Mallory Testing - 01/09/2010 02/09/2010
 The car ran well again at Mallory. As we spend more time with the car we are noticing little set up improvements. We are no longer resolving the little issues associated with new equipment on a completely re-built car. So we can finally start trying to work away at personal improvement. Karl is happy that the minor handling issues from the original shake down at Mallory are resolved and that it was those that made him sceptical about his own performance then - Purely based on lap times. Returning to Mallory this time has tested the new tacho arrangement and has proved Rockingham "first race" was a typical good combined performance from Karl, car and team. It was the handling issues with the car that slowed Karl down last time at Mallory on the first time out shaking down this car. Karl is now sure he can still do even better only having limited experience. This time out Karl scrubbed 5 sec's of his shake down lap times on only his second lap of this return visit to Mallory. Each lap Karl was getting quicker consistently.. Within 10 to 12 laps Karl was closing in on - 10 sec's quicker than his previous visit.. Which was the personal goal post . Still not silly "Jedi championship" fast, but a very acceptable time and positive for a new comer. Possibly even better if comparing Karl's previous exposure to racing to others with years of racing experience behind them. Karl thinks he still knows where he could have made up more time and felt he still had more to give feeling reassured by the car, as the car was still manageable at these speeds. Unfortunately the car developed a leak from a small coolant hose and stopped us pushing 2nd or 3rd lap in to the last practice session... that's just one of those things. Fortunately it was spotted immediately as the engines runs so consist antly. Karl pulled over because water temp was at 80deg all day so when it hit 88 degrees - still well within parameters. Karl stopped in the pit lane to take a look, the minor leak from a small pipe had no ill effect on the engine. Karl would have really liked to have spent more time in the seat on this day and thinks he could have possibly exceeded his own target, which would have resulted in lapping within 3 to 4 secs of the Jedi championships fastest recorded lap time at Mallory. All this practice costs money in the way of tyres, mechanical ware and track time etc.. so Karl is very grateful for the guys that help at their own cost. So thanks again - Adam and Carl. Carl Boyle was new with us at Mallory this time - He is keen to be involved again in the future which we are happy to run with for now. As we all reach the age when personal commitments become even more demanding it is necessary for our voluntary team to have back up. Although Racing is an obsessive passion - with out generating income, sometimes finding time becomes very difficult. We hope if we can reduce the out right cost of the sport through sponsorship, the juggling act maybe a bit less challenging. If we can do more, the results will benefit all those involved with us. As we progress, we will try to improve the team overall and will seriously start looking for local Sponsorship for next year if Karl's confidence and results continue to build.  We arrived at Mallory Park...unloaded, started the car and checked it over. After having a short tea break we attempted to fire the car up again to warm it up in time for the second session. It would not start, strange it had never displayed that problem before? We quickly realised a poor contact in a connecting plug on the wiring loom. A quick fix. So we set out in the last session, completing ten laps which gave us a short list of minor adjustments to carry out before racing in two weeks time. We were happy that the car and rebuilt engine worked well, but were slightly concerned only completing ten laps. Having spent most of the time monitoring instruments for parameters such as oil pressures etc. which is even more important with a newly built car. The car worked well but the measured lap time indicated we had some pace to find... Back to the garage! Add Comment | Click for Comments Above Topics!Please
|
RSS Feed
