Well overall the day gets a big thumbs up I think!
Arrived at Llandow about 9am, unloaded and went for the briefing. Perfect opportunity for some photo taking
Also there was this beeeeeeautiful red-top engined Mk2 Escort:
I appear to not have taken a photo of the whole car
After the briefing we gave everything a thorough check over and I took it for some gentle runs up and down the carpark, just to get used to the gear change and clutch. Then it was time to get out on track:
I was first out on track so I was able to pootle around on my own just getting used to the feel of the car without any pressure. First impressions were 'god this thing shifts' and 'OH GOD IT WONT STOP!'. I rode the brakes a bit and did a few 'emergency stops' and they started to bed in which was a relief! I then went in and my dad hopped into the passenger seat for a while. The brakes just got better and better and I was able to start to push it a bit harder
My dad then had a drive and came back in to check everything over again. We found that the oil cooler line was leaking around the temperature sensor joint so cleaned it up a bit before I headed out for my second solo run. I decided to set the camera up, unfortunately after this session it stopped working, so here's the one video we managed to get!
I was starting to gain a bit of confidence in the brakes and get some heat into the tyres! We had a couple more sessions before lunch and I managed to build up the speed quite a lot, the slicks just would not let go once up to temperature and I finally built up the guts to use full throttle in 3rd and 4th. Also tried a full bore standing start with warm tyres which made me feel physically sick (0-60 in 4 seconds with ease).
I was having a huge amount of fun but also trying to keep an eye on oil temperatures which seemed to remain stable at 87/88 dec C at speed.
During the lunch break we swapped onto the A048Rs and tried to sort the blowing exhaust and oil leak (fail on both parts).
On the first lap of my first session out after lunch I managed to spin it (too much right foot at the Bus Stop), much to the amusement of the marshal The A048Rs certainly didn't have the cold grip of the slicks and started to show some of the handling traits that the shear grip of the slicks had masked. There's a slight oversteer tendency until the viscous LSD kicks in, then the nose starts to push wide a bit, but to be honest even with the 48Rs on I had to be really silly in the middle of a corner to find that! I just can't get over the shear grip of the car!
I went out and did quite a few laps in the afternoon and the car just got better and better. The 48Rs heated up nicely and the brakes bedded in to the point of becoming sharp. We added a bit more rear bias on the brakes which made the rear that little bit more stable when slamming on the brakes into Bus Stop.
During the afternoon and it seemed to be using more and more fuel. We stopped for a coffee break before my dad had a go out, but when we came back to it the engine would only run on 3 cylinders. We discovered fuel leaking out of one of the carbs, so I backed the fuel pressure off a tad and sent my dad on his way. Unfortunately half way around his first lap the float bowls ran out of fuel as the pressure regulator was infact stopping any fuel getting to the carbs. Back in the pits we couldn't get it to take any fuel pressure without fuel pouring out of the air jets, so we suspect a stuck float By this time it was 4pm and too late to take the carbs off to sort it so we packed up and came home.
Some evidence that I wasn't hanging round... one beautifully overheated A048R from the outside rear:
Ooops! ;D
Arrived at Llandow about 9am, unloaded and went for the briefing. Perfect opportunity for some photo taking
Also there was this beeeeeeautiful red-top engined Mk2 Escort:
I appear to not have taken a photo of the whole car
After the briefing we gave everything a thorough check over and I took it for some gentle runs up and down the carpark, just to get used to the gear change and clutch. Then it was time to get out on track:
I was first out on track so I was able to pootle around on my own just getting used to the feel of the car without any pressure. First impressions were 'god this thing shifts' and 'OH GOD IT WONT STOP!'. I rode the brakes a bit and did a few 'emergency stops' and they started to bed in which was a relief! I then went in and my dad hopped into the passenger seat for a while. The brakes just got better and better and I was able to start to push it a bit harder
My dad then had a drive and came back in to check everything over again. We found that the oil cooler line was leaking around the temperature sensor joint so cleaned it up a bit before I headed out for my second solo run. I decided to set the camera up, unfortunately after this session it stopped working, so here's the one video we managed to get!
I was starting to gain a bit of confidence in the brakes and get some heat into the tyres! We had a couple more sessions before lunch and I managed to build up the speed quite a lot, the slicks just would not let go once up to temperature and I finally built up the guts to use full throttle in 3rd and 4th. Also tried a full bore standing start with warm tyres which made me feel physically sick (0-60 in 4 seconds with ease).
I was having a huge amount of fun but also trying to keep an eye on oil temperatures which seemed to remain stable at 87/88 dec C at speed.
During the lunch break we swapped onto the A048Rs and tried to sort the blowing exhaust and oil leak (fail on both parts).
On the first lap of my first session out after lunch I managed to spin it (too much right foot at the Bus Stop), much to the amusement of the marshal The A048Rs certainly didn't have the cold grip of the slicks and started to show some of the handling traits that the shear grip of the slicks had masked. There's a slight oversteer tendency until the viscous LSD kicks in, then the nose starts to push wide a bit, but to be honest even with the 48Rs on I had to be really silly in the middle of a corner to find that! I just can't get over the shear grip of the car!
I went out and did quite a few laps in the afternoon and the car just got better and better. The 48Rs heated up nicely and the brakes bedded in to the point of becoming sharp. We added a bit more rear bias on the brakes which made the rear that little bit more stable when slamming on the brakes into Bus Stop.
During the afternoon and it seemed to be using more and more fuel. We stopped for a coffee break before my dad had a go out, but when we came back to it the engine would only run on 3 cylinders. We discovered fuel leaking out of one of the carbs, so I backed the fuel pressure off a tad and sent my dad on his way. Unfortunately half way around his first lap the float bowls ran out of fuel as the pressure regulator was infact stopping any fuel getting to the carbs. Back in the pits we couldn't get it to take any fuel pressure without fuel pouring out of the air jets, so we suspect a stuck float By this time it was 4pm and too late to take the carbs off to sort it so we packed up and came home.
Some evidence that I wasn't hanging round... one beautifully overheated A048R from the outside rear:
Ooops! ;D