports Car Club

37

milltek

FLYING HIGH When Milltek Sport needed a driver to race its entry in the 2014 VW Racing Cup, it turned the hunt into a competition, ‘Pilot Required’. We were there when one talented entrant earned his wings Photos: Jakob Ebrey Photography and Carl Owen

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milltek milltek

T

he Volkswagen Racing Cup is one of the UK’s more prestigious racing series, with a highly competitive field battling it out over 14 rounds throughout the country. This year the series’ title sponsor is performance exhaust manufacturer, Milltek Sport, which has already been supplying race exhaust systems to many of the competitors over the last decade.

This year Milltek also wanted to run its own car in the series and, to shake things up, offered the driving seat in a national competition to Find a Pilot.

The deal was a fully-funded drive including use of the car and a fully supported package with transportation and a support/pit crew, etc, thrown in.

This fantastic opportunity is realistically worth around ÂŁ70K, and the winning driver just has to find the budget for the tyres and any accident damage.

Hundreds of people entered the competition which was also run at the Autosport International show at the NEC in Birmingham. Finally the entrants were whittled down to a select group of eight drivers:

The hopefuls are all smiles before the battle began.

Finalists were plucked from a wide variety of different series

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milltek

FLYING HIGH • Paul Rees: FIA GT and GT Open • Nick Ponting: current Electric Land Speed Record holder • James Walker: VW Cup • Louise Richardson: Ginetta G50 • Jake Honour: Clio Cup Series • Anna Walewska: Britcar • Chris Knox: Mini Challenge • Jamie Martin: VAG Trophy Think X-Factor for race car drivers, with the grand prize being a funded seat in a premium race series.

These lucky eight drivers would go head-to-head on track and be judged by BTCC star, Tom Onslow Cole, and TV presenter, Paul Cowland, amongst others. The objective was to find a fast yet consistent driver with a professional attitude and good interview skills.

Following a very rainy February week, the day of reckoning finally arrived and to everyone’s surprise the sun shone at Donington Park on the February 13: and the track was even dry!

The drivers were assembled and completed the compulsory drivers’ briefing with special attention drawn to the fact that this was an ‘unlimited noise’ test day and there were some seriously fast race cars

“ As the day drew to a close, the drivers were asked to perform one last task, which was said to be the decider: cruelly, the organisers had set up an egg and spoon race… It was clearly a joke and helped lighten the spirits after a seriously challenging day”

After a day ripping around Donington in road and race Golfs, victory went to a surprised James Walker, (right), pictured to the left of Tom Onslow Cole, the BTCC driver

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on track at the same time, many of which were openwheel and even the odd vintage F1 car.

The drivers all took turns on track in the Milltek Golf race car with Tom Onslow Cole and the other instructors. There were some interesting reactions in the paddock as the drivers returned as for some it was their first time on slicks! The overall perception was that the levels of grip were amazing and being a frontwheel drive car with ample power, the understeer had to be managed, too. Throughout the day the drivers were subjected to a series of mock TV interviews to gauge their ability to perform off the track.

As the day drew to a close the drivers were asked to perform one last task, which was said to be the decider: cruelly, the organisers set up an egg and spoon race… It was clearly was a joke and helped lighten the spirits after a seriously challenging day.

The final decision on a winner was a close one, final honours going to a seriously surprised James Walker, who nevertheless accepted his prize in gracious fashion. Here’s what he had to say: “When I was announced as the winner I was in a state of shock.

I now can’t wait to get going and learn more about the car and my new team.

“We have already had a meeting and everyone is looking for success. It’s a real honour to be part of a team with such a drive for success as Milltek Sport.

The most important thing now is to work together, pushing forward as quick as we can.”

We offer our congratulation to James and look forward to following his progress in the Volkswagen Racing Cup 2014.

porsche milltek 911 gt3

GT Virtual Racer

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online racing

PLAY TO WIN Are You Ready to Race? PART 2

Carl Owen, rookie racer and TrackDriver’s newest member, explains how simulators can have a dramatic effect on your ability to race for real, and to do so safely Photos: David Stallard, Carl Owen

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I

n the last issue of TrackDriver I posed this question: once you have passed your ARDS exam and have your first racing licence, are you actually ready to race? I definitely wasn’t. But I feel ready now. So what changed?

Because of delays in my race car preparation, I’d been forced to get my competitive driving thrills elsewhere, and being an IT kind of guy, I turned to iRacing, the on-line competitive car racing.

online racing

iRacing is not a game, it is an online racing simulator that you can use on your home PC. There are, of course, racing games such as Gran Turismo and rFactor, but iRacing is very different.

Firstly, you can only compete in official races against other humans, and it’s very strict, just like the real thing. Exceed the track limits and you get penalised. Speed in the pit lane and you will get a drivethrough penalty. Even the slightest contact

and your steering geometry will be bent for the rest of the race; any major collisions and your car will be wrecked and your race will be over. Plus you will get points on your licence.

My Audi TT was eventually ready and I have now competed in a couple of real races with the Classic Sports Car Club and done several test days (trackdays for race licence holders), so I am well placed to share my experience of the differences

between driving a race car for real and the virtual world.

Donington 2013 – My first race Donington is my local track so I was able to do a test day to learn some of the lines and get used to my new car. I signed up for a test day a few days before the race and was a bit shocked by the level of hardware on track. It was an awesome day with an eclectic mix of Le Mans classic GT40s, BTCC

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Carl’s first ever qualifying, at rain-drenched Donington Park.

“The tracks are all laser/GPS scans of actual tracks, so you literally get every bump and seam in the tarmac: it’s hugely impressive.

For the UK the list is expanding: currently there’s Silverstone, Brands and Oulton, including different track variations” Touring Cars, open-wheel Formula cars, Radicals and yes, some guy with a novice cross on the back in an Audi TT… My car was by far the slowest there but I never felt threatened and set about the business of learning the track with confidence. Still running-in my new engine (see Team Cars) I was down on power but by the end of the day I managed 15 consecutive laps within the same second; 1.36.

Race day soon came and ‘Modern Classics’ – my class – was the first to qualify at 9.00am: to make matters worse, it was raining. So not only was this my first ever qualifying, but I had never driven a race car in the wet.

Off we went and it was really greasy, so I started slowly, and gradually built up my speed, feeling my way around the track hunting for grip. Cars were going off the track left right and centre and a Porsche RSR spun right in front of me exiting Coppice. I managed to stay on the black stuff and before I knew it, qualifying was over – phew! I knew from looking at the dry lap times from last year that my car wasn’t competitive yet, and in fact would be the slowest car there, but to my surprise I qualified well up the grid. How could this be? In fact, I was 10 seconds a lap faster than the relative dry times of the cars around me – this was the first confirmation of the benefits of iRacing.

The race was after the lunch break, by which time the track had totally dried. It was a rolling start and it was no surprise that in the dry every car I had out-qualified came roaring past me, even before the first corner. I managed one lap – again in 1.36, which was the same as my dry

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testing – and then I had a puncture and had to retire. But I still felt inspired by my qualifying performance.

So, how had the simulator helped me drive in the wet? Here’s my story.

Blurring the line between real and virtual worlds I have now competed in over 200 races with iRacing, completed thousands of practice laps on famous tracks worldwide, and driven a huge array of cars including Mazda MX-5s, Radicals, open-wheeled Formula cars, and GT supercars. All the race cars are modelled on the real thing with input from real racing drivers. So far I’ve had a few poles and some wins (but not many) and earned a good safety rating as I’ve progressed through the ranks.

Most races are around 20 minutes long; some are up to an hour with pit stops for fuel and tyres. There are qualifying stages before the race to determine grid position, and you are also placed in races with drivers of a similar standard to yourself.

The tracks are all laser/GPS scans of actual tracks, so you literally get every bump and seam in the tarmac: it’s hugely impressive.

For the UK the list is expanding: currently there’s Silverstone, Brands Hatch and Oulton Park, including all the different variations of track layout.

What I’ve learnt from my sim racing experience so far Grid starts

Qualifying is everything. The nearer the front, the fewer the incidents.

Sounds obvious but it really does make a difference; passing is harder than you

think when cars are equal. Once on the grid, find the correct revs for ‘that car’ so that you can dump the clutch and not have excessive wheelspin or bog down.

This needs practice.

Try to get the inside line for the first turn as most cars skid off outwards; if you’re on the inside you’ll hopefully avoid those guys.

Also, the traffic tends to bunch up, so you have to drive slower than you could. If you’re on the inside people have to go the long way round and usually end up on the grass.

Tyres Cold tyres have much less grip, so don’t go mad on the first lap or so. Most cars tend to oversteer just a little more on turn-in with cold tyres, so bear this in mind when aiming for the apex. Aim a little wide and anticipate that oversteer will bring you back on line.

Conversely, worn tyres seem to understeer a little more, so later in the race you need to compensate with slightly earlier braking and a tighter line, anticipating the car will drift away from the apex.

Other drivers This has been the biggest learning curve.

With iRacing you never know who you are up against and many of the other drivers are real racers, many of them professional.

Sometimes when you’re struggling to keep up with another driver and you think, ‘this guy is good’, then after the race you check his profile and discover he’s a Formula 3 champion; one guy who beat me was a Hollywood stunt driver… Some of the more famous professional racers who regularly use iRacing include V8 Super

online racing

masterclass with Mark Hales

‘Ever wondered how the good guys know exactly where the car needs to be? Find a way to plan your lap and manage your car and its tyres.’ A one to one with Evo and Octane contributor and hugely experienced racer Mark Hales, at the circuit of your choice. Discover why as well as how and you’ll never need cones again...

A more thoughtful way to develop your track driving skills

“Having spent several track sessions with different instructors, Mark really was a breath of fresh air. It is all too easy to sit in a car with an instructor and follow the instructions that are given, accelerate here, brake there, turn in now etc.

Essentially you end up getting around because you have followed the verbal instructions provided, with little of one’s own application. Mark’s method was so very different and one that clearly produced results”.

Visit www.markhales.com or call Mark direct on 07860 75787849

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Car drivers Shane Van Gisbergen and Scott McLaughlin, Richie Stanaway from Porsche Super Cup and GTs, and NASCAR’s Dale Earnhart Jr. The current list of professional drivers is in the hundreds, so there must be something in it.

The thing with other drivers is that they are often unpredictable. So you learn to read the car’s body language to anticipate what’s going to happen. You can often see when someone is going to spin way before it happens. Or are they the kind of driver that closes the door without looking in the mirrors? Some drivers are really good and you can literally go side by side for a couple of corners without trading paint.

Others may dive up the inside going into a corner, and I have learnt to let them through, back off a bit, take a wider line and re-pass them on the crossover.

In many cases they out-brake themselves anyway and carry straight on onto the grass. Again, this slight backing off can save you many times, because you have a little more grip to adjust your line a tad.

Overtaking Be patient, follow the guy in front for a lap or two and see where you think you are faster. Let him know you are there.

Sometimes I do this by doing a dummy where I have no chance to pass as I’m too far back, but it gets his attention. When you’re ready, be decisive and make the move. Don’t make last minute lunges: plan your moves. In many cases it can be on the straight following a good exit from a corner.

In order to do this you need to hold back a little before the entry, giving you room to catch him up through the corner and get a higher exit speed. I’m much safer now when I make overtaking moves, so that both cars exit the corner on the black stuff.

German firm Fanatec make some of the best sim wheels and pedals. The wheels have force feedback so you can feel the road, while the brake pedal has a load cell to simulate a hydraulic pedal

You only have 100% of grip: sounds obvious, but when you are halfway round a corner using 100%, there’s no reserve to do anything that requires any more, such as braking or tightening your line to avoid a spinning car. There’s no chance. You’re committed to that line and your only option is to do something that requires less grip – relax the steering angle, for example, usually resulting in grass or gravel.

and rear tyres. If you want to trail-brake then you can continue relaxing the pedal into the corner – but be warned, a little too much and the car will spin as it hasn’t got enough weight on the rear tyres and the braking effort will lock them.

Often, braking earlier than you think allows the car time to settle before you turn in; a balanced car can corner faster.

So in many cases it is faster to brake earlier, let the car coast with a neutral throttle around the first part of the turn before gently applying the throttle as you unwind the steering. Sometimes if you realise that you have missed the apex and are going to run off the track, a quick dab on the brakes can transfer a little more weight to the front tyres, increasing their ability to turn and save you from exiting the track – albeit it with a small time penalty.

Braking

Accelerating

Learning tracks

The grip when braking is proportional to the load on the front tyres. As you brake in a straight line the weight is transferred to the front tyres; this increases the grip so you can brake harder. As the car nears the corner and the load on the front tyres is diminished as the car loses energy, you have to relax the brake pedal to balance the car – or to get equal weight on front

Accelerating is the opposite of braking, but when I say this I’m thinking of the weight transfer. As you accelerate, the weight is transferred backward so you have more grip at the rear. If you get on the power too soon it can cause you to wash out on the corner through excessive understeer. So when exiting a corner, subtle use of the accelerator can be used to turn the

You get used to the process of learning new tracks, starting with sighting laps, then slowly building your lap times until you are competitive. It’s also a great way to learn tracks that you might race on. Whilst there is no substitute for actually driving on tarmac, it certainly helps to have a good knowledge of each corner before you arrive. There is even a

Grip

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car, without using the steering wheel.

The advantage of this is that you minimise the body roll side to side that would be induced if you used the wheel.

flags and pit lane speed limits During the simulated races flags are shown exactly the same as in a real one. Yellow flags when there is an incident, black flags if you cut too many corners or speed in the pit lane. Black with an orange circle if your car has too much damage and you should pit. The only one that is different is the white flag, used in America to indicate the last lap of the race. In the UK this means a slow vehicle is on the track.

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Perfect home entertainment.

This young man at Autosport tried his luck in a McLaren MP12-4C around Spa

will see your mistakes increase and your lap times drop. Stay focused and hit every apex.

