GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

[Jamie CRX]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Hey Gavin, good to meet you and the boys at Loton at the weekend, I really enjoyed it. It was my first time up a hill so all a bit of a learning curve, but really like the setup and everyone was friendly.

But f**k me you and Karl were quick - hope you didn't flatspot your tyres too much on the last run!

Did the Alfa get back out?

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Loton Park Sat 22nd August

My last weekend at Loton this year and Saturday was also a round of the Midland Speed Championship so I was looking forward to a good battle for the class win

Unfortunately Tony Hart had rolled his Renault 5 Turbo a couple of weeks before on a Sprint at 3 Sisters (although he's got enough points to win the class this year) and regular Loton competitor Steve Bailey's entries had got lost in the post, eventually arriving after the closing date so he didn't get a run

But there were still 7 of us, JamieCRX out for his first taste of hillclimbing, double driving with Peter, Robert Jones in a Road Rally spec Mk2, Rob Morgan in a 205, Stuart Stelling in his Mk2 RS2000 (now a flat front version after a close encounter with some Armco at Prescott a few months ago) and Karl Stevens in his Mk2

Last time I was here in July I got down to a 59.19s which was the same as Karl's PB from last year and he'd sorted his brakes out now so our aim for the weekend was to get into the 58's

1st Practice is always taken gently to see how much grip there is on the hill and a 61.13s was a good start, despite a sump full of oil being dropped just after Keepers corner when a standard Alfa 145 holed his sump on the rumble strips

2nd Practice and the track had warmed up nicely, there was plenty of grip everywhere and I had a good clean run up the hill, but didn't believe my eyes when the clock showed 58.91s
Karl had a similar run, not completely flat out but keeping it tidy and did a 59.05s

1st Timed Run, still in beautiful sunshine, got off the line well in 2.31s, hung on round to Triangle (which is where I seem to be gaining all the time) in 22.79s, braked nice and controlled at the top of the straight in to Fallow and round Museum to finish on 58.80s
But Karl had an excellent run as well, only a fraction behind at Triangle (22.82s) and had a better run up the rest of the hill, finishing on 58.70s

2nd Timed Run, luckily still in perfect conditions so I had a chance to get ahead of Karl. Booted it off the line (2.29s) and managed to carry some more speed round Loggerheads, with the rear starting to drift as the corner tightened, cut the grass onto the short straight down to Triangle (22.65s - already more than a tenth up on the 1st run), a lot of smoke as I locked up under braking but got round ok, up Cedar Straight changing into 4th a bit sooner to try and make use of the torque, completely flat over the crest and locked up again into Fallow, but got down into 2nd just in time for the corner, over the next crest into Museum and powered over the finish in 58.37s
All I had to do was wait for Karl's time, but he was slightly slower than his first run with 58.94s but still pleased to get another 58s run

So an amazing day and I'm not really sure where the extra time was coming from, either perfect weather conditions, longer studs on the rear which meant I'd spaced the rear wheels out slightly, or a redesigned rear exhaust section that I'd made for Fat Albert to replace the bit over the axle that was squashed by the panhard rod, but DVY was pulling very well up the hill - I'd gained nearly 0.3s to Triangle by being a bit braver but then another 0.5s on the second part of the hill without trying any harder

Stuart was 3rd in class with a couple of consistent 61s runs, while Jamie finished a creditable 4th on 64.47s

The most bizarre incident of the day involved Robert Jones' Mk2 - myself, Karl and his friend Keith were sitting chatting in the paddock after 1st practice, beside a lovely historic Porsche 911 RS, when the Porsche moved gently forwards across the paddock, we took no notice assuming the driver was just parking it better, until Karl spotted too late that there was no driver and the Porsche gathered speed only stopping when it went head on into Robert's Mk2

The Porsche had hardly a mark on it, the bumpers taking the impact, but the Mk2 had a large dent in the front and the electric fan was catching on the rad. The CoC was called over and they took some pics, and Robert and the Porsche driver exchanged details. 3 men and a strap later, the front panel was pulled almost back into shape, releasing the fan so that Robert could continue in the event. The Porsche driver meanwhile found a large rock after the dangers of hydraulic handbrakes and sloping paddocks were explained to him

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Hey Gavin, good to meet you and the boys at Loton at the weekend, I really enjoyed it. It was my first time up a hill so all a bit of a learning curve, but really like the setup and everyone was friendly.

