Tag Archives: sheane

First test in a Sheane Formula Vee

09 Thursday Jul 2015

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

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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! 

 

Mounting cameras on a Formula Vee

08 Monday Jun 2015

Posted by in Fitness, Formula Vee, Racing, Rules & Regulations

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Mounting cameras on a Formula Vee

When I had the Donington test last year, my mounting bracket hadn’t turned up in time, and so I went with the easy option – I put a bit of foam underneath the camera (a Mobius Action Camera in JooVuu waterproof case) and duct taped that sucker to the roll hoop on the Sheane.

Whilst this does work, and is very secure, it does come with a few problems.  First, we found I’d taped over the LED that shows if the camera is switched on or running, so we had to guess whether it was working.  It also means it’s hard to take the memory card out or charge the battery up.

For this year I’m going to make use of the bar clamp mount from JooVuu.  It’s not perfect because it’s a bit too small for the 32mm chassis tube – but as I came to find when testing things out, the tube isn’t exactly round everywhere, either, so that makes things a bit tough.

The previous run with it taped on top of the roll hoop gave a good picture, but a lot of the screen was filled up by my behelmeted noggin.  This is hard to get around, but with this proper mount it should raise the camera a good few centimeters up, which might make all the difference.

The best camera view will show as much action as possible – both outside and inside the car.  This means mounting it on the right hand side, so you (hopefully) get a view of the gearshift and the steering wheel, and maybe even the pedals.

I may be able to get around this even more effectively by mounting the camera on the side of the roll hoop, although the mount that I currently have limits this, as you can’t have the mount in place with the camera horizontal…

This is probably what I’ll go with at first, but it’s no problem to unbolt and move the camera around a little.

As Glenn rightly pointed out, if I put the car upside down it could cause a problem for the camera with these mountings, but then I will be hoping not to do that, anyway!

We also need to consider getting into and out of the car – in a single seater it’s an even that requires an almost Olympic level of strength and contortionism, without having to worry about knocking a camera.  And we need to ensure there’s somewhere for them to put a tow rope if we end up getting towed off circuit again!

I will hopefully experiment with rear-facing cameras (providing there are going to be other cars behind me on the track!), but that will need more thinking about with types of mount, heat from the engine, and vibrations from bodywork.

If the test day goes without drama, then I should have a bit of time to rethink what we’re doing with cameras, and make improvements where we can.

Koden KSC25 Helmet Extras

14 Tuesday Apr 2015

Posted by in Formula Vee, Racing

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Koden KSC25 Helmet Extras

As mentioned in my previous blog, the brilliant Koden KSC25 Carbon helmet comes with a few accessories.

The peak is of no use to me racing an open single-seater, but I’m sure is great for rally drivers etc.

The spoiler, however, was of interest to me.

As a very good and very cheap helmet, I’m sure a lot of people will be buying these, but, not many will want to get them painted up because it’s The Law to keep your carbon weave on show!

There are absolutely no instructions with the helmet – perhaps unsurprisingly, as you probably shouldn’t be getting in a car if you can’t figure out which end to put your helmet on. This leaves a bit of a dilemma with these extra bits, and what to do with them, though…

The spoiler and the peak come with ‘sticky stuff’ around their edges, so you just peel the tape off and stick it onto your helmet.

Umm… where??

There are no images I could find online of a helmet with either accessory actually attached!

I’m sure the spoiler is more cosmetic than anything, but as a biker I appreciate the need to have vents and peaks and all kinds of nonsense hanging off your helmet. It just looks better!

Many helmets boast about their anti-lift properties (meaning the air won’t get under them and lift them up at high speed), and the Koden spoiler may have some kind of effect here. Looking at my trusty AGV Stealth motorcycle helmet, though, I suspect it’s more to aid the exhaust vents on the back of the helmet.

My AGV has a spoiler itself, but with ducting to channel air from the front of the helmet all the way back and past the exhaust vents. My best guess is that the Koden spoiler is supposed to be placed in a similar fashion, i.e. covering the helmets exhaust vents like this:

I’ve already seen a few weird and wonderful placements from races this year, and as I said, I don’t think it REALLY matters, but by my logic and experience, this is how it’s supposed to go.

I suspect most will just leave the KSC25 bare and not have to guess!

I am planning on a few small stickers with my name on to stick on the helmet – but am also conscious that scrutineers don’t like helmet stickers as they might be covering something up.

Oh, and please before you go sticking anything on your brand new helmet – SIT IN YOUR CAR!

You’ll be gutted if you go sticking stuff all over it only to find you can’t get your head on your head rest anymore!

If you’re driving a Sheane Formula Vee – you’re fine to use it.

First HANS in a Sheane Formula Vee!

13 Friday Mar 2015

Posted by in Formula Vee, Racing, Rules & Regulations

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First HANS in a Sheane Formula Vee!

Well, maybe not technically the first one ever, but the first time in this Sheane, anyway!

The MSA rules for 2015 state that all single seater drivers in cars made from the year 2000 onwards must use a frontal head restraint system, with pre-2000 cars being required to use them from 2016.

