North East Road Trip to Croft

We left on Thursday afternoon for the long 6hr road trip to the North East of the country, eventually arriving at one of the lesser known UK circuits - Croft nr. Darlington.   

With a new restaurant, proper toilets and a resurfaced track it looked to be a nicer experience than our only other visit in 2015. 

Around 7pm - just as darkness descended, we unloaded our car and kit into the paddock and headed to the local Holiday Inn which was to be our home for the long weekend. 

Friday testing was busy, with over 40 cars in each of the four sessions. 

We were quick initially, but the oversteer in our setup meant we lacked confidence through the fast back section. In the second session we spun and ended up dropping off the infield grass 8" down onto the farmers field, damaging a radiator in the process.

We managed to get a radiator from another competitor (replaced by euro car parts the next day) and change it within a couple of hours. We completed the final session of the day. This time with a less twitchy setup andlooking forwards to a series of races over the weekend. 

Saturday (Qualifying and 1x Race)

Qualifying was uneventful, with us lapping quickly, but not getting the full potential out of the car or a clear lap.  We qualified in P10, a few positions down from where we should have been.  

Garry started the first race, and managed to somehow avoid two slow starters. 

Croft lines up cars in 2 lines astern on the grid, rather than in staggered rows, so there is very little time for you to react if the car infront doesn't move when the lights go out!  

He had a good first lap, but was under severe pressure from a 987 Cayman (faster on the straights) and missed a turn point around the back of the circuit which left the door open into the Sunny (in and out) double right. 

After a brief safety car he challenged to retake the position, but once the cars in front spread out we found our limit, finishing in P8 overall and another 4th in class. 

Sunday (2x Races)

Mike got a great start maintaining position over the first lap. The cars behind (Cayman and 3x Boxsters) were having their own battles with everyone slowing each other down. Mike defended the obvious overtaking spots and got clean exits onto the straights to stay ahead.  

The safety car was out again, and when it went green the pace was faster.  The Cayman got past on the start/finish straight but Mike confidently held off the rest to finish P8 overall and P4 in class - a best ever personal result!

The final 40min pit stop race started well with Mike getting an incredible start and moving from 8th to 5th by the first corner. 

 It didn't last though was he was clattered side on into the 2nd and pushed out wide. 

With no wing mirror to judge the position of cars trying to overtake several cars came past, and several more later in the lap. We kept dropping positions and were lapping several seconds down on race 2 pace. 

Pitting as soon as the window allowed (15mins +1 lap) - the less said about our driver change the better. 

When Garry eventually got himself strapped in and going he had clear track to attack and his lap times got faster and faster eventually setting ourfastest lap of the weekend in a series of laps all within a few tenths of each other.  

We recovered from 14th back up to 9th by the chequered flag.

Indidual Race Video Link

Race 1 --> https://youtu.be/V2UfOKS8g6o

Race 2 --> https://youtu.be/vZuSsMPYhSA

Race 3 --> https://youtu.be/cI6TPP2GjeE

 

 Full Timing and Resultes --> https://www.tsl-timing.com/file/?f=750MC/2024/243836pot.pdf

We will assess the damage repairs and servicing the car needs in our usual winter overhaul.   We are also in the middle (rather than the top) of the power/weight band for our class so will want to address that somehow if we are to convert our consistent P4s into podiums next year. 

Snetterton Overtakes Galore!

We returned to the fast Snetterton 300 circuit in Norfolk back with the CALM All Porsche Trophy. 

A grid of 35 cars started qualifying on Saturday morning for a full weekend of racing. Practice, 2x 20 min sprint races plus the usual 40m pitstop race. 

We nearly missed free practice due to some poor communication between race organisers and scrutineers which left the latter hopelessly overwhelmed with cars to check and not enough time to get through them. 

We got to the assembly area just before the track opened and both drivers got a few sighting laps, whilst we put a heat cycle through our new set of Nangkang tyres.  

Qualifying:

It was raining heavily before qualifying and with just 15 mins before we expected to be on track we were confident our Michelin PS4s were a good choice of tyre.  

However, after sitting in the assembly area for nearly 30 mins (they were running behind schedule apparently) watching blue skies roll in - we weren't so confident!  

