The UK Formula Vee championship kicks off tomorrow at Brands Hatch!
Unfortunately, I’m not going to be there…
Glenn’s had the heads off the Sheane, and they look fine, so we’re expecting to find ‘problems’ with the crank. Especially as it’s still seized solid.
I shall know more shortly, and try to get pics/vids and stuff, and of course keep everyone updated.
We’ll get out there testing as soon as possible, and have a bit of support from a company who sell action cameras and lots of tech malarkey – there will be far more on this soon, and I’ll do a full blog on camera mounting and what cameras we’ll be using to capture all the action this year.
In the meantime, Brands Hatch should be fantastic!
Paul Smith will be hungry to get some results this year, especially with Martin Farmer not currently planning any Vee races as he concentrates on his excellent HRX racewear brand (seriously, check them out if you’re after a new suit etc).
The usual contenders – Buxton, Belsey, Gant, Pitchford, Probert, Ough, Jordan, Taylor – will all be out this year, and all in for a shout of at least a podium.
Ben Miloudi is still sunning himself in the Bahamas but might fly back for Silverstone, as all those beaches must get boring.
Craig Pollard is bound to be a contender again – especially if it rains!
However, my money for the championship this year is on James Harridge.
The Maverick chassis seems excellent, and was only crippled by the withheld secrets of Formula Vee engines. They’ve put their aspirations of building their own engines on hold and got a lump in there which may not be the greatest on the grid, but should be enough to see James on the top step. Maybe even at Brands Hatch.
I’m sure there will be a few rookies making a surprising entrance into the championship *waves frantically whilst trying to look nonchalent*, and some of the other drivers may make that leap to the front pack.
As ever, there will be live timing of qualifying and races online:
Motors TV will be filming at all the rounds (as far as I know), and so it looks like yet another cracking season is about to take off thanks to 750 Motor Club.
I’m going to be glued to the live timing, but my body will be at Prescott Hillclimb this weekend to have a look at something different for the first time.
I’ll probably do a write-up of that, but if you’re anywhere near Brands, get yourself down there for the best motor racing action in the UK this weekend!
As mentioned in my previous blog, the brilliant Koden KSC25 Carbon helmet comes with a few accessories.
The peak is of no use to me racing an open single-seater, but I’m sure is great for rally drivers etc.
The spoiler, however, was of interest to me.
As a very good and very cheap helmet, I’m sure a lot of people will be buying these, but, not many will want to get them painted up because it’s The Law to keep your carbon weave on show!
There are absolutely no instructions with the helmet – perhaps unsurprisingly, as you probably shouldn’t be getting in a car if you can’t figure out which end to put your helmet on. This leaves a bit of a dilemma with these extra bits, and what to do with them, though…
The spoiler and the peak come with ‘sticky stuff’ around their edges, so you just peel the tape off and stick it onto your helmet.
Umm… where??
There are no images I could find online of a helmet with either accessory actually attached!
I’m sure the spoiler is more cosmetic than anything, but as a biker I appreciate the need to have vents and peaks and all kinds of nonsense hanging off your helmet. It just looks better!
Many helmets boast about their anti-lift properties (meaning the air won’t get under them and lift them up at high speed), and the Koden spoiler may have some kind of effect here. Looking at my trusty AGV Stealth motorcycle helmet, though, I suspect it’s more to aid the exhaust vents on the back of the helmet.
My AGV has a spoiler itself, but with ducting to channel air from the front of the helmet all the way back and past the exhaust vents. My best guess is that the Koden spoiler is supposed to be placed in a similar fashion, i.e. covering the helmets exhaust vents like this:
I’ve already seen a few weird and wonderful placements from races this year, and as I said, I don’t think it REALLY matters, but by my logic and experience, this is how it’s supposed to go.
I suspect most will just leave the KSC25 bare and not have to guess!
I am planning on a few small stickers with my name on to stick on the helmet – but am also conscious that scrutineers don’t like helmet stickers as they might be covering something up.
Oh, and please before you go sticking anything on your brand new helmet – SIT IN YOUR CAR!
You’ll be gutted if you go sticking stuff all over it only to find you can’t get your head on your head rest anymore!
If you’re driving a Sheane Formula Vee – you’re fine to use it.
I know a lot of you who read my blogs are from the Formula Vee world, past and present.
