Damp @ Snetterton

One week before the CALM All Porsche Snetterton event we'd just finished re-fitting the gearbox and clutch and re-assembled the car for the second time!. 

A quick 100m buzz up the road and back to ensure all the gears are working before we commit our entry.  In the euphoria of success we forget to latch the bonnet pins & over it came smashing the front of the car.

So we were now 5 days from the event and needing a bonnet and replacement windscreen. 1 step forward and 2 steps back! 

Fast forward to Friday 5pm, and we finished fitting the bonnet,  pins and stickers having had the windscreen replaced the day before.  Talk about cutting it fine. Off to he circuit we went. 

Qualifying:

The CALM ALL Porsche Trophy is putting out some fantastic grids this year.  Another 30+ entries for this weekend evenly distributed across the power to weight based classes.  Despite the forecast hot sun, immediatley before qualifying we had a heavy rain shower pass over.  We were confident it would dry out so stuck with our Nangkang tyres.  However we were reminded just how bad these are on even a slightly damp track, even with a dry line appearing as we struggled 10s a lap down on what we are capable of.  Through the session we improved and were several seconds up on the last lap only to be thwarted by a slower car overtaking an even slower car into the apex of the last corner. 

The result was qualifying at the back of the SP2 boxsters (P15) instead of half a dozen places forward.  Well discuss tyres later.

 

Race 1:

I think we had 4 laps racing, as the time was shortened due to a breakdown on the first green flag lap and then an extended delay after the second go around. 

We eventually got going and the racing was brutally tight. Everyone was desperate to pass the car in front of them and we got stuck in a 4 car fight for 15th position. We weren't helped by two SP1 class Porsche Cayman's coming throught from starting at the back, and there was contact in-front if us around the infield section as a result.  I had the pass done on the back straight only for yellow flags to appear - so had to back off. And was side by side over the line but we were out of time, finishing P13 and not really making any progress in the SP2 class of Boxster's. 

The race result took a long time to be published with a queue of drivers in with the clerk of the course long after it finished.

Race 2:

Startting 11th after the penalties from Race 1 were handed out, Mike got a flying start.  But then struggled getting up to speed and with gear shifts needing more clutch now we had a stock road clutch in place. We had to take evasive action onto the grass at one point to avoid some erratic braking lines in front.  We were quite a few seconds down at the mid point - but came back strong closing several seconds per lap as times improved,  Mike was lapping at the pace of cars several places ahead as we finished in P16. 

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Race 3:

The longer 40 minute pit stop race gave us an opportunity to show our pace and Mike got a great start, holding onto the cars in front and maintaining position.  About 10mins into the race the SC boards came out for the Safety Car due to a stranded car on the infield.  It was a short SC period and racing luckily resumed quicky with cars all bunched back up and fighting for position again. 

Time for our 'undercut' plan to play out. Mike pitted the next lap - first car in, just as the pit stop window opened at 15 minutes.  We have a timer in the car, as otherwise we'd have wasted another lap going past the start/finish to confirm sight of the 'PIT OPEN' board.   Our change over was done smoothly and effciently (we had a plan and practiced it this time) and out we went - into a completely empty track with clear air in front. 

It took a lap to get tyres to temp and thereafter I set a string of laps in 2m14s. By the time the pitstop window was over we were up 5 places to P11.

I had a few seconds lead over the SP3 leader who can set comparable times.  Feeling the pressure & we both set fastest laps on 3 of the last 4 laps, now into the 2m13s. Lapped traffic wasn't kind to me (one overtake was with 2 wheels on the grass) and my cushion had disappeared.   

The race time was up - but we had another lap to complete and I was sideways into turn 1, offering half a chance at the pass. Somehow I braked late enough to the hairpin to hold position and see the lap out over the line.  A really enjoyable race - all round. 