But f**k me you and Karl were quick - hope you didn't flatspot your tyres too much on the last run!

Did the Alfa get back out?

Good to meet you as well Jamie

Not sure what Karl and I were on, but it helps to have someone as quick to make me try harder - you should have seen the smoke at the top of the hill on the last run

Never saw the Alfa on Sunday, I assume they changed the sump then headed home

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Loton Park Sun 23rd August

Just 5 in class today as Peter / Jamie only does the Mid Speed rounds, but everyone else from Sat were still there

1st Practice - Rain was forecast for late afternoon but it was nice and warm again for practice with plenty of grip - I had a sensible 60.46s run while Karl started a bit quicker on 59.75s

2nd Practice - A few cars before we went out on this run, a Modprod Mini had his oil filter come loose half way up the hill, dumping oil most of the way up Cedar Straight which took a bit of clearing up. The paddock marshals assured us the cement dust was laid in the centre of the track so we could straddle it, but halfway up the straight the dust veered off to one side, so I backed off for a 60.85s, while Karl backed off less for a 59.49s

1st Timed Run - Sitting in the paddock over lunch, the clouds were getting darker and as we sat in the queue it started to rain gently. I lined up off the rubber at the start and got away pretty well, but the further up the hill I got the worse it was, I got round Triangle ok, braked early for Fallow at the top of the straight, but as soon as I accelerated out of the corner the back end drifted out onto the grass and didn't want to come back, so I spent the next 50yds fighting to regain the tarmac, just managing to keep the front left on track and got it all back together just before the steep crest into Museum, nearly went straight on there as well, but DVY turned in at the last minute so I carried on and over the finish with a time of 67.74s
Karl had an eventful run as well, using the gravel on the outside of Museum where a sharp stone punctured the front tyre and finished with 70.03s
Stuart had a tidy run, 2s behind me going into Fallow, he was only 0.5s behind at the finish having not gone off anywhere to be 2nd in class

2nd Timed Run - The rain had stopped but it wasn't completely dry, Dave had gone up in the previous batch and reported that it was mostly dry with a couple of damp patches left, so I went for a good tidy run up the hill, didn't have any dramas and got a time of 59.94s
Karl was a bit more cautious and could only manage 60.80s while Stuart was back in 3rd on 62.49s

Dave had a good event again in his Colt, with a 1st Timed Run of 70.20s before the rain started, 0.6s ahead of his previous best, after a couple of hints about using all of the road coming round Loggerheads and onto the straight to Triangle he was 0.5s quicker to here

So another successful weekend at Loton leaves me leading the Loton Park Championship Class 2, having been consistently quicker at most of the events (the scores are calculated on improvement over your own PB), although this will probably change with 2 rounds left to go in September

Next event for me is back in Ireland for the Wexford Rally in 2 weeks, with Cath co-driving and Carrie and Guy servicing
as before. Its a 2 day event similar to West Cork, but only 12 stages each almost 12 miles long giving similar mileage

And some in-car from Loton, both days combined this time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6ADowWGmmg

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Better link for the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6ADowWGmmgYouTube - Loton Park Hillclimb 22nd & 23rd August 2009 Gavin Rogers Mk2 Escort.

[Retromotorsport]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Top Gavin.. great result ..

[Tazman]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

good luck for Ireland Gavin.

Now my wedding is out the way I'll have to find a spare weekend and come and spectate one of you hillclimbs/sprints

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

good luck for Ireland Gavin.