Winning races

When you first start in iRacing you cut your teeth on Mazda MX-5s. As you progress you get pitched against better and better drivers where wheel to wheel racing, without incidents, is a regular occurrence. When all the vehicles are literally identical it really tests your racecraft!

predictive lap timer with a function that splits the track into sectors, enabling you to see which parts of the circuit you’re strong through, and which require more attention to achieve optimal performance.

Heel and toe If you’re going to drive a race car derived from a road car then it’s most likely you’ll have three pedals and a gearstick. In order to brake hard and change gear at the same time, you need to learn how to heel and toe. This is a standard technique used for changing gear whilst braking and is also useful for your ARDS test, as the cars you drive are manuals.

In short, brake with your right foot as normal, then once the revs have dropped, dip the clutch to change gear, but before

you release the clutch, roll your right foot right a little to the right to blip the throttle – while still pressing the brake pedal – and match the revs to suit the lower gear.

Then release the clutch.

If you don’t do this, the new gear will effectively be at a higher rpm than the engine and at best the car will be unsettled.

You could even lock the rear end on a rearwheel drive car and spin, so it makes sense to get this right on the simulator before you hit the track. This is now a subconscious act for me thanks to 1000s of laps heel and toeing for each downchange.

Mental focus Racing for 20 minutes or more takes a lot of focus. It’s easy halfway through a race to relax and lose focus and when you do, you

In order to win a race in a one-make series when all the cars are equal, you have to have a higher average speed than everyone else. However, this doesn’t mean you have to have the fastest lap, or be the fastest driver. Far from it: consistency is the key.

Hit every apex, don’t waste any time, and don’t go on the grass even for a second.

If you are ahead, stop pushing and try to win the race by the minimum time not the maximum. I learnt this the hard way.

Wins in iRacing don’t come easy; the competition is fierce and you have to drive a faultless race to win.

I qualified on pole for one Mazda MX-5 race and the two cars behind were fighting it out which let me get away and build up a 15-second gap. With only a few laps remaining, and no chance they could catch me, I was still pushing hard. I braked for a corner, heel and toed my gearchange a little early, over-revved the engine and BANG – blue smoke filled the air and my race was over. Stupid. If I had only coasted home I would have won.

Ranking and stats All the stats for every race are stored at iRacing, so you can see exactly how you shape up against the competition. For example, recently I was rated around 200th in the Mazda MX-5 championships: sounds bad, doesn’t it? But I’m quite happy when you consider that’s out of 6000 drivers and it puts me in the top 4% worldwide

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(sounds better), or 8th in the UK. I could go faster by left-foot braking and switching to paddle-shift, but I use it to help me drive my real car, so I’m happy heel and toeing with a manual shift even if it’s slower.

You can also record your telemetry data, which is awesome as it stores almost 200 parameters 60 times a second, from track position, brakes and throttle, to damper compression, ride height at each corner, tyre temperatures, etc. You can load these telemetry files in the actual McLaren telemetry software and compare laps with others and so on.

Above: you can record all your telemetry data and view it in genuine McLaren software Below: after each race you gain points based on the strength of the field and your position.

This way you can monitor your real driving ability against other drivers around the globe

Conclusion These are just the main points I’ve learned driving simulated races. But the benefits to me are immense. I feel much better prepared not only as a driver, with a better understanding of how a race car should be driven, but also mentally, so hopefully I can avoid getting involved in too many incidents in the early stages of my race career. And finally, it helps keep my focus throughout the whole race.

So, to answer my original question: how did iRacing help me qualify in the wet at Donington? The answer is, it’s all about feel and being fluid, turning the car with minimum steering input, being smooth coming off the brakes and seamless heel and toe gearchanging.

Oulton Park 2013 – my second race Oulton Park was the first time I had driven on a track I’d learned from iRacing: it was a surreal experience. By now my Audi was delivering more power so I could really go for it, and after only two laps my brain couldn’t tell the difference between the simulator and the real thing.

Almost everything was the same as the sim. My braking points, turn-in points and

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“I feel much better prepared not only as a driver, with a better understanding of how a race should be driven, but also mentally, so hopefully I can avoid getting involved in too many incidents in the early stages of my race career” apices were all the same. I qualified really well and even managed to out-qualify a couple of Porsches and a Ferrari. Then the lights went out and we were off… After only a second I saw a something was wrong ahead. I knew from the simulator races to switch instantly from racing to safety mode, and I slowly lifted off, not wanting the cars behind to pile into the back of me.

To put it all into perspective, the Ferrari behind me hadn’t seen the incident and hit his brakes hard, and came flying past me at 90 degrees to the track in a cloud of smoke.

The race was red-flagged and we had to restart. However, my experience had saved a potential crash – but what experience?

It was only my second race. That’s two real world examples of how iRacing has helped me as a driver and I’m sure more

will come. I’ve made a YouTube video of my qualifying at Oulton Park versus the iRacing simulator, which is very interesting – search for ‘iRacing Oulton Park CSCC’.

What you need: A reasonable PC with Windows 7 or 8, or An Apple Mac with OS X 10.6-10.9 A gaming graphics card A steering wheel and pedals An iRacing subscription and fast internet connection

In Part 3 of ‘Are You Ready to Race’, see how I fare when I go head to head with editor Hales in my first on-track lesson

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coaching corner

VISION

EXPRESS The eyes have it, according to experienced track coach, Andrew Bentley. By properly looking ahead at the corners you’re approaching, your trackday laps will be much, much quicker

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coaching corner

visionexpress Andrew Bentley has driven a wide variety of race and road

cars, having successfully started his racing career in karts.

A scholarship drive in BRDC Formula Ford was followed by UK Formula Ford; his success here paved the way for a spell in the States racing single-seaters in the Star Mazda series.

Watching a practice session for the Sebring 12-hour inspired Andrew to hunt down endurance racing drives upon his return to the UK: as well as racing and developing sports prototypes, he also enjoyed outings in Formula Renault and Classic F3. Another scholarship win led to a season in the Renault Clio Cup, since when he’s raced GTs and sports cars which have added to his impressive tally of wins, poles and fastest laps.

Now also instructing, Andrew has honed his ability to convey the sometimes very complex processes that are needed to drive quickly around a track, into everyday language anyone can understand. He strongly believes that with the correct attitude, everyone can improve in some way and go faster.

Above: race coach Andrew Bentley practicing what he preaches in the Hangar 111 Lotus Elise. Rivals using their eyes, too, but mainly to watch him pull ahead…

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I

n order to get what we want in this fast-paced life we lead, everyone is after a shortcut here or there.

The growth of the ‘self checkout’ – scanning your own purchases rather than have someone do it for you – in big supermarkets and DIY stores is a good example. Potentially you’ll save a useful 34 seconds on your shopping trip. Those 34 seconds will doubtless come in handy later in the day. And of course it’s with those screws, say, which you scanned yourself, that you’ll be able to save both time and money fixing the shelves that fell down last week.

This has got to be a much better way of doing things.

It removes an unnecessary person from the process.

Sure, you could get a carpenter in to fix them properly, but that would mean investing money in something

you can do already. In fairness, he’ll do a great job and probably make them a lot stronger than they ever were before. Of course, it’s not that the tradesman is better than you. No, it’s simply that he’s been doing it a long time and has all the tools. But hey, they’re only shelves: what’s the worst that could happen?

So why should driving a car on track be any different? You can drive. No trackday operator will let you behind the wheel on their track if you haven’t presented your licence when you sign on at the start of the day, so we must be good to go? Track driving is simply driving your car how you normally would, but faster. Right?

No. It’s not. Not even close. Nothing about road driving can prepare you for the intensity that is

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involved in a truly quick lap around a circuit.

The techniques used when braking, cornering and accelerating on a circuit are so far removed from what you do on a road it’s like starting from scratch.

Anyone who claims to have their car ‘on the limit’ while driving on the road is (a) fibbing or (b) unaware of what ‘the limit’ actually is, or (c) is not lying, is on the limit, and should have their licence taken away as they’re a danger to everyone else.

Very simply we do three things to a car on track.

Brake. Turn. Accelerate. When we brake on a track, we brake hard. Hard as in 99.9% of what the tyres can cope with. When we corner, we corner right up to the point at which the car is about to slide out of control.

When we accelerate, we are burying the throttle pedal through the bulkhead and we don’t lift off until we hit the brakes again at 99.9%. These are the extremes of track driving.

competitors, F1 drivers, Touring Car drivers, NASCAR drivers, Moto GP and Superbike riders, even. There are many tools that we need, but we’ll focus on probably the most important one for the moment. Vision.

Vision is the key. Of the three main senses we use when piloting a car, it’s critical. You can drive quickly if you can’t hear – play a racing simulator on silent, it’s not hard. You can drive very quickly and win, even if you don’t have the universally accepted number of arms or legs: just look at the inspiring Mission Motorsport team for clear proof of this. But you can’t drive if you can’t see.

When we drive on the road, we will most likely be looking 50 to 100 metres ahead. This is comfortable at 30mph. At that pace, it will take you about seven seconds to travel 100 metres, so if something were to happen, you have enough time to work out a solution.

However, when travelling at 100mph on a track, it

Above: pros such as Lewis Hamilton are naturally adept at being able to see how a circuit unwinds, but every driver who wants to do well on track needs to learn the skill

“ Track driving is simply driving your car how you normally would, but faster. Right? No. It’s not. Nothing about road driving car prepare you for the intensity of a truly quick lap. The techniques used when braking, cornering and accelerating on a circuit are so far removed from what you do on a road that it’s like starting from scratch” It’s all relative, of course, but however you do it, driving a performance car on a race track is not exactly cheap, therefore it certainly isn’t unreasonable for us to want to go as quickly as possible in the shortest amount of time, to achieve maximum bang for our buck. Unfortunately, taking this approach to going fast, on a race track, with other people around, has far too many unpleasant outcomes, most of which I have been witness to at any number of trackdays. Few, if any, have been related to car failures. Meaning it was driver error.

We need the right tools to do the job properly, just like the carpenter who put up your shelves. There are some basic tools we all need to have in our box. These are the ones that are used by me, my colleagues, my

takes roughly two seconds to travel 100 meters. Not a lot of time to react, compute the information, come to a solution that is, on balance, the best one, then plan and carry out the solution in a technically accurate and efficient manner.

Going slower would give you more time to react. But obviously you won’t slow down. So what can you do?

The only thing you can do is to look further ahead. The genius is in the simplicity. So why don’t we all do that naturally? The answer is that driving is not natural.

We aren’t made to drive cars, but we’ve designed cars so we can drive them. Our brains are comfortable with moving at low speeds, like 30mph. We do it a lot when we drive every day; we’ve got used to it. We don’t generally do 100mph. It’s not normal; it’s outside our

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visionexpress comfort zone. So when we do drive quickly, we revert to what feels right. Seeing what’s directly in front of us gives us the confidence to carry on. But by looking at such short range, we’re utterly blind to the fact we actually can’t see where we’re going.

How tight is that corner?

The key to good vision on track is to look much further ahead than you think you need to.

You should also move you whole head, not just your eyes, when scoping out the corner’s exit

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Look at where the corner finishes. That will give you quite a big clue. But what if you can’t see where it ends? That is also quite a big clue.

If you can’t see how tight the bend is, how do you know what speed to take it at? This raises some obvious questions: when do you brake? How hard do you brake?

What gear? When do you start to bleed off the brakes?

When can you start to turn? When can you balance the throttle? You can see where I’m going with this…

You don’t know anything about the corner. At 100 metres of vision, you’re relying on your reactions and also trying to remember what the track looked like

from the A4 piece of paper with an outline of the circuit that you picked up at signing on. A pro driver uses neither. You will see a pro use a track map to help explain finite details of the car’s setup to his engineer and race team, allowing everyone to be talking about the same bend, but he won’t have paid anything more than a passing glance at a track map, just enough to see the sequences of corners. What kind of detail can an inkjet printed black line on a piece of paper really tell you about the character of a bend, its surface changes, kerbs, cambers, etc? Not much. And who drew that track map, anyway? How accurate is it? You don’t learn a track by looking at a bit of paper.

So, that leaves us with reactions. According to a few internet tests, although perfectly acceptable, my reactions aren’t that impressive. It appears I’m not alone: studies have proved that race drivers have distinctly average reaction times. I have never ever wanted to use my reactions when driving a car. If I have to rely on my reactions, I’ve done something wrong. I’ve made a mistake. I’ve gone past controlled, planned and efficient driving. I’m the other side of the line, and my attention now is 100% focused on not crashing. I am no longer concentrating on speed, lines and technique.

If you constantly rely on your reactions when out on track, it will only be a matter of time before the airbags react, namely to a signal from a G-sensor in your car telling them to inflate because the car has hit something immobile and it’s stopped. (Caterham drivers, you can ignore that last bit about airbags).

We need to look further ahead. Further than you think. At times, we need to look to where the track disappears, other times a little closer. It all depends on

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Owen Brown

how fast we are moving. A good rule of thumb is to give yourself four to five seconds gap, from where you are now, to where you are looking.

So how can we use our newfound long vision?

unaware of what’s coming up next. Therefore, our reference points will include things such as changes of tarmac, kerbs, marshal posts… anything that doesn’t move, easily. If you build up a map of the track in your mind using these things, then you will learn a track much quicker. By looking further ahead, you will be able to make more sense of these reference points, because you have more time to look at them, so you’ll know where you are on the track.

When I’m coaching in car, I always take time to see what’s happening with my driver’s head. Is it moving?

