Having had a quick inspection of the grass track car tonight after our first race meeting, I can add a further couple of racing driver excuses to explain my poor performance. Firstly the nearside rear brake was binding on, which would cause drag and slow us down. Secondly, the nearside front brake pads have almost no friction material left, meaning they overheat the moment you use them and are somewhat ineffective. I have freed off the sticky brake and taken off the handbrake cable for now to stop it sticking again. (A chock off wood will suffice in the meantime - no MOT standards in autograss racing) i will be replacing it once I've freed it off or renewed it though, as I think a handbrake might give a little advantage at times in those corners - keep the revs up and flick the back end round with the handbrake.
My shopping wish list now includes 4 x M&S tyres, brake pads, brake shoes and a handbrake cable, or work to free of the existing cable. That is the essential list. We are on a tight budget for the year though, with just £133.61 left to pay for entry fees and fuel for the remainder of the year, plus any repairs. A decent set of four tyres will eat up almost all of that, although I might settle for two up front and leave the road tyres on the back.
Tyres of course make all the difference - being on road tyres last Sunday meant we were at a real disadvantage. Standard fitting is 155/70R13, but I think I can get M&S or proper Autograss tyres in 175/65 R13 size, which will give a 5% advantage in the gearing as well as better grip. That should put us up 1 or two places in the finish order I reckon.
On the if we can still afford it list we have a new nearside CV joint and boot, as it is worn out, but still works. It is only worn out to MOT standard, so I will probably run with it until it fails completely then stick a second hand driveshaft in it. I have a source for these things now, so it should be cheap enough.
On a positive note I have fitted a large Caravan/towing mirror inside the car, so we can now see who is about to overtake us and position our car accordingly to block them, not that that is the sporting thing to do of course, no. (I was just taken the racing line, Mr Stewards-Enquiry, honest!) It will be nice to see other cars though, it don't half make you jump when they suddenly appear besides you, particularly if like me, you have been road driving for 30 years and are used to having mirrors.
Tuesday 30 June 2015
Our first outing - and a Trophy!
The boy Thomas and I finally made it to our first race meeting, with "Dennis" our racing Micra cutting his stuff at Hunmanby Autograss track. A big thank you to those who have helped along the way, in no particular order Lee and Andy Metcalfe at Boyes Lane Engineering for attempting to resolve the troublesome Nissan Anti-Theft System, Luke Sparrow at Sparrow recovery, who donated race harnesses, (time expired for other motorsport but fine for autograss racing) James Hesleton for the rollcage welding and Lynn Dent who sponsored our race entry fees for Sundays race meeting in memory of her dad Reg Dent who passed away earlier this year.
Thomas raced in Juniors, and heat one saw him "blood" the car when he took a spin into the armco barrier, leaving us a minor flesh wound under the redundant fuel filler cap. After that DNF he came home with a third place in heat two, being lapped, but improving as the day went on. Heat three saw him trailing by only half a lap coming in third. In the final he came in third which means he brought home a trophy on his first race meeting. I perhaps ought to point out that for some reason whilst juniors normally run a full grid of 8 there were only three runners in his class, so as well as being third he was also the loser.
This is not to pour scorn on his achievement though, he has had about 15 minutes driving experience prior to the race meeting including the autograss driving test and up until then had never driven anything with a clutch before, although he has driven a Kart once. For a twelve year old he has done remarkable well, and already has excellent car control, managing front wheel drive understeer with aplomb.
As for myself, heat one saw me coming home third out of three, or last if you prefer. And by about a half a lap. Not too shoddy for first time out. This is where I throw in my racing driver excuses. Firstly all our competitors are on proper autograss racing tyres or decent mud and snow tyres, whereas we are on well worn road tyres which have about as much grip as a billiard ball on ice. This means that whilst I could keep up with the others and even catch them on the straights as soon as I reached a corner I lost all grip. I have discovered that a Micra understeers like a really really understeery thing, but then snaps into oversteer without warning. My second excuse is about the driving position. The seat is fixed for Thomas who is about 4 feet 8 inches tall. I am 6 feet 2 inches tall, and consequently was driving with my knees around my ears, which does not make for easy steering response. This is something we need to address before the next meeting - I really need a tad more arm and legroom, so will have Thomas on the rack every night until he grows another foot.
Excuses apart, my second heat saw me home either 4th or 5th out of 7 starters (Thomas lost count and we didn't get the official result before race control closed) Those ahead of me were about 1/4 lap ahead as I crossed the line though. Race three was much closer racing, and I was only inches behind the pack coming home 6th out of 7th - and 7th was well behind.
True to form in my final it was a repeat of race three, even though it was 6 laps instead of 4, 6th out of 7th, and again a really tight race.
The car is well splattered with mud, as am I. The closer you are to the pack the more mud you get thrown up, and the only way to stop it is get even closer!
This was a great day, and I urge anyone to have a go, for £15 entry fees
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