Weekend review - Cadwell Park 10/11 July 2010
Pinky's 'home' race!!
Following the success at Anglesey, expectations were high for Pinky's 'home' race and a good crowd was expected to cheer pinky on.
Friday 9 July - Afternoon testing
Although from a points perspective Anglesey had been a good weekend, it had come at the price of Pinky's powerplant. A new engine had been sourced and built using a new block and the originial cylinder head for Cadwell so a test session on Friday was booked to complete the running in that would be started on the Friday Morning at the rolling road.
Things seemed to be going well at the rolling road and Pinky left there tuned and ready for the testing. During the first session though she was getting very hot and it was only possible to complete 1/3 to 1/2 lap at race pace. This was not a good sign. On the basis that the engine needed some running in time no changes were made for the second session and again we had to come in early due to overheating. It was about 30deg though as well and a few other were struggling. In order to help with the water flow the thermostat was removed for the 3rd session and we were able to complete the session but with a max of 2 laps at race pace. Alot of oil was also being pumped into the overflow. This didn't look good for Saturday.
The decision was taken to swap the head gasket incase the high temperatures had damaged it. After removing the cylinder head it could be seen there was a lot of detonation damage, similar to that of Anglesey. Very frustrating after having spent time and money at the rolling road trying to avoid exactly this. Head gasket replacement was finished off Saturday morning in time for scruiteneering and Practice. The timing was taken back from 18/20 deg (way too much) to 12. Many thanks to John for his help on Friday night.
Saturday 10 July - 2010 Stock Hatch Round 7 - Practice
After the frustrations of Friday I knew that the likely hood of completing the qualifying session was slim so the main objective was to complete the required 3 laps to make sure I was in the race and not going to let the fan club down as they had started arriving in their masses, well sort of! At least the weather was good for spectating if it all went wrong.
In the paddock the car idled quite well so I sent off on the track confident that i should at least be able to qualify for the race. The first 3 laps went reasonably well. I was able to gain confidence on some of the trickier parts of the track and it was easy to see where I was faster than some of the other cars quickly catching them through Coppice and Charlies and in the gooseneck. This at least proved that the car should be fast if we can get the engine sorted.
I completed the mandatory 3 laps and had managed to keep the engine temp reasonable but could see the oil pressure was starting to move around so did my best to make a gap top Bill in front (white AX in video) and put my foot down. Unfortunately it wasn't too long before I caught him which hurt the lap a bit but I was able to do a 1:51.40, good enough to put me 2nd in class and on the front row of the grid for the heat alongside Dan Summers, only 0.37s from getting straight into the final!! Not bad even if I do say so myself! (second fastest lap was 1:54.48 - still 3rd in class but it shows the difference when managing the engine)
Some highlights from the Practice session.
Unfortunately the car only lasted 4.5 laps and back in the pits the same story. Oil in breather, water missing! This time, due to the kind generosity of Dan Gibson (he lent us a cylinder head) we decided to change the whole head (in case detonation damage was causing a poor gasket seal on existing head) and hoped to get out for the race. At this time we didn't know the Practice times so when they were published it was the right decision as we liked the idea of starting on the front row. The fans would be loving that!
So with the help of a few of the 'fans' (Cheers Sam, Dave, Toby, Andy and follow racers and paddock neighbour John) we got the head changed in time for the heat.
Saturday 10 July - 2010 Stock Hatch Round 7 - Heat race
Due to the chaos of the head change I forgot to charge the video camera for the race. Instead we have a few pics!
As we'd had practice in the morning there was no green flag lap for the race so i did the best i could to get some heat into the tyres and brakes and rolled up next to Dan. Outside it was approximately 1 million degrees, but the car was looking ok so far, a little noisey from the leaking exhaust gasket, but other than that ok.
The grid lined up pretty quickly and the count down started. As the lights went out I unleashed Pinky and, leaving Dan behind, shot into the lead. The start was good, but not perfect and I got a bit of wheel spin. About 30m later I had Liam's 106 on one side and Stuart's tiger sealed saxo on the other.
Travelling 3 abreast we turned into Coppice. Liam took the lead, Stewart, 2nd and I was 3rd with Jonathan Woolley's saxo right on my rear bumper as we went through Charlie's. Woolley got past along Park straight, Pinky suffering a little in the power department, and I crossed the line at the end of the first lap in 4th.
For lap 2 I was able to keep the leaders just in sight gaining through Coppice/ Charlies and again at the Gooseneck but had Amy's saxo right behind on the straights. Lap 3 and Stewart got abit keen into park, loosing the back end and i was in 3rd again! It was brief stint and by the end of the start finish straight Amy had glided past and the engine had started to loose pressure.
Due to a bit of action further back the field had become quite spread out and for the next 2 laps I was able to keep 5th place (A hard charging Tibb's past on lap 4) while trying to manage the engine. I was letting the Class A guys past and it was only on lap 7 when i caught a glimpse of Alan Duly's XR2 in the rear view mirror that I thought about speeding up.
Lap 8, the last lap, Alan was 8 seconds behind and his car was working so I had to put my foot down again. i knew that if I could get to Hall bends with him still behind I had a good chance of keeping 2nd in Class. We crossed the line 1s apart (my last lap 9s faster than the previous!), fortunately with me in front! 2nd in class, not bad considering what it took to get here.
Unfortunately as soon as I crossed the line the temp gauge hit the roof and I pulled over on the exit to Charlies and awaited my tow back to the paddock!
And that was the end of the weekend for Pinky. Obviously very exhausting for the team Pinky fan club!!
Lap Chart
| Lap | 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
| Position at lap end (Class B*) | 4 (2) | 4 (2) | 3 (2) | 5 (2) | 5 (2) | 6 (2) | 9 (2) | 8 (2) |
| Lap time | 2:00.71 | 1:52.47 | 1:51.85 | 1:55.03 | 1:57.11 | 2:04.28 | 2:10.50 | 2:01.58 |
*I was 1st in Class in the race, but as Lee Scott qualified straight into the final I have put in the overall class position.
Check the photos from the weekend here.
Some other action from the weekend
Abit 50/50 this one!!
And from the other perspective!
Keep your eye out for Pinky on this one!