750 Motor Club Sport Specials, Rounds 1 & 2 at Brands Hatch April 26th 2014
Pre-Race preparation
With 3 weeks to go before the race the last bit of preparation I had to do was to rebuild my Wilwood front brake calipers. With the help of the internet, I found a guide on how to rebuild them and ordered a set of new seals. The car had been parked up for about 5 years, having last been driven in about 2009, and in that time 7 of the 8 pistons had seized solid. With the help of a high pressure air-line (thanks to ARL Coachworks) and a block of wood I managed to cajole the seized pistons out and gave them a good clean before putting them back together again. Unfortunately, with my gleaming rebuilt calipers back on the car, the brakes still weren’t working. With a lot of day job work on and no spare time I had no choice but to send the car for professional surgery, and Motorvation in Sarratt kindly stepped in to help, finding that both master cylinders were also seized; they managed to rebuild one but had to replace the other.
While the car was with them, they also noticed that the position of the Fuel Pump on the back of the drivers seat bulkhead near the rear axle was such that the rubber fuel pipe was chafing on the axle as it moves up and down, so they repositioned the pump to a safer location, and also fixed the brake lights; the car was now ready to race. Unfortunately with 14 hours labour plus parts and collection, the bill has eaten into my racing budget somewhat, so I fear that it might be a rather short season…
Pre-Race preparation
With 3 weeks to go before the race the last bit of preparation I had to do was to rebuild my Wilwood front brake calipers. With the help of the internet, I found a guide on how to rebuild them and ordered a set of new seals. The car had been parked up for about 5 years, having last been driven in about 2009, and in that time 7 of the 8 pistons had seized solid. With the help of a high pressure air-line (thanks to ARL Coachworks) and a block of wood I managed to cajole the seized pistons out and gave them a good clean before putting them back together again. Unfortunately, with my gleaming rebuilt calipers back on the car, the brakes still weren’t working. With a lot of day job work on and no spare time I had no choice but to send the car for professional surgery, and Motorvation in Sarratt kindly stepped in to help, finding that both master cylinders were also seized; they managed to rebuild one but had to replace the other.
While the car was with them, they also noticed that the position of the Fuel Pump on the back of the drivers seat bulkhead near the rear axle was such that the rubber fuel pipe was chafing on the axle as it moves up and down, so they repositioned the pump to a safer location, and also fixed the brake lights; the car was now ready to race. Unfortunately with 14 hours labour plus parts and collection, the bill has eaten into my racing budget somewhat, so I fear that it might be a rather short season…
Friday – Arrival at Brands Hatch
Having collected the trailer from Motorvation in the morning we loaded up and made our way to Brands Hatch while eagerly watching the weather forecast. After at least a week of lovely sunshine the outlook for race day was rain. They say if you race in England the one thing you can be certain of is that you will get wet! How very true.
We arrived at Brands Hatch and set ourselves up in the paddock next to Paul Collingwood, who races a beautiful Sylva J15 powered by a 210bhp Honda Civic Type R motor, and sporting some aerodynamic tweaks front and rear. A few others had also arrived early to get some testing in – including Colin Benham last years champion in his purple Sylva Fury, and the lovely mid-engined Eclipse SM1s.
I still had one job left to do; fit a Tow Loop on the front on the car. Although I usually tow the car off the roll cage, when visiting the gravel trap a car can submerge when towed from a high point by marshalls vehicles and so the Blue Book Regulations now state that one must fit a tow eye or tow loop made from a contrasting material no higher than 18” off the ground.
We stayed at the Thistle Hotel by the entrance of Brands Hatch which was comfortable and our room had a great view of the track; it cost about £95 for a twin room.
While I was twittering away in the room I calculated that with a 1:1 6th gear and drag race 4.1:1 diff ratio the top speed of the Sylva at 7,000rpm is only 118.8mph! That won’t be too bad for Brands Hatch but at somewhere like Snetterton I will be on the limiter nearly everywhere…and in the wet it will be quite a handful, especially on the ancient Avon CR500s that have been on the car since about 2005…
Having collected the trailer from Motorvation in the morning we loaded up and made our way to Brands Hatch while eagerly watching the weather forecast. After at least a week of lovely sunshine the outlook for race day was rain. They say if you race in England the one thing you can be certain of is that you will get wet! How very true.
