CSCC Brands Hatch Race Report Swinging 60's
Discussion
So the 2011 season has well and truly started… We’re up to round 5 of the F1 calendar the Motogp boys have just completed round 4 of their season and May 7/8th saw the 2nd full weekend of racing for the CSCC.
Race 1 was way back at the beginning of April but sadly the bug was still sat with its bum in the air and a gap where the engine should be!
The car has undergone a fair amount of work over the winter… I’m not even go to attempt to understand what EMC Motorsport have done other than the engine was taken apart some stuff was replaced and I’ve got a whole set of new Empi shiny tin ware to go with some other sexy ( expensive) engine internals.
It didn’t stop there, one of the big problems we had last year was that the gap between 3rd and 4th was way too big so the box was sent off to bears motorsport and a new set of ratios was added.
As is usual with Motorsport plans are things that quickly fall to the wayside and the stress levels rise as the time scales fall, so we weren’t ready for Snetterton in April, never mind, it’s miles away and a ball ache to get to anyway!
So sights firmly set on Brands Hatch the car was put back together and was taken out testing, Plan A was to shake down the car at Bedford on a trackday but sadly it was a static 103.7dB at 3500rpm… a bit too loud for the sensitive ears at Bedford Council so it was an early bath for me! It did highlight the fact that the exhaust was shagged though so a new rear box was fitted and we headed out to Mallory to get the engine run in and do some shakedown tests. Success!! The car revved all the way to 6000rpm in all 4 gears! Last year it’d go from 6000rpm in 3rd to 2500 in 4th and I’d never manage to get it back over 4000. So as far as the winter work is concerned it all looked good!
The race weekend arrived all too quickly and before I knew it I was feeling the “bug love” on my Friday night drive down the motorway to Brands. I’ve always known that driving a Beetle was guaranteed to make you smile, but who knew that towing a race bug would have the same effect. !! Its brilliant!
The fantastic weather that we’d been enjoying throughout April came to a crashing end on the morning of the race as I awoke to the sound of rain on the window…. GRRRRREAT!! Thanks!
On with the racing then… and an early morning fairly damp qualifying session saw me pootle around for the required minimum 3 laps to ensure we’d be on the grid somewhere, and then a quick tyre pressure check and off I went to actually get a feel for the car again whilst panicking and thinking “what –was-that!!?” to every pop rattle squeak that was emanating from the area behind me…. But all was well and good and apart from the complete donkey moment when I had to pull in to the pits because I couldn’t remember which switch worked the wipers….. we ended up 21st on the grid with a 1.17 in the wet and 2nd in class. Not great but equally we weren’t beached in the kitty litter or broken so it’ll do.
The weather cleared for the race and the track had dried so my wet weather equaliser was out of the window! The race started well… I wasn’t the last car into the first corner and everyone managed to get round without incident which is always a bonus.
The race settled down and the front cars vanished into the distance… I was stuck in a tit for tat duel with an MGA for the first half of the race, I was quicker through Druids and Graham Hill bend, they were faster down the Cooper straight, I’d then run flat out through Surtees/McLaren and up the inside at Clearways before losing out again on the exit of Clark Curve and down Brabham Straight, the Beetle doesn’t need much braking effort to bring it to a stop, ( because it’s not going very fast!) and Paddock Hill is dispensed with a bit of a lift. The (not so) epic duel continued for about 14 laps until the MGA made a mistake going through paddock hill bend and ended up facing the wrong way in the kitty litter. I’d like to say that with some clear air in front of me I was able to get the hammer down and put in some quick laps.. But I’d be lying!
There were a number of Safety car incidents and unfortunately I caught the brunt of one when I pulled in for my mandatory pit stop, the pit lane exit was closed and I lost a lap waiting for the crocodile to come round again!
The car stayed together and the grin factor of actually seeing 6500rpm in 4th was great, I finished a very lowly 17th out of 20 finishers but it didn’t matter I was back out in the bug and it was still amazing fun!!
The gearing is still not quite right and EMC want to do some more “stuff” to the engine, and with only a limited amount of time before the next race at Donington only the engine bits will get done for then and the gearbox will get done after Donington.
Racing really is ace, every aspect of it is brilliant, when I’m not racing I’m one of the “pit b
hes” for the other racers and vice versa, club racing has a real family feel about it and everyone is friendly. One of the guys racing in the DM series had an off in qualifying and ripped the front of his 944 off and it was great to see a couple of mechanics and half a dozen drivers just attack the car with ducktape and zip ties to make sure he got out and into the race.
As always I have to thank the guys at EMC Motorsport for continuing to run the Bug for me, and I have to thank everyone at GAZ suspension, LifeLine Fire & Safety, Varley Redtop Battery’s, Dodo Juice, AWS, and NGK spark plugs for their continued support in 2011.
I’ll also drop a mention for my chosen charity The Childrens Trust, Tadworth continuing their excellent work in supporting children with multiple disabilities, complex health needs and acquired brain injury. I still have my justgiving page open if anyone would like to add their support to the charity.
http://www.justgiving.com/Nurburgsingh2010
A few pics courtesy of Steve from TCF Racing (thechosenfamily)
Next race is Donington May 29th
Race 1 was way back at the beginning of April but sadly the bug was still sat with its bum in the air and a gap where the engine should be!
