First race for me ever...
05-09-2010, 06:16 PM
#1
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
First race for me ever...
Well, I did it: went out, qualified, raced and finished to tell the tale...
I will not bore you with the details of how I got to here, but a big thank you to Paul A. for finishing the GTS lump and dropping it inside the GT in record time and thus enabling me to compete today at Brands Hatch.
Went out to qualify and decided to tag along Mark Chilton and his GTS. Things were looking very promising as I was glued to his car and in fact I was quicker than him on the straights. Lap 1, 2 and 3 followed, Chilton and I joined as Siamese twins, with me trying to pass him like a young puppy trying to prove a point. Then disaster struck during lap 4 - blue smoke started poring from underneath the car going into Paddock Hill and I thought that this was it. By the time I came off the track at Graham Hill bend there was no oil left in the tank at all. Luckily for me, I have already switched off the engine. I scratched my head thinking what went wrong while watching the rest of the pack going round. Had the dry-sump failed, was my engine rebuilt a failure?
Got recovered to the paddock and from then on it was a race against time. It turned out that the problem was caused by the scavenge pump. The outlet union between the pump and the pipe which sends oil to the tank at the back of the car had become undone. Adrian and anyone else with a PACE Products pump - please check the state of the 4mm hex bolts!!! The ones on my pump had no locktite on... Took the pump off and tightened all the hex bolts which I found anywhere on it. That was a job and a half as space there was very tight. Then I sent my brother back to London to pick up some oil from home. All the way through I was worried sick that I have damaged the engine. Luckily, I put oil in it, primed it, and lo and behold she ran well
At the end I made it to the holding area with 2 minutes to spare...
The 4 laps that I did initially were enough to qualify me 22nd out of 30 cars on the grid with a 1:00 lap. Not great, but considering the above I was relieved to be on the grid. Formation lap and then the real thing - I was about to start my first race.
Starting with 30 cars around you is quite daunting to say the least. I got away reasonably well and the awesome power of the 928 made going past the cars ahead of me easy. Then inexperience kicked in - I kind of expected the others that I have passed to give up and let me take a decent line into Paddock Hill. As you can imagine that was not the case If anything I lost spaces. Damn, will just have to make the GTS lump work harder. Soon I started picking off cars that were ahead of me and was climbing up the grid. All was good... Then some more inexperience kicked in - I had no idea how far I was into the race and it was a long one - 40 minutes! I had no timer in the car. Doh! Should I hold back or do I need to push harder? I elected to slacken the pace a bit. Big mistake! Concentration went out of the window and I got caught into a scrap between some back markers which cost me time. In the meantime, the leaders were getting away from me. I had a great scrap with a Supra Turbo, went pass him, but could not build enough of an advantage to pit and come back ahead of him. Did my pit stop and went back out. The car was running great and I was really beginning to enjoy myself. I had no idea where I was position wise, but I knew I was not last And then the checkered flag - I had made it!
I finished 14th overall out of 29 cars, with a best lap of 58.7sec. I surpassed my goals and I am well pleased and really looking fwd to Anglesey in two weeks time Now I need to find 2 secs a lap in order to be in the top 5
John Speake, i need your help to map the bloody thing. I just cannot get it right There is a lot of power to be extracted from it, but I just don't know how
Alex
I will not bore you with the details of how I got to here, but a big thank you to Paul A. for finishing the GTS lump and dropping it inside the GT in record time and thus enabling me to compete today at Brands Hatch.
Went out to qualify and decided to tag along Mark Chilton and his GTS. Things were looking very promising as I was glued to his car and in fact I was quicker than him on the straights. Lap 1, 2 and 3 followed, Chilton and I joined as Siamese twins, with me trying to pass him like a young puppy trying to prove a point. Then disaster struck during lap 4 - blue smoke started poring from underneath the car going into Paddock Hill and I thought that this was it. By the time I came off the track at Graham Hill bend there was no oil left in the tank at all. Luckily for me, I have already switched off the engine. I scratched my head thinking what went wrong while watching the rest of the pack going round. Had the dry-sump failed, was my engine rebuilt a failure?
Got recovered to the paddock and from then on it was a race against time. It turned out that the problem was caused by the scavenge pump. The outlet union between the pump and the pipe which sends oil to the tank at the back of the car had become undone. Adrian and anyone else with a PACE Products pump - please check the state of the 4mm hex bolts!!! The ones on my pump had no locktite on... Took the pump off and tightened all the hex bolts which I found anywhere on it. That was a job and a half as space there was very tight. Then I sent my brother back to London to pick up some oil from home. All the way through I was worried sick that I have damaged the engine. Luckily, I put oil in it, primed it, and lo and behold she ran well
At the end I made it to the holding area with 2 minutes to spare...The 4 laps that I did initially were enough to qualify me 22nd out of 30 cars on the grid with a 1:00 lap. Not great, but considering the above I was relieved to be on the grid. Formation lap and then the real thing - I was about to start my first race.
