So what happened last October at Donington when I had my first ever test?
Finally getting the engine apart for a look, it turns out that the rear main bearing had a bit of a tantrum, taking one of it’s dowels through part of the engine casing and ultimately seizing everything solid. This may also go some way to explaining the spin, if it all went direct drive on me!
So, not brilliant, but it could have all been a lot worse.
Glenn thinks he set the end float too tight. Luckilly, he just changed the bearing, drilled out a new hole for the dowel, and the rest all looked ok.
We had a brief drama with a relay on the ignition, but that was quickly sorted out.
A few days ago I finally got to hear the sweet sound of a 1300cc Formula Vee engine firing up again:
The high-pitched rattle in the video is just the pulley. It ran a little rough at first, but then seemed ok, although it was popping and banging a little at lower revs.
One thing Glenn noted was that both nearside manifolds were running much cooler than the offside ones. Hmm. More investigation needed, then!
We will almost certainly miss the Cadwell Park round of the championship on 20th June, but we’re hoping to be able to book a test somewhere around that date.
With a low budget, it’s really not worth driving hundreds of miles, paying lots of money for test days and races, and then finding the car dies on the third corner again!
We should be ready for Anglesey on 18/19 July – another challenging circuit, and I’m looking forward to jumping in the car and seeing what it’s all about, soon!
I will try and get as much footage as possible from any testing, and I’ll update this blog with what the plan will be…
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.
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!
Anyone following me on Twitter and Facebook will already know that This Did Not Go Well.
Basically, the engine seized on the 3rd corner on my first ever lap, and unfortunately that means it’s season over for us!
I mentioned in my blog about the ARDS test that I have absolutely no frame of reference for driving a car on track, and although this didn’t contribute to the death of the engine, it did lead to my first spin.
I spent literally two minutes stalling the car in the paddock before deciding to hit the track and go for it.
Leaving the pit lane I dropped it into 4th (top) gear with the aim of cruising around for a few laps. The tyres were not only cold, but hadn’t done a lap for 6 years.
It was here I also realised I hadn’t adjusted my mirrors! I couldn’t reach to sort them out properly, and could see a little, so thought I’d cruise around and pull into pit lane at the end of the lap to sort them out.
I turned through the first corner and saw some cars coming up fast behind me, and at the top of the Craner Curves a Ginetta G55 flew past me very close. As a biker who loves filtering, this didn’t phase me, but pulling such a close pass on a Novice in the opening minutes of a test day did seem a little harsh.
No matter, I stayed in 4th through Old Hairpin, and on the exit the back stepped out.
Now, this was my first time ever driving the car. I had no idea if I could go into that corner at 30mph or 130mph safely. I honestly thought I was cruising at about 50% of the cars ability, so wasn’t expecting any loss of traction at all. I took Old Hairpin FAST when I was last there on a bike!
From there it all happened very quickly. I though it had just spun before I’d had a chance to do anything. It was only when I watched the onboard video that I saw that I HAD corrected the slide on instinct, and kept a good constant throttle.
I’ve been drilling “Correction – Recovery” into my head for about a year. Correct the slide then bring the wheel back to recover, so you don’t spin the other way.
The problem is I have no idea what the steering is like on this car, and as it came back into line I cocked it up and around it went.
Whee!!
I stalled it during the spin just before I remembered to get the clutch in, but caught it nicely so I ended up facing the right way and was hitting the starter button before I’d stopped spinning.
It didn’t start, so I thought it might be because I was still in 4th gear, so fumbled into first and it took a few tries before the engine roared back to life.
I felt like an idiot for spinning on a damned out-lap, but I guess I was asking too much of the car/tyres without knowing it.
I was still perfectly calm (even with cars whizzing past me as I was stationary in the middle of the track!) and wasn’t having a flap. I’d just take it even easier for a few laps and be ready to catch the back if it stepped out again.
I gave a stab of throttle and eased off the clutch, and it went about 10 yards and then died.
Thinking I’d stalled it somehow, I used the momentum to pull over to the right hand side of the track out the way and hit the starter button again.
*CLUNK*
I tried a few more times but just got the clunk. I figured the battery must be dead, and got my hand in the air to let the marshalls know I had a problem.
They red-flagged the session, and I got towed back to the pits by the Wagon Of Shame feeling like a right dick-head…
Glenn knew instantly that the engine had seized, and getting a spanner on it confirmed it was locked solid…
We think it’s either a piston or main bearing, but we also had a very tight tolerance on the crank (or cam? Hell, I just drive the thing!) which could also have failed under load for the first time.
Either way, our test day was over. And with no time in the car, even if we could get it fixed for the race on Saturday, we thought it best to withdraw our entry.
So that’s all for 2014 for me! Gutted, but that’s racing!
We’ll make sure I get some proper time in the car to get the feel of it in early 2015, then will be able to think about doing a full season.
I hope you’ll continue to follow my progress, and thanks for all your support!
This video isn’t the proudest of my life, but I’m giving you the warts and all tale of my journey into racing, so it’s only fair you get to see this:
James Cater Racing 