In the majority of cases, in the initial laps at least, the answer is no. Not a bit. The problem with this is twofold. Firstly, we are at tracks such as Silverstone, Snetterton and Donington. Not Santa Pod. Silverstone, Snetterton and Donington all have bends. So, if we haven’t moved our head, how on earth can we see the exit of corners like Village, The Loop, Montreal,

Cones (above) are fine for your first ever laps, but it’s better to quickly dispense with their services and pick other visual reference points around the circuit that are appropriate to your car, your driving style, and the prevailing track surface conditions

“ It’s easy to get target fixation with a cone. You end up staring at the clipping point cone as you drive past it, utterly unaware of what’s coming up next. Therefore our reference points will include such things as changes of tarmac, kerbs, marshal posts… anything that doesn’t move easily. If you build up a map of the track in your mind using these things, then you will learn a track much quicker” It’s important to have reference points. Cones aren’t great but they are an easy starter for 10. However, if you rely 100% on cones, cones that have been placed on the track by someone jumping out of a road car first thing in the morning, trying not to spill coffee from their travel mug, and you’re using these cones as your braking, turning and clipping points, then you are effectively ‘driving’ in the same way as a child joins dots together and calls it a picture. From my personal experience, it’s next to impossible to accurately re-create a perfect racing line with cones.

Anyway, every car is different and will require a slightly different line. Plus, they aren’t adjusted for track conditions either, so no allowance is made for wet or dry conditions. Added to that, it’s easy to get target fixation with a cone. You end up staring at the clipping point cone as you drive past it, utterly

Agostini or the Melbourne Hairpin? You can’t. So move your head. Secondly, in a broad sense, your balance is controlled by moving your head to where you want to go. So, point your whole head, eyes and all, at your intended target, be that the clipping point or exit. You will be shocked at how effective it is.

The problem with all of this is that it’s not that easy.

It’s uncomfortable. It doesn’t feel right. It’s out of your comfort zone. These are pretty unpleasant feelings to have when you are in your own pride and joy, trying to drive it as fast as possible around a track you don’t know. But trust me, this will be the single biggest improvement to your driving that you could possibly make. The more you make yourself do it, the easier it will be. To this day, after driving things quickly for 20 years, I still work on improving my vision.

It’s that important.

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TOMORROW’S WORLD Gazing into his very own crystal ball, Dave Walker predicts that club motorsport has a drive-by-wire future. And he’s already working on ways to make the tech cheaper

A

s I sit and write this it is still the Christmas break, but already the TV and radio are full of stories about what happened in 2013. None of which holds any interest for me: I prefer to look forward and, dusting off my crystal ball, I try to see what the next big thing in club motorsport is going to be.

I could be wrong but I reckon it will be drive-by-wire.

It would appear that I am not the only one thinking that way – Jenvey Dynamics keeps promising me a DBW drive motor to test, but the engineers there are too busy testing themselves (and preparing for Autosport International) to spare me a demo unit at the moment. AT Power Throttles have been doing DBW throttles for some time and have some individual throttle sets with the DBW motor built in. The company also does a DBW unit that you can bolt to existing throttle sets with a control arm and a simple ball-joint link.

The downside of all this is that it isn’t cheap. Apart from the motor you also need an ECU with the right drivers and software to operate the throttle. If you look around

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pretty much all of the existing ECUs with DBW are in the four-figure bracket – £1000-plus. Having said that, here at Emerald we are releasing the DBW package for the K6+ ECU priced at £745 plus VAT which includes some new software and launch/traction control.

I am not saying that I am over-careful with my own money but I do make Scrooge look like the soul of generosity at times. For my engine dyno setup I used a DBW motor from a breaker’s yard; borrowed from a BMW M3. Obviously I already had the ECU on the dyno rig so the upgrade to K6+ would have been £150 plus VAT. I paid £50 for the BMW motor and made up the brackets from scrap laying about the workshop.

So, if you already have a K6 you can convert to DBW for about £200 or so, plus a pedal. Expect the price of BMW M3 motors to increase with demand and then become like the proverbial rocking horse manure as people cotton on. Call me selfish but it doesn’t bother me – I already have my one…

On the Superflow Dyno I have the motor linked to a cable to operate the throttle bodies and you could not do the same for a car installation. So why bother? The answer

walker’s wisdom

“ AT’s setup goes from full shut to full open in 50 milliseconds: you can’t operate your foot that fast…”

is all about speed. The DBW motor can get to full throttle faster than you can, which must save time over a lap. AT tells me its DBW setup goes from full shut to full open in 50 milliseconds: you can’t operate your foot that fast unless you have a very short throttle link ratio that would make the car un-driveable on part-throttle.

Point to note here. Some of the DBW systems that I have come across are not true DBW at all. They use a driver to open the throttle, and then rely on a return spring to close it. That’s how my dyno setup has to work. Although the motor is driven both ways, the cable isn’t very good at closing; it needs springs.

Car makers use the motor in both directions, which means you can have all your idle speed control and fast warm-up done on the pedal map and it will motor the throttle shut if there is a problem. On the dyno a throttle problem is no big deal: I can kill the engine with any number of buttons or switches from my console. In the car it might be another story, but then I am told that’s what brakes are for!

The next Next Big Thing

Talking of the engine dyno, I reckon the next big step in engine calibration (mapping) will be pressure monitoring of the combustion process. This is how the car makers do it and they spend millions on engine calibration. If you can log combustion pressure against crankshaft rotation, you can see exactly which mixture and ignition timing gives you the result you are looking for. If you have a sensor in each cylinder you can see which individual cylinders need

trimming and which ones are more prone to detonation – you can see detonation actually starting to build. I always think it is much nicer to see trouble coming rather than having to react once it has arrived. With this sort of kit you can tune in a knock sensor much more accurately than relying on your ears or even ‘windowed’ knock against timing events.

At Autosport I am hoping to meet up with some guys working on a system that I could actually afford to install, or at least a basic system that I could afford to install. The big problem, for car makers as well as us paupers, is the sensors.

You can get modified sparking plugs with built-in sensors, but they are amazingly expensive and not totally reliable or accurate. The best system is to drill the engine and find a path through the head to the combustion chamber; and then fit your sensors into the head. Even if I can find a way through the head to the combustion chamber I am not too sure how that is going to work once I take my sensors back off the engine. One answer might be drilling, tapping and using blanking plugs.

At around £1000 per spark plug/pressure sensor I will make a pretty determined effort to find a cheaper alternative (see note above about how tight I am with money). It’s not that I wouldn’t spend the money if I had it, but this is the time of year when that nice Chancellor of the Exchequer dips into our bank account for his Corporation tax and pretty much leaves it empty every January. Not to worry though, the Government spend the money so wisely you really don’t mind at all, right?

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readers’ driveS

Noble M12 GTO

Photos: Dropout Media

TrackDriver reader Andy Bull, owner of ProTrax Racing in Ripley, describes why he chose the Noble M12 GTO and saved the car from a lonely life with grandma TD: When did you get the Noble?

AB: I originally purchased the Noble in 2007 from somebody I knew. His grandma had bought it him for a birthday present – lucky guy – but unfortunately he didn’t look after it very well. The car had been neglected and to make things worse it had also been involved in a road traffic accident.

After the accident it was then taken to a nearby accident repair centre, but unfortunately the insurance didn’t pay out!

This was because all four tyres were down to the wire on the inside and completely bald. Also the car had done 8000 miles instead of its limited 6000. As a result the Noble was left standing there for a number of months in storage. Finally released after storage charges of £3000 were paid, the car was taken to his parents’ house where it remained on the drive for another year and a half.

I asked his grandmother if the car was for sale and she told me it wasn’t as her grandson was going to pay to have it fixed.

So it didn’t move for another six months until she asked if I was still interested in buying the car. We did the deal and the Noble was mine.

TD: Why did you choose this particular car?

AB: I chose the Noble firstly because I really liked the look of it. I’d heard a lot of positive reviews about how it performed, not only on the road but on the track as well. Plus you rarely see one on the road and not many people know what it actually is. People are always coming up and asking questions about it; it certainly causes a stir, turns heads.

TD: What work have you done on it so far?

AB: After I purchased the car I took it back to my factory unit at ProTrax Racing and started to strip it down. One of the great things with a Noble is that the front and rear clamshells come right off, so you can easily work on the car. Once stripped, I realised there was a lot more work to be done than I’d originally thought: both clamshells were damaged, so I priced replacements, plus a front radiator frame.

Unfortunately these were on back order and quite expensive, so I decided to look on the internet for some secondhand ones.

I came across a place that had a secondhand front clam and a brand new front frame as well. We agreed a price and I fetched them there and then. It

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wasn’t until I collected them that I realised the vendor was just around the corner from the Noble factory in Leicestershire.

I couldn’t find a rear clam so I decided to repair the original and made a mould and then re-matted the damaged section; finally it was prepped and painted.

On the mechanical side I also found that all the ball joints on the suspension had play in them, requiring replacements, and both exhaust manifolds were badly cracked. This is a common fault with the factory manifolds, and I intended to set about making them myself. In the end I didn’t have the time, so I got another company to make them. But guess what?

They’ve cracked again! So the moral of the story is, that if you want a job doing well, do it yourself.

I ordered some new wheels from a specialist company that makes them to your specification, in my case 8x18in front and 10x18in rear. They said it would be a four-week turnaround: six months later, after being given a lot of excuses, they arrived. And weren’t the sizes I’d ordered.

To cut a long story short, I was issued a full refund. I then ordered them from another wheel company who said it would take five weeks: three months later…

When the wheels finally arrived the paintwork had fingerprints in it and the machining was wrong. So there was some negotiation to be done. In total I waited nine months for a set of wheels to be made!

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I made a wiring harness for the fuel pump that ran directly from the battery because the original wiring to the fuel pump is known to be a problem. I’ve also taken the dashboard out and had it flocked to prevent the glare on the windscreen.

The air-con didn’t work and as I’m not one for air conditioning I stripped it out to save weight. Another well known M12 problem is that the head gaskets frequently blow, so I’ve replaced the standard 10mm stretch

bolts with 12mm ARP racing studs to give more clamping force: the head gaskets are multi-layer steel and you can’t better them.

I have also changed the door mirrors from the big standard items to some Spa racing jobs, just to enhance the looks.

TD: What else would you like to do to it?

AB: First of all I’d like to remove the fuel tank and make a new one with an integrated swirl pot system and run a

readers’ driveS

Bosch 044 fuel pump for better fuel delivery. Then I’d like to make a more efficient intercooler using a Garrett core and remake all the intercooler pipes.

After that the next job would be to strip the heads off and port and alter the valve size to give better flow rates through the head, whilst ensuring that the gas speed remains high. Another job that definitely needs doing is to make jigs and manifolds

out of 316-grade stainless steel, TIG welded and purged with minimum wall thickness of 3mm to achieve strength and durability.

I’m also going to make a full exhaust system for it: this will be made out of 306 fully TIG welded and purged for flow and strength, and it will have re-packable exhaust boxes with high-flow cats.

To stop the oil surge around a race track I will have to design and make the sump

baffled. Some M12s did have baffled sumps but these weren’t ideal. I would also like to swap the standard ECU to a Life ECU because of its data-logging capabilities and its dual processing speed. Plus it’s more user-friendly. Final thing on my list is to tidy up the engine bay by altering water pipes and wiring.

TD: What do you most like about your Noble?

AB: The most noticeable thing on first experience was how easy it was to drive like an everyday family car. It had very little turbo lag and lots of torque low down. I’ve always thought that it looked a great car and 12 years on it hasn’t aged in my eyes; many people say it still looks modern. The steering and seating position feel absolutely perfect for me. Even though it is fairly basic inside, and with no driver aids, it puts you in control. However, you still have to respect the throttle when there’s 390-400bhp on tap.

TD: What don’t you like about it?

AB: There are a lot of good points about the Noble, but as with any car there are always downsides. It’s very awkward to reverse because the size of the rear window restricts your view. I know it’s not really designed to go backwards, but many times I’ve had to get out just to check there was nothing behind.

Another disadvantage is that the steering lock is sometimes a bit poor on the road, although I guess it wasn’t really designed for around town. Getting in and out is also a struggle at times as it’s very low and the sills are fairly wide and this restricts you a little. Even though the fuel consumption isn’t great around town, let alone flat-out, the rest of the good points tower above all the disadvantages.

TD: Any road trips or trackdays planned?

AB: I would really like to get it out on a trackday soon but unfortunately I haven’t had the time to finish the baffled sump: it’s a common issue for garage owners – customer cars always come first. I don’t want to risk having oil surge problems on track so this is on hold at the moment.

However, I have a great road trip planned for this summer in the Noble, which is to drive across France and through the Pyrenees to Catalonia and experience some of the greatest roads on the planet.

If you would like your car featured in Readers’ Drives, please send approximately 1500 words and a selection of high resolution pictures to: editor@trackdriver.com

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production gti

NIPPING TO THE PARK

Long-time Golf GTI fan, John Mawdsley, gets back in the Vee-Dub’s hot seat as he tries the Production GTi Championship at Donington Park Photos: dwmotorsportphotography.com

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henever I go to Donington Park it always seems to deliver the worst of the weather.

And it looked like the last two rounds of the 2013 Production GTi Championship, on my birthday weekend no less, would be no exception. I was to continue my journey through the grass roots of British club ‘tin top’ racing and had been offered a drive by Saxon Motorsport in a mk2 Golf GTI 16V. Mark LloydJones of Saxon had the car up for sale and thought it would be a good idea to put me in the driver’s seat to show prospective buyers it was a competitive machine.

However, on my arrival at Donington it transpired that Ian Webb, joint-MD of championship sponsor Teekay Couplings, had just parted with the cash to buy it. Ian graciously allowed me to continue with my Donington drive while he was away on business.

No pressure, then…

The BRSCC Production GTi Championship has been going a couple of years, and was granted championship status after a very successful first season in 2011. Its ethos is firmly placed on its friendly paddock atmosphere, close, clean racing and rigorous eligibility checks to ensure a level playing field and that costs are kept under control for all competitors.

Children of the ’80s and ageing yuppies alike will remember the mk2 Golf GTI as the hatchback to own.

Indeed, I was lucky enough to have an 8V version as a company car back in the day, which was, in the best tradition of company cars, thrashed over 18 months and 60,000 miles. It never missed a beat, although the tyres needed replacing five times! Therefore I know these cars pretty well and although the 8V

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does make an appearance in the championship, it has yet to achieve an overall win against the more powerful 16-valver.

