Sakari Racing News

Snetterton 300 Race June 2011

2011-07-27T13:41:00.003+01:00

(by Chris Shackle)

The Snetterton weekend would be interesting for a number reasons. I class it as my home track so all my family, friends and marshalling chums would be there. Also, it would be the first time I would turn a wheel on the new 300 layout, and as such, would also be taking part in my very first Nippon race to get a few extra minutes of track time. I had previously qualified with the Nippons but this was the first time I was officially entering as a Nippon entrant.

So Saturday morning, and typically for Snetteron, the weather wouldn’t make its mind up. On the way to the circuit in the morning it was damp and spitting in places. But by the time we got on track for quail, it was begining to dry, or at least, stopped raining. I decided to put new boots on the car to help scrub them in for the rest of the weekend. I was treating the Nippon as a test session and was mixing up tyre pressures and ARB settings.

Nippon Qualifying

Quail went well up until about lap 2 when a miss fire had made itself apparent. Although it was hurting my performance down the straight (I was down to 2, even 1 cylinder at one point!) I decided to stay to get some track knowledge. In the end, I qualified 7^th in class and was by no means the last on the grid. Back in the paddock we whipped the spark plugs out, gave them a good clean and she was running sweet again!

Nippon Race 1

Not much of note here. Kept it clean, out of trouble and managed to finish 4^th in class.

Nippon Race 2

I got a great start down the outside of everyone and by the end of the first lap I was leading GT150! I was chasing a Celica, using it to try and keep pace as I had An MGF and a few MR2’s chasing me down. By the end of the 3^rd lap, I had cooked my tyres and they were spent. This meant 2 things - 1, I had to tip toe round the long corners to stop the rear stepping out and 2, lots of drifting fun round Montreal! Thankfully, the MGF seemed to be keeping the MR2’s at bay who were snapping at his heels. By the time the 5^th lap came by, Dave Hemingway had managed to slip past and was catching me hand over fist. We exchanged places for a while until he got the upper hand and maintained a gap until the end. Overall, a good learning curve and a 2^nd in class in only my second ever Nippon race!!

MR2 Qualifying

The next day was for MR2’s. Feeling confident from yesterdays action I went out in quail in high hopes and managed to qualify 5^th, beating my personal best from the previous day. I started on the inside and everything looked set for a cracking race!

MR2 Race 1

As the race started, I got a great start down the inside and was third by the second corner and hunting down Simon Lockey in Second. After that it all went to pot really! Everyone else seemed to have more straight line speed then me (the reason why has since become clear!). Trying hard to make up for this, I was giving it all round the corners. Until, the inevitable happened. As I rounded Montreal for the 5^th time, the back end stepped out and, instead of lifting, I kept my foot nailed to the throttle and she went into a half spin, right in front of where my marshal gang were! I was now back in 7^th place and desperate to make places up. In traffic, I went round Hamilton, where the car in front span; I panicked, and followed him off! To cut a long story short, after the race had finished, we had a look and the inside rear tyre was literally shredded to pieces!! OOPPSSS!! Still, remembered to bring a scrubbed spare with me so we swapped the tyres over.

MR2 Race 2

From 10^th, I was keen to make amends for my crap performance in race 1. All was going OK, I managed to get up to 9^th until the 5^th lap. I was chasing Avery and Hemingway into Murrays when Avery went wide onto the grass. Trying to avoid him, DH lost momentum and I got a run at him down the outside along the start/finish straight. As we approached Ritches, we were still neck-and-neck. We both gave each other room but Neil Hurren, went inside of DH, jumping over the curb bumping into him, which in turn sent him into me. This caused me to get a huge tank-slapper and sent me towards the tyre wall. Nothing I could do except wait for the inevitable! Thankful the car hit the tyre wall side on so the impact was spread. Hopefully to be back better at Brands!!

