It's all changed over winter 16/03/2011
With costings in for the car upgrade, wishing to remain eligible for the factory championship, considered budget for a years racing and the effort required to run and prepare the car to a competitive standard while still focusing on a new business and other commitments, the out come ... no racing in 2011. Back to cars... our Lap times were getting on towards 2 seconds off race winning pace in Jedi club class, which is sometimes only a two second gap off the championship class pace. The time differences are not to be misjudged. The faster the lap times get the harder the margin to make up time. So with really limited experience Karl is not comparing his ability to the faster much more experienced seasoned racers from other backgrounds that include the occasional professional race instructors. Merely the fact that with such little experience by comparison - results and lap times indicate a good starting point, with potential for easier improvement. The bench mark in these cars is high, pace exceeds some professional racing times and can be quicker than some of the F3 car times. Setting outright circuit records in the process. Maybe It's the challenge to potentially achieve something difficult that perhaps makes it seem so worth while and rewarding. ... A personal thank you from Karl to all that have helped and supported, without you it would have been incredible difficult. - With a special mention to Roger and Tim FAST FIT TYRES - " Sorry we could not help you on your promotion day and thank you for the open ended help " Adam Moore, Carl Boyle James Mcbride, Gary Mclaren and Trev Sellars Formula Jedi drivers, John and Frazer @ Jedi race cars all the guys at Monoposto To all our friends, family and those who supported us & helped out - watch this space - this may not be the last of this little adventure & bike racing progress if it starts to look like it's all happening 8 Comments UP DATE - Summary for 2010 08/11/2010
After racing with Jedi and Monoposto, We have now removed and sold our standard Yamaha R1 2003 Club class Engine. This was a great engine and served us well. We fully appreciate that we could still make up a bit more time (based on lap time data) with this set up. However the improvement would only be semi - rewarding as personal bests are not recognised unless they happen to be lap records. The best lap times achieved by this 03 machine would make it less likely a driver could podium finish in a mixed grid Monoposto 1000 race and in Formula Jedi Championship the classes are split by engine age, so any podium finish in a club car overall would not be recognised - it's not valid to cross reference classes. Classes do not mix on results sheets when comparing finishes. Whilst we appreciate Formula Jedi runs an age related Club class where cars are equal, we personally preferred racing in a bigger class in Monoposto 1000 with what was an underpowered car compared to some of the faster cars on the Mono grid. We had a fantastic experience at Rockingham with Formula Jedi, which we still say is " Highly recommended ". Formula Jedi Lap times are usually very fast in comparison, so we recognise a win in any class at Jedi, as a definite achievement. Even in club class at Jedi - the lap times of the cars with 03 engines and older are still very fast. So in our eyes Formula Jedi is definitely a drivers championship - Individual engineering is regulated and more controlled but these cars put out blistering lap record times, achieving outright records on some circuits making it the choice for drivers who really want to put their own ability to the test with all cars being very similar. Karl did finish third in his class with his first ever race. So Karl was happy as it was such a new experience. However in hind sight, Karl feels this is no great personal achievement. When comparing that result to the pace of the Formula Jedi Championship Class. It's only perhaps a good effort when comparing Karl's lack of experience to other drivers but.... Karl has always been a competent driver and rider. Karl would get more of a thrill from finishing in front of drivers in the more powerful cars with a less powerful club class car, which we considered to be more of a measure. However the interest is obviously to aim for top three finishes outright. So we decided to sell out 03 engine. Even if we find it hard to compete with the much faster drivers (given our experience) - it's good to know we have a better chance with a capable car, we have moved our bench mark. A good time in an 03 Jedi car at Silverstone is 58 sec's. A good Formula Jedi time at Silverstone in an 04-06 car is 55 sec's. So we need to beat 58's with our new engine to warrant running it. The closer we get to 55 sec's at Silverstone (Formula Jedi lap times) the more competitive we are. Generally you would need to finish with . 5 of a sec within the lap record to see a podium finish. So that's really going some! For the reasons above we have removed our good 03 engine - We have purchased a 04-06 Yamaha engine as it offers a slightly less expensive installation than up grading to the GSXR Conversion. The down side is we believe the newer R1 engine offers a bit less torque and less Midrange compared to the GSXR, which we predict will make the drive a bit more "two strokey" (less forgiving with gear changes) - hopefully we can learn to drive around this as this engine is still competitive in MONO 1000 and still does reasonably well in the ferocious Jedi's Championship class. We look to carry out the bulk of the installation over winter. So depending on Jedi's costings, we hope to still be eligible for the Formula Jedi Championship if the structural engine bay work is carried out at Jedi. We could carry out this work within the team and it's associates as Karl