More OT:Ridgway racing antics

[gridgway]

Thanks all in hand for the repair. The bodywork is fine, the rear corner needed one radius arm, two shear plates, new lobro joint on the driveshaft and a new upright. We've decided to change the upright as it's done 5 seasons, taken a few knocks and can be a happy trackside spare. We've also decided for a new rad rather than repair the holed one. We'll plastic-metal the hole though and have it as a spare.

We have also decided to undertake our next bit of car development. Tom who runs the car has wanted to try a longer track for a while. We are looking for more stability in corners and essentially more rear grip. Even though we've only mashed up one radius arm, we are going to make 4 longer ones to move the rear wheels back a couple of inches. Then there is also the possibility of moving the rear wing back the same amount.

Also, we are looking to use more tabs on the front to give the required downforce with less drag. That'll enable greater straight line speed - although we are pretty quick in a straight line at the moment, but it all adds up.

And I too love Donington. Looking forward to it. Strong possibility of some wet running too so will have to refresh my memory of the wet lines there!

[gridgway]

Gosh, exciting developments already. Tomorrow is testing, strange, a Thursday not a Friday. Now we are chasing the 12's. It looks like 1:12.5 is the absolute best in FF2000 at Donington National. First race of the season this year there (warm up with Monoposto not HSCC) I got to a 1:13.4 in testing and 1:13.8 best on the race days. So we are chasing the 12's!

It looks like wet in the morning stopping at lunchtime. Doesn't look very hopeful for fast dry running. But ok to have fun learning the wet lines, always very enjoyable.

Sadly my racing chum daughter Jen can't be there, some nonsense about being kicked out of her borrowed flat and having to move back into her unfinished-extension-with-no-tiles house.

After some work meetings this morning, I looked at my phone to see two missed calls from Tom-The-Race (TTR) and a text saying call me, not a good sign. It turns out that on a quick look at the rockers to finely adjust the "tappets", the motor is, how they say, buggered. We have had this before. The cam on the pinto is located fore and aft by a tab in a slot. In circumstances that we don't understand, the slot starts to wear. The resulting metallic bits wash down into the engine, somehow get recirculated back through the oil filter, get in the big ends, and the rest is history. The good news is that we've not got to that nasty grrrr sound you get when the big ends go. The bad news is that it'll have to be refreshed. Take the motor apart, clean it, rebuild it with new bearings etc.

But certainly we'll not be running it this weekend. Good job, Miss Ridg is having the weekend off so we (I) have a spare car to use. Our cars are similar, but not the same. Mine is more developed. So TTR has spent the day putting some of my bits on Jen's car. If it goes well, we'll know which direction to develop her car too!

What fun. Wet testing, dry race weekend, new car to get fitted into and setup, and a 1:12 to chase to be on pole. I'm loving the challenge!

Graham

[gridgway]

Wow, what a day. It was very strange with a car that has a mix of bits on it to make sense. We are in the middle of building a new rear wing setup (same as mine) for Jen's car. So to help out, we put that wing from my car on Jen's car. Her chassis is 2" shorter than mine (an iteration in the late 70's for the bigger driver). So with my foam seat in I was far too close to the wheel. Jen has complained of a strange handling issue. A kind of under-oversteer nastiness that we couldn't pin down.

So we set about making it a race car for me and what hard work. We had understeer from the start which took all day to dial out. And that under-to-oversteer feeling was not nice. turn in, understeer, understeer, understeer, lurch, oversteer.

But we got there. Hacked my seat and moved it back. Lowered the ride height to change the rear camber change on roll to sort the lurch. Softer front bar to quell the understeer. Last half of the last session of the day and in frustration grabbed it by the scruff of the neck. Did a 1:14 dead with a massive mistake at Old Hairpin that lost 7/10s. So overall got it faster than my car on a slowish track on old tyres. Result!

And to boot we were helping out with this stunner

IMG_20210624_140801 by graham Ridgway, on Flickr

[gridgway]

And that's a very trick Lister Jag next door!

