The Driver
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Background.
As previously mentioned racing has always been something I have wanted to do. Until now I have been limited to testing my driving skills at the occasional go-kart race against my friends or more recently at track days. I have had little opportunity to evaluate my ability other than in these 'amateur' situations until now. I did set the fastest lap by 0.849s at my recent 30th birthday kart race, and unlike some of the others it was my first time at the location!!!!
While at Leeds University I was heavily involved with the (1999 - 2003) Formula SAE/Student teams and was a driver for the endurance events, implying I must have been at least competent! This experience combined with the theory learnt in my Mechanical Engineering degree has given me a solid understanding of the conditions a race car experiences and the driver inputs and modifications required to tune the car to perform.
What i do know though is that I feel very comfortable on track and thoroughly enjoyed the experiences I have had and grasped them when I could. This enthusiasm should at least get me some distance up the grid! Bring on 24 April 2010.
Current Car - 'Plan C'
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Racing Pedigree
Ex Ian Laughton, Jason Nind car last raced in 2008.
Car No. 1 - 'Pinky'
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Racing Pedigree
The guy I purchased the car from informed me that the car had previously competed in the Stock Hatch championship. He purchased the car in 2006. After a bit of research I found that 'Pinky' had competed in Stock Hatch from 2001 to 2004 under No.56. After that I understand that she was used primarily used as a track day car, covering around 300miles over the last 4/5 years.
When I first viewed the car it was obvious from the specification that it had been a relatively quick and well built stock hatch car and this has since been confirmed following a conversation with the previous owner and original builder. Unfortunately, having been kept outside hadn't done the bodywork any favours, as you can see from the picture below.
This is the picture I used to first introduce the car to my mates and was swiftly followed by the name 'Pinky'. Unfortunately it seems to have stuck!
| Some previous Stock hatch results | |
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| 2001 | Car was entered in 4/14 rounds. Finished 96th overall with a points total of 25 points. Highest points score of 19 (34th) at Lydden Hill on 15 September. |
| 2002 | Competed in 12/14 rounds and finished the season 15th overall in Championship, 6th fastest XR2. 5 of first 14 would have now be Class A cars. Best finish 9th at both Cadwell and Mallory. |
| 2003 | Competed in 2/15 rounds, finishing the season 78th overall with 57 points. Best finish 18th. |
| 2004 | Tbc - if you have the final results for this season i would be grateful of a copy. Please contact me using the contact page. |
New home
I picked up the car at the beginning of June, 2009 and quickly got to work restoring Pinky to her former glory with a dab of G3. Couldn't afford a respray, hence the slightly different colour on the driver’s door! Since taking ownership, although I had a couple of XR2's 10 years ago, its been a steep learning curve getting to grips with the mechanics of the car and making sure I have some idea for when we are at the track!
There haven't been too many changes needed on the car to meet the 2010 regulations. It needed a plumbed in fire extinguisher, tyres and a few cosmetic jobs to complete and the car should cruise through scrutineering. To make sure the car is competitive though and to maximise the chance of making the finals at each event, a trip to the rolling road should get the engine in tip top condition, especially as I’ve already managed to bend 6 valves at a track day!! No need to go into that though!