is a fully qualified mechanical & electrical engineer, having carried out hands on engineering projects for numerous companies over the years. Engineering work that has enabled development within R and D at the highest levels of motorsport satisfying standards and specification for some of the most demanding customers. So we already have contacts that include full time coded welders and machinists that have experience working for race companies. It is this that provides Karl with the potential to build his own race car in the future and holds back his engineering instincts in the Jedi championship - although Karl fully appreciates Formula Jedis reasons for such regulations. That's why Karl calls it a drivers championship. The upsides are not having to waste time/money researching properties of metals and heat treatment to develop drive shafts or find suppliers with that knowledge through trial and error. Although this is actually a process Karl has grown to enjoy since working in a project technical management role. For this reason we have contemplated selling the car, but at this stage... Our preference is still to keep the car standard and eligible with formula Jedi despite the fact we may race again with Monoposto. In 2011 we may only be able to get a couple race weekends in like in 2010 - with a couple of testing sessions to run in the new set up. However if we do less in 2011, we would hope to return to 2012 for a strong good years racing, especailly as we gain interest from Local businesses. So for now... Hope you all have a good Christmas and New Year! Thanks for your help and support everyone xxxx FEATURE: Local News Paper 21/10/2010
 Featured in local newspaper - October 20th 2010 - Northants Evening Telegraph P30 Motorsport Kettering driver Karl Davidson -team KD RACING SILVERSTONE - RACE DAY 18/10/2010
This time the Team raced with a different championship called Monoposto. The largest single seater race club in the uk. We raced at the Silverstone circuit, Northamptonshire's home of motorsport . This was a bigger and different challenge for Karl, having previously raced in a smaller class of equally matched cars. Karl entered the mono 1000 class, which has a range of different manufactures cars, only categorised by engine capacity and weight not divided by age of the engine, but still in accordance with normal MSA racing regulations. Mono's regulations are much more flexible than the Formula Jedi Factory Championship for which Karl built his car when he raced last time in club class which is determined by the engines age. The Newer types of engines with twice as many injectors, rev higher and produce far more horse power and torque than Karl's engine that is just one year outside that specification. They are more powerful even before any extensive tuning work is carried out that is also permitted in Monoposto but not in Formula Jedi. This means in Monoposto, Karl's car with it's standard engine was possibly less tuned and less powerful than any other car in his class. This time the MONO Grid was made up of 3 classes... - 1800cc Car engine class - 1000cc Bike engined Class - 1400cc Class has a bigger cc version of the similar hi - reeving bike engines, but with an extra 300 or 400 cc even with a 40 kg heavier weight limit - those cars are very quick in a straight line. The team entered knowing Karl would struggle against superior machinery, to add the lack of Karl's race experience, also having never even tested at Silverstone before. DAY 1 - Qualifying We went out on slicks like most did.. The tarmac was damp, greasy and cold which stops the slicks heating up enough which have no way to disperse any puddles of water. So with very low down force (lower than we had ever run before) and stiff suspension. The car was to agile and very difficult to control running on a dry set up. These cars only weigh about 310kg and our car will rev to almost 12'000 rpm which will power us.. - 0 - 60 mph under 3 sec's and - 0 -100 in approximately 5 sec's - with a Top speed of up to 150 mph Hence the challenge with limited traction in bad weather. The quickest guys in qualifying were on the wet tyres but that could have been the wrong choice as there was not a lot of water to keep the wets at the correct temperature and just towards the end of qualifying it started to dry out a bit but the wet obviously worked . DAY 1 - Race We put on some more 'main' rear wing down force similar to what we had always run before. However we were all praying the rain would not start while we were waiting to get on the grid for the race to start. It did rain, although this time we were all running on slick tyres in Mono 1000, some of the 1800 cars were running wets. Karl wished we had softened his suspension settings. The car did feel much better but the conditions were so tricky for a new driver on the wrong tyres. To much risk of damaging the car whilst racing wheel to wheel. Karl said " the car was less planted than driving with wets in heavy rain 1st time out at Rockingham." Karl was not very happy with his results on day 1, as the much more experienced drivers took more risks and pushed harder. Karl knows when the cars is not right and also how to make it better. When the weather conditions change so the set up is not suitable it is very tricky, that's when the experience of the other drivers really starts to show. Every time something new like this happens Karl and his team learn a lot and take note. The main thing is we got some time in the seat and the car ran with out a problem. DAY 2 - Qualifying Dry Track, We took off some down force, results show Karl was 15 sec's a lap quicker - karl was confident with the set up of the car. DAY 2 - Race FIRST DRY RACE EVER! Wheel spin at the start, Karl soon made up the positions he lost at the start into the first