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James Cater Racing

~ Realising the childhood dream…

James Cater Racing

Tag Archives: Primrose Hospice

Primrose Hospice Virtual Santa Fun Run 2020

09 Wednesday Dec 2020

Posted by jamescaterracing in sponsorship, Uncategorized

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2020, bromsgrove, charity event, fund raising, Primrose Hospice, santa fun run

With the whole mess that is 2020 a lot of charities will be missing out as they can’t do many of their regular fundraising activities.

This is no different for my sponsors Primrose Hospice, but they decided to go ahead with their annual Santa Fun Run.

Normally, this would mean 200+ people in Santa outfits would get together and go for a mass run somewhere, but this year with social distancing in place for the pandemic, we would have to do things differently. A ‘virtual’ run where we sign up and then pick our own time and place for the weekend.

Along with my fiancé Julie (who loves Christmas so much she may well be 90% Santa’s Elf), we wanted to get involved, and so thought we’d turn the whole situation around a little, and rather than a 5 or 10km run, we went right to the other end of the spectrum: we’d get stupid suits we couldn’t run in and just go for making idiots of ourselves to get people smiling!

So, on Saturday 6th December we donned these suits:

Oh yeah! And the plan was to do a minimum of 5k but looping around the streets of Bromsgrove and including the main shopping streets for maximum exposure.

Almost as soon as we’d left our house we were passing people in the street who already had some change to drop into our tin before we got to them, and the honking horns of passing drivers (especially over the Oakalls footbridge) was fantastic to hear and really spurred us on!

We also got a great reaction walking through the High Street from children and adults alike, with a few chasing us down after having seen us.

We took an amazing £38.30 in cash donations while we were out and about, and special mentions have to go to the woman who stopped her car near Finstall and walked back to give us some money, and the Policeman who pulled over to tell us he loved the costumes (who has since tracked us down on JustGiving to donate, as he didn’t have any cash on him)!

Which reminds me, you can still throw a few quid our way on JustGiving at this link:

James Cater is fundraising for Primrose Hospice (justgiving.com)

It was touching to see the Bromsgrove community showing their appreciation for us and Primrose Hospice, and if we made you smile in these dark times with our clowning around then we’ve done our job!

But, of course we weren’t the only Santa’s out there this weekend, with several of the Primrose staff running around Sanders Park, and many others from local companies to the numerous individuals who support this great charity getting out there. We got lucky with sunny (though chilly) weather on Saturday, but others still battled their way around on a much wetter Sunday.

We love all your efforts, and hopefully we can do it again next year under more normal circumstances.

Did you spot any Santa’s around this weekend? Let me know in the comments!

Calling it for 2020

27 Tuesday Oct 2020

Posted by jamescaterracing in Formula Vee, Racing, Uncategorized

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2020 season, 750 motor club, Birmingham Superprix, Covid-19, formula vee, motorsport uk, pandemic, plans, Primrose Hospice

I was hoping for a surprise end of year blog to say we’re getting out there for a race, but unfortunately that hasn’t happened.

Glenn and myself have decided to call time on the 2020 Formula Vee championship so that we can concentrate on other things and look towards racing in 2021.

It’s been a very weird year, to say the least, and I hope you are all safe and well?

Glenn has still been very busy this year caring for his brother and dealing with the day to day aspects of his business during the Covid-19 lockdown, and I’ve been kept busy working from home in my day job.

The Sheane is very close to ready, and just needs the engine to be put back together and a bit of paint on the nosecones to be raceworthy, so the plan was always to sit back and see what happened and maybe jump in to do the last rounds at Oulton and Donington.

Watching from afar, it seems like Motorsport UK and 750 Motor Club have done an amazing job getting things moving around the Covid restrictions whilst still keeping everyone safe. That has been great to see how the whole sport (and world?) can adapt so quickly to make the most of things.

It’s been great to see so many new names high up the leaderboard of the Vee races this season, and of course a well-earned (at last!) congratulations to James Harridge for winning the 2020 title already with an almost flawless 6 wins from 7 races in the home-built Maverick.