Setting a best time nearly 5s off  on a virtually dry track we learned more about wet tyre performance, but at the expense of qualifying down in 18th place. 

Race 1:

We lined up for race one P7 in class, confident of making places.  A super start into p15 by turn 2 was great but we got held up behind a brace of front engined cars by which time the class 2 Boxsters were disappearing up the road. 

With clear track we chased them down one by one closing several seconds per lap getting up to P9 overall and 4th in class.  Exiting the final corner into the slipstream we pulled out to pass over the line - coming an agonising 0.185s behind P3 in class.  

Our consolation was a new personal lap record 2m11.65 over 1 second faster than we have ever been!

Race 2:

Starting further up the grid, we were in a straight battle with 7 SP2 boxsters vying for 3 podium places.  Overtakes had to be worked for and were just about fair all round.  

We gained and lost places through the early part of the race before getting some clear track. With tyres starting to overheat at the end we couldn't reduce the gap of half a dozen seconds to the car front.   We didn't see a 5s track limits penalty for the 199 Boxster until after the race so finished agonisingly just 1.4s behind for another P4 in class (P6 overall).   

Our fastest lap was again in the 2m11s. 

Pitstop Race 3: 

Mike started the race knowing a few faster drivers would get past on the opening laps. 

He latched onto the rear of the Cayman PDK and was comfortably ahead of the 2nd pack of Boxsters for the first half of the race.  

The Cayman was pulling away on the straights but we caught them under the brakes and through the slow corners. Both drivers set personal fastest laps and were on the limit!

Just before the pit window we spun on the exit of turn 3 (turning in and on the gas too early) stalling the engine in the process. 

 

We had noticed our battery was in poor health earlier in the day and the car struggled to restart.  When it did it was misfiring and the throttle unresponsive.  

Parking it behind the barriers was our first DNF in 2 years

Full results and timing link.

750 Roadsports Snetterton

We entered the 750 MC Roadsports series at Snetterton as we had a long gap between CALM All Porsche races.   The regulations are similar, but open to almost any make and model of car, with a familiar 45min pitstop race format. 

We arrived early and setup in the garages we'd been allocated for the day.  We had time to fit the series title sponsor (https://www.tegiwa.com)

windscreen banner and other sponsor stickers before going out for qualifying.

Qualifying:

The 25min qualifying was slightly longer, so we allowed for two timed laps for the first driver before switching in the pits. Mike set a 2m16s benchmark. As Garry headed onto track it started to rain, and by the next lap it was too wet to improve.  Rain got heavier, lap times plummeted and most cars pitted. 

But we persevered, blue skies were coming across, and lap times improved.  The final lap was virtually dry and we improved to 2m14s, jumping back to 21st of 48 on the grid. 

Our car sits in the middle of the power to weight band for class B and without aero (front splitter and wing) we weren't going to trouble the class leaders.  We still wanted to finish mid pack and ahead of the fastest class C Honda type R's. 

Race:

The rolling start was a bit erratic, which allowed Garry to gain a few positions, but it was hard to maintain the class B front runners pace.  

An incident ahead coming under the bridge got a couple more places (16th now), but a car had left oil all round the track. We got sideways the first time around but weren't aware it extended the whole of Coram, Murrays and to the pit lane. Next lap we spun - the lack of marshals (surface change red and yellow) flags was a bit disappointing. 

After rejoining a couple of places down, we lost a lot of time round those final corners due to being really nervous of another spin,  struggling to stay ahead of the Type Rs. 

We had a near miss then the Darkside Motorsport Audi TT lost control behind us.  The closing speeds of the Class A car is quite stark, especially as we don't have aero so our corner entry speeds are a lower.  

The safety car came out for a stranded car and we pitted the following lap when the pit lane was less crowded, however this lost us some positions. 

Our driver change wasn't very smooth, so rejoined the back of the safety car line quite a few places down in 27th. 

With 15 mins remaining, the race resumed and Mike set about reclaiming our lost positions.

Every lap he lined up another pass either out braking cars ahead, or using the Boxster's straight line power on the main or back straight.  

It was hard work as he also had to navigate the class A leaders coming through under blue flags, without giving places back. 

We finished 21st - where we started which was a great recovery.  

