TVRCC Challenge race report
A wild wet and windy Welsh weekend was had by all
Graham Walden reports on the second weekend of the TVRCC Challenge 2005 at Pembrey on 21-22 May
 Gary Coulson chased byTim Broughton   Graham Walden's Tuscan (above and second from top)  Walden challenges Steve Watton's Griffith 200  Pat Smith's Tasmin Convertible  Steve Hall's 520bhp Chevy NASCAR engined Tasmin  Marc Hockin's Griffith 500  Steve Watton holds off Steve Hall |
The five weeks that we had between Brands Hatch and Pembrey did the usual disappearing act and suddenly we only had a week to get the car running properly.
So it was without any extra testing, and only a change of airflow meter and an oil pressure reset that, on the Thursday night, we loaded the trailer up with our Rover V8-powered Tuscan for the drag down to south Wales.
I drove down alone on the Thursday night, with Pops intending to head down in the morning. I always prefer to be at the circuit, and Pops prefers his own bed at home. Besides I had a new roof tent with a proper mattress to try out. I arrived in the paddock after about three hours to a howling gale and horizontal rain.
Thirty seconds later my tent was ready, and a couple of quick beers and a chat later I was tucked up in the Penthouse suite on top of the Discovery.
Practice
Friday morning was cold and wet. Pops was still on his way down as I signed on and contemplated going out on a wet track with the very old, hard, worn-out slicks the car was sitting on. 09.30 arrived and the proper tyres were still some time away so I hopped into the rather damp seat and set off on track for my first real test session.
The car felt fine, and with no sign of the running problems we’d had at Brands. The grip levels seemed much higher than I was prepared to find out and I survived the 20 minute paddling session unscathed.
Soon after the first session, Pops arrived and the sun started to come out. Due to tyre budget constraints -- we haven’t got a budget -- we elected to do all the morning sessions on the slicks. This would give me plenty of running to start to get the hang of the car but without using up the race tyres. On a mixture of dry, wet and damp sessions, we got some good running and down to the 1:05’s. In one of the morning sessions the gearbox stuck in third a couple of times so we bled the clutch and it seemed to cure it.
For the afternoon sessions, we bolted on the Dunlop Formula R DOJ1 race rubber. In the first session, I was only pulling mid 1:07s and Marc Hockin was posting quicker times in his Griffith 500. Back in the paddock after the session we discovered a plug lead hanging loose doh… In the next session and now with eight cylinders, a second was chopped off the times and we were back in the 1:06s and top of the class B runners.
There were a lot more cars in the afternoon sessions and much of the time was spent threading through the slower traffic, which made things quite interesting. I would have come in for one session but felt I was learning quite a bit playing with the traffic.
Simon Bowes and his team were still struggling with problems with their V8-powered Griff so we sat out one session to lend them part of our injection system. The parts made a difference but they were still unhappy with the car's performance and would pull the car before the race. Glyn Morris with the other Rover V8-powered Tuscan was also a casualty of the test day, with a rocker shaft problem sidelining his car.
As we loaded the slicks into the transit we discovered quite how old and worn they were -- one of them was now showing cord all the way around.
Soon after the afternoon session came to a close, the rain came back as we headed out into the local town in the search for Optimax and food. The Tuscan proved thirstier than me on a night out, with a consumption of about 0.75 of a litre per lap or about 8.5 miles to the gallon.
We managed to find a Shell garage and I think the Tuscan got the better deal as we ended up at a Pizza Hut with possibly the slowest service in the known universe. Back at the circuit after a few beers in the Moore racing truck, and the usual mickey-taking. I headed back to the roof tent with Pops preferring the back of the Transit, as it’s a bit closer to the ground.
The wind and the rain lashed it down all night and it was a very wet and windy circuit that greeted me as I climbed down from the tent in the morning and headed to the circuit café for a nice big fried breakfast and several mugs of coffee as we watched the rain stream down the windows.
Qualifying 1
The rain eased to a light stop start drizzle for the first Welsh Sports and Saloons out before us, but the track was still wet when we went out. In a bid to avoid being held up in qualifying, we placed the car in the holding area first, and headed out onto a clear track. After a few tentative laps I started to push but it was still quite slippery, and there were plenty of sideways moments. Halfway through the session the Richard Thorpe (AJP V8-powered Tuscan/Tasmin), who had joined the session last blasted past me on his full race wets, I tried to hold on to his tail but it was futile. I backed off, but then couldn’t get back in the groove and a clumsy entry to Hatchet’s hairpin, saw me swapping ends. After that I called it a day and pitted.
Steve Hall’s performance was fantastic posting a 1.07.8 in the wet against my second placed 1.13.8. Only 1.4 seconds slower than his dry race time. In the dry, the gap between us was much closer at 1.06.4 for Steve against my 1.06.8 -- not bad considering we were then on the same tyres and Steve’s car has twice the power.
Tim Broughton’s Tasmin S2's performance once again proved his Regenmeister ability, beating the rest of the class A and B runners to fourth on the grid. I kept Steve Wotton in his fantastically prepared Griff 200 just behind me by 0.06 of a second.
Race 1
First row of the grid, my mind flicked back to the first time this had happened in a one-off, single-seater race at Silverstone. There I had posted pole by about a second, only to end up last into the first corner, due to a missed gear. Starting from second place this time, I was sure that wouldn’t happen again, especially as I was on the dryer side of the track. The Welsh Sports and Saloons had proved it wasn’t quite dry enough for slicks though, losing about five cars into the barriers in the race before us.