As you know, the car that I’m driving is owned and prepared by Glenn Hay, who’s been involved with Formula Vee and Super Vee in the UK since it began. This means there are a few classic pictures around of Glenn and a few of the other racers, and I’m sure some of you will be interested in seeing them!
Well, maybe not technically the first one ever, but the first time in this Sheane, anyway!
The MSA rules for 2015 state that all single seater drivers in cars made from the year 2000 onwards must use a frontal head restraint system, with pre-2000 cars being required to use them from 2016.
This means Glenn’s 1997 Sheane that I’ll be driving is exempt, however, after writing my previous blog about this, I decided (and my fiancée ‘told’ me!) that I’d be a fool not to be using one right from the start.
The first problem here is that these devices (which I’ll call HANS from here) come in various angles to suit seating positions – so 10 degree is for Formula One, through to 40 degrees for bolt-upright seats such as truck racing. Most single-seaters will need 20 degrees, but there’s no real way to find out which you need until you sit in the car with it on.
Secondly, compared to the 30 degree HANS used for most saloon car racing, the 20 degree kits cost at least 50% more. Whether this is pure greed (the rules to use HANS are ONLY for single-seaters), or because, as these represent a minority of racing series and smaller production runs are required, I will make no comment.
Demon Tweaks were offering an adjustable HANS for around £20 more than the 20 degree model, and as Glenn pointed out, this would mean I could use it with whatever type of car I take on track.
Delivery received, I screwed the posts in to my Koden KSC25 helmet, and attached the HANS.
You don’t have to be scared about this part. You should make sure that there is some thread locker on the screws for the posts, but mine already came with it on the screws.
The HANS attaches to your helmet by sliding the attachment onto the post, which is also spring loaded. Nice and easy, and probably something you could learn to do after putting your helmet on… I found I can put the HANS around my neck already clipped onto the helmet, and then slip the helmet on.
I don’t really know what we’d have done if we’d found it didn’t all fit in the Sheane, but luckily that wasn’t an issue.
I may have mentioned that the head rest in the car may be a little far forward for my liking, and the HANS doesn’t help here – but it’s nowhere near as intrusive as I expected it to be. You’d have to look hard at the pictures to see I’m using one, once it’s all belted up. We may use a smaller bracket for the head rest, but were most likely going to do that even without the HANS.
You CAN feel you’re wearing the HANS when you first put it on, but you wouldn’t call it uncomfortable. By the time you’ve adjusted your belts and pulled them tight (making sure it sits right), you’ve already forgotten you’re wearing it.
It makes absolutely no difference to sideways vision or movement, and, as you can see, the tethers are very slack when it’s all in place. You have to lean your head pretty far forwards before you feel them do their job.
If you’re using 3″ belts, they don’t quite fit over the guides, but the safety documentation says as long as the excess belt is riding up the neck side of the device that’s perfectly ok. We may decide to adjust the belt mountings inwards a bit more behind the seat, but I think it is workable how it is.
Other than that there are no dramas! We’ve brought an old Sheane Formula Vee up to modern safety spec, and now I just hope that we do it justice.
And with any luck, we won’t even have to make use of the proven life-saving capabilities of a HANS device.
Much as I love my floro yellow Koden, the move to using a HANS device meant my hand was forced, and I needed to buy a new helmet with the SAH2010 approval with the HANS posts drilled.
It was always my intention to get a ‘better’ helmet when I could, so I figured now I might as well spend and get something I’d be happy with for many years to come.
Most of the big names sell their entry level helmet for around £400+, then the HANS posts will cost another £40+. That’s all a lot of money for someone with an Oliver Twist style race budget like mine!
Having been happy with the fit of my Koden, I looked at their more expensive models at the Autosport International Show, and found the fit equally as good, but the quality of their later helmets noticeable better.
Their base helmet with HANS fitments could be had for around £250! The only limit is that you have to have black or white, so no gaudy glowing colours this time…
However, if I’d bought one of these (and I’d be happy to race in them) I’d have always been kicking myself for not buying the full carbon fiber version – so I did!
The show price from Mark at M&P was an absolute bargain of £350 INCLUDING the HANS fitments! So for that extra £100, I’d be getting a Koden KSC25 in real life carbon – the likes of which would set you back, ooh, one or two thousand for one of the ‘big name’ brands!
Quality is excellent. Nothing is flimsy, all the bits join together perfectly, and even the Nomex lining is well-stitched and as good as any I’ve seen. Weight is a stunning 1330g. To put that into perspective, as a biker of 15 years riding daily, I buy the best kit I can. I have never worn a helmet as light as the Koden KSC25, and it’s very, very noticeable as soon as you put it on!
