I get a lot of comments about the quality of the onboard footage from races.
I’m chuffed to bits to be able to say that we’ve finally got some new stickers on the car to bring British company JooVuu into the limelight, who have been supplying me with cameras, accessories and amazing support right from the start!
JooVuu are a UK based company with an awesome range of products such as dash cameras and action cameras – go check out their website.
I started using a Mobius Action camera, as I’d used them on motorcycles and found them absolutely flawless, never letting me down, and being a much better shape than the ‘more boxy’ competition, but with the same quality and amazing support.
Even better, I saw that JooVuu were taking this idea to a new level with their very own JooVuu X micro camera! You’ll notice this massive jump in the (already good) quality over the Mobius in my footage from Brands Hatch and the recent Anglesey race.
Still at a fraction of the price (and more on that in a moment…) of the competition, the JooVuu X boasts a huge 2.5k Super HD resolution and 1080p 60fps – In short, this gives amazing quality footage that looks extremely professional.
The thing I like even more about JooVuu is that they are constantly listening to customers of the JooVuu X and tailoring the cameras to exactly what they want – for example it’s very easy to update the cameras with the latest free firmware releases, which iron out any bugs people have found and make subtle changes and improvements based on feedback and testing. This also means you don’t just buy a camera and live with it – it’s constantly getting better!
Despite having no screen on the camera itself, JooVuu have developed apps for Apple, Android and Windows systems that will stream footage to your mobile or let you change the massive range of settings by WiFi or cable connection.
Obviously I’m using my JooVuu X as an action camera mounted on my racecar – but they do just as great a job on the road as a dashcam, or mounted on radio controlled aircraft and drones.
If you want to upgrade your current camera to a JooVuu X, I even have a deal that will get you one with FREE tracked shipping for only £89.99! Just enter the code YAY10 at checkout for this great deal.
It’s great to be able to highly recommend a product that I genuinely think is the best out there, and even better to have JooVuu on board with James Cater Racing and Racing Team Vee (more about RTV soon!).
Don’t forget to come to Dubtoberfest on 30 & 31 July to get a closer look at the new sponsor stickers and what the compact JooVuu X looks like on a Formula Vee racing car!
After the damage sustained from the crash and the engine failure at Donington Park last month, we needed to get through the weekend at Brands Hatch with the car in one piece.
Glenn Hay had straightened out the front beam and worked hard on the front suspension, but as I drove out of the tunnel underneath the circuit for the qualifying session, we had a problem. I dabbed the brakes but the car veered hard right.
Weighing up our options before we went out on track, I decided I’d see if we could crawl around the minimum 3 laps, and then we could do something before the first race.
Luckily, after the first lap the car was straight and true! I suspect it was either the camber of the tarmac that had dragged me right, or maybe a piston stuck in the brake calliper.
After a few laps I saw spots of rain on my visor, but figured I’d press on faster and faster until the car started sliding. It didn’t, but a few other cars went off.
I managed a rather disappointing 21st place out of 30 cars. Not terrible, but about 6 places away from what I was expecting.
We’d also decided to dial back the engine power until we find some reliability – and so I guess it was expected. The misfire I had on the exit of most corners, wasn’t expected – but that disappeared before the race…
Race 1
Sat on the awkward rolling hills that is Brands Hatch pit straight, I was holding the brake and blipping the throttle with my heel (the Sheane won’t idle at all if the revs drop!), but as the lights went out I caught my sole on the edge of the pedal, so got a terrible start.
Martin Snarey stole all my fortune, and shot off in the best start I’d ever seen, straight up the middle of many rows, proper taking the Mickey!
I headed a bit too tentatively into Paddock Hill behind Jake Hockley, who’d finally managed to get off the line and take his driveshaft with him. I hung onto him for a few corners before he started pulling away – great to see them finally sort their issues, and hopefully I’ll be able to drag myself up for a scrap with him once we get the car back on form!
I then got a lot of pressure from the gaggle behind me – Neil Aldridge and David Leniewski in their blue AHS cars and also Sam Engineer in his brand spanking new orange GAC. Sam has now left our little group of Sheane’s, but I was pleased he’d found a second a lap straight away in his new car, and is looking good already.