[gridgway]

And just look at this beauty from 1990 (rear wing removed for loading)...
IMG_20210624_142044 by graham Ridgway, on Flickr

[smallspeed]

Shame i couldnt make it yesterday graham, would have been good to catch-up
Looks like you had your hands full adjusting the car, but fingers crosse dyou have a set-up that will work for you over the weekend! Look forward to the race report..

[gridgway]

IMG_20210627_154608 by graham Ridgway, on Flickr

The race report. As a reminder, with the bumper entries we are getting (44 this weekend), there is a complex qualifying system. There are two quali sessions with 22 in each. Top 6 in each form the top 12 places of championship race 1. The remaining 32 race in a quali heat and the top 20 forms the remainder of the grid for championship race 1. The top 12 of race 1 forms the top 12 places of race 2 and everyone else gets to do quali heat 2. The top 20 go into championship race 2.

To quali: driving Jen’s car I wasn’t sure how it and me would hold up! Also we are limited on the number of race tyres in a season – 3 sets that have to be declared. I was running mine on Jen’s car and they were getting on a bit. They happily do 10 heat cycles. They are way past knackered at 16 cycles. Useful life runs out after about 12. Mine had done 11. But it worked. Qualified 2nd in my session, 4th on the grid.

One thing I didn’t know was how the car would start with the standing start. There’s no way really to practice it other than do it. I am very focussed on warming the tyres and getting a good start. It’s a bit brutal, but getting a good start and being on the pace on lap 1 is critical.

My start was ok, but the clutch bite was very high and a bit slippy. I lost a couple of places on the start and into old hairpin, so not quite on it. Then we had a red flag with a midfield tangle in Redgate. So back to the start and the same positions. Great starting practice!

I was a bit more focussed on start 2 but still fell down by a couple of places at the end of lap 1 from 4th to 8th. Then got my head down and took two places back to 6th. Then I was busy fighting with the guy who got pole in my quali session. Fast in a straight line, but wayward in the corners. I was definitely on for an overtake and he went defensive and ran wide in Redgate. I stayed wide and got the apex and it was looking good for a micro second. For anyone who knows Redgate, you can take a lot of inside curb and apex after the “road” bit. The problem is that a bump tends to chuck the rear out. But normally you can ride it out on a mid-throttle and a dab of oppo. Unfortunately, this threw me very close to my adversary and I instinctively lifted right off. Whoops, round I went onto the grass on the inside. No damage done, but by the time I got back on, I was in 13th which is where I finished. So, no straight entry into championship race 2, but pole in the quali heat.

[gridgway]

Now it may seem strange, but I have never started a race in pole. So I was quite looking forward to the quali heat. We were very worried about the tyres as they had done 13 heat cycles and that’s about it. In the end we decided to keep with them and go with new in race 2 after the heat if we needed to. Well, we needed to, the tyres fell off a cliff!

Did my normal warming and rear tyre heat-ups and that must have done for them. However, got a good start now on my third go and scampered away. 2.3s on lap one and built up to a 6.1s lead. But it was not to last as I couldn’t keep up a good pace. And when the tyres go, it feels like driving on ice. Behind me was Adrian Reynard – yes the very same.

The designer of my car and I think he is the most successful race car designer and producer of all time. I’m normally quicker than him, but he’s getting himself and the car quicker. Not bad for a 70 year old, but he knows a lot of stuff! Anyway, he reeled me in and I had no answer. P1 for him and P2 for me! That mean 14th place start in championship race 2. I kind of liked that though as it meant starting on the left and on the outside for the turn 1 melee.

Whoops...
IMG_20210627_173308 by graham Ridgway, on Flickr

[gridgway]

IMG_20210627_154639 by graham Ridgway, on Flickr
What a fine sight!

The tyre decision was then simple, shiny new slicks (“stickers” as the merkins call it) for championship race 2. Usual starting procedure, get the tyres warm on the green flag lap. Be a bit careful to look after them though as they are new and have to last a while! As you can see from the video https://youtu.be/iyHO0g5gJxo being on the left worked. Reynard on the right got caught up in the traffic and I went around the outside. We call it “Buffalo Gals” with thanks to Malcolm McLaren for the lyrics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_G ... aren_song).