Castle Combe Race May 2011

2011-07-27T12:40:00.004+01:00

Qualifying
This would be my first race of the 2011 season due to finances not allowing me to get out sooner, it was good to catch up with the guys again and meet some new faces. I was confident of putting in a decent performance as I felt I had really improved in my last race at Mallory and had put some good runs in at trackdays over the winter. The morning was wet and it was raining during qualifying so it wasn't getting any drier, it was lucky that I needed new tyres as these definitely helped with grip on the wet track.
Started off slowly to get myself used to the car again and the track which I have only done 40 minutes on before; then I started to increase the pace and found a good level of grip. I then started catching and passing everyone on track quite easily. I finished the session feeling like I had done a solid job but with room for improvement. I was amazed to find myself in second place, occupying the front row of the grid, by far my best qualifying ever! Although I was about 0.8 seconds off pole I was 0.9 seconds faster than 3rd place so this gave me some confidence going into the race to be able to maintain my position.

Race 1
After a long agonising wait we eventually got around to starting the first race at 4pm, I was getting concerned that the rain was easing off as the set up of the car and style of my driving obviously favoured wet weather. I didn't make a good start loosing several places going into the first corner but then one of those who got past me spun and I narrowly missed his front end as it came in front of me. This left a reasonable gap behind me and I was in 3rd place; I then lost a place going into the last corner putting me in 4th as we completed the first lap. Coming back into the first corner 2nd place spun off the circuit which left me in 3rd place right behind 2nd place and I had noticed he seemed to be really lacking grip going into the corners. A couple of corners later he went very wide and I was easily able to pass up the inside. I then pulled out a bit of a gap and noticed a few laps later that a different car was now catching me so I increased my pace and managed to maintain a gap all the way to the finish despite delays behind back markers. After what seemed like forever I came home in 2nd place! Mine and the Sakari Racing teams best result ever! Such a great feeling to finish so well although I was a bit disappointed at the total lack of any kind of podium or award ceremony after the race especially this was my first time in this position.

Race 2
Unfortunately the track had dried up for the 2nd race as we were the last race out on the circuit, this wasn't going to be good for my set up but I was still going to give everything I had to finish as high as possible. Again didn't get a good start and got passed by several cars on the first lap, eventually coming around in 5th place to start the second lap. I then managed to get past one car into 4th and maintained this position for 3 more laps until I was caught up by Jonny White. Coming into the 2nd chicane I could see him closing behind me but a couple of car lengths back and knowing that you can't fit 2 cars around that corner took my usual line. However he came up the inside of me and barged me completely off the circuit. I had to take to the grass and just managed to keep it in a straight line to rejoin in 7th place. I wasn't particularly happy at this point and managed to catch up to the back of 6th place but then as I was about to enter the chicane again the engine spectacularly blew up! All I could see where large flames coming from the engine bay so I pulled off the circuit and stopped at a marshals point. This video (http://vimeo.com/24473674) shows just how bad it did go. The engine is a write off and I am having to miss the next race in order to pay for a new one but I still left the circuit in a good mood with the days earlier results.

My first podium achieved and the teams second in only its second season, now Chris just has to get pole position and a race win to go one better!

Brands Hatch Indy Race May 2011

2011-07-09T13:22:00.002+01:00

Chris started his season off at Brands Hatch with a fine top ten qualifying run getting 9th place only a second off pole position. He had a consistent run maintaining his 9th place to line but finished only half a second behind 8th place. For the second race Chris had a good start gaining a place on the first lap but then had an excursion and dropped down to 15th place. He then battled his way back up the grid to 12th by lap 10 but was then left with too much of a gap to the next driver to improve any further.

A solid start to the season and, with Chris missing out on Castle Combe, he'll be looking forward to his next race At Snetterton his home circuit.

Chris Shackle 3rd Placed Driver of the Season 2010

2011-07-09T13:07:00.003+01:00

I've been a bit slow keeping this page up to date so here's the first of several updates seeing as we are half way through the 2011 season!

The end of season awards took place in November 2010 and I need to give a big congratulations to my team mate Chris Shackle for achieving 3rd placed driver of the season. This was given to him based on his consistency throughout the season of obtaining top ten qualifying positions and race results including Chris's and the teams first podium at Mallory Park.

The pressures now on Chris (mainly from me) to improve on this next year and lets see some more podiums for both of us.