It’s got a trusty double D-ring fastener, and holds my noggin like a sensuous lover. Or a wrestler about to crush your head like a grapefruit. Whatever makes you feel safer! And the button on the front is to release the visor – so no more fumbling around for the lift tab!
As you can see from the first picture, you get a few accessories, too. There’s the peaked bit, for people who drive closed cars and are deluded into thinking nothing can ever possibly get through the windscreen, so don’t need a visor. And another bit that I think is a spoiler. I’ll put that on, if I can – I need to check clearance in the Vee cockpit with the HANS kit, first, though.
You can get spare visors, but I forgot to get one! I think you can get black/smoke or blue iridium. I wear blue iridium on my bike, because a) it looks cool, and b) the blue tint gives better viewing definition in cloudy or overcast conditions – perfect for the UK!
I am chuffed to bits with my Koden KSC25. For the price it’s unbelievable value – but just as a race helmet for ANY money, it’s a damned fine buy! I’m sure it will do me proud.
Every year I umm and arr about whether I NEED to go to the Birmingham National Exhibition Centre, paying £10 to get ripped off for parking, and gazing at a load of racing cars, before spending obscene amounts of money on kit.
With some of the rule changes this year, and wanting to try out some HANS devices, and also find out a lot of information, the 2015 show was essential for me.
I don’t technically have to wear a HANS until 2016, but I’d be stupid to get in a car without one (see previous blog). I have now found out for definite that you can’t get any old helmet drilled and fitted with HANS posts – they do have to be certified to have them. So this means my flouro yellow Koden helmet is going to have to go.
I’m almost certainly going to get another Koden helmet – but the HANS fitted ones only come in black, white or carbon fibre. They fit me really well, and are closer to what a helmet SHOULD cost without getting ripped off for a brand name!
I sadly didn’t take advantage of the show offer for £350 for the carbon lid with posts, so will probably now have to pay £400 and then get the posts as well! Unless any of you guys have a contact to help me out here?
I was pleased to see that the AHS Formula Vee on the 750 Motor Club stand was fitted with the elusive Hoosier tyres we have to buy for this season! The look of them has definitely grown on me, and poking them found them to be very soft, with very deep tread.
I swear I’m going to film the holding area after the first race, then make a drinking game: Every time someone pushes down on or prods another drivers tyres to try to gauge what pressures they’re running, you have to take a drink. It will be a very messy and very short game…
Anyway – the highlights of the show!
I hadn’t been there long before I saw this beast sat in the distance:
It’s the truly awesomeSauber/Mercedes C9 Group C beast! Thinking this would be Car Of The Show for me, I then noticed a Lister Storm right behind it!
This was my favourite car from when they came out (I have the brochures for the road version!). I don’t know what colours it’s in here (maybe the Spanish series), but it was amazing to see one in the flesh.
To complete my top 3, despite an Audi Sport Quattro and Jaguar XJR-15 being right next to the two above, it has to be this mean-looking Renault that I know nothing about:
Provisional Calendar & New Tyre Supplier For 2015!
At last, the provisional calendar for the 2015 Tillotson UK Formula Vee Championship has been announced:
Brands Hatch 25/26th April Croft 23/24th May Cadwell Park 20/21st June Anglesey 18/19th July Silverstone 22/23rd Aug Snetterton 300 12/13th Sept Donington Park GP 3/4th Oct
Out of those I’ve been to Donington on my bike, and possibly done Silverstone for my ARDS test (depending on whether it’s the International circuit, or not) – and those two are at the end of the year!
So I may have to claw some more testing budget from somewhere…
They’re all good tracks, though, and I’m already getting the first pangs of excitement. Brands and Croft will take me back to the old TOCA Touring Cars computer game that I spent many hours on as a young whipper-snapper!
I think the grids may struggle for the start of the season, though…
Not only are most being forced into spending around £500 on HANS kit to race this year, but the Dunlop tyres used since Vee began have been axed.
After several very hasty tests of alternatives, it has been decided to use Hoosier tyres going forward. This will mean everyone also has to shell out £490 +VAT for at least one set…
We were hoping that Class B cars would be allowed to use the Dunlops for this year – Glenn has “more than a few” sets that he’s collected over the years – but sadly this won’t happen. We’ll still use the Dunlops for testing, to try and get some use out of them.