The Roadsports series was good fun. The racing was fair, with a great variety of cars, and we didn't pickup any damage. Most cars run with splitters and wings which  made it more difficult for us to be competitive without taking a lot of further weight from the car. 

The track time will set us up well for the CALM All Porsche race here in August. 

Thruxton speed

The CALM all Porsche Trophy returned to Thruxton as part of the 750 Motor Club's first event there for a long time. 

We had torrential rain on the journey to the circuit the day before, but it had mostly dried out so we did some familiarisation laps by bike before heading to our hotel that evening. 

The event drew several thousand spectators as part of a 'free entry' experiment, aided by good weather and a distinct absence of rain, which was appreciated by everyone!

With just one driver racing this weekend, Garry entered the open practice session at 9am, and sitting in assembly we saw steam coming from the front bumper. 

First thoughts were a coolant leak from the radiator, so we broke out of the queue to investigate.  It was smoking from both sides, but he water residue was clear. Our coolant is pink. So we got back in the queue and ignored it!  It turned out to be rain water puddling in the scuttle tray which drained into the front bumper and under tray - right next to the radiators.  Panic over. 

The session was busy so no representative lap times were set.  We set tyre pressures too high - the sun was out now and it was hot - so I struggled with rear grip. It was a pleasant suprise to see the 'optimal lap' (best individual sectors from different laps) was really fast compared to our best times from 2yrs ago. 

Qualifying:

Despite lowering our tyre pressures for qualifying I could feel the rear sliding after only a couple of push laps (1m30s & 1m29.5s)). After a cool down lap I went again and was faster, but couldn't maintain the improvement to the line. I had to pit to reduce the pressures. It worked and I improved to 1m28.6, then 1m28.5s as I crossed the chequered flag. 

Given all the work on the car we've done since Spa last September our best time was a massive 3.5 seconds a lap faster than 2022! That's some improvement. 

Race:

Starting P5 on the grid, I got a mega start jumping briefly to 3rd. I was a bit too tentative into the first chicane and our low tyre pressures (trying to protect longevity) didn't help me in the opening few corners. 

I held 5th place for the opening few laps and had several attempts into the final corner to reclaim P4.   I was car length ahead but just a bit too hesitant to close the door and claim the position. I was driving at my absolute limit to stay in the battle. My third attempt left me vulnerable on the chicane exit and I slipped back to P6.  So often the case that going for a position ends up costing you one. That's racing!  

With the pit stop window open my first mistake was not pitting before catching a gaggle of lapped cars ahead.  My second was running wide out of church, when the tyres gave me a massive moment, dropping another 5s and a further place. I had to pit!

Out pit timing (and speed in the pit lane) was spot on, recovering some of my lost time Vs others.  We took more pressure out of the tyres, and it helped, but I couldn't match my earlier pace and was physically and mentally tiring now.  My lap times deteriorated to 1m31s and 32s I finished P6 overall and P4 in class.   

PHOTO: BarrackSport Student Motorsport

Mildly disappointing to not get a class podium. But the step forwards in car performance will set us up nicely for tracks I'm more familiar with. 

Onboard Video:

Full Results & Timing:

https://www.tsl-timing.com/file/?f=750MC/2024/241835pot.pdf

Winter Overhaul and 2024 Season Prep

We returned from Spa with a few battle scars and the car needing attention in several areas,  It's been long winter of work - probably our biggest ever - to get into good shape for 2024.

We broke a catlytic coverter at the end of Race 2 after getting hit on the rear and front corners by faster 911 GT3 cars lapping us. The front wheel vibration on hard cornering got progeesively worse so is either a wheel bearing (difficult) or inner steering ball joints.  We were also dropping a little bit of oil - where the sump had been weeping before.  

On the plus side we had less wear on tyres and brakes than anticipated so will carry over those into next season. 

Over what has felt like a marathon of weekends, here is the list of work we completed:

Repairs:  

• Replaced catalytic converters with new exhaust clamps and gaskets to replace the broken cat from the Spa race. Whilst others have an all-in-one exhuast system if it breaks it's pretty expensive to replace so we are happy with a modular approach.
  

• Installed 997 (larger ball joint) front inner steering arm joints and replaced the outer steering arms. This should resolve cornering vibration and we also found one side bent! 

