Rounds 5 & 6 - 14th/15th May at Brand Hatch (Indy).

Snett

This is going to be a very quick post just to update the blog:

Was a good weekend, but didn’t fare too well in the results. Qualified 10th out of 14 and finished 9th in race 1. Race 2 was a bit different. I was literally driven off the track by narrowly avoiding a collision and then went very very wide at another corner later on the race. Finally, I almost ran out of fuel when the engine suffered fuel starvation on the penultimate lap.

As there were only 13 runners I figured it was better to finish last than to not finish at all! It’s the first time I’ve ever almost run out of fuel. I can only put it down to a combination of not having a working fuel guage (it’s abag tank so I have to use a dip stick to measure), a very long 2.9 mile circuit with much of the lap at full throttle, and a red flag incident causing an extra two laps to be put on.

And that was about it. I hope Brands Hatch will be a better result. And I’ll make sure there is enough go-go juice in the tank too!

Here is a clip of my near miss:

Back In Business

This weekend saw the opening round of the Caterham Graduates championship take place at Silverstone (National circuit). It was a fairly bright weekend, although a little bit on the windy and chilly side. I had never been around Silverstone before and had considered testing on the friday, but at about £250 for a full day – and no half day options – I just felt it was a bit too pricey!

So the only practice I would have was to be qualifying. It went fairly smoothly. Start off slow, learn the circuit, see what others are doing and then try to do it quicker! Unfortunately it wasn’t quite quick enough but better than I was expecting. I qualified 13th out of 18 for the first race, and 14th for the second race.

The racing itself was quite intense. I got a storming start and made up a few places before the first corner. It was pretty much nose to tail racing for the duration and I was able to make up quite a few places. At one point I had even got up into 4th place! Unfortunately I was unable to hold onto it and moved up and down the pack before finally finishing in 7th place. However this was upgraded to 6th because the race winner was disqualified for being underweight after losing two rear wings. I also came close to losing a wing after getting tapped by Andy. Fortunately I caught the car as it got thumped and just kept my foot down expecting to see the wing missing in my mirror but it was still there. It was a bit damaged but nothing that can’t be repaired with a bit of filler.

Race 2 was a similar affair, although I think I put a bit too much fuel in the car and didn’t feel quite as competitive. Normally, I try to finish a race with 2 – 3 litres left in the tank as you may need a bit extra if there is a restart for some reason. This time there was about 8 litres left. Not a huge difference but still an unneccessary 5kg of weight as I already have lead in the car to ensure I can withstand the loss of some bodywork. Although I do try hard to make sure that doesn’t happen!

It was still a great race though and I finished in 9th place. So a good result and a better start to the season than I was hoping for.

The next race will be at Snetterton, on the new SN300 circuit configuration. So that will be interesting. Hopefully I can continue finishing in the top 10!

In the meantime you can watch the Silverston race 1 highlights.

Season Finale

Unfortunately, the Graduates racing season is now over. It’s been a little while since I updated my blog. Partly due to laziness, and partly due to time. But mostly laziness! The more astute amongst my limited readership may have wondered what happened to Snetterton? Well. A little story to be told there. I won’t bore you with the full details, but basically I had a trailer failure. More specifically, a brake failure whereby the wheels locked up and I was literally unable to get the car to the race. This was all the more frustrating as it broke the night before when we were about to load the car up.

This was rather upsetting. Especially as I had been to a track day the Monday before with the intention of getting some practice in. However I still drove to Snett and spectated. It was cold, wet and windy. Not the ideal way to spend a racing weekend, but it was still fun. I didn’t stay for Sunday though!

So that was Snetterton. Then last weekend we had the season finale of Thruxton. By this time I had got the trailer repaired and fully serviced. Towing like a dream it is. Being relatively local, dad and I drove up in the morning. Leaving at a reasonable 7am got us there for 9am. A pretty frosty start too, but the sun soon warmed up and we had a lovely day.

