Tag Archives: UK

Changing the Class B Regulations – Formula Vee

19 Friday Oct 2018

Posted by in Formula Vee, Rules & Regulations, Uncategorized

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Essentially the only differences between a UK Class A Formula Vee and a Class B car are that Class B cars:

  • Must use steel dampers
  • Can only use dampers with one adjustment (ie combined bound & rebound)
  • Must have the dampers attached to the lower trailing arm and the beam or chassis (so they’re on the outside of the car bodywork)
  • Can only use a maximum of 2 coil spring/dampers for the rear.

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So the theoretical advantages are the suspension components are cheaper to buy and simpler to use, and will likely be heavier than those allowed for Class A cars….

And, umm, that’s about it.

It means that whilst the dampers are much older technology, it’s arguable that using more modern stuff (within Class A rules) will make the car any quicker at all, let alone be a big difference. Overall car/driver weight is the same for both classes, so you can just offset the damper weight by using a lithium battery or eating two less burger at the Vee Centre Annual BBQ!

As clear and definitive proof of this, James Harridge has won races outright in his Class B Maverick – in fact he’s only in Class B to make the point that there is no difference. I believe Ian Jordan could also run in Class B and whilst winning races overall, but chooses not to.

I’m proud to be in Class B, and take the championship seriously, but even I have to admit there is no real difference, so it’s pretty pointless.

So what is the point of a Class B?

To be cheaper? To allow cars of a different specification to race? To reward newer/slower/less ‘financially gifted’ drivers?

At the moment, it’s none of these things – which is a shame because it could really be used to do so much more! For drivers and for the championship overall. Anything that gets more cars out on the grid is a good thing, right?

Now at this point I have to state that I don’t think Class A regs should change. Class A should be the hardcore, tune everything until it breaks class – and ALL cars from any class should still be Class A by default.

Here are my proposals for what Class B should be:

Irish Style:

Class B is for new drivers. It gives them a chance to win a trophy whilst still learning their skills. If you finish in the top 3 in B Class, you’re automatically shifted up to Class A from the next season, so it keeps fresh blood in B.

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Vee Centre Style:

Class B points are only awarded to anyone finishing outside the top 10. This makes it all a bit more fun, and also means that when you do progress into the overall top 10, you stop scoring any B Class points. So effectively your reward for outgrowing Class B is that you’re already finishing in the overall top 10.

Those are the quick and easy options that will cost nothing for anyone. Then we get into the more meaty options:

1600cc aircooled VW engines:

Again, this is basically adopting the Irish series regs for Class B. Because all the Class A people will already be frothing with outrage, it’s probably a good idea to have controls on these cars, again much like the Irish series, so that overall they’re not as fast as the Class A cars.

The Irish cars, as we’ve seen when we’re combined on track, are pretty evenly matched and yet have different strengths and weaknesses. They run on smaller wheels, different tyres and have a control camshaft, which (in theory) keep the cars very even.

Our Class A cars definitely have the legs in them in top speed, but they have more grunt – this means a Class B car could win overall, on the right track.

The biggest advantage is that the controls keep the cars reliable to the point that you can stick an engine in for a season or two and not touch it – something our current 1300’s couldn’t even dream of. As engine costs are huge in our series, this could mean a massive saving, and that new people with no mechanical skills would have a much better chance in the championship.

As a bonus, if we did adopt the full Irish Vee regs, it would mean all of their cars would now be eligible to race with our series as Class B cars, and we could also go racing with them in Ireland.

When I’ve raised this with drivers I’ve found massive backlash – but why? Just carry on with your Class A cars and regs! You don’t NEED to change anything!

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Watercooled Polo engines:

Another suggestion is switching in a totally different engine, such as the watercooled Polo. This would mean much cheaper, much more reliable, and more powerful engines with greatly reduced costs.

The downsides are that they would be outright winners unless you hamstrung everyone, and could mean massive changes to chassis to get them to fit. And is it losing the whole spirit of Formula Vee, even with a VW engine?

Claiming Rules:

Anyone can buy anyone elses engine for a set fee.

This would mean there would be no point spending thousands on your engine, because after every race everyone else has the option of buying your engine, and you have to sell it for that set price.

Very controversial, and no doubt comes with a whole heap of problems, but a great way to stop costs spiralling…

Other Restrictions:

These should make the formula cheaper and more accessible, and preferably raise reliability. Obviously, targeting engine costs and reliability are the best targets here.