It’s been frustrating not to be out there racing, but Racing Team Vee are equally feeling the loss of the Formula Vee paddock family.

I will be carrying the Primrose Hospice and Birmingham Super Prix Project logos on the car, so am eager to get their names out there again for the great work they’re both doing and help build support.

We hope to see you all back out there for 2021, in a more normal world, and wish you all the best!

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

JonElsey750MC2018CroftFVee-1 a

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.

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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 6th 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.

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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!

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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.

r2 pic 05

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

IMG_20180825_162109

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!

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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 21st and 17th 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.

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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.

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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 14th overall and 3rd 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!

chicane 3

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.

Don podium

It’s yet another blow to my championship, but we’re still hanging around in 4th 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 13th.

SJN 2

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

IMG_20180812_101938 (2)

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 14th for most of the session, and only dropped to 18th 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…

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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 4th 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 3rd, 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 4th 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 18th place overall, and 4th 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.

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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 2nd 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…

SJN Photo 2

Mondello Park Race 1 – my view

16 Monday Jul 2018

Posted by jamescaterracing in Formula Vee, Racing, Uncategorized

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broken ribs, epic battle, injury, Ireland, last lap, mondello park, Primrose Hospice, race report, racing, scrap

crash 05a

As I flew through the air shouting a rude word at the car driver who’d hit me, my thoughts were already turning to Mondello Park.

My helmet slammed into the road, and then I was trying to pick my battered Honda VTR1000 up with the aid of a couple of people as I realised my ribs were broken. As they moved the bike out of the road I knew that with the race only a week away, I was in trouble.

Fast forward through a week of trying to play down my injuries, a random allergic reaction swelling both eyes shut, not taking pain relief so I didn’t build up a tolerance, and not even being able to climb into the Sheane Formula Vee, I helped Glenn Hay load up with my left arm still as weak as a kitten.

He headed off for the ferry and I had one more day for my body to recover before I was on a flight hours away from having to race.

I turned up the radio on the hired Nissan Micra as I crawled in traffic out of Dublin towards Naas on the N7, amusing the woman behind as I blasted Rick Astley at an uncouth volume because I thought it was funny.

Arriving at Mondello Park I ran up to sign on for the free testing, noting all the other UK Vee’s had driven 6 test sessions already, spoke to Glenn as I donned all my race kit, and dropped myself with only a slight scream into the driving seat, just in time to catch the last session.

I agonisingly tightened the six point harness and found the race seat gave me enough bodily support that I actually could work the steering wheel with just my arm muscles.

I rolled out of the pit lane, acutely aware that if my rib fracture was unstable, with my increased heart rate (around 170bpm at full race pace) and breathing, I’d soon find out if it would puncture my lung…

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The run-up to Mondello had not gone smoothly at all. It seemed like one cost had been piled on the next – ferry prices and a mix-up with offers with some paying £800 (we got it for £260)… Then we found Ireland only has 95 RON petrol, so we would have to pay around 200 Euros more for 99 RON fuel to be delivered to the track… Then we found we all had to wear full fireproof underwear (thanks to Giles Groombridge and James Harridge for helping out with this)… Then we were told the ‘free’ festival races would cost another 100 Euros…

But we were racing at a new track, in a new country, and it was about time we gave some support back to the Irish racers who’ve raced with us in the UK.

Saturday was to be a UK championship round for us, with the Irish Vee’s having their own races for their championship, and then Sunday would be the Irish Vee Festival to raise money for the Laura Lynne Childrens Hospice, and where we would mix it wheel to wheel with the Irish cars in a series of heat races.

Now flash back once more to the test session – I heaved myself out of the car and took a few paces, swallowing down the pain. It was a very tricky circuit, but the important thing was that I’d be able to race. I expected to be at the back of the grid, but not too far off the pace.

Qualifying

I was on brand new tyres, and in even in the heat it was good to finally have some rear grip in the car once again!

I concentrated on trying different lines, watching what everyone else was doing, and trying to decide whether to use second gear at the three tight corners, or to keep it in third.

