MSVR SNETTERTON 04 APRIL 2015

Arrived at Snett on the Friday Tea Time the weather was dull and overcast and this was my first time at the 300 Configuration. Received a very warm welcome from the folks at MSVR. it really is a credit to them I have never had a race organiser introduce themselves and shake my hand before so well done its a refreshing change. Billy very kindly offered me tour of the Circuit to help me learn the new corners so i was as prepared as could be.

Awoke in the middle of the night to hear the rain lashing off the roof of the van great! Driving an unfamiliar car on an unfamiliar circuit and its going to be wet. True to form the track was wet the following morning and the pressure had been added with the slowest scrutinering process i have been involved in. This meant rushing to get the MG of its slicks and onto its wets in about five minutes ! fortunately the Lotus practice session was red flagged so that just gave enough time to get sorted.

Had a very steady practice session cruising the MG through its gears and trying to get a feel for it under braking and on the power through the corners all went well i even enjoyed having the heater on to demist the windscreen. So no heroics in practice and managed to qualify penultimate last.

Out for race 1 the track had a good dry line so it was off with the wets and on with the slicks had a reasonable start but slowly fell into last place with a E30 325 showing me a clean pair of heels the MG was frustrating as the straight line pace wasn't that bad but exiting corners was a pain. the back end constantly stepping out ! The absence of a LSD apparent with a spinning inside rear wheel. pleasantly surprised how controllable the oversteer was after hearing nightmare stories of mid engine cars having viscous snap oversteer. Rolled across the line dead last but i was more than happy with race furthermore the race was red flagged after about 3minutes and again credit to MSVR they restarted the race with the full 15 minutes being run.

Prior to race two i lowered the front ride height 30mm by letting some fluid out of the Hydrogas. With Billys assistance i had a mess with the Tracking on the car taking a total of 3mm of TOE in off the front and setting it at 1mm Total toe out. At the rear the car was running 0 toe on the nearside and 1mm toe in on the offside so we set to a total of 1mm toe in on the rear. I also lowered the tyre pressures.

Out for race two the same script was followed as race one as i watched everything disappear into the distance i just concentrated on getting to know the car. It was much better than the first race although still a little oversteery but it was great fun. Finished penultimate last as a Caterham had to make a couple of visits to the pits so was behind me.

So a cracking weekend in hindsight. I wish i had removed the rear antiroll bar and tried to fine tune the back end of the damping control. Come away from the event with the MG being in the same condition as when it arrived which makes a nice change. I missed the brutalness of the 300 BHP monster but the lardy MG was great fun and a good pre cursor to driVing the Hornet in the AFRC

I was following your progress with TSL timing. The atom was faster than I expected.

Ed

Thankfully when we turned up at the event the entry list had grown to 18 cars, with a lot of Magnificent Sevens cars there as there had their first round at Snetterton the following week. As Ian said the scrutineering was painfully slow. Thankfully the CofC knew Ian and I had raced with them before, so he let us sign the drivers briefing attendance form while we were in the scrutineering queue. This then gave us some much needed time to work on the cars before qualifying.

The track was a mixture of wet, damp and the odd dry patch and I was very pleased to qualify catch and overtake a few of the sevens to put me 10th on the grid. On checking the car, thankfully all the oil leaks had been fixed, the catch tank was bone dry, but the alternator belt had slipped one groove, which required the alternator spacing a bit further back. I also fitted some yonks old FF slicks that I had lying around. These were 7 for £90 off Locost Builders and third hand!!! Ihad taken them out for a spin on the Chatteris/Somersham B road a couple of nights previous and then given them a couple of coats of "Grip".

Come the first race and the track was now mostly dry, just a little damp round Coram and into the Esses. The grip from the slicks was similar to the Toyos, but the responsiveness was a big improvement (9kg lighter for the four tyes), plus it reduced the gearing a bit as well.

Had a good start, mad up a place and got alongside another car to pass it at the next corner, avoided a spinner and got past another and then the Sevens started coming past with Peter Hargroves the first to sail past However, the Mk2 with the new dampers and front splitter is now awesome under the brakes and I retook him under braking into Agostinis only to lose out again on Bentley straight with 2 more following him, but retaking one into the Esses. Passed another on the start/finish straight, but only because he had hit the pit wall and now had cross-eyed front wheels

Another good start on the restart, couple of changing places on the first lap, and then they were gone. fairly lonely race but plenty of chance to get used to the car and push the limits. Did notice that it still wont pull more than 7000 down Bentley, so now sure I have to reset the rev limiter. Also had the brakes binding/sticking for first couple laps, which has happened on the road a couple of times and needs investigating. Finished in 12th position. Check of the car revealed the alternator was now OK.

For the second race the track was now fully dry and had another good start, made up one place again and a further one out of the hairpin. Then on Bentley they stated coming past again, got one back into the Esses, then off they went again on the start/finish straight (still had sticky brakes for the first lap?). After two laps tried taking Palmer, Hamilton and the bomb hole in 4th which worked well and took over a second off the lap time, eventually taking 1.5 seconds off my personal best in the Mk2. Finished 10th.

A couple of lonely races, but a great chance to try the car out and pleased to say the oil, charging/battery/starter, problems seem to be fixed, with just a niggly brake problem to sort out, plus hopefully a re-set of the red-line to give more top speed.

Very pleased with the performance of the MK2, especially the handling, and the brakes are awesome, so really looking forward to the AFRC race at Silverstone in May where Ian and I will be sharing the car.

Good to see Ian at the track and see the new MGF steadily improve (liked the sticker on the rear bumper )

1.5seconds that's a big chunk, well done!

Hi Ed,

Thanks, it was down to using the slicks and whilst they have minimal tread left they have much more compliant sidewalls. This meant I could brake about 20 to 30m later for Montreal as the slicks absorb the bumps whilst the Toyos chirp as they lock up on each bump. Also much quicker response to steering inputs and lifts/trail braking meaning it was easier to control round Coram, so able to hold a tighter line round the last bit and getting a slightly later and wider turn for Murrays. Downside was hitting 7,000 (believe the Megajolt soft rev limit is set at this) about 50m earlier on Bentley, which I expect is costing me a fair chunk of time.