The Return To iRacing

24 Sunday May 2020

Posted by jamescaterracing in Formula Vee, Products, Racing, Uncategorized

Tags

eracing, free iracing credits, iRacing, licence, motorsport uk, mx5, online racing, sim racing, skip barber

I hope you are all safe and well out there? Or, to be more specific, I guess – in there.

With all racing cancelled due to Covid-19 (you might have heard of it), if you haven’t switched on to all the brilliant sim racing that is being broadcast, you really are missing out. Many ‘real drivers’ have switched to sims for their first time ever to try and get some of that buzz back. And you know what? It works!

Me? Well, I last did a blog on iRacing years ago. In fact I let my subscription run out and hadn’t played it for around 3 years.

Why?

Mainly because my internet connection wasn’t good enough, so I’d get my laptop hooked up to the TV, plug in the wheel and pedals, fluff up a few pillows, and then on the first lap of the race my connection would drop out, no times would be recorded, and my game ratings just took a dive every time…

Add to that a not insubstantial monthly fee, and that was that.

But despite having most of the other racing sims, I still knew iRacing was the one I really wanted to be playing. The one that was most rewarding to race against others on.

I signed up for one month for $15, as tax is now included. That’s a crazy increase!

My first impressions (after a few hours of downloads and updates) were that the tyres felt much more realistic – especially on braking where they’d nailed the floaty feeling before it locks up.

I’d also forgotten how to drive the sim, and my safety rating took a clattering, along with some more disconnection issues…

But I reset my brain again. I started driving like Miss Daisy and put the racing line back on. I did a load of Time Trials with just me on track, so I could lap consistently without going off track without overdriving the car everywhere.

I concentrated on the Skip Barber and Mazda MX5 only. The Skippy is the closest the game has to a Formula Vee, and feels great. The MX5 is much less forgiving, and will swap ends frustratingly quickly, but the actual racing you get is brilliant.

I’m trying to get my C Grade licence back, so will literally start the race slowly and keep out of everyone’s way to let them pass me through the first few turns. Assuming they’ve still not taken me out, I then drive a few slow laps, and half the field will crash on their own or in tangles. I then just cruise through and normally end up in the top 5 just through consistency.

If someone is catching you by 2 seconds per lap, just let them through. You’ll gain a lot more by avoiding the incident points for contact and following them to see how they’re faster.

Honestly, all you want to do is stay out of everyone’s way and even if you finish last as long as you have no incident points your rating will climb and you’ll be put into races with more careful drivers.

Do that a few times and you’ll find yourself leading races and THEN you can start to enjoy it all.

I’ve definitely got the bug again, so will be taking out a full year subscription.

I also remembered a few essentials for people using their laptop and basic equipment:

Plug into your router with a top quality (class 8) ADSL cable, and do not use a WiFi connection.
Use the lowest graphics setting. I have a very high spec laptop, but it’s still only barely good enough…
Lower the screen resolution slightly to get more FPS (frames per second).
You need a custom desktop PC if you want it to look pretty, but you can still do it if you have limited space and just a laptop and your TV screen.

So I’m still building my skills up again, but loving it for a few hours a day. I might even try some oval racing – or the new dirt oval and rallycross that’s now in the game.

If you’re on it, feel free to add me as a friend – I’m called ‘James Cater’ weirdly enough.

I bet you’ll enjoy it, once you’ve slogged your way out of the crash-happy Rookie series!

BONUS BITS!

Did you know that Motorsport UK licence holders get 3 months of iRacing for free? Click the link in the Members Benefits section of your account and they’ll send you a code in an email.

As someone already paying for iRacing, I tried this and the code did not work – I’ve queried this with Motorsport UK to see if it’s for first time members only, or if it will work when my sub runs out…

Also, there is an e-racing championship being organised by Motorsport UK and iZone for all licence holders, with analyses and stuff all free for you! You need to sign up to the league before Monday 25^th May (tomorrow!!!) ideally, or you won’t be guaranteed a space. The link in the last mag is wrong, so go here to sign up: www.bit.ly/izone-esports

The Speed Of The Praga

04 Saturday Apr 2020

Posted by jamescaterracing in Products, Racing, Uncategorized

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comparison, downforce, drive, formula vee, motorsportdays live, praga r1, review, test, vr motorsport

Reading back through my blog about driving the Praga R1S, it strikes me that I missed some important stuff about the experience!

Part of the blame was that it hadn’t really sunk in, but part was also that the blog was already far too long to be adding more in. So now, four months after I wrote this, and with zero motorsport happening around the world, I thought it might be a good time to post the blog!

I did a bit of research into the Praga before my drive, watching a few onboard videos and reading/watching reviews for the road version.

A term that cropped up a few times was that the car is “motorcycle fast” – as in the way it moves is more like the sort of speed you get from riding a superbike than a car.

I’ve ridden sportsbikes almost every day of my life for the past 20 years, so I’m very used to 0-60 in under 3 seconds, 85mph in first gear, and top speeds approaching 200mph. That sort of performance literally gets me to the office (admittedly with a grin, most days), so it takes a lot to phase me. Plus throw in a bit of driving and instructing in supercars…

The Praga R1 looks like an absolute beast, with wings and diffusers all over the place, and it’s a tiny car so you’re almost wearing it when you slide in through the window. And it’s clearly a very fast car around a race track.