We arrived at Brands Hatch and set ourselves up in the paddock next to Paul Collingwood, who races a beautiful Sylva J15 powered by a 210bhp Honda Civic Type R motor, and sporting some aerodynamic tweaks front and rear. A few others had also arrived early to get some testing in – including Colin Benham last years champion in his purple Sylva Fury, and the lovely mid-engined Eclipse SM1s.
I still had one job left to do; fit a Tow Loop on the front on the car. Although I usually tow the car off the roll cage, when visiting the gravel trap a car can submerge when towed from a high point by marshalls vehicles and so the Blue Book Regulations now state that one must fit a tow eye or tow loop made from a contrasting material no higher than 18” off the ground.
We stayed at the Thistle Hotel by the entrance of Brands Hatch which was comfortable and our room had a great view of the track; it cost about £95 for a twin room.
While I was twittering away in the room I calculated that with a 1:1 6th gear and drag race 4.1:1 diff ratio the top speed of the Sylva at 7,000rpm is only 118.8mph! That won’t be too bad for Brands Hatch but at somewhere like Snetterton I will be on the limiter nearly everywhere…and in the wet it will be quite a handful, especially on the ancient Avon CR500s that have been on the car since about 2005…
Qualifying
After an early morning Driver Briefing I took the car to scrutineering in the rain. Pit crew in the shape of John & Cristian Callero arrived and helped out with an umbrella. All went well…apart from the issue of the towing loop. Although the one I fitted to the front of the car yesterday was fine (and made it look like it was sticking it’s tongue out), I hadn’t fitted one to the rear. I had checked with 750MC officials and also other competitors who had passed scrutineering without one, but the blue book rules does mention tow loop in plural. So a quick dash back into the paddock and I made one up out of an old harness I brought with me just in case. Phew.
On to qualifying – having not driven the car at anything other than low manoeuvring speed with no brakes for 5 years, it was to be a baptism of fire to drive the car again in wet & slippery qualifying conditions at Brands Hatch with a competitive 32 car field. But all I had to do was to complete at least 3 laps to qualify, and ideally, not crash into anything or make an arse of myself. Somehow I knew I wouldn’t get near the 47s laps that I can run in GT6 in the dry, or sub 50s in full wet conditions in a virtual Caterham with the same power to weight ratio as my real world Sylva.
The short gearing was quite an eye opener; I hadn’t thought that Druids hairpin was a 4th or 5th gear bend until now, and I was getting wheelspin in 5th and 6th gears coming out of Graham Hill Bend and onto the Cooper Straight. Good fun, but not fast. Surtees in GT6 is easily flat out but in the real world I was braking hard and teetering through the corner at what felt like walking speed!
The other thing that simulators like GT6 can’t replicate (yet) is the wet steamed up visor; I had to open it up and peer through an inch high slot. This wasn’t ideal as through the slot came grit and dust from other cars which went straight into the eyes; Another thing you don’t get in computer games!! So qualifying was more like survival and in only 13 laps while avoiding spinners and front runners I never got close to a consistent rhythm, and so all I managed was a shockingly slow 1m16s and 27th on the grid out of 32 cars. But no death.
After an early morning Driver Briefing I took the car to scrutineering in the rain. Pit crew in the shape of John & Cristian Callero arrived and helped out with an umbrella. All went well…apart from the issue of the towing loop. Although the one I fitted to the front of the car yesterday was fine (and made it look like it was sticking it’s tongue out), I hadn’t fitted one to the rear. I had checked with 750MC officials and also other competitors who had passed scrutineering without one, but the blue book rules does mention tow loop in plural. So a quick dash back into the paddock and I made one up out of an old harness I brought with me just in case. Phew.