Thruxton is insane. That about covers it. 2 and a bit miles of sheer and utter madness. Foot to the floor for most of it. The odd lift here and there when the bumps start shimmying you to the edge of the circuit, and two major braking zones for a couple of tight corners/chicanes. I have never been more terrified, or had so much fun. It’s also a very wide circuit so there is plenty of opportunity to overtake. Which I did on numerous occasions. However, my braking leaves something to be desired. Not late enough, or hard enough. So I kept losing my newly gained position!

I qualified in 11th, and finished 12th, but I was in a pack of 4 cars and we were really going for it. A great race to end the season on.  Now it’s time to clean up the car and prepare it for next year. Definitely planning on a gearbox rebuild as I crunched it occasionally and it’s taken some abuse. May also get the engine refreshed by MMM. And so with that, I feel it’s time to reflect on what I have learnt in my first season of motor racing. So here is my little list.

• It’s not as easy as it looks. Seriously. Ok… it’s easy to drive the car round a track, but to actually do it on the limit is tricky.
• It’s quite amazing how everyone is really not too far apart in the times, but a second or two slower puts you right to the back of the queue.
• I was all fingers and thumbs getting belted up and ready to race. Now I have actually figured out a routine and can pretty much do it with my eyes closed.
• Never use brand new unscrubbed tyres on a damp circuit. Really. Don’t do it unless you like travelling backwards.
• Don’t take the trailer for granted. I was going to get it serviced after the season finished, but the brake failure was just unfortunate timing.
• After driving to Croft, Pembrey and Anglesey, nowhere seems that far away any more!
• Racing requires respect. I have managed to avoid colliding with anyone and that’s the way racing should be – barring any really unfortunate and unavoidable accidents. I like to think that my fellow competitors respect me rather than fear me on track. Familiarity certainly breeds contempt and a bad reputation if you keep knocking wings off!
• I’m not going to be the next Lewis Hamilton, but I hope that my racecraft has improved sufficiently that I can start getting some consistent top ten finishes next season

I think that’s about it. Other than to say what an amazing club the Graduates are. If anyone is interested in racing, please do take a look at the club website and/or come visit during a race meeting. I have absolutely no regrets in joining.

On a final note, here is my highlights video from Thruxton. See you next year!

“They Should Call It Graham Hell Bend”

Brands Hatch. An iconic track. It’s Indy configuration is one of the shortest circuits in the country. Paddock Hill bend is perhaps one of the most exhilarating corners in the country. Amazing in the dry. Challenging in the wet. Saturday was most definitely more wet and challenging than dry and amazing. Especially when you throw a newly resurfaced track into the mix.

It didn’t really get off to a good start for me. My video camera was already broken. So that needs to be sent back for a replacement – but that’s another story. Classics were qualifying early in the morning. It was a fairly damp and muggy morning and the track temperature would be low. I had decided that it was time to get some new tyres. My previous set are ok, but are getting pretty worn and I thought some extra tread would benefit me. My logic wasn’t incorrect per se, but I didn’t realise just how important it was to scrub in a new set of tyres before using them at speed. As soon as I left the pit lane to start my qualifying session it was obvious something wasn’t right. The car was skating all over the place and very twitchy under acceleration. On my first lap I came down to Graham Hill Bend, went to turn in and snap. The back end whipped around and I went sailing backwards onto the greenery. Strike one.

Having recovered I carried on going and gingerly made it round to my second lap. Once again I came down to Graham Hill Bend, a bit more slowly this time. On the brake, turn in… snap. Travelling backwards again. Strike two.

