Speed season 2018

[Matt Cole]

That looked bloody quick. I take it poor Doris was given a lesson?

[RussellT]

On the full International circuit one beat the other by 1.74 seconds.

[RussellT]

A 5.00am alarm on Saturday sees a bleary eyed competitor make the drive down to Angelsey for my final 2 sprint events of the season. The reward of the early start is an empty road and I arrive 2 hours 20 minutes later just after sunrise to be greeted by one of the finest views in world motorsport.



Ahead of me lay 2 days of top sprint action with the main competition coming in the considerable form of Ian Butcher driving his epic race prepared Honda Integra. He had swapped the cars close low ratio gearbox for the standard item to better suit the long straights of Trac Mon which naturally clipped some of the cars accelleration.

Other drivers and cars in class were Dominic Wilson in a very tidy Clio Fraser Halliwell and his father Joseph in another Honda Civic type R after dad bent the last one at this event last year. Fraser was just down for the Sunday so fingers crossed the car survived Saturday. David Careless in his Civic type R and finally Richard Forber in another Clio.

All good drivers in fast cars but this was likely to be a 2 horse race for the win, but who was going to be Lewis and who was going to be sad Seb? On paper Ian looked the favorite he had already beaten me by narrow margins at Aintree & Harewood by more at Barbon and 3 Sisters. However at the last 3 Sisters in the rain I had beaten him by some margin. Going into the weekend I was lying 3rd in the Liverpool Championship on 910.41 he was 5th on 906.28. However he had 2 scores of 99.69 and 98.26 to drop I had 2 scores of 100 to drop. Therefore if he beat me by more than 2.08 points over the WE he would overtake me. 2nd gets 100 points so I had to win to improve my score 1st gets the percentage he bests the 2nd place driver by up to a max of 103 so if car 1 does a time of 98 sec and car 2 100 sec car 1 scores 100/98 x 100 = 102.04 points . So you can see Ian was well on to overtake me. 4th place was Craig Powers in his Jedi race car but unfortunately his engine gave out in first practice.

Saturdays event was run on the National Circuit which has a downhill start into a long sweeping right up a steep hill to a blind tight left followed by a long hairpin right. Then after a short straight there is a very tricky blind entry right that opens as you plunge back downhill to a really key corner. Its a down hill tightening left that you have to get right for a fast exit onto the long straight that follows. Ive had a few issues with this corner over the years, initially it had no name but its now called Seamans. I christened it the FBC as in Fecking B'stard Corner! A long hairpin right finishes the course.

Here is a link to a Circuit Map
https://www.angleseycircuit.com/wp-c...ircuit-Map.png

[RussellT]

The technical twist prior to this event was a suggestion from Chris to try and counteract the cars tendency to overfueling after the overrun. That was to set the injectors to power off on the overrun from 7K to 3K therefore limiting manifold fuel pooling before you reapply the throttle. I figured that I could always turn them back on if it didn’t work out. It felt OK on the road. But it was on the road, as in the A55, that I remembered I’d left the laptop at home! It hit me like a train I could have ruined the whole WE.
Too late now I was committed.
The first practice run was therefore a bit of a voyage into the unknown. At practice boost it actually went very well I stopped the clock at 63.12 which was faster than the winning time last year. OK we are now on 1B tyres which makes a significant difference but still to beat Keith’s race winning time at practice boost on a cold track when everyone was complaining of a slippery track it was an amazing time and a indicator of good things to come. Obviously I was relieved that she seemed to run OK despite my fiddling. In fact I was in the lead and my second practice which was more committed but rather messy was even quicker on 63.03, was still the top of the class after Ian had a spin at Rocket the blind tight left at the top of the hill. The next fastest in class was Dom Wilson on 65.35 so I was sitting pretty.

[Matt Cole]

Annnndddd..........

[RussellT]

Annnnddd...
It didn't last long. Up to race boost for the first timed run she starts to cough and splutter on reapplying the throttle after an overrun. I tried my best but its very off putting when the car doesn't respond to the throttle. I did manage to go quicker with a time of 62.54 however as expected Ian had got his act together and he set a much better time of... 62.54! We were dead heated again. I had a sense of deja vu and dread both at the same time. Doris was struggling and I was sure Ian would go quicker yet.
After lunch I decided to turn the launch control off as I had done at previous events to good effect and to turn the boost back down to the practice setting . The trouble with that was by the time I got to the front of the queue I had forgotten that fact and lit up the front tyres off the start. I then ran wide at Peel and the whole run was a mess and no quicker on 63.02. Ian was into his stride and went quicker to take the lead with a 62.16. Dominic Wilson and Richard Forber were also locked in a tight battle over 3rd place with Dominic on 64.76 to Richards 64.80. My 3rd run was better with a 62.41, still behind Ian who had gone quicker again with a 62.04. I needed to try something to close the gap so I upped the boost to race mode again and she ran like a dream on my 4th stopping the clock at 61.58. Ian only managed a slight improvement to 62.00 and I was back in the lead.
I took a calculated gamble with another day's competition tomorrow and due to drivers dropping out there wasn’t enough time to cool her down before the next run so it was odds on I wouldn’t improve my time anyway. I therefore decided to protect the car and not take the 5th run. I hoped that if Ian beat me it wouldn't be by much and as I said before I just needed to stay close to him to keep 3rd place in the Liverpool Championship. I wished him well in the start queue and told him to make me cry. Nervously I watched as he powered of the start and up the hill into Rocket. His car screaming like only the Honda VTEC can. Out of sight and then very quickly he was back into view down the hill and left onto the straight. I could sense the calm aggression with the car perfectly placed on the circuit. Off he went out of sight again I could hear the engine wail recede. I watched the paddock clock. 59, 60, 61.. surely I was save then it stopped blinked and displayed 61.63. Doris wins and takes down the mighty Honda. This time I was the right side of the whisker that separated us. Ian was full of smiles and congratulations after a great days competition. It was the final hairpin he said I just ran a bit wide.

check it out for yourselves at
https://youtu.be/Frx5pQdQC9Q

Tomorrow on the full International's Circuit would be a very different day. I have not been able to beat the standard Honda S2000 on that layout let alone a tuned Integra. Sleek aerodynamics do help as does the better top end power. Ian will be fired up but I had 1 win in the bag and a new class record by 2.25 seconds however the move to 1B tyres makes at least a 2 second difference.