To be honest, though, at no point did I ever find it intimidating. I’m not saying it felt slow (far from it!), but it was very… user friendly.

The cockpit is far more comfortable than you’d ever imagine from a very basic carbon fibre seat – if cradles you well, and there are headrests to help you cope with cornering if 3g’s gets too much for your neck to take. Everything in there is within easy reach, feels pretty natural, and visibility is much better than you’d think – a great testament to the designers.

There was no speedometer, so I have no clue what speeds I was hitting, but can say that mashing the throttle didn’t elicit fear – in fact my heart rate monitor shows I only got up to 115bpm (in Formula Vee I’ll normally be around 130-140bpm in the wet and 140-160bpm in the dry). I should note here that I was in the normally aspirated R1S with about 260hp – the turbo powered R1T has around 460hp, so I’m sure that would pick up its petticoat and go a fair bit faster!

From the onboard video I’d seen from Donington, I noticed that the braking points were about the same as I’d use in the Vee, so used the same thinking for my Silverstone drive. I’ve got no doubt that the Praga was massively faster than the Vee, but it didn’t really feel it in terms of driving.

I was in 6th gear for a long time down the straight, so was seeing a bit of the top end, although I’m sure I’d be able to get another 20 seconds per lap out of the car with a bit more time to feel things out in the corners.

I mentioned that the mechanical grip in the corners was very good – the Praga feels and drives like a single seater. Very stiff but still compliant, and it just goes instantly wherever you want it to. Obviously it has much better, wider tyres than a Formula Vee, plus about 40 more years of suspension development. It soaks up all the bumps without ever getting skittish, and whilst it’s a bit of a cliché to say it felt like it was on rails, it was – except you could seemingly change the line at will, too.

Which brings me nicely onto the biggest unknown for me: downforce.

I don’t know what speed is needed for the diffuser and stuff to do their thing, so that may well still help in the slower corners, but then once the speed gets up things move from pure mechanical grip into the physics of downforce created by the wings etc.

Whilst I didn’t feel like The Hand Of God was pushing me down into the track, it was very clear that grip had increased – especially through Stowe and Abbey. Going through Farm in a Vee you’re pretty much hanging on and fighting the car drifting to the outside on the exit, but in the Praga it still felt like you could turn in hard and hug the inside curb.

I’m sure you can dial out any smidgeon of under or oversteer quite easily in the car using set-up, but the impression I got was very neutral and balanced with maybe a slight hint of understeer.

It really is a beautiful car to drive on a track, and if I ever got the budget to race more than Vee, the Praga would be at the top of the list. I think it’s the kind of car that would teach you a huge amount because it just does everything – it’s a bit like a blank canvas inviting you to do what you want with it.

Whilst I’ve always loved ‘tin top’ cars, I’ve had the impression that they’re not as ‘pure’ as single-seaters.

Maybe that’s true for the GT cars, but the prototype-style racers are just a single seater with a roof – and driving the Praga showed me that it’s every bit as pure and exciting as a single seater.

And You get to stay dry.

A small Lottery win or a big promotion at work, and I will be having a serious chat with Vincent Randall again…

**As a bonus – check out the new liveries for whenever things get going again!

Praga R1S drive at Motorsportsdays Live 2019

02 Saturday Nov 2019

Posted by jamescaterracing in Racing, Uncategorized

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experience, getontrack, gravel trap, motorsportdays live, praga, r1s, silverstone, vr motorsport

After sitting out the 2019 season, I’d pretty much switched off and was looking forward to getting out there again for 2020.

Browsing Facebook I saw that VR Motorsport were going to give out drives to experienced drivers at Motorsportdays Live, and so threw my hat into the ring. A few weeks later I saw a post where the team drew out the winning names, and mine was amongst them!

First I need to speak about Motorsportdays Live. It’s a brilliant event held in The Wing at Silverstone, with loads of trade displays and offers for racers and people in the motorsport industry, or those thinking about doing trackdays or racing. It was a really good event, and you need to check it out and get down there next year for the third show of it’s kind!

The important bit for me, is that you can book a drive in a car around the International circuit, so you can actually try out a car before you commit to that race series, try a new car on track, take your own car on track, or just experience a drive in something amazing.

For me, that would be in a Praga R1S.

I watched them racing in the Dutch Supercar series for the first time a few years ago, and loved them immediately. What’s not to love about these ‘superlight’ racers? A full carbon fibre monocoque, huge levels of downforce, less than 600kg and a stonking F3000 engine sat just behind the driver!

I dropped my race kit off and said a few hello’s with the VR Motorsport team, had a little wonder around the displays and paddock, and then before I knew it my 15 minute slot was coming up to get out on track with the LMP/TCR/BTCC/GT4/GT3/Prototype group.

Team boss Vincent Randall and all of the team were very friendly and welcoming as I chatted to them and had a mooch around the beautiful cars. If I’d got on the racing ladder 15 years earlier, something like the Praga would have been exactly what I’d be aiming for rather than going down the F1 route, so I still couldn’t really believe I was there!

Soon I was asked to get my helmet and HANS on, and I climbed in through the tiny window, sliding down into the carbon fibre seat to be faced with a cockpit slightly more modern than your average Formula Vee.