Mallory Park Race September 2010

2010-09-20T15:15:00.002+01:00

This would be my last race this season due to financial restraints but Chris should be appearing at Brands Hatch in October.

Qualifying
Didn't go as well as I had thought being down in 19th position so I decided to change my very badly worn tyres with a set of part used ones I had. Chris put in another great qualifying performance to mirror Cadwell getting 5th on the grid.

Race 1
this was a really fun race for me and not a lap went past that I wasn't battling someone. I made a couple of places on the first lap but a couple of people got past. I then started carving my way through the field with a great battle with Paul Corbridge, eventually finishing in 9th place. Chris had a reasonably good race losing a couple of places to Dave Hemingway and Aaron Pullan but gained one from the retired Sarah Wherry to finish in 6th, despite having a spin. He also set the fastest lap for the race.

Race 2
I didn't get the greatest of starts losing a couple of places but I soon managed to get them back over the next couple of laps. I then had another big battle with Paul Corbridge swapping positions about 6 times over just 3 laps but I eventually managed to get past him and then get some space between us. I was catching Roger Pullan and could see Chris just in front of him but then the chequered flag came out and I was 5th! My best result ever and a great way to finish the season.
Chris put in yet another a great performance to get past Aaron and Dave, and with David Pittard going off into the gravel he was able to claim a podium place to finish in 3rd place! This is Chris's first, of hopefully many, podiums and the first time we have had both Sakari Racing cars in the top 5. Chris was obviously delighted with his finishing position, now just those two orange cars to get past!

Cadwell Park August 2010

2010-09-20T15:00:00.002+01:00

Qualifying
This being my home circuit I was a bit disappointed with 12th place in qualifying but it wasn't too bad considering I was running on fairly old tyres. Chris put in a great performance to qualify in 5th place.

Race 1
I have always loved racing around Cadwell and this race was no exception! I had a long battle with Richard Avery who I eventually got passed then after I had opened up a bit of a lead on him the last couple of laps were a bit quiet for me until the race ended early due to a red flag. I was very pleased with my 7th placed finish. Chris had a reasonably quiet race too with a 3 second gap in front of him and behind him, he maintained 5th place.

Race 2
This wasn't so great for me as I was struggling for grip and we had some of the faster cars coming up through the grid after problems in qualifying and the previous race; I managed to hold onto 10th place for a while towards the end of the race but somehow managed to knock my engine cut off switch losing all power going into the hairpin, finishing 11th in the end.
Chris had a solid race just losing one place to finish 6th with a fast charging John Winter finishing just 4 tenths of a second behind him.

Lydden Hill Race 2010

2010-09-20T14:37:00.002+01:00

Qualifying
This got a little complicated as we had so many MR2's some had to qualify in the Nippon Challenge and we had 3 races separated in 3 groups of the fastest 12, middle 12 and slowest rest of field. I managed an overall 15th which I was happy with as it meant I would start 3rd in one of the races. Chris did really well seeing as it was his first time at the circuit and managed 6th.

Race 1
Chris was the first out on circuit with the fastest 12 and slowest where he lost a couple of places to finish 8th.
I had an awful first race as I was made to make a modification to my exhaust because it was apparently too loud (previous and subsequent noise tests showed it was fine). I finished 12th and it was really frustrating not being able to be able to do anything about the other drivers getting past me due to my lack of power. I was a little angry to say the least!
The final race of the day Chris and I would be in together, with Chris starting 6th and me starting in 15th. I wasn't particularly focused after the first race result and having removed the make shift silenced I lost one place to finish 16th. Chris didn't particularly enjoy this circuit earlier with a 12th place finish.
I for one certainly won't be making the 6 hour journey to race here again!

Castle Combe Race 2010

2010-09-20T13:59:00.004+01:00

Chris didn't enter this event so I was the lone Sakari Racing car. I had a lot of support at this meeting with it being the first race my Godson and Girlfriend would see, so no pressure!

Qualifying
Well for me it didn't happen! After thinking we had solved the overheating problem from Snetterton we managed to get water into the spark plugs and so the car was misfiring. This meant I would start from the back of the grid in 31st position.

