Debden 27th July - Sprinting

Hi all

I will be competing in a sprint at Debden near Bishop Stortford on Sunday if any one wants a pass I can e-mail you one PM me your e-mail address.

My class Porshe 996, Mini Cooper (rapid BMW) and a BMW Z4 Bob Gibson is also there in his 110.

The Atmo is flying currently Holley carb rebuilt box lower final drive with still more big mods to come so looking forward to this event !!

Not a bad event spectator wise you can see a fair bit of the circuit from the start line

PM me anyway

Si21 - This Atmo aint slow prepare to blush Turbo's

[mettersl]

Hi Si,
Just around the corner, in fact my son was the groundsman at the army base next to the runway. Sadly I'll be at a wedding, so have fun and good luck.
Lee

Hi Lee

No worries have a good day at the Wedding

Simon

[mettersl]

How did it go?

I got to the venue on time prepped car and all the official bits done signed on scrutineered all went well so off to walk the couse it being new to me. I went with a newbie to the sport, but the course had been altered and lengthened so unfortunately didnt get to see the back part of the course up close .....mistake!!

1st Run ....Very ragged car very out of shape and missed a gate (course partly marked by cones) typically on the part I had not walked ..lesson to be learned . 2nd mistake hadn't checked tyre pressure before first practice run..hence back end all over the shop.loads of oversteer, fun but slow.....skoolboy error !!!

2nd Practice Run knocked 15 seconds of 1st practice run ...hardly surprising since I took a wrong turn really and car was handling out of sort due to underinflated tyres.

1st competetive timed run....better starting too hook it all up now, but a possible fuel starvation issue and a missed 3rd gear getting 5th instead and then hashing 3rd again ...thought lap time was gone!! To my surprise I knocked 7/10ths of second off my time!!

2nd timed run ..again massive throttle hesitation on the fast sweeping section of bends however gear change great no obvious mistakes but time 3 tenths slower...go figure.

3rd.timed run .....disaster locked front wheels from 90mph into first chicane and missed it.....time not to count!! So failing to meet my target to get under 90 seconds....not overly impressed with myself, but had fun trying!!

Official times now over we get an extra timed run due to early event finish..time not to count!! This was my chance to redeem myself as I was never going to win my class for me its all about personal acheivement and times. Well started really badly fluffed the start as the time keeper messed the light start up sequence; the light turning red again so lost a lot of time as I hesitated badly off the line!!...Hooked the lap up well and it felt like my best lap so far, shame it had been ruined at the very start ...too my surprise my Mark Garner gives me the thumbs up I had knocked over half a second off my time ...down to 90.7 secs ...oh so close to acheiving my target!!

I then got a better surprise as the Clark of the Course offered me another run due to time keeping error with the lights....I let the car cool letting a number of cars pass in front of me allowing both engine and tyres to cool I wanted a realistic time not a time inflated by pre-warmed tyres.

FINAL CHANCE OF THE DAY

So here I go again ...wow really hooked it up extra gallon fuel in tank seemed to have resolved a lot of the fueling/carb issues a diiferent approach to lines taken and bingo!! I Smashed my target time posting an 87.77 second run...Wahoo winning time of 85.5 seconds in my class by Paul Braddock in his Works Supercharged Mini so 2.2 second approx off class winning time a massive step forward for me that's twice I have finished within 2.5 seconds of my class winning time since carb and gearbox upgrades ...it looks like i really have closed that gap ...which normally stands between 4.5 - 6.5 seconds depending on nature of the couse ...pure power courses obviously not being the best for me ....day ended with massive smiles from me !!!

Bug thanks to Mark for coming to support much appreciated.

Big Bob also took his customary class win in the 110


So a Happy Alpine day out and me well I felt like I'd put up FTD

Lots of people commenting how nice she sounded too 8-)

Si21

Awesome news Si, glad you're making some real progress and having fun.

Cheers,

John.

[BIG_MVS]

Well done Simone. The final thing that's missing I reckon is a bit of extra stability on the front end

Good work Simon.

Great to hear your smiling again.

How much fuel do you usually run with in the tank when you compete Si?

There's a lot of slosh and room for error with the GTA's notoriously reliable computer

Hi Darren

There in lies my problem I find anything less than 6 gallons at the start of the sprint can become an issue on fast fairly tight bends!! My problem is is that my gauge has packed up altogether so I have to guestimate!! I used to know roughly where I was but since changing the the final diff ratio and fitting the Holley I am struggling to know where i am. I usually put 1 to 2 gallons in the tank after lunch depending on number and length of run etc ...i found with the fuel just below the step in the tank i appeared th be getting starvation on fast right handers ...the fuel must be climbing into the top chamber!!

Swirl pot and additional pump at the rear ...next on the list after brakes n shocks...the faster you go the newer the issues created

Si

Ha ha, I think you've answered your own question there. Having coughed and spluttered to a stop in the past (interestingly after a fast right hander in the form of a roundabout) with about 5 Gallons displayed that could well be your cause.

Try running more, yep you'll be carrying more weight, but the GTA really is only balanced when it's got a full tank. Interesting experiment to try, I think the handling will be better and fingers crossed you'll lose the fuel surge.

Good luck for next time.

Hi Darren

Thanks I am going to try a full tank at Goodwood itll be full at the start and empty by the end it'll be interesting to.see what happens both handling and fuel supply wise ...lots of blooming quick right handers too!!!

Si21