Rob Sadler is the driving force behind the championship and runs a tight ship. Yet that doesn’t detract from the friendly camaraderie of the paddock awning, which always serves coffee and tea and is a great meeting place for those who can’t afford the luxuries of a gazebo or motorhome. Seldom have I come across a more approachable, friendly bunch of racers. As a result, there have been a number of great friendships created over the last couple of years, reflected in the fact that people readily muck in to help fellow racers faced with a mechanical problem.

Typical of my 2013 season, and despite trying to arrange a test day beforehand, I hadn’t even seen the car until an hour before qualifying. However, I knew I needn’t have any concerns as Mark always puts a good car out and this one was properly specced up, with the current favourite of re-valved AST suspension hanging off the right springs. By comparison, I ran an 8V back in 2007 and found it a much easier car to drive than the 16V. The 8V has a nice torquey engine that doesn’t need thrashing to the top end of the rev range, whereas the 16V needs max revs in every gear to unleash the best performance. The years have shown that the only Achilles’ heel for these cars seems to be the gearbox. That said, with more than 50 Golf races under my belt I’ve never had a problem with the ’box: you just have to treat it with some mechanical sympathy and rebuild it at the end of every season.

As you may expect, the Golf is great fun to drive

production gti

FOR A QUICK ROUND

Above left: our man Mawdsley heads Craig Roberts on a damp track at Donington. Above: first lap into the Old Hairpin in drier conditions

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production gti

and this one didn’t disappoint. Sitting low in the car the steering wheel was maybe a little higher than I would like, but the gear lever fell readily to hand and visibility, despite the pouring rain, was acceptable, enhanced by the fact that the car was still equipped with electric windows helping prevent any steaming up. Standard instruments weren’t even augmented by an oil pressure gauge, so there was little in the cockpit to distract my attention when going into a wet qualifying. This, it transpired, became a bit of a lottery, especially as my car was booted up with regulation Toyo R888s that had seen better days. The wet line seemed to change every lap and although I’ve done over a 100 laps at Donington this year, it was difficult to judge the pace.

has been a stalwart marshal for many years and last year he was presented with the FIA Volunteer of the Year award in recognition of his efforts. In deference to Andy we were all under orders to ensure none of us had to visit the Clerk of the Course after the race. As events unfolded, I was perhaps fortunate to escape a ticking-off…

From the lights going out, I got a storming start and had overtaken five cars by the time the pack got to Coppice. There then followed an embarrassing trip to the gravel. Unsighted I had hit the last residue of a puddle on the outside of Coppice and the car just slithered off. Fortunately I managed to keep going, though I was now plumb last! Very annoyed with myself for the mistake, I set about catching the cars

“These cars go well when steered from the rear and although the technique may be thought of as a little unorthodox, it really works and got me closer to the front on lap six. On lap seven I had caught a gaggle of five cars ahead of me, including the championship sponsor” Right up until the final qualifying lap, I believed I was in the top four or five and, as I confidently drove back into the paddock, I found that eight cars had put in their fastest laps on the final tour, dropping me down to a very disappointing 11th fastest. It was clear that the last round of the championship had brought together one of the most competitive grids of the year and a crisis of confidence hit me; was it me or the car? I resigned myself to a tough mid-field battle during race one, resolving to work hard in order to get a better slot for race two. It was going to be a busy afternoon, but at least the weather was picking up and the previous race had revealed an emerging dry line: there was now even some weak sunshine.

The assembly area at Donington uses the Melbourne Loop, which although a little isolated from the paddock, really speeds up the progress of meetings. It was great to see ex-Golf racer and the day’s Clerk of the Course, Andy Holley, come along and say hi! Andy

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ahead, which had split into three groups. I managed to get past four cars on lap two, then another two on lap three. One each on laps four and five and I was in the top 10 and picking up places here and there.

The car was handling progressively, with trailbraking on turn-in inducing oversteer through the corner, allowing for an early application of power.

These cars go well when steered from the rear and although the technique may be thought of as a little unorthodox, it really works and got me even closer to the front on lap six. On lap seven I had caught a gaggle of five cars ahead of me, including championship sponsor Teekay’s Chris Webb and Craig Roberts in his rapid 8V, which was starting to struggle against the grunt of the 16V cars in the drying conditions. Head down, the next lap I was committed to make both Redgate and the Craners perfect and with a great exit out of the Old Hairpin and McLeans I managed to snick past Chris through Coppice. Meanwhile Craig followed

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production gti

Main photo: winner of both races, Nick Porter, followed by 2013 champ, Simon Hill. Inset: Chris Webb (no.57) dices with Martyn Walsh out of the chicane

me through and Matthew Weller, who appeared from nowhere, took both Chris Webb and Craig to chase me into the chicane. This was great fun and over the next few laps in the run to the flag I managed to get 4th place and fastest lap of the race. This, as it turned out, was to be a new lap record which I put down to getting cross with myself for the lap one indiscretion.

The rain had started again in time for race two.

Everyone was worrying about settings and we finally went for the intermediate route. I don’t think I have ever started from inside of the second row at Donington in the wet and I now know how slippery

behind 2013 Championship winner, the ‘ginger Stig’ Simon Hill in second, and 2011 champion Nick Porter who had won both races in glorious, relaxed style in a car prepared by his Dad. As a footnote, 2013 Champion Simon Hill has had a great season in a car he self-prepares and has used for the last four years.

As he says, “I usually don’t even give it a wash between races but have spent some money on new dampers this year.” Simon’s only problems this season have come from gearbox issues, but his engine hasn’t been rebuilt since 2009, testament to how reliable these motors can be.

“So there we have it, a day of close, competitive and great value racing amongst a crowd of people who enjoy their hobby. The double-header format works really well and helps keep costs down” it can be. The lap chart doesn’t show that I was sixth going into Redgate after the worst start I can ever remember. Annoyed with myself again, I managed to get past Chris Webb and Craig Roberts in his 8V before the end of the lap. The next few laps, despite awful understeer, saw me gain on and catch Simon Hill. He was suffering with the opposite problem of oversteer and I lost count of the number of times I thought Simon wouldn’t be able to catch the slide, but he never lost it once. It was good fun to watch but frustrating and worrying as Craig’s 8V had kept me honest, chasing me all the way, and showed that in the right hands the lower-powered car can be competitive fun against the ‘valvers’, especially in the rain.

At the flag I’d gained third step on the podium

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So there we have it, a day of close, competitive and great value racing amongst a crowd of people who enjoy their hobby. The double-header one-day format really works well and helps keep costs down, a point Rob Sadler is keen to stress. “Production GTi is a championship designed to be attractive to novices and seasoned racers who need to keep an eye on costs.”

For 2014 it looks like Production GTi will go from strength to strength. Teekay Couplings continues its backing and tyre supplies will now be formalised through a tie-up with Toyo. Rob promises even stronger grids but is committed to ensure the paddock maintains its friendly family atmosphere. For me, I look forward to racing with them again next year, especially as they will be paying a visit to Spa in September.

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Alfa Romeo 2600 Sprint

Photos: Jeff Bloxham and Tony Murray

A

fter the debacle of my last attempt to race (TD17), I optimistically entered another three events, all in quick succession. First was a run at my favourite UK circuit, Donington Park. The Historic Racing Drivers Club (HRDC) had put on an interesting ‘Allstars’ event supporting Auto GP and the Superstars Series, so for a change we had a decent crowd to view our efforts.

The usual HRDC format prevailed, with most events run in one day: qualify in the morning, race in the afternoon, thereby keeping costs to a minimum. After all the reliability issues I’d had previously, I was a little apprehensive but had been through the car carefully, checking everything I could think of. Scrutineering went without any major hitch except I needed a new battery for the fire extinguisher module, easily sorted at the Donington shop.

Qualifying went well, familiarising myself with this lovely flowing circuit.

It was unfortunately spoiled a bit by us having to use the full Grand Prix loop in deference to the Superstars and Auto GP boys. I ended up in the second half of the grid; only to be expected in this mixed bag of entries comprising TVR, AC Cobra and Ginetta, through to Austin A35 and MGTC. I was sitting on the grid amongst various MGBs, Sprites, and even a Volvo PV544.

Our race was on early for a change, but there was a small hiccup when I went to the collecting area as the Alfa wouldn’t turn over. Fortunately my mate Richard Walbyoff

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Top: road-circuit racing, French style. Angloulême had sunshine, stunning scenery, great racing and convivial atmosphere. Above: Donington sunny, too, for the HRDC ‘Allstars’ event

from RW Racing Services was nearby and quickly rectified a loose earth terminal.

Soon we formed up on the grid for the green flag lap; I then got a good start, the new clutch so smooth, and grabbed a couple of places going into Redgate.

Then there were the fantastic swoops through the Craner Curves before heavy braking for the Old Hairpin. Out onto Starky Straight and up through McLeans, then the double-apex Coppice and onto the slightly shortened straight before turning hard left through the Esses and

into the GP loop and hard braking for the Hairpin: this is what spoilt it for me, as the flowing nature of this great circuit is lost in the loop. From the hairpin it’s hard up through the gears before heavy braking again for Goddards, a tricky corner with unsighted apex and lots of camber.

I had a race long tussle with Paul Crew in his MGB and repeatedly he and I changed places at Goddard. I’m pleased to say I managed to stay ahead at the flag, finishing 13th and top finisher in the T63A class.

During a conversation in the Donington

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paddock I mentioned that I’d been offered an entry to the Circuit des Remparts event in Angoulême, southwest France. This is an event I’ve always wanted to do but it usually clashes with the Goodwood Revival: not in 2013. I was encouraged to enter by Volvo PV544 driver, Richard Conway, who would also be attending having done it the year before, thoroughly enjoying himself and the French hospitality.

At only 1.2km long and running through the streets and around the ramparts of the city, it looked very tight for the big Alfa. We met up with Celia (Allard Ford Allardette) and Ian (Warwick GT350) and parked in the paddock together.

I was surprised to see so many English participants, although it was soon apparent that the Circuit Des Remparts is a wellrespected favourite amongst those ‘in

great Le Mans winner. My group rivals included Celia and Ian, together with a few air-cooled Porsche 911s, a quartet of Lotus Sevens, a Caterham Twin Cam, a trio of Alpine-Renaults and a brace of other Alfas.

Angoulême comprises three events over the weekend – a Regularity Rally, a concours d’élegance, and the races that take place on the Sunday. This allowed us plenty of time to take in the beautiful

“ I was surprised to see so many English participants, although it was soon apparent that the Circuit des Remparts is a well-respected favourite amongst ‘those in the know’. I soon warmed to the relaxed, convivial atmosphere, the sunshine and the good food” My entry was confirmed and I managed to get my crew together –engineer Barry Chantler and driving force Patrick Watts. I had some conversations with Angoulême regulars Celia Stevens and Ian McDonald, who advised me of format and kindly arranged accommodation in their hotel.

We arrived at the medieval walled city of Angoulême for our first view of the circuit.

the know’. I soon warmed to the relaxed, convivial atmosphere, the sunshine, good food and good humour of the officials and fellow competitors.

The variety of cars entered was surprising. But the races are divided into different ‘Plateau’ in an effort to get balance, and I found myself in the ‘Plateau Henri Pescarolo’, named in honour of the

Top: in the paddock at Angloulême, with one of the Renault-Alpines that Tony battled with following him in. Above: pre-race advice about sorting the brakes paid dividends at the hairpins

city and view some interesting cars.

Sunday morning turned out sunny and warm again, and before heading off to qualifying we were breathalysed: every participant is checked before qualifying and the race. I had 20 minutes to get to know my way around the circuit, although as we’d taken our tow car around the track the previous day, I at least had some idea of the layout.

The circuit comprises narrow sections between buildings, opening out to a fast downhill section before braking heavily for a very tight series of three hairpins broken up with a short straight in between: this makes it very hard on the brakes.

Fortunately I’d been warned and had fitted new pads and fresh fluids. The sound of the Alfa’s six-into-one side exit exhaust rattling off the city walls was quite something from inside the car – I’m told it was awesome from the trackside.

Qualifying passed quickly. Unexpectedly I found myself near the middle of the pack, with the Porsches way out in front.

I had the Warwick just ahead and was surrounded by the Alpine-Renaults and Alfa Giuliettas. For the race there was one formation lap: I’d barely stopped when the flag went down and we were away.

First corner is a very tight 90-degree left between buildings, so I took it very carefully. But the Alfa’s brakes are good and I managed to pass two cars into the first turn and held my place for the rest of the lap. I found myself in a battle with one of the Giuliettas and a pair of Alpines – we ran race-long together, me not quite getting the better of the more nimble Alfa but holding the Alpines at bay.

We were lapped by the leading Porsches but I wasn’t surprised by that and made good use of them as they carved through our battle. I had to work hard at the triple hairpin section where my adversaries were all over me, but once onto the short start/ finish straight I could make a small gap and hold it through the buildings section.

Then on the longer back straight I had

75

TEAM CARS

the measure of them and could challenge the Alfa into the first hairpin, once or twice getting alongside but not quite getting in front.

The 17 laps disappeared so quickly and soon we were ushered back into the paddock. My Alfa had behaved impeccably, due in no small measure to the ministrations of Barry and Patrick. I am not sure where I finished – it was all a bit of a shambles – but I think somewhere around 9th place. That will do for the first time: I’ll be back.

Only a week after the European sojourn I was back at Snetterton for another race, this time a two-driver HRDC Touring Greats event. I was able to team up with good friend and F1 commentator, Ben Edwards. He and I had been planning to race the Alfa together for the last couple of years and the timing and venue could not have been better: Ben lives a few miles from the circuit.

Typical of the HRDC Touring Great series, the grid was impressive; 34 cars of varying power and handling characteristics. We were part of the Aston Martin Owners Club meeting and were determined to put on a good show.