Race 1
Considering I had never raced at this circuit and didn't get anytime to practice in qualifying I was quite pleased with myself. Had a lot of battles throughout the race and sustained a bit of damage but it was a great race, eventually making up 13 places to finish 18th. Plus with only one retirement and no one getting lapped I had to work hard for every place.

Race 2
The second race was great fun again with me making up a further two places to finish 16th. It could have been more as I went off the circuit losing about 5 places that I then had to battle to make up again.

Snetterton Race May 2010

2010-09-20T13:39:00.002+01:00

I've been very lax getting updates on here so this is the first of my brief race reports to be posted up here.

Qualifying
Didn't get off to a great start with a qualifying position of 26 out of 39 and I was only able to complete 8 laps due to an overheating problem and had to be towed back to the pits. Chris did a lot better with a very respectable 8th.

Race 1
This race took 3 goes to get started with 2 red flags following on from 1st corner incidents. I had a very large collision with a sideways facing car which left a lot of damage to the front of my car but with a bit of tape I was allowed to continue. Finished 19th in the end mainly due to cars retiring and again had an overheating problem which saw me stop on the warm down lap and needed another tow.
Chris enjoyed a bit of a battle with 2 other cars with only a second separating all 3 of them, he finished in the middle of them with an improved position on qualifying of 6th.

Race 2
Again I had problems with overheating and had to retire on lap 2 which was a big shame seeing how much effort Kerry had put in to try and cure the problem and reshape the front of the car.
Chris manged to improve another position to 5th in this race making this his best result so far in MR2's and he also knocked 4 tenths of his lap time.

Mallory Race April 2010

2010-05-28T11:13:00.004+01:00

First race of the season! felt good to be back in the hot seat and it looked fantastic to see both Sakari Racing cars in the same colour scheme for the first time.

Qualifying
With 40 cars out on a less than one minute circuit it was fairly busy! Still managed to get a couple of half decent laps in as Chris and I were working together to give each other space to get flying laps in. The session got red flagged because of a spin at the hairpin and most of the cars were sent back into the paddock, we thought that was it but then they opened the circuit again! I had already got myself undressed and so didn't go out agian. Would have been nice to have been directed into the pitlane to go out again but oh well. I qualified well down in 22nd, I had hoped for something just outside of top ten. Chris did better just outside the top ten but still hoped to have been further up the grid.

Race 1
I made a really good start and got past Jason Jesse just in front of me very quickly and made up several other places. Got stuck into a really good battle with several cars in the first few laps and made a few more places up. Unfortunately Chris didn't have such a great start and made a mistake somewhere which meant I was able to get past him on the first lap. He followed closely behind me as I struggled to find a way past Simon Lockey in the Gulf car. Then as I was about to make a move an incident up ahead made Simon slow unexpectedly and as I was unsighted I had to take avoiding action onto the grass. Just managed to keep hold of it but Chris just managed to get past me and thats the way we stayed until the finish line.
Chris finished 13th and I made up 8 places to get up to 14th so it was a pretty good race for me.

Race 2
Chris and I lined up side by side on the grid which looked really good! But that would be the last I saw of him in the race cus I made an awful start and lost a couple of places, this did however give me the oportunity to do some overtaking! Managed to make several manouvres mostly coming out of the hairpin and along the start finish straight, the new engine is working really well. Also made a move on the back straight into the esses and another last minute decision going up the inside into Gerrards from about 2 car lengths back! However this all happened in the first half of the race and I then started to stop catching the guy in front and dropped back into the clutches of 6 cars. I had got my tyre pressures all wrong and really struggled around the corners so it was just one long defense to keep the cars behind me. Very tiring work but I managed to keep my place. Me and the 6 cars behind me all finished within 2 seconds of each other, thats how close it was! Chris had a much better race this time getting up into 6th and making a good move to pull up into 5th breifly down the start finish striaght but pulled out going into Gerrards and Simon Lockey made a daring but very well timed move up the inside to take another place.
Chris finished 7th in the end and I made up 4 places to finish 10th.

Both of us in the top ten on the second race was a good team result particularly as niether of us rate Mallory as one of our better circuits, roll on Snetterton!

