Pressured and punctured…

So, at long last it was time for the J15’s race debut. In fact it was two debuts as I’d entered the Allcomers race as well as the RGB race so as to get a bit of track time. That meant scrutineering at 0730 but, as you’d expect, I’d woken up by 0530 anyway and after struggling to get back to sleep I gave up.

The forecast was sort of OKish in that it was supposed to be mostly dry but showers were promised for about the time of the RGB race at the end of the day.

Scrutineering went off without a hitch which was good. It’s a bit more of a fiddle with the new car you have to make sure the lights are checked before taking off the bodywork as that involves disconnecting the lights. Still, with the car’s first shiny scrutineering ticket I was well satisfied.

One problem is, though, that when checking the ride height the previous evening I’d found it to be a bit low. In fact, the spring platforms are dangerously close to the end of their travel and there’s precious little bump movement. Perhaps I shouldn’t have cut off those mounting ears for the bottom of the front springs? As it is I’m going to have to do something and I think I’ll modify the top mounts if only because they’re easier to get to. One problem is that at the moment there’s really too much stiction in the bearings. Perhaps my Delrin bearings are not up to the job and I ought to make some rod-ended wishbones? Having done that for the rear lowers I’m thinking more and more that it might be a good idea.

Anyway, after checking everything it was out on track for the Allcomers qualifying. To be honest it didn’t really feel that good, but that was probably because it was Mallory, and what’s more the track’s been resurfaced with something that looks wet when it’s dry so I was rather more careful that I should have been.

Back in the paddock I did some mods to try and improve the feeling of the car and went out for the RGB qualifying. At first it seemed OK but after a couple of laps the car started feeling a bit odd with the back end being all loose again. Then it felt really horrible as I was going around Gerrards and I pulled in to the paddock at the end of the straight to see what the problem was. I’d been thinking that something in the rear suspension was awry and so it turned out in that I had the first puncture I’ve had in seven years of racing. That explains why the car felt so horrid.

Luckily, earlier in the day I’d taken 4 wheels to George Polley for some new tyres. I went off to find them, only to find George having lunch. Once I’d prised him away I got the wheels back to the car and hurriedly fitted a new left rear just as they were calling the Allcomers race! I got into the assembly area in the nick of time; in fact I rather held up the start getting helmet and HANS on.

On track and the car was horrible, really horrible. I finished the race with it feeling very like it did at Snetterton before I fitted the spoiler. That is, it was really loose at the rear and suffered badly as I went onto the brakes. Still, I got to the end of the race which was great. What’s more, I did a pretty good race start, I think I got up to 4th for a while until the car started feeling horrible.

Back in the paddock I checked around but couldn’t see anything obviously wrong. Eventually I decided to increase the rear rebound damping to try and control the weight transfer a bit. After that we waited around for the race.

And then it rained.

Well, to be strictly accurate it absolutely pissed down. After a while it was clear that some adjustment was required. So, I turned all the dampers down and set about putting an extra couple of psi in tyres. The problem was that three of the tyres were at about 19psi and one was at about 30. Some dozy pillock had fitted a new tyre without actually checking the pressure. Doooohhh.

So, I set it right and lined up, in the pouring rain. At the start I got away not too badly, only to have to back out of it as Colin was charging up the inside seemingly intent on an accident. Back to Gerrards on the first lap and the car suddenly felt planted on the road, even in the wet! I got past Tony and exacted my revenge on Colin in the first couple of laps. What was clear was that the car had really good traction out of the hairpin, which bodes well for the future.

Towards the end of the race Tony got past me again. To be honest I think the conditions had improved slightly and I hadn’t responded. Here’s a video of the race for your delectation:

I’m not actually sure where I finished at the moment. The important point is that I did finish in one bit. Roll on Brands Hatch! 🙂