• Removed and re-sealed Sump Plate. Whilst the oil was out we re-sealed the sump which was weeping oil through the bolt holes.  There is Porsche tech article on applying the loctite sealant to cure this - there is no gasket. You have to clean all the old sealant off both faces and ensure its perfectly clean & smooth.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Front wheel bearing was replaced as the streering joints did't cure the play in the wheel. We had to buy the bearing removal/install tool kit from ebay (£35) and used our own method to push the outer hub off the bearing. 
  
  
  

  M12 bolts to push the outer hub off

  
  

Hub extrator tool to pull the bearing out

Winding the new bearing in

Servicing:

• Sent the Gaz Gold shock absorbers to be serviced and installed new OEM top mounts. These have never been serviced so we thought it was about time. The old top mount was bent on one side (a re-occuring theme).  There is no need for adjustable top mounts since we gain camber via the GT3 arms.  

• Sent the Fire Extingisher away to FEV to be serviced.  This has to done every 2 years and comes back date stamped on the label which is checked during scrutineering.
  
  
  
  
  

Upgrades:

• Replaced the gearbox mounts with polyurethane versions. We continue to have a knocking noise on hard cornering cornering from the rear so want to reduce the lateral engine movement which we think is part of the problem.  
  
  
  
• Rear coffin arm and anti roll bar replacment bushes - again to tune out unwanted suspension play. Whilst the shock absorbers were out, it made sense to refurbish the lower control arms all round with poly bush versions. Removing the old rubber bushes which have to be drilled or cut out then the metal retainer was a messy and time consuming.  
  
  
• Front GT3 coffin arm bushes - to reduce unwanted play and we have used the additional caster setting for more high speed corner stability. 

With all of the suspension coming off the car all of the alignment (wheel camber and toe) as well as ride height is now completely off.  It's a time consuming job as changing one can affect another corner.  We have got a reasonable setup for our first Track Day, during which we will need to refine it further to get back to the exact settings we want.  

Super Spa Racing

The 400 mile trip from the UK, under the tunnel to France and then into Belgium took the best part of a day.  As you approach the town of Francorchamps you get a sense of how hilly it is, with tall pine forests surrounding the area.  The size and scale of the circuit dwarfs anything in the UK - even Silverstone. 

Arriving early evening we dropped the car and trailer at the circuit truck park, where Englsih and Dutch cars were starting to assemble, before heading to our accomodation in the town. 

various photos credit michael@mtsweb.be

After an early start Friday morning, we got access to the track and setup,  sharing an F1 pit garage with 4 other cars over the weekend. We didn't need to shelter from any rain, as was feared for October,  the weather was warm and sunny the whole weekend. 

Friday practice was an open pitlane track day and our plan was to do several 20 min sessions for each driver.  We ran with 60 mins of fuel (nearly a full tank) to match race conditions as we have never needed to before. 

We knew the track from our simulator work on Assetto Corsa but it's always a bit different in reality.   You can't simulate the compression through Eau Rouge and cresting Radilion which is completely blind (all you can see is the sky) it's so steep! 

Around the back of the circuit it's steeper down hill too and the off-camber Double Gauche drags you away from the apex very easily if you get your corner entry line wrong. 

In between sessions we signed on for Saturday and Sundays racing, had our car scrutineered and had our kit  checked for the relevant FIA standards.  Our first drama was when Garry's suit was rejected for not having the required FIA hologram. A quick trip to the Spa Race shop and he was back in business (wallet considerably lighter obviously).  

In the afternoon sessions we started to feel a vibration on the left front wheel under hard right cornering, so limited our running to one more session each knowing we couldn't change a wheel bearing on site - but we're confident it would hold together ok.

Mike set out fastest times of the day and was more confident up Eau Rouge and pushing the limits on braking points. At 135mph we need less than 100m to go down from 5th to 3rd at 60pmh at the end of a Kemel straight. 

Saturday Practice and Qualifying

Saturday brought 30 minutes of free practice and then the same amount of official qualifying after lunch.  The first was disrupted by cars going off causing red flags - we both got some running though. Our fastest lap was similar to Friday at 3m03s but we knew more was possible from our Friday data and best sector times. 