Matt Smith, Team Principal / Driver #30

Mallory Trackday April 2010

2010-05-28T10:50:00.004+01:00

Seeing as the next race is nearly upon us I thought I had better update the blog! Mallory Trackday saw a total of 13 MR2's dominating the day, really good hot sunny weather all day and enjoyed by all. We provided a BBQ for all the drivers which went down well and the discount on the day, I was able to negotiate, was also appreciated!

Chris had a reasonably trouble free day providing passenger rides and getting used to being back in the seat, he also gave me a few passenger laps and I returned the favour to see if we could learn off each other, heal toe does actually seem to work although I can't do it!
My day was a little busier as I had a new engine to run in. To start with the engine really didn't sound good and I was getting a bit worried but then someone pointed out the ignition leads were the wrong way around, changed them and it sounded great! First time out oil was everywhere creating lots of smoke, so we tightened a few bolts, topped it up and went out agian. Still lots of oil everywhere so my master mechanic Kerry set to investigating and found the cam seals used were too thin; luckily one of the other drivers at the day had a set they let us have and once these were installed we had no further problems for the rest of the day.
I gave several passenger laps and had a session out by myself, the scariest moment came when I let Dad drive the car! Sorry but never again!

All in all a very useful day out that set us up nicely for the first race at the same venue the next week.

Matt Smith, Team Principal / Driver #30

Snetterton Trackday January 2010

2010-04-07T09:33:00.002+01:00

The day turned out to be a lot better than it looked first thing in the morning! It took us 2 hours just to get the motorhome and trailer off my Aunts drive, problem was trying to pull 4.5 tons up an icy road. Eventually got going by purchasing 7.5kgs of table salt from the local shop and deicing the road and finally by me pushing!
We eventually made it to the circuit about 10am just in time to unload, attend the shortest briefing ever (have you done trackday before? - yes, do you know flags? i'm a marshal, off you go then) and do the sighting laps so didn't actually lose any time in the end.
It was quite nasty and greasy for the morning and I managed a 360 at the end of the start finish straight, still unlike spins before I remembered to get the clutch in and got going straight away. The track conditions got progressivley better throughout the afternoon and I would say that for my last two sessions the track was virtually dry. I felt a lot quicker than I had before (even with passengers) but still room for improvement on a couple of corners, track knowledge really is key.

Credit to Chris for the Sakari Racing BBQ idea, when he first told me I had wondered if he realised what time of the year it was but it turned out to be a really good idea. Although with the amount of support we are now getting between us i'll have to remember to bring a second BBQ next time!

Good time had by all and I think a bit of good promotion for the series.

Brands Hatch October 2009

2010-01-17T18:25:00.002Z

I know its a bit late but I thought I had better put something up here before the new season starts!

Qualifying
Useless would be a good word to describe my qualifying place! It was very wet and raining all through the session and I was well off the pace, eventually qualifyed 24th out of 26.

Race 1
Had a very good start and made 6 places off the line but then got nudged wide on the second corner and lost them again! Still very wet so my tactic was to just keep the car on the track; I was overtaken several times only for that driver to then spin off and rejoin behind me. I did have one off myself when I broke slightly too late got onto the wet part of the track and headed off onto the grass. Rejoined just behind the leaders (one lap down) and only lost one place eventually finishing 17th.

Race 2
Again another good start to make up a couple of places but then the race turned into a defensive one as I had one car right behind me the whole race. He managed to get past me once on the entrance to the start/finish straight but I held in there and out-braved him into paddock hill bend around the outside to ge the palce back. Shortly afterwards he made a mistake and I was able to pull away and catch the guys in front. Started to make a move up the inside of them both going onto the start/finish straight but had to back off quickly as one of them closed me out; probably would have sent him sidewides into the pit wall at about 60mph if I hadn't of backed off. Had another oportunity on the penultimate lap to get past but due to Ross Stoners spin the yellow flags were out and so I couldn't make my move.
Finished in 13th due to others falling off the circuit, definately need to work on my wet weather driving but not too bad for my first time at Brands.