Jamie Harrison spun out of Surtees, and I had to lift off mid-corner both for the yellow flags and so I could tighten my line and get around him, but Neil unfortunately was right on the back of me and had nowhere to go other than off and into the tyres.
I then had a bit of a dice with Sam, before some of the lead cars laped us and we had to back off a bit to let them through.
Suddenly Sam came passed me and pulled out a huge gap straight away! I was pretty sure my engine hadn’t gone again, so I got my head down and gave chase in disbelief at how he’d found another 30hp!
I tried my best to hang onto him, and then the back stepped out big-time through Surtees. I was facing tyres walls at very high speed, still on opposite lock, and needed to be turning right. I have no idea how, but I must have snapped on the perfect amount of steering lock to catch the car, and much to my thrill and amazement still managed to make the next corner! This was a HUGE moment, but to look at the video you’d barely even notice it!
One thing to stand testament to this was that my FitBit recorded a heart beat of 171bpm at this moment. I will do another blog about the whole FitBit experience in another blog soon! It’s pretty interesting stuff.
I finished 18th overall, and 5th in Class B. When we were in parc ferme, I also realised the orange car I’d been chasing was actually Maurice Gloster lapping me – and Sam was still behind me in his identical car and helmet! The two laps following Maurice were also by far my fastest up until then!
Race 2
I got a better start, but again Martin Snarey came rocketing about 4 rows forwards. I’m convinced he’s using some kind of catapult, and will be watching him VERY carefully from now on.
I out-dragged Francis Twyman and dropped down Paddock hill behind Jake Hockley once again, and just as before he steadily left me from that point on!
Francis dived to my inside into Druids and then pulled out a large gap as one of the blue cars in my mirrors disappeared into the gravel at Paddock Hill, bringing out red flags as the marshals dragged David back onto terra firma for the restart…
We sat on the grid for about 15 minutes waiting for the restart. The problem here is we’re in air-cooled cars, and if you switch off your engine it might not restart again. So I sat there, on another awkward bit of track, holding the brake whilst constantly blipping the throttle to keep it from stalling. At one point I actually grabbed my right knee with both hands and physically pushed and pulled my leg up and down, as I couldn’t do it any longer!
Finally, despite a leg now made purely from rubber and pain, I got another good restart, passing Francis and almost Jake into Paddock Hill.
I was determined to keep up with the pack ahead, so tried my best to avoid the marauding group snapping at my exhaust, and got all kinds of out-of-shape into Paddock. I saw yellow flash in my mirrors as Francis followed me deep into the corner but couldn’t quite keep it on the black stuff.
This all seemed to put the rest of my chasers off just long enough for me to draw out some breathing space, and I focused on the white Sheane of Martin Snarey in the distance, and tried to compensate for lack of power by pushing hard in the twisty bits.
I steadily reigned him in, taking huge chunks out of his lead through Paddock and Druids, only to have him pull it all back in the next corners to leave the gap over the start line the same.
I ignored the pain screaming in my arms (did I say Formula Vee wasn’t all that physical in an earlier blog?) and closed right in, but had left it too late as the chequered flag came out when I was half a second behind. One more lap and I’d have undoubtedly been all over him – but passing might have been another matter!
This left me 5th in class again, and 17th overall. Perhaps more of a victory in this one was that I didn’t get lapped! I don’t like getting lapped!
Those are the cold, hard facts – I’ll give my take on my own performance in an analysis blog.
I would like to thank Vard again for coming along to help out – and congratulations to Paul Smith who won both races, as well as Ben Miloudi and Martin Farmer who got 2nd and 3rd in race 1, and Ian Jordan and Ian Buxton for race 2.
And another very special thank you to Dan at JooVoo for the amazing new JooVuu X camera that I used to capture all the action. I’m sure you’ll agree that the quality of the footage is amazing, and it will get even better as we learn how to set the camera up for race use.
The 2016 Ravenol Formula Vee Season is about to start!
Even though the Winter ‘off season’ has lasted forever, it’s also suddenly gone, and on Saturday 20th March we’re back at Donington Park to race again!
In true tradition, we’re far from ready for it, but hope to be able to get the car back together in time. Glenn should be getting the engine in today, and then we can look forward to a few late nights as we put the rest back together.
