Split into 2 parts because the one single big e-mail seemed not to work.
In a message dated 02/04/05 19:43:39 GMT Daylight Time, Daniel1312 writes:
> Apart from a tea-break and general nose around the service area (cars get
> serviced in-between runs) I got to watch some of the cars at a good vantage
> point. The 6R4 was very quick and turned out to be the quickest car of the
>day
> and of course the best sounding. Second fastest was a 2000cc Nissan Micra
> which is a tiny eurobox and engine obviously non-standard in size and tune.
> The cars came along a fast part of the track which must have been over
> 100-110mph for the quicker cars and probably another 20-30mph quicker still
>for the
> top 5 or 6 cars. Some of the 2000cc 1970s vintage Escorts were running
> Modern (well 1990s) Cosworth YBF (and derivatives) engines but on that
>stretch 'on
> song' either needed a taller back axle ratio or a 5th gear. No big deal you
> might think, I mean who hasn't been up close to nice machinery going that
> fast (I have a lot these last few years) but how about a true hairpin corner
>at
> the end of it? I was interested to see who lifted for the kink before the
> hairpin, and then when back to flat, who lifted, steady throttled and braked
> and not least who didn't lift, kept it flat out or were still accelerating
> (the 6R4). Then, who locks wheels, who doesn't who goes through the cones,
>onto
> the grass and spins altogether, hello hay bale. The rear wheel drive cars
> were tail out and roared out the hairpin. Some handbrake turns worked and
> some didn't. Best of all the hairpin was part of each of the 6 stages but
>for
> half had a shorter straight before it. The TR8 never looked or sounded fast
> and the stage times confirmed this. I don't think it was particularly the
> driver the car just sounded like it never pulled a lot of rpm and apart from
>the
> carb swap sounded close to being on a standard/mild cam or was on a
> standard/mild cam (less than 200bhp but ok lots of torque) - still it looked
>nice.
> Almost forget there was a Vauxhall Chevette that looked pretty neat but this
> had neither the rally Vauxhall 2000cc or the Lotus version but a modern
>2000cc
> Vauxhall with I guess 200 to 250bhp. There were some tidy cars like a Mk1
> VW Golf that was well driven and lot of other cars that just merged in to a
> stream of fast but sometimes entertaining euroboxes. The very early and
> original looking 1293cc Mini went well but looked like it would 2 wheel and
>roll at
> one point. A lot of the front wheel drive cars 3 wheeled, lifting one of
> the rears at the hairpin. The vee-8 Metro sounded nice for a vee-8 and ran
>5th
> and after that at 6th came the first EVO (Ha). Only one car had a heavy
> impact and unusually for a rally, so I'm told, no-one rolled.
>
> At one point I needed to talk to the driver of Mk 2 Escort but he retired on
> one stage (ended up missing the next one but got back out again) and I
> caught up with him as he was towed in. Turns out the coil fried the rotor
>arm
> (eh??) and they couldn't fit a spare because the distributor cap was a screw
>fit
> and they had no screw driver. I suggested it was pity they couldn't have
> used a pair of pliers. In fact it was a pity the pair of pliers that fell
>out
> of their car on the track did fall out because they might have come in
> useful. The driver was suitably surprised.
>
> Not forgetting the other MG which was a Maestro and with I guess, an MG
> Montego Turbo conversion. Car had a lot of trouble, almost certainly a blown
> head gasket and never really ran that well, and they had trouble getting it
>to
> run at all with a lot of tow starting.
>
> That's it then, hope that's given you a flavour of the day, with another
> race tech day done and possibly June before I do another but I'm going to try
> and get something as a no expenses claimed extra.
>
> Daniel1312
|