Qualifying was also stopped after just a couple of laps for a red flag.  With so many cars on track we mirrored Dutch driver JP's tactics in his Sonax Cayman, waiting for all the cars to get on track and going out in the gap they left.

clear track tactics in qualifying

It turned out they had pit radio watching the circuit live tracker to ensure the best gap possible for a clean and traffic free hot lap. 

We got as clean laps as possible so improved several times and ultinately to 2m57.9 to qualify 31st of the 52 cars.  We were pretty happy with that knowing we lost over 1s in the last corner with 3 cars of different speeds arriving on hot laps together. 

Saturday night was an Anglo-Dutch BBQ night at a restaurant out in the countryside. This went down very well with everyone. 

Sunday Race 1

Sunday's two 1hr races were going to test our car mechanically and there wasn't much time between for repairs so we had to be on our game.  Whilst normally we would be called to the assembly area over the tannoy - this is an FIA event so things just happen at the time indicated on the live timing system. 

The pit lane opens for 5 minutes for you to get to the grid.  Nobody will wait for you or chase you up!  If you miss it - it's your problem. 

The safety car was so quick the green flag lap was almost flat out race pace before concetinaing at the bus stop into our 2x2 rolling start formation.

 

The lights went out as we came down the straight. With so many cars the train was still rounding the final corner.!  Some cars didn't event catch up in time. 

Loosing a couple of spots being careful around La Source the first time under green was ok and the race picked up from there. Garry was faster than several cars in front but couldn't pass a bright green dutch 968 to make progress. 

Race 1 - mix of Boxster and 968's

The safety car came out for an accident and due to slower cars in front we never caught the back of the safety car train, passing the pits just before the pit window opened.  Everyone else pitted at least part under safety car but it was green when we came around again for our stop, costing us a lot of time. 

After a fairly relaxed pit stop (2m Vs our usual 1m) Mike was cleared to leave the pits by our crew (Dad).  After negotiating Eau Rouge safely it was a case of getting up to speed quicky.  The next laps were a little scrappy as faster cars caught him in awkward spots. 

He made a good overtake judging the gap to the car in front to get the slignshot over the crest at Radilion and down the long straight, as they were blocked by a slower car. A few quicker laps followed, but tyres were starting to struggling in the last 10 mins.  Mike got down to 2m58s on the penultimate laps as the fuel reduced.   

Finished 27th, fastest Lap 2m58.5s.

Sunday Race 2

With not much time between races we were under time pressure to bleed (the pedal felt soft in race 1) and clean the brakes and wheels.  Then when tightening the wheel bolts a wheel stud sheered off just 30mins before the race.  We carry spares and the tools to change it and after a bit of a struggle with blunt drill bits, we got it changed very quickly. 

We were ready just as the pits opened to go to the grid however our fire extinguisher wouldn't arm - the battery was flat and it took another 2mins to change - we just made it before the pit closed. 

Mike got a clean get away on the rolling start, holding position and followed several cars up Eau Rouge closing along the Kemmel straight.  On the second lap around cars went off into the gravel and the safey car was out.   

The marshals cleared the cars quickly but then decided to spend 10 more minutes putting cement dust on all the oil around half the circuit which caused the crashes.  They hadn't bothered cleaning it up from the race before us and the race really shouldn't have started with so much oil on track. 

Mike did get a couple of laps green racing before handing over in the pit stop and after a couple of scrappy laps meeting slow cars at the most awkward spots Garry started to improve.  He was ~10 seconds behind and catching the group in front at 2s per lap with 5 laps remaining it was going to be close.  He overtook a Cayman and got onto the back of the group just as the last lap was signaled.  

Catching the group in front on the last lap

Unfortunately the grand stand finsh was denied us, as the GT4 Caymans lapped him, one tagging the back bumper breaking the exhaust and the gap was back to 2s which was just too much to get back.. 

Finished 22nd best lap 2m55.0 Vmax135.4mph. 

Our first trip abroad has been a journey and a half to say the least. The preparation was hard work, and so was the weekend with the travel involved too.  

But racing on such a big stage, at arguably the greatest F1 track in the world with such a large and diverse grid of Porsche's was a truly unforgettable experience. 

A massive shout to the All Dutch Porsche Racing Club who are an amazing group of racers, who made us so welcome and looked after us over the weekend.

The #46 drivers (left) and piut crew (right)