I rolled up to the line, and waited for the lights, Steve Hall looked to be having some sort of problem though as he kept creeping then stopping. I ignored him and concentrated on the lights. Red on, red off and go, well actually cue loads of wheel spin, try second gear, still more wheel spin and wagging of the tail. Both Steve Wotton and Tim Broughton fly past.
So not the greatest start: second to fourth with pole sitter Steve in third. The first few corners were very frantic as both Steve and myself tried to retake Tim Broughton. We managed to prove that three cars can’t go round Spitfires, and I had to lift across the grass and slot in behind Tim through Dibeni and Paddock.
I tried to go around the outside on the way into the Esses but Tim kept coming across which resulted in a little love tap, as I didn’t fancy taking to the grass.
Through Brooklands and onto Speed Straight, Tim was easily dispatched and I tried to hang onto the two Invitation Class cars. By lap four the Turbo Tasmins had also fought past Tim and class order was restored, with Invitation Class, followed by the B runners then the A cars at the back, where Tim and Gary Coulson were having their own battle.
I had a largely lonely race as lead Class B Car until Steve in the Griff 200 slowed for a few laps with cooked tyres allowing me to jump on his tail. We had quite a battle for the last four laps, Steve pulling away down the straights with his power advantage and me then closing it again through the twisties with the Tuscan's superior handling and brakes.
As the flag came down, Steve Hall took the overall win, I followed in third about 12 seconds later with the B class win, and Gary took A class Honours after a battle with Tim who pulled off after spinning as did Kevan Gore in a Turbo Tasmin. The mud collecting in the wheels after a trip across the grass making them both think they had suspension damage.
For the rest of the day we checked the car over and hid from the rain, and finished off the evening once again in the Moore Racing Truck after a series BBQ.
Saturday night and Sunday morning followed much the same pattern as before with plenty of wind and rain -- enough rain in fact to bring down one of the awnings on a formula Renault transporter.
Qualifying 2
For the second qualifying session I again managed to get on to the track first, so I could run at my own pace with no distractions, although Steve Hall again came out last and cruised around for the first few laps. About halfway through the session I caught Steve as he started to pick up speed and we ran together for a while, trading fasted laps before I backed off for a few laps to get clear track and let things cool down. This proved the right strategy as I posted my fastest for the drying track on my last lap of a 1:09.7 against Steve Hall’s 1:07.9. With Steve Wotton in third again with a 1:10.2 and Marc Hockin the closest Class B car with a 1:12.2.
Race 2
With the front of the grid the same as the first race, I was determined not to have the same problems off the line. As we lined up this time I decided to try launching the car in second gear rather than first. Whilst this seemed like a good plan, when the lights went out the result was even worse than the first race. This time the car just sat there spinning the wheels and wagging the tail. Arggh! Steve Wotton once again got the jump on us both to lead into the first corner and Marc Hockin slipped past me for third.
I battled with Marc for the first few laps forcing him quicker than he had gone before with the nose of the Tuscan right on his boot. On about lap four, I sold him a dummy into the hairpin, pulling left before switching across the track and diving up the inside under braking.
It was all going swimmingly until I tried to change gear from third to second. The gearbox had decided not to play and stayed jammed in third. This distraction led to a half-spin, with Marc skilfully managing to avoid me, while having his own battle with the corner due to his late braking. With the car stopped I managed to find first and donut the car round on the narrow track. I quickly headed off after Marc, only for the box to again jam in third on the straight.
As the car slowed I managed to find neutral, only for the box to then refuse to select any gear. Eventually I found second and got moving again. I then tried to change up again, third no, fourth no, fifth yes then back down in to fourth. I was lucky to have some space behind me at this point and only lost a position to the invitation class car of Steve Wotton who was coming back through the order after a spin.
Not knowing what was wrong with the gearbox I pressed on and left it in fourth. Whilst this wasn’t the quickest through the hairpin I could hang on through the rest of the circuit and put in some reasonable times. In fact even jammed in fourth my quickest lap for that part of the race was faster than the third placed class B car. Towards the end of the race I closed back in on Steve Wotton who was having oil pressure problems through some of the corners and couldn’t pull away quickly down the straights, so we had an entertaining few laps at the end of the race.
At the flag, Steve Hall again took the overall win for the Invitation class with Marc Hockin taking the class B win and Gary Coulson making it a clean sweep in Class A and takes the series points lead.
So another almost good result, a first and a very lucky second and two fastest laps (Class B) from two pole positions (Class B), but a broken gearbox. Still the engine performed well and the power figures show we have 20 or so bhp to play with before we hit the class limit. The other Class B runners have more power and we may need to close that gap on the power circuits, but the handing of the Tuscan is spot on and where our advantage lies.
After a two weeks sorting a gearbox in a few hours I'm off to Knockhill but that as they say is another story.
Words by Graham Walden, Tuscan No2, Black Cat Racing
Pictures by George Carter
dinkel said:
Pretty wild car there . . .
You should see it on the track... awesome... in a straight line it leaves my Tuscan in its wake as if im in reverse... and unfortunetly for me it also handles like a tuscan in the twisties...at least when it has working brakes unlike knockhill this weekend
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