Race report and pics for Motorsport Elise in China
Discussion
I had my first race in my new Motorsport Elise this weekend at the Pan Delta race weekend in Zhuhai International Circuit in China. I wasn't trouble free though, as I found I had a leak in my ATL bag tank on the Wednesday before the race which could not be repaired, meaning I had to get another fabricated before the race. This was done and installed on the Friday, but it meant I missed Friday practice.
Saturday morning saw a 30 minute qualifying session, which was looking positive, however on my out-lap a recurring problem arose again and the driveshaft came out of the CV joint (the spring clip on the inside keep breaking). Hence, I didn't get a qualification time, so had to appeal to start from the back, which I'm pleased to saw was granted.
The driveshaft was (temporarily) fixed by tacking it with a spot of TIG weld into a new CV joint and I was set for the race.
So I started race one from 24th place (dead last) and managed to make it up to 10th within about the first 4 laps, putting me up with a WRX Subaru, the last of the 3 Atoms and a supercharged R1 Caterham. However my luck was not to hold out and going through turn 10, a fast left hander, my engine started to stutter. If felt like fuel surge and sure enough over the next few laps it got worse until it was also doing it on the straight too. I was fairly sure it was a fuel issue, given I had a new tank in which had not been tested on track before. This dropped me from doing about 1:54s laps down to 2:00 – 2:03, but I made it to the end of the race having dropped back down to 14th place.
On Saturday evening the team checked the car over and could find nothing wrong with the filter, pumps or electrics, so we had to assume it was fuel surge in the tank. It already had the ATL foam in, but no metal baffles. The only option was to brim it for the Sunday race and hope that would be enough to stop the surge.
I started Sundays race from 14 (Saturday’s finishing position) and got a bad start, losing a place into T1 to another Subaru. However by the end of lap 1 I was up to 10th, having passes the Atom from the previous day and so I knew I was then good for a podium if I could hold the place and make it to the end of the race. The next 8 laps were then me dicing with a E90 M3 and a supercharged Ginetta G20 which was great fun. I let the G20 through a little too easily earlier in the race as I thought it would be much quicker than me and was in a different class, but we had a great race, swapping positions 8-10 times throughout the race. The G20 passed the BMW a lap before I was able to and when I did get past it was with some contact going into T7, a tight right hand hairpin (the M3 driver later apologized as he said he couldn’t see me I was much lower than him and his cool air pipe was blocking the view through the corner of the passenger side window). The G20 and I raced to the finish for the last few laps, with him beating my by 0.16 seconds across the line.
This was good enough for 3rd in class though, behind the other two Atoms and all in all was a great start to racing the Lotus.
Few pics and video below:
Video of race 2 (sorry for the poor contrast. Need to figure out how to mount the GoPro closer to the screen next time.):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXyEDGXC7no
Saturday morning saw a 30 minute qualifying session, which was looking positive, however on my out-lap a recurring problem arose again and the driveshaft came out of the CV joint (the spring clip on the inside keep breaking). Hence, I didn't get a qualification time, so had to appeal to start from the back, which I'm pleased to saw was granted.
The driveshaft was (temporarily) fixed by tacking it with a spot of TIG weld into a new CV joint and I was set for the race.
So I started race one from 24th place (dead last) and managed to make it up to 10th within about the first 4 laps, putting me up with a WRX Subaru, the last of the 3 Atoms and a supercharged R1 Caterham. However my luck was not to hold out and going through turn 10, a fast left hander, my engine started to stutter. If felt like fuel surge and sure enough over the next few laps it got worse until it was also doing it on the straight too. I was fairly sure it was a fuel issue, given I had a new tank in which had not been tested on track before. This dropped me from doing about 1:54s laps down to 2:00 – 2:03, but I made it to the end of the race having dropped back down to 14th place.
On Saturday evening the team checked the car over and could find nothing wrong with the filter, pumps or electrics, so we had to assume it was fuel surge in the tank. It already had the ATL foam in, but no metal baffles. The only option was to brim it for the Sunday race and hope that would be enough to stop the surge.
I started Sundays race from 14 (Saturday’s finishing position) and got a bad start, losing a place into T1 to another Subaru. However by the end of lap 1 I was up to 10th, having passes the Atom from the previous day and so I knew I was then good for a podium if I could hold the place and make it to the end of the race. The next 8 laps were then me dicing with a E90 M3 and a supercharged Ginetta G20 which was great fun. I let the G20 through a little too easily earlier in the race as I thought it would be much quicker than me and was in a different class, but we had a great race, swapping positions 8-10 times throughout the race. The G20 passed the BMW a lap before I was able to and when I did get past it was with some contact going into T7, a tight right hand hairpin (the M3 driver later apologized as he said he couldn’t see me I was much lower than him and his cool air pipe was blocking the view through the corner of the passenger side window). The G20 and I raced to the finish for the last few laps, with him beating my by 0.16 seconds across the line.
This was good enough for 3rd in class though, behind the other two Atoms and all in all was a great start to racing the Lotus.
Few pics and video below:
Video of race 2 (sorry for the poor contrast. Need to figure out how to mount the GoPro closer to the screen next time.):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXyEDGXC7no
Boro said:
Could you mount your camera on the down tube of roll bar on the left?
Yes, that's the plan. However due to the angle of it, the standard GoPro elbow mounts won't work as they don't swivel in the lateral direction to stop the camera pointing at the sky. Been scouting the internet for something suitable, but not found anything with a ball joint yet that is designed for a GoPro (doesn't have the std camera screw fitting).Edited to add; just ordered one of these to mount the GoPro. Looks good. http://www.rammount.com/CatalogResults/PartDetails...
Edited again to add: SORRY BORO - Just clicked on your profile and see what you sell. Already ordered the above I'm afraid. Sorry - would have tried you first had I realised that was your line of business.
Edited by will_968 on Saturday 21st September 03:38
Edited by will_968 on Saturday 21st September 03:45
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