Now my wedding is out the way I'll have to find a spare weekend and come and spectate one of you hillclimbs/sprints

Only one left this year at Prescott this Saturday

[Retromotorsport]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Gavin, if you want to do some testing /milage i think Trig still has some dates / places left for his days at castle coombe .. have a look in the events section

[PaulAlex]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

That looks great fun - cant wait to get mine on a hill

[para144]

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
YouTube - Fat Albert Stages 2009 SS3 Gavin Rogers Mk2 Escort

SS8
YouTube - Fat Albert Stages 2009 SS8 Gavin Rogers Mk2 Escort

SS9, after a bit of censorship and fast forward through the incident in the bushes
YouTube - Fat Albert Stages 2009 SS9 Gavin Rogers Mk2 Escort

Thanks to Van Roy for the pics

Great stuff! assume you have seen this from 4 sport? http://www.4sportvideo.co.uk/fat09.wmv

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Wexford Stages 12-13th September 2009

After an enjoyable trip to Ireland earlier in the year, we decided to go back for another 2 day rally, with Cath on the notes and Carrie and Guy servicing again

A slightly different format this time with 2 stages each day done 3 times but this meant less recce'ing so we went over a day later and recce'd on Friday. Scrutineering followed without any problems but as we parked Dvy in Parc Ferme for the night the fan started to rattle

Day One
Armed with a long screwdriver, we quickly tightened the fan on the first road section, a quick stop in service then off for the first loop of 2 stages. There was a bit of a delay for SS1 as a couple of cars had gone off at the first SqL but finally we were ready to go. I took it slowly past the stopped cars, got going a bit through the next few corners, but about 1/2 mile in came down to another SqL, locked up and went straight on luckily into a field entrance, much to the bemusement of an onlooking farmer, backed out and carried on a bit more sensibly, it felt like the brakes were only working on the front. By the end of the stage I was getting the hang of not braking too hard and just trying to flow through the corners and no one caught us up so we weren't going that badly

Queueing up for SS2, I wound a lot more brake bias to the back and on the stage everything felt a lot better and we got through without any moments, but the number of cars off was surprising, out of the 120 starters, 16 retired in the first 2 stages, although they were very slippery with a lot of shiny tarmac everywhere

Back in service we had a quick check over, changed the new starter back to the old one (before the going over I'd fitted a new one and then found the battery was dodgy, so we were on the spare battery and the new starter wasn't sounding too good) while Cath got some ice creams as it was surprisingly hot, put some fuel in and went out for the second loop.


SS3 I started to get into the groove and we were going well until I handbraked a bit hard into a HpR and span it on the way out, then with Cath shouting "Do a doughnut" I cocked that up as well and had to do a 3 point turn, but we were still 36s quicker than the first time
SS4 went even better, we had just caught the 106 running in front of us when we were caught by a Citroen C1 (a full GpA version complete with sequential paddle shift on the steering wheel, he'd been off on SS1 & SS3 then set a top 20 time on SS4) so we let him past then followed him past the 106 but couldn't keep up. This time we were 17s quicker.

Back in Service again, no problems, the tyres were hardly wearing as there was not much grip out there. SS5 we had another good run, 7s quicker this time, but SS6 we were 24s slower than the previous run, I don't know whether it was the sun in my eyes or I was just getting tired, I felt I was going quickly (we reached 110mph down one bumpy straight into a bale chicane ) although Cath was not too sure, but we made it back to Parc Ferme unscathed and were lying 51st overnight out of the 82 cars still running

Day Two
I was worried that the tyres might be too soft for the warm weather, but Sunday started off overcast so we left them on. We wanted to make up a few places today, lying 23s behind an Evo 7 and 53s behind an 8 valve Mini
SS7 We got off to a good start, 44th quickest, taking time out of both the cars in front and SS8 was just as good, 43rd quickest, despite having to fix the fan again on the road section in between

In service we changed the tyres to harder ones as the sun was out on the stages and headed out for the second loop. After a bit of brake testing on the road section, I was happy and we caught the Evo on SS9, going 10s quicker, unfortunately didn't manage to get past as it was on a narrow bit near the end, but he let us start the next stage in front, as did the Mini, so we set off on SS10 behind a white 205

About 4 miles in we were going very well, but approaching a 6L there were marshals frantically flagging us down, we came round the corner slowly and found the white 205 on its side in the middle of the road but both the crew were out and standing up so we picked our way through the debris and carried on, although it did put me off a bit. A few miles later we came into a SqL into Turn sudden SqR and I braked a bit late for the SqR, sliding very gently into a stone wall on the outside backed it out and carried on without losing much time, luckily we hadn't damaged the suspension and we finished 9s slower

