356 Race Car

[john ruston]

Suggest that FISCAR race series is one of the best series for beginners should they decide on GT 50/60's .

The people who organise it are some of the few that do for sporting reasons rather than commercial gain.


John Turner one of the good guys!

[steve wright]

Lovely write up of the Jon Gross Memorial race at Castle Combe here… http://fiscar.org/the-jon-gross-memorial-trophy/

[914-6]

Hi Steve, watched the race on Coombe on Motors TV last night, your 356 looked really great. well done.
Ian

[john ruston]

Was going to post this on 356 Film thread but probably better on here.

SCAA cars virtual special driven in race series where average age is over 60 with one being 82,Good old George!

The British scene seems to be improving with Sanjay,Steve,Will and a few other whippersnappers ,well compared to an old fart like me,having a go .

The FISCAR and Pre63 race series are great to be involved in and that can lead to the European scene starting at Spa.
Goodwood and Le Mans Classic being the ultimate goal.

The historic cars do not depreciate and cost is the actual racing bit.Same car can be used to race and rally.

More preparation operations are taking an interest so the outlook here is very positive.

[steve wright]

It’s been a long while since I posted anything about the race car - indeed I had to go back three pages to find the thread, but we’ve not been idle. The car went into Andy Robinson Race Cars on New Year’s day for a full roll cage – it was something I had been thinking about for some time but hadn’t got around to it with other things taking priority. I thought if we had a big shunt then I’d look pretty silly not having done it. It was fortunate we did…. Andy sits on the MSA safety committee and drafted the reg’s on ROPS (Roll Over Protection Systems). He also builds many of the front running historic race car roll cages and owns and races a 3,000hp funny car:, so he knows a thing or two about pipes and welding. That's my son Jasper sitting in the drivers seat of his monster car that has run a 5.89 sec quarter mile at over 260mph….


His observation about the half cage in our car was “it would’ve been about as useful as match sticks in a big crash - better than nothing and consistent with the thinking in period!”


We now have a six point cage that is fuly welded into the car and is a thing of beauty but also massively strong: Andy created pillars that spread the load under the base plate and tie the top and bottom of the sill into the cage. It also features a knee bar and door bars. Better still it looks period but is FIA approved.




Andy also fabricated new mounts for the GT tank as we still had the standard mounts which basically rely on the strap folding over itself. With 80 litres when full I didn’t feel confident that would be good enough in a big shunt and the last thing you want is for that to be bouncing about in the front of the car in a crash, so Andy fabricated a set of mounts that replicate the factory GT mounts in steel. He also created a lovely bracket for the brake reservoir to mount to so it’s clearly visible but securely mounted.

Next up was the exhaust – I debated about writing about this at all because there's a lot of innovation and thinking that has gone into this one-off system, that has transformed the engine. Ian spent hours working out the optimal shape, lengths, diameters, collector design and other bits and bobs and then spent an age with Mike Hausmann building it. Mike currently has Adrian Newey’s E-Type, a McLaren F1 and other lovely cars in his workshop, so the boy also knows his pipes and welds. Ultimately they ended up building it insitu on the car to optimise it. Not only is it about 40% lighter than the Bursch, but the unsilenced version looks like the Sebring from the Carrera which is nice. Better still it makes more power (no idea how much but you can feel the difference in the car) and above 5,000rpm it doesn’t sound like a 356 anymore. Past the pits at Silverstone last week testing it sounded like a large motorbike engine and its distinctive bark was audible above most of the other cars on the circuit.




We will have to wait until carb and velocity stack tweaks go on later in the season before we put it back on Peter Baldwin’s rolling road to see what hp increase we’ve made with this set of developments.


What we do know is Ian was a second faster at Silverstone on fresh tyres having not driven the car since August, so we know it’s made a difference….




Next up was a fresh set of brake shoe linings, a gentle skims of the drums, a full service and fixing a host of small things like the offside external mirror that had never given much view behind because the angle it would twist to was very limited and a new set of tyres.