Summary:

In reality any hopes of a class podium were scuppered from qualifying. This is at least the 3rd time we've come off worse by not having a tyre that can cope with a damp/drying track.  The Nangkang AR-1 is a fantastic tyre in the dry and we've done over 20 heat cycles on this latest set, ao good VFM too. But perhaps it's time for change. 

Results & Timing Link --> https://www.tsl-timing.com/file/?f=750MC/2025/252435pot.pdf

Brands Hatch and the Gearbox

We didn't publish an update on our annual winter maintenance.  But overall we focused on improving our brakes which had degraded over the last year.  The four calipers were sent off for rebuild and we also changed the master cylinder - opting for a larger diameter 997 GT3 one to provide a firmer pedal feel. 

 

We then spent some time having the car re-mapped again. Whilst the fuelling was good we managed to improve the mid-range torque and the consistency of power all the way to the red line. 

From our pre season track day we knew we had to change the front brakes. Easy enough until we found the caliper bolt thread was stripped. We had this on another car - so luckily had the Timesert kit to redrill an insert.

Lastly, we fitted rear adjustable tow arms making the rear alignment much easier to do and independent of the camber.  

Brands Hatch:

The meeting was changed from a single day to a full weekend at short notice which caused some last minute re-planning.  

As usual this event was a full grid of a mix of Porsches and V8's from the Bernie's series. 

Qualifying: 

I went to assembly really early (the GT Cup cars had garages so it wasn't in use) so got out onto track in the first few cars of the 46 strong grid.

This meant is got some pretty clear laps early on and set a decent time, a second faster than i'd ever been.  A couple of laps later I got the last corner right and shaved another half a second off.  

Over the next few laps I was up on the splits by another half a second  but traffic later in the lap prevented me realising the gain. 

Very happy regardless and starting P2 in class, 18th on a maximum 46 car grid. 

Race 1:

We had to reduce tyre pressures due to overheating in qualifying and the ambient temperature was up in the 20s now.  The green flag lap was sketchy, to say the least. Like driving on marshmellows!  But as we formed up 2 by 2 for the rolling start they were miraculously up to temp!

I got a great start making a couple of places into Paddock Hill and chose to go wide round the outside of druids; following the fast 911-964, as it tends to concertina around the inside.  

This backfired as I was pushed too wide, got on the marbles and lost the back-end. I corrected the slide but lost 5 places as a result. 3 porsches and 2 V8s. I managed to overtake a couple on the back straight and settled into a queue of Porsches trying to get past as couple of V8's. 

I was confident that once we'd cleared them I would be faster and get the cars in front. We got one and lap times improved instantly - just one more.  

Going into the back section, I  changed down to 4th gear and it wouldn't engage.  Nor at the next attempt, and a third - even double clutching and rev matching.  I went straight to 5th instead and set my fastest lap of the race having cleared the V8 Corvette. I'll be fine!

Until 3rd gear wouldn't go in either.  An absolute Disaster.  I decided not to pit on the assumption it was the gear linkage, and finishing as high as possible was important.  I was now losing nearly 10 seconds a lap and several places every lap. Blue flags were being waved at me (embarrassing) where I changed fom 2nd to 5th. So I had to just keep  out of of the way and limp it home in 29th position. 

Race 2: 

Well it never happened for us. We had to pack up and go home for the first time in a very long time. 

On investigating the gearbox issue back in the pits, the linkage was fine but 3rd and 4th would only engage occasionally. Most likely the selector fork mechanism for 3/4 inside the gearbox has failed. 

Two weeks after the event, we have sourced a used gearbox and after two attempts and a whole set of new clutch components we are good to go. 

It takes us approx 12 hours to strip the rear of the car, remove and refit the gearbox whilst it's on axel stands. The tricky part as with all gearboxes is aligning the splined output shaft with the splines on the clutch plate. Once this is good (usually after a lot of to-ing and fro-ing) it just slides on and bolt it up. 

The next round at Snetterton is now just a few days away.