We didn't have time to stop on the road section to look at the damage but I said to Cath it can't be that bad as the indicator was still working, but Carrie's expression as we came into Service showed it was quite dented




Guy got stuck in with the "medium" sledge hammer while I found the "large" sledge hammer (I always carry 3 sizes of hammer ) in the van and we straightened the wing as much as we could before going out for the final 2 stages. It was late afternoon again so this time I wore my sunglasses to try and see into the sun better which helped quite a lot. SS11 went well but we were 5s slower than the previous run so we tried a bit harder on SS12 going 12s quicker than the first run through

The final result was 33rd overall (54 finished) and 7th in class (9 finished and 19 started). Many thanks to Cath for keeping me going in the right direction and Carrie and Guy for being there when we needed them

And a few pics on the web
http://public.fotki.com/speedy/2009-events/wexday1/img4646.html
http://public.fotki.com/speedy/2009-events/wexday1/img5216.html
http://public.fotki.com/speedy/2009-events/wexday1/img5220.html
http://public.fotki.com/speedy/2009-events/wexday1/img5716.html

These 4 in sequence
http://www.sidewayshot.com/ViewPhoto.php?photo=../Photos/Wexford%20Rally09%20SS6/IMG_8694.JPG
http://www.sidewayshot.com/ViewPhoto.php?photo=../Photos/Wexford%20Rally09%20SS6/IMG_8697.JPG
http://www.sidewayshot.com/ViewPhoto.php?photo=../Photos/Wexford%20Rally09%20SS6/IMG_8699.JPG
http://www.sidewayshot.com/ViewPhoto.php?photo=../Photos/Wexford%20Rally09%20SS6/IMG_8701.JPG

No in-car I'm afraid, we had too much going on to think about that but I'm sure I'll get organised for the next Irish trip

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

After returning from Ireland o the Monday I was due out at Shelsley Walsh on the Saturday, so I'd booked Tuesday off work to put Dvy back to hillclimb spec (change the axle and suspension), but instead I spent the day pushing the wing back into shape with a 4 Ton Body Straightening kit from Machine Mart

Wednesday night, Carrie and Guy brought the Scorpio "Recce Car" back and Guy spent 3 hours beating and filling the wing until it looked pretty much Escort shaped again then Thursday night I added some more filler and a couple of coats of primer and Friday night a top coat and some fresh stripes along with changing the axle, but didn't have time to touch the suspension or remove any weight from Dvy - she looks pretty good now

After using the Body Straightener


Guy hard at work


About half a tub of filler later


Primer


And all loaded up ready for Shelsley

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Shelsley Walsh Sat 19th September

So after a busy week, I was ready for Shelsley, the sun was out and it was looking to be a good day

My class was merged with the 1400cc Mod Prod but Peter was also there in his CRX, and I met Bernard for the first time this year in his usual spaceframed RS2000, sporting a fresh front end after an incident at the Bottom Ess on his previous event

1st Practice was quite sedate, just trying to figure out how the soft suspension would work with the sticky slicks, which wasn't too bad if a little more sideways than normal

2nd Practice was better with a low 35s run so I got myself ready for the afternoon's runs by snoozing in Dvy for an hour or so

1st Timed Run, I was almost flat through all the bends up to the Bottom Ess, braked nice and late, flicked her in to Top Ess and back on the power to cross the line in 34.58s, just under a tenth behind my PB so I felt sure I could get that on the 2nd Run

This was good enough to lie 2nd in Class on the day, a couple of seconds up on Peter, but behind Martin Depper's 16v Mini, who set a new class record with 33.31s which was enough to confirm him as the Midland Speed Champion this year

Also at Shelsley were the bikes, and a few of them were concerned by the amount of oil dripping from Dvy, which was a bit more than usual

So after some discussion with the scrutineers, and not being too sure where it was all coming from as the sumpguard was still on, I volunteered to forgo my final run and headed home early, but did stay long enough to see that I stayed in 2nd and secured maximum points for the championship