Of the 19 UK cars registered only 15 would make it to the grid, and predictably I’d qualified in thirteenth place. It’s probably also worth noting that it was all the quick drivers who’d made the trip over, and so I wouldn’t be gifted many places ahead of where I’d normally be!

I stiffened the front anti-roll bar to get some better turn-in for the slow corners, and decided I wasn’t going to enter the Festival races unless I knocked at least two seconds off my lap times.

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Race 1

The lights changed very quickly, and I mildly fluffed the start but didn’t lose out too much.

I locked a front wheel and ran a little deep into the first hairpin, but recovered it well to still pass Sam Engineer on the exit, and suddenly I was looking at Bill Garner and the chance to take second in Class B from one of my usual rivals.

I ran over the edge of the curb on the very next corner and Sam slipped by me again as I twisted my brake bias dial a little more to the rear.

The car felt good and I stayed with Sam, diving to the inside into the first corner on the next lap and pulling a small gap as I concentrated on chasing down Bill.

The races were timed 15 minute sessions, which was great as you knew you were getting full track time, and could actually see the clock counting down by the start line.

I steadily increased the pace for the next few laps, but Sam was still with me and sticking his nose alongside, but I was drawing in my B Class target.

I saw Bill go in hot to Bridgestone, and as he slid wide I was alongside him on the exit and had the line into the Esses, where I knew I was faster.

I stayed in front for the next two laps, but he was soon onto my trick into Bridgestone – braking before the right kink then getting back full on the power for a moment before braking hard for the right hairpin – and was all over the back of me with the orange of Sam still there in the mix, too.

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He got a great run onto the start straight, and although I covered the inside he had enough to sneak by under braking and cut my front off, gently tapping my front wheel with his rear as he went through (I don’t think he even felt it and it didn’t do much but turn my wheel slightly).

I chased on, with so little between our cars we were regularly alongside each other, sliding around and having a great scrap.

I still had a slight advantage through the Esses, and outbraked him into the final hairpin over the very tricky crest and seeing five minutes left on the clock.

I started swinging wide and onto some extra tarmac on the entry to Opel, screaming it in third now down to Bridgestone with the extra speed, but I couldn’t shake Bill, and Sam was only hovering just behind ready to take advantage of the slightest mistake.

Taking a very defensive line into the Esses and staying inside into the first hairpin were enough to hold Bill at bay, although it was slowing us both up. One minute left.

I came out of the last hairpin with relief, but then to my horror saw there was no chequered flag out!

It was the one time I’d stayed to the left, and I swore to myself as he edge up my right hand side down the straight.

We glared at each other as we approached the braking point, neither one wanting to give in.

Sliding into the corner, drifting through it and then kicking the back end out as we got back on the power, we were inches apart but not touching.

We were still locking eyes through Opel, twicthing the steering wheel to correct, and alongside all the way down towards Bridgestone with me on the outside line.

I pushed Bill late into the kink, watching him sail past too late into the braking zone for Bridgestone as I cut back in tight, getting alongside him with my right wheels just kicking up the grass at the edge of the track.

At the Esses he wasn’t suckered into the same move quite so easily, but I still cut back and used my advantage to get a good run down to the final turn, both of us braking impossibly late, but me even later as I dived to the inside as I had done earlier.

This time I locked my right front just slightly, and Bill had to delay his turn in whilst I tried to gather it all up and get my own car turned. I let off the brakes and got straight back onto the power to drift tight up the inside, snatching full opposite lock and staying hard on the throttle.

I was at an obscene angle but I’d got through the corner, but then couldn’t wind off my opposite lock as the car was still rotating, rotating, and then I had a grass bank directly in front of me!

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I floored it in second, blasting up the dusty incline and spinning the rear up again to do a full circle, a flash of orange parting the dust in my mirrors as I spun the car back around, down the bank, smashing my nose cone into the tarmac and still fighting the wheel with my foot in.

As I headed for the line Justin Chatten added insult to injury by just pipping me to the post as well!

