Racing 2018
Looking good with fresh white paint
After a very tough 2017 with no racing, I’m looking forward going racing this year. Dave, at Brunswick, has given the engine a refresh and arranged a paint refresh with his mate, Jonny, who has done a fine job of sorting the paint.
Updates to the car include adjustable front spring mounts, a heated screen (it’s nice to be able to see where you are going when it’s wet), a programmable 123 dizzy that will allow Dave to optimise mid-range power, and repaired rear panels from various rear-end shunts. The car desperately needed a tidy-up as it was last painted over 13 years ago (by me!) and has lived a hard life since then. I have pretty much rewired it too in order to remove redundant wiring and improve reliability - still needs finishing off. Other jobs that will need completing before the season starts (in about 12 days) are replacing the rear wheel bearings (pad knock-back was getting tiresome), new tyres, a new extinguisher (the old one having time-expired), some better towing straps and some form of speedo for pit stops (probably my Garmin Edge 1000 cycling computer that I can also use as a stopwatch for pit-open).
Silverstone International - CSCC Swinging 60s First race of the year. First race in a couple of years. I have never done the International circuit before but I’ve normal gone well at the National. To cut the story short, I finished 5th ex about 42 starters - 4th in class. Frustratingly, I suffered what seemed to be a fuel starvation issue - full whack down the Hangar Straight and the power disappeared - not the circuit for this to happen. I short-shifted to try to mitigate the effect but frustrating is the only word to use. I suspect it was the breather not working properly on the fuel tank as the first lap or two after the pit stop were better. Anyhow, some investigation needed before Donny
Donington - HRDC Classic Alfa Challenge Inaugural race of the season. Biblically wet Donington Park, driving was just a matter of trying to keep the car on the circuit. I qualified around 5th and, if I remember correctly, finished around 5th with a class win. Lots of sliding about and, with cars on very different tyres (I’m running 60-profile 048Rs - terrible in the wet), performance on different parts of the track was very different. The race was mercifully short after racing was suspended due to both ambulances having been needed for the MX-5 race.