Qualifying went well. I nipped out to do just a couple of laps leaving Ben with a majority of time in the car, this being his first go behind the wheel of the 2600. As a previous Formula First and Caterham champion – not to mention running strongly in F3 alongside David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen – I was expecting

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Top: F1 presenter, Ben Edwards, proving he doesn’t just know how to talk about cars, he knows how to race them, too. Above: Tony is hounded by big, bad Ford Zephyr…

good things from Ben, and he didn’t disappoint. We ended up qualifying 12th, with a low 1:39.

We agreed Ben should start the race; after all, he’d put the car into a decent grid slot. He made a brilliant start and ran strongly, making up several places before handing over to yours truly at the halfway mark. After the driver changes had settled down we found ourselves in a very respectable 7th place, but with little chance of gaining any more positions. I was eventually caught and passed by the Ford Zephyr of Alistair Dyson yet was managing to hold off the Wolseley 1500 of Max Cawthorn when, coming past the pits, I felt the Alfa lose power…

I continued on, thinking perhaps a fuel pick-up problem, but rounding the first corner I felt it lose power again so quickly dipped the clutch, turned off and coasted to the infield. Damn! Only two laps to go and we were on for a good result. Back in the paddock I still suspected a fuel problem so put a few litres in the tank to see of she would fire up: the engine fired instantly, but I could hear some unwanted rattling sounds and switched off. Time for a winter engine re-build – this could be expensive.

A sad end to what was a very enjoyable weekend. Strange thing is, even with losing two laps we still won our class and were the recipients of another Micky Bolton hand-crafted HRDC trophy.

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F1 commentator and Caterham champ, Ben Edwards, on racing Tony’s Alfa

Ten favourite things about racing the Alfa at Snetterton: n Having fun with a mate on a rare weekend away from F1. n The sunshine and blue skies that presented my home county at its best. n The sound of the Alfa’s straight-six revving to 7000rpm as I watched Tony’s first few qualifying laps from the pit wall. n The camaraderie in the HRDC paddock; there were even people there who remembered me racing an Alfa 164 diesel at Castle Combe over 20 years ago. n The satisfaction in making every gearchange during my stint of the race.

Not as easy as you might imagine, and something a modern Formula One driver would never think about. n Kicking the dust up over the edge of a corner exit kerb before Jonathan Palmer makes it a sin. n Getting the lift off throttle and power application just right at Hamilton bend to engage the limited-slip diff and maintain a neutral balance through the corner. n Making a decent start for once! She’s a rocket off the line. n Feeling like a driver from a bygone era with the amount of wheel twirling and correction that needs to be done. n Racing a car that’s the same age as me, and enjoying every moment of it.

Ominous noises from the Alfa’s straightsix led to its removal, a timely action given the state of a couple of the main bearings.

And with the drivetrain out, it (sort of) made sense to strip down the bodyshell ready for a refresh

So that was my racing over for 2013: a poor start with a lot of trouble and non-starts, but finishing with three very enjoyable races at the end of the season.

As soon as the car was back at my workshop the engine and gearbox were removed – the engine went to HT Racing for stripping and inspection. That was a very nervous time not knowing the extent of damage to the internals. But once the main bearing caps were removed it became obvious that there had been a shortage of oil getting to two of the bearings, particularly the no.6 main bearing at the rear of the engine, and farthest away from the sump and scavenging system.

that done, too. I’d also been having some difficulty with the gearchange baulking between second and third, so – in for a penny, in for a pound – I had the gearbox refreshed as well.

I have always planned to tidy up the appearance of the Alfa over the winter and with the engine and gearbox already removed, it seemed like the perfect time.

With much-needed help from Simon Hooper, we set about stripping the 2600 for a re-paint, re-wire and various other mods. First I removed the roll cage then Simon stripped out the wiring loom: now that scared me. I’ve never understood the intricacies of wiring and electrical circuits;

“ The engine went to HT Racing for stripping and inspection. That was a nervous time not knowing the extent of the damage to the internals. Once the main bearing caps were removed it became obvious – a shortage of oil getting to two of the bearings” This was possibly a legacy of the increased speed the car was now capable of through long, constant radius corners such as Snetterton’s Coram. Whatever the reason, it meant the crank needed a regrind and I had to find a replacement for one distorted connecting rod. Fortunately the guys at Rusper Alfa Romeo came to the rescue. New big-end and main bearing shells have been ordered, together with replacement valve guides: the existing items were showing signs of wear, so whilst the engine is stripped it seemed wise to get

fortunately Simon is a dab hand at that sort of thing.

It didn’t take too long to reduce the Alfa to a nearly bare shell, glass out, doors stripped, grille, badges, bumpers and all chrome trim removed. We then took off the doors, bonnet and boot lid. I elected not to strip the steering and suspension out and left the engine bay intact.

I’ve arranged for a colleague within motorsport to re-paint the car: all Simon and I have to do is get it prepped. So with copious amounts of wet ‘n’ dry, a little filler and a lot of elbow grease, we’re in the midst of getting the 2600 ready for the painters. Then all I have to do is get it painted and rebuilt with new wiring, new fuel system including FIA-standard foamfilled alloy tank, an upgraded oil system and fresh brake lines: and the rebuilt engine and gearbox have to be installed, too. All before the end of March, in time for the new Goodwood 72nd meeting.

Er, no pressure there, then…

Specification maKe mODeL Year eNGINe maX POWer FUELLING GearBOX BraKes tYres

WHeeLs

WeIGHt VaLUe

Alfa Romeo 2600 Sprint Bertone coupe 1965 2582cc straight-six, dohc 168bhp @ 6200rpm Triple 45 DCOE Weber carbs Five-speed manual Brembo discs front & rear Dunlop CR500 – F: 500M X 5T R15 L Section R: 500M X 5T R15 Technomagnesio – F: 5J x 15in R: 5J x 15in 1450kg £28,000 approx

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Audi TT

T

urns out I’m not the first to suffer the perils of Gerrard’s at Mallory Park; this long, fast, sweeping right-hander really puts your engine oil management to the test. For my poor TT it was one corner too far and a second’s oil starvation caused cylinder one’s big end bearing to vaporise.

We had spent so much time and money getting the suspension and brakes sorted that we hadn’t got around to the engine yet. Well, if a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well – so we decided to totally rebuild the engine and beef it up for extra durability during the race seasons ahead.

The 1.8T 20-valve turbocharged VAG engine is known to be strong and is used broadly across the Volkwagen Group – not only in VWs, but in Seats, Audis and Skodas, too. And because the basic engine has been around for a comparatively long time, there are lots of modifications

“ Gerrard’s is a long, fast, sweeping righthander that really puts your engine oil management to the test. For my poor TT it was one corner too far and a second’s oil starvation caused cylinder one’s big end bearing to vaporise” available. However, it seems that the biggest weakness is the conrods; that is, if you’re going to up the power. So it was time to pay a visit to our race engineers at Protrax Racing (PTR) in Ripley, to get the low-down on what was necessary. First thing we did was buy a second engine from the breakers, so that we had a decent crankshaft, as the old one was unusable.

Apparently, once uprated the 1.8T can cope with power figures up to 400bhp: since the stock power is a useful 225bhp, we decided to go for a modest 300-320bhp, with a Stage 3 hybrid turbo from Turbo Dynamics.

So the engine rebuild began: • Re-ground and balanced crankshaft • Farndon Racing conrods and ARP bolts • Mahle race pistons • Supertech valves, springs etc.

• New oil pump • Baffled sump • Custom oil sprayers, etc.

• ARP head bolts • Head skimmed etc.

Once fitted, we ran-in the engine on track at Donington Park during an open pit-lane test day. This gave us the opportunity to break it in properly under load, whilst keeping the revs down. We basically kept doing 15-minute sessions and throughout the day you could feel the engine loosening up and getting stronger and stronger. We did, however, have some form of fuelling issue: just as the turbo kicked in it would

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Photos: Carl Owen, Andy Bull, David Stallard

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DT M P o w e r consulting

• wheel frequencies and rates

79

TEAM CARS

stutter a little then come back on power above 5000rpm. This wasn’t a big issue for running-in, but would need to be sorted for racing. The problem was that my first race was in a couple of days and we were

running out of time, so we had to run it as was. After the Donington race we took it to Shark Performance in Mansfield to get it checked out and get a Stage 1 re-map put on it. Apparently with the 1.8T, a Stage 1 The thicker lines on the graph are the TT after attention from Shark. Thin lines show clearly how at 4600rpm injector problems caused power and torque to nosedive. Carl’s plan now is to have Shark create a custom remap

remap can increase power by up to 35bhp.

Shark was great and soon diagnosed that our fuel pump was struggling to deliver enough fuel, because the injectors were wide open at 4000rpm. This can be seen on the dynamometer printout: note the 30bhp cliff at 4600rpm. Interestingly, once treated to Shark’s remap it was significantly better, but the problem moved from the mid-range to the top-end. Fortunately it also added about 100Nm (74lb ft) of torque at the bottom-end, which made it far more drivable.

Our next CSCC race at Oulton Park soon came around and with the new fuel pump the TT performed significantly better, ultimately finishing a respectable 13th out of 22 qualifiers.

As you can see from the output graph, we were peaking at around 225bhp even with the fuel pump issue and had yet to fit the new turbo. That’s a story for the next issue, when we also get a new 3in Milltek exhaust and a custom remap from Shark.

Specification maKe Audi mODeL TT 1.8T (225) Quattro Year 1999 eNGINe APX in-line 4cyl, 1781cc, 20v, DOHC, K04 turbocharger, FMIC maX POWer 224bhp @ 5215rpm (Note: dyno showed a faulty fuel pump; should be 250bhp+ @ 5900rpm) FUeLLING Multipoint fuel injection GearBOX Five-speed manual BraKes Front: Brembo four-pot callipers 323mm floating discs.

Rear: stock callipers with Tarox conversion kit and floating discs Y tYres okohama Advan A048 WHeeLs 18in x 8in WeIGHt 1350kg

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TEAM CARS

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TEAM CARS

MG ZR 160 Racing Car

T

he path to motorsport fulfilment is not always as straightforward as many plan. Even with the help of a specialist, when you’re preparing your car many things crop up to catch you out. My bargain parts bin special MG has so far been hampered by poor previous workmanship: that can be said with any race car build, of course, but it’s worsened by the left-hand drive issue affecting parts availability.

The main issues have been around the wiper mechanism. I was lucky enough to get the wiper mechanism directly from German eBay (helped by Google Translate).

I then struggled to get the plastic windscreen plenum cover and wiper arms, but fortunately Rimmer Brothers MG and Rover Specialists had them in stock new, and for less than the assorted eBay sellers: that was a result, but I was still missing a wiper motor. Again Lady Luck popped up, as Dan Surridge of CMC Motorsport, who is helping prepare my car, had one in a shed!

Other bits were more straightforward.

The engine ECU, handbrake mechanism, driveshafts and random bits of trim, for example, were available. But matching up the codes was proving hard and time-

82

Photos: Ray Collier

consuming, so in the end I got cross, went on eBay while I was away for work tyre testing and bought a full mk1 MG ZR160 with a goosed engine and all the bits in the boot. Dan was then ‘volunteered’ to collect it as it was just round the corner from him. The car was clearly once loved, so has a few saleable bits which should recover some of the costs.

Mrs. Collier was most impressed with this unmentioned purchase and required placating in a form of motorsport tax which usually represents jewellery to the value of far more than any race car build.

This should be factored in to any reader’s build costs and I have created a simple

formula to help you in such matters:Cost of motorsport item – £1000 Value mentioned to partner – approximately 30% of true cost: £300 ‘Taxable’ value – 30% of ‘partner value’: £90 Motorsport item’s actual cost – £1090 This works unless your actual invoice/ cost is discovered and then you need to factor in the divorce lawyer costs that are about 1000% of everything you own!

Still, progress is good, with the dashboard flocking peeling off very nicely and the powder-coated bits all coming back looking great. The MG looks much fresher and cleaner in white rather than green: other parts have been painted black or silver

Ray out-voted on plans for painting chassis components white (left), but was given the all-clear for various bits of bodywork trim (above): they were green

TEAM CARS

depending on Dan’s mood and the spray can to hand. My intention was to powdercoat the sub-frame white as I read in my issue of Safety Fast – the MG Car Club’s newsletter (you have to join MGCC to race in the series) – that the original works MG and Austin cars had white chassis to show up cracks from the rigours of racing and rallying. I fancied that particular nod to the marque’s heritage, but Dan said the sub-frame would get dirty and look rubbish if I ever went into the gravel and he wasn’t going to clean it, so it’s now black in common with all the other bits underneath (such as the callipers, uprights, anti-roll bars and anything else that normally looks or goes rusty).

Other significant developments include the fact that the engine is now built and located in the bay. Unfortunately, the last I heard it was leaking coolant from the head gasket area – nice to see the K-series living up to its notoriety, but doubly annoying as it’s not even run yet! The brakes are fitted and plumbed in; Dan has fitted a bias valve and at my request used copper piping throughout the car. He painted these pipes black as he didn’t like the look of the copper: I mentioned it would look

Far left: K-series motor is now installed inthe bay but has developed a head gasket leak (who’d have thought…).

Full cage (right) will stiffen shell as well as adding safety

pants if brake fluid leaked on the paint, which earned me one of those ‘it won’t leak’ looks. I thought about asking if his penchant for black paint reflected his mood about the build, but thought better of it…

As we speak, the race seat still needs fitting and the head gasket leak sorting; tyres have to be mated with wheels, some paint requires finishing and stickers adding.

But then it’s ready for testing. Typically, a fully-built car with proven history has just turned up on the club’s newsletter. But I can console myself with the fact that I’m not one to be happy with leaving things as they are, so that car would have probably needed work, too. And afterwards it still wouldn’t be a new-build to the show standard that my car will be. Nor is it lefthand drive. As it happens, a left-hand drive shell came up on eBay a while ago, but I was banned from buying it – disappointment remains cheaper than divorce!