The first thing that struck me was that EVERYTHING is carbon fibre. The ignition, engine start button and a few others were up above the windscreen, along with a tiny switch to work the indicators (I never used it, although we were running trackday rules for overtaking with consent). It was all within easy reach in the tiny cockpit, and although some might feel a bit cramped I thought it was very comfortable in there.

They clipped the steering wheel on, pointing out the paddle shifts at each side, a ‘neutral’ button for getting the car, err, into neutral, and a few balance adjusters that I had no interest in messing with. I knew there would only be a brake and accelerator pedal, but was surprised to be shown a clutch pedal that was hidden up and back from the these that would only be used to getting moving.

Vincent waved me and the sister car (the Praga R1T turbo with almost twice the horsepower), and I held the engine start button down and flicked the ignition switch, hearing the 2l Renault Sport engine roar into life behind me.

I held the Neutral button and the clutch and pulled the right paddle shift to engage first gear, and got a helpful push start from the team in the pitlane.

Unsurprisingly, the car revs to 7500rpm extremely quickly with the lightest brush of the throttle, so as I drove up the pitlane I found every tiny bump of the track surface was making life tough to hold the revs steady – not a problem as I hit the exit and everything smoothed out with more revs.

I short-shifted up a few gears before brushing the brakes nice and early into Village and almost stopping dead 50 metres before the turn-in point! Of course, you have no choice in these but to brake with your left foot like in a kart, so it’s always in the back of your head not to mash it like the clutch pedal with your big, goofy untrained left foot!

Turning the wheel the car moved more as if reading my mind than the steering input, absolutely rock stable and flat on the full wet tyres despite the damp track. Through The Link it felt unflappable with the direction changes, and I opened it up on the Hangar Straight and watched the digital readout climb with ease.

Braking a bit lighter and deeper into Stowe the Praga simply ate it up without any drama – probably my first time experiencing the power of downforce from the multitude of wings, planes, splitters huge diffuser. Some heavier braking and back down to 3^rd gear for the complex showed the car was equally stable using its mechanical grip at slower speeds.

My biggest fear had been for Abbey. I know how fast I can (and how fast I can’t!) get through there in a Formula Vee, but in the damp, with wet tyres, a lot more speed and downforce I had no idea. I gentle dab of the brakes and again the Praga was on rails, asking to be pushed harder to get the full 3g’s of cornering capability from it.

Over the next few laps I steadily built up speed, amazed at the speed I cold carry into the turns and through it without the car so much as shaking it’s tail, and putting a bit more pressure on those huge brakes as I felt them out to see what their limits were.

I hoofed it through Abbey and finally the tail twitched and it all got sideways, but even then I simply caught it with a touch of opposite lock and the car was back on friendly terms with me, barely even raising my heart rate.

It’s tough to describe the handling, as it’s so good it does everything perfectly, and simply goes wherever you want. There is no drama. You can feel it’s just a brilliantly designed car that works perfectly in the twisty bits. I’d love longer in the car to push closer to those 3g forces…

Unfortunately, I never got to see the chequered flag for the end of the session…

As I came around Stowe one lap chasing some of the other exotic machinery, with a McLaren GT3 behind me, I had pushed the car a bit harder and carried a fair bit more speed through and down to the complex.

I was watching my mirrors as I hit the brakes, and this was the first time I managed to exceed the braking grip, locking up the front tyres.

I’m no stranger to driving cars without ABS, and after a fair bit of practice in the Vee I know to modulate the pedal to get the grip back. Using my right foot.

I think the problem with the Praga was that my left foot just doesn’t have the same kind of ‘feel’ for doing this, and once I’d lost it I couldn’t recover it. In hindsight I should have probably just turned in and tried to make the turn, and the car could well have been capable of it – or at least given me the chance to sort it all out after…

But the car sailed straight on, surfing the gravel at a speed that definitely did get my heart rate up as the solid red and white wall got closer and closer as I uselessly sawed at the wheel to try and get some movement to the right to miss it. Luckily I stopped short.

There is only one real chance at Silverstone to find a gravel trap – and that is on entry to the complex. If this first lock-up had happened anywhere else on the track I’d have been fine, run wide, and carried on my merry way knowing to be a bit more careful.

Sat there, not believing what I’d done, my racers brain kicked in and I went to restart the car – not that there would be much chance of getting out of the gravel without help. To make things worse, the car was absolutely dead. I had no power at all as I tried every combination of the ignition and starter button without getting so much of a flicker.

The session ended and I was unceremoniously dragged out by a tow truck, with my first question to the marshals – “How much damage is there? Have I ripped the front end off?” – luckily proving to be overly pessimistic as there was no damage from my little excursion.

I insisted on helping to clean the gravel out to help turn the car around for the next session, but sadly the car still didn’t have any power for some reason. I don’t think this was directly from anything I’d done – the thinking was that the problem may have been compounded by a marshal hitting an external reset button, triggering a complicated restart sequence.

Despite the somewhat unfortunate ending to my session, I loved everything about the Praga R1S, and if my budget (or sponsorship) ever allows I would definitely look to drive one. At the very least I’d love to get some more time in the car to experience how amazing they are again.

A massive thank you to Vincent Randall and VR Motorsport for giving me this opportunity to drive one of these awesome cars – it really is a dream come true, and I can’t apologise enough for my mistake.

