GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

I had a good look at the prop and the rear UJ had some play in it. Looking through a pile of propshafts I found DVY's original 2 piece prop from when she ran a T5 box and the rear UJ was identical, so I took the circlips out and swapped the cups over to repair the joint

I've also adjusted the angle of the diff nose so it sits lower in the tunnel, lowered the rear by 1" again and still have enough clearance round the prop, and about 2" of travel left on the suspension after cutting off the bump stops, although the mudflaps do drag along the ground now

A brief test drive didn't show up any unusual vibrations, so hopefully everything's ok for Loton

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Loton Park Sat 11th July

A good entry of 7 in my class, the usual double driven MR2, a couple of 205's and myself, Steve Bailey and Karl Stevens in our Escorts

1st Practice - The hill was still damp after some overnight rain and the forecast was not good so I left the wets on. After a rather cautious run I reached the top in 68.80s, Karl wasn't far behind on 68.91s and Steve being careful with a new set of Avons on 69.28s

2nd Practice - The hill was dry by now so it was on with the slicks and I had a bit of a go to try and get under 60s again. I tried going round Loggerheads in 3rd instead of 2nd but this meant a couple of extra gear changes before Triangle and the time over the Finish of 60.15s showed it wasn't really worth it
Steve was really flying on his new tyres with a new PB of 60.02s, so close to a 59s run and we all hoped he would make it in the afternoon.
Karl meanwhile was having problems with his brakes pulling sharply to one side and this had put him on the grass coming into Fallow at the top of Cedar Straight so he pulled over.

1st Timed Run - A light shower during lunch left the hill wet in places but as there was no standing water I left the slicks on and had a sensible run up the hill in 69.28s. Steve doesn't have any wets and had a big moment coming into Triangle so backed off and got a time of 72.60s, while Karl had sorted his brakes during lunch (there was a tiny stone stuck in the caliper) and fitted his wet tyres and got a time of 67.84s to lead the class at this stage

2nd Timed Run - No more rain so the hill was pretty much dry although my time off the start of 2.53s shows it wasn't perfect and a split time at Triangle of 23.94s was 0.8s behind my PB and I reached the top in 60.52s without any dramas.
Karl was having further brake problems with the fronts locking up quite a lot and could only manage a 61.65s.
Steve was really enjoying his new tyres, off the line in 2.41s, round to Triangle in 23.75s and looking good for the class win but lost a bit of time up Cedar Straight and through the last 2 corners to finish on 60.56s, missing out on the class win by 4 100th's

So an enjoyable day and I was very happy to get the class win after a good battle with Steve and Karl, and was looking forward to Sunday's event which they had both entered

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Loton Park Sun 12th July

As usual I stayed with Dave Sat night and we arrived early Sunday to have a walk up the hill, Dave was keen to remind himself where it went and try and get faster whilst I felt there was more time to be made up round the first few corners before the split at Triangle

1st Practice - There had been a lot of rain overnight but the hill had dried nicely, until about 5 min before my run when it started to drizzle. I didn't think there had been enough to make things that slippery but I struggled off the line and round to Triangle. Going up Cedar Straight it looked dry so I kept my foot down, booted it out of Fallow and got into a huge drift - there's a foot wide bit of concrete on the outside here that I normally use, but I was still sideways when this ran out and I could feel the grass beneath the rear wheels, but it was only when I'd reached full lock I thought I'd better back off and she came back into line just in time to break for the crest into Museum. I nearly didn't see the time of 66.08s, I was laughing so much

2nd Practice - Everything was completely dry now so it was time to get serious, off the line in 2.35s and round to Triangle in 23.18s was a bit more like it, kept it completely flat up the straight and over the crest, just managed to brake enough for Fallow, then tidily through Museum to cross the finish in 59.63s
Karl had been playing with his brake bias a bit more (now running HiSpec 6 pots on the front but only 9" drums on the back meant this was difficult) and was happy with his 60.63s run
Steve had his slicks warmed up nicely, off the line in 2.40s but kept his foot down to reach Triangle in 23.11s and hung on up the hill to finish in a cracking time of 59.53s - his first 59s run after 4 years of trying