Specification MAKE MODEL YEAR ENGINE

MAX POWER FUELLING GEARBOX BRAKES

TYRES WHEELS WEIGHT VALUE

MG ZR160 Still pondering…

1795cc in-line four-cylinder, K-series, VVC 160bhp (approx.)

Injection Five-speed manual, AP clutch, steel flywheel Discs all-round, vented at front, solid rear; series control Mintex pads; bias valve; no ABS Yokohama A048 (hopefully) Work in progress Reductions on-going About 1/3 of declared spending

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products

100% UK Manufactured

83

gear guide

gear guide

The start of a new season and our minds turn towards… stuff!

Say hello to a few track-related temptations TW Steel David Coulthard Edition Chronograph

Dutch watchmaker TW Steel has several motorsport associations and this latest is in honour of F1 ace and commentator, David Coulthard. The company specialises in large timepieces, and this special edition is available in 44mm or 48mm diameter case sizes. The case is sandblasted steel and bears an A-grade PVD dark titanium-coated bezel. It features a two-tone grey dial and a grey Italian leather strap, and is water-resistant to 10 ATM. Price: from £625 Available from: Grand Prix Racewear and TW Steel’s own webstore.

Pitking Products Deluxe Tyre Pressure Gauge

Accurate tyre pressure readings are essential for track work and US-based Pitking Products’ Deluxe Tyre Pressure Gauge should keep you well informed. A quality item with precision internals, it features an easily read analogue display, a rubber cover to protect against knocks in your toolbox, an air release button for when your pressure is too high, and a usefully long 19in flexible hose.

Price: £41.40 Available from: Demon Tweeks, www.demon-tweeks.co.uk

Headrest Mount In-Car Camera Mount

RR500 Custom Moulded Earpieces

If you spend a lot of time with earpieces lodged in your lug-holes, you’ll understand the importance of having a pair that fit comfortably. These RR500 custom-moulded earpieces, available through Grand Prix Racewear, entail you making an in-store visit to have inner ear impressions made: these are then sent to specialist Autotel, which then manufactures earpieces that should be the perfect fit for your ears.

Not inexpensive, but should make your life trackside a whole lot more pleasant.

Price: from £205+VAT Available from: Grand Prix Racewear, http://gprdirect.com

With the advent of Go-Pro and other compact, tough, video cameras, it’s become very easy to film yourself in action behind the wheel. Mounting the camera isn’t always so simple, though, unless you car has a cage. The Headrest Mount, brainchild of professional sports car racer and coach, Chris Dymond, clamps around the struts of your car’s headrest struts, and its four-axis design allow plenty of flexibility for camera placement. With its durable, anodized coating it’s a good-looking bit of kit, and each one is hand-made in Blighty.

Price: from £120.00 Available from: www.headrestmount.co.uk

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gear guide

Chatterbox Tandem Pro2 Intercom Unit

Race driving instructors may be interested in this lightweight, battery-powered intercom unit that straps to the side of your helmet.

You’ll also need to buy instructor and student headsets, but you don’t need to hard-wire anything into your car so it can therefore be easily transferred between vehicles. A full charge of the lithium ion battery is said to give 8-10 hours of talk time.

Price: £59.70 (headsets extra) Available from: Demon Tweeks, www.demon-tweeks.co.uk

Race Safety Accessories Pro Full Face Helmet

This motorsports-specific helmet meets FIA and SNELL SAH2010 standards and is fully HANS compatible – it’s pre-drilled and tapped to accept HANS posts that can be bought separately. The lid’s sold with a clear visor, but there’s an optional tinted version for those who like to appear dark and mysterious. Also on the options list is a peak to convert it into an open-face helmet for closed race cars. The Pro’s liner is fire-resistant and can be removed for washing. Keenly priced.

Price: £214.80 Available from: Demon Tweeks, www.demon-tweeks.co.uk

Mini-Me Helmet Dryer

Nobody likes sticking their head back inside a cold, soggy helmet, so a helmet dryer you can use between races is a brilliant idea. The Mini-Me Helmet Dryer takes things a stage further by turning the device into a standing mannequin that you place your helmet on top of as it dries and airs. The neat twist is that the mannequin can be customised to match your own overalls or a sponsor’s uniform – Force India’s driver Paul Di Resta has already done just that, as has BTCC ace Gordon Sheddon. Novel and useful.

Price: £287.50+VAT Available from: Grand Prix Racewear, http://gprdirect.com

Pitking Products GPS Lap Timer

Because it operates via GPS, Pitking’s lap timer doesn’t require external beacons and being battery-powered won’t need to be hard-wired into your car. Its easily read display panel provides info on the number of laps you’ve completed, your current lap time and there are ‘thumbs up’ and ‘thumbs down’ symbols to indicate your current rate of progress around the lap. Additionally the lap timer features an in-built g-force sensor that measures acceleration, braking and corner forces – these can be later downloaded onto a PC to be displayed as a graph, or run through ‘Track Mapping’ software that allows you to analyse all your laps.

Price: £180 Available from: Demon Tweeks, www.demon-tweeks.co.uk

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gear guide

gear guide

Here’s our selection of interesting gear that you may be interested in on or off the track!

Motorsport Starter Switch Panel

We were sent this anodised aluminium starter panel from 136sports.com – so how is different to all the others? Mainly quality.

The backing plate is solid, the switches have a positive and firm throw and it’s supplied with countersunk bolts to mount it where you need. It’s a simple job done properly and for that we applaud it.

Price: £29.99 and free delivery Available from: www.136sports.com

HANS® Seat Kit

Nothing beats a custom race seat for support and comfort and Grand Prix Racewear now stocks the HANS® Seat Kit so that any driver or team can do a bit of DIY. The kit comes with a unique bead mix and slow-cure resins inside a casting bag, giving you ample time to sort out your ideal seating position before things start to set solid. You’ll also need a vacuum pump that can be bought separately. The kits come in a variety of sizes to suit different sized drivers and car applications, so it’s worth giving GPR a call for advice before purchasing.

Price: from £96.00+VAT Available from: Grand Prix Racewear, http://gpr.com

Decibel Slayer Bolt-On Exhaust Noise/Decibel Reducer Insert

With noise levels becoming more and more critical on UK circuits, The Decibel Slayer is a useful bit of kit. It fits into your tail-pipe – round or oval – using four studs that locate it with a friction fit, so no drilling is required, and acts as an easily fitted and removed silencer.

Price: £69.00 Available from: Demon Tweeks, www.demon-tweeks.co.uk

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Qstarz LT-Q6000 GPS Lap Timer

Another GPS-based lap timer but with a colour screen and a variety of racing modes, including Drag Race, Circuit Race, Rally and Performance Test. The Qstarz features an auto-start function to give you one less thing to worry about when starting the race, and uses 10Hz logging – which means it tracks the position of your car 10 times a second – for greater accuracy. An internal battery takes away the need for hard-wiring and makes the Qstarz easily transportable between cars.

Price: £250+VAT Available from: Grand Prix Racewear, http://gpr.com

gear guide

GSD RaceDyn is ais a division of761702 Global Sports Development Ltd Tel 07766 & GSD RaceDyn 1982 Arrows A4 Formula One – Steve Hartley We race a pair of

01189 744781 division of Global ground effect Arrows A4 F1 cars in GSD RaceDyn can improve the performance of any modern orEmail historic race car through detailed of FIA suspension, cornering and braking dynamics the Grandanalysis Prix Masters and Sports Development Historic F12series.

Competition is and aerodynamics. GSD clients achieved lap time improvements of up to 3.7 seconds, average seconds during 2010, on cars varying from a 1960 F1 nlr784@yahoo.co.uk Ltd becoming increasingly stiff and we Lotus 18 to current, high downforce sports racing cars. GSD’s circuit simulation softwarefelt optimises aerodynamic settings, gear ratios and suspension that we weren’t extracting all www.racedyn.co.uk GSD RaceDyn can the potential from the cars.

Nigel settings for any circuit – and predicts lap times. RaceDyn engineered cars won 3 Historic F1 races at the Silverstone Classic in 2010. GSD services are improve the Rees (GSD RaceDyn) undertook a remarkably cost effective, starting at lessfullthan £1000. engineering analysis and ran Examples in 2010 included: performance of any simple, low cost - but effective Lola Mk5A Formula Junior – modern or historic race aerodynamic tests on an airfield.

James Murray For over two years GSD gave detailed we have struggled with power car through detailed recommendations. The cars are oversteer and poor traction, which analysis of suspension, now substantially faster and much meant that our Lola was unpleasant nicer to drive. The improvement in to drive – and was not the front cornering and braking high speed corners is awesome. runner we thought it should be. dynamics and Against heavyweight competition, GSD RaceDyn conducted a full our 2010 results included an computer based engineering aerodynamics. GSD outright win at the Silverstone analysis in early 2010, supplying a clients achieved lap Classic, pole at Donington and detailed 7 page report and podiums at Spa and Nurburgring. recommendations, for £985.

We time improvements of GSD also run simulations for us implemented all GSD’s up to 3.7 seconds, before every race, which means recommendations and GSD that wing settings, suspension attended a test day at Cadwell Park average 2 seconds settings and ratios are optimised in in April. Traction and handling during 2010, on cars advance – very important because balance were vastly improved. The we are generally unable to test. car lapped 3.7 secs faster than we varying from a 1960 F1 had previously achieved. Business Lotus 18 to current, pressures limited our 2010 programme, but the car has been a high downforce sports consistent Examples in 2010 included: Lola Mk5A Formula Junior – James Murray For over two years frontrunner we have in both 1982 Arrows A4 Formula One – Steve Hartley We race a pair of ground effect Arrows A4 F1 cars in racing cars. GSD’s FJHRA and Lurani Trophy events. struggled with power oversteer and poor traction, which meant that our Lola was unpleasant to drive the Grand Prix Masters and FIA Historic F1 series. Competition is becoming increasingly stiff and we circuit simulation – and was not the front runner we thought it should be. GSD RaceDyn conducted a full computer felt that we weren’t extracting all the potential from the cars. Nigel Rees (GSD RaceDyn) undertook a software optimises based engineering analysis in early 2010, supplying a detailed 7 page report and recommendations, full engineering analysis and ran simple, low cost - but effective - aerodynamic tests on an airfield. aerodynamic settings, for £985. We implemented all GSD’s recommendations and GSD attended a test day at Cadwell Park GSD gave detailed recommendations. The cars are now substantially faster and much nicer to drive. in April. Traction and handling balance were gear vastly ratios improved. andThe car lapped 3.7 secs faster than we The improvement in high speed corners is awesome. Against heavyweight competition, our 2010 had previously achieved. Business pressuressuspension limited our 2010 programme, settings for but the car has been a results included an outright win at the Silverstone Classic, pole at Donington and podiums at Spa and consistent frontrunner in both FJHRA and Lurani events.

Nurburgring. GSD also run simulations for us before every race, which means that wing settings, anyTrophy circuit – and suspension settings and ratios are optimised in advance – very important because we are generally predicts lap times. unable to test.

RaceDyn engineered cars won 3 Historic F1 Tel 07766 761702 &races 01189 at the744781 Silverstone | Email nlr784@yahoo.co.uk | www.racedyn.co.uk | Nigel Rees Classic in 2010. GSD services are remarkably cost effective, starting at less than £1000.

Track Day Roll Cage for Focus ST and Focus RS Drivers Perkins operate a trackday club for our performance Ford drivers and we found that our customers required a greater level of safety when using their pride and joy on trackdays.

With the help from one of our motorsport partners, we engineered and developed a purpose built trackday roll cage for the models our customers drive, with a brilliant removable X-section for when you’re not on the circuit.

Now available for your Focus ST /Focus RS. We require your car for one day. Lead time is 7 days for booking into the workshops. TRS Harness kit also available (ask for details). 15 Courtesy cars available. £1595 fitted, including VAT. Tel: 01371 87 6622 www.perkinsgarages.com sales@perkinsgarages.co.uk CM6 1DF for your sat nav http://youtu.be/FC49-TFEDu0

07 87

MotorsportAds cars.bikes.karts.tools.parts.jobs.stuff

Sierra Cosworth 3dr, ex-Italian Super Tourismo A2, including trailer Group N+, raced by Pigoli/Campana. Automobile Club D’Italia Technical Passport. Very competitive with long stud block, high compression, T3, grey injectors etc: rebuilt four races ago. Recent gearbox strip: new clutch. Eligible for several UK c’ships. Various spares and wheels/tyres and trailer. Part-ex for G50 /Sports/ GT/single-seater. £18,995 ono.

http://www.motorsportads.com/24210.html Mazda MX-5 Race Car Raced in 2010-2012 MA5DA championship, best finish 6th from 54 cars at Silverstone. Built by Max Speed (now Kent MX-5 Services). Eligible for BRSCC MX-5 series, MAX 5, Track Attack Race Club, Nippon Challenge, etc. Cage, dry and wet tyres and wheels, uprated induction system, race exhaust, GAZ suspension, plumbed-in extinguisher, new door and front wing panels. £5500.

http://www.motorsportads.com/24454.html Race team for sale: Formula Renault 2.0 BARC Purchase options: (1) Car & spares + transporter trailer: £39,000+VAT; (2) Car & spares: £32,500+VAT; (3) Trailer only: £14,000+VAT. Car sold with spares, not separately. Last raced 2008 – older body kit.

Comprehensive package of general and bodywork spares and pit equipment. Inspection recommended to see full extent of what’s being offered.

http://www.motorsportads.com/24357.html Honda Fireblade Superstock Race Bike Superb condition. Ridden by Dan Cooper for Centurion Racing (team no longer racing). 2010 Fireblade, Renthal bars, Ohlins suspension front & rear, Akropovic exhaust, Power command, enlarged fuel tank for road racing. Needs to be seen – 07785 248934. £10,000 ovno.

http://www.motorsportads.com/24252.html Renault Race Truck 18-tonne Two-axle rigid body, diesel, manual, 202,747 miles, air suspension and brakes, air-con, sleeper cab.

