DW's (new?) Sierra 3dr YB race car

[david_white]

Re: DW's (new?) Sierra N/A PINTO race car

Looks like heavy rain is forecast for pod so im planning to come down on sunday if the predictions are correct!!! See you there guys, save me a space in the paddock if possible What time you boys planning to get to work on sunday?

Both days races are around 2pm, and yes the weather aint looking great. I'm sure we can squeeze the harrier in somewhere so bring it along

[dangerousdave]

Re: DW's (new?) Sierra N/A PINTO race car

Nice one dave il get there mid morning then What do i say to the man on the gate to the paddock that im here to park with you or something?

[david_white]

Re: DW's (new?) Sierra N/A PINTO race car

Nice one dave il get there mid morning then What do i say to the man on the gate to the paddock that im here to park with you or something?

Stick a halfshaft in the boot and say you are delivering essential spares

[dangerousdave]

Re: DW's (new?) Sierra N/A PINTO race car

tempted to try that but means id have to pull it out my spare axle and potentially dirty my boot

Can i just say im servicing for you, and then not get dirty at all?

[mervhill]

Re: DW's (new?) Sierra N/A PINTO race car

True, but in this case I think it'll be drift or drift

[david_white]

Re: DW's (new?) Sierra N/A PINTO race car

Ok lets start todays write up while its still fresh in my mind as there was a lot going on...

Qualifying was always gonna be a toss up between slicks and wets but as the track was still very cold and damp, plus it was still raining in the collecting area so we went with full wets. This turned out to be a good choice as the car felt well planted and I slowly started to build up some pace.

The track started to get a dry line and i was concious of not killing the wets so had planned to do just half of the session.
The decision was made for me though when jon cross beached his seat deep at paddock bringing out the red flags after only about 5 laps. I had been on the tail of an RS500 the whole time so new my times would be ok ish and sure enough we ran out of time to go back out due to the seat having ripped off a couple of its tyres in the process of hitting the gravel trap.

I had qualified 23rd out of 30 or so cars and had both escort mk1s right behind me

[david_white]

Re: DW's (new?) Sierra N/A PINTO race car

Race 1 and the sun as starting to show and slicks were hastily fitted to the car. On the green flag lap everything felt good and i started to get a bit of heat into the tyres and brakes. Unfortunately weaving to get heat into the tyres and lighting up the tyres up a couple of times must have dislodged my somewhat battered exhaust system which although repaired after being ripped off at silverstone must have been more damaged than we thought.

Still the race started and i had to conceed to nick's escort fairly quickly with a lot less grunt to fight him off, but if i could keep him in sight and keep the other escort at bay I'd be relatively happy.
Going through surtees I could see Graham Bahr getting spun off in front and a lap later it became clear that Richard Brent and him had had a tap and Richard was limping. Richard signalled into the pits and held the inside line at clearways and I had made my way to the outside of him with plenty of space. UNTIL I got alongside Richard and suddenly felt a heavy tap on my rear bumper and then back wheel. The next thing i know the fiesta behind me had spun me sideways and T-boned my drivers door so hard that it caved in round the doorbar also pushing me into the innocent Richard Brent and sending us off the track towards the pit entry. The fiesta had so much speed and momentum when it hit me that it then got to the outside of the track, the gravel and then rolled at least 4 times all of which I had too good a view of.

I pulled straight into the pits and took off my gloves and helmet and Gary ran over to see how bad the car was. The door was stoved right in but the rest of the car seemed intact so on the advice of a very helpfull marshal Gary bashed the door out with his boots and I rejoined the circuit 2 laps down but behind the safety car. I didn't want a DNF so I plodded on at a decent pace letting Paul Goddard through but then staying on his tail for the remaining laps. There was no point making a move on him but it was nice to know i could keep up with a little in reserve. Rod Birley flew past wearing a Nissan skyline for a bumper and went on to his 500th race win

Nick Barton in the very rolled Fiesta was shaken but ok, but every inch of the fiesta was obliterated.

My car needed some new exhaust pipe, leant to us by Aaron at HT, cheers Aaron, and now has a remodelled door, no door handle (smashed off in the crash) and tyre markes on the drivers window Oh and my arm hurts typing this but I dont care because thanks to the efforts of everyone in the pit crew we now have a car that is ready to race tomorrow, if a little battered No one was hurt but the sad thing is that Richard Brent may not race tomorrow due to bent suspention/chassis

Grahams contact with richard has left him with a bent rear trailing arm so it looks like it will be a case of damage limitation tomorrow but I'm starting last on the grid so rain or shine i'm just going out to enjoy it

[david_white]

Re: DW's (new?) Sierra N/A PINTO race car

Does anyone by chance have a drivers 3dr door, or even just a door handle so that my door is safe??

[Pushrod King]

Re: DW's (new?) Sierra N/A PINTO race car

Does anyone by chance have a drivers 3dr door, or even just a door handle so that my door is safe??

Think you'll find that the handles are the same as most fords of that era,mk3/4 escort fiesta etc

[Toymex]

Re: DW's (new?) Sierra N/A PINTO race car

Sorry to hear that Dave ,but at least your all ok,i now only too well how much damage can be done when you roll once ,let alone 4 timesgood luck for the race tommorow i might pop down to have a look if i get a chance i cant help you out with the door but i may have a bit of white paint spare

[david_white]

Re: DW's (new?) Sierra N/A PINTO race car

Think you'll find that the handles are the same as most fords of that era,mk3/4 escort fiesta etc

Thats good, that door will still make a good spare if nothing else, although we may try to make a new skin for it if its possible.

Good lap time btw Nick, the track was still pretty loose even in the dry

[dangerousdave]

Re: DW's (new?) Sierra N/A PINTO race car

If i can find a door handle thats my urgent parts delivery to get me into the paddock....shame i dont have one though

Glad to hear the car didnt get wiped out too badly, it could have been a lot worse. Also glad to hear theres still something to come down to watch tomorrow

[david_white]

Re: DW's (new?) Sierra N/A PINTO race car

If i can find a door handle thats my urgent parts delivery to get me into the paddock....shame i dont have one though

Glad to hear the car didnt get wiped out too badly, it could have been a lot worse. Also glad to hear theres still something to come down to watch tomorrow

Look forward to seeing you, just stick a dizzy or summin in the car to say you are rushing it to us, or better still an o/s door handle

[rusty]

Re: DW's (new?) Sierra N/A PINTO race car

saw you got towed in today.

[DanR]

Re: DW's (new?) Sierra N/A PINTO race car

sorry to hear about your incident DAve, hope it all works out ok!

Out of curiosity what tires do you run and how many heat cycles do you get before their times slip away?