The team treated me really well, and even after the Praga was towed back in they took it all in their stride and never tried to make me feel any worse about it. I’m looking forward to watching VR Motorsport stick it to the Brabham at Brands Hatch next weekend, where the rules are allowing the Praga to use full power for the first time. **EDIT** VR Motorsport have now decided to run in their Class 1 configuration due to concerns over finishing with the allowed fuel and feel that it’s more respectful to the championship for the final round. Make sure you cheer them on!

Be sure to follow them on Facebook and sign up to their website for news and offers.

New Sponsor: The Birmingham Superprix Project

01 Sunday Sep 2019

Posted by jamescaterracing in Formula Vee, Racing, sponsorship, Uncategorized

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2020, Birmingham Superprix, legend, pictures, project, sponsor

I am proud to announce that The Birmingham Superprix Project logo will now be displayed on the Formula Vee racecar as a sponsor!

Despite not being able to get out on track this season, things have still been moving behind the scenes, and it’s great to be able to help raise awareness for a local project for this legendary motorsport event from my childhood.

The Birmingham Superprix Project is a multi-platform project focusing on images, footage, memorabilia, social media, collaboration’s & events related to the history of Britain’s pioneering legal city street race.

80,000 people crowded onto the city centre streets for the August bank holiday from 1987 to 1990 to watch F3000, British Touring Car Championship, TVR Tuscan’s, Formula Ford 1600 and others racing around a track that took in the Bristol Road, Bromsgrove Street and Pershore Road.

Please go and ‘like’ their page on Facebook and show your support – you’ll also find regular pictures and videos of the events and plans for where it will lead in the future!

I’ll be bringing the Superprix name back to the track (if not the actual event!) for 2020 in the Formula Vee Championship run by 750 Motor Club, and hope to see you all out there!

My Favourite Racecars Ever

05 Friday Jul 2019

Posted by jamescaterracing in Racing, Uncategorized

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art, beautiful, best racecars, f5000, gt, history, lister storm, mp4/4, pictures, quaife

I’ve loved racecars for as long as I can remember.

From getting up in the middle of the night to watch Indycar and F1 races to standing by the side of tracks around the country, I guess they are the art forms that truly move me.

It might also surprise some of you to see F1 cars in my all-time favourites list, as I’m quite vocal about not having followed F1 since about 1994 – but I used to be totally obsessed a few years before that, and was a huge fan of Elio de Angelis and Ayrton Senna.

So, in no particular order, here are the cars that I love the most:

McLaren MP4/4

Most beautiful single-seater ever created. I love the Marlboro colours, but the car itself is just gorgeous. It was an honour watching Senna decimate the opposition in this.

Lister Storm

My favourite car for years, after randomly seeing one in a magazine and sending a letter to Lister Cars, who kindly posted me a brochure for their cars. And then a few years later this absolute brute of a car appeared in the British GT Championship!!!

McLaren F1 GTR

I don’t think I even need to say anything about this one.

Audi Sport Quattro S1 Pikes Peak

Back when I was 11 years old, my best mates Dad – TR4 Challenge racer Peter Cox – had a white Quattro. It was awesome, and the fastest thing I’d been in at that time. Of course I always loved the Group B cars, but the Pikes Peak versions took it all to the next level.

Chevrolet Corvette C7.R

I think the C7 is one of the most beautiful cars ever made. Just look at that rear view! And the sound of that V8…

Sauber Mercedes C9

I’d say this is the best looking sports prototype ever made. They were absolute beasts on the track, and just looked perfect in silver (especially with their flouro wing mirrors).

Top Fuel Dragster

If you’ve never experienced top fuel drag racing in person I honestly can’t express what you’re missing. It’s awesome on the purest sense of the word – a spiritual experience as the dinosaur-like roar tears the cells of your body and the air around you. I still get withdrawal pains in my soul when I remember the experience. 10,000+hp, a standing 1000 yards in less than 4 seconds crossing the line at 330mph, and just the exhaust gasses produce 1000lb of downforce! So, yeah, this is all top fuel dragsters.

Ultima GTR

I remember watching the development of the Ultima GTR at Mallory Park! I always liked them, and remember them lapping the second place cars in their races in a 10 lap race. I’m happy to see them still around and looking better than ever!

Lotus 98T

An all-time classic in the gold and black JPS paint scheme.

Lola T332 F5000

I saw this testing at Mallory Park a few years ago and the sound is monstrous! Glenn attributes most of his hearing loss to being behind and F5000 car in the tunnel at Brands Hatch. I’d love to drive one.

Quaife R4 GTS

Another rarity from the British GT series in the 90s. And it was 4WD!

Renaultsport R.S. 01

I saw this all in carbon when it was released at the Autosport Show one year – it’s been a long time since a racing car caught my eye that much.

Which are your favourites and why?

Markers vs Feel

01 Saturday Jun 2019

Posted by jamescaterracing in Formula Vee, karting, Racing, Technique, Uncategorized

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braking, feel, formula vee, karting, learning, markers, skills, turn in

It’s been a while since you got any of the mad ramblings that go on inside my head, so as I’m still totally obsessed every second of the day, here are some more random racing thoughts!

I have said before that I rely on markers to get me around a circuit.

That is to say, I will watch onboard videos and read circuit guides so that I have an idea that I need to brake at the “II” marker board and then turn in halfway down the entry curb, get on the power just before the apex curb, and then let it drift out to the 3rd red stripe on the exit curb etc.