So what’s new for 2016?
We’ve remounted the engine, lowering the rear a little. We haven’t remounted the front shocks, yet, so that will be the same as last year for a while. The bare aluminium sides are still there for now, but will also be getting painted yellow when we get chance.
We’re also hoping to have a very kindly helping hand from Chris ‘Vard’ Vardon in the paddock when he can, with another few offers to help out, from others. That should make our life a lot easier between races!
There’s also an exciting new partnership with a company that you should see in place in time for Donington, and I should fall under the banner of Glenn’s race team. This will lead to another car out on track before the end of the year, with a view to getting 4 cars out for the 2017 50 years of UK Vee celebrations!
The cars out for 2017 should be the Scarab in which Ian Flux and Glenn Hay both won the UK championships, with the other car being the Beech in which Jenny Nadin won the first ever Formula Vee race in the UK.
I’ll also be pushing more to raise my profile, looking for more sponsors (and trying some new things) and have already spoken to local newspapers to print some race reports, as well as a good few other ideas.
Mentally, I’ll be getting my head back in the game to hit the ground ready to build on last years pace (although we won’t have time to test before qualifying), and getting some iRacing laps in to see how that helps.
It’s hard to make much judgement from the entry list for this race, as I’m sure a lot of others are leaving things a bit late, but it seems most of the usual front-runners will be back to battle it out. Paul Smith may be concentrating more on racing his Crossle this year, but Martin Farmer will do a few rounds when his HRX business allows.
James Harridge will be going all out, but so will Adam Macauley over from the Irish Championship, with Ben Miloudi back out in a newly built car as well. Ian Jordon will be hoping to go one better this year, and I’ll be here all day listing the many drivers who are in with a realistic shout of winning the championship this year!
There’s a Harry Webb listed in Class B for AHS who may be one of the new ones to watch, and I’m sure the usual battles will rage all the way down the grid.
I’ll be aiming for the top 10 this year, and if I can get close to the top 3 in Class B whilst keeping things safely on my learning curve, I’ll be happy with that. Not as happy as if it all comes together and I get some wins myself, though!
We’ll see… either way 2016 should be another great year!
Anyone following me on Twitter and Facebook will already know that This Did Not Go Well.
Basically, the engine seized on the 3rd corner on my first ever lap, and unfortunately that means it’s season over for us!
I mentioned in my blog about the ARDS test that I have absolutely no frame of reference for driving a car on track, and although this didn’t contribute to the death of the engine, it did lead to my first spin.
I spent literally two minutes stalling the car in the paddock before deciding to hit the track and go for it.
Leaving the pit lane I dropped it into 4th (top) gear with the aim of cruising around for a few laps. The tyres were not only cold, but hadn’t done a lap for 6 years.
It was here I also realised I hadn’t adjusted my mirrors! I couldn’t reach to sort them out properly, and could see a little, so thought I’d cruise around and pull into pit lane at the end of the lap to sort them out.
I turned through the first corner and saw some cars coming up fast behind me, and at the top of the Craner Curves a Ginetta G55 flew past me very close. As a biker who loves filtering, this didn’t phase me, but pulling such a close pass on a Novice in the opening minutes of a test day did seem a little harsh.
No matter, I stayed in 4th through Old Hairpin, and on the exit the back stepped out.
Now, this was my first time ever driving the car. I had no idea if I could go into that corner at 30mph or 130mph safely. I honestly thought I was cruising at about 50% of the cars ability, so wasn’t expecting any loss of traction at all. I took Old Hairpin FAST when I was last there on a bike!
From there it all happened very quickly. I though it had just spun before I’d had a chance to do anything. It was only when I watched the onboard video that I saw that I HAD corrected the slide on instinct, and kept a good constant throttle.
I’ve been drilling “Correction – Recovery” into my head for about a year. Correct the slide then bring the wheel back to recover, so you don’t spin the other way.
The problem is I have no idea what the steering is like on this car, and as it came back into line I cocked it up and around it went.
Whee!!
I stalled it during the spin just before I remembered to get the clutch in, but caught it nicely so I ended up facing the right way and was hitting the starter button before I’d stopped spinning.