This wasn’t going well. Let’s try again. The third lap starts. I approach Paddock Hill Bend, squeeze the brake, turn in….oh dear. The back end snapped around and I’m sailing down Paddock Hill Bend backwards, sliding sideways and straight into the awaiting gravel trap. Strike three. I’m out of qualifying and have given myself (and my dad) a two hour clean up to get rid of all the trapped gravel I accumulated. So that was a lesson in tyre management learnt the hard way. Unfortunately for me they didn’t red flag the session. This meant my car remained in a very vulnerable spot while I watched cars shoot past, clearly on the edge, and praying to whatever God I don’t believe in that they keep it on the black stuff and don’t collide with my car which is in the spot they are likely to end up in should they spin.

Fortunately the session concluded without further incident. The only damage done was to my pride and the older tyres were quickly put back on, ready for the race. It would be quite a memorable race. It began to rain while we were in the assembly area getting ready to go out. Nothing heavy, but enough to make a slippery track even more treacherous. Naturally I was at the back. However I got another demon start and quickly made up a place or two as we shot around Paddock Hill Bend. At Druids it looked like Sheila and another car went in a bit too deep, so I was able to get past as they went wide and almost collided. Then down at the infamous Graham Hill Bend there was something of a coming together. I didn’t see what caused it, but five cars were scattered on the grass so that was some more easy places made. So far so good. I was now behind Terry and giving him a good run for his money. I was able to close up to him at Surtees and almost made it past him on Paddock Hill Bend. Then I came down to Graham Hill Bend. Snap. Back end gone and I’m going backwards again. It wasn’t a big spin but I was on the grass and had to yield for a couple of cars coming past on the racing line before I could get back on track. So off I go again. It’s raining some more now. Time to put the wipers on. Another lap and Graham Hill Bend looms. Brake earlier I think to myself. Whether I did or not I can not remember. But I do remember screaming obscenities into my helmet as I sail backwards yet again and lose more places. Fortunately, if there’s one thing I’m getting quite adept at, it’s getting the clutch in quickly when spinning. So I am able to recover easily and get going again.

Round we go again. Fairly uneventful lap for me. No one in front or behind that I can see. And I even managed to make it around Graham Hill Bend without spinning. Unfortunately my progress is halted by the safety car waiting to pick me up from the service road. The pack forms up behind me. On the next lap round I see the cause. One car in the Paddock Hill gravel trap is missing a wheel and another driver has parked it in the gravel at Druids. So there is a lot of work going on to get the cars free and out of danger. On one hand it’s good that we had the safety car. The track was getting a bit hairy and I’m sure slowing down helped prevent even more attrition. On the other hand it means tyres and brakes getting rather cold. Which brings back memories of my earlier qualifying session.

Eventually the safety car waves me past as although I’m leading the pack, the leaders have queued up behind me and it has effectively put me a lap down. Now I know how Fernando Alonso felt when he got shafted by the safety car. Due to the conditions I wasn’t able to get around to the back of the pack before the safety car released everyone, about half a lap later. Which was a little annoying but to be honest I was just glad to finish the race. The rain fall was increasing and it was becoming more and more slippery with each lap around Paddock Hill. I was hoping the chequered flag would drop on each lap past the start/finish line.  At long last it was there waving at me. Final result – 11th place. Not too shabby after a disastrous qualifying session.

There was other racing throughout the day and it seemed that Graham Hill Bend was proving a challenge for most people. I totally agree with the commentator when he announced that Graham Hill Bend should be renamed Graham Hell Bend. Perhaps the most exciting race I’ve had this season and certainly my best finishing position. I even picked up another Best Improver medal. Let’s hope I continue to improve. A top ten finish at Snetterton or Thruxton would be great. However I’ve not raced at either so we’ll have to wait and see. Whatever happens, I intend to scrub those new tyres of mine before racing on them!

Epic

I’m still recovering from the epic weekend that was Anglesey, so please forgive the brevity of this post. Anglesey is a long way from home. For the uninitiated, it’s North Wales, and took a good 5.5 – 6 hours of driving to get there.