So we’re off to Donington for the Historic Festival next weekend. The entry list for the pre-63 race being held by the GT & Sports Car Cup is a good one with the Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta ‘Breadvan’, Wolfgang Friedrichs’ Aston Martin DP214 Project car, eight Jaguar E-Types including a genuine Lightweight, six AC Cobra 289’s including Voyazides’ AC Cobra Daytona, four TVR Grantura Mk III’s, one driven by fellow DDK’er Robert Barrie, and Ahlers’ Morgan Plus 4 SLR. In the smaller classes there’s a number of Lotus’, MGB’s, Mark Hales driving a Triumph TR4, and us, the solitary Porsche and only German car invited. How will we compare against this illustrious grid? Will we hold our own or be completely outgunned by the horsepower and talent? Will we go quicker than we did last year at Donington and beat the competition in our class? All these things swirl through my mind in the familiar build up to the first race of the season, and I am genuinely nervous and excited in equal measure about this 90 minute endurance race. As Steve McQueen said ‘Racing is life, everything before or after is just waiting’. Well thank God the waiting is almost over. I’ll report back on the Monday after the race to let you know how the race unfolded and how we faired.

[steve wright]

Rain does strange things to a man. Some shake their fist at the sky because of it, while some with old cars that have more horsepower than grip hold their head in their hands when droplets fall from the sky, especially when using the Dunlop Racing tyre, which is pretty much useless in the rain. Those with a 356 rub their hands in glee though, for it means the power advantage of an AC Cobra or E-Type is neutralised and a level playing field suddenly created. Donington magnifies this because aviation fuel is dumped by aircraft flying in to Midlands airport, making the surface as sticky as wet glass. This year the Historic Festival race for pre-66 GT and sports cars was being run by the GT & Sports Car Club and was oversubscribed with 58 entries for 36 places - a lovely series that runs across a number of high profile events in Europe. A mouth-watering selection of cars made up the grid: Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta ‘Breadvan’, Wolfgang Friedrichs’ Aston Martin DP214 Project car, eight Jaguar E-Types including a genuine Lightweight, six AC Cobra 289’s including Voyazides’ AC Cobra Daytona, four TVR Grantura Mk III’s, one driven by fellow DDK’er Robert Barrie, and two Morgan Plus 4 SLR's and in the smaller classes a number of Lotus’, MGB’s, Mark Hales driving a Triumph TR4, and us, the solitary Porsche and only German car invited.

As usual we had a quick peek at last years results to get the benchmark times. It showed our best qualifying lap was a 1:38.2 and our quickest race lap a 1:37.7 - we always run faster during the heat of the race, while prior years showed the best a 356 had run was 1:36.4, so that was the time to aim for (excluding the 2 litre Carrera with disc brakes which had run a 1:34). Qualifying was a mad affair however, with neither Ian or I get a clean lap - I know it's the first excuse racers use for not putting in a decent time, but in this case it was true! Our quickest lap was a 1:36.8 so we felt happy that we had gone quicker than ever before, but frustrated because we knew with a clean lap we could've gone quicker still. We start 34th on the grid.

And then it rained overnight and that put any quick laps completely out the window. I'll try and give a sense of what it's like to race in the rain on Dunlop's: firstly they're basically a cross-ply, so the moment you turn the wheel they adopt a slip angle of about 17%, giving the slightly disconcerting impression that you've lost all traction, before they then grip. When it rains though that grip never materialises. You'll have driven in the snow - it's basically the same. Accelerate without careful metering of the right foot and the rear wheels spin, turning excess power into a fishtail. Carry too much speed into a corner and the front instantly goes light with no effect on the steering. Turn into a corner too abruptly or with excess power and the rear instantly swings around on you. And beyond a small window of grip you simply become a passenger until the speed has been bled off, which on Donington's tarmac can take forever.