It didn’t start, so I thought it might be because I was still in 4th gear, so fumbled into first and it took a few tries before the engine roared back to life.
I felt like an idiot for spinning on a damned out-lap, but I guess I was asking too much of the car/tyres without knowing it.
I was still perfectly calm (even with cars whizzing past me as I was stationary in the middle of the track!) and wasn’t having a flap. I’d just take it even easier for a few laps and be ready to catch the back if it stepped out again.
I gave a stab of throttle and eased off the clutch, and it went about 10 yards and then died.
Thinking I’d stalled it somehow, I used the momentum to pull over to the right hand side of the track out the way and hit the starter button again.
*CLUNK*
I tried a few more times but just got the clunk. I figured the battery must be dead, and got my hand in the air to let the marshalls know I had a problem.
They red-flagged the session, and I got towed back to the pits by the Wagon Of Shame feeling like a right dick-head…
Glenn knew instantly that the engine had seized, and getting a spanner on it confirmed it was locked solid…
We think it’s either a piston or main bearing, but we also had a very tight tolerance on the crank (or cam? Hell, I just drive the thing!) which could also have failed under load for the first time.
Either way, our test day was over. And with no time in the car, even if we could get it fixed for the race on Saturday, we thought it best to withdraw our entry.
So that’s all for 2014 for me! Gutted, but that’s racing!
We’ll make sure I get some proper time in the car to get the feel of it in early 2015, then will be able to think about doing a full season.
I hope you’ll continue to follow my progress, and thanks for all your support!
This video isn’t the proudest of my life, but I’m giving you the warts and all tale of my journey into racing, so it’s only fair you get to see this:
14 years ago, I was at at the peak of my fitness – 11 1/2 stone with barely any fat on me, and prepped ready for a ‘no holds barred’ fighting tournament.
Sadly, after that I got a job in security, and sat there for 2 years eating free bacon from the factory canteen. This now leaves me – although not an outright fat git – at an unhealthy 13 1/2 stone with a Homer Simpson belly.
I still have the balance of a cat, and riding motorbikes keeps my reactions top-notch, but most of my muscles have faded and been covered by 37 year old chub.
Whilst I know I need to get fitter to help me race, I also need to remember that:
A) I’m not a professional racing driver, and,
B) Trying to deny myself of all the ‘bad’ food WILL NOT WORK, and is the ruination of almost everyone’s so-called dieting.
So, luckily for this realistic approach, I’ve stopped my sitting-down-eating-bacon diet long ago, and DO now eat a good, varied and balanced diet.
I’m not going to go over the top with a diet, but am already making some changes – such as snacking on rice crackers at work where I may have had chocolate or something before. These sorts of small changes all add up, and don’t let anyone tell you it has to be all or nothing.
Despite all these fad diets, there is really only one simple rule to losing weight and getting healthier:
Eat less and exercise more.
I’d like to lose 2 stone, but a realistic target is to lose 1.
My time in the gym took a knock with an ankle problem recently, but now I’m back on it.
I also know that the absolute best way to get fit is to run!
I’m not an outdoor runner, so do this by pounding the treadmill. This raises your heart rate for the prolonged period necessary, burns calories, and teaches you to control your breathing – something that is very important when hurtling around a racetrack at silly speeds.
I’ve also found that I can focus on the view from a Formula Vee cockpit as I run, visualising lapping race tracks. And THAT motivates me!
I have no real set routine, other than that. I just work the rest of the machines to try and tone up my muscles, and am working for muscle strength and flexibility rather than mass (which adds very little to racing except more unwanted weight).
I’m never going to be the lightest driver on the grid, but I think the Sheane is under the minimum weight limit, so we’ll be using ballast, anyway.
Oh, and the engine is now back in the car! Glenn has made a few changes to the rear ride height and seatbelt mountings, and from now it’s just a case of prepping everything, painting parts, and putting it all back together ready to get it out for testing!
We’re also finding that various bolts and bits can be VERY hard to find after a car has been left in pieces since 2009!
My focus is now stepping up a gear, and I shall be posting more blogs about my thoughts and what I’m doing as I get ready to take to the track!
Thanks for all the support I’m already getting from friends, family, and the other Formula Vee drivers! I’m gagging to get out there, and should do so before the end of this season!
