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1Jeremy TIMMS90
2Tristan CLIFFE66
3Malcolm SCOTT45
4Graham READ30
5Adrian HOLEY28
6Richard PURCELL27
7Anthony BISHOP25
8Neil HARRISON22

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Posts Tagged ‘race’


Snetterton, Round 5/6 – June 2010
Written by Tristan
Sunday, 27 June 2010 12:00

After the slight disappointment of Anglesey, we were keen to show our speed at Snetterton, our ‘home’ race. The misfire woes from earlier in the season were, we hoped, behind us, although we had fitted a lambda sensor to the datalogger to help us get around the problem should it recur.

However, all that didn’t go quite according to plan…

Saturday’s practice session was damp. There was, in places, a dry line, but the overall feeling was that wet tyres were the way to go. Most people felt the same, but a few remained on slicks due to lack of time and manpower. I went out and had to pick my way through the traffic to find some clear air, whilst Jeremy Timms went out last due to clutch problems. This meant he was immediately on a clear track and banged in a 1m19 second time. Then it started to rain…

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Last Updated on Friday, 2 July 2010 01:49
Anglesey, Round 3/4 – May 2010
Written by Tristan
Monday, 14 June 2010 06:14

GarlandA fortnight after the disappointment of Thruxton (where I cleverly turned pole position into a second place via 29th position and the lead, in the space of a dozen laps) we set off for Anglesey, the farthest track from us in the UK.

Another circuit that we haven’t been to with the Dallara that both Timms and Harrison have been to several times with theirs. Thus we arrived with a realistic frame of mind, hoping for a win but knowing that I would be very difficult to actually achieve. The usual preparation showed nothing that was unduly concerning, other than a slight bulge in the floor and plank possibly caused by the Thruxton kerb launching incident (although the bulge might have been there before and I just hadn’t noticed it!). We tried to rectify it as well as we could, but it’s still there, so we have to run a slightly higher ride height than we’d like.

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Last Updated on Friday, 2 July 2010 01:49
Thruxton, Round 2 – May 2010
Written by Tristan
Tuesday, 11 May 2010 12:31

Thruxton mapThruxton was to be the start of my season, after the problems at Brands. Points had to be scored, preferably 16 of them (win plus fastest lap) to keep Jeremy Timms in sight in the championship.  Being fast isn’t enough when your rival is happy to capitalise on any mistakes.

Practice

I had spend some time watching YouTube videos of Thruxton, as well as playing it on the PC with the rFactor game (I hesitate to use the term simulator, as it’s rubbish). Motorsport UK, on the television, also had some Thruxton racing from the BTCC meeting.  I also ran the circuit on foot on the Friday evening. That was my whole experience of Thruxton until Saturday 8th May 2010.

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Last Updated on Friday, 2 July 2010 01:49
Brands Hatch, Round 1 – March 2010
Written by Tristan
Wednesday, 7 April 2010 09:18

After the big change to the engine (carburettors to fuel injection), and the usual annual rebuild and checkover, I’d hyped this race meeting up quite a lot, with talk of how quick we might be, how quick the opposition might be, and so on.  All of that came to nought in a dismal weekend; albeit a dismal weekend with some positives.

The usual process occurred – we loaded the car up, drove down to the track the night before and unloaded, and then went to sleep. Only instead of tents, we chose to use the services of a local Travelodge, as tents in March weren’t appealing.  Even with our sudden increase in comfort (much like going from steerage to first class on the Titanic), we still lagged behind Richard Purcell’s palace-like motorhome!! The drive down was notable for the very, very heavy rain and hail storm that opened up on as we approached the circuit, and got us all very damp as we arrived in the paddock.

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Last Updated on Wednesday, 7 April 2010 09:18
Snetterton, October 2009, Rounds 11 & 12
Written by Tristan
Friday, 6 November 2009 01:53
The season is over. It’s all finished. We ended up 3rd in the championship behind Neil Harrison (1st) and Jeremy Timms. But we’ve laid down the gauntlet for 2010, when we will be aiming to win the championship. The weather held out for the weekend, which was nice…

Snetterton was really the first time we’d be able to directly compare the Silverstone tyres with our Avon performances from earlier in the year. Since Croft we’d made further changes to the setup – notably toe, camber and ride height – which we hoped would compliment the needs of the tyre construction.

Going out for the morning practice session would be a test session as well (isn’t it always in club motorsport?), and I had some new front brake pads to bed in too. Initially I concentrated on warming everything up properly, but it was soon apparent that the cat was nervous and not confidence inspiring. I pushed on, navigating the traffic and looking for clear air. For the majority of the session I couldn’t get below 1m11, which was Reynard pace and not very competitive for the Dallara. Pole was going to be in the 1m07s – 4 seconds is a long time… By the 11th or 12th lap I’d found some clear air, was all warmed up, and stuck in 4th position. It was now or never…

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Last Updated on Tuesday, 16 March 2010 12:41
Croft, September 2009, Rounds 9 & 10
Written by Tristan
Tuesday, 13 October 2009 04:53
I thought I’d share, yet again, my view of the weekend for any of you that might be interested. It wasn’t the smoothest weekend I’ve ever had, but then again it wasn’t the worst either. It was our first time at Croft in any capacity (although Andrew had covered the BTCC meeting here earlier in the year as a photographer), so we didn’t really know what to expect. We guessed (wrongly as it turns out) gearing and setup, and kept our fingers crossed that it would all pan out okay.   Sorry for the delay in writing this; I genuinely am sorry. But it keeps happening, so you’ll just have to get used to it. If I knew how to set up a RSS feed you could use live bookmarks to see when I get round to updating something…

The track is the most difficult I’ve yet been on – it’s quite bumpy, has some very ‘technical’ corners that demand patience and precision, and has some very quick bits that demand, for want of a better term, balls. It was, therefore, critical that we maximised our track time to learn the circuit and get the car handling nicely, as our rivals had prior experience at the circuit that would give them an initial lap time advantage. This was aided by Simon Davey working his magic and arranging a non-championship race, the practice for which was the first session of the weekend – effectively it was a test session, and our participation in the race (the last Mono session of the weekend) would depend on how we were feeling, and how track-worthy the car was, after the championship races.

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Last Updated on Sunday, 28 February 2010 02:24
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