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James Cater Racing

~ Realising the childhood dream…

James Cater Racing

Tag Archives: best

My View Of Croft – Race 2

08 Friday Jun 2018

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

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Tags

750 motor club, best, control, croft, driving, formula vee, Heritage Parts Centre, Primrose Hospice, race 2, race report, technique, tyres, UK

JonElsey750MC2018CroftFVee-1 a

Race 2

We all run Formula Vee with our ignition timing advanced. It’s a way to use all of the potential of higher octane fuels, and I’ve even heard some claim to be running more than 30 degrees advanced – but people in the paddock don’t always tell the truth for that kind of stuff, and even if they are doesn’t mean they’re sticking to the rules to be able to do that…

With the bodged-together engine since our old one died at Croft, we’ve been running less advance than normal. Using his vast experience, and with none of the right equipment, Glenn advanced us a degree or so to tap into a bit more bhp. Very risky, but I was getting slaughtered on the straights.

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The car balance had help up fine, but corner exit grip was a bit iffy in places. The near-bald right rear tyre wasn’t helping, so I dropped the pressure a little on the rear to see if I could get it to dig in a little more without just overheating. A rear anti-roll bar would have been useful here, as a few clicks harder would have been good, but I was reluctant to change our rear damper settings as I suspected it was more the bumps upsetting that aspect of the car, and other drivers were saying the same.

All this aside, I knew everyone else would have made improvements or just learned the track better, so they would all be putting faster lap times in, relatively (technically about a second slower than Saturday, because of the heat).

The lights went out.

My plan was to latch on to Ian Buxton a few rows directly in front of me, and though we both started quickly, by the time I snatched second gear his car was already picking up it’s petticoat and giving it legs over mine.

I’d blasted past Bill Stenning and had Andrew Cooper ahead for second in class B as my target, when Bill Garner appeared on my left.

race 2 003

I held the inside and let the brakes off to ease up to the inside of Cooper around Hawthorne. He had to concede my better line through the chicane, although it pushed me wide on the exit, where I found air under my right wheels at the end of the curb, before manhandling it all back onto the tarmac.

Watching Cooper in my mirrors, I hammered it into Tower but the tyres didn’t quite have the heat in them to grip. The rears lurched into oversteer mid-corner, which I collected with a flick of opposite lock but this meant I had to delay getting on the loud pedal.

Cooper got the run off the corner and just had his front wheels ahead as we turned into the Jim Clark Esses – normally taken flat out with only one line through.

Cooper was throwing up all kinds of dirt from his outside line, and with him still just ahead, to avoid disaster for the right hand exit, I had to ease off and let him through. I tried to fight back on the inside into Barcroft, but he closed the door.

All this had definitely slowed us down (I hadn’t even changed up to fourth gear!), but luckily Garner had stayed behind (probably expecting us to crash) and I got on the throttle early into Sunny In and let the car slide all the way around onto the next short straight.

I had one last snap at Coopers heels into the hairpin but then he was edging away and I just sat back and tried to see exactly what he was doing, so that I could try and copy it.

race 2 002

My car felt like I could do anything with it. I was getting pretty out of shape in places, but there was never a moment where I though I might lose it… where I wasn’t fully in control, really. Something had definitely clicked in my head and I think it has a lot to do with confidence.

Although losing Cooper, I was also steadily drawing away from Garner in my mirrors (with a flash of Jamie Harrison before he encountered problems), but wasn’t cruising to maintain the gap as I was enjoying it all too much.

I remember going into Sunny In far too quickly, still trail braking and clearly overcooking it all, and just planting the throttle to bring the rear around as I drifted up to the edge of the curb on the exit as if nothing had happened.

And of course there was lots of opposite lock as I tried to get whatever was left of the tyres to do something out of the hairpin.

I’d been noticing my pit board, for once, too – I think the first time was when Craig Bell must have spun off, and I caught him onto the pit straight. My board read ‘P10’ so I was chuffed with that, and gave Glenn, Mark and Michelle and thumbs up!

race 2 006

Suddenly the red flags were out as I came into the complex, and I dived into the pit lane pretty sure they wouldn’t bother restarting the race.

Sure enough, the marshals waved me down pit lane and through into the holding area. There was nobody here to stop me, and I was first off the track, so I was a bit paranoid about getting a penalty, but if the gates were all open and nobody was there, surely that couldn’t do me for it?