We've been racing long enough now to know that the you need to leave plenty of time leading up to the actual race so you're not rushed. With 15 minutes before official assembly though they called us early, damnation! I jumped into the car, turned the key and nothing. No electrics. Get out, check the external cut-off, check the internal cut-off, turn the key. Still nothing. shite! Ian checks the battery terminals, latches the bonnet, fiddles with the external cut-off and the lights flicker. This is the third electrical cut-off switch we've had in as many years and they are simply rubbish (someone could make a killing as we all use them and everyone complains about them). Anyway, with a bit of jiggling Ian finds a sweet spot and we're sorted - we just hope it lasts for the race. Even Mark Hales looks miserable as we dash for the assembly area:


The circuit is sodden with puddles everywhere and a river running across the bottom of Craner Curves. Everyone is taking it carefully on cold tyres and wet circuit but no-one is getting away from us. In fact we're gaining on cars ahead. Either I'm being reckless or the hurried changes in tyre and suspension settings for the wet racing have worked. Well only one way to find out - I push a bit harder, searching for the limits, the 356 communicating loud and clear on where these are. We seem to have a decent level of grip, especially out of corners accelerating. A TVR Grantura lifts Coppice and I sneak round the outside of him and put my foot down, slowly but surely pulling ahead as we exit down the straight.


A red MGB is next - he's concentrating on a Morgan Plus 4 that overtakes both of us on the right, so I nip left and push a bit harder down the main straight. He loses me in his mirrors and lifts momentarily and I'm past. The Morgan has bottled as we come into Redgate and I shut the door on him gently but firmly, making the decision about who goes first for him. The car feels fantastic. With the new cage the whole car has been transformed, while the exhaust has definitely improved the mid-range punch and top end power. The wet set up seems to have worked a treat - it's been a long time coming but we finally seem to have found the sweet spot for a wet set up. The Cooper Bobtail in front spins in front of me in a graceful and slow-motion pirouette, which would be lovely to watch except he's now travelling backwards across my path. A gentle twitch of the wheel (not too much or we'll join him in his merry dance) and we slither past. Here we are on a drying track a lap before I pass him.


A quick thumbs up for Ian and crew chief Mav as we barrel down the straight before Redgate again. Christ it's slippery. At the bottom of Craner Curves a green Healey 3000 and the Ferrari Breadvan are just exiting up the hill. Two laps later and I'm right on top of them as we brake for the chicane. I know we've better traction than the Healey with it's front-engined layout, so this time I drop it to second to get more power and hope the wider line will compensate as we go round the outside. We pass him as we flash past the pit boards. As usual Mav does a sterling job as pit crew chief, keeping cool, calm and in control as we seem to have brain fade every time we get close to race time. This boy does an amazing job. This race Ian's better half Nicki also helps out, lending a bit of glamour to proceedings - thanks for the help guys!

The pesky Morgan SLR sneaks by at the end of Regate but the Ferrari Breadvan is just up ahead now, slipping and sliding as he tries to put down almost twice as much horsepower as us. I follow him around for a lap sizing him up. He doesn't pull away at any point and brakes early for corners. He's not watching his mirrors though as I put the nose alongside on a couple of occasions and get no reaction. Either he's very brave or not worried about bending a multi-million pound car. As he lifts for Redgate again I leave my braking as late as I dare and put the nose far enough in front that he can't not see it. At least I hope that's the case because if he turns in now he'll collect us both. Thankfully he brakes and I've passed him, but now I'm carrying too much speed into the corner. A gentle dab on the brakes, the nose lightens and we push wide. The kerbs are looming and we slither onto it and then onto the green rumble beyond. The grass edge is now beckoning and if we touch that it's good night nurse. Thankfully the corner eases and we've made it, also making the overtaking manoeuvre stick. We scream down the Craner Curves again, this time chasing a white TVR Grantura.


The leading AC Cobra Daytona dashes between me and a Lotus Elite and I take advantage to pass the Lotus, quietly cheering as he's leading our GT1 class. The Grantura hesitates and we sneak past him, then it's into the pits to swap with Ian on an enforced two-pitstop strategy for the race.