The Hoosiers are supposed to be fairly close in lap times, but are ugly as sin! I personally don’t think ‘vintage’ looking tyres will help the image of Formula Vee, but some are using them now for the Australian series, and maybe it’s just my biker mentality playing up a bit. The look of the tread for bike tyres is very important for sales.
Having said that, it seems to be extremely hard to get a definite picture of the new tyres from anywhere. If they’re like the picture above, then they’re not so bad. If you heard drivers describing them at Donington in the cafe, you’d have far greater reservations.
Still, I’m sure when I’m in the car it won’t bother me, and we’ll soon get used to them!
I’d better keep buying those Lottery tickets.
EDIT:
Steve Bailey sent me a picture of the Hoosiers for UK Formula Vee:
A lot more tread than the current Dunlops, but I’m sure you’ll agree that they don’t look that bad at all! I’d much prefer them over the cut slicks that were the other option being discussed – at the very least these will actually work in the wet!
A HANS (Head And Neck Support) device goes over your shoulders and around your neck, and attaches to your helmet on each side by a short tether.
It’s an ingenious invention that has saved many lives. Basically, if you hit something had head-on, the car stops dead but your head keeps on going forwards, rotating down towards your chest before pulling your spinal column out of your brain. What you may hear referred to as a ‘brain stem injury’ or ‘basil skull fracture’. And you’re dead.
A HANS device will stop your head going forward enough that your brain will stay attached to your spine, and you’ll live.
I’ve put that bluntly, because us drivers like to gloss over safety stuff, obscure them in technical language that makes it all sound colder and less personal, or we just ignore it and hope it never happens to us.
When the HANS kit first came into racing, one of the biggest opponents to it was one of the greatest NASCAR racers ever – Dale Earnhardt. Somewhat ironically, when he hit the wall head on at silly speeds, he would have almost certainly walked away from the crash had he worn a HANS device to stop his fatal and instant brain stem injury.
“Before this point, many drivers, including Earnhardt.,[5] resisted the HANS (and similar) devices, claiming them to be uncomfortable, more restrictive and fearing that it would cause more injuries and problems than it prevented. Some stated that the positioning of the device made the seat belts feel less secure or rubbed on the shoulders or collar bone. Earnhardt himself referred to the device as “that damn noose“, claiming the tethers would sooner hang him than save him in the event of a crash. The week after Earnhardt’s death, Mark Martin said Rockingham, “I would not wear one for anything. I’ll just keep my fingers crossed and take my chances”.[5] However, drivers were not willing to participate in the process of perfecting the fit, and endure the limitations imposed by such devices.”
If NASCAR is unfamiliar to you, you may know a few of these who also may well still be with us if they’d worn a HANS: Ayrton Senna, Roland Ratzenburger, Blaise Alexander, Gonzalo Rodriguez.
Many top level formulas from open-wheels to closed wheels now have HANS devices as a mandatory requirement.
There is always talk of making them mandatory in all levels of motorsport – and it’s pretty much impossible to argue anything against this ruling.
To surprise you even more, I currently do not have any plans to use a HANS device.
I mean, if I come into some money I’d have it on the list, but at present my helmet isn’t equipped with the ‘posts’ needed to attach the tethers (I’m told you can get these fitted quickly and easily to any helmet), and my budget doesn’t stretch to the £500 or so needed to buy the kit.
Yes, I am fully aware that I’m a fool.
I’m not trying to pretend to myself that it could never happen to me, or that the chances of sticking a Formula Vee face-first into a wall are too slim, or that we’ve done without them for years etc.
Having said that, finally forcing myself to write all this out, I’m now thinking about it… It’s pretty much one race weekend fees for something that could very well mean you’ll be able to do it all again next weekend…
Do you use a HANS device yourself?
If not – why not?
***UPDATE***
As soon as I posted this I’d really decided that I’d be using a HANS device myself for racing. Plus my beautiful fiancee proved she does read my boring racing blogs, and gave me her ‘thoughts’ on the matter, too!
There are no arguments against using a HANS device.
Fellow Vee racer Ben Miloudi has also very kindly offered to lend me his HANS kit whilst he’s away from racing next year, so that sealed it all for me! Cheers Ben!
***FURTHER UPDATE***
Well, well. Today I saw from several sources that the MSA have actually made it mandatory for drivers of any single seater racing car manufactured after 01 January 2000 to wear a HANS device. This will come into effect from 01 January 2015.
