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James Cater Racing

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Tag Archives: onboard

My View of Croft – Race 1

04 Monday Jun 2018

Posted by jamescaterracing in Formula Vee, Racing, Uncategorized

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750 motor club, croft, formula vee, learning, onboard, Primrose Hospice, race report, racing

As I stood at the back of the trailer, being pelted by raindrops bigger than the umbrella I was hoping to shelter beneath, a river of water ran off the ramp and filled my entire ‘waterproof’ shoe within seconds.

It was like starring in a sad French film, so I shrugged, waiting for Glenn to bring back another wire to bypass the right running light – the latest in a chain of disasters that morning.

By the time our woes had been sorted, and we’d changed the battery on the Land Rover which had gone flat as we worked, FIVE HOURS had passed over our expected leaving time.

With our luck this season, it was hard not to get depressed. Plus, as we loaded the Sheane up the night before we saw the top suspension arm was bent. It had taken Glenn every spare moment to repair the damage we knew about from Brands Hatch (bent steering arm joint, holed side panel, side chassis tubes all caved in, bent rear axle tube etc) and so we’d be using the gutless and untouched engine we’d struggled with, only this time on a power circuit.

At least I got my first attempt at towing the car as I drove part of the way on the long trek to Croft in North Yorkshire through Bank Holiday traffic.

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But when we got there, with the shadows drawing longer, it was sunny and dry! And that’s how it stayed for the weekend, as the Midlands suffered horrendous thunderstorms!

I’d found a last-second way to attach the brand new RTV gazebo to the trailer, and so we set about getting that up as Michelle and Mark arrived to help out for the weekend, and things were definitely looking brighter as the sun faded over the fields.

Qualifying

Expecting the car to try to kill me at the first corner, I was surprised to find it felt very balanced. It pulled slightly to the left, but I could live with that if it was willing to play ball in the twisty bits. Glenn had strung it all up and set it as it was, and so we’d pretty much compensated for the bits that were still bent.

q pic 02

For once, I started pushing a fair bit straight away and got a few slides from the car that were very controllable. Slowly scrubbing memories of last years top speed spin from my mind, and a very tense moment watching Martin Snarey spin in front but managing not to collect me, I qualified 14th and 14th for the races.

Not bad considering I still had absolutely no idea where to brake for a good few of the corners! All I did know was that I’d watched my footage from last year and knew I should be braking later and carrying more speed, well, everywhere.

q pic 01

Race 1

I stayed out wide on the first turn (memories of getting taken out on the inside last year!) but was on Coopers tail, when Bill Garner slipped up the inside. As soon as we got through the chicane he began easing away on the straight.

I closed in again around Tower and kept it pinned all the way to Sunny In – where Bill had had to brake hard to avoid the backwards me last year! This time I’d mildly locked my front right over the bumps and hung onto his tail as I took a tight line through.

I knew I had a great run but just wasn’t making any impression, and I could see cars all over my mirrors jostling for position behind me. I closed right up again into the hairpin, lighting up my tyres (I’ll come back to that later) as I got the power down and hoping he’d be one of the unlucky ones to miss second gear.

He didn’t, and again was eeking out time on the straight as my lack of power began to get frustrating… As he eased away into the complex again, I was a sitting duck as Jamie Harrison drove up the inside and was out of reach before I even had a chance to put up any fight. I recaught and tussled with him a little but couldn’t make it too much of a scrap.

race 1 004

As Dave Leniewski got alongside and passed unchallenged as well, I realised I’d have to seriously push it in the bendy bits and see what more I could reach for. A few things started to click in my head as I got the car sliding more, controlling it on the throttle rather than steering, but I still had a long way to go, and Sam Engineer and Mark Egan shuffled me back one more space at a time in the pack.

I knew I was much faster into the first corner and Sunny In than the herd of cars around me, but without the grunt to stick my nose alongside anyone I just couldn’t use it. Even when I got a great exit they’d soon pull it back and drive away again.

And, of course I had to keep it all clean to get some much needed points on the board. “Don’t spin” had been Glenn’s advice, and the lairy slides I was having might have been slightly at odds with that advice.