Mallory Park September 2009

2009-10-10T18:29:00.002+01:00

Qualifying: This is the first time I would be out in the car after getting its third engine of the year so I was just praying it would last out. Spent the first few laps under 3,ooorpm to warm the engine up and then tried to get some fast laps in. With such a short circuit and with so many cars out it was hard to get any kind of fast lap in. Qualified in 21st which was about what I expected, still it leaves me with more cars to overtake!

Race 1: made a poor start and lost several places but managed to get a couple back quite quickly. I was realing in 3 cars just ahead of me until I noticed a plume of steam coming from the front of the car, I started to loose power and then got passed by everyone behind me so decided to pull into the pits. Turned out that a stone had punctured the radiator so that was the end of the race for me. Managed to find a spare radiator in the paddock (thanks Coggy) and got it fitted before the second race.

Race 2: got off to a great start (so I thought), I managed to get past Nina in front of me on the inside very quickly then switched to the outside to get past another car. When I look back at the video footage seems I then went and lost most of the places I made by the start of the second lap. As the race played out I had a good tussle with the light blue car, then Chris Shackle spun off from the front of the pack and rejoined just behind me. He got past me quickly then past the light blue car a couple of laps later. I shortly followed up with my move on the light blue car; I took a slow entry into the hairpin to get a quick exit and managed to get up the inside, we then went down the start finish straight side by side but I was endging ahead and had the outside line going into Gerrards, we had a slight overlap coming out of Gerrards and I was sent slightly sideways but held onto it and came out ahead. I then started to pull away and was surprised to find I was catching Chris. I followed him around for a couple of laps right behind him and noticed he was braking very early into the hairpin so next lap around I had a faster exit from the esses and dived up the inside into the hairpin braking very late. I manged to keep in front of him (but only just) coming out of the hairpin and then started to pull away. At the end of the race I was catching Seb Fisher up ahead and would have been right behind him after another lap but the chequered flag came out.
Not a great day out finishing in 15th but on a positive note I did make several overtaking manouvres which is something I had failed to do previously.

Snetterton, no show

2009-08-24T13:26:00.002+01:00

After a succesful swap out of engines and a good start to my trackday at Snetterton (despite the heavy rain first thing) things ended badly. It seems I ran the engine for too long and too hard and ended up damaging the big end. I was able to replace the big end bearings and everything was looking good for the next race at Snetterton.

Race Day
After a bit of a frantic start to the day trying to get new tyres fitted, I was feeling confident going into the qualifying session. However, second lap in the horrible noise from the engine started again and I realised that just replacing the big end bearings had not solved the problem. That was it, my race day over and another new engine required. :( I wasn't the only one to fall at the first hurdle, several other cars didn't make it past qualifying. Out of a total of 29 cars that turned up only 18 actually finished the second race.

Cadwell Park June 2009

2009-06-29T13:02:00.002+01:00

This was always going to be my best days racing due to my knowledge of the track but after finding out I was down on power it lowered my expectations. Had some really good hot weather with a nice dry track. Qualifying: got some clean air after a couple of laps and got some good times down, positioned 12th on the grid (best so far) which gave me an outside chance of a top ten.

Race 1: Made a good start around the outside gaining a couple of places. Couple of laps in passed car #60 as he missed a gear going up the mountain. Started to get some really fast laps in and was catching the guy in front and pulling away from the guys behind. Then narrowly missed #33 spinning out only for him to catch up to me and pass me on the penultimate lap but I wasn't letting him get away with that! He went well wide leaving the track going into the back straight so I went up the inside only for him to dart right across the track and push me half onto the grass. I kept going and we went side by side into Park, we both braked too late with him going off onto the grass and then retiring to the paddock and me spinning on the inside and stalling. Car #13 got past me but I managed to get it started again and didn't loose any further places.

Finished 7th!! Best result yet, very happy with that and also won the team prize!

Race 2: Positioned in 7th which meant I had the inside line, started ok and kept position. I was definately quicker than 13 in front of me but just couldn't find away around anywhere, just didn't have the power to be able to make a move. This meant everyone else caught me up and I started to loose places. Eventually finished 9th due to people spinnig off ahead of me, can't really complain about 2 top ten finishes with a slightly dodgy engine but I was 1.5 seconds a lap quicker than the guy in front so 7th was possible if I had been able to get past.