On to qualifying – having not driven the car at anything other than low manoeuvring speed with no brakes for 5 years, it was to be a baptism of fire to drive the car again in wet & slippery qualifying conditions at Brands Hatch with a competitive 32 car field. But all I had to do was to complete at least 3 laps to qualify, and ideally, not crash into anything or make an arse of myself. Somehow I knew I wouldn’t get near the 47s laps that I can run in GT6 in the dry, or sub 50s in full wet conditions in a virtual Caterham with the same power to weight ratio as my real world Sylva.
The short gearing was quite an eye opener; I hadn’t thought that Druids hairpin was a 4th or 5th gear bend until now, and I was getting wheelspin in 5th and 6th gears coming out of Graham Hill Bend and onto the Cooper Straight. Good fun, but not fast. Surtees in GT6 is easily flat out but in the real world I was braking hard and teetering through the corner at what felt like walking speed!
The other thing that simulators like GT6 can’t replicate (yet) is the wet steamed up visor; I had to open it up and peer through an inch high slot. This wasn’t ideal as through the slot came grit and dust from other cars which went straight into the eyes; Another thing you don’t get in computer games!! So qualifying was more like survival and in only 13 laps while avoiding spinners and front runners I never got close to a consistent rhythm, and so all I managed was a shockingly slow 1m16s and 27th on the grid out of 32 cars. But no death.
Race 1
Thankfully, by late morning the sun had poked out from behind the clouds and it turned into a lovely spring day. Off to the holding area at the far end of the pits and we were allocated a waiting position as per our grid slot. As I was waiting someone pointed out that one of my rear tyres was a bit flat, but my pit crew rushed to the rescue with a foot pump. Cheers Paul! We were then sent out on to the track and straight to our grid positions, with no warm up lap. The 5 minute board was hung out, then about 10 seconds later the 2 minute board came out another 10 seconds later the 30 second board, brain says “better get ready”, and suddenly the red lights are on. Revs up, watch the lights and go!!!!
I make a good start but the car in front gets rather too much wheelspin and slews sideways. I am wheelspinning but hooked up – but there is nowhere to go as there are three cars abreast right in front of me and we are now heading for Paddock Hill. Out the corner of my left eye I see some tyre smoke and a Westfield is suddenly coming across the track at a jaunty angle – how the pack missed him I do not know. He spins all the way down the hill and into the gravel – out at the first corner of the first race. How annoying I think to myself, as the cars behind including me have to slow right down to avoid a crash.
As far as I am concerned, I am here just to enjoy myself, try and learn the car, and not crash or die. I know the car is old and not competitive, but it is still fast. Once again I am learning the circuit from scratch as it’s now dry and memories of where to brake from GT6 are more relevant than what I learned from wet practice. I have to drive the car by ear as none of the instruments seem to be working other than the ammeter and I recall delighting in the awesome rasp as I run up through the gears on the Cooper straight.
I am still hugely slow into Surtees, and find myself in a dice with a pair of MX500s. They are much quicker in the corners, but out of Clearways/Clarke Curve and onto the Brabham Straight the Sylva shows it is still no slouch in a straight line and I pull away enough on the straights to keep them behind and indeed, open up a modest gap.
I spend the next few laps keeping out of the way of the front runners as they lap us down the back of the field but then with about 5 laps to go the throttle sticks open as I come off the gas at the end of the Brabham "straight", scary to say the least! I brake early for Paddock Hill and take a wide line but am forced to brake early for every bend or else retire. “No way” I thought, “I have nursed home sick cars so many times on the road, just do it again”! Going downhill from Druids and approaching Graham Hill bend in 5th gear the car feels particularly hard to stop which distracts from concentrating on taking the ideal line. The two MX500s catch me at the start of the last lap and being wounded and at the wrong end of the field there is no point in fighting so I let them past, and finish the race a car length behind them in 26th place.