I will adjust the braking and turn-in points once I’m out there, depending on conditions, how the car feels and how brave I am, but for the most part it’s all “Point A to Point B” in my head out there.

But that’s not the only way…

I’ve asked other racers “Where are you braking?” – only to be met with a bit of a blank stare and confusion, before they admit that they don’t really know.

Whilst in racing terms, this answer normally means “I’m not telling you”, in this case it doesn’t, because these drivers do it all on ‘feel’.

This is still an alien concept to me, because even when I know a track and am just driving, I’m pretty sure I’m still subconsciously hitting those markers, because I certainly know about it if I’ve missed a braking point!

However, when I’m karting I do seem to drive most of the lap on feel rather than markers.

Now in theory, having a good feel (wha-hey!) should be faster, because you can always keep the car on the limit – but if you don’t have the natural talent to keep the car on the limit then you could be much slower because you’re braking far too early etc.

From karting sessions I am learning to feel the lateral g’s to know I should be able to carry more speed into a corner where my markers would tell me to brake, so it is slowly creeping into my collection of racing skills.

Doing it this way at my local karting track, I recently discovered that where I’d normally be braking and getting ready to turn, I can actually get back on the power before the corner and get around it.

Whilst skills aren’t always transferable from a kart to a Formula Vee, for me most of them are, as I’m still very much learning.

All I need now is to get back out there and see how I can make it work for me!

Do you race by feel or are you using markers? Or do you have another way?

Season prep update & 2018 compilation video

15 Monday Apr 2019

Posted by jamescaterracing in Formula Vee, Racing, Uncategorized

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compilation, problems, top picks, update, video

This weekend the Formula Vee circus descended on Brands Hatch to open the 2019 race season.

But you may have noticed that I wasn’t there…

Some of you will already know that Glenn’s brother Malcolm sadly passed away in February, leaving Glenn with a lot of slack to pick up for his business.

With his other brother also being in poor health, it means that he simply doesn’t have the time to do anything with the race car.

Add in a dose of other ‘life stuff’ getting in the way, we’ve had a discussion and decided to put all race plans on hold, for now.

I am still registered for the season, and you can bet that when the window of opportunity opens we’ll be diving through it with the same fire as always, and giving it everything!

I will still continue to give updates on here and on the Facebook pages, so please ‘like’ them to see what’s going on!

Until then, I did knock up a video with the main action from my 2018 season, so I hope you enjoy that. I do have another more technical video to post on the RTV blog where Gelnn talks through the engine problems that cut our season short last year, so look out for that, too!

Oh yes, and my top picks for the title this year?

James Harridge – He’s finally took the plunge and got a GAC engine, so with the reliability issues sorted and more power, his driving skills could make him a proper weapon this year! (note: shocking story here that stopped him racing at Brands – but I’m not going into that here…)

Craig Pollard – Still fired up after winning the title last year he should be full of confidence to repeat it in 2019.

Ian Jordan – He’s probably done more Vee races than the rest of the grid together (ok, that might be a slight exaggeration), and he’s always well up the front in the mix. I’d expect a few wins (note: updating this after the weekend to say that he won the opening round!)

Graham Gant – Proven to be very fast in what could be the best Vee on the grid. I’ve had him in my top picks for the last few years but he hasn’t done a full season – if he does in 2019 then he’s a major threat. He doesn’t seem to like the rain much, though… (note: yep – and he won the second race at Brands this weekend!)

Daniel Hands – He was strong before in Vee and hasn’t lost anything! He’ll be out to take it.

One to watch:

Christian Goller – he must have had horrendous luck, as he always seems to start from way behind me, and then just comes flying past during the race. If he qualifies well his true pace should surprise a few.

2018 Season Review

11 Tuesday Dec 2018

Posted by jamescaterracing in Formula Vee, Racing, Uncategorized

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2018, formula vee, Heritage Parts Centre, Primrose Hospice, review, season, UK

My 2018 racing season in the Heritage Parts Centre UK Formula Vee championship certainly had some ups and downs.

From blowing the engine on my out lap at Castle Combe in qualifying, being involved in someone elses crash at Brands Hatch, overcoming engine problems to prove I can still drive at Croft, flying to Ireland with broken ribs and concussion (after a motorcycle accident) to challenge for a class win at Mondello Park, and then random problems which ultimately led to me not racing in the last round of the season and being left with two scrap engines.

It was a definite uphill struggle all year long, but sometimes I managed to see over that crest. Sometimes I got to taste that joy of both victory and the unbelievable exhilaration that only comes with motor racing.

I could focus on my engine problems and pure bad luck and frustration – or I can remember going for the class win at Mondello Park, wheel to wheel with Bill ‘Wom’ Garner in a titanic scrap on the final lap! Or the way I overcame serious power loss at Croft to lead B Class Championship winner Andrew Cooper in the opening laps and still hang onto him despite it being a very fast power circuit.

However frustrating things were, I’m still doing the thing I only ever daydreamed about as a kid, and to me, dropping back through the field at Silverstone with the engine dying but still fighting hard to stay ahead of the pack – that’s the sort of victory many will never be able to understand.

