Well here we are again, another season round-up and more tales of woe! This time a little less dramatic thankfully but also a little shorter.
With the disbanding Portal Motorsport at the end of 2015 due to increasing work commitments for Ryan and me and other changes in circumstances we entered the 2016 season in slightly unchartered territory and so decided not to get stressed about it but just to have a relaxed season and fit in a few races around the rest of our lives and see where it took us.
This began in April with a trip back to Snetterton for an unusually sunny weekend.
Loaded up and ready for Snetterton
We took the car number 73 which needed very little doing to it over the winter months so after a check over at Mark Fish's we headed straight into qualifying on a chilly, drying track early on Sunday morning.
With Ryan having been driving this car for the last couple of seasons he headed out first and set a respectable pace putting us firmly in the middle of the pack. And this is where I start with the excuses!
This car is a very different animal to 'my' number 74. With no throttle bodies but a lightened flywheel and fairly lumpy cams its power delivery is quite different for starters. It's also considerably lighter, has a much more aggressive suspension setup and no power steering. Consequently it can be a bit of a handful, locking up very easily (especially on a damp track) and hard work on the arms through the bends. That being said, this used to be my favourite one to drive too so my lack of pace I can only assume was down to lack of practice. But I was hopeful for the race where I could look forward to knuckling down to 20 minutes of solid racing.
On this occasion the CSCC had decided that a rolling start was the order of the day and again we opted for Ryan to start.
With the race beginning straight after lunch the track was nice and warm and the sun was shining. Ryan made a solid start taking a couple of positions on the first lap and hunting down the next victim. But after lap 2 I waited for him to come round again, only to see him back in the position he started in. Another lap down and he was heading in to the pits with the car sounding less than happy.
Being the first car into the pits drew attention however, and before I knew what was happening I had a microphone shoved in my face while I frantically looked for the gremlin under the bonnet. It seemed Snetterton’s very own Karun Chandhok was keen to keep the crowds informed. Unfortunately for us though the exposure was short-lived and minutes later we were wheeling the car back into the garage with a failed injector.
This was the second time an injector on this car had let us down although previously it had happened straight after a qualifying session and so we had been able to replace it before the race.
So, an early bath and not a great start to the season.
June was the next time I got out on track. This time back in 74 with David for the first test after the rebuild over the winter.
Ready for testing at Brands Hatch
David and I spent the day getting back in the swing of things and the day was only hampered mid-afternoon by a power steering leak which after a run out to pick up a replacement pressure switch failed to cure the problem. So we managed a few more laps and then called it a day.
This year the CSCC had managed to secure a race meeting at Thruxton. The fastest circuit in the UK and rarely available for club motorsport race meetings. I was keen to do it of course and to add a further carrot the event was going to be televised and shown on Motors TV!
With Thruxton being a fast circuit a further helping of jeopardy is added to the standard racing jeopardy by being rather unforgiving if you make a mistake. And with so many race entrants never having driven there before and very few track days ever held there we jumped at the chance to secure a day there in early July. However, the only caveat being that race cars were not allowed. Road cars only.
So I pulled the covers off my trusty Seat Leon Cupra R track car, that hadn't been driven for about 8 months and gave the fluids a change and loaded it onto the trailer.
At thruxton where they have the narrowest garages ever!
So David joined me and we spent the day spanking the Seat around Thruxton and gradually getting quicker.
Fortunately our friendly ARDS instructor regularly teaches at Thruxton so although he couldn't join us for the day he had given us plenty of pointers.
At about 3.30 with David behind the wheel the Seat decided it had had enough and unceremoniously dumped its coolant over the track. At about 3.35 David finally realised that my frantic waving from the pit wall was to indicate something was wrong but by that time the engine was beyond help.
With help we pushed it on to the trailer and headed home. But we felt confident that we stood half a chance when we returned there in August.
A week later and I was back at Snetterton, again for testing and this time with our friendly ARDS race instructor primarily to get David up to speed on a track that he hadn't driven before. But it's always useful to get some professional input into my driving too.
The car ran without fault and all in all we came away feeling positive. David by the way, was racing there that weekend, but not with us this time. I think he felt far happier about it, having had the day with us though.
Ready for a day at Snetterton
Following our day at Snetterton I had one more thing to do before our next race at Thruxton. The car had not been mapped since we bought it but I had always wanted to return it to Emerald for them to do it. The down side to this was that they are based in Ipswich and when I called them, they couldn't do anything for about 6 weeks. Luckily though my local garage, Perfect Touch (dodgy name but really great guys who know their stuff) knew someone who could work with the Emerald ECU. So I duly booked the car in for a day on their dyno and cleared my diary so I could keep an eye on proceedings.