Lockable belly lockers, tail-lift and bike lift, work station, lots of storage, heater, tyre rack, washing machine, fridge-freezer, bunk beds. Recent internal refit and external respray. (Also two Fireblade race bikes – see separate ad.) £25,000 ovno.

http://www.motorsportads.com/24239.html Alfa Romeo 145 Cloverleaf Racer, Plus Trailer Alfa 145 2.0-litre, class E, BRSCC Alfa Romeo championship. Prepared by Alfatune St Hellens. Fast, especially off the line. Great handling and very competitive. Always good at Cadwell: twice a class winner at Barbon Hillclimb. Plus four-wheel trailer, 14ft tilting flat-bed with winch. £3000.

http://www.motorsportads.com/24449.html Iveco Race Car Transporter With Living/Sleeping 2005 Euro Cargo 75e, converted in 2009. Well-equipped living/sleeping/kitchen area, including toilet and flat-screen TV. Takes cars up to 14ft long. Tail-lift, generator, tyre rack and storage. Recentish discs/pads, new radiators, alternator, batteries. Private plate not included. £20,000.

http://www.motorsportads.com/24447.html 2011 Ginetta G55 Built as a G55, not upgraded from G50. Professionally prepped and run. Raced in Ginetta Supercup and Britcar endurance series. Several sets of wheels/tyres. Numerous used spares. Still in Supercup spec – sealed engine, gearbox and diff. Comes with ‘endurance’ exhaust and trackday silencer. £51,500.

Fauldsport – 01889 271150.

http://www.motorsportads.com/24346.html

88

How to advertise – It’s so easy for you to place ads like these for

cars • bikes • karts • tools • parts • jobs • stuff

go to: www.motorsportads.com Within two minutes you could have your ad online and attracting buyers Fiat Ducato JTD Race Transporter Complete with matching box trailer with full race awning and chequered flooring. Motorhome sleeps four, with seating for six. Very economical to run. Would suit many types of motorsport; used for one season only, now surplus to requirements, £19,000 ono.

http://www.motorsportads.com/24438.html MGCC MG Trophy Class C ZR160 Raced by Sarah Budby, prepared by Preptech to very high spec. Recent re-shell and gearbox rebuild: new Helix paddle clutch. Very quick car for the money, cheap to maintain and very fun/forgiving to drive. Spare wheels/tyres. Located near Skegness, but delivery may be possible. £5995.

http://www.motorsportads.com/24371.html 13.6m Twin-Axle Race Car Transporter Converted in 2013 from 2002 trailer. 4.0m running height – can be used all over Europe. Air suspension.

Double-decker: full-length top deck holds up to three GT cars, bottom deck has office and room for up to two cars. Tail-lift, 12m x 7m awning, lots of storage. Tractor unit not included. £42,000+VAT ono

http://www.motorsportads.com/24436.html Kit Car for Race/Trackday/Sprint/Hillclimb.

Stuart Taylor Phoenix with more modern round tube laser-cut chassis. Multiple podiums in 750MC Kit Car c’ship. Dunnell Engines prepared Zetec, five-speed uprated ’box, adjustable piggy-back dampers, DigiDash and more – parts alone cost over £20K. £9500 ono.

http://www.motorsportads.com/24429.html Subaru Impreza STI Wide-Arch Race Car 1995 Subaru Impreza WRX STI Version 2. GC8 EJ20 (Red Top) 2.0 16v with TD05 Turbo. Fully raceprepared with massive spec. Competed in MSVT Trackday and Team Trophy Race Series for past three years. Everything in date and ready to race in 2014. In the right hands should continue to be at the ‘pointy end’ of the grid. £12,995 ovno.

http://www.motorsportads.com/24019.html Merc Atego 1223 RS 12-Tonne Luxury Motorhome Built by award-winning specialist RS Motorhomes, complete with large workshop. Carries seven motorcross bikes. Extensively equipped, including toilet, shower, two fridges, heating, air-con, and full awning. Only 37,000 miles. One owner. Trailer available separately. Call Andy, 07836 204105. £49,500.

http://www.motorsportads.com/24427.html VW Golf GTI 1.8 Turbo, Ex-Race Winner Ex-race-winning VW Cup car, built by CCI Motorsport to very high spec. Recent respray, re-map and refresh, including BAM 250bhp engine. Lots of well thought out features within VW regs. Spares package available/included(at the right price!). £7950 for quick sale.

http://www.motorsportads.com/19320.html 1997 Wilson Double-Deck Race Transporter Trailer Ex-Ducatite/Ferrari Wilson double-deck transporter trailer. Complete with Wilson STD 1500 tail-lift. £15,000.

http://www.motorsportads.com/24419.html

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MotorsportAds cars.bikes.karts.tools.parts.jobs.stuff

Hillclimb Lotus Elise Modified road-legal Elise 111S with 190bhp at the wheels. Upgraded and improved throughout for superior performance and to ensure reliability. Weighs only 691kg so is very quick (320bhp/tonne). No crash damage to body or chassis. Hardtop included. Sensible offers around £14,495.

http://www.motorsportads.com/24397.html Twin-Axle Ifor Williams Trailer With GH Awning Fitted with work surfaces, tyre racks and spares drawers. Trailer can carry four fully-built karts. Awning accommodates four karts with enough room to work around. Ideal for small team or dad and lad starting up. £3500.

http://www.motorsportads.com/24394.html 2013 Championship-Winning Production BMW racer Finished to very high standard and very reliable. Harnesses and extinguisher are all in date. Put me on the podium seven times in 2013 and won the championship. Comes with healthy spares package: will be sold with BBS wheels, not the ones in the picture. £9000.

http://www.motorsportads.com/24375.html Mercedes Tractor Unit and 2/3 Car Race Transporter Mercedes 1733 tractor unit and single-axle race transporter – both have MoT until end May 2014. Tractor drives faultlessly. Trailer comprehensively equipped – 27ft internal length will carry three Formula cars or two Group C/GTs. Includes full awning. Call Pete: 07948 256113. £7500.

http://www.motorsportads.com/24374.html 2010 Ligier JS51 – Honda CN Perfect condition, race ready. Honda K20 engine, 255bhp, 1000km. Sadev six-speed sequential. 80-litre FT3 fuel tank. New pads/discs. Dashboard AIM with data and camera. Comes with four more wheels and few spares parts. Possible part-ex with GT. €45,000

http://www.motorsportads.com/24368.html GH/Awning Company Modular Awning System Built for Merc Sprinter but fits trailers/other vehicles with minimal adjustment. Multiple set-up sizes; takes an hour and two people to erect. Interchangeable panels. Highly weather-resistant, even to the wind! Full details from Paul Miles – 07557 358 834. Reasonable offers around £6000 welcome.

http://www.motorsportads.com/24360.html VW Golf mk1 Hayabusa Turbo (Holshot Racing Engine) Left-hand drive. Built by H R Engineering. 680kg. Rear-drive, Cosworth diff. Quaife. Brake balance control and turbo pressure adjustment. OZ Racing wheels. Very quick car. See YouTube golf 1 hayabusa turbo. €28,500 ono

http://www.motorsportads.com/24359.html Porsche 996 GT3, Ex-Carrera Cup Ex-Team Parker, professionally maintained and prepared, low miles, 2003 GT3. Successful in 2013.

Recent refresh incl major g’box rebuild, new discs/pads/radiator/clutch. Includes trailer, big spares package, pre-season set-up and driver training. Full details, call 07932 141472. £46,000.

http://www.motorsportads.com/24358.html

90

How to advertise – It’s so easy for you to place ads like these for

cars • bikes • karts • tools • parts • jobs • stuff

go to: www.motorsportads.com Within two minutes you could have your ad online and attracting buyers Ginetta G20 Running to full current spec: only raced for one season since new. It has been professionally maintained since new and is a proven front-running car. Comes with a range of spares. £6995 ono.

http://www.motorsportads.com/21956.html Championship-Winning Swift SC95 FF1600 Impressive race history. Neil Bold engine, recently rebuilt. Refreshed by Cooper Swift in 2011. Very high spec throughout, with many new parts fitted during 2013. Comprehensive spares package and covered trailer also available. £10,500 ovno.

http://www.motorsportads.com/24351.html Cantrac Ultima Prototype chassis for Pro Sport 3000. Built by Lee Noble: body panels from Noble Ultima. Set up as sprint car. Wets and dry wheels, some spares. To be sold complete with Brian James trailer fitted with tyre rack and battery-operated caravan movers. £24,500.

http://www.motorsportads.com/24355.html Ex-JCW MINI Cooper S Challenge Car Class 4 2013 Britcar Championship-winning car. Huge spares package. Modified, maintained and run by Team Intersport in 2013: 100% reliability record. Modified to run in endurance racing. Spares include 40 wheels/tyres. Call 07930 473652 for more info. £20,000.

http://www.motorsportads.com/24353.html Caterham R300 Superlight Run by professional teams since 2011 build. Dry sump 2.0 Duratec, 175bhp. LSD. Many new, upgraded and refreshed components, including recent gearbox rebuild. Second set of wheels with useable Avon race tyres. Recent paintwork. £23,000.

http://www.motorsportads.com/24336.html 7.5-ton Iveco Transporter/Motorhome Spacious 24ft box. Gas hob, microwave, fridge, hot & cold water, shower, toilet, flat-screen TV. On-board LPG generator. Lots of storage. Versatile rear section suitable for variety of uses – retail, garage, storage, etc. Full 6m Omnistor awning. £22,500.

http://www.motorsportads.com/24307.html MAN 7.5-ton Race Truck in Great Condition No expense spared maintenance. New tyres, brakes, shoes/pads, bushes, stubs. 249,500km. Living area fully-equipped, recently refitted. Rear has 12ft 8in floor, winch, ramps, generator, large full awning. Great value. Fixed price to save time – £22,444.

http://www.motorsportads.com/24241.html MG Metro Racer, Class A 1988 car with full race engine and gearbox. Race suspension, Safety Devices cage with two door bars.

New six-point harness, recent extinguisher service. Comes with spares and seats if needed for road- going hillclimb or sprint c’ship. Call Chris: 07835 568072. £1795.

http://www.motorsportads.com/24299.html

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Alphabetical web directory listing

CAR MANUFACTURERS Caterham Cars www.caterhamcars.co.uk

CLOTHING & EQUIPMENT Croydon Race and Rally Centre www.croydonraceandrally.co.uk

ARRIVE & DRIVE

www.brookspeed.com Lohen www.lohen.co.uk BRAKES & PADS AP Racing www.apracing.com EBC Brakes www.ebcbrakes.com Cambridge Motorsport www.cambridgemotorsport.com Tarox www.tarox.com

www.chevronracing.com

www.roadtrackrace.com CAR PARTS & TUNING

CAR HIRE Atom Hire www.atomhire.co.uk Bookatrack www.bookatrack.com

www.brookspeed.com RPM www.rpmtechnik.co.uk RSR N端rburg www.rsrnurburg.com Track-Club www.track-club.com

www.burtonpower.com

Grand Prix Racewear www.gprdirect.com Rude Racing www.ruderacing.co.uk CAR PREPARATION

www.brookspeed.com In2racing www.in2racing.co.uk Lohen www.lohen.co.uk Matt Roach Racing www.mattroachracing.com Piranha Motorsport www.piranhamotorsport.com

Plays Kool www.plays-kool.co.uk

Mark Hales www.markhales.com 1-2-1Track Driving Tuition/Corporate George Ostrumoff www.carandtrackdrivingskills.co.uk Tel. George 07831 499790 ARDS

www.roadandracegear.com DATA LOGGING & VIDEO BJR Technology Ltd www.bjr-technology.co.uk

OIL & LUBRICANTS Anglo American Oil Company www.aaoil.com

www.videoVBOX.co.uk Race Technology www.race-technology.com DVD Duke Video www.dukevideo.com EXHAUSTS Ashley Competition Exhausts www.ashleycompetitionexhausts.com

PUBLISHERS Haynes www.haynes.co.uk Veloce Books www.velocebooks.com ROLLING ROADS

FORUM TrackDay Forums www.trackdayforums.com

www.amdtuning.com

www.dyno-solutions.co.uk

SVG Motorsport www.svgmotorsport.com

FUELLING Huddart Engines www.huddartengines.com

Team Parker Racing www.teamparkerracing.com

Webcon UK www.webcon.co.uk

Track-Club www.track-club.com

GEARBOX & DRIVETRAIN

ProTrax Racing www.protraxracing.com

Track Focused www.trackfocused.co.uk

Track Focused www.trackfocused.co.uk

Wheelsports www.classicgt.co.uk

Unit 18 www.unit18.co.uk

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www.m2d.biz

INSTRUCTION & COACHING Anthony Dunn www.iwannagofaster.com

INSURANCE

CAR CARE www.autoglym.com

www.gprdirect.com

HARNESS & BELTS Corbeau www.corbeau-seats.com

www.lohen.co.uk

www.northamptonmotorsport.com

www.quaife.co.uk Tran-X www.tran-x.com

www.parr-uk.co.uk

TrackDriver

For inclusion in the Web Directory email or call our sales team for details about the fantastic deals available on both lineage web listings andbranded box ads T: 01629 581250

ROLLING ROADS

E: ads@trackdriver.com

TRACKDAY ORGANISERS Apex TrackDays www.apextrackdays.co.uk

www.rgs-motorsport.co.uk

Bob Watson Porsche Ltd

BHP TrackDays www.bhptrackdays.co.uk

www.bookatrack.com

www.rollingroadcentre.co.uk

www.slarkraceengineering.co.uk

SEATS Corbeau www.corbeau-seats.com SHOWS Autosport International www.autosport.com MotorsportUK Show www.motorsportshow.co.uk STORAGE Jar Motorsports Services www.jarcarstorage.co.uk SUSPENSION

www.wheelsports.co.uk Castle Combe www.castlecombecircuit.co.uk Club MSV www.clubmsv.com Gold Track www.goldtrack.co.uk Javelin www.javelintrackdays.co.uk Lotus on Track www.lotus-on-track.com RMA www.rmatrackdays.com Rockingham Trackdays www.rockingham.co.uk RSR N端rburg www.rsrnurburg.com

www.blackartdesigns.com

www.eibach.com

www.gazshocks.com Matt Roach Racing www.mattroachracing.com TOOLS Laser Tools www.lasertools.co.uk Power-Tec www.power-tec.co.uk