I was mad with myself for a few seconds, but then the epic last lap sunk in and I had to hand it to Bill for a great drive and a battle I won’t forget!

That sort of scrap is the whole reason why I race, and when you’re involved in something that close it really doesn’t matter about your overall result, because it feels like a win either way.

As it happened, with James Harridge having engine troubles and dropping out, it turned out that last battle scrap was for the B Class win – so I couldn’t be too unhappy with a crowd entertaining second place!

Better still, my ribs were still in place, and with every painkiller I could get inside me, I just had to wait until Race Two to even the score…

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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

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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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My View of Croft – Race 1

04 Monday Jun 2018

Posted by jamescaterracing in Formula Vee, Racing, Uncategorized

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Tags

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.

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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.

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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.

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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…

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Charity Tandem Parachute Jump For Primrose Hospice

06 Sunday May 2018

Posted by jamescaterracing in sponsorship, Uncategorized

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Tags

charity, freefall, Hinton, parachute jump, Primrose Hospice, skydive, sponsorship, tandem

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You may have noticed I’ve been banging on about a skydive for the last seven weeks? Yesterday, that day finally arrived…

So I’ve said I was going to do a jump for quite a few years, but friends never wanted to put their money down, or couldn’t make the weight limit, and the idea just came and went.

In the last few years my finance’s father, her twin sister, my Step Dad, and my Babcia (Polish Nan) have all had very aggressive cancer and survived. Unfortunately, my Step Dad – Victor Dovey – had his return at the end of 2017, and he died in February.

These things put life into perspective and make you realise you need to do stuff while you can!

I was sat at work with the parachuting idea in my head again to raise some money to thank Primrose Hospice for how they cared for Vic in his final weeks, and looked after all my family, but could see the “yeah right” look in the eyes of the lad I was speaking to about it.

When he came back five minutes later I proudly told him that I’d booked a tandem skydive for seven weeks time!

A lot of very generous people started donating, and I soon realised that money would ensure I couldn’t back out, this time! Incidentally, I wanted some way for people to be able to donate online (it’s the future!) so chose JustGiving – but in actual fact the split is about 50-50 between online and offline totals!

I’m a racing driver, a bit of an adrenaline junky… but I don’t actually like heights! This could be interesting…

I heard lots of stories over those weeks about people who done it and loved it, and their experience, though to one who’d broken his neck landing in a ditch and another who also got very badly injured when they landed – where they were attacked by a goat!

Soon the day was here, and I picked up my Mum, Fiance and brother (an Anton, not a monk) and shot down (towards Silverstone race circuit, actually) to Hinton Airfield near Brackley, down a tiny single track lane, and got there in beautiful blazing sunshine for 8am.

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There were quite a few other cars arriving, and amongst the activity it was hard to tell who was there for a first jump from those who were in their tens of thousands of jumps.

I went in and filled in another form (you need to take a medical self declaration or Doctor signed one if you have any conditions) and queued up to book in. Here they weighed me and told me to wait until I was called for a briefing. They strongly recommend you also take out their insurance for £30, which is good, but I found my own cover from Sports Cover Direct for about £18.

I could see quite a few charity t-shirts around as we sat on one of the picnic benches outside the cafe, and there was still a lot of activity with people packing parachutes etc, but the atmosphere was charged but still relaxed. We’d taken a picnic and I was trying to force down a light breakfast when they called my name in for the briefing.

We all sat as the instructor when through a very relaxed (and hilarious!) version of what was about to happen, and what we had to do while we were falling towards the ground “like a homesick fridge”.

There’s not really much to do, but with the adrenaline going it’s also hard to take it all in. Don’t worry – they’ll be expecting that because it’s natural, and you’ll get told what you need to do several times before you actually need to do it.

Then they send you all off again to sit and chat outside (and go for a nervous wee!) until they call you again, when you’ll need to kit up.

We sat and watched the first few plane loads climb up into the sky and then the chutes appeared out of nowhere as more experienced jumpers did their thing. They actually land right next to you, coming low and directly overhead as they land, so you can get a good idea of what it’s going to be like.