corner. Over taking 2 more cars, he battled with a very similar MK6 R1 JEDI that had a tuned engine right up until the last couple of laps where Karl gained that postion too. RESULTS Qualified Day 1 - 20th overall out of 28 cars Race DAY 1 - finished 22nd out of 28 cars Qualified Day 2 - 16th overall out of 29 cars - 11th postion in Mono 1000 class Race DAY 2 - finished 13th overall out of 29 cars - 9th position in Mono 1000 class Karl and the team were very pleased with the car and the result, taking away some new experience too. This is actually a better result than finishing 3rd in Jedi club class 1st time out at Rockingham. If you can get you head around how the results read. Karl hopes to keep improving and if he does fingers crossed, we might see some trophies at a level of what can be the fastest pace form of circuit racing at national club level, before race budgets reach epic professional levels. We are already limited by our present engines performance, although we know we can still find some more sec's with practice, We would like to progress with a new engine in a more competitive fashion rather than just battling at our own personal bests but not having enough power to challenge for race podium positions. Karl will now look to possibly install an un-tuned more recent engine to be more competitive in MONO 1000 and hopes to still be eligible for the Factory Jedi Championship in it's bigger championship class moving out of the Jedi club class. Racing in a larger class is where Karl feels he is achieving more, even if it's more difficult to reach podium positions. The progress he is making suggests he might be competitive with more practice and the right machinery.. We would Like to thank WILCO MOTOR SPARES (consumables) and Fast Fit Tyres in Kettering for fitting our slicks tyres. Congratulations to the formula Jedi Championship which is run by the manufactures in Wellingborough in which a driver broke the out right fastest recorded lap time at Cadwell Park for the second time recently. All statistics based on information provided not our own data. Next Race 28/09/2010
 After a discussion with all those involved with the team, we have decided to race one round of a different championship called Monoposto. Having tested recently, and evaluated our available budget. Despite the inconvenience of not having the track side tyre fitting support of Avon via BMTR , who are present in the paddock with the Jedi championship. It still works out cheaper to race with Mono and is more convenient as this will be a local event. Our budget is very tight for this event so all things considered this was the only option for us to race again this year. We know we will not be competitive in Mono with this engine. Karl would not like to suggest he would be right now even with the right engine with out more experience. However this is still good practice in this learning curve and reading between the lines - a reasonable result in an outright class with a weaker car still shows a drivers potential. With little race experience, we also feel racing in Mono offers a different challenge and are aware that other Jedi championship drivers also compete in Mono from time to time. We would like to thank the Formula Jedi factory championship, for their help and encouragement this year. If it was a simple choice we would race with Jedi as we feel it offers a more evenly matched competitive drivers championship . Depending on personal and business events in the next few months we will decide if we take next year out or only race some rounds again next year. Decisions are to include an engine update depending on what class or championship we aim for next year too. This car is underpowered for being competitive in Monoposto class with the 03 engine and this standard motor would even benefit from some mild head work engineering for Jedi's present club class, although that's not a substitute for experience and ability.We still have driver and set up to develop but we would like to be eligible and or mechanically competitive for a bigger class. At this stage we can not consider that investment with out looking at ways of doing it more cheaply i.e. undertaking the work our selves.... This would possibly render the car non eligible for Jedi's Factory championship which use controlled parts. So we still have some decisions pending over winter. 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. Up Date.. 23/08/2010
 The car dash assembly is now installed. We are very happy with SPA, the technical department and customer services were very helpful. This weekend we are carrying out some basic maintenance and checking the set up again then. We are planning to test at Mallory Park next week ( weather permitting) this is so we can compare with the shake down lap times in dry weather. This should also finish off what is left of our slick tyres in time to purchase a new set for racing, or at least gauge how quickly they ware out. We recognise, we really should test at championship circuits to gain familiarity... At this stage that would create to many variables to judge our own improvement. Alsowe are pleased to declare we have been offered some financial assistance, which will enable us to complete 2 more races this year before the season is over. Entry fees, fuel and tyres are covered. Unfortunately this does not cover all costs associated and may force us to look at racing in a different championship this one time. Whilst wishing to remain loyal to the Jedi Championship, this will still give us more diverse experience, exposure and a different set of challenges. We are still building experience at the moment and the car is more than capable, but to do well you do need the right machinery so......After racing this year we will have to make decisions if we want to tune our current club class engine to factory championship regulations or beyond, but it may make more sense to put a newer engine in, to race for outright wins in a bigger class or in a different championship with more open regulations like Monoposto. For now we will just try not to run before we can walk and if we can build on our first début success it may just boil down to how deep are our pockets. Fingers crossed we will have no problem or mis-haps at testing. Up Date... 30/06/2010