Cheap and easy options are:

  • Add a rev limiter
  • Raise minimum weight
  • Control camshaft

***EDIT***
Oh, and I missed a couple of things out!

Age of Car – we could do a lot more to get the hoards of old Vee’s out of sheds and back on track! Maybe having Class B as cars over 15 years old would knock out the newer and more expensive to buy cars in one fell swoop, and encourage owners of all the 90’s cars to get rebuilding? Maybe even Class C for the proper vintage Vee’s – I know Glenn Hay has a 60s Beech (or is it Beach?) that could see the light of day again if we had anything to race it in, and the 70s Scarab Mk I.

This also has the plus-side that it really shouldn’t affect the front-running A’s, as it’s doubtful any 60s spec cars would be able to win races outright. I should note that it wouldn’t be entirely my choice, as drivers like Ben Miloudi have proved it is still possible to win races in a 20 year old car that’s well prepared – so to me a “15 year or older” Class B still isn’t enough of a difference – although it would make it easier to enter B as in theory all cars would be cheaper to buy than modern machinery.

I should have also mentioned that the older Class B regs from around 2008(?) had Class B cars using points ignition. It was an attempt to distinguish the classes, but in reality just meant to be in Class B you had to put up with severe unreliability and a multitude of problems – so I’m definitely not suggesting we go back to that!

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My View Of Croft – Race 2

08 Friday Jun 2018

Posted by in Formula Vee, Racing, Technique, Uncategorized

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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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Silverstone International – the view from #18 – Part 1

04 Monday Sep 2017

Posted by in Formula Vee, Racing, Uncategorized

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I did my ARDS Race License test on the Silverstone International layout, and also had my first ever race there, and so it holds a special place in my heart.

Much as I love the track, however, it seems to hate me.

In that first race I burnt a piston the day before in testing, barely making the grid. Last year, on the next visit there, with friends and family watching, I managed one lap before and engine stud snapped in the casing and ended the weekend.

So as I pulled off the motorway in my faultless Honda Civic Sport on Saturday morning to find the revs doing their own crazy thing, I thought it might be a bit of an omen.

Glenn had been there from the night before to secure us space in the garage (after being made to wait outside the circuit until 7pm along with everyone else who’d turned up early), so we just had to get signed on, scrutineered, and then we were ready to go.

Qualifying

As soon as I blasted out on track I could see spray in my mirrors. It was coming from the carbs.

Finding it a little distracting as I watched to see if the car caught fire, I got some laps in at a fair pace, but funnily enough didn’t feel fully into it.

When I pulled into the pits just before the session finished, I found that fuel pouring out of the lines was matched by oil pouring out of the seal we’d replaced a few days before behind the flywheel.

The fuel was easy to sort, but it would be an engine out job for the seal.

With only a few hours until the race, we put a temporary fix in place to hope it held.

Despite this, I’d still got 3rd fastest out of the Class B cars, and would line up 19th and 22nd on the grid for the races.

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Race 1

After lining up in grid formation in the holding area, it seemed to catch a few drivers out when we got to the grid to find there was no green flag lap. I was included, but realised this was a full race start when the red lights lit up on the gantry, and when they flicked off I was ready and nailed yet another great start.

Unfortunately on the inside through the first turn I didn’t have anywhere to go, so after jumping a few rows forward I was a bit bulked, and also trying to keep the car in one piece so we could concentrate on fixing the oil problem.

That problem soon bit back, though, and I found the revs were rising but the car wasn’t going anywhere – the oil had got onto the clutch plates and was making it slip!

I dropped off the back of Jake Hockley and Andrew Cooper, and then a group of about 6 all flew past as I tried to get some power down onto Hanger Straight and I knew that was pretty much race over.

Pretty sure I knew what the problem was, and that we’d be replacing the clutch either way, I stopped trying to fight for position and instead concentrated on getting the clutch to grip by feathering the throttle. I decided to just bring the car home as best as I could for the points, and got down to avoiding James Harridges nosecone right on the exit of Stowe!

It also wasn’t affecting me around the corners, so I tried to carry as much speed as I could. When I was on my own for a few laps pressing on, I also pulled off a huge filthy great near-perfect drift when I lost the back end into Village.

The front was still pointing towards the corner exit so I kept the throttle on and powered it out, clipping a perfect late apex on opposite lock ending at the exit curb with a mild twitch.

Notice the fist pump at the end!

This save- ahem, I mean skilful drift, also kept me in prime position when I saw Martin Snarey spin up ahead.

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I signalled cheerily to show him which way I was gong to pass his stationary car, then battled the slipping clutch onto Hanger Straight, knowing he’d soon be back on my tail but thinking I might just get to the end of the race ahead!

Sure enough, it wasn’t long before the white Sheane was filling my mirrors.

Ironically, it was at Village when he dived up the inside, pulling away down Hanger while I tried to feather the throttle to keep the bit of the engine inside the engine as the clutch slipped…

I chased hard through Stowe, and a small lock up into the left hander of the complex put me right back on Martin.

