OT: Going Racing.. (2015-10-15) - Season Over - 7th :(
Turbo Mini Forums

Why did the gearbox get swapped? I missed that part I guess? Was it the oil leak?

Nah, just a shagged loud box - sounded like it was straight cut, and refused to go into 4th when hot.

Just posting this to keep the log complete.

Since the last update I have replaced and fixed a few minor things.

I have replaced a broken stud in the exhaust manifold, which was from the rear-end bash I received at Rockingham.

I have replaced an air intake boot, and MAF (switched back to my old MAF, as my engine wasn’t running amazingly).The boot had a hole, so I decided to swap that over too.



I replaced a cracked headlight.



I have replaced the bolts that hold the ballast in.



I also tidied up the wiring for my GoPro (and added wiring for a 2nd, rear facing one), as well as the mandatory driving standards camera.



And that’s about it.

You may have noticed that I haven’t mentioned any racing lately. I have run out of cash for the moment, and we have had to miss the Cadwell Park round, which was at the end of June, and we will also be missing the Oulton Park meeting too, which is held on the 19th of July.

It’s a huge shame to miss out two of the UK’s best circuits, but that’s life, I suppose.

We’ll be back out in August at Brands Hatch to race on the mighty GP circuit. Can’t wait

Thats the problem with motorsport. Even the low cost stuff is expensive

Quick update. Since the last one I have passed my B+E trailer test, so I no longer have to drive the car to and from the track.

With this in mind, the car can now be a bit less road-suitable, so I lowered it down a bit more, and tweaked a few other things.

I've also fitted new interior door pulls (as I managed to break my last ones!) and done a few other little tweaks.

I then whisked the car off to EDMsport on a trailer I borrowed from a fellow PBMWC competitor, and had it corner weighted and a suspension geo setup. I also had it power tested, and found that it has only got 133bhp.. 12 down on the power limit.





Next weekend we are out at Brands Hatch on the fantastic GP circuit. I've never actually driven it, but everyone that has says it's amazing. I can't wait to get back out in the car!

This weekend was rounds 9 and 10 of the Production BMW Championship which were held at the fantastic Brands Hatch GP track.

I had not driven the track before, so entered the car for not only the PBMWC rounds, but the Toyo Tires Racing Saloons qualifying and first race, which were held on the Saturday.

We set off for the track on Friday lunchtime, using a trailer lent to us by Kevin Hodgin, a fellow (and very kind) PBMWC competitor. The trailer made everything so much easier, and also took away any worry of a crash at the track, since we could bring the car home either way. The M25 was busy, but we arrived at the track at around 4pm, to be greeted with a rain shower. Thank god we had already decided it looked iffy and booked a local hotel.

The marquee was set up quickly, and the car taken from the trailer and popped under it. We then said our hellos to everyone, and escaped to the hotel.



Saturday TTRS & Qualifying

10:05 TTRS Qualifying. Saturday morning was the Toyo Tires Racing Saloon races. We started with qualifying, and if at first I was daunted by the track, by the end I was having great fun. I qualified 6th in class (28th overall), out of 21 PBMW cars.

14:10 - TTRS Race. I decided to start the race from the pitlane, along with championship front runner Gary Feakins, to avoid any crashes in the non-championship race. I made it from the back up to 33rd position out of 47 entered cars.

18:05 - Production BMW Championship Qualifying was the last session of the day. After a good showing in the earlier races I was pretty confident. That was a mistake. I made a huge balls up in qualifying and pootled around following another car, without really thinking about the actual driving and ended up 18th. Urgh. I had work to do the next day in the race!

The evening was spent watching my on board videos, and videos of other’s on YouTube and trying to work out where I could gain time. Everywhere! I fell asleep nervous about the long day ahead. THEN I WAS RUDELY AWOKEN BY A FIRE ALARM! Yep, not the best night’s sleep ever.

Sunday - PBMWC Races

Sunday morning arrived and I was fortunate enough to spend some time with Gary, who looked at my lap and told me what I should have been doing, and how to improve. - Top bloke.

Just before the race we had a huge downpour of rain, just in time to spice things up a bit. The Atom Cup race before us had a safety car and was eventually red flagged.

12:35 - Race 1 was good for me but it didn’t start that well - I made an awful start, shifting from 1st to 4th gear without realising and thinking that I had a broken engine.. after realising my mistake I was off and down into 30th place, or so.
Luckily for me (and nobody else) the front half of the grid decided to throw their cars into the gravel on a slippery Clearways. The race was red flagged, and we would eventually re-take the grid to re-start from our original positions.
My 2nd start of the race wasn’t much better, but I realised what I had done and managed to shift back to 2nd without losing too many spots. I had some good battles including a great one with Simon Bassford (and some robust defending from one or two other cars causing a bit of damage to my car) but managed to claw my way up to 9th at one point, before making a mistake on the final lap, and that combined with fuel starvation caused me to drop down to 12th position. I feel this was a great effort, as I really tried to drive in a more agressive and focused way - it worked! Yet another top ten finish escaped me, but we’re getting consistently close now.