Despite missing 6 races and not finishing 1 – so half of the scheduled 14 – I somehow ended up 6^th in class and 22nd overall. And more important than any stat is that I know that I have clearly improved and I’m a much faster and consistent driver and loving every second on and off the track!

If you were wondering where I was for Snetterton, basically the oil leak that stopped me doing the last race at Donington turned out to be an insert for an engine stud that had come out. As this meant we couldn’t use that engine case, we swapped all the internals into a spare case, only to find that case needs to be line bored as the main bearing was warped, and the barrels couldn’t be shimmed up evenly as that surface has warped, too. So whilst we have two scrap engines at present, we should be able to recover at least one.

For 2019 I’ll be hitting the season at full blast after a few improvements to the car, and fully intend to win my class, as well as stick it in the overall top 10 on a regular basis as I push myself even harder.

It’s a roller-coaster of a ride, but what’s better than throwing both hands high in the air and yelling “faster!”?

Thanks for all of your support this year, and for reading my (sometimes very long) ramblings!

Special thanks:

Primrose Hospice for their amazing service, and allowing me to proudly carry their logo on my car and help their promotion.

Glenn Hay for heading up Racing Team Vee and for the use of the car.

My beautiful fiancé Julie for putting up with my sacrifices to go racing and my total obsession with it.

The Bromsgrove Standard and Craig Gibbons for publishing my race reports.

Donington Park 2018– My View

18 Tuesday Sep 2018

Posted by jamescaterracing in Formula Vee, Racing, Uncategorized

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donington park, my view, overtaking, Primrose Hospice, race report, trophy, video

After coming away from Silverstone with more piston problems, we were left with a few hard decisions for the rest of the season:

Quit and prep the car ready for 2019
Put a new piston and barrel set on, and risk the exact same thing happening (or worse), or
Totally strip the engine down, rebuild with part run-in pistons (as we had no testing time we couldn’t use a new set), and risk running out of time!

We’re not quitters, but we’re not stupid, either, so went for the latter option with some long hours for me and even longer for Glenn!

We made it, driving down on the morning for the one-day event, and the sun was even shining enough for me to make use for my customary sun cream.

Qualifying

I still had to be a bit gentle for a few laps to run the engine in, and with the maximum of 32 on the grid (with several reserves also waiting in the wings) that was always going to be a bit risky.

For Silverstone I’d made a change to the front anti-roll bar that shouldn’t have worked at all, but weirdly it had, so I left it. Even weirder, now it chose to do what I’d expected it to do, meaning I had some horrible understeer going on! At Old Hairpin and Coppice especially I was having to really wrestle the front end in – easily fixable, and the balance of the rest of the car was great, so I was still happy.

Unfortunately the number of cars on track led to inevitable yellow flags out for cars that had gone off. This meant the only flying lap I managed to get in was red flagged into the chicane, leaving me in a disappointing 21^st and 17^th for the races.

As most other had the same issue, this would mean a fair few of us were out of place, so I had some work to do in the races to get back up there!

More worryingly, we had been leaking a bit of oil, which we didn’t need at all.

Race 1

I got off the line fairly well, but then got boxed in behind Vaughn Jones. I’d still made up a few rows and could see Bill ‘Wom’ Garner and Andrew Cooper just ahead, so we had the first 4 Class B cars that close into the first corner, and changing positions all through Old Hairpin and up the hill.

Alex Jones went to the outside of Vaughn around McLeans, and I had a good enough run to outbrake both of them, sailing through on the inside and setting my sights on the orange car of Sam Engineer ahead.

As we hit the brakes for the chicane I could see all sorts of nonsense kicking off ahead.

Colin Gregory had spun and was stationary sideways across the track, and Rik Lanyi spun in avoidance, also ending up sideays just as I was turning into the first part.

With no clear route through I scrubbed as much speed as I could before abandoning it altogether and flicking my car to the left, away from the carnage but over the gravel trap and raise ‘sausage’ curb.

After getting a bit airborne I landed facing the right way on the start straight, t back on the power – miraculously, everyone else made survived the spins without any contact, and so everyone continued!

It had shuffled the field a little, and now the orange car ahead was Ed Lowndes, with Sam behind me.

I pulled the same move as the previous lap on Ed, my front right locking slightly but still sticking the car up the inside on the brakes. I held him behind me for the next lap as I tried to get on the back of Wom, but then Ed got a great slipstream to get ahead through the chicane, and Sam followed him through on the next straight.

I now had the two Bears cars of Alex and Richard Waddingham looming in my mirrors so figured I may as well just go for the orange cars instead of worrying about defending.

Sam pushed Ed hard into Redgate, but I knew they’d both left their braking too late and let Sam slide from the inside line, cutting Ed off, and then I cut back on the normal line and was alongside Sam at the top of the hill. Not seeing me, he moved right for the kink, putting me on the grass and forcing me to brake (something he did apologise for afterwards).

I didn’t let it phase me, and got a much better run through Old Hairpin to overtake Sam up the hill, then driving hard to pull out 2 seconds by the next lap, chasing down Wom who was also getting a move on in the distance.

I’d also noticed the infamous black and white flag with the number 18 next to it – I’d been exceeding track limits, so also knew I had to tidy things up and stay well away from the green bits on the other side of the curbs. I knew I’d been taking a few liberties and cutting corners to the maximum, but wasn’t entirely sure if I was being warned for that or my excursion through the gravel trap at chicane.