On the cooling down lap the engine is now idling at about 4,000rpm and so I just trickle it along in 6th gear and pull into the parc ferme where even after switching it off and pulling the battery cut out switch it runs on for at least 10 seconds as so much fuel has dumped itself into the hot cylinders. Fortunately I get it to start again and can drive over the weighbridge where with me on board the car comes in at a lardy 735kgs. Most other cars are around 650kgs with driver on board, the quickest nearer 600kgs with driver; the Vauxhall Twin Cam while being a lovely torquey unit has an iron block while the leading cars nowadays have all alloy engines of at least 15 years newer design and a far more race oriented chassis construction. I have to remember that my Sylva Fury is an 18 year old road car that has only just been pulled out of the garage and driven in anger for the first time in 5 years, on 9 year old tyres!
Back to the pits and a mild panic between races to get the car fixed. I find that one of the two throttle cables has come out of its runner in the linkage, so at first think I have found the problem, but it seems that the spring is also a bit sticky and not returning smartly as it should. Not much more I can do at this point so I lubricate it and leave it at that. I go to start it to see if it will now idle but – nothing. A few more tries and the big Webers flood the engine; so I take the spark plugs out and allow them to dry off while the engine cools down. We pick up the time sheets, and it is no surprise to see that my best lap is a very slow 1m00.1s, miles off the fastest in my class who are in the 52s. Time for some lunch, and to get some photos from around the paddock.
Race 1 Result
1st Paul Boyd, Eclipse SM1
2nd Clive Hudson, Eclipse SM1
3rd Edward Ives, Eilte Pulse
4th Paul Collingwood, Sylva J15
5th Stuart Fenton, Tiger RS6
Thankfully, by late morning the sun had poked out from behind the clouds and it turned into a lovely spring day. Off to the holding area at the far end of the pits and we were allocated a waiting position as per our grid slot. As I was waiting someone pointed out that one of my rear tyres was a bit flat, but my pit crew rushed to the rescue with a foot pump. Cheers Paul! We were then sent out on to the track and straight to our grid positions, with no warm up lap. The 5 minute board was hung out, then about 10 seconds later the 2 minute board came out another 10 seconds later the 30 second board, brain says “better get ready”, and suddenly the red lights are on. Revs up, watch the lights and go!!!!
I make a good start but the car in front gets rather too much wheelspin and slews sideways. I am wheelspinning but hooked up – but there is nowhere to go as there are three cars abreast right in front of me and we are now heading for Paddock Hill. Out the corner of my left eye I see some tyre smoke and a Westfield is suddenly coming across the track at a jaunty angle – how the pack missed him I do not know. He spins all the way down the hill and into the gravel – out at the first corner of the first race. How annoying I think to myself, as the cars behind including me have to slow right down to avoid a crash.
As far as I am concerned, I am here just to enjoy myself, try and learn the car, and not crash or die. I know the car is old and not competitive, but it is still fast. Once again I am learning the circuit from scratch as it’s now dry and memories of where to brake from GT6 are more relevant than what I learned from wet practice. I have to drive the car by ear as none of the instruments seem to be working other than the ammeter and I recall delighting in the awesome rasp as I run up through the gears on the Cooper straight.
I am still hugely slow into Surtees, and find myself in a dice with a pair of MX500s. They are much quicker in the corners, but out of Clearways/Clarke Curve and onto the Brabham Straight the Sylva shows it is still no slouch in a straight line and I pull away enough on the straights to keep them behind and indeed, open up a modest gap.
I spend the next few laps keeping out of the way of the front runners as they lap us down the back of the field but then with about 5 laps to go the throttle sticks open as I come off the gas at the end of the Brabham "straight", scary to say the least! I brake early for Paddock Hill and take a wide line but am forced to brake early for every bend or else retire. “No way” I thought, “I have nursed home sick cars so many times on the road, just do it again”! Going downhill from Druids and approaching Graham Hill bend in 5th gear the car feels particularly hard to stop which distracts from concentrating on taking the ideal line. The two MX500s catch me at the start of the last lap and being wounded and at the wrong end of the field there is no point in fighting so I let them past, and finish the race a car length behind them in 26th place.