[RussellT]

Sunday the 7th was the final day of my Speed Season for 2018 and it dawned with a spectacular sunrise over Angelsey. We had the full International circuit to play on, the forecast was dry and I faced the prospect of trying to keep up with Ian in his superfast Integra.
Trac Mon is a great circuit with elevation changes and very well designed corners that just happen to make out a stylized Welsh dragon on the cliff top venue.
Practice one at 15psi felt good and I was quickest on 104.54 which was a PB by some margin. Ian (who usually attacks from the first green light) was slightly slower on 104.87 The next fastest was dad Joseph Halliwell on 111.71. The 2 stags were once again locked in battle!
I got a bit carried away on my second practice and fell of the road at the exit of the FBC bouncing down the grass but I kept the power on and regained the track with only pride hurt. I expected Ian would have stamped his authority on the class but he too had gone slower. So I was fastest in practice as we went into the timed runs.
Up to race boost I tried to be smooth hit my apexes accelerate smoothly out of the corners to reduce wheelspin and avoid the destableising effects of running over the harsh exit kerbs. I rather failed in my mission at the fast long 4th gear right hander, called Church, onto the snaking straight that makes the "Belly of the Beast" on the stylized Dragon. The rear slid on entry. A little is Ok but I needed to apply some opposite lock to limit the slide. This put me wide and 2 wheels ran the kerb and onto the grass but this was no time or place to lift. Car and driver had to take the buffeting and I was soon back on smooth tarmac throttle on the stop all the way down the straight. I contemplated 5th but that change hadnt gone well in P2 when I hit 3rd and buzzed the engine. So 4th to the rev limiter, the speed trap registered 103mph and then nail the brakes up the hill into Rocket. Across the box 4th to 2nd and I make a beautiful apex at Rocket. Around the rest of the lap committed and a tad greedy into the hairpin but that gives me a nice late apex and Im through the finish.
Very rarely you look at the finish clock with incredulity and a sense of "that cant be right" I had just completed the course in 101.72 seconds way way faster than I had ever gone before. I was inside the class record, which was held by James Kerr in his 205, by 2.13 seconds. Ian had managed a 103.86 which is a good time, the next fastest in class was Dominic Wilson in his Clio on 106.87. Doris had just destroyed the class. Game Over.
Ian gave it his all and got down to a 103.46 inside the previous record on what was not a perfect day for setting record times. I didnt try to better my first time and turned her back to practice boost for 2 more runs and then stopped.

My year ended on the most incredible high. Looking back driving Keith Minshulls 306 had been a key moment. It inspired and directed me how to improve the handling and braking. Just blocking off the pipe to the standard boost gauge in the dash had also been a key decision and taking the seat cushion out got me into the seat lower in the car and far more located in the corners.
I still have work to do with Scoff on the transient throttle setting and I know I will always be learning experimenting and fiddling with her. That's so much of the fun of the sport you try stuff and then see if it works.

As I write this I think I have come 3rd in the Liverpool Speed Championship and Im not sure about the Longton Championship. Ive had 8 class wins 3 seconds and set 3 class records
Ive lost out by hundreths and won by hundreths of a second. Ive driven around technical issues and had the high of a 4th place at Harewood beating long time rival James for the first time in forever and the low of a poor last run at 3 Sisters when Nigel Trundle took a lot of points off me. The final weekend 2 wins and 2 class records up against Ian is nothing short of awesome and a fitting finale to the Speed season 2018 and the last Speed Season Diary. If you look back the car has come so far. Ill leave you with the film of that record breaking run from the flying Doris!

https://youtu.be/-mB4mqSQ1I4

[Matt Cole]

Congratulation Russel, and very well done!

Loved every minute of the updates and videos.

Roll on 2019!

[RussellT]

Thanks Matt, its certainly been an eventful year.
I’m not going to do a Speed Season 2019 diary I started way back when with the aim of encouraging others in the RTOC to try it out and I think Ive done all I can in that regard. I will carry on competing and will always try and help anyone interested but just not do the event write ups.

By the way Ive finished 5th in the Longton & District Motor Club Northern Speed Championship And second in the SD34 Sprint and Hillclimb Championship
Ive booked to go back to Scoff at EFI to work on the transient throttle settings
She’s been in for an oil change, we’ve taken out the center of the thermostat to try and help her keep cool and set the rear shocks to full stiff to try and correct the bouncing or rocking effect mid corner in fast corners, see the downhill left hander I call FBC on the in car.

Russell

Update
Scoff was fairly sure he could do no more on the transient throttle settings [TTS] however after turning off the injectors on the over run he re mapped the TTS and 90 minutes of mapping magic later she picks up the revs much quicker on initial throttle opening and just accelerates a lot smoother. I am sure this will translate into a major benefit in competition next year.

[dmiller1]

Hi Russell, just wanted to say thanks for all the speed session updates this year. Really looked forward to reading the reports and watching the video uploads. Doris looked amazing in the magazine article as well. All the best for the 2019 season

[turbo ted]

They are from Tony Hart at Prima Racing labelled “Renault 5 Tarmac spec” . Reassuringly expensive
R

There off an extra van😉