XL Autosport

Well first time for me here at Pembrey. The circuit is flat and featurless with few opportunities for overtaking and includes the dreaded hairpin bend. This one is at the end of the straight so it’s an odds on cert somebody will run into the back of another competitor.

We spent Friday ironing out the running problem which was finally traced to a faulty injector! After spending all that money taking advice from so called experts the only thing wrong was a simple injector which was changed in 15 minutes. 

Out for qualfying and I had no track time so it was a case of following the best driver on the grid and championship leader. I strategically parked myself on the bumper of Sam’s car and spent the whole of the session trying to hang on to him. When the results were published I was in third. Not bad considering the amount of time I’ve been away.

Race 1: I got a good start but the car seemed to want to understeer everywhere and I just couldn’t hold off Sam, Rory and Neil. Fourth place was a disappointment but about the best I could expect given the circumstances. It could have been worse as Kev experienced gearbox failure and was catching me also.

Race 2: Another good start, I could see Sam and Rory tripping over each other so began building a margin. The car was much better as we changed the springs and pads overnight. By lap 7 Rory caught me and was too good under braking for the hairpin, he got by me and proceeded to pull away. As the chequered flag came out I’d managed to stay in second. I later learned Sam was taken out by another car going into the hairpin (as I predicted) so again I feel a bit lucky with the runner up spot.

Fourth and second is about the best I could expect for this weekend. The series has attracted some star drivers which in turn bodes well for the future. Not sure when my next race is as I’m supposed to be getting a Mk2.   

Drivers note: That was my last race in a Mk1, the cars up for sale on ebay and I’ve been up to a little mischief. There seems to be an element of backbiting that’s entered the series with accusations flying around, mainly from drivers who seem to display more ability steering a mouse than a race car! There’s a clue in the ebay heading ‘MR2 challenge winner’ If you remember I have never won the MR2 challenge, the rest of the advert should be treated with the same amount of scepticism.

For those of you who still don’t get it and actually read to the end of these reports here is the news.

CAR 78 COMPLIES FULLY WITH THE RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE MR2 CHALLENGE. IT DOES NOT HAVE ANY ENGINE MODIFICATIONS SAVE THOSE ALLOWED FOR. ON THE DYNO IT MADE 88BHP AT THE WHEELS WHICH EQUATES TO APPROX. 117BHP AT THE CRANK! PRINTOUT IS AVAILABLE ON REQUEST. THE REASON WHY IT IS FASTER THAN YOUR CAR IS BECAUSE THE BLOKE BEHIND THE WHEEL IS A BETTER DRIVER!

Don’t think I can get any clearer than that.

George 

Well after the problems at Snetterton and the no show at Cadwell we’re having a miserable 2006. The car has developed a misfire that comes and go’s. It’s the most annoying problem because every time we think we’ve got it licked it comes back again.

Next race is Brands but it’s looking unlikely whether we’ll make the grid. We’re concentrating on Pembrey in 3 weeks time.

On the sponsorship side things are going really well. we’ve picked up two new sponsors. Rare Rims who supply ultra lightweight alloy wheels and Trade Cars UK, a local prestige car dealer. More on those two later.

The big news at the moment is the radio programme we’re doing. AppleFM are a local radio station that transmit on Sky channel 163. They have 77,000 listeners and cater mainly in the 25-55 age group. They have been following us for the last three weeks and have annouced a new weekly magazine show called ‘wheels’

Yours truly has been asked to become one of the contributors and they’ll be following us from now on in the challenge. Take a look at www.applefm.co.uk

This is a great opportunity for the sponsors and the team, let us know what you think of the show. It starts mid June and is for an initial run of 12 weeks.

Well it’s the last race of the season and after the disappointment of Cadwell I’m looking to get back into winning ways here at Snet. I’ve never won here, those of you who may have been following the series will remember I passed up victory last year to Kev Poole because of an unfair passing manouver. I’ve had two DNF’s and two 2nd’s so  death or glory is in the pipeline.

Double header at Cadwell and I’m feeling confident. Last time I was here earlier in the year I won both races with sizable margins over the others. Tony, the championship leader has been practising on the track all weekend so I knew we would be closer this time but how close I didn’t realise. I only got one clean lap in and one half good one but when the results came through I was on pole with a margin of just 1/100ths of a second. The race would be closer than I thought.