End of the first lap, I was up to 8th from 14th then got to my familiar 6th for some time. The aforementioned Tom-The-Race who runs the cars and has done some great developments on both of them has helped out a few guys and the three of us were running together. It’s the worst thing ever to have your three drivers battling it out. And he knows I am pretty stubborn and don’t give in easily! But it all worked ok. I got past both of them and had a great dice with one of them getting back past briefly. All good.

Well, all good apart from the annoying Reynard person. I kept him at bay for 11 laps, but he was again just too quick for me. One of the problems I had with Jen’s car (yes, it’s all the car, not the driver) was the gearchange. There’s not enough room on the rhs between the steering wheel and the forward stay from the roll hoop. By coincidence over the weekend, I found out more about how the car was rebuilt prior to our ownership and it seems the forward roll hoop stay is actually in the wrong place. Anyway, the net result was that I struggled to do a good 4th to 3rd to 2nd change without missing a gear, along with some 2nd to 3rd. So if there is offensive revving and gear missing in the video, I apologise. When I was calm and alone it was fine. When I was under pressure, it all went wrong!

So that’s it. A great race weekend and at the age of 61, I am delighted to be a top 6 runner in such esteemed racing circles!
Roll on Brands Hatch next weekend!

[gridgway]

just in case that's a boring old load of waffle TL;DR here's the vid... https://youtu.be/iyHO0g5gJxo

[keith fellowes]

just in case that's a boring old load of waffle TL;DR here's the vid... https://youtu.be/iyHO0g5gJxo

Sharp intake of breath there Graham when you came up behind the back marker down the Craner Curves, looked like he moved into you and you almost touched - well it looked close from here!
Loved the chicane before the start/finish straight where you can throw the car in and catch it on the way out
Great racing

[911hillclimber]

Interesting to read the gearchange is an issue.
We certainly share that problem....

My slicks are in their 3rd year so getting iffy, but far softer than those of yours.
Good going, keep up the reports.
G.

[gridgway]

just in case that's a boring old load of waffle TL;DR here's the vid... https://youtu.be/iyHO0g5gJxo

Sharp intake of breath there Graham when you came up behind the back marker down the Craner Curves, looked like he moved into you and you almost touched - well it looked close from here!
Loved the chicane before the start/finish straight where you can throw the car in and catch it on the way out
Great racing

It was an eeek moment! He's got a reputation for poor spatial awareness, in that he's not got a clue what's going on around him. I'd had a contretemps in the previous race. Blue flags going like crazy, fully alongside him and still he tries to turn in on me! Down craner I hit his rear wheel (pic above) and was determined to have a word! But he came in after that, apologised and said he knew he wasn't up to being out there. Then I felt bad for being a bit cross!

The chicane is quite hard and I don't really get it right. There's 3/10ths for me if not more to find there. I struggle with the approach, look too much at the corners and not far enough ahead. But with generally putting in decent times, it's all to play for!

[gridgway]

Interesting to read the gearchange is an issue.
We certainly share that problem....

My slicks are in their 3rd year so getting iffy, but far softer than those of yours.
Good going, keep up the reports.
G.

The gearchange problem here is all about the space to hold the gearlever. I do have a problem in my car that I don't do a good job of HnT to get down the gears which I have been told off for and have to fix and it'll be good for lap times. There's always stuff to do and improve on!

For this coming weekend at BH we have some aero upgrades we are trying to get the front grip with much less drag. And then beat that pesky Adrian Reynard at his own game! Also have some better valve lift with the rebuilt motor for an extra bhp or two!

[911hillclimber]

Yep, my first gear position (used only once in a hillclimb)against the roll cage/dash bar hoop.
This allows good clearance for the other 3 gears after but crucially reverse too which is just about selectable due to a cage brace bar.

none of this helps when things are sweaty on track.
Have I ever tried to improve things over the years, and I think I can't get it better, so live with it.