My dad and I went up on Friday morning intending to test in the afternoon. The first session was a bit wet but drivable. However the rain really started to come down… and down. In fact it was blowing horizontally because of the high winds. But that was no excuse! So out we all went in the second session. Visibility was dreadful, and it wasn’t long before I decided that driving blind at 80mph was not as much fun as I thought it would be. So after a few laps I decided to come in. The rain running down my back was a little unpleasant too.

It seemed that the rain was not going to give up so we put the cover on the car and made tracks for the B&B I had booked. Fortunately I had the foresight to book a fantastic little place about 3 months earlier which was literally 2 miles down the road. It’s called the Prince Llewelyn, and if you are heading to Anglesey I recommend staying there. Many other people were either camping or had a 20 mile trip to the nearest Holiday Inn. Anglesey may have great vista’s, but it certainly doesn’t have a lot of built up areas. Even more fortunate was the fact that our room had a heated towel rail so I could dry out my sodden race suit, boots and gloves.

I won’t bore you with the details of how one spends a night in Anglesey so we’ll skip to Saturday and the racing. Qualifying was dry and really let me see the track properly. It’s a great circuit and the Corkscrew corner is amazing fun. The car felt quite good. I had previously softened up the front dampers a few clicks and felt like I had a bit more front end grip than usual. My performance wasn’t stunning but it was better than before. I qualified 13th out of 16. The race on the other hand was pretty insane. It had rained just before and the circuit was nice and slippery. The car was quite lively and fun to drive. Going sideways isn’t necessarily the quickest way around a corner but it’s certainly enjoyable. Of course I went a bit too fast into the corners and lost speed on the way out, but I managed to keep it pointing in the right direction.

The second race on Sunday was dry. Once again, I had qualified 13th and managed to make a few places up in the race. Unfortunately I kept going wide at one particular corner and all my hard work was rapidly undone. However it was a truly great race as I was tussling with Pete Cannard for most of it. Real close racing. We came rather close to each other at certain points, and even went round corners side by side, but we never touched and it was immensely enjoyable. Unfortunately he just pipped me to the finish line by 3/10 of a second.

And so it was that the weekend came to an end. As my second race was quite late in the day we didn’t manage to leave until 6pm, finally arriving home at 11.30pm. Of course with the unpacking I had to do, I didn’t get to bed until 1am and then was up for work at 6.30am. Which was a bit of a luxury as I’m usually up at 6! And that’s why I’m knackered, and why this post is a little brief. But you get the idea.

You can find the videos at the usual place once I’ve got around to it! And it’s only a couple of weeks until Brands Hatch…

A Walk In The Park…

…is what Jason Plato might have thought about charging around Oulton Park in a Caterham. However for those of us a little more challenged on driving talent it was a little more nerve-wracking.

It’s been a little while since my last race at Croft. I chose to miss out the rounds at Zolder so I was a little bit rusty before taking anything else into consideration. Oulton Park is a very challenging track set in lovely countryside in Cheshire. At approximately 2.7 miles it is a long circuit. A quick lap time in a Classic is about 2.07:00. I would certainly not be that quick!

I arrived on Friday morning with the intention of doing some testing on Friday afternoon. Having never been around the track before this seemed quite important. It was a lovely drive up. No traffic and good weather. Of course shortly before the first afternoon test session, the heavens opened up! So now I get to test on an unfamiliar circuit in the wet. Marvellous! Still, I like a challenge. The first of two afternoon sessions was more of a familiarisation. I wasn’t even trying to go quick. Oulton Park has lots of dips and brows, a couple of chicanes, and some deceptively hard corners. I was very tentative on the throttle. Just squeezing on the power through the corners and feeling the car wriggle as the rear tyres spun in the wet. It was certainly an exciting few laps and although it gave me some idea of the track layout, it didn’t really help me get quicker. My fastest time in the session was a 2:29.