Starting with 30 cars around you is quite daunting to say the least. I got away reasonably well and the awesome power of the 928 made going past the cars ahead of me easy. Then inexperience kicked in - I kind of expected the others that I have passed to give up and let me take a decent line into Paddock Hill. As you can imagine that was not the case
If anything I lost spaces. Damn, will just have to make the GTS lump work harder. Soon I started picking off cars that were ahead of me and was climbing up the grid. All was good... Then some more inexperience kicked in - I had no idea how far I was into the race and it was a long one - 40 minutes! I had no timer in the car. Doh! Should I hold back or do I need to push harder? I elected to slacken the pace a bit. Big mistake! Concentration went out of the window and I got caught into a scrap between some back markers which cost me time. In the meantime, the leaders were getting away from me. I had a great scrap with a Supra Turbo, went pass him, but could not build enough of an advantage to pit and come back ahead of him. Did my pit stop and went back out. The car was running great and I was really beginning to enjoy myself. I had no idea where I was position wise, but I knew I was not last And then the checkered flag - I had made it!I finished 14th overall out of 29 cars, with a best lap of 58.7sec. I surpassed my goals and I am well pleased and really looking fwd to Anglesey in two weeks time
Now I need to find 2 secs a lap in order to be in the top 5 John Speake, i need your help to map the bloody thing. I just cannot get it right
There is a lot of power to be extracted from it, but I just don't know how Alex
Last edited by Cheburator; 05-10-2010 at 08:44 AM.
05-09-2010, 06:38 PM
#2
Team Owner
great story, glad you didnt cook your engine, and an adrenaline rush for sure
05-09-2010, 06:47 PM
#3
Under the Lift
Lifetime Rennlist
Member
Lifetime Rennlist
Member
Wait a minute...is this the same motor that did weird things rather recently on the 'Ring and was reported only a few days ago to have weird, worn oil control rings? Man, that was fast. Alex, you certainly don't waste any time off or on the track!
05-09-2010, 07:49 PM
#4
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
05-09-2010, 10:42 PM
#7
Nordschleife Master
Alex, it sounds like you had a real blast.
I know that you have a ton of track hours with going to the ring and other events.
Just stay safe out there.
I know that you have a ton of track hours with going to the ring and other events.
Just stay safe out there.
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05-09-2010, 10:50 PM
#8
Nordschleife Master
Good story.
Although this thread is clearly not worthless without pictures, I am still holding my breath waiting fir those dry sump photos. Perhaps someone snapped some during the crisis?
Although this thread is clearly not worthless without pictures, I am still holding my breath waiting fir those dry sump photos. Perhaps someone snapped some during the crisis?
05-09-2010, 10:59 PM
#9
Rennlist Member
Excellent story...........when I started racing m/cycles I lived with 3 mantras............don't finish last, don't fall down and most of all have major fun
Things changed over the years to get a little more serious to win championships but I still raced with those 3.
Enjoy much
Things changed over the years to get a little more serious to win championships but I still raced with those 3.
Enjoy much
05-09-2010, 11:49 PM
#10
Rennlist Member
Excellent story...........when I started racing m/cycles I lived with 3 mantras............don't finish last, don't fall down and most of all have major fun
Things changed over the years to get a little more serious to win championships but I still raced with those 3.
Enjoy much
Things changed over the years to get a little more serious to win championships but I still raced with those 3.
Enjoy much
And nice job Cheb!
05-10-2010, 12:04 PM
#15
Rennlist Member
Possible tip for all you racers out there.
I don't have a lot of experience but have done a few track days and sprints
which in the UK means one out lap followed by two timed laps then an in lap.
When you are concentrating on the driving it is all too easy to forget to look
at the guages and so miss early signs of a problem.
What I did on various cars was to fit a 50 lb/in2 oil presure warning switch,
a water level sensor and a water temperature sensor all wired to a BIG
red light on top of the dash straight in front of the steering wheel. I think
I used a Land Rover tail light. That way you don't have to divert attention
to looking at the guages. If you lose oil pressure, overheat or dump the
coolant you get an unmissable early warning.
I don't have a lot of experience but have done a few track days and sprints
which in the UK means one out lap followed by two timed laps then an in lap.
When you are concentrating on the driving it is all too easy to forget to look
at the guages and so miss early signs of a problem.
What I did on various cars was to fit a 50 lb/in2 oil presure warning switch,
a water level sensor and a water temperature sensor all wired to a BIG
red light on top of the dash straight in front of the steering wheel. I think
I used a Land Rover tail light. That way you don't have to divert attention
to looking at the guages. If you lose oil pressure, overheat or dump the
coolant you get an unmissable early warning.