Suddenly a red car appeared ahead – I could see that Tim Probert had a few bits of his car flapping around that shouldn’t be, so assumed he’d gone off or tangled with someone (I could see after he had a huge ding to his trailing arm). And like a shark I tasted blood in the water!

I hung onto the tail of him for a few laps, almost sticking my McLeans overtake on him before he finally seemed to gather himself together a bit and start to edge away.

By this time I was well clear of anyone behind, so it came as a bit of a surprise when I saw the white Sheane of Colin Gregory closing in. I took Old Hairpin pretty well, thinking I may be able to hold him behind me even though his (ex-Adam MaCaulay) is faster overall, but he flew past me up the hill doing about 20mph faster!

It was crazy! I just threw a hand up and had to watch him disappear – although he almost overcooked it into McLeans! I miss my old scraps with Colin, but will have to find a good bit more to get back on level pegging with him, as he’s on it this year!

And then I saw the chequers, bringing it home 14^th overall and 3^rd in class behind Wom and Cooper.

The scrutineers pulled me and a few others in to check the chassis was all matching their spec drawings, which was new to me, but again my worries were more with the excess oil from the filler cap. This was likely related to being held for a long time yet again on the grid – occasionally everyone seems to forget that you can’t do that with aircooled cars!

Race 2

I was confident I could knock at least a second off my lap times, and this time I was starting ahead of Cooper and a few rows back from Wom.

As I chatted to my sister Michelle in the holding area, her boyfriend Mark Russell, who was helping out, noticed a pool of oil in the right side air scoop.

I flipped my mirror to have a look and knew it was over. Glenn had a quick look but there was nothing he could really do with that much time – a push rod tube had sprung a huge leak. I told Michelle to let one of the marshals with a radio know that one of the reserves could jump in to race, and we pushed the car back to the trailer.

I wasn’t even too angry about it (yeah I might have given the steering wheel a quick jab before I got out, but that doesn’t count!) – I think this year we’ve hit such bad luck it really didn’t surprise me!

As it happened the rest of the Vee’s only got a few laps in before a red flag – then with some car mistakingly following a retiring car into the pit lane rather than stopping on the grid for the restart, the race was cancelled. I bitterly thought that the car would have probably lasted long enough for me to finish!

In hindsight we should have just binned the old pushrod tubes and stuck a new set on with the rebuild (they’re fairly cheap), but it’s not something we’ve had before so didn’t know.

It’s yet another blow to my championship, but we’re still hanging around in 4^th place going into the last round of the year. We debated bothering to go to Snetterton, but other than a 15 minute fix the car is ready, and I still need to see if my improved driving is enough to fight it out with Cooper – even though he is out of reach for the B Class win.

I have a feeling Wom will be a bit handy around Snetterton after many kart laps but then me and Jamie Harrison have scrapped it out there, too, albeit in the 300 track and not the 200. Vaughn Jones has shown very good improvement through this year and so he’ll be in with a chance of tying up a championship podium, too. And will James Harridge return for the last race?

It’s set to be a good one just for the Class B battle, but you can guarantee I’ll also be scrapping it out wheel to wheel with Sam, Ed, Rik and any of a host of others!

And that’s just around me – no doubt there will be more awesome 5 way battles through the whole field, and what’s been an amazing Formula Vee season that’s been turning a lot of heads in the motorsport world.

Come along and see the best UK single seater race series – and don’t forget to drop by and say hi at Snetterton on October 13^th.

Silverstone 2018 – My View

23 Thursday Aug 2018

Posted by jamescaterracing in Formula Vee, Racing, Uncategorized

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engine, my view, Primrose Hospice, race, report, silverstone international

With my rib on it’s way to healing, you can imagine my joy when lower back pain from my motorcycle accident took over! Thankfully, the reclined race seat position actually made it the most comfortable I’ve been since the accident, rather than putting me in pain again.

Having fixed all the gear selection issues after Mondello, and having straightened the trailing arm, I went out to qualify with the car feeling good, just stiffening the dampers slightly on the dry track.

Before entering the holding area, we were subject to a sound check. This is normal, but they kept us waiting for about 10 or 15 minutes with engines running – this is A Very Bad Thing for air cooled cars and it seems to be impossible to get the message across to the marshals that they can’t do this with Vee’s! The two cars ahead of me were cooking and smoking, and I was restlessly checking my mirrors for any signs that I was overheating. This could well have a bearing on what happened next…

Qualifying

I built speed steadily and was feeling very relaxed and in control – the Sheane was taking everything in it’s stride and I was giving a slight lift into Abbey and building up to taking it flat.

Coming down the Hangar Straight, the engine note changed and all the power disappeared just before I lifted off to get o the brakes. I switched off instantly, cursing as I let the car coast all the way back around and into the pit garages.

Fearing a bearing failure and seized engine, a compression test showed the front right cylinder had no pressure at all, and all the rest were down about 50 on what they should be…

With just two hours to go before the race, Glenn Hay did his thing to replace the piston and barrel, hoping that would at least get us back out there. Unfortunately we ran out of time, but were confident that we’d be on the grid for the second race the next morning.

The curse of Silverstone strikes yet again!

By way of consolation, I learnt I’d been running 14^th for most of the session, and only dropped to 18^th in the final laps, so I knew I was up to speed with the rest of the grid.