But I was learning all the time, and enjoying it, and eventually got Egan back (much to the amusement of our respected crews, who were stood watching after Glenn had helped solve a few problems with Egan’s Ray before the race!).

It’s hard to appreciate how difficult it can be to race in a tight pack. When you go for a move on one car, the cars behind you will take advantage as you get blocked, and sweep around you even as the disappointment of your own failed pass sinks in.

Following Sam through the flat-out back section, his car misfired and I had to brake (yes, not even just lift off!) for two crucial corners up to Sunny In, and on Sunny Out, putting myself out of position on the exit. Mark didn’t need an invitation, and drove past me at my weakest point on the run towards the complex.

I tried to find a way past onto the finish straight, but had no chance as I saw the chequered flag being waved up ahead. I’d been shuffled all the way to the back of our pack, but still finished a respectable 16th and 5th in class.

And now I had a few lightbulbs clicking on in my head…

SJN 1

JooVuu – Action/dash cameras!

26 Tuesday Jul 2016

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

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Tags

action camera, car camera, dash cam, formula vee, james cater racing, joovuu, joovuu x, onboard, special offer, sponsor, video, voucher code

JooVuu – Action/dash cameras!

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!

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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.

r2002_zpsl9o3tmpp

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.

dimensions-0

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.

wp_20160320_13_04_51_pro_zps6wcdvn8g

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!

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joovuu2

Brands Hatch 2016 – Rounds 3 & 4

28 Thursday Apr 2016

Posted by jamescaterracing in Formula Vee, Racing, Uncategorized

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2016, 750 motor club, brands hatch, formula vee, gravel trap, indy circuit, james cater racing, joovuu x, onboard, race report, racing, video

Brands Hatch 2016 – Rounds 3 & 4

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.

Race 1 Video:

Race 2 Video:

 

First test in a Sheane Formula Vee

09 Thursday Jul 2015

Posted by jamescaterracing in ARDS Test, Formula Vee, Racing, Technique

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Tags

750 motor club, broken suspension, circuit, first time, formula vee, joovuu, llandow, mobius, motor racing, msa uk, onboard, racing, rookie, sheane, testing, training, video

First test in a Sheane Formula Vee 

After finally sorting out the seized engine, we booked in to test at Llandow circuit in Wales. 

We had massive problems finding somewhere to test that was suitable to our needs – I think I’ll do a separate blog about that and what we’ve found out, so that might make it easier for anyone else for the future! 

In short, though, Llandow were brilliant and laid back.  I had sent a few emails to Louise and Sharon, but basically they let us book up the day before, and were happy for us to turn up “around 11ish” and get three hours testing in. 

Aims of the day:

  • Check the engine runs ok 
  • Get the feel of the car 
  • Gain confidence in driving the car 
  • (personal aim) Not to spin, crash or kill the car! 

I didn’t really get a chance to be nervous after arriving at Llandow.  We basically unloaded the car, fine-tuned some things, and then I signed on, kitted up and jumped in. 

There was a brief moment of panic when I slowly let the clutch out (at my Silverstone driving experience they advised to treat the race clutch like a hill start – this was great advice!), only to find the car didn’t move!  I checked it was in gear, tried again, and still nothing… 

Then I remembered that the biting point on the Sheane is stupidly high off the pedal – unnaturally so!  I took my big stupid foot ALL the way off the clutch, and bunny-hopped it forwards a few times.  Doh! 

Just to rattle me even more, I then saw the light was red onto the circuit, so I had to stop again!  When it went green I stumbled away again, then crunched the hell out of the gearbox as I tried to find 2nd gear.  I couldn’t, and pulled off the side of the circuit, thinking I must look like the biggest rookie ever and that I’d be seeing a black flag waved at me soon… At least I was the only car out there! 

Several deep breaths and I found second gear, deciding to pull away in 2nd to at least get rolling, then 3rd and 4th as I eased onto the back straight with no problems.  I was easing the brakes on, and trying to warm the tyres whilst expecting the back to snap around on me like it did at Donington at every second, but after a few corners I realised that must have been the engine seizing that spun me, and all was now well.  I could concentrate on getting some heat into the tyres and brakes. 

Coming past the pits I braked progressively and changed to 3rd, then to 2nd just before I turned left… and just got lots of crunching again. 