The second test session was a little better. The track was drying out but still a bit damp. However I was able to improve my times just a touch and got them down to 2:24. So a 5 second improvement. Still pretty rubbish in terms of competitiveness but there was a pattern forming! Unfortunately it was just the two testing sessions. Next time out would be on Saturday morning in qualifying – or practice – as it is officially termed.

Come Saturday morning the weather was bone dry, if a bit chilly while the sun covered the clouds. Classics were out in the second morning session and I was glad to see that the track was dry. So off I went to do my best. As it turned out, my best wasn’t quite good enough! Once again, I was getting quicker and where possible I tried to follow some quicker drivers. But I wasn’t quite quick enough. My final time was 2:18.024 So another substantial improvement but way off the front running times of around 2:07. I do think if testing was dry I might have been able to knock another 5 seconds off. As it was I would just have to start at the back of the grid.

And so to the race. We were called to the assembly area and taken around the track. At which point we were sitting on the grid for about 15 minutes while they tried to extricate a stricken recovery vehicle from the mud somewhere. Finally we got the go ahead for our green flag lap and around we went. The usual thoughts of getting another of my demon starts was going through my mind. I had Darren on my right. Sheila in front. I could get a good start, drag past Sheila and get in front of her at Old Hall. That was the plan. It went very very wrong.

We came round to finish the green flag lap. I put the car into first, held the revs at 4000 and waited for the lights to go out. Wait… wait… wait… GO! I drop the clutch, the revs soar, and everyone shoots off while I’m sitting there. Apparently in neutral. Oh &*$%£**! The gear stick had popped into neutral. As quickly as possible I stuck it into gear, wasted a couple more precious seconds waving my hands in disbelief, and took chase of the pack.

I must have driven a couple of half decent laps as I soon began to catch up to Darren. I think the fact that he was trying to get past Sheila must have slowed him down a bit. It took a few laps but I chased him down and finally got a good run on him down the main straight and passed him through Old Hall. By this time Sheila and Paul had disappeared but I didn’t care. It was about staying ahead of Darren to the end. He was obviously quicker than me through Knickerbrook chicane and I had to go defensive a few times to block him from passing me. I seemed to be able to pull out some time on the approach to Shell Oil corner although I did feel under pressure for quite a few laps and it did become a lot harder to focus on the corners coming up when thinking about how to defend from the car behind.

However I managed to fend him off to the chequered flag. It may have only been a one place gain to 15th but it was the best racing I’ve had so far. And I got my best lap time down to a 2:13.071. If only I could have done that in qualifying! Although if I was mid pack and fluffed my start it could have had some rather unfortunate consequences!

Quite unexpectedly, my heroic efforts earned me a best improver’s medal. So that just made a good day even better. It’s certainly encouraging to win something and I will continue to aim for the podium even if it takes me a while to get there. I owe Jenny Grace a big thank you for talking through the course notes with me and offering some very sound advice. She managed to finish third so she knows what she’s talking about. A big shout out to Andy Sagar for his help in getting the awkward air filters off my carburettors and checking they were balanced properly, and also a thank you to my dad for offering his usual assistance and his skill in cleaning spark plugs. The only disappointment was remembering that my upgrade card was still in Race Control when I was 5 miles away from the circuit heading towards the M6! I must have got a few funny looks heading back to the circuit and passing all the other drivers coming the other way but I’ve worked hard for those signatures and I’d rather add an extra half hour to my journey than risk my card getting lost in the post.

Next stop – Anglesey.

Over The Edge

Croft. It’s a bloody long way up north. Just outside Darlington, in the middle of nowhere! The drive up was uneventful but tiring. There were a few traffic jams but fortunately no accidents, and it took me about five and half hours to get to the circuit. As there was no Friday testing I arrived at about 6pm, got the car off the trailer and then disappeared off to the hotel. You got to hand it to those Premier Inn’s. They may be cheap with no frills, but they are comfortable and convenient.