A good run through the rest of the complex, and the clutch biting for once meant I snuck alongside down the pit straight, and with the inside line there was no way I was braking first…

… And of course my bravery was rewarded by a beautiful pass… before the tail stepped out (which I caught!), came back again (Argh! I’m going off, then, am I?), opted to go straight onto the concrete run-off area still mid tank-slapper (Oh no – not in the gravel again!!!) before finally gathering it all back in line safely!

I bumped over the narrow strip of grass and followed the white of Martin again, on what I didn’t yet know was the last lap.

Despite the lively excursion, I was only about 10 car lengths behind, but lost a little more as the clutch slipped down Hanger yet again. I attacked Stowe hard and made most of the time back as Martin took a defensive tight line into the complex.

Taking the regular line I actually got alongside before the flick right, then tried to cut back inside for the fast right onto the pit straight.

I shot out of the slipstream halfway down the straight and fired past into the first turn – I got onto the Hanger Straight before I saw the first marshal waving, and realised I’d missed the chequered flag. What happened to the usual plethora of waved flags from every marshal post to signal the end of the race?

Unfortunately at Silverstone, the finish line is actually before the start line, and so my move had been in vain – I’d crossed the line less than 2 tenths of a second behind the Snarey kid.

Still, considering the clutch problem, I was happy with 8th place in B Class and 22nd overall out of the 32 who started.

I was even more happy that I’d been involved in a close scrap on track with my old sparring partner Martin – whatever else happens in your race, as long as you’re involved in a bit of a fight you come out feeling like a winner! Unless you get pipped to the line, of course…

But now I had to find out if we’d be able to make the second race the next day…

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2017 Formula Vee Calendar

14 Tuesday Mar 2017

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2017 Formula Vee Calendar

01 April – Oulton Park

01 May – Brands Hatch GP

27/28 May – Croft

8/9 July – Anglesey Coastal

29/30 July – Cadwell Park (non-championship 50th Anniversary Festival)

19/20 August – Silverstone International

9 September – Rockingham ISSL

30 Sept – 1 Oct – Donington GP

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And so the 2017 season is fast approaching!

With the legendary Paul Smith leaving Vee in favour of the RGB championship, the battle for the top spot is the most open it’s been for a fair few years.

Martin Farmer is always a threat if he’s able to commit to a full season. Or sticking with Bears, Paul Taylor and Dave Hughes could finally make the impression they’ve been pushing towards for the last few seasons. Graham Gant is always a serious contender in his Worms Eye View car – with the ever-charging James Harridge improving his own home built Maverick and as hungry as ever.

Whenever John Hughes and Pete Belsey put in an appearance they’re straight on the pace, but then Steve Ough is making his return to Vee after picking up a few wins in the Crossle Sportscar in his time away. Ian Jordan must get some luck from his Superman t-shirt soon! Then there are Ben Miloudi, Tim Probert, Craig Pollard, Jack Wilkinson and Maurice Gloster always pushing up to the pointy end – if they can keep some more consistancy they could be in there, too.

Or will Adam Macaulay – the only other person to beat Smith last year – take the British title to add to his Irish success? He’d have to scrape in as favourite for this year.

We may not see Ian Buxton for a while, as his crash at Brands Hatch at the end of last year leaves him still recovering from a broken back, but hopefully he’ll be back on track soon. I think Harry Webb could have been up there if he tried a second season in Vee, but he’s pushing for bigger and better things, and I hope that comes together for him.

Or there are the real outsiders, either brand new to Vee this year, or those like myself – still learning and getting faster all the time, just waiting for everything to click into place. And we’re the underdogs, so everyone wants us to win!

Whatever happens, we’re sure to see a lot of great racing all through the pack – and that’s what always makes Formula Vee such a favourite with spectators and drivers!

I’ll look forward to seeing you all out there!

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First round of the UK Formula Vee Championship

24 Friday Apr 2015

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First round of the UK Formula Vee Championship

The UK Formula Vee championship kicks off tomorrow at Brands Hatch!

Unfortunately, I’m not going to be there…

Glenn’s had the heads off the Sheane, and they look fine, so we’re expecting to find ‘problems’ with the crank. Especially as it’s still seized solid.

I shall know more shortly, and try to get pics/vids and stuff, and of course keep everyone updated.

We’ll get out there testing as soon as possible, and have a bit of support from a company who sell action cameras and lots of tech malarkey – there will be far more on this soon, and I’ll do a full blog on camera mounting and what cameras we’ll be using to capture all the action this year.

In the meantime, Brands Hatch should be fantastic!