They’ve also made it very clear that they recommend them for pre-2000 cars, too (Glenn’s Formula Vee Sheane that I drive would be exempt), and added that from 2016 all single seater drivers will need to be using a HANS.
This is good for all of us, and fair play to the MSA and FIA!
The original plan was to do this before jumping in the Vee, and then I would have a benchmark for driving a single seat racing car. I couldn’t book the day up until AFTER I should have had my first Vee race, but as it turned out, this all righted itself.
So I was up bright and early yesterday to be at Silverstone for 08:20 am.
The ‘Experience Centre’ is easy to find at Silverstone (just follow the signs to the right and over the bridge), and presenting a valid road license for signing on was quick and easy.
I’d taken my full race kit, but didn’t want to look like a Tit-Head, so decided to sign in and check out what everyone else was wearing/carrying. Nobody had anything at all with them, so I decided I’d use my own helmet, gloves and boots, but my three-layer race suit would be overkill. Silverstone provide gloves and helmets free of charge – but if you’ve got your own kit, you may as well use it!
There’s a half hour driver briefing with a video covering all the essentials like racing lines, flags, the track and braking and turning points/cones. It’s very good for novices, but if you hold a race licence you should really know this stuff already! The main difference from the ARDS test briefing was probably that you’re expected to do all your braking before you turn in to the corner.
Also, you can’t overtake anywhere on the track apart from on the straights and only on the left. The marshalls will show a blue overtaking flag to the car in front, who is expected to accelerate ‘more gently’ out of the corner to allow the car behind to pass safely. This does work wonders for safety, as you know nobody is going to try to come past you on the brakes, or pull a block pass mid-corner. The day works incredibly well because of this.
Next you go over to the Stowe infield circuit and meet the cars.
They’re special ‘Formula Silverstone’ cars – a 1.6 litre Ford Duratec engine and four gears on the right hand side, with treaded tyres and wings. They look the part, and I noticed the bodywork was pretty heavy duty, which I’m sure is part of having reliable cars that any old numpty can jump in and thrape around a circuit!
The cockpit was quite spacious, and much easier to get into and out of than the Sheane Formula Vee, but you felt very safe and secure even just using a four-point harness.
It’s a full racing clutch – so pretty much an on/off switch! You need to rev to around 5000rpm and very gently ease the clutch out until it punches you in the back and away you roar!
When I first slid into the cockpit I realised how much confidence I’d lost after spinning the Sheane. I had a bitter metallic taste in my mouth from adrenaline, and realised I’d put myself under serious pressure not to cock this up, and to prove that I actually CAN drive a racing car. I was much more nervous than sitting in the Vee for the first time.
All the cars went out in small groups, following single file behind an instructor in a Renault Clio. I was the lead car in my group, so headed out at what felt like a very slow pace.
Much like a Vee, you only really use first and second gears to get going, and the whole of Stowe was third and fourth gear.
After a few laps slowly building up the pace, we came into the pits, a different lead car went behind the Clio, and we went out again.
This pace was actually pretty perfect for all levels of driver. If you’re brand new to it all, you won’t be intimidated, and have plenty of time to learn the track and racing line. Even for me, once again having my Tom Cruise ‘crisis of confidence’, it settled me right down so I could concentrate on getting the feel of the grip and the responsive throttle.
Once more we came back to the pits, and then were let loose for the last 20 minutes on our own!
When you push the throttle down properly, it all gets a lot more hectic.
With the revs up you’re instantly lapping the circuit in less than half the time, and having to really stand on the brakes coming off the straights.
Out the pit lane you come down to an awkward entry to a left hairpin, with a late apex meaning you feed the power in onto the longest straight. Then you realise you’re being a wuss and squeeze the pedal more.
It’s a fair feeling of speed and a very bumpy journey as you ease the brakes on before you get to the ‘Brake Now!’ board, kicking yourself for not leaving it 50 metres later even as you slam it down to third gear and turn into the corner.
As you exit you drag it back to the left and dab the brakes again for a right hander, leading into a complex of corners all in third gear, some requiring a dab of brakes as you get later on in the session and pick up speed.
There’s another really awkward entry to the other hairpin, and it’s begging you to turn in too early, so you hold off and look for the yellow apex cone and bring it in to that, building power through a lovely left hander that snaps right onto the pit straight as you scream the revs up to fourth gear, braking hard but keeping as much speed as you can through a right-left s-bend back down to the first hairpin.