Finding 3rd gear I kept it running, and decided to stay in 3rd and 4th for the rest of the session, as getting laps in the car was more important than lap times. 

I warmed everything up and after a few laps had found the line and (safe) braking points.    I pushed a little harder, raising the corner speed, braking later, and getting on the power harder and earlier, before the chequered flag called me back in. 

Second session, and I raised the bar even more.  Faster, later, more speed! 

I tried braking at the 100 yard board into the first corner, dropping to 3rd at the 50 before turning in, but, as I told Glenn after the session, “the front wheels were doing all kinds of crazy shit!”.  I could see both flapping around like a rabbits ears if you gave it a good slap (err, not that I ever have, or would advise doing this – that’s just the image it gave me at the time)!   

I thought this was just a combination of the bumps and crest in the braking area and me braking to the limits and locking the wheels a little (more on this later!).  I found braking 25 yards earlier and a little smoother seemed to fix the problem, and I could get Glenn to add more damping. 

I’d been discussing camber with Glenn on the drive to the circuit, and found exactly as he called it: more throttle in the corners squatted the car down and stabilised the rear.  This was the first time I’d felt the power of camber in action, and it felt good! 

Always wear a HANS device, kids!

The speed wasn’t intimidating to me at all – I’m used to 0-100mph in under 4 seconds on my bikes – but it also didn’t feel slow.  I had a feeling I’d enjoy the high-speed corners, hard on the throttle through the turn, and the two coming onto each straight were indeed my favourites!  The connection to the car was as close to riding a bike as I’ve found.  It’s still a fair way off, but far closer than I was expecting I’d ever feel on four wheels. 

It felt good, and it felt natural, as I improved gear change times and everything started to get into muscle memory.  My lap times for the session were consistently within the same second, even though I was still taking the complex in 3rd gear. 

I had a few twitches from the rear, but was making sure to push gently up to the limits. It was either Mansell, Senna or Skip Barber who said that if you spin you learn nothing, other than that you went past the limits, and you don’t need to spin to find the limits.  Glenn told me after that he was expecting me to spin, and wasn’t sure if I was taking it easy or being smooth and sensible! 

We added a click of damping to see what that did into turn 1, and did the 3rd session with me again raising the pace and feeling for the limits. I braked at the 100 yard board again, but the wheels still did their flappy thing, and I had to cadence brake to get it all back on the tarmac. 

I blasted out for the 4th session – with me forgetting to switch the camera on! 

I’m a bit gutted about this, because I was pushing to what I’d say was a ‘safe race pace’, and would have liked to see the onboard footage.  I was fully on the throttle and not touching the brakes until the 50 yard board on the back straight, dropping to 3rd just as I tipped into the chicane, then straight back on the throttle, hanging the right wheel over the grass on the inside all the way around the curve.  I was changing up to 4th on the corner exits onto both the straights just as I hit the curb, and giggling like a loon! 

The front was still playing up into turn 1, and Glenn waved me in for a closer look after  a particularly bad shake of the old bunny ears.  And we found this: 

Note the very thin metal plate where the shock mounting is welded on.  We thought my shoddy braking was the cause, but looking back over the video I can see it first moves around after that very first 100 yard braking attempt in the second session! 

When stationary, the mounting must have been moving back into place so we didn’t even spot anything when using the adjuster on the bottom of the shock – and although it’s clearly moving in the video footage, I couldn’t the top of the shocks from the drivers seat. 

So that was day over for us, but to be honest I’d got all I needed from the day, and was at the stage where I’d just be taking risks to shave tenths off my lap times – which is not what we were there to do. 

Here’s the onboard footage from the 3rd session:


Results: 

  • The engine is strong and ran flawlessly.  I’d like another 40hp, but after 30 mins in any vehicle I’d tell you that! 
  • I got a great feel for the car, but some things need work – like changing into 2nd gear and clutch starts. 
  • I’m fully confident driving the car to the levels that I did. I know I was pushing close to the limits, but I also know I can push closer, and then I need to know how to go over that line and still keep it on the track. 
  • (personal aim) I didn’t spin, crash, and it appears I didn’t kill the car, either! 

 

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