This means Glenn’s 1997 Sheane that I’ll be driving is exempt, however, after writing my previous blog about this, I decided (and my fiancée ‘told’ me!) that I’d be a fool not to be using one right from the start.

The first problem here is that these devices (which I’ll call HANS from here) come in various angles to suit seating positions – so 10 degree is for Formula One, through to 40 degrees for bolt-upright seats such as truck racing. Most single-seaters will need 20 degrees, but there’s no real way to find out which you need until you sit in the car with it on.

Secondly, compared to the 30 degree HANS used for most saloon car racing, the 20 degree kits cost at least 50% more. Whether this is pure greed (the rules to use HANS are ONLY for single-seaters), or because, as these represent a minority of racing series and smaller production runs are required, I will make no comment.

Demon Tweaks were offering an adjustable HANS for around £20 more than the 20 degree model, and as Glenn pointed out, this would mean I could use it with whatever type of car I take on track.

Delivery received, I screwed the posts in to my Koden KSC25 helmet, and attached the HANS.

You don’t have to be scared about this part. You should make sure that there is some thread locker on the screws for the posts, but mine already came with it on the screws.

The HANS attaches to your helmet by sliding the attachment onto the post, which is also spring loaded. Nice and easy, and probably something you could learn to do after putting your helmet on… I found I can put the HANS around my neck already clipped onto the helmet, and then slip the helmet on.

I don’t really know what we’d have done if we’d found it didn’t all fit in the Sheane, but luckily that wasn’t an issue.

I may have mentioned that the head rest in the car may be a little far forward for my liking, and the HANS doesn’t help here – but it’s nowhere near as intrusive as I expected it to be. You’d have to look hard at the pictures to see I’m using one, once it’s all belted up.  We may use a smaller bracket for the head rest, but were most likely going to do that even without the HANS.

You CAN feel you’re wearing the HANS when you first put it on, but you wouldn’t call it uncomfortable.  By the time you’ve adjusted your belts and pulled them tight (making sure it sits right), you’ve already forgotten you’re wearing it.

It makes absolutely no difference to sideways vision or movement, and, as you can see, the tethers are very slack when it’s all in place.  You have to lean your head pretty far forwards before you feel them do their job.

If you’re using 3″ belts, they don’t quite fit over the guides, but the safety documentation says as long as the excess belt is riding up the neck side of the device that’s perfectly ok.  We may decide to adjust the belt mountings inwards a bit more behind the seat, but I think it is workable how it is.

Other than that there are no dramas!  We’ve brought an old Sheane Formula Vee up to modern safety spec, and now I just hope that we do it justice.

And with any luck, we won’t even have to make use of the proven life-saving capabilities of a HANS device.

Already Looking To 2015!

13 Monday Oct 2014

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Already Looking To 2015!

I still went to watch the other Formula Vee’s at Donington, and I’m glad I did!

On Saturday the heavens opened and the track looked probably the worst I’ve ever seen it.  This justified our decision not to race – with no feel for the car in the dry, let alone the wet, I doubt I’d have even made it to the first corner!

James Harridge, in his first season racing his home-built Maverick took a very emotional second place from qualifying.  Everyone watching him power through Redgate on the throttle (the ONLY one who did this!) was a thing of beauty, and I don’t think anyone thought he’d got anything else but pole!  Craig Pollard just took it, however.

Maverick

I mention this here, because in all the write-ups I’ve seen so far not one mentions James’ stunning performance, and that is maddeningly unfair!

His team has battled all year with parts failing and their engine being massively under-powered.  This was also literally his first time driving at Donington – no testing or anything – so his second fastest time out of all the Vee’s was set within his first 10 laps of the track EVER!

Come on!  Give the man some recognition!  A definite future star once they find a bit more power…

Pete Belsey also took his first ever championship race win, after some very close (as ever) racing, and Tim Probert led for the first time.  Martin Farmer took the win in race 2, and if you haven’t got yourself on YouTube yet to view both races, you need to!

*Further edit: As it turns out, that was also Craig Pollards first ever pole, so a massive well done to him, to!  It’s always been said that the true talent will surface when the field is equalised by rain.

Anyway, back to my own campaign…

We still don’t know what happened to the Sheane, as Glenn hasn’t had a chance to get the engine apart, yet.  He’s pretty sure that the cause is going to be the float on the crank shaft.  With any luck, there won’t be too much damage, and we’re already planning next season.

750 Motor Club run an early day around February for general testing and new drivers to take their ARDS test.  It will be quite a fitting return for me, because it’s at Donington again.

Glenn has told me to just put the spin out of my mind and go at it from fresh.  There are too many variables at work for me to have really learned much, and the tyres were old and dirty etc.  I do now know that there isn’t as much grip as I was expecting, so will take it even easier and try to get a few more corners in, on my return.

A few drivers also suggested that being in 4th gear won’t have helped things, either.

Spinning a single seater is also a bit weird.

Because you’re strapped in so tightly you don’t get flung around much.  I can clearly remember during the spin I was just waiting to catch the car so I could point it the right way, and didn’t move in the seat at all, until at one point my head went *dink* against one side of the roll cage.