About 1/2 mile from home, the fanbelt disintegrated on the Scorpio so I had to call on Mike to come and rescue me

On Sunday I had a good look over Dvy, removed the sumpguard, tightened all the sump bolts, oil hoses, found a small leak on a breather pipe, fixed that and warmed her up for 20mins to check everything was ok and there were no drops of oil anywhere

Monday night I changed the suspension over and set the ride heights all round, then last night I topped up the gearbox with about a litre of oil and went for a quick blast to make 100% sure everything would be OK for Prescott this Saturday

Parked back up in the garage, I found oil literally pouring out of the bellhousing, looking suspiciously like the litre of gearbox oil I'd added earlier

So the only thing to do was take the gearbox out and have a look at the front oil seal, and once the gearbox was on the floor I could see the problem, 3 of the 4 bolts that hold the nose piece on were non-existent and the 4th was very loose as well and as this piece contains the input shaft oil seal, as soon as I filled the oil above a certain level it poured out again

Did I ever mention how well built I think Quaife gearboxes are

So the nose piece is back on with a lot of sealant and 4 new bolts and everything should be back together tomorrow night

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY

Prescott Hillclimb Sat 26th September

The gearbox went back in ok, I topped it up with oil and this time it didn't end up on the floor so it was off to Prescott for my last hillclimb of the year

At Prescott I was in one large class of Midland Speed 'Road Car' competitors running at the end of the field along with Peter in his Honda for the last time. Also at the event was Steve Bailey in his Mk1 Escort in the first class of Hagley Motor Club people which was quite handy as I could watch him go up the track

I arrived early to have a quick walk up the hill as I'd only been there once a year ago, it was all nice and dry but a bit cold although I was hoping to beat Fly's time of 50.14s

1st Practice - I watched Steve go up in 50.32s and then had a steady run myself, getting a bit confused with my lines and gears round the 2 hairpins but still got 51.04s which was a good start

2nd Practice - With the track warming up nicely, Steve set a quick time of 49.10s and a little later I lined up for my run, only to have to wait for 20m near the start while a Scimitar was removed from the barriers at Pardon Hairpin, but finally we were ready, I got off the line with too much wheelspin and was a couple of tenth's down on Steve's time out of the first hairpin, then didn't get round Pardon too well losing some more time and finished on 50.48s

1st Timed Run - After a quick snooze in the lunchbreak I was ready for the Timed Runs. Steve had switched to some slightly different Avons, started off well but lost a little time near the finish getting the feel of the new tyres, and did a 49.30s
I was more determined this time, got off the line well but then lifted off a bit too early round the first left hander only doing 64mph through the speed trap to Steve's 66mph but I got good traction out of the first hairpin to be ahead at the split. Pardon was better and I attacked the Esses a bit more, drifted nicely round Semicircle to the finish in 49.41s, which was a lot more like it

2nd Timed Run - I watched Steve through again, lifting the front wheel through the first corner, and he had a good tidy run to set an impressive time of 48.97s
About an hour later they'd just called my class when a TVR went off at Pardon hairpin, this time missing the gravel trap and going head on into the armco and stopping rather suddenly. This delayed everything for a hour while the car was removed and the driver taken to hospital
So it was about 5:45pm when I reached the start line for the final time, slightly worried that there'd be less grip as the hill had cooled down a lot, but I had to try and beat Steve. I made my best start of the day and hung on through the left hander (68mph ) round the first hairpin and was 0.4s up at this split, had my best run out of Pardon, getting on the power nice and early but not quite as well as Steve had done it and was only 0.1s ahead going into the Esses, powered round Semicircle and over the finish in a time of 49.03s

Well done to Steve, making up for being beaten at Loton this year, and we're both looking forward to more battles next year

In the Mid Speed I was comfortably ahead of Peter on his first visit to Prescott, which leaves me 2nd in class and 7th overall and should have won the Classic Ford class for the 3rd year

And a little in car from Prescott

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbGTHfOdh14YouTube - Prescott Hillclimb 26th Sept 2009 Gavin Rogers Mk2 Escort - DVY.