North East Road Trip to Croft

We left on Thursday afternoon for the long 6hr road trip to the North East of the country, eventually arriving at one of the lesser known UK circuits - Croft nr. Darlington.   

With a new restaurant, proper toilets and a resurfaced track it looked to be a nicer experience than our only other visit in 2015. 

Around 7pm - just as darkness descended, we unloaded our car and kit into the paddock and headed to the local Holiday Inn which was to be our home for the long weekend. 

Friday testing was busy, with over 40 cars in each of the four sessions. 

We were quick initially, but the oversteer in our setup meant we lacked confidence through the fast back section. In the second session we spun and ended up dropping off the infield grass 8" down onto the farmers field, damaging a radiator in the process.

We managed to get a radiator from another competitor (replaced by euro car parts the next day) and change it within a couple of hours. We completed the final session of the day. This time with a less twitchy setup andlooking forwards to a series of races over the weekend. 

Saturday (Qualifying and 1x Race)

Qualifying was uneventful, with us lapping quickly, but not getting the full potential out of the car or a clear lap.  We qualified in P10, a few positions down from where we should have been.  

Garry started the first race, and managed to somehow avoid two slow starters. 

Croft lines up cars in 2 lines astern on the grid, rather than in staggered rows, so there is very little time for you to react if the car infront doesn't move when the lights go out!  

He had a good first lap, but was under severe pressure from a 987 Cayman (faster on the straights) and missed a turn point around the back of the circuit which left the door open into the Sunny (in and out) double right. 

After a brief safety car he challenged to retake the position, but once the cars in front spread out we found our limit, finishing in P8 overall and another 4th in class. 

Sunday (2x Races)

Mike got a great start maintaining position over the first lap. The cars behind (Cayman and 3x Boxsters) were having their own battles with everyone slowing each other down. Mike defended the obvious overtaking spots and got clean exits onto the straights to stay ahead.  

The safety car was out again, and when it went green the pace was faster.  The Cayman got past on the start/finish straight but Mike confidently held off the rest to finish P8 overall and P4 in class - a best ever personal result!

The final 40min pit stop race started well with Mike getting an incredible start and moving from 8th to 5th by the first corner. 

 It didn't last though was he was clattered side on into the 2nd and pushed out wide. 

With no wing mirror to judge the position of cars trying to overtake several cars came past, and several more later in the lap. We kept dropping positions and were lapping several seconds down on race 2 pace. 

Pitting as soon as the window allowed (15mins +1 lap) - the less said about our driver change the better. 

When Garry eventually got himself strapped in and going he had clear track to attack and his lap times got faster and faster eventually setting ourfastest lap of the weekend in a series of laps all within a few tenths of each other.  

We recovered from 14th back up to 9th by the chequered flag.

Indidual Race Video Link

Race 1 --> https://youtu.be/V2UfOKS8g6o

Race 2 --> https://youtu.be/vZuSsMPYhSA

Race 3 --> https://youtu.be/cI6TPP2GjeE

 

 Full Timing and Resultes --> https://www.tsl-timing.com/file/?f=750MC/2024/243836pot.pdf

We will assess the damage repairs and servicing the car needs in our usual winter overhaul.   We are also in the middle (rather than the top) of the power/weight band for our class so will want to address that somehow if we are to convert our consistent P4s into podiums next year. 

Snetterton Overtakes Galore!

We returned to the fast Snetterton 300 circuit in Norfolk back with the CALM All Porsche Trophy. 

A grid of 35 cars started qualifying on Saturday morning for a full weekend of racing. Practice, 2x 20 min sprint races plus the usual 40m pitstop race. 

We nearly missed free practice due to some poor communication between race organisers and scrutineers which left the latter hopelessly overwhelmed with cars to check and not enough time to get through them. 

We got to the assembly area just before the track opened and both drivers got a few sighting laps, whilst we put a heat cycle through our new set of Nangkang tyres.  

