MG LIVE 50 min ENDURO RACE 21/6/15

Following the cost of the French adventure, I don't believe Ed will be entering the AFRC race, and neither Mark Saunders or Stu Ross-Cummings are entering, so that leaves no-one for the Mk2 to compete against That's a shame as the entry fee is quite cheap and I haven't been to Cadwell for a few years.

Another option is the subject race at MG Live 2015. This is on the Silverstone Historic GP circuit (not my favourite track), and the entry fee is double the Cadwell fee, but there are expected to be about 40 cars on the grid, with a few of them running a similar pace to the Mk2, so in the end it will be better value for money. Its also less of a journey and will save time and money for travelling. Its a big event as well with an autojumble, trade area, owners club areas, live band on the Saturday night, free classic bus service around the track, etc.

It looks like Ian and I will be entering this event in the Mk2

As it reached the closing date for this event, the entry list for Cadwell was fairly small with no-one having a similar pace, consequently Ian and I have entered the MG Live event.

Since entering MG LIve, the entry list for Cadwell has perked up and Simon Wing should be there in his revitalised 205 plue Ed McKean in his BMW, which would have been some competition

However, musnt grumble as the entry list for the allcomers race at MG Live now stands at a whopping 45 cars with a whole host of cars that should be running a similar pace to ourselves

Weather forecast is looking good too, plus live music, illuminated cars and hog-roast on the Saturday night.  

Now up to a whopping 47 cars, with 21 in our class

Our target for the race is to try and get into the 2:32 bracket. There's some serious cars in the mix and the very best we could possibly hope for is 8th place. It looks like there's about 11 cars that will be running a similar pace (as in faster down the straights but slower through the bends) so looking at being between 8th and 19th, which will hopefully lead to some epic battles.

TSL timings............who was in the car 1st?????

Hi Ed I took the car 1st and Billy 2nd in both practice and race. It was an Epic race with a fantastic result I will do a bit of a write up tomorrow as ive been up to me knackers at work.

In a nutshell qualified 11th 3rd in class. Had a great battle with a Trio of TVRs and a Cobra.

We rolled in 6th overall and 2nd in class but as first in our class was 3rd overall we were  awarded first in class a nice couple of Champagne glasses each.

But real credit to Billy he has built a fantastic car

Post France checks had found a snapped link on the rear anti-roll bar which was fixed.  Prior to the race, I had fitted a new diffuser and also raised the rear ride height by about 3/8".  I had also made and fitted a half length tonneau cover so that the driver could still exit on the passenger side during the pit-stop, but which would enable the single driver aeroscreen to be fitted instead of the double width one.  The revised diffuser also includes better venting of the rear suspension bays, so this plus the single aeroscreen was expected to improve the top speed.  Judging from tyre wear, the fronts were not being worked as hard as the rears, so the front anti-roll bar was stiffened as well.

Estimated lap times were a high 2:32, and to be placed 2nd or 3rd in class and from 8th to 19th overall (probably 13th).

Thankfully it was dry on the Sunday, so the track was fine for evaluating the changes.  With 47 cars in the race, and only a 25 minute test session for two drivers, it was important to get out early in the session, and the Hornet was subsequently the second car into the assembly area.  From watching Ian go past and from the position he was holding he was doing very well.  He was hard on the tail of another car when the IN board went out and he subsequently missed it, but saw it on the next lap, leaving me 1 out lap and 3 clear laps to qualify.  On the first lap, the car felt good through Maggots and Beckets and not too bad through Stowe, Vale and Abbey, but got it sideways at the Loop and also Luffield.  Tried different lines in the next two laps but my best in traffic was only 2:37.087.  However, with a clear track Ian had gone through the 2:32 barrier and posted a remarkable 2:31.357 for his fastest ever time on this circuit.  Ian loved the way the car with the loose back end, but I like a well planted rear end and contemplated softening the rear dampers, however Ian had said it had been grounding out and the end plates on the diffuser showed that the right hand one had been contacting the track, so they were left where they were.

Ian started the race in 11th place, which was red flagged after a Caterham failed to leave the grid, which was subsequently collected by an MG ZS that hit the rear nearside wheel and then rolled across the track!  Ian had another good start and when he came round he was seventh and fighting for sixth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  After two 2:32 second laps he settled into 9th place chasing the Cobra.  With curfew at 6 and the 50 minute race starting at 17:14, I was not sure whether we would have a shortened race and was contemplating bringing Ian in a lap early but as he was going out so well, decided to let him stay out till the planned in time.  However, he misread someone elses IN board and came in a lap early anyway.  Our driver change was 11 seconds quicker than practice, but still nearly 25 seconds slower than several of the cars, though I was worried as I had gone over the speed limit for a couple of seconds on the change from second to third.

I had a great race as well, but the lap timer had shut down, so no knowledge of my times, though I suspected I was not making my expected pace.  The tacho was also suspect so I started holding third for longer.  After a few laps a MG ZS was closing on me and I had to work very hard to keep ahead of it over the last four or five laps.  I haven't fought so hard to keep position for a long time and was having to defend my line into Aintree and then the Loop which meant dropping to second gear, so from having to do that I knew this would hurt my pace even more. On the last lap the ZS got past on the tail of the Ferrari going through Vale and got the inside line into Abbey, but at least I didn't have to use 2nd through the loop on that lap as I had been on the previous few laps, and this was my fastest lap at 2:39.052.  Had a better run through Luffield and was reeling the ZS back in to cross the line alongside and 0.1 second adrift.

When the results came out he had received a 5 second penalty for corner cutting and we had finished an amazing 6th overall and second in class.  First in class had finished 3rd overall, so at the awards we received the first in class awards

In summary, I was disappointed at my times, and had no Go-Pro footage to analise what was going on, but my problems (based on where the ZS was pressuring me) were mainly at Stowe from apex to exit, plus my exit from Abbey.  I may also have been losing time in the mid section of Maggots/Becketts, but not sure on that.  Also losing time to the ZR through Farm due to the slow exit from Abbey, plus a little at the Loop and a little at Brooklands.  The car was also slower to take a mid-corner set at Luffield than practice, but think that was more to do with track conditions than myself.  After thinking long and hard about it, I'm sure it is down to me being used to a well planted rear end, so if it is loose at the rear, I end up backing off the throttle to settle it, then start applying the power again, when I should be grabbing it by the scruff of the neck like Ian and correcting the slide with the steering wheel more.  Anyhow, that all makes me sound negative about the event, when in fact I had a really hard and enjoyable race.  I still cant believe that the old Hornet held together so well and made such a respectful finish against some amazing high budget cars EG the winning Sunbeam Tiger with over 700 BHP

I don't intend to make too many changes, just thinking of slackening the front anti-roll bar back to where it was, as it could be leading to mid-corner understeer, which I cant balance out on the throttle without the rear braking loose, and also going to be putting the other rear uprights on (better adjustable spherical bearings rather than the rubber bushes as previously required for the Kit Car Championship) so I can put the rear toe-in to my preffered settings.

Cant see any worthwhile events to do in July yet, so may leave it till August for the next race.

That all sounds like a load of fun and an excellent result.
I may someday get to understand the minute nuances of my car, as you do, if of course I keep it long enough.

what are you looking at doing in August?

Theres not much on in July, but quite a bit in August, though some are already full!

I will collate all the possibilities this week and start a new thread.

Start Line crash. Cant blame the Marshalls they were quick on the yellows.

Shame

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FQZEgs36aM