My cousin Spencer came up by train that evening. My chief mechanic (dad) was away this weekend and while it’s quite possible to do these weekends alone (everyone will help where necessary) it’s certainly much more fun when you have a dedicated pair of hands to help out.

As expected, qualifying was rather abysmal. With no testing this was the first time I had ever been round the track. Reading a track guide doesn’t really help until you’ve driven the circuit and understand it a bit. I did my best but obviously qualified last with a time of around 1m 58s. The pole position time was 1:42.293, so I was a little off the pace! The objective was simply to get the times down to something respectable in the following races.

Race 1 went about as well as I could expect. I got a pretty good start – which seems to be something I have a talent for – and made up a few places but I was completely off line around the first corner which leads on to a tight chicane only one car will go through. For those who are unaware, Croft use stacks of tyres on the chicanes to prevent cars going too far off line. They are also fond of bollards too! I was side by side with Pete Cannard heading into the chicane but he was on the right line so I had a simple choice of hitting the brakes or driving into a pile of tyres!

Once more I was at the back of the grid. However it was a useful practice run. My times were slowly coming down, and my best lap was a 1m 48s. Which is some improvement from qualifying! However it was not without it’s mistakes. I spun a few times while exploring the limits of the track. All of the spins were in the complex. I just kept overcooking it.

Race 2 started off equally well with a lightning start and overtaking a few cars – right up to the end of the straight when I ran out of road and went across the gravel! All my hard work was lost and I ended up at the back again. I may have been able to turn in earlier and made the corner. The trouble is my mirrors make everything seem really close to the car. So I was afraid of hitting someone and went wide. I guess it’s just experience that will allow me to judge such moves better in future.

The race continued on and at on point I overtook Sheila down the tower straight. However the inexperience showed through again. I was so exhilarated at passing her I became a little bit too aggressive for my own good. I stayed in front for a few laps but then spun it going in to Clerveaux. I braked a bit too late and tried to trail brake around the corner to kill some more speed but it was just too much and the back end came around. I did my best to catch it but physics took over. What was most concerning is that Sheila was behind me and to the right. Clerveaux is a right hand turn. So I spun right across her path. Thankfully she hit the brakes and we missed each other. Still, it was all very exciting!

I finished last again but my times had improved further still. My best time was a 1:47.562. It’s all good experience though. My next race is at Oulton Park as I won’t be going to Zolder. That will be only one round (one race) so I’m going to have to get some testing in as I’ve never been there either! This year will be spent learning tracks it seems. However when you’re having this much fun, who cares where you finish?

I made a short highlight video of race 2. Enjoy.

Last But Not Least

So Pembrey race weekend finally arrived, and it was a lot of fun! Unfortunately, Friday’s testing was a bit of a washout. We were supposed to have 3 sessions but unfortunately someone crashed rather hard in the first session and it was red flagged after 12 minutes so they could clean up. The other two sessions were then grouped together but not until 4.30pm, by which time the heavens had opened up. Given my lack of experience in the dry I didn’t really fancy pushing my luck in the wet!

Fortunately, Saturday was a glorious day. So after getting my self sorted out with scrutineering, my slot on track finally took place. I didn’t do brilliantly. In fact I pretty much qualified last. But I didn’t really care. The car was still in one piece and I was having fun. But the most fun was to be had in the racing.

Race one came and went pretty quickly. I started near the back and it pretty much stayed that way. There was another car I was swapping positions with – until he went very wide at Hatchetts, got on the grass, and went straight into the tyre barrier with an almighty thump. After that I was pretty much on my own and just took advantage of that fact to try and learn the track. My average time was 1.14. Far too slow! About 3 seconds too slow.