On the cooling down lap the engine is now idling at about 4,000rpm and so I just trickle it along in 6th gear and pull into the parc ferme where even after switching it off and pulling the battery cut out switch it runs on for at least 10 seconds as so much fuel has dumped itself into the hot cylinders. Fortunately I get it to start again and can drive over the weighbridge where with me on board the car comes in at a lardy 735kgs. Most other cars are around 650kgs with driver on board, the quickest nearer 600kgs with driver; the Vauxhall Twin Cam while being a lovely torquey unit has an iron block while the leading cars nowadays have all alloy engines of at least 15 years newer design and a far more race oriented chassis construction. I have to remember that my Sylva Fury is an 18 year old road car that has only just been pulled out of the garage and driven in anger for the first time in 5 years, on 9 year old tyres!
Back to the pits and a mild panic between races to get the car fixed. I find that one of the two throttle cables has come out of its runner in the linkage, so at first think I have found the problem, but it seems that the spring is also a bit sticky and not returning smartly as it should. Not much more I can do at this point so I lubricate it and leave it at that. I go to start it to see if it will now idle but – nothing. A few more tries and the big Webers flood the engine; so I take the spark plugs out and allow them to dry off while the engine cools down. We pick up the time sheets, and it is no surprise to see that my best lap is a very slow 1m00.1s, miles off the fastest in my class who are in the 52s. Time for some lunch, and to get some photos from around the paddock.
Race 1 Result
1st Paul Boyd, Eclipse SM1
2nd Clive Hudson, Eclipse SM1
3rd Edward Ives, Eilte Pulse
4th Paul Collingwood, Sylva J15
5th Stuart Fenton, Tiger RS6
Race 2
I see the others from my class start making their way to the collection area, and nervously I start the Sylva up. It fires! No time to waste, I go straight over to the collection area, and park up in my spot hoping that it will fire up again when we are called to the grid. It still feels like it is idling a bit too fast, but not like before. No time to worry about that now.
As in Race 1, and with no mention of this in either driver briefing, there is no warm up lap and we go straight to our grid slots. I watch for the inaccurate time boards, and then the red lights…revs up to around 5,000 and this time I make a great start, passing around 6 cars before Paddock Hill corner on the inside line.
I manage to run a better pace at the start and can feel I am getting on the power a little earlier out of each corner on each lap, but am still finding myself braking very cautiously early into corners in case the throttle sticks again. I just can’t stop my foot doing it! To add to the distractions the old Caterham 6 speed gearbox my car runs keeps popping out of 4th gear which I use at Paddock Hill, Druids, and Surtees, and I keep finding the car is coasting just as I am getting back on the power; aside from upsetting the cars balance it loses vital seconds until I realise what has happened, find another gear and get going again.
About halfway through the race and the leaders having just lapped me, Paul Collingwood running in 4th position half spins in front of me at Druids on some oil but makes a great save from being fully 90 degrees to the track; I duck through on the inside but being a lap down and a Sylva fan I don’t want to slow him up and wave him back past to chase the leaders before we get to Graham Hill Bend.
A lap or two later and I see Colin Benham’s Sylva with the right rear wheel at an angle that some would say is “stanced” but is actually “broken” – he pulls off and I later find out that another car had tapped the left rear of his car into a spin and then assaulted his right rear and broke the upright.
Every lap seemed to be action packed as I am either avoiding a spinner, letting leaders past, or nursing the car in some way; with no pit signals I had no idea what lap I was on. Suddenly the chequered flag was out again and I ripped it through the gears one last time and crossed the line to the symphony that a 100bhp/litre normally aspirated 4 cylinder on Webers makes; I finish 23rd out of 29 starters, up 4 places from my grid position.