I rolled back happily to our awning before getting out to shake hands and chat to the other drivers. It’s nice to see the respect we all have for each other after the races, despite how hard we race.

Oh, and I had my first ever trip to a real life podium for coming third in Class B, with a great trophy! And 10th place overall gives me my best ever result to date (not counting non-championship results), and it was earned the hard way rather than through attrition of the front-runners.

There is still loads of work to do before we go international and head to Mondello Park in Ireland in July, and I’m a bit gutted that it’s so long away, as I feel like I’ve unlocked something in me as a driver. I need to get back out there right NOW and try it!

With time to work on the car and address some of our issues, it looks promising for the trip, though – and at last I’m back in the championship with a strong chance of racking up points!

Bring it on!

Croft Podium 2018

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What tools do I need?

21 Wednesday Mar 2018

Posted by jamescaterracing in Formula Vee, Products, Rules & Regulations, Uncategorized

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Tags

advice, best, equipment, list, recommended, spanners, start racing, tools, workshop

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A common question when people are looking to start racing in Formula Vee with their own car is “What tools do I need?”

The easy answer to this is “All of them!”, and as with everything, your collection will grow and grow. One problem we’re having at the moment is the weight of getting everything we need to the circuits using an old VW camper van – but I don’t want to digress into transport issues for this one, so back to tools.

There are some essentials that you’ll use a lot, and you need to really get these together to have any sort of chance.

I’ve asked Glenn and a few drivers what they’d say are essentials – but even that isn’t very clear as you’ll need different stuff if you’re doing your own engine/gearbox etc. Here’s a basic list:

  • Spanners from 6mm-20mm
  • Sockets from 10mm-22mm
  • Plug spanner
  • Huge filthy great breaker bar
  • Big socket nut for the flywheel
  • Hammers (ball head, soft head)
  • Philips/Flat head screwdriver
  • Pliers (thin nose and circlip)
  • Wire cutters
  • Tyre pressure gauge and pump (you can borrow these trackside but best to get your own!)
  • Brake bleeding kit
  • Jack (add stands and a quicklifter for luxury)
  • Hacksaw
  • Files (flat, round etc)
  • Feeler guages
  • Duct tape
  • Plastic ties
  • Lock wire
  • Metal clamp rings (for fluid pipe fixings etc)
  • Fibreglass repair kit
  • Fuel can 20l x 2 (you might just get away with one can)
  • A weird length of rubber to shove in the petrol tank to try and see how much you have left
  • Rags/towels (save your old socks and y-fronts!) for cleaning, mopping up and wiping your feet before you get in the car
  • Slave/jump battery
  • Some kind of heat is a massive help, be it something for welding/undoing tight bits or a hairdryer to warm your hands up.
  • Gazebo – you can survive without one, but we’ve broken and bought one, finally!

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You’ll also need the more consumable stuff:

  • Engine oil
  • Gearbox oil
  • Brake fluid
  • Fuel – Tesco and Shell do 99RON petrol at the pump, or race fuel is allowed up to a certain octane rating (see rules)
  • WD40 (the anti-duct tape)
  • Brake pads (we use standard Beetle road pads, as the car is so light they work as well as anything)
  • Brake cleaner spray
  • Gaskets (for everything gaskety – some silicone might also come in handy)

You’ll notice I’m not giving specific oils, as people get all secretive over that, and what people use will vary quite a bit! I know people using DOT3 brake fluid and DOT5.1, but we have no reason to think DOT4 won’t do the job, for example.

When you get to engine oil you’re really into stormy waters – fully synthetic oil is great, but does a 50 year old engine really need it, especially as today’s mineral oil is many times better than the best oil F1 was using back then…? Or do you go middle and get semi-synth, and what weight?

Anyway, this lot should give you a rough idea of how to come in at the cheaper end of things and still make most things easier for you – feel free to add anything you’ve missed, or pick holes in anything I’ve got down here, too!

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Anglesey Coastal – Qualifying & Race 1

26 Wednesday Jul 2017

Posted by jamescaterracing in Formula Vee, Racing, Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

anglesey, best, coastal, formula vee, joovuu x, Primrose Hospice, race, rear cam, spin, VW Heritage, wales

Arriving in Anglesey on a sunny Friday afternoon, there weren’t many places I’d rather have been!

After the long but beautiful drive through along the Welsh coast, and past the mountains of Snowdonia, we arrived early enough that Ben Miloudi kindly let me jump in for the last test session of the day – something I haven’t ever done since my first race!