The car has undergone a fair amount of work over the winter… I’m not even go to attempt to understand what EMC Motorsport have done other than the engine was taken apart some stuff was replaced and I’ve got a whole set of new Empi shiny tin ware to go with some other sexy ( expensive) engine internals.
It didn’t stop there, one of the big problems we had last year was that the gap between 3rd and 4th was way too big so the box was sent off to bears motorsport and a new set of ratios was added.
As is usual with Motorsport plans are things that quickly fall to the wayside and the stress levels rise as the time scales fall, so we weren’t ready for Snetterton in April, never mind, it’s miles away and a ball ache to get to anyway!
So sights firmly set on Brands Hatch the car was put back together and was taken out testing, Plan A was to shake down the car at Bedford on a trackday but sadly it was a static 103.7dB at 3500rpm… a bit too loud for the sensitive ears at Bedford Council so it was an early bath for me! It did highlight the fact that the exhaust was shagged though so a new rear box was fitted and we headed out to Mallory to get the engine run in and do some shakedown tests. Success!! The car revved all the way to 6000rpm in all 4 gears! Last year it’d go from 6000rpm in 3rd to 2500 in 4th and I’d never manage to get it back over 4000. So as far as the winter work is concerned it all looked good!
The race weekend arrived all too quickly and before I knew it I was feeling the “bug love” on my Friday night drive down the motorway to Brands. I’ve always known that driving a Beetle was guaranteed to make you smile, but who knew that towing a race bug would have the same effect. !! Its brilliant!
The fantastic weather that we’d been enjoying throughout April came to a crashing end on the morning of the race as I awoke to the sound of rain on the window…. GRRRRREAT!! Thanks!
On with the racing then… and an early morning fairly damp qualifying session saw me pootle around for the required minimum 3 laps to ensure we’d be on the grid somewhere, and then a quick tyre pressure check and off I went to actually get a feel for the car again whilst panicking and thinking “what –was-that!!?” to every pop rattle squeak that was emanating from the area behind me…. But all was well and good and apart from the complete donkey moment when I had to pull in to the pits because I couldn’t remember which switch worked the wipers….. we ended up 21st on the grid with a 1.17 in the wet and 2nd in class. Not great but equally we weren’t beached in the kitty litter or broken so it’ll do.
The weather cleared for the race and the track had dried so my wet weather equaliser was out of the window! The race started well… I wasn’t the last car into the first corner and everyone managed to get round without incident which is always a bonus.
The race settled down and the front cars vanished into the distance… I was stuck in a tit for tat duel with an MGA for the first half of the race, I was quicker through Druids and Graham Hill bend, they were faster down the Cooper straight, I’d then run flat out through Surtees/McLaren and up the inside at Clearways before losing out again on the exit of Clark Curve and down Brabham Straight, the Beetle doesn’t need much braking effort to bring it to a stop, ( because it’s not going very fast!) and Paddock Hill is dispensed with a bit of a lift. The (not so) epic duel continued for about 14 laps until the MGA made a mistake going through paddock hill bend and ended up facing the wrong way in the kitty litter. I’d like to say that with some clear air in front of me I was able to get the hammer down and put in some quick laps.. But I’d be lying!
There were a number of Safety car incidents and unfortunately I caught the brunt of one when I pulled in for my mandatory pit stop, the pit lane exit was closed and I lost a lap waiting for the crocodile to come round again!
The car stayed together and the grin factor of actually seeing 6500rpm in 4th was great, I finished a very lowly 17th out of 20 finishers but it didn’t matter I was back out in the bug and it was still amazing fun!!
The gearing is still not quite right and EMC want to do some more “stuff” to the engine, and with only a limited amount of time before the next race at Donington only the engine bits will get done for then and the gearbox will get done after Donington.
Racing really is ace, every aspect of it is brilliant, when I’m not racing I’m one of the “pit b
hes” for the other racers and vice versa, club racing has a real family feel about it and everyone is friendly. One of the guys racing in the DM series had an off in qualifying and ripped the front of his 944 off and it was great to see a couple of mechanics and half a dozen drivers just attack the car with ducktape and zip ties to make sure he got out and into the race.As always I have to thank the guys at EMC Motorsport for continuing to run the Bug for me, and I have to thank everyone at GAZ suspension, LifeLine Fire & Safety, Varley Redtop Battery’s, Dodo Juice, AWS, and NGK spark plugs for their continued support in 2011.
I’ll also drop a mention for my chosen charity The Childrens Trust, Tadworth continuing their excellent work in supporting children with multiple disabilities, complex health needs and acquired brain injury. I still have my justgiving page open if anyone would like to add their support to the charity.
http://www.justgiving.com/Nurburgsingh2010
A few pics courtesy of Steve from TCF Racing (thechosenfamily)
Next race is Donington May 29th
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