Race 2 Result
1st Clive Hudson, Eclipse SM1
2nd Paul Boyd, Eclipse SM1
3rd Edward Ives, Elite Pulse
4th Paul Collingwood, Sylva J15
5th Stuart Fenton, Tiger RS6
The second race was much more enjoyable than the first and my best lap this time was a 59.49s. Compared to the other cars in Class C I figure that I am losing at least a second at Paddock Hill, another second at Surtees, half a second at Druids, Graham Hill, and Clearways for >3.5 seconds per lap which I can put down to driving around the throttle and gearchange problems; perhaps a little more time can be attributed to the fact my car is 20% heavier than the competition and the design is now simply outclassed by newer mid-engined cars with vastly better aero such as the Eclipse SM1, Sylva J15, and FRS Arrow. All the quick Fury’s have front splitters, rear Gurney flaps, and diffusers nowadays too which tell you something – they work. With these issues / excuses aside, I ought to have be running in the 54s or 55s, which is fast enough to be competitive if not on the podium, so I think my next outing on track will be not be until after I sort out the sticky throttle linkage and get some serious practice in to get myself familiar with and confident in the car, and perhaps also after I have made some aerodynamic changes. The slippery slope of development starts here!
I see the others from my class start making their way to the collection area, and nervously I start the Sylva up. It fires! No time to waste, I go straight over to the collection area, and park up in my spot hoping that it will fire up again when we are called to the grid. It still feels like it is idling a bit too fast, but not like before. No time to worry about that now.
As in Race 1, and with no mention of this in either driver briefing, there is no warm up lap and we go straight to our grid slots. I watch for the inaccurate time boards, and then the red lights…revs up to around 5,000 and this time I make a great start, passing around 6 cars before Paddock Hill corner on the inside line.
I manage to run a better pace at the start and can feel I am getting on the power a little earlier out of each corner on each lap, but am still finding myself braking very cautiously early into corners in case the throttle sticks again. I just can’t stop my foot doing it! To add to the distractions the old Caterham 6 speed gearbox my car runs keeps popping out of 4th gear which I use at Paddock Hill, Druids, and Surtees, and I keep finding the car is coasting just as I am getting back on the power; aside from upsetting the cars balance it loses vital seconds until I realise what has happened, find another gear and get going again.
About halfway through the race and the leaders having just lapped me, Paul Collingwood running in 4th position half spins in front of me at Druids on some oil but makes a great save from being fully 90 degrees to the track; I duck through on the inside but being a lap down and a Sylva fan I don’t want to slow him up and wave him back past to chase the leaders before we get to Graham Hill Bend.
A lap or two later and I see Colin Benham’s Sylva with the right rear wheel at an angle that some would say is “stanced” but is actually “broken” – he pulls off and I later find out that another car had tapped the left rear of his car into a spin and then assaulted his right rear and broke the upright.
Every lap seemed to be action packed as I am either avoiding a spinner, letting leaders past, or nursing the car in some way; with no pit signals I had no idea what lap I was on. Suddenly the chequered flag was out again and I ripped it through the gears one last time and crossed the line to the symphony that a 100bhp/litre normally aspirated 4 cylinder on Webers makes; I finish 23rd out of 29 starters, up 4 places from my grid position.
Race 2 Result
1st Clive Hudson, Eclipse SM1
2nd Paul Boyd, Eclipse SM1
3rd Edward Ives, Elite Pulse
4th Paul Collingwood, Sylva J15
5th Stuart Fenton, Tiger RS6
The second race was much more enjoyable than the first and my best lap this time was a 59.49s. Compared to the other cars in Class C I figure that I am losing at least a second at Paddock Hill, another second at Surtees, half a second at Druids, Graham Hill, and Clearways for >3.5 seconds per lap which I can put down to driving around the throttle and gearchange problems; perhaps a little more time can be attributed to the fact my car is 20% heavier than the competition and the design is now simply outclassed by newer mid-engined cars with vastly better aero such as the Eclipse SM1, Sylva J15, and FRS Arrow. All the quick Fury’s have front splitters, rear Gurney flaps, and diffusers nowadays too which tell you something – they work. With these issues / excuses aside, I ought to have be running in the 54s or 55s, which is fast enough to be competitive if not on the podium, so I think my next outing on track will be not be until after I sort out the sticky throttle linkage and get some serious practice in to get myself familiar with and confident in the car, and perhaps also after I have made some aerodynamic changes. The slippery slope of development starts here!
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