1st Timed Run - Still dry and I wanted to see if I could beat my PB of 59.36s from May, so I had some more revs off the start (2.33s) braked at the 25m board for the first Hall corner then kept my foot in round Loggerheads before cutting the grass slightly to get a better line through Fletchers Dellow and reached Triangle in an amazing 22.96s (nearly 0.2s up on my PB), flew up the hill and over the crest before having a big moment under braking when the pedal went half way to the floor, just managed to sort it out but didn't have time to line her up for Fallow arriving at the apex still in 3rd I just turned left, dropped to 2nd and booted it and was surprised to find I'd still managed a time of 59.71s
Steve had another 59s run but couldn't quite match his practice time with a 59.88s while Karl was getting more confidence in his brakes with a time of 59.77s

2nd Timed Run - With the 3 of us covered by less than 2 10th's it was all to play for and we all knew we'd done quicker times before. I had a quick look at the front brakes, helped by Carrie and Guy who were spectating, but couldn't find any leaks anywhere although I'd had to top up the reservoir earlier. Steve suggested a loose wheel bearing might be pushing the pads back and the front left was slightly loose so I tightened it up and got ready for the last run.
Some more serious tyre warming and I was off the line in 2.30s, got round to Triangle even quicker in 22.92s, got out of Triangle well and up through Keepers onto the straight, was ready for the extra pedal movement under braking for Fallow so had everything under control and got a good line round Fallow, up over the crest and a lovely drift out of Museum and over the line in 59.19s
Steve found his tyres were going off slightly as the day got hotter but still managed a 59.99s, while Karl could only improve by a few 100th's to 59.74s

So another class win and very enjoyable to have 2 great competitors to battle with

Meanwhile Dave was having battle of his own against a 1380cc Mini, just leading after practice with a 71.02s, he set a new PB of 70.80s on the first timed run, but just a little behind the Mini's 70.34s, and although he had a good go on the last run he couldn't improve with a 71.13s. He's already thinking about next year and how he can go even faster

Videos to follow but unfortunately after a few delays with red flags my camera packed up just before the final run on Sunday

Next event is Fat Albert in a couple of weeks, just got to bleed the brakes and refit all the rally gear

[cossie matt]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Brilliant write ups Gav, Well done on the two wins

Your commentary makes Loton sound superb, I think I may have to join you there for an event

Just fitting my new gearbox this week so I'll be ready again soon.

Good luck on the Fat Albert mate, looking forward to the write up

[Retromotorsport]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Another great pair of wins Gavin ..well done

[mervhill]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Just fitting my new gearbox this week so I'll be ready again soon.

When were you going to tell me this?

Well done Gav! Can't wait to have my car finished to compete in your class, will be fun!

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Videos from Loton last weekend

Sat http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V0jANxU8OQhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V0jANxU8OQ.

Sun http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th0Z1uTlGkMhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th0Z1uTlGkM.

Thanks to Carrie for the clips up the hill - the 1st one is out of Keepers and the 2nd is at the top of Cedar Straight

And a pic from Saturday coming out of Museum

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Fat Albert Stages Sat 25th July

Having competed on this event for the last 2 years in Fly and finished in the top 10, I was hoping to do a bit better this year as DVY handles a lot better

A decent entry meant I was seeded 15 with Barney not far behind in his Fiesta RWD. My codriver for the event was Teresa Butler who I knew from single venue events about 10 years ago, but we'd never sat in a car together

SS1 & SS2
We had a good clear run on SS1 getting used to how the chicanes were laid out and how slippery the nadgery bit was, and making good use of the gearbox to blat down the straights
Stage 2 was the same but we went 21s quicker over the 7.1 miles, although near the end it felt like the rear brakes were dragging a bit.
I had a look in service and one of the handbrake caliper mounts had snapped off and it was catching on the wheel. After some help from fellow Tavern MC member Hugh who was servicing for an M3 next door, the caliper was removed along with the handbrake cables, and I raised the rear by 1" to stop DVY banging around so much over the bumps.
Already we were just inside the top 10 and 2nd in class

SS3 & SS4
Slightly longer stages at 8 miles, but not much change to the layouts, just a bit extra down one of the runways. After completing the first lap we saw Barney in the distance ahead of us starting his first lap, so we gave chase and got past on one of the long straights
Stage 4 we got round the first lap slightly quicker and overtook Barney into the first chicane, as he'd only just left the start. Nothing fell off this time and we were up to 5th and leading the class by 2s from Robert Dennis / Chris Butcher in their Red Mk2