Then they called my name again, and my group went to the manifest hut where they told us who we’d be jumping with.

I shook hands with Geoff, and then he took me back inside where I slipped into a rather fetching blue jump suit that goes over your clothes to ‘smooth you out’, and then he straps your harness over the top (take EVERYTHING out of your pockets is my recommendation, or you could be in for a world of pain!).

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Then I walked back outside for last minute hugs and photo’s (note the flat cap in honour of Vic!) before we all walked towards the tiny little propeller driven plane that we’d have to cram into, with Geoff still tightening straps and cinching my harness up as we went.

I was first into the plane with Geoff, and it wasn’t exactly like a Ryan Air flight.

There were two padded benches running the length of the plane and we all sat straddling them with each others legs around the one in front, so tight we were also touching those on the bench to our side.

Geoff clipped my harness to his – two at the hips, two at the shoulders – and put my stupid leather hat on. This, apparently, is not anything to help you, but for your instructor so you don’t smash your head into his face.

Once packed in, the plane taxied to the runway, turns, powers down, and you’re lifting into the air before you know what’s happening.

There isn’t much banter on that plane.

It’s too noisy to have much of a conversation, anyway. I did ask Geoff where Silverstone race circuit was, and he duly pointed it out as we climbed for 15 minutes to reach jump altitude.

The journey up is pretty relaxing, with great views out of the window. Geoff gave me the altitude every so often, checking I was ok and cinching the harness tighter.

I kept feeling him yawn, and he told me that to him this was just his commute to work!

As we reached 13,500 feet, the silly leather hats went back on along with our goggles, and an ominous red light appeared next to the roller-shutter door.

The Jump

Someone rolled the door up and the light turned amber, and Geoff gave a final briefing on what to do: scoot up to the door, dangle my legs out, tuck them under the plane, and then cross my arms across my chest.

The people in front of me on the bench didn’t really register as they all started jumping out of the door and dropping into the sky out of sight, but it all seemed to be happening pretty fast!

When I stuck my legs out of the plane I could feel there was absolutely no way I could stop this happening, so I might as well go with it. It seemed like a split second and then I was rolling head first out through the door…

This is the most extreme part, because I had no idea what to expect, or how it would feel or look or anything. Your stomach turns as you drop like a stone, but you’re also turning as well as you Geoff will get your position right for free falling.

I put my hands up and thrust my hips forward slightly, arching my back, as we’d been shown, resisting the urge to look down and lifting my head up.

Weirdly, after a few seconds of this you get used to it and just go with it.

If I’m honest, I didn’t really like the freefall much. I found it very hard to breathe with the air flow battering my nose, ramming air up into my sinuses. I knew it would feel like this as I’ve opened my visor on my motorbike at high speed and it’s the same thing, and I think it’s more because I’ve broken my nose a few times that it affects me so much.

I put my head back further, as they’d said that your chin should break the airflow so you can breath, and whilst this worked for the first few seconds, as we picked up more speed it stopped working for me.

I could breathe out of my mouth fine, but the air being rammed into my nose felt like being waterboarded. Like drowning.

I didn’t panic, though, as I knew the freefall was only for around 45 seconds. I pulled my hand in and put it under my nose for a few seconds to take a couple of breaths, then went back to the skydive position.

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Geoff pulled the main parachute open and my head lurched down a bit when it opened, but other than that I didn’t really feel much happen! Then he banked sharply and I’m pretty sure I let out a “Whoaaaa!!!”.

It felt great, and he flicked my goggles off to get a better view around.

It’s quite surreal seeing all the patchwork fields below you but it doesn’t feel like you’re falling towards them.

Geoff slipped the parachute controls – two looped straps – into my hands so I had control, and then just tugged at the straps to help me turn.

He pointed out a few things on the way down, like a Harrier jump jet in someone’s garden, and we had abut four minutes of graceful descent until we were close to the jump centre.

As we flew over I waved to my crew on the ground as Geoff had the controls again, and he banked hard in above them as we went in for landing.