Unfortunately we missed the round that followed Rockingham with only a short gap in between and we have adjustments to make to the car. We have ordered the parts for the dash and look to install them and return to testing to compare lap times with our original shake down. Hopefully we can manage 5 secs from Formula Jedi's best recorded lap on that circuit, anything better than that would be a bonus. We will be disappointed if the lap time is similar to those when we were shaking the car down and adjusting it from the re-build. Rockingham has given us an insight but we are aware there are a group of quick guys, so we need to find our limits. Once the car is tailored to suit, and the quick starts have been nailed. The times will improve, but the faster you go the less room for error, and the harder it gets to shave time off the laps. Hopefully, I will not run out of ability but I'm very aware that it partly boils down to practice too. So we are off to testing again soon to see where we are at.... We would like to try and race once more this year, but will have to see how it goes for now...We are already making plans for next year's race budget which will involve less purchasing of kit and more time at the track. We will be considering local sponsorship for next year as we have already had some local interest, but we do not want to get too wrapped up in complicated agreements, and only want support from people who are genuinely interested in their local racers. If that's you? Then feel free to contact us. PLEASE NO SALES OR JUNK MAIL - we will not respond FEATURE : Local News Paper 04/06/2010
 Featured in the local newspaper - JUNE 04 2010 - Northants Evening Telegraph P74 Motorsport ON TRACK - Kettering's Karl Davidson made his race debut at Rockingham. Rockingham - Race Day 30/05/2010
 PART 2 In to the car for qualifying...leaving the pit lane last as advised to avoid fast traffic. After letting them go, I quickly noticed the car felt great. Fro the small adjustments after testing.. It stopped quickly, predictable, gripped and turned in well. It did exactly what I wanted it to..HAPPY DAYS :-) It was not long after my first warm up lap before I was on the tail end of the drivers that set out before me. I found the rain did not worry me too much after feeling reassured by the car - in fact I really enjoyed it. It reminded me of riding 1000cc bikes in the rain - if you're going to try to go fast, you need to know exactly what's going on. It's inevitable we all get it wrong sometimes. It was not very dramatic, but I gently spun the car once in qualifying compared to, in my younger years on motorbikes I broke a few bones finding out. Hence jumping off a bike and into a car. Qualifying Time wise, I beat 7 drivers in qualifying. I'm informed I started on the grid for my first race behind the previous events lap record holder - I'm sure he must have been having car trouble or something. I found the race pace was quicker than qualifying which soon brought me back down to earth. Fortunately my first race nerves were swapped for a good feeling words cannot describe. WHAT A CAR Race 1 Unfortunately the 1st race was interrupted with yellow flags due to the wet conditions and people leaving the tarmac. Added by the fact my engines tacho was reading beyond the rev limit? yet the shift light and limiter was not coming on at these revs. I did not want to over rev the rebuilt engine so I found my self shifting - what later turned out to be to early. Race 2 It was not until the second race I started to settle down and enjoy myself - The Factory said I should have tested the day before which was obviously a valid point but unfortunately I was unable to. Prior to the 2nd race we checked that the rev limiter worked, and how far out of calibration at top revs the tacho was reading. For the 2nd race I went out with a more settled mind, trying to go fast rather than just taking part and actually working at my driving. I found 2 secs a lap and was gaining on 15th overall a couple of times. Overall I was extremely happy with the result for my first couple of races although compared to the fast guys I still have lots to do. We understand a good day in racing is to finish all the races. After finishing with no damage..results, points and prizes follow. Which make a good day one to remember. We have a couple areas to work on that will make a difference. 1) Both races I lost positions at the start through trying to prevent wheel spin in the rain. In fact the first race I almost ended up at the back of the grid from getting away, partly because I remember some stalled in front of me but I still finished one position ahead of where I started on the grid. If I can get away quicker I'm sure it will effect the end result. 2) I also want to look at the ratio of front down force to rear for the very fast corners, as the front end felt a bit light to me. 3) We need to sort the tacho and shift light set up, to enable gear shifts at the optimum rpm. We have to commend Rob Sayell for a great drive in Club Class - finishing first in the class and in one race, 3rd overall. Beating a group of very good drivers in the more powerful Championship spec car. Well Done Rob and team. Thanks for the support and help everyone xxx | Click for Comments Above Topics!Please
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