Race two on Sunday was much better I thought. I got a cracking start off the line and made up a few positions by the first corner. My lines were also improving, but I think I was still going into corners too fast, as the car was rather skittish. It was going well for a few laps until I went wide at Brooklands and took the scenic route around the corner. This allowed everyone to stream past me and meant I was playing catchup again. I did catch up with another car and we diced a bit, but ultimately I came last. However my times were improving and my best lap was better than another driver. So that gave me hope. I’m pretty sure that if had the other testing sessions I would have been a lot more competitive. But c’est la vie, as they say. Hopefully I can improve at Croft…

The Final Countdown

Not long to go until Pembrey. Hans harness and points are in. The new Rakeway half-shafts are in. Fire extinguisher has been serviced. The car is stickered up (apart from race numbers) and ready to rock. Lots to worry about and lots to remember. I have no idea of my pace so I could quite easily be at the back. I don’t care. I just want to get round the track in a respectable time and in one piece! Watch this space…

Revenge Of The Tillett

A simple plan. Remove tillett seat, fit new harness, add more spacers to recline seat a touch more, replace seat. I knew it would never be quite that simple but once again the tillett turned into a total bugger to fit. First we had to get it out. The trouble was we couldn’t slide the seat back far enough to get the allen key under the seat and into the front bolt head. After some head scratching we loosened off the back bolts and this allowed an extra inch of backwards movement which gave just enough clearance.

The next step was quite straightforward and involved removing the current harness and replacing it with my new red Schroth harness. It cost a bit more than I would have liked, but it fits the car and is far easier to adjust than the old Luke harness. Not to mention that the Luke harness expires next year so it would have to be changed anyway. Now all I need to do is get the car to Arch motors so they can move the shoulder belt mountings for my HANS device.

Once the harness was in and the bolts torqued up I then proceeded to add some more spacers to my tillett. It was feeling a little bit too upright during the last track day. I would have added more spacers the first time I installed the seat but for some really annoying reason, tillet supply very short bolts with the seat. The threads only just fit with the current spacers. I ordered some longer bolts a couple of months ago and this was the time to finally use them. They fit perfectly with the additional spacers and then it was time to get the seat back in the car. Once again we had the problem with the mounting bolts. We bolted down the back of the seat first, but once again the seat wouldn’t slide back far enough. Clearly something was obstructing it. Possibly because the floor was not quite flat and the pressure on the seat runners was causing it to warp slightly. So out it came again. We manually adjusted the runners to expose the front bolts and tried again. We screwed down the front bolts hoping the the seat would at least slide forwards, if not back. Fortunately it did slide and then we were able to get the rear bolts screwed down. I’m sure just by reading this it doesn’t sound too traumatic, but the whole process of seat out, change harness, seat back in, took about 5 hours. And that was just Saturday. I still had the new brake pads to fit…

Sunday was a glorious day. Which was just as well because I spent most of it outside fitting new brake pads! This was a first and so I was a little nervous about doing it. However I had some good instructions from Dr. B (previous owner) and while going through the motions it did seem rather straightforward, if a little awkward. We got quite a shock when I slid the old pads out. They were practically disintegrating in my hands! Perhaps the last track day just sent them over the edge. They weren’t completely destroyed but I certainly would not want to go round a track knowing the state they were in.

Once those were out I was able to rub down the brake disc with some emery paper and clean off all the crap from the old pads. Then copper grease was applied to the back of the new pads and they slid in nicely. The pads were pretty close together and there was no room for a disc between them so dad improvised with some brute force to push the caliper pistons apart. But not before I unscrewed the brake fluid reservoir lid to reduce any back pressure.

Finally the caliper slid on and we bolted it all back up and repeated the process on the other side. Then I went for a little test drive to make sure everything still worked. Fortunately it did. I had decided to go for some Pagid RS15 pads. They are a hard racing pad and braking wasn’t awesome but then the pads are designed for racing and so will require some heat in them first. On the plus side, they should be pretty good when hot and will last the year without needing to be replaced.  It’s just a shame that my next track outing will be testing at Pembrey. I’ll have to take things a little carefully so that I can get them bedded in otherwise I may be visiting the Welsh scenery!