Track Culture www.trackculture.com TRAILERS & TOWING Enclosed-Trailers www.enclosed-trailers.co.uk TRANSPORTATION Pro-Driver www.pro-driver.org VIDEO HIRE OnBoardVision Limited www.onboardvision.co.uk WIRING LOOMS Bespoke Looms www.bespokelooms.co.uk

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TRACKDaydiary CONTACTS TrackDriver Recommends APEx TRACkDAyS www.apextrackdays.co.uk email: michael@apextrackdays.co.uk tel: 08448 581591 BHP TRACkDAyS LTD www.bhptrackdays.co.uk email: enquiries@bhptrackdays.co.uk tel: 01342 83795 BOOkATRACk.COM www.bookatrack.com email: info@bookatrack.com tel: 0843 208 4635 CASTLE COMBE www.castlecombecircuit.co.uk email: info@castlecombecircuit.co.uk tel: 01249 782417 CLuB MSV www.clubmsv.com email: cartrackdays@clubmsv.co.uk tel: 0870 850 5014 gOLDTRACk www.goldtrack.co.uk email: info@goldtrack.co.uk tel: 01327 361361 JAVELiN www.javelintrackdays.co.uk email: colin@javelintrackdays.co.uk tel: 01469 560574 Performance Trackdays www.performancetrackdays.com tel: +44 (0)1926 680020 RMA TRACkDAyS www.rmatrackdays.com tel: 01628 779000 RSRNuRBuRg www.rsrnurburg.com tel: +49 (0)2691931952 WHEELSPORTS www.classicgt.co.uk email: wheelsports@classicgt.co.uk tel: 07776 085557

VENUE

ORGANISER

DETAILS

Javelin Trackdays

98db

march 1

Elvington Airfield

1

Lydden

Lydden Hill Race Circuit

2

Barkston Heath

Javelin Trackdays

OPL

4

Blyton Park

Javelin Trackdays

105 db

OPL

7

Castle Combe

Javelin Trackdays

100 db

OPL

8

Cadwell Park, full circuit

Javelin Trackdays

8

Goodwood, full

Javelin Trackdays

98db

8

Anglesey Coastal

Circuit Days

8

Santa Pod Raceway, drag strip

Santa Pod Raceway

8

Snetterton

Performance Trackdays

9

Rockingham International

Circuit Days

13

Snetterton 300

Javelin Trackdays

105db

14

Anglesey Coastal & GP

Javelin Trackdays

OPL

OPL

OPL

15

Blyton Park, 1.6 mile circuit

Javelin Trackdays

OPL

15

Oulton Park, full circuit

Javelin Trackdays

105db

OPL

16

Donington Park GP

Circuit Days

17

Bedford Autodrome GT

Javelin Trackdays

101db

OPL

17

Castle Combe

BHP Trackdays

100db

OPL

18

Goodwood, full

Javelin Trackdays

98db

OPL

OPL

OPL

19

Blyton Park, 1.6 mile circuit

Javelin Trackdays

19

Brands Hatch Indy

Javelin Trackdays

21

Mallory Park, full circuit

Javelin Trackdays

103db

22

Woodbridge

Javelin Trackdays

2 Mile Airfield

22

Bedford Autodrome GT

Javelin Trackdays

101db

OPL

23

Blyton Park

Performance Trackdays

OPL

23

Snetterton 300

Javelin Trackdays

105db

24

Cadwell Park, full circuit

Javelin Trackdays

OPL

25

Oulton Park, full circuit

Javelin Trackdays

105db

OPL

26

Silverstone International

Performance Trackdays

OPL

OPL

26

Silverstone

Circuit Days

29

Blyton Park, 1.6 mile circuit

Javelin Trackdays

29

Santa Pod Raceway, drag strip

Santa Pod Raceway

30

Barkston Heath

Javelin Trackdays

Javelin Trackdays

105 db

APRIL 1

Blyton Park

2

Zolder

Circuit Days

2

Nürburgring Nordschleife

Circuit Days

3

Spa Francorchamps

Circuit Days

5

Santa Pod Raceway, drag strip

Santa Pod Raceway

5

Cadwell Park, full circuit

Javelin Trackdays

6

Blyton Park, 1.6 mile circuit

Javelin Trackdays

OPL

OPL

10

Snetterton 300

Javelin Trackdays

102db

OPL

10

Snetterton 300

Javelin Trackdays

105db

OPL

10

Goodwood, full

Javelin Trackdays

98db

OPL

• db = Decibels • Morn = Morning Only • Aft = Afternoon Only • Eve = Evening • ND = Noisy Day • OPL = Open Pitlane • S =Sessions • T = Chrono/Timing • RC = Road Car Only • RCN = Road Car Novice • R/T = Road & Track Trip •

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Comprehensive insurance solutions for all your track day insurance requirements

+44 (0)1799 510880 info@insuremytrackday.com

Quick and competitive Track Day Insurance The first online “quote and buy” system solely for the track day user, supplied by established track day and motorsport insurance provider – Ryan Motorsport Insurance InsureMyTrackday.com can provide quotations for; • Damage to your car on a track day, regardless of fault • Any circuit in the UK and Europe, including Spa and Nürburgring Nordschleife • Inclusive cover for barrier damage at the Nordschleife • Vehicle recovery available for circuits in Great Britain • Organisers and Clubs – promotional rates and discounts • Storage and transit for vehicles and trailers To get a quotation log on to www.insuremytrackday.com and provide the required information. In most circumstances you will then be able to pay online and print off your policy documentation which will detail the full coverage in place.

As well as catering for the individual track day clients we also work with track day / experience day organisers to provide discounted cover for the cars on your events and can provide the required public liability cover at a very competitive premium.

Insure My Trackday is a trading name of Ryan Motorsport Insurance - an appointed representative (557405) of Independent Broking Solutions Limited who are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority, registration number 312026

To obtain your quotation today, log on to

www.insuremytrackday.com

BRITAIN’S BEST TRACK DAYS For more information and to see our track day calendar: @goldtrackdays

facebook – Gold Track

Call 01327 361361 Email info@goldtrack.co.uk Visit www.goldtrack.co.uk

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TRACKDaydiary VENUE

ESTORIL CIRCUIT www.circuito-estoril.pt FOCUSED EVENTS

ORGANISER

DETAILS

APRIL continued 9

Brands Hatch

Performance Trackdays

Car Control

12

Blyton Park

Performance Trackdays

www.focusedevents.com

12

Woodbridge

Javelin Trackdays

2 Mile Airfield

FR TRACKDAYS

14

Bedford Autodrome GT

Javelin Trackdays

101db

OPL

OPL

www.trackdays.fr

14

Castle Combe

BHP Trackdays

100db

OPL

GOODWOOD

15

Oulton Park, full circuit

Javelin Trackdays

105db

OPL

www.goodwood.co.uk KNOCKHILL MOTOR CLUB www.trackdays.knockhill.com LIVERPOOL MOTOR CLUB www.liverpoolmotorclub.com

16

Anglesey Coastal & GP

Javelin Trackdays

18

Croft

Javelin Trackdays

105db

OPL OPL

19

Blyton Park, 1.6 mile circuit

Javelin Trackdays

20

Barkston Heath

Javelin Trackdays

21

Snetterton 300

Javelin Trackdays

105db

OPL

21

Blyton Park

Javelin Trackdays

105 db

OPL OPL

LYDDEN HILL

22

Cadwell Park, full circuit

Javelin Trackdays

Evenings

www.lyddenracecircuit.co.uk

22

Cadwell Park, full circuit

Javelin Trackdays

MOTORSPORT EVENTS

23

Donington Park, full circuit

Javelin Trackdays

Evening

www.motorsport-events.co.uk

23

Donington Park National

Javelin Trackdays

OPL

NSX DAYS

24

Mallory Park, full circuit

Javelin Trackdays

103db

OPL

www.nsx.ch

26

Blyton Park, 1.6 mile circuit

Javelin Trackdays

OPL

NÜRBURGRING NORDSCH www.ringhaus.com PEMBURY/BARC www.barc.net PISTENCLUB

26

Santa Pod Raceway, drag strip

Santa Pod Raceway

28

Castle Combe

Javelin Trackdays

100 db

30

Oulton Park

Circuit Days

MAY 3

Blyton Park, 1.6 mile circuit

Javelin Trackdays

3

Santa Pod Raceway, drag strip

Santa Pod Raceway

www.pistenclub.de

4

Santa Pod Raceway, drag strip

Santa Pod Raceway

PORSCHE CLUB UK

5

Blyton Park, 1.6 mile circuit

Javelin Trackdays

OPL

OPL

www.msdpcgb.co.uk

5

Croft

Javelin Trackdays

105db

PORSCHE CLUB (BELGIUM)

6

Donington Park National

Javelin Trackdays

www.porscheclubfrancorchamps.be RACE DAYS www.racedays.co.uk SILVERSTONE CIRCUIT www.silverstone.co.uk

OPL

OPL

7

Cadwell Park, full circuit

Javelin Trackdays

Evenings

OPL

9

Mallory Park, full circuit

Javelin Trackdays

103db

OPL

11

Blyton Park, 1.6 mile circuit

Javelin Trackdays

Open Pit Lane

12

Castle Combe

BHP Trackdays

100db

OPL

13

Blyton Park

Javelin Trackdays

105 db

OPL

15

Snetterton 300

Javelin Trackdays

102db

OPL

SLICK ET STOCK

15

Donington Park, full circuit

Javelin Trackdays

Evening

OPL

www.slicketstock.eu

15

Snetterton 300

Javelin Trackdays

105db

OPL Sprint

THE RACING LINE

17

Blyton Park

Performance Trackdays

www.the-racing-line.co.uk

17

Woodbridge

Javelin Trackdays

2 Mile Airfield

THRUXTON MOTORSPORT CENTRE

17

Santa Pod Raceway, drag strip

Santa Pod Raceway

www.thruxtonracing.co.uk

19

Bedford Autodrome GT

Javelin Trackdays

101db

OPL OPL

TRACTIONDAYS www.tractiondays.co.uk TRACKSKILLS www.trackskills.com

20

Oulton Park, full circuit

Javelin Trackdays

105db

21

Anglesey Coastal & GP

Javelin Trackdays

24

Elvington Airfield

Javelin Trackdays

98db

OPL

24

Bedford Autodrome GT

Javelin Trackdays

101db

OPL

24

Croft

Circuit Days

• db = Decibels • Morn = Morning Only • Aft = Afternoon Only • Eve = Evening • ND = Noisy Day • OPL = Open Pitlane • S =Sessions • T = Chrono/Timing • RC = Road Car Only • RCN = Road Car Novice • R/T = Road & Track Trip •

96

Lotus Cortina Race Car FIA Spec LHD-Less Engine & Box Early Shell-Superb Condition £30,000 Mk1 Cortina 2 Door shell Race prepared-can be supplied with Alloy Boot Bonnet & Doors, Cage etc.

Price dependant on spec A35 Race Car Test mileage only, Goodwood spec Absolutely superb as featured in Track Driver Test

for all race rally and fast road requirements

Lotus Cortina Race Car FIA Spec RHD 7th O/A in U2TC 2012 4 Race Series Turn Key ready to Race OIRO £40,000 1965

Xr3i Race Car Fully prepped and eligible for XR Challenge series Would also be a superb track day car £3,750 A suitable trailer could also Be available Manufacturer of the Appendix K Lotus Cortina exhaust manifold

Tel: 01922 720767 Fax: 01922 721354

For Brochure: Email: karen@ashleycompetitionexhausts.com

97

st

Brands Hatch

£119

nd

Bedford GT

£129

rd

Blyton Park

£99

th

21 Feb 22 Feb 23 Feb 26 Feb

Goodwood ***

£179

st

Elvington

£129

th

Blyton Park

£129

th

Castle Combe

£159

th

Goodwood ***

£199

th

Cadwell Park

£129

th

9 Mar

Donington Park

£199

th

Snetterton 300

£99

th

Anglesey GP / Coastal

£149

th

Oulton Park

£169

th

Blyton Park

£129

th

Bedford GT

£139

th

Goodwood

£169

th

Brands Hatch

£189

1 Mar 4 Mar 7 Mar

VALUE FOR MONEY

CIRCUIT & AIRFIELD

TRACKDAYS

8 Mar 8 Mar

13 Mar 14 Mar 15 Mar 15 Mar 17 Mar 18 Mar

BOOK EARLY & SAVE Prices increase as places sell

19 Mar th

19 Mar

Friendly Paddocks - Excellent Safety Record Online / Telephone Booking Find out for yourself why drivers keep coming back to Javelin Trackdays

Established 2000

Blyton Park

£99

22

nd

Mar

Bedford GT

£169

22

nd

Mar

Woodbridge

£129

rd

Snetterton 300

£149

th

Cadwell Park

£119

Oulton Park

£149

23 Mar 24 Mar th

Tel

98

01469 560574

or visit

www.javelintrackdays.co.uk

25 Mar

ALL EVENTS ARE OPEN PIT LANE FORMAT

Unless marked ***

Get the Unfair Advantage

Race real cars on real tracks from the comfort of your own home.

Save 60% off the regular price at www.iracing.com/track-driver Š 2014 iRacing.com Motorsports Simulations, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Offer valid for new accounts only. Cannot be combined with other offers. Expires 12/31/2014. All other partner trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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