Good Luck Andy Holden
Discussion
It was a case of 'what could have been' !
Andy made up a bunch of places (albeit with a couple of spinners helping out) but 3 laps in the engine shouted enough. Pity. Will leave it to the man himself to give the gory details
Ed
edited to say he got past Wheeler too !
>> Edited by Edt on Sunday 3rd August 19:35
Andy made up a bunch of places (albeit with a couple of spinners helping out) but 3 laps in the engine shouted enough. Pity. Will leave it to the man himself to give the gory details
Ed
edited to say he got past Wheeler too !
>> Edited by Edt on Sunday 3rd August 19:35
Edt said:
It was a case of 'what could have been' !
Andy made up a bunch of places (albeit with a couple of spinners helping out) but 3 laps in the engine shouted enough. Pity. Will leave it to the man himself to give the gory details
Ed
edited to say he got past Wheeler too !
>> Edited by Edt on Sunday 3rd August 19:35
Thanks guys. I'll give a fuller report tomorrow (Mon) - but a quick summary was my engine blew in practice (but was 12th fastest despite this) and I suffered engine problems again today.
Qualifying on the new engine was difficult given the time it took to run it in. And both races were ended after 2 laps due to an oil leak from the cam cover throwing oil onto the exhaust manifold. This was unsuccessfully 'fixed' by TVR twice, before both races.
On race 2 and starting from the back of the grid of 19, I moved up to 14th before having to retire. Jan Persson and Ben Samuelson had spun, I got Bob Ross off the start, Hugh Marshall at Yentwood/Chapman Curve and Peter Wheeler in the Tarzan hairpin. It was all going really well before the cockpit filled with smoke and I knew if I continued it could have ended with a fire.
Peter Wheeler eventually finished 10th - I can only wonder at what might have been had it not been for the dodgy cam cover...
Roll on Thruxton in a fortnight....
P.S. Thanks v much to everyone who has provided encouragement and support on PH - and to those who came and said hello today. Much appreciated!!
Andy, I came over in the formation area before race 2 to say good luck - didn't really help though sorry about that !! I ahve a few jpegs of you and the car in the collecting area (just by race control office) and one or two 35mm prints of you on the grid for race one. E-mail me through my profile if you want copies.
Good luck next time out - and don't worry sir 'they all do that'
Good luck next time out - and don't worry sir 'they all do that'
Well I won't bore you all with all the minute detail but if anyone is interested here is a bit more information.
So, what is it like driving a race Tuscan?
Well I found the car surprisingly easy to drive - the clutch is progressive and frankly most people could drive it (assuming you're taller than 5 foot, otherwise you won't see out!). The tricky bit is driving it fast, and that's a different story altogether!!
The initially scary bit is the car moving around under you. Once there is heat in the brakes and tyres the cornering speeds are terrific - but the car is constantly jinking about. Powering out of corners it picks up the inside front wheel - so all steering input is from the outside front wheel. The steering wheel kicks around in your hands as you nail it out of a bend and it is physically hard work to keep it on line.
Braking is also tricky. Floor mounted pedals generate enormous leverage on the non-servo brakes and it is very easy to lock all the wheels and wreck £750 worth of tyres in a few seconds. Amongst various lock-ups, I locked the right rear on the last hairpin before the oval section. Halfway through turn 4 on the oval at about 120-130mph the rear suddenly kicked out - the outside tyre was too hot and boy, is that frightening with the wall outside you!! Part of your brain says lift off, you're going too fast, but the other part says for God's sake don't lift or you'll spin into the wall. Its an interesting dilemma - but the only option is to keep your foot in!!
Funnily enough you (well I did anyway!) quickly become used to the car moving about and start to use it to your advantage - e.g. slight lift mid corner to kick the rear round and back hard on the power as the car is now pointed straight out of the corner.
I remember being quite scared when the tail first kicked out on the Griff - now it feels the most natural thing in the world.
What else? Well you can see bugger all out of the car out to the sides and nothing to the rear, just what you see in the mirrors.
The car has immense power, and getting the balance on the throttle right, particularly off the grid, is tricky. It is very easy to dial in too many revs and just light up the rears, whilst everyone else buggers off. Fortunately I seemed to get it about right - particularly in Race 2.