Qualifying:

It was raining heavily before qualifying and with just 15 mins before we expected to be on track we were confident our Michelin PS4s were a good choice of tyre.  

However, after sitting in the assembly area for nearly 30 mins (they were running behind schedule apparently) watching blue skies roll in - we weren't so confident!  

Setting a best time nearly 5s off  on a virtually dry track we learned more about wet tyre performance, but at the expense of qualifying down in 18th place. 

Race 1:

We lined up for race one P7 in class, confident of making places.  A super start into p15 by turn 2 was great but we got held up behind a brace of front engined cars by which time the class 2 Boxsters were disappearing up the road. 

With clear track we chased them down one by one closing several seconds per lap getting up to P9 overall and 4th in class.  Exiting the final corner into the slipstream we pulled out to pass over the line - coming an agonising 0.185s behind P3 in class.  

Our consolation was a new personal lap record 2m11.65 over 1 second faster than we have ever been!

Race 2:

Starting further up the grid, we were in a straight battle with 7 SP2 boxsters vying for 3 podium places.  Overtakes had to be worked for and were just about fair all round.  

We gained and lost places through the early part of the race before getting some clear track. With tyres starting to overheat at the end we couldn't reduce the gap of half a dozen seconds to the car front.   We didn't see a 5s track limits penalty for the 199 Boxster until after the race so finished agonisingly just 1.4s behind for another P4 in class (P6 overall).   

Our fastest lap was again in the 2m11s. 

Pitstop Race 3: 

Mike started the race knowing a few faster drivers would get past on the opening laps. 

He latched onto the rear of the Cayman PDK and was comfortably ahead of the 2nd pack of Boxsters for the first half of the race.  

The Cayman was pulling away on the straights but we caught them under the brakes and through the slow corners. Both drivers set personal fastest laps and were on the limit!

Just before the pit window we spun on the exit of turn 3 (turning in and on the gas too early) stalling the engine in the process. 

 

We had noticed our battery was in poor health earlier in the day and the car struggled to restart.  When it did it was misfiring and the throttle unresponsive.  

Parking it behind the barriers was our first DNF in 2 years

Full results and timing link.

750 Roadsports Snetterton

We entered the 750 MC Roadsports series at Snetterton as we had a long gap between CALM All Porsche races.   The regulations are similar, but open to almost any make and model of car, with a familiar 45min pitstop race format. 

We arrived early and setup in the garages we'd been allocated for the day.  We had time to fit the series title sponsor (https://www.tegiwa.com)

windscreen banner and other sponsor stickers before going out for qualifying.

Qualifying:

The 25min qualifying was slightly longer, so we allowed for two timed laps for the first driver before switching in the pits. Mike set a 2m16s benchmark. As Garry headed onto track it started to rain, and by the next lap it was too wet to improve.  Rain got heavier, lap times plummeted and most cars pitted. 

But we persevered, blue skies were coming across, and lap times improved.  The final lap was virtually dry and we improved to 2m14s, jumping back to 21st of 48 on the grid. 

Our car sits in the middle of the power to weight band for class B and without aero (front splitter and wing) we weren't going to trouble the class leaders.  We still wanted to finish mid pack and ahead of the fastest class C Honda type R's. 

Race:

The rolling start was a bit erratic, which allowed Garry to gain a few positions, but it was hard to maintain the class B front runners pace.  

An incident ahead coming under the bridge got a couple more places (16th now), but a car had left oil all round the track. We got sideways the first time around but weren't aware it extended the whole of Coram, Murrays and to the pit lane. Next lap we spun - the lack of marshals (surface change red and yellow) flags was a bit disappointing. 

After rejoining a couple of places down, we lost a lot of time round those final corners due to being really nervous of another spin,  struggling to stay ahead of the Type Rs. 