It was only gentle, but I’m thinking of putting some padding there for extra safety.

I also have a new camera mount to try out, hopefully raising the view so it clears my helmet and shows a bit more inside the cockpit.

We have a load of things still to do to the Sheane, like moving the position of the extinguisher on to the floor of the car under my legs, improving the engine mountings, and a million other minor preparation jobs.

For 2015 we should be able to do the whole season.

It seems like a long way off, sat here dreaming about jumping in the car again (and every second thought I now have is about racing!), but I’m sure it’ll all come around quickly again.

This time we should be much better prepared, and ready to compete!

My First Race Is Approaching!

22 Monday Sep 2014

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My First Race Is Approaching!

“Life is racing.  Anything before or after is just waiting” – Steve McQueen


After a lot of waiting as my car is being built and prepared, a lot has happened all of a sudden.

We decided to set a target of entering the last round of the UK Formula Vee Championship at Donington Park on 4/5 October 2014.  It would still be a bit tight, but having a target forces you to push, so with exactly one month to go, I paid my entry fees… and then went to Spain for a couple of weeks.

This meant that whilst Glenn was working away at the car, I still hadn’t even sat inside it yet – until only last night, with less than 2 weeks before the first race!


I was expecting the car to feel uncomfortable and awkward, and was pleasantly surprised to find it quite comfortable.  The seating position is almost perfect for me for the steering wheel and pedals, and once I’d contortioned myself around the chassis and dropped into the seat the car fit me quite well.

I did find that changing from 3rd to 4th gear means my knuckles brush against a metal tube, so will be expecting a bit of pain after a few hours pounding around trying not to cock up the right handed gear shifts.

Which leads me nicely on to testing.

We are hoping to do the morning session at Mallory Park in *panics a bit* 2 days time!  This looks a bit tight, so we may revise that and try and get a day at Llandow.  Failing that, it will have to be the test day at Donington Park 2 days before the actual race!

I’m prepared to do that, but I think things would be much better if I can have some time in the car just to get used to the feel of it.  I have no idea what to expect from a single seat race car – except that it will be very different to anything I’ve ever experienced before.

If I can get a few hours driving on my own, and be comfortable with that, then maybe I can aim to do more at Donington than stay out of everyone’s way and get the car home in one piece.

I hope to get cameras onto the car (or even a helmet camera) for the testing, so that will be up on YouTube, and will also be studied to help me improve as much as I can in this short window we have before the race.

I’m not expecting to sleep much before that!

Formula Vee – The New Attack Plan

25 Monday Nov 2013

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Formula Vee – The New Attack Plan

 

So, you may have noticed my posts dried up about my start to racing.

I didn’t crash and explode in my first race, or anything exciting – in fact, I had to write off the 2013 racing season.

The Ray and the Sheane Formula Vee cars are both still in pieces.  The Ray, from the Mallory Park crash at the end of 2012, and the Sheane because we’re dropping the ride hight at the rear, and adding some extra strength to the rear of the chassis.

This all would have been done and dusted, but unfortunately, ‘life’ got in the way a bit, and due to work commitments and illness of family members, Glenn hasn’t been able to do as much to the cars as he’d anticipated.

Whilst this is frustrating for me, I fully understand and support his decisions.  He’s giving me an awesome opportunity to drive one of his cars, and so I’m more than happy to wait until next season.  I’ll also have more budget for a proper attack at Formula Vee, rather than maybe a single round or two.

Formula Vee has been in a bit of turmoil for the last few years.  It’s not something I want to go too deeply into here, because it feels wrong to talk about this to ‘outsiders’.  Basically, some competitors have been taking some liberties with the rules and/or the outright spirit of Vee as a cheap and tightly controlled series.  Many felt the 750 Motor Club were sorely lacking in the way it was all handled.

It’s no secret that a lot of the competitors were unhappy, and I know for a fact that this all contributed towards a lack of motivation with Glenn as well as some of those competitors.

However, I am now pleased to say that rules have been clarified, changes have been made, and the future for Formula Vee looks great, once again!

I’ve been to a few rounds this year, and found that rather than seeing any of the racing that I’d paid for, I spent the whole days chatting to other drivers and people from the Vee circles – literally only watching the Vee races when there was nobody left to talk to as they were on track.  The worst thing about this, is that I really bloody enjoyed it!

Looks like I’ll fit right in with them!

I have kept up my gym membership, and although I haven’t even been karting for a long time, I find visualising the view from a Vee cockpit when I’m running on the treadmill gives me a massive burst of energy.  It’s why I’m there, and if I can lose a few stone it can only be a good thing.

So for 2014 my eyes are back on the target.

There will be a race in June at Castle Coombe, which may be a good target for my first race.  It’s also Rob Cowburn’s home race, so hopefully he’ll be back in the car and we can do a 1-2 finish!

I’m thinking about grabbing one of the Experience Days whilst they’re cheap over Winter – but I’m not sure how much driving a Ferrari will teach me, and having seen the single-seater experience at Silverstone, they seemed so slowwwwww I think I’d end up headbutting the steering wheel in frustration – so I’ll have to see…

Either way, I still want it.  In the worst possible way.

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