Thanks to all those who helped me out and supported me on the day.

Silverstone June 2009

2009-06-12T09:25:00.003+01:00

Here's a brief summary of the race weekend:
Spent a cold wet Saturday Marshaling, at one point we had 4 Formula Palmer Audi's in the one gravel trap and it was rumoured that the meeting was close to being called off.
Woke up the next day to some deafening rain on the tent, you actually had to shout to talk to anybody inside. I thought the meeting was going to be called off but instead the qualifying was put back until 1040 by which time it had stopped raining and started to brighten up.

Qualifying - despite it stopping raining it was still a wet track but I actually had fun out there. Didn't really get a clear lap in to get a good time but still managed to qualify 22nd out of 30. Had one slightly hairy moment when I did a 720 spin and stalled right in the middle of copse corner. Apparently there is some on-board footage from the car directly behind me so that should be good!

Race 1 - the track is now completely dry now which disadvantaged me a bit as some of the cars that were slower in the wet got past me quickly. Was by myself again, ahead of the back of the pack but not quick enough for the middle of the pack. Race was red flagged on lap nine as 2nd, 3rd and 4th all came together with a fair bit of damage done to everyone. Finished 20th.

Race 2 - this race was going to be a bit more interesting as the fast boys that didn't finish the last race were now starting behind me. First half of the first lap was manic, cars absolutely everywhere, I decided to try not to battle too much as I didn't want to risk doing any serious damage to the car and these guys were going to pass me at some point anyway. Copse was definitely my weak point but I was getting quicker around it every lap and started to catch back up with the middle of the pack. Got right onto the back of one car and just needed an extra lap to get past him. Finished 24th but did manage to get ahead of one car that was in front of me in the first race.

Other cars where still pulling away from me down the straights as they had at Snetterton, some of it will be down to the driver but I'm now pretty certain the car is down on power so it will be going in to a racing garage this weekend to get it compression tested and dyno'd. I may have to part with a bit of cash to get it fighting fit for Cadwell.

Snetterton Race Apr 2009

2009-06-10T22:53:00.002+01:00

Seeing as i've just completed races 5 and 6 I should give a brief account of races 1 ans 2 (missed 3 and 4)!

Qualified 21st out of 25, afterwards found a loose vacuum hose which improved the engine note 100%.
Race 1: Didn't do as well as quali, well off the pace, eventually finished 19th but at least I finshed it and didn't get lapped.
Race 2: Kept up with the rest of the field for the first lap but then got hit in the rear going into russel and spun off the track. Car wasn't too badly damaged so I continued and managed to overtake one car coming out of russel and then another under braking into the esses. Finished 18th and knocked 2.7 seconds off my quali time.
Good day out for my first couple of races, still a lot of work to go to keep up with the main pack. possibly down on power?

Snetterton April 2009 First Race Pictures

2009-04-06T21:24:00.001+01:00

Pictures from our first official race are up here

Disaster!

2009-02-27T21:13:00.004Z

Not a particluarly succesful day but some plus points: started out at 5am in the morning (never a good time to be awake) and I had only been going about an hour when the battery light came on, then the engine temperature needle started to rise, then the revometer failed then the speedo failed! Stopped at a service station and found that the water pump had collapsed and the fan belt had come off; couldn't fix myself so had to call the AA. They couldn't do anything so had to get both the truck and trailer towed to the centre of Leicster to get the pump replaced. Guys at the garage already had the part ready and got stuck into it straight away, job was done in a couple of hours and I eventually made it to Silverstone at 1330.

The next session was at 1405 so had to quickly get the car off the trailer and get all the way to the other side of the circuit to get signed on. Didn't have time to replace the tyres or sort out the engine so wasn't the greatest of sessions, more of a get to know the circuit session.