I was going easy on the car but still managed to get comfortable on a quick pace, so would be dialled in for once as soon as I hit the track the following morning for qualifying, assuming the car felt good after the Croft problems…

Qualifying

I was able to get straight on the pace, and the car felt good. The test session had given me my confidence back and I knew I could trust Glenn’s work as usual.

I was able to push the car safely, losing the front a few times but without any drama on what was one of the most grippy tracks I’ve ever driven on!

I qualified 20th and 17th – but this really didn’t do it justice, as the first 25 cars were covered by 5 seconds and first 20 within 4! All the fast guys were out and on it – including Graham Gant coming out of hiding for the first time this year to grab pole!

In B class, the usual aliens – James Harridge and Jack Wilkinson – were way up the front, but the rest of us were all packed together with very close times. Tim Crighton had done excellent to head the best of the rest putting his Scarab a few rows ahead, but everything was set for an epic B class battle.

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Race 1

With the sun still beating down on us (for once!!), I took it a bit too safely on the start (not wanting a repeat of Croft!) and let a few cars past me, tucking in behind Vaughn Jones, Martin Snarey and Dave Leniewski.

With 2nd gear selecting perfectly this year, I drove out of the tight Rocket corner and took Vaughn on the inside of the next turn, hassling Snarey over the line before making a move on the exit of my favourite corner – Church – and holding him off down the back straight as I set my lights on Leniewski.

I wasn’t making much progress on him for a few laps, and there was still a pack flashing left and right in my mirrors, until Leniewski went oil surfing through Turn 1 and spun. I squeezed past and Snarey just stayed clear as well, but it gave me enough clear track to pull a gap.

Unfortunately I found the same oil on the very next lap, getting very sideways but holding it. I did smile as I came out of the banked hairpin and looked across to see Leniewski do exactly the same thing again! The ol flags finally came out after that, so we were all a bit more tentative through there for the rest of therace, but at least there was no damage done!

Meanwhile, I’d seen James Harridge pulled off the track with more engine problems, Tim Crighton and Jack Wilkinson were well ahead somewhere, and then I felt a pang of excitement as I realised the car I was catching was Colin Gregory, who must be 3rd in B class.

I caught him quickly, selling him a dummy around the outside at Church before cutting back inside and using his tow to blast past down the back straight.

Snarey soon joined the party, with the dark shape of Ross Price looming in the background.

Gregory dived up the inside of me on the brakes into the banked hairpin on the last lap, and I again cut back, this time taking the inside as we were both flat into Church.

With wheels inches apart, I again tucked into his slipstream and got that extra boost to pass down the back straight, this time driving defensively whilst watching Snarey trying everything he could to get past Gregory.

I punched the air as I crossed the line, picking up the final B Class podium trophy – but above all bringing the car home alive and untouched after a great scrap and pushing as hard as I ever have!

I’d finally got the car so on edge that one end or the other was moving in almost every corner, so I knew I was driving well.

Again, the overall result of 14th doesn’t really do me justice, as I was less than 3 seconds per lap off the winners (Pete Belsey) time, so well up there!

And other than gripping the wheel through the first corner harder than the Incredible Hulk, I was pretty relaxed about it all!

After a meal in the cafe and a twilight track walk, I was feeling good about the second race…

WIN a JooVuu X Super HD Action/Dash camera!

31 Wednesday Aug 2016

Posted by jamescaterracing in Products, sponsorship, Uncategorized

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Tags

action camera, best, competition, dash camera, design a logo, joovuu x, micro camera, super HD, win

WIN a JooVuu X Super HD Action/Dash camera!

Our ‘small prize’ just got huge!

Our sponsor JooVuu have offered one of thier awesome JooVuu X super HD micro camera as a prize for the best RTV logo design!

https://www.joovuu-x.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/JooVuu-X-Logo.jpg

Simply design a Racing Team Vee logo to be in with a chance of winning this amazing prize!  Click this link here for the new RTV website, and like James Cater Racing on Facebook and RTV- Racing Team Vee on Facebook on Facebook.

https://i2.wp.com/66.media.tumblr.com/54e32932b3a21da349a026b50714e165/tumblr_nynfrpHr391sfjecyo1_1280.jpg

View the amazing specs and testimonials here for a sneak preview of what you can win:

https://www.joovuu-x.com/

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