I was there to have fun, and pushed a fair bit with a few wiggles, but don’t think I ever strung a decent lap all together without hitting traffic (or missing a gear!), which I wish I’d concentrated more on, because in the debrief they hand you a printout of all your lap times!
I did ok, and I’m happy with my performance because I know there was a lot more to come.
As mentioned before, it ironed out some confidence issues both with driving itself, and also the big fear mentioned in previous blogs that my braking would be a major weak point. It wasn’t, and I was very comfortable with it, and willing to push much further than expected.
On about the only clear lap I had, I put in a 1:04, and although I did get caught in a fair bit of traffic, it looks like I got lucky with a very fast group, so didn’t get held up nearly as much as I’ve seen watching other peoples videos. That’s the chance you take with arrive-and-drive things.
So I’m feeling good about driving, and that should get me through to next years Formula Vee campaign. Shame there weren’t any spaces in the next session, or I may have had another go…
The full experience is available from Silverstone for around £199 – but you’ll find loads of vouchers, offers and cashback around to bring that down to around £140 – I bought mine through www.buyagift.co.uk. Then there’s the £20 damage waiver (it means you pay nothing if you kill the car), CD of top quality photographs for £20, and £30 for a full video of the day on a USB stick (plus you get £5 off the photographs with this). Not cheap, but welcome to motor racing!
I still went to watch the other Formula Vee’s at Donington, and I’m glad I did!
On Saturday the heavens opened and the track looked probably the worst I’ve ever seen it. This justified our decision not to race – with no feel for the car in the dry, let alone the wet, I doubt I’d have even made it to the first corner!
James Harridge, in his first season racing his home-built Maverick took a very emotional second place from qualifying. Everyone watching him power through Redgate on the throttle (the ONLY one who did this!) was a thing of beauty, and I don’t think anyone thought he’d got anything else but pole! Craig Pollard just took it, however.
I mention this here, because in all the write-ups I’ve seen so far not one mentions James’ stunning performance, and that is maddeningly unfair!
His team has battled all year with parts failing and their engine being massively under-powered. This was also literally his first time driving at Donington – no testing or anything – so his second fastest time out of all the Vee’s was set within his first 10 laps of the track EVER!
Come on! Give the man some recognition! A definite future star once they find a bit more power…
Pete Belsey also took his first ever championship race win, after some very close (as ever) racing, and Tim Probert led for the first time. Martin Farmer took the win in race 2, and if you haven’t got yourself on YouTube yet to view both races, you need to!
*Further edit: As it turns out, that was also Craig Pollards first ever pole, so a massive well done to him, to! It’s always been said that the true talent will surface when the field is equalised by rain.
Anyway, back to my own campaign…
We still don’t know what happened to the Sheane, as Glenn hasn’t had a chance to get the engine apart, yet. He’s pretty sure that the cause is going to be the float on the crank shaft. With any luck, there won’t be too much damage, and we’re already planning next season.
750 Motor Club run an early day around February for general testing and new drivers to take their ARDS test. It will be quite a fitting return for me, because it’s at Donington again.
Glenn has told me to just put the spin out of my mind and go at it from fresh. There are too many variables at work for me to have really learned much, and the tyres were old and dirty etc. I do now know that there isn’t as much grip as I was expecting, so will take it even easier and try to get a few more corners in, on my return.
A few drivers also suggested that being in 4th gear won’t have helped things, either.
Spinning a single seater is also a bit weird.
Because you’re strapped in so tightly you don’t get flung around much. I can clearly remember during the spin I was just waiting to catch the car so I could point it the right way, and didn’t move in the seat at all, until at one point my head went *dink* against one side of the roll cage.
It was only gentle, but I’m thinking of putting some padding there for extra safety.
I also have a new camera mount to try out, hopefully raising the view so it clears my helmet and shows a bit more inside the cockpit.
We have a load of things still to do to the Sheane, like moving the position of the extinguisher on to the floor of the car under my legs, improving the engine mountings, and a million other minor preparation jobs.
For 2015 we should be able to do the whole season.
It seems like a long way off, sat here dreaming about jumping in the car again (and every second thought I now have is about racing!), but I’m sure it’ll all come around quickly again.
This time we should be much better prepared, and ready to compete!
James Cater Racing 