Ian does a 38 minute stint, keeping out of trouble, continuing to overtake cars and progressively pushing further and further up the order as cars expire either through off's or mechanical issues (the Gregor Fisken E-Type catches fire and the Lister Costin Coupe spends a long time in the pits with electrical issues, effectively putting both out of contention). It's fascinating watching the in-car footage to see how different our racing styles are: I'm smoother but Ian allows the car to move about far more beneath him. He's better at clipping the apex of a corner whereas I get on the brakes later. Surprisingly there's usually less than a second a lap between us, so I'm sure if we learnt from each other we would both be faster. It's a credit to Ian that he can race someone else's car (I know he's not alone in doing this, plenty of others are invited to drive a car they don't own) - I know he's conscious of crashing someone else's car and I think I've been pretty relaxed about sharing the car, but it's still deeply impressive that he's prepared to race a car flat out that he doesn't own.


We've also now done enough pitstops and watched others to know we can make up time here too. A quick swap and I'm back in the car for the last 25 minute session. The Aston Project car passes me and I notice a large chuck carved from the right rear corner of the beautiful ally rear - that's never good to see a historic race car bent, but he's still driving it like he stole it. I've no idea where we are in the order but the Elite is still on the circuit so we've got to press on to keep the distance between him and us should anything go wrong for us in the closing stages like a spin. The weather has brightened though and our advantage is beginning to be quickly eroded as the more powerful cars are able to make it count on the straights. Our soft settings for the wet are also beginning to count against us as the car is moving about far more than it would otherwise do, limiting our lap times.

And then the chequered flag is out and we've done it! We finish 24th overall out of 36 starters (up from 21 out of 24 at last years Historic Festival in the same race) and 1st overall in the GT1 class (under 1,600cc) and fastest lap of the day in the GT1 class, bettering our qualifying time with a wet set up at 1:36.7. And yes, we beat the Ferrari Breadvan, which was very satisfying! Roll on Snetterton for the Autosport 3 Hour, which is the big one. And pray for rain…!


There is a postscript to this race. The fuel gauge had sat firmly on empty for the final 5 laps which I thought was odd. We had decided to be more professional and meter the fuel we needed as the last thing you need with an underpowered car is to be carrying more fuel (weight) than you need. Prior to the race I checked the tank which was three quarters full so I just topped it to the brim and then siphoned 35 litres out the GT tank, leaving what I thought was 45 litres in the '80 litre tank'. Back in the pits after the race we took the lid off to see what was left in the tank, only to find the bottom of the tank and the outlet dry. Seems we finished the race with just the fuel in the lines and float bowls of the carbs… and the 80 litre GT tank is actually 70 litres! The lesson here is never assume specifications or capacities and always, always check. Talk about lucky….


Photos courtesy of the amazingly talented Tom Fawdry.

[KS]

Fantastic report, fantastic result! You guys have done a fabulous job. Well done! Proud to have your reports in the mag, too! Brilliant!!!!

[jeremyg]

Great report as ever Steve. Congrats on such a good result. Photos are lovely too. Our humble little 356's can beat a Ferrari Breadvan. Who knew?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[sanjay]

What a brilliant write up !!

Good fortune to you both this season.

Best

Sanjay

[Lightweight_911]

Inspiring stuff - great report & excellent result - well done !

[hot66]

car was looking great when i was there on Saturday

looks like you're all having fun

[cubist]

Superb. Like we were there with you! Great pics too.

[oldtimer]

Brilliant Wright-Up Steve !

I was very interested to see you challenging the Ferrari Breadvan in the 356.

For a few years my Goodwood trackday target - 'The Breadvan Challenge' in a warmed up 1969 911E was to lap in 1min 40s ie '100 seconds ' - because that was the qualifying lap time set by Claudia Huertgen in the Breadvan a few years back for one of the Revival meetings , its on youtube somewhere.

I never quite managed it in the 911E even in dry conditions and with good road tyres ( Avon CR6ZZ ) , so I sold the car !

This year's Goodwood Member's Meeting John Aldington trophy race showed it could have been done 'easily' in an early 911 with a decent driver

[Winston Teague]

Well done all! Great write up, fantastic result. Wet weather sorts the show offs from the racers, let it rain, let it rain let it rain, W

[Pandora]

Steve, Just join the SMRC (Scottish Motor Racing Club) and enter any event in high summer at Knockhill. Rain is pretty much garanteed, with a fair chance of sleet / snow!

Good to hear it's going well

Al