He had a slightly different way to do the landing, and I put my feet on top of his and then lifted my legs up. It’s very important not to put your legs down before the person on your back, or you’re going to get hurt or at least faceplant!

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Our landing was pretty good, with a quick slide of the feet and then we were stood up and it was all over.

And I didn’t get attacked by a goat, which is a bonus!

I had a bit of a wobbly moment as I readjusted to terra firma as my harness was unclipped, then shook hands with Geoff as the photographer took a few pictures.

Then I walked the short distance to get the hugs in to my crew!

It was an awesome experience, even for me – and I’m known for controlling it all pretty well before stuff like this! The Hinton staff were all great and this will help calm your nerves – I’d say just do your best to relax and put all your trust in them and the equipment.

Even with the ‘waterboarding’ I still enjoyed it overall, and am left wondering: can I get the right angle of my head to eliminate the breathing issue? What else can we do in the skydiving bit like going head first for speed? Should I have done a loop-de-loop on the parachute part?

I think there are more than enough questions to make me want to do it again, and it does leave you with a bit of a ‘down’ feeling knowing you’ve done something like that… so maybe there’s only one way to cure that?

Massive thanks to everyone who has donated, and feel free to still click the link if you haven’t and enjoyed this write-up!

Donate here!

To date I’ve raised a total of £647 for Primrose Hospice, but some more is trickling in – that will make a difference to them and give them valuable funding for their services!

And please feel free to ask me any questions about it.

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Castle Combe – Not the best start

04 Wednesday Apr 2018

Posted by jamescaterracing in Formula Vee, Racing, Uncategorized

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Tags

castle combe, engine failure, formula vee, Primrose Hospice, race report, racing, seized engine

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After the usual last minute rush to complete the over-Winter work on the Sheane, we braved the threats of snow by using a Land Rover Freelander as the tow car in place of the trusty VW Camper.

With limited space in the paddock, we were in the overflow car parking, slowly sinking into the cold, wet mud as the rain continued to hammer down.

There are a lot of newcomers to Formula Vee this season, and I find matching names to faces to cars to be a bit of a struggle, so tried my best to get around most of the old and new drivers and crew for a quick chat. Hopefully I’ll get to meet the few stragglers at the next round – if I make it there…

I wasn’t really feeling it, getting up early, travelling to the circuit, messing about in the cold and wet. This seems to be becoming a common thing with me racing. After the long Winter break I was even thinking that maybe I like the idea of racing more than I like the racing itself. I’d even had some thoughts of hypnotherapy to focus me a bit more…

All that went away as I slid into the trusty Sheane, though! I felt relaxed, excited, and really wanted to get out there!

I’m putting my doubts down to a stress reaction, for now, but will be keeping an eye on that.

The car was pulling to the left which is probably due to straightening the front beam a bit more. It wasn’t anything I had to fight with force, but if I took my hands off the wheel it veered off. We were keeping the old shot tyres (especially the balding rear) from last year, as we decided against putting the new ones on just yet. And other than sorting out the oil leak onto the clutch, the tired old engine was still plodding away behind me.

When we filed out of the pit lane it was my first time ever around Castle Combe, which can be quite intimidating, but we were behind the safety car – a rare thing for us to experience but one that I’d welcome regularly for managing races.

Even at greatly reduced speeds the spray following other cars made it very hard to see anything and was getting a bit cold as it drenched my chest.

I’d watched a few onboard videos and found a mod to play the track on Assetto Corsa, but the two didn’t seem to match up entirely – at least I knew which way the track was likely to go.

I was also experimenting with a visor modification that could totally eliminate fogging for me which would be a massive advantage in these conditions – I will do a separate blog about that one soon!

After one lap the safety car disappeared (not that I’d been able to see it since it left the pit lane!), and green flags were waving.

I was behind a few cars who seemed (perhaps rightly?) a bit scared of the conditions, and I would have chosen a much quicker pace if I was on my own.

Just as I decided to get past and set my own pace, Ian Buxton slipped past and I decided if I followed him but went slightly slower I could get a good solid pace to get my standard three laps in, and then see how much more I could push.