I wasn't disappointed! This was the ignition that was on the car... (The injection map was similar)
And this was after a day of mapping on the dyno...
After mapping the print out suggested a slightly optimistic 226bhp and much better torque curve. Definitely an improvement though.
Thruxton came around before we knew it so David and I headed down to the very swanky Holiday Inn near Stonehenge the day before. Doing this enabled us to drop the car off in the paddock at the circuit at the end of Saturday's racing ensuring us a good spot for the following day. Pit crew consisted of David's brother-in-law.
The next morning we had a fright. We were signed on, scrutineered and ready for a cup of coffee with plenty of time to spare! This has never happened before and subsequently I spent the whole time panicking that we had forgotten something.
Anyway, we hadn't and it turned out that it was to be all in vain anyway...
We were on fresh tires and David opted for me to go first into qualifying and out on track the car was feeling great. I was getting faster and looking quite competitive until the engine went bang.
And that was it. Over as quickly as it had begun. No drive for David and a whacking great hole in the side of the engine and the radiator.
Conrod exit here..
Unless you have a spare engine and a team of mechanics there was no question that this was the end of the day for us.
My last outing for 2016 was back teamed with Ryan again for a trip to one of our favourite circuits, Cadwell Park.
I've had one good race and one DNF at Cadwell, but every time I go there I like it more and more. It's well suited to the Clio and rewards bravery if you know the track. (It bends you over and smacks your bum if you don't treat it with respect though)
As per our usual routine Ryan and I convened at Cadwell complete with tent and stove the night before and prepared number 73 for action the following day. Ryan had had a local garage replace all the injectors and test them. The car seemed ok although the mechanics had not been 100% happy that all was well.
Qualifying was fractious to say the least. Coming to the end of the season many of the teams seemed to be wearing their 'all or nothing' t-shirts this weekend and Ryan's qualifying session was cut short by another Clio hitting the tire wall. So after about 20 minutes stoppage it was decided that the 2nd drivers should now go out and complete the rest of the session. After a quick swap I headed out on to track. One lap to warm the tires and then get my head down. That was the plan anyway but someone else had other ideas when one of the nicest prepared cars in our series, (and one of the fastest) a fluorescent green Peugeot 306 ex-touring car also decided to explore the tire wall. With quite considerable force this time which ended qualifying and leaving us in the back half of the grid. Thankfully no injuries though.
Ready for qualifying
There was a long wait between qualifying and our race so we soaked up some autumn sun, watched a bit of racing and had some lunch. All very relaxed.
Then we were called to the assembly area and Ryan jumped in. (he was starting again)
As I wandered down behind the car I finally caught up to a worried Ryan as the car seemed to be misfiring. We got the car into the assembly area and then got stuck in under the bonnet. It seemed to be an injector again but we couldn't fathom why it should happen now when it ran fine in the morning.
The marshalls were being patient and we had a little bit of time. Various participants or other pit team members came to offer advice but all to no avail and then finally someone spotted fuel pouring out under the car. Bizarrely nowhere near the fuel lines which added further puzzlement until we realised that it was coming out of a joint in the exhaust!
It turns out that a fault was causing one injector to permanently squirt fuel into the engine, which of course was far more than the engine could ignite hence the misfire and the unburnt fuel exiting below.
Needless to say, at the site of fuel on or near an exhaust the marshalls decided to call time on our day and we were duly towed back to our pitch.
So, for me 2016 was very much a 'non' year when it comes to racing. Equally frustrating for Ryan who still just needs to complete 1 more race to qualify for his National A license and no longer have the 'Novice' yellow and black X on the back of his car.
There is some uncertainty for 2017, (which could be said for the whole world really) but I have registered with CSCC for the year which should spur me on. I have decided that we need a proper engine in the car now and have been spending time getting advice and putting together a specification for an engine that should make the car competitive and reliable. This of course is going to take a bit of time as it's an expensive proposition if left to the experts completely. So as I’m not a total buffoon on the spanners I will be doing as much of the work as I can.
And of course, while the car is apart I will take the opportunity to make other improvements, like more weight reduction, new fuel lines run internally and the same with rear brake lines and at the same time adding a brake bias valve.
So if I don't race until the second half of the season so be it. There is a meeting at Castle Coombe this year which I'd love to make, as I had one of my best ever races there a few years back. Only time will tell though, so watch this space.
We may not have raced but at least we got on the telly!
