Blyton Sprint 19th April (Who's going, and questions inside!)

[Craig Spooner]

Nice one Adam, well done to the rest of you that made it through to the end of the day.

 

Got home & found the roll pin that came adrift after some magnetic fishing skills into the bottom of the gearbox case. 

 

Thanks to all who gave advice, will be fitting a new pin & additional locking method to avoid a repeat.

[Shaggydoo]

Just to reiterate what Adam said really. We had a great days racing and nice drive to and from the circuit. In the Westy may i add, and after over 10seconds improvement and 2 spins over the day, decided to call it a day about 3pm. Thanks to everyone involved for a brill day out and especially to the organisers for accepting my entry on the day :-)

[Onliest Smeg David]

Brill day.

Thanks all, and especially to Adam for all the help.

[Terry Everall]

Seems that we a all enjoyed the event despite the cold weather. 2 practice and 5 timed runs on a long circuit so good value for money IMHO

[AdamR]

No 'O' about it I reckon, can't see another sprint offering more track time this year!

Times should be here if I've done the link right... http://www.timeteamtiming.co.uk/.cm4all/iproc.php/pdf/MDA/MDA_Nat-B_19-04-15.pdf?cdp=a&cm_odfile

[Onliest Smeg David]

Wow.... dead chuffed with the lardy car's times compared with the big boys

[Paul Aspden]

Well done to John Hole for FTD, Adam R, and Tel for great performances!

 

It has just dawned on me that if John H hadn't been there, Adam R would have got an FTD at his first ever sprint event!!! I think that sums up the quality of driving by Adam, when he can beet our resident FTD King Mr Everall..as well as single seater opposition.  

[Ian Podmore]

What happened to Garry and Howard?

[Onliest Smeg David]

Gearbox and Clutch issues I believe. as did Craig

[Garry Bunn - Derby & Notts Joint AO]

Howards clutch failed after lunch, I had front brake probs, think the car had stood too long and it stopped down shifting with 2 runs to go...

Think its a air solenoid. Considering the state of the car a couple of weeks ago I am pleased it got round a few times... :-)

[Terry Everall]

Gary I have your 1st in class trophy!

[Ian Podmore]

Glad it wasn't any visits to the scenery for either of you.

 

When is your next event Garry?

[Garry Bunn - Derby & Notts Joint AO]

Glad it wasn't any visits to the scenery for either of you.

 

When is your next event Garry?

I was headed there a few times Ian :-) , never spun so many times...

Plan to do Snetterton 17th May and Pembrey end of May.

 

Terry.... I didn't really deserve an award, but once a pot hunter...always a pot hunter... :-)

[Onliest Smeg David]

.... I didn't really deserve an award, SO give it to David... :-)

 

Many thanks Gary 

[AdamR]

Well done to John Hole for FTD, Adam R, and Tel for great performances!

 

It has just dawned on me that if John H hadn't been there, Adam R would have got an FTD at his first ever sprint event!!! I think that sums up the quality of driving by Adam, when he can beet our resident FTD King Mr Everall..as well as single seater opposition.

 

Thanks Paul - too kind. I think the low entry and relative lack of 'quick' cars flattered us Westy guys a little, but can't deny it's nice to be up there with the regulars and makes all the development work seem worthwhile

 

 

Coming into the Speed Series has been a pretty interesting experience really. Despite having had quite a lot of seat time and some competition driving experience previously, the prep the cars need and the mentality to drive them in this format is quite different, which I think is what caught me out yesterday. Despite the power and weight differences between the cars, I hoped to be able to challenge John H but it wasn't to be, he was just too quick! I knew I had Terry beaten all day, I was just teasing him, honest

 

My findings as a newbie but not a newbie...

 

It felt very strange to launch a car so frequently (never done it in the Westy before and we'll only do it twice a weekend in racing!) and be required to go to the limiter in every gear straight from the off. Looking back at the vids and data, I was short shifting on the first straight by around 1000rpm and 0-60 times are diabolical compared with what the car should be capable of. Being able to wring the car's neck from the line consistently and with reasonable mechanical sympathy really takes some doing; I under-estimated how difficult it would be, kudos for those who do it regularly (without cheating electronics )!

 

The braking requirements are also completely different to how I've previously used the car (track days and road) - normally you have the luxury of getting everything stable temperature-wise before pushing on, but going out cold is something that proved quite tricky to get my head around as the braking effort required by your leg changes through the run. In my case, the combination of pads also meant brake bias would shift dramatically as the fronts heated up, which caused extra issues! I found myself riding the brakes for a few extra metres into the first corner to try and help with this - can't figure out if was quicker overall to do this or not, but it reduced the chance of a rear lock up into the Wiggler on the first lap!

 

The tyres are awesome though, mega grip from cold, huge thanks again to Dave Cleaver for sorting me out with his old set to use

 

John also mentioned a few bits to me which were interesting, just simple things to cut down drag or weight which you wouldn't really be able to do on a car that can still be used on the road, which goes to show how specific the leading cars are, even in 'road going' class. I had a few conversations about this sort of thing yesterday and it's an interesting debate (and one for a different thread!).

 

As I mentioned to a couple of people on the day, I've probably done nearly 1000 (thousand) laps round Blyton before, and I think this is the bit that you sprint guys deserve the most respect for - there is no way I could go balls out having only been round the track 4 or 5 times a year!

 

For anyone thinking of giving it a go, do it - the atmosphere in the paddock is great and it's just as much about the social aspect as the driving. Specialist car preparations are virtually nothing if you have a car that's been used on track before, and the feeling of seeing a new personal best time on the clock when you come over the line is brilliant (when you've been told where to look for it, haha)  You WILL get this at least one or twice a day as well.

 

 

Back to topic... Good work on the roll pin Craig, hope you're all sorted in time for this coming weekend. Sorry about the clutch Howard, still feel bad about that, I hope it's an easy / cheap fix! Good to see you and your car out again too Garry, a few tweaks and you'll be flying by mid-season I'm sure. Great  work David on your improvements over last years times, definitely makes things interesting at the front of Class A! John (shaggy), driving to the event was awesome and I'd really like to do the same sometime, it's what budget motorsport should be about IMO! Everyone else I forgot to mention... Thanks again and see you soon I'm sure