Paul Smith will be hungry to get some results this year, especially with Martin Farmer not currently planning any Vee races as he concentrates on his excellent HRX racewear brand (seriously, check them out if you’re after a new suit etc).

The usual contenders – Buxton, Belsey, Gant, Pitchford, Probert, Ough, Jordan, Taylor – will all be out this year, and all in for a shout of at least a podium.

Ben Miloudi is still sunning himself in the Bahamas but might fly back for Silverstone, as all those beaches must get boring.

Craig Pollard is bound to be a contender again – especially if it rains!

However, my money for the championship this year is on James Harridge.

The Maverick chassis seems excellent, and was only crippled by the withheld secrets of Formula Vee engines.  They’ve put their aspirations of building their own engines on hold and got a lump in there which may not be the greatest on the grid, but should be enough to see James on the top step.  Maybe even at Brands Hatch.

I’m sure there will be a few rookies making a surprising entrance into the championship *waves frantically whilst trying to look nonchalent*, and some of the other drivers may make that leap to the front pack.

As ever, there will be live timing of qualifying and races online:

Motors TV will be filming at all the rounds (as far as I know), and so it looks like yet another cracking season is about to take off thanks to 750 Motor Club.

I’m going to be glued to the live timing, but my body will be at Prescott Hillclimb this weekend to have a look at something different for the first time.

I’ll probably do a write-up of that, but if you’re anywhere near Brands, get yourself down there for the best motor racing action in the UK this weekend!

Hopefully I’ll be joining them out there soon!

Who’s your money on for this year?

Old Formula Vee Pictures

18 Wednesday Mar 2015

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Old Formula Vee Pictures

I know a lot of you who read my blogs are from the Formula Vee world, past and present. 

As you know, the car that I’m driving is owned and prepared by Glenn Hay, who’s been involved with Formula Vee and Super Vee in the UK since it began.  This means there are a few classic pictures around of Glenn and a few of the other racers, and I’m sure some of you will be interested in seeing them!

So sit back and enjoy a few vintage photographs!

Helmet Upgrade: Koden KSC25 Carbon

26 Monday Jan 2015

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

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Helmet Upgrade: Koden KSC25 Carbon

Much as I love my floro yellow Koden, the move to using a HANS device meant my hand was forced, and I needed to buy a new helmet with the SAH2010 approval with the HANS posts drilled.

It was always my intention to get a ‘better’ helmet when I could, so I figured now I might as well spend and get something I’d be happy with for many years to come.

Most of the big names sell their entry level helmet for around £400+, then the HANS posts will cost another £40+. That’s all a lot of money for someone with an Oliver Twist style race budget like mine!

Having been happy with the fit of my Koden, I looked at their more expensive models at the Autosport International Show, and found the fit equally as good, but the quality of their later helmets noticeable better.

Their base helmet with HANS fitments could be had for around £250!  The only limit is that you have to have black or white, so no gaudy glowing colours this time…

However, if I’d bought one of these (and I’d be happy to race in them) I’d have always been kicking myself for not buying the full carbon fiber version – so I did!

The show price from Mark at M&P was an absolute bargain of £350 INCLUDING the HANS fitments!  So for that extra £100, I’d be getting a Koden KSC25 in real life carbon – the likes of which would set you back, ooh, one or two thousand for one of the ‘big name’ brands!

Quality is excellent.  Nothing is flimsy, all the bits join together perfectly, and even the Nomex lining is well-stitched and as good as any I’ve seen.  Weight is a stunning 1330g.  To put that into perspective, as a biker of 15 years riding daily, I buy the best kit I can.  I have never worn a helmet as light as the Koden KSC25, and it’s very, very noticeable as soon as you put it on!

It’s got a trusty double D-ring fastener, and holds my noggin like a sensuous lover.  Or a wrestler about to crush your head like a grapefruit.  Whatever makes you feel safer!  And the button on the front is to release the visor – so no more fumbling around for the lift tab!

As you can see from the first picture, you get a few accessories, too.  There’s the peaked bit, for people who drive closed cars and are deluded into thinking nothing can ever possibly get through the windscreen, so don’t need a visor.  And another bit that I think is a spoiler.  I’ll put that on, if I can – I need to check clearance in the Vee cockpit with the HANS kit, first, though.

You can get spare visors, but I forgot to get one!  I think you can get black/smoke or blue iridium.  I wear blue iridium on my bike, because a) it looks cool, and b) the blue tint gives better viewing definition in cloudy or overcast conditions – perfect for the UK!

I am chuffed to bits with my Koden KSC25.  For the price it’s unbelievable value – but just as a race helmet for ANY money, it’s a damned fine buy!  I’m sure it will do me proud.