SS5 & SS6
There was an all too familiar clonk from the starter as I went to leave for Stage 5, but Barney and crew quickly gave a push and she started up fine. Had another good run, overtaking a G3 Escort who kindly pulled over on a narrow bit to let us squeeze past
Back in service I went to change the starter but found the battery cable had snapped off, so some quick work with the drill and we had a new hole in the terminal and the starter was working again Meanwhile Ian (Teresa's partner) had spotted a dent in one of the rear tyres so we changed that as well. There was also a dribble of oil from a front strut but there wasn't much I could do with that so we just ignored it
Stage 6 went very well and we stopped for lunch still lying 5th and now leading the class by 8s

SS7 & SS8
The stages were reversed for the afternoon and I fitted 4 new Hankooks as the others had done a few events by now and were quite worn
The stages went well without any problems, on Stage 8 we came out of the nadgery bit just behind the Aston Martin of Alan Thistlethwaite, as soon as we got to a straight he left us easily, but I could catch him under braking and through the chicanes
Still 5th but Robert Dennis was catching us, now only 2s behind

SS9
Some dark clouds overhead and a couple of spots of rain on the windscreen as we left the start of SS9 but it didn't seem anything to worry about. But on the second lap we followed a Civic into the nadgery bit going my normal speed, came into a slot 90 left, turned in, hit a damp patch and slid straight on into a large clump of bramble bushes, narrowly missing a tree
It was a bit dark in the bushes, but I stuck her in reverse expecting to come back out but couldn't move, I could go forwards slightly but the brambles were too strong to let us out the other side. A couple of marshals arrived and tried to push us out forwards and we got a bit further but still not enough.
Barney came past and said later all he could see was DVY's rear number plate, we were that well buried
The marshals had a look at our predicament and realised that we'd dropped off a step into the bushes but if they manoeuvred us sideways the step wasn't so high and we could probably get out backwards. So we tried this and once we were lined up at the right angle, they waited for a gap in the traffic and we reversed out and carried on. So big thanks to the marshals, we thought that was it
After all that, we dropped 4 minutes and didn't even bother checking the results as we were sure we'd dropped a long way down
A quick check over DVY in service showed just a few scratches, a dented front spoiler, missing number plate and a couple of tiny dents in the roof / rear quarter where a large tree branch had gone over the car, and a soft rear tyre

SS10
Everything was dry now so we went for a play, slowing down to wave thanks to the marshals and admiring the Escort shaped hole we'd left in the bushes and set a quick time, showing we hadn't done any serious damage

Checking the results we were surprised to find we still finished 9th overall and 4th in class
And we were pleased we'd had good battle with Robert Dennis all day - his Escort is currently up for sale at £42k, running a 260hp JRE Vauxhall engine and Tractive gearbox with flatshift, etc, he's having a quicker Escort built by Camillus Bradley in Ireland

Barney wasn't far behind finishing 14th overall and 3rd in the over 2 litre class and thanks for moving over to let us past a few times

Thankks also to Teresa for codriving, and Hugh and Ian who were there when I needed some help

And also to all the organisers from Tavern MC and RAFMSA for running another excellent event

One thing I did discover on the long straights is that my top speed with a 5.1 diff is only 108mph (I thought it was 116mph) so I'm thinking I might be better off with a 6 speed overdrive box and a 4.6 diff (this would give me the same acceleration but a top speed of at least 120mph)

Just need to find a cheap 6 speed box or someone with a 6 speed box who wants to swap

Next event is back at Loton in a few weeks

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Some in car from Fat Albert

SS3, for Barney so he can see what the back of his Fiesta looks like
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtYDEyVT43sYouTube - Fat Albert Stages 2009 SS3 Gavin Rogers Mk2 Escort.

SS8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3Rk1pMWWeEYouTube - Fat Albert Stages 2009 SS8 Gavin Rogers Mk2 Escort.

SS9, after a bit of censorship and fast forward through the incident in the bushes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5BK_61Oj88YouTube - Fat Albert Stages 2009 SS9 Gavin Rogers Mk2 Escort.

Thanks to Van Roy for the pics

[PERKY]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Another great write up mate
Looks fairly rough in places, good result considering how much time you dropped in the bushes

[Tazman]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Looks like and sounds like you had some fun..................though I'd have been worried that you might have fallen asleep on those long straights

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Looks like and sounds like you had some fun..................though I'd have been worried that you might have fallen asleep on those long straights

Too busy changing gear

[merp0]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Nice one Gavin, that looks great fun

[Wessie]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

looks like you had fun, what a small world ! i've known teresa for years

[david_white]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

just been catching up, great write ups and vids as usual Gav, keep up the good work

Sounds like you had fun, cant remember when i last spent 4 minutes in a bush