However things did start to get better from here. Everyone seemed to like the paint job and several people came up to me to chat about it. I spoke to the oricle of Mk1 MR2's (Mo Stoner), he knew exactly what the problem was with the car and so now I will be replacing the air filter and completely flushing the cooling system. Also sorted out the idle problem by adjusting the screw, Rick gave me a hand getting the wheels off and I managed to have the tyres changed for the last session.
Engine sounding a bit better and not cutting out on me everytime I stopped it was back out onto the circuit. The new Silverstone tyres have so much more grip than the old Yokohamas and I was really able to start throwing it about, I was still getting overtaken but not as quickly as in the first session and was even able to keep up with one car.

All in all not 100% sure 6+ hours of towing a trailer was really worth the 20 minutes good tracktime, we'll chalk this one up to experience.

Cest Le Fine!

2009-02-21T12:46:00.003Z

I have finally finished the respray, it only took a total of 6 days in the end! THe HVLP system worked very well once i got used to it. Very easy to use and clean and didn't make too much of a mess with overspray.

Spray diary:
Day 1 - removed lights etc and got garage set up, sanded down all plastic parts
Day 2 - finished sanding, didn't get around to masking up so now 1/2 day behind
Day 3 - applied 2 coats of red, first coat on one side looked awful as I had sprayed the paint on too thick, sorted that and the rest of the car looked good, spent the afternoon trying to sand out the drips and also a couple of areas where the paint hadn't stuck, now 1 day behind
Day 4 - applied 3rd coat of red, didn't go on brilliantly I think the mix may have been slightly too thin, spent some time trying to get rid of a couple of drips, applied 4th and final coat and it went on very well, bit of luck my best spray was the last!
Day 5 - masked up for grey and applied 2 coats, went on very well only a little bit of running on the spoiler, colour isn't grey however its white! I think there may have been a mistake at the paint factory, still 1 day behind
Day 6 - its a good job I had an extra day of work as a contingency, applied 1 coat of black, looked good to begin with but then started going a dark grey colour, not good, ran out of thinners so had to search Lincoln for a supplier, eventually found one and applied 2nd coat of black, now looks much better and i've finished the spraying! Left it for a couple of hours then removed all masking, paint overlap in a coule of places but nothing major, managed to get the 2 cars and scooter back in the garage in the evening.

I won't put any pictures of it up just yet as I can't get a good shot of it in the garage, I will wait until I have the sponsors logos on it and get Miles to take some good shots at Silverstone.

Well that didn't take too long did it?!

2009-02-06T19:37:00.003Z

With a bit of help from the good Dr Bourke the MR2 now has two solid (ish) anti roll bar brackets. Started work around 8pm and eventually let the neighbours get some sleep at around 11.30pm. ET will probably be able to explain the process better than me as I was mostly on hole making and tea fetching duty.

Glad thats one less thing to do, but still a hell of a lot left!

Snetterton Trackday

2009-01-29T18:21:00.005Z

Got up at 0430 to a very cold and frozen day, made it to Snetterton in good time at 0730, it hadn't got any warmer. Track time was delayed to 1000 due to the circuit still being frozen! This however gave me enough time to swap over the front brake pads which I managed to do suprising easily and quickly.

First session the track was very greasy so I took it easy, I also had the brake pads to bed in so couldn't go too mad. There were a lot of cars on track which led to several red flags and also long queues to get out on track. Not ideal if your car wouldn't idle properly!

Later on managed to put it off going into Russell, its a bit of a difficult entry as you want to start braking just before you've finished coming out of the previous corner. It turned out later this is where I ripped of a bracket holding on the front anti roll bar, this eventually led to an early day.

The track came good about 2pm and I started to put my foot down a bit, unfortunately some parts of the circuit didn't have as much grip as others and I had an almighty 180 in the middle of the track coming out of the first corner. Travelled a fair distance and the tyres didn't look at all healthy afterwards!

All in all it was a fairly succesful day, I managed to get some reasonable pace even though the handling was out due to the missing anti roll bar bracket. Engine definately not at full power yet but a complete service will hopefully sort that out.

Fair bit of work to do now to get it ready for the Meet and Great on 27th Feb!

Autosport Update

2009-01-12T18:50:00.002Z

Pictures coming soon

Autosport 2009

2009-01-09T14:58:00.000Z

Sakari racing will mostly be in attendance at the 2009 Autosport show tomorrow. I say mostly because ET should be arriving in the Beetle.....