Race 1

Staring at my empty grid spot from the top of The Wing, at least I knew I could look forward to watching some great racing. Sam Engineer was the stand-out driver, as he was right on the pace and challenging Andrew Cooper!

I figured if he could do it, I could get into that little scrap myself, and with James Harridge not racing that could still mean a class B win if I could take Cooper!

That was my target set for the next day…

Race 2

Overnight rain had left the track greasy. Just after I arrived at the circuit, marshals started shouting for us to get ready, as they wanted to send us out an hour early.

I pointed out that a few drivers hadn’t actually arrived yet, and the decision seemed to change to wait until after the church break. I’m too nice, sometimes!

There was a dry line on the warm-up lap, and I made sure to work my tyres hard. Rooting for rain, I’d softened the front anti-roll bar. It should have been taking a gamble if it stayed dry – as it turned out it did stay dry, but the car coped just as well with my compromised settings.

When the red lights came on I was completely focused on them. My whole world was just waiting for those lights to go out.

They did, and I passed six cars into the first turn with probably my best start ever!

John Hughes and Alex Jones snuck past, and Sam Engineer spun ahead, separating the pack as we took avoiding action. I was right on Coopers tail, exactly where I wanted to be, and poised to go for that class win.

I could tell I was a little down on power (we hadn’t done anything about the other cylinders), but I was driving well enough to keep me in touch in the twisty bits, so thought I could still make a move.

As I skittered through The Link onto Hangar Straight for the second time I knew I was in trouble. As I changed up to 4^th gear Cooper shot away, and Jamie Harrison simply drove past me.

I saw a cloud of oil smoke in my mirrors as changed back to 3^rd, but it hadn’t been the same power loss as in qualifying, so I decided to stay out and see if anything got worse. I didn’t seem to be losing much oil, but Mark Egan had also gone through as I concentrated on whether my engine was about to grenade itself or not.

I locked up the front tyres into the complex as I tried to claw them back in, and was right on Egan’s exhaust until we got back on the power, when he just started edging away and then I caught him up again carrying more speed through Abbey and hanging onto the back of him, Jamie and Cooper as we hit Hanger straight for the third time.

That was then the engine really went off a cliff, and I lost at least 2 seconds on them and Ed Lowndes caught, passed and gapped me, and Colin Gregory who wasn’t even in my mirrors tried to dive up the inside!

I held firm around the outside, sort of good to have last years sparring partner back wheel to wheel, but he still got ahead by half a length before we had to brake for the complex.

I stayed with them again until Hangar, and then had to admit it was futile.

My mirrors were clear (although I knew that wouldn’t last) so I decided to short-shift up to try and save the engine, and limp it through to the finish to pick up whatever points I could. Maybe my speed through the corners could keep me ahead? I knew I should be at least 2 secs a lap quicker if I could improve Stowe, so could have fun trying!

It took a good few more laps for Dave Leniewski to catch me, but then he shot past on Hangar straight in a battle with Richard Waddingham. Again I could stay with them on every other part of the track apart from anything using 4^th gear – so I carried on pushing on the bendy stuff in the hope they’d tangle themselves up and I could nip by…

That didn’t happen, and my prayers for a red flag somewhere went unanswered as well, with a horde of white cars growing ever closer in my mirrors, led by Vaughn Jones.

I noticed the smoke increasing as well, now every time I got back on the throttle, and by the last lap I was leaving a trail of smoke all the way around – I still had full oil pressure and hadn’t seen any flags for me, so figured it was just cooking off on the engine.

I crossed the line just holding 18^th place overall, and 4^th in class, and I don’t think the car had another lap left in it! I switched off well before the end of the lap and coasted into the pit lane.

So a bit of a disaster, but I guess I saved what I could. It’s a shame I couldn’t show what I could do, as I felt I was driving the best I ever have, and the car was handling great.

As I write this we’ve been through all the emotions, from ending our season to mad scientist style planning to keep things going.

We found the same piston had picked up again, and huge chunks of piston had crumbled away, and at least one more piston and barrel were scrap – but really all of them are done for. A section had also snapped off another piston ring.

After a very long discussion, we decided that if we just put new pistons and barrels on the same could happen again, and in addition we knew bits could well be clattering around inside the engine. Is it worth risking another set for something that could just happen again in qualifying? No.

So the only real option was for us to get the engine out, strip and clean everything, and then hope we have time to get it all done and back in for Donington Park on 2^nd September. But then that means if we use new parts we have no chance at all of testing to run them in, and again risk expensive failure.

That meant hunting around to try and scavenge some pistons, and now we’re just in the parts bath and rebuilding race. Then there are problems with the VW Camper, an injector leak on the Freelander, and whatever else the world is throwing at us this week to stop us getting the car on track!

It’ll go right down to the wire, but Glenn says we can do it, so we’ll be there!

We’ve got 2 rounds left for our luck to change, and we’re going to do our best to force that to happen! See you at Donington…

James Cater Racing

~ Realising the childhood dream…

Category Archives: Racing

The Return To iRacing

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Praga R1S drive at Motorsportsdays Live 2019

My Favourite Racecars Ever

Markers vs Feel

Season prep update & 2018 compilation video

2018 Season Review

Donington Park 2018– My View

Silverstone 2018 – My View