Red lights out and I hold Tony off going around the first bend. He stays with me for half a lap but then starts to slip away. For once I’m happy with the way the car is going. I had the tracking done after the Silverstone accident and the car feels good. I’m easily controlling the race and as the last lap board comes out I’ve opened up a 10 sec. gap to the next MR2. I expected Tony to be much closer giving qualifying times but by the seventh lap I can’t even see him in my mirrors. Around the gooseneck and heading up to the mountain I’ve only 300metres to the finish line when the engine suddenly died. I pull over to the side of the road by the clubhouse and watch my sixth win of the season disappear.

Towed back to the pits and we check the engine. The timing belt snapped at 7000rpm! We don’t know if there’s any internal damage and with less than 3 hours to the next race it isn’t worth trying to fix. The cars loaded onto the trailer and we leave Cadwell Park with nothing. 

Tony won the first race and took runner up in the second. With only one race left at Snetterton it’s now not possible to win the championship. Well done to Tony Gilham ‘MR2 champion 2005′ 

We arrived on Saturday evening and parked up next to Cheshire racing. After unloading it was off to the pub for some technical talk on racing lines! Silverstone is run on the short circuit so there are only 5 corners to worry about.

On the Sunday we unloaded the car and all the equipment, it hadn’t been off the trailor since Mallory but I was reasonable happy with the performance then. Second lap of qualifying I spun at Copse and when I got back on track I had a bad vibration and the steering wheel was out. Another trip for tracking as soon as the weekend was over! Qualified fastest of the Mk1’s and took my place on the grid for the race. As the red lights went out I got up the inside of the Mk2 and a Porshe. Around Beckets and the red flags are out, race stopped. A 5 car pile up just behind me bought everybody back on the start line and the wait for the re-start.

Red lights out and another good start saw me inside the Mk2. racing up to Maggots and I pass the 944 and a Ginetta. I’m well in the lead over the start line and heading to Copse. As I aim for the apex the Ginetta T- bones me forcing me off the track. As I turn around to get back on the track I’m overtaken by an MGF sliding on it’s roof. Red flags out again but it’s no good - my car has damaged suspension and I drive straight into the pits.  

The rear track control arm is damaged but the rest of the roadsports class come in as the race is abandoned. We’re all summoned to race control and the post mortem begins. The Ginetta driver claims he was pushed into me by another MR2 which begins a witch hunt. Even the 944 driver and the MGF pilot claim it was all caused by an MR2. Fortunately Silverstone has a state of the art video suite with every corner filmed from two angles. Myself, the Ginetta and Porsche driver all go to watch the replay. As was suspected the Ginetta driver caused the accident all on his own. As we approached Copse he was on the inside line and simply failed to brake for the corner. He then ran into me causing both of us to slide off the track. As he drove back on he hit the MGF so hard it flipped onto it’s roof and was totalled. Calls for our own stand alone races were the upshot of all the discussions.

The race: We managed to take the track control arm off and banged it straight. My vibration problems were caused by a flat spotted tyre - probably caused by the spin so that was changed. It seemed to drive straight but we had to get on the track. There were a few gaps and fortunately the idiot in the Ginetta had to retire. Red lights out and another good start. The secret is to start with low revs and feed in the power. I jumped the Mk2 again and also beat the 944 - a car with more than twice the power. I held the Mk2 off for 4 laps but Patrick was finding his lines and coming out of Maggots he passed me on the straight. I didn’t bother defending for 2 reasons. I didn’t want another accident and the Mk2 isn’t eligible for any victories. Lap 6 and I notice Duncan is hunting me down. He gets within half a car of me then drops off the back of me. Next up is Tony Gilham. My car is handling like a pig and he closes me down on lap eight. I know we’re only having a 10 lap race due to all the stoppages so I start driving defensively. Last lap and coming out of Maggots I run a little wide. Tony gets the power down on the straight and gets past me whilst the next left hander comes up. Tony’s a car length in front but I’m on the inside. It’s a battle of wills as we leave our braking as late as possible. Hard on the middle pedal and I start turning in whilst still trying to scrub off speed. Tony runs a little wide and tucks in behind. Over the line and we’re side by side as the chequered flag comes down.

Back in the pits and it’s confirmed, I win by just two tenths of a second. Five wins in a row is fantastic especially as we’ve got a double header at Cadwell Park as our next fixture. My favourite track especially so when wet. See you all then.

George