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MIRA, May 24th 2003
MIRA is the Motor Industry Research track based at Nuneaton in Leicestershire. Its quite a venue too. There is a 2 mile banked oval, and various roads and test tracks laid within the oval. We were using the established sprint circuit, which as you can see from the datalogger, gave a very smooth and sweeping circuit. Definitely another one where you just had to keep your foot down and hang on. During the 1st practice run I noticed the car was changing direction when I lifted off and then accelerated, so I checked the front wheels when I returned to the pits, and discovered that the lower ball joints on both sides of the front suspention, were loose. I tightened them up to 70ft/lb, and for the next run the car was transformed. I reckon they worked loose at Loton, as there was a lot of tight corners and twisty bits of the track where the suspension was under a lot of load.
Some rain over lunch gave a slippery track for those who ventured out first, but by the time it was my turn, the track had pretty much dried out totally, so I just had to concentrate on keeping my foot down, and sure enough I was quicker again on the 1st timed run. Another delay of a couple of hours, and the time for the 2nd timed run came round. I really went for it this time, and managed to record a time of 60.3s, which I was very pleased with. I'd really liked to have broken in to the 59's, but that would probably have meant trying a bit too hard, and I have to keep reminding myself that this is my 1st season, so I must concentrate on learning the circuits, not trying to break any records.
Times were as follows:
65.54s 1st practice
62.92s 2nd practice(wet)
61.56s 1st timed
60.3s 2nd timed
The quickest run put me in to 1st in class.
A few more gear selection problems on this event. Tyre pressures were 20psi at the front, and 18psi at the rear
Datalogger showed the layout of the track. My maximum speed was 94PMH through the speed trap, and that was in fifth gear.
Here is a PDF file with the report that appeared in Nottingham Sports Car Clubs 'Spinoff' magazine, and Loughborough Car Clubs 'Backfire' magazine.
No photographs at the event, as cameras were banned due to the sensitivity of some of the car manufacturers who use the test track at the weekend.
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