I passed a few cars as I felt out the grip levels – not bad really save for a few patches of standing water – not getting anything seriously out of line despite the low tread on my right rear tyre.

Rory Melia appeared out of the spray ahead into Camp – a corner I really wanted to try out hard in the dry – and I had enough closing speed to go around his outside and tentatively power away down the straight.

I eased into fourth gear past the pits and was pulling around 5000rpm when the engine note suddenly changed. I quickly pressed the clutch pedal and the Big Red Light Of Doom glowed up from the dashboard ominously.

I knew it was all over as I coasted to the nearest marshal point on the grass, expecting to be leaving a wake of oil and engine bits behind me. I may have had a little bit of a swear, but if that doesn’t come out on my video then it never happened, and I was calm and collected.

Jumping out of the car I couldn’t see any holes in the engine case or oil pouring out, so figured it to be a bearing failure and engine seizure – much like my first time ever in the car.

I watched the rest of the qualifying dejectedly from under cover of the marshals post, then jumped back in to be towed home on the Wagon Of Shame.

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When replacing the gearbox seals Glenn had found the end float to be 0.12000 which we thought was far too loose, having previously set it at 0.8000. The problem here is that the bearing also has some sideways movement, so you can get a false reading. Set it too tight and it’ll seize up – too loose, and well, no harm done.

It could have been this or it could have been this combined with the old engine, but we’re pretty sure we’ll find a rear main bearing failure. As I switched off so quickly, hopefully this will be fixable if the rest of the internals are intact.

However fixable it is, I’m now conscious that Brands Hatch is only three weeks away, so whether we can make it will depend on Glenn’s day-to-day work and how much time he can spare. We were planning on putting a newly built engine in the car around mid-season, but that’s not quite ready yet so I think we’ll be looking at rebuilding this one.

It’s a blow for my bid to take the B Class championship this year, but the same could happen to everyone else, too, so it’s still early days yet.

James Harridge got pole by 2 seconds and won the first race after a fantastic battle with Ian Jordon, after Ian Buxton fell away from the scrap.

Race 2 was another huge scrap, but this time between Ian Buxton, Craig Pollard and Daniel Hands – with Buxton coming out on top.

I was very interested in watching the new drivers – the stand-out man for me being Richard Lanyi. He had the pressure of driving Paul Smith’s Dominator – possibly the most successful Formula Vee car ever – after amazingly only taking his ARDS test the week before, and flying in from Switzerland so qualifying was his first time ever sitting in the car! Not only did he survive this, but he finished 12th and 10th in the races – I think he’ll definitely be one to watch this year once he gets more seat time.

So rather disappointing as an opening round, but if there’s a positive to take away that very limited time in the car, and with everyone else doing the full session, would have still put me 16th on the grid!

Assuming we do get the car ready, the next one is Brands Hatch – my least favourite circuit. Maybe now is the time to force myself to love the place so I can claw some points back?

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Racing in the UK Formula Vee championship.

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  • |Project-D|
  • Gavin Fury
  • Blonde On A Boat
  • SoberPunks
  • Racing Team Vee
  • BOOKS BY CRAIG LOCK
  • Need a P-time or F-time job?
  • mikeoldknow
  • The Ali Lowe Commentary
  • The OkiNinjaKitty Blog

James Cater Racing on Facebook

James Cater Racing on Facebook

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

|Project-D|

Lifestyle blog about racing, and other nerdy stuff

Gavin Fury

The Legend Of The Petrol Bastard

Blonde On A Boat

A girly and family themed nautical blog with money saving boating tips and ideas

SoberPunks

A sweary alcohol recovery blog written by a Yorkshireman

Racing Team Vee

Formula Vee Racing

BOOKS BY CRAIG LOCK

"The Writing Journey": The various books that Craig "felt inspired to write"

Need a P-time or F-time job?

mikeoldknow

A great WordPress.com site

The Ali Lowe Commentary

The view from the shed...

The OkiNinjaKitty Blog

Everything you want and need to know about life in Japan.

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