Overall the 4 Caterham races seem to have prepared me quite well for the feeling of speed through the corners and braking. I didn't find the speed or braking ability of the car intimidating - it is bloody fast but having built up the speed slowly on the test day, I felt quite comfortable.
In three words - I love it!!
Low points:
- the engine blowing in practice
- the brake discs cracking and having to put new ones on for race 1 (not bedded in!!)
- the new engine p1ssing oil onto the exhaust manifolds despite 2 repairs, ending both my races
- signing various cheques throughout the weekend!!
High points:
- overtaking most of the British GT cars on the test day - particularly the Ferrari 360, Morgans and the Porsche GT3's!
- making up 5 places in Race 2 - cleanly overtaking 3 other guys - especially Peter Wheeler (Sorry Peter, but this was my pre weekend objective!!)
I still desperately need sponsorship - so if any of you out there in PH-land want to see your company name on the car for the last 3 rounds, I can come up with a good deal!! There were over 40,000 people at Rockingham and the race is on Sky - fantastic exposure. Plus at Insane Racing we know how to have a good time.... everyone involved with the team had a great weekend - sponsors, supporters - everyone!
Thruxton have reportedly pre-sold 30,000 tickets - it'll be another big one!! Can't wait!!
So, what is it like driving a race Tuscan?
Well I found the car surprisingly easy to drive - the clutch is progressive and frankly most people could drive it (assuming you're taller than 5 foot, otherwise you won't see out!). The tricky bit is driving it fast, and that's a different story altogether!!
The initially scary bit is the car moving around under you. Once there is heat in the brakes and tyres the cornering speeds are terrific - but the car is constantly jinking about. Powering out of corners it picks up the inside front wheel - so all steering input is from the outside front wheel. The steering wheel kicks around in your hands as you nail it out of a bend and it is physically hard work to keep it on line.
Braking is also tricky. Floor mounted pedals generate enormous leverage on the non-servo brakes and it is very easy to lock all the wheels and wreck £750 worth of tyres in a few seconds. Amongst various lock-ups, I locked the right rear on the last hairpin before the oval section. Halfway through turn 4 on the oval at about 120-130mph the rear suddenly kicked out - the outside tyre was too hot and boy, is that frightening with the wall outside you!! Part of your brain says lift off, you're going too fast, but the other part says for God's sake don't lift or you'll spin into the wall. Its an interesting dilemma - but the only option is to keep your foot in!!
Funnily enough you (well I did anyway!) quickly become used to the car moving about and start to use it to your advantage - e.g. slight lift mid corner to kick the rear round and back hard on the power as the car is now pointed straight out of the corner.
I remember being quite scared when the tail first kicked out on the Griff - now it feels the most natural thing in the world.
What else? Well you can see bugger all out of the car out to the sides and nothing to the rear, just what you see in the mirrors.
The car has immense power, and getting the balance on the throttle right, particularly off the grid, is tricky. It is very easy to dial in too many revs and just light up the rears, whilst everyone else buggers off. Fortunately I seemed to get it about right - particularly in Race 2.
Overall the 4 Caterham races seem to have prepared me quite well for the feeling of speed through the corners and braking. I didn't find the speed or braking ability of the car intimidating - it is bloody fast but having built up the speed slowly on the test day, I felt quite comfortable.
In three words - I love it!!
Low points:
- the engine blowing in practice
- the brake discs cracking and having to put new ones on for race 1 (not bedded in!!)
- the new engine p1ssing oil onto the exhaust manifolds despite 2 repairs, ending both my races
- signing various cheques throughout the weekend!!
High points:
- overtaking most of the British GT cars on the test day - particularly the Ferrari 360, Morgans and the Porsche GT3's!
- making up 5 places in Race 2 - cleanly overtaking 3 other guys - especially Peter Wheeler (Sorry Peter, but this was my pre weekend objective!!)
I still desperately need sponsorship - so if any of you out there in PH-land want to see your company name on the car for the last 3 rounds, I can come up with a good deal!! There were over 40,000 people at Rockingham and the race is on Sky - fantastic exposure. Plus at Insane Racing we know how to have a good time.... everyone involved with the team had a great weekend - sponsors, supporters - everyone!
Thruxton have reportedly pre-sold 30,000 tickets - it'll be another big one!! Can't wait!!
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