The paddock atmosphere was a bit strange after the race, with over half of the field having new dents and crash damage. The race had eight retirements, which is unusual for our series. I was one of the lucky few!

17:05 - Race 2 wasn’t so good - we didn’t have time to fix the geometry of my suspension for the race, so we left for the grid with the wheels pointing in rather random directions. The car was tricky to drive, and despite my best efforts and a great battle with Dave Graves (the #33 car) I slipped down to 15th position. I could still see the 10th place car over the finish line, but I was probably 10-15 seconds behind them. The end of the race was really hard work - because the car was harder to drive, I got more tired and the last 2 laps were full of mistakes.



Still, another great weekend with fantastic people, and I’m now trying to find the funding to get the car to the final two rounds, plus a bonus non championship round at Silverstone GP in September.

Thanks for the help to Rob, Simon, Gary and Hannah, as well as Mark Palmer too! Nicky was fantastic this weekend, doing my tyre pressures and being my dogs-body. Brilliant.

Also, thanks to Jon @ SnappyRacers and the Graves gang for their photos!



----------------

Race 1 Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-bnYQxNMTs

Race 2 Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpL6anLxJ_I

Edited by AlexB on 19th Aug, 2014.

Here are a few more photos by Jon @ SnappyRacers.com.

nice write up alex, I'm surprised nobody's commented. I've been away on holiday. Do you find it amazing how different racing is from track days?

Team www.sheepspeed.com Racing

That's a cool update; I too must have missed it on the front page.
Videos are pretty cool too. I'm curious, just how much does this cost a typical race?

great vid, the car looks good to drive.

I run a supercharger and I don't care the TB is on the wrong side.
VEMS + 12 PSI + Liquid Intercooler = Small Bore FUN!

Great bit of racing!! Well done :)

Jim - Yes. Amazes me how softly and slowly people drive on trackdays.. As you know, racing is 'on it' from lights to flag.

Each race weekend is costing me about a grand all in, including accommodation, travel, entry fees and what-not.

Edited by AlexB on 28th Aug, 2014.

Jesus Christ. What do you do for a living to pay for that!

Nice write up, enjoy catching up with this thread!

This the first time you've raced Alex? Seems like your really enjoying it, would love to do something similar but don't have the disposable income for it unfortunately.

998 t2 ongoing project.

eeek, time to start racing your mini! I think it cost me around half that to race mine, Although I do stay at the track in my old retro camper.

Team www.sheepspeed.com Racing

Yeah a good % is travel and accommodation - the entry fees are £300-400 depending on track.

This is my first year of racing, yeah. Love it.

Earlier this week I took the car over to Gary Feakin's workshop, and had the tracking set up. It was well out and we suspect something is bent after my contact at Brands with another competitor. With limited time and funds available, Gary set the tracking as close as he could, and we'll sort anything bent things after the season ends in a month's time.

This weekend I spent some time checking the car over, making sure bolts were tight, brakes were good and fluids were correct. I gave it an oil change, and also changed a few nuts and bolts around the car that I wasn't happy with.

The only changes for this round are new wing mirrors (as at brands both sides decided to throw their glass up the track), and a removed sump guard. I weighed the guard while doing the oil change and decided it was worth removing for good. I hope it doesn't come back to haunt me!

I think I should really replace the engine and gearbox mounts, since they are clearly knackered, but I've run out of time now so they will have to do

The next race weekend is Lydden Hill on the 4th of October, followed 3 weeks later by a weekend at the Snetterton 300 track.

Alex, if you ever need a gofer let me know !

You are clearly hooked on racing and it is a disease for which there is no known cure.

Good luck buddy

Team www.sheepspeed.com Racing

You too mate, hope Pembray goes well.

I hope so, I'm hoping for some lower lap times, made some changes this week, so hopefully they should help.

Team www.sheepspeed.com Racing

I may well wind the boost up a bit, last round of the year, lets see if I've got the balls to run 30psi for a whole race

Team www.sheepspeed.com Racing

So I changed my mind - I decided that as I'd forgotten a few bolts that I wanted to check, and to do that I'd have to get back under the car, I may as well replace the engine and gearbox mounts too.

I bought standard-fit items, as that's what is defined in the regs, but I am hoping this area of the regulations will be relaxed next year, so I can put some stiffer things in place.

The old mounts were shot, too. The metal 'frame' had come away from the rubber and they looked very short and squat when on the car. The new ones are still too soft in my opinion (even for a road car!) but at least they're new and in one piece.

Anyway, mounts are now fitted, bolts are checked and we're good to go.. I hope!

Oh, and someone asked if I was taking it banger racing. Thanks.