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Silverstone - Managed 1 lap ..

Group: Time Attack Series
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Kev@Apex
North

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Jul 09

Silverstone - Managed 1 lap ..

Well that was lucky, managed 1 full lap all day and it was the one that counted. :D

Day started pretty bad, blowout on the trailer on the way down, towing a car that didnt actually work.

Having guessed that the timing belt must have jumped a tooth I while travelling down, after spending most of the previous evening ruling out other problems, I started dismantling stuff.

There was nothing wrong with the belt positioning, so stick it all back together, I've now missed the first practise session.

Cliff arrives, laptop in hand and we see if its ECU related, it is, sort of. The coolant temperature sensor is showing its -40*C - we have found the problem. Drive around silverstone mapping out all coolant corrections. I'm just in time to make the SXOC club session as a replacement for the practise session so maybe I will get chance to run the new piston rings & bearings in after all .....

Nope... Rather than making 1.3/1.5 Bar I seem to be boosting to 2 Bar !!! I finish the session keeping under 4000 revs and thats probably as well with the first few miles on the refreshed engine.

Final practise for Time Attack and I hope we have solved the boost problem, its not perfect @ 1.7Bar but there is no detonation. First lap out I pop a boost pipe off. Back in fix it, back out and pop the hose off again. Well thats another session lost...

By the timed run comes I have everything crossed, and double the jubilee clips ..... this has to work. Out on to the track, one of the last before the seeded drivers. Down to the first corner, though and out of the corner and we seem to still have all the boost pipes where they should be, the car stutters against the 1.8Bar fuel cut. Into the complex and I think about warming the brakes and tires, not really expecting to have got this far. Out of Luffield I floor it, almsot expectant of a boost hose popping .. no it holds.

This is where it started to get scary, I realise the last time I went flat-out down the pit straight was a year ago, with 280bhp, 100bhp less than I have now. I wonder if the kink is still flat, it is, easily, the speedo hits 140 and I'm blindly picking a braking point for copse. I'm a little conservative (10mph down on my team-mate) but make it through, the car stutters again on the fuel cut. I now have to pick another blind braking point, I then add a few meters more as I'm feeling brave. Too much speed and the back end goes light, some opposite lock and I'm soon stuttering against the fuel cut again. I switch back to conservative mode and drive like an old woman into the complex. Neat and tidy through luffield and soon firing back up the start finish straight. Cross the line and am thankful for the car managing its first full flat-out lap all day.

Back to the pits for my mate to joke I was currenty second, although he wasnt actually joking! However by the time the seeded drivers had run I was down to 9th, with points for 8th as the NA Viper was one of those infront.

I'm all for a RWD & Turbo Class, I'd be on for 2 wins :D Or even just a RWD class and a 1st and 2nd would be my current results. However 2 * 8th, both times not showing what the car really can do.

Roll on Knockhill!