We had a near miss then the Darkside Motorsport Audi TT lost control behind us.  The closing speeds of the Class A car is quite stark, especially as we don't have aero so our corner entry speeds are a lower.  

The safety car came out for a stranded car and we pitted the following lap when the pit lane was less crowded, however this lost us some positions. 

Our driver change wasn't very smooth, so rejoined the back of the safety car line quite a few places down in 27th. 

With 15 mins remaining, the race resumed and Mike set about reclaiming our lost positions.

Every lap he lined up another pass either out braking cars ahead, or using the Boxster's straight line power on the main or back straight.  

It was hard work as he also had to navigate the class A leaders coming through under blue flags, without giving places back. 

We finished 21st - where we started which was a great recovery.  

The Roadsports series was good fun. The racing was fair, with a great variety of cars, and we didn't pickup any damage. Most cars run with splitters and wings which  made it more difficult for us to be competitive without taking a lot of further weight from the car. 

The track time will set us up well for the CALM All Porsche race here in August. 

Thruxton speed

The CALM all Porsche Trophy returned to Thruxton as part of the 750 Motor Club's first event there for a long time. 

We had torrential rain on the journey to the circuit the day before, but it had mostly dried out so we did some familiarisation laps by bike before heading to our hotel that evening. 

The event drew several thousand spectators as part of a 'free entry' experiment, aided by good weather and a distinct absence of rain, which was appreciated by everyone!

With just one driver racing this weekend, Garry entered the open practice session at 9am, and sitting in assembly we saw steam coming from the front bumper. 

First thoughts were a coolant leak from the radiator, so we broke out of the queue to investigate.  It was smoking from both sides, but he water residue was clear. Our coolant is pink. So we got back in the queue and ignored it!  It turned out to be rain water puddling in the scuttle tray which drained into the front bumper and under tray - right next to the radiators.  Panic over. 

The session was busy so no representative lap times were set.  We set tyre pressures too high - the sun was out now and it was hot - so I struggled with rear grip. It was a pleasant suprise to see the 'optimal lap' (best individual sectors from different laps) was really fast compared to our best times from 2yrs ago. 

Qualifying:

Despite lowering our tyre pressures for qualifying I could feel the rear sliding after only a couple of push laps (1m30s & 1m29.5s)). After a cool down lap I went again and was faster, but couldn't maintain the improvement to the line. I had to pit to reduce the pressures. It worked and I improved to 1m28.6, then 1m28.5s as I crossed the chequered flag. 

Given all the work on the car we've done since Spa last September our best time was a massive 3.5 seconds a lap faster than 2022! That's some improvement. 

Race:

Starting P5 on the grid, I got a mega start jumping briefly to 3rd. I was a bit too tentative into the first chicane and our low tyre pressures (trying to protect longevity) didn't help me in the opening few corners. 

I held 5th place for the opening few laps and had several attempts into the final corner to reclaim P4.   I was car length ahead but just a bit too hesitant to close the door and claim the position. I was driving at my absolute limit to stay in the battle. My third attempt left me vulnerable on the chicane exit and I slipped back to P6.  So often the case that going for a position ends up costing you one. That's racing!  

With the pit stop window open my first mistake was not pitting before catching a gaggle of lapped cars ahead.  My second was running wide out of church, when the tyres gave me a massive moment, dropping another 5s and a further place. I had to pit!

Out pit timing (and speed in the pit lane) was spot on, recovering some of my lost time Vs others.  We took more pressure out of the tyres, and it helped, but I couldn't match my earlier pace and was physically and mentally tiring now.  My lap times deteriorated to 1m31s and 32s I finished P6 overall and P4 in class.   

PHOTO: BarrackSport Student Motorsport

Mildly disappointing to not get a class podium. But the step forwards in car performance will set us up nicely for tracks I'm more familiar with. 

Onboard Video:

Full Results & Timing:

https://www.tsl-timing.com/file/?f=750MC/2024/241835pot.pdf