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Last  on
Curborough sprint, June 5th 2005
Curborough 5th June 2005
New PB, 0.02s off of last years best time
1st in class (out of one!), won a NSCC "1st in Class" sticker
Lost a 30mm circlip from OSF bottom arm approaching Mole Hill on 1st timed run, steering wheel crooked, but continued, and set new PB anyway.
This was to be my first event of the 2005 season. Familiar ground and a class of one meant I only had a PB in 2004 to beat, so I was guaranteed a relaxed day. The attendace in general was quite poor, but the small field gave most drivers two practice and one timed run before lunch, and four timed runs in the afternoon. So long as it stayed dry, records were sure to fall. Although cloudy, and the skies did look quite threatening at times, it remained dry all day.
Over the winter Quaife had rebuilt the Fiesta gearbox for me, with a taller final drive, to raise the top speed from 110MPH to 135MPH. Testing at Bruntingthorpe prior to the Sunday saw 125 in fifth, so I knew that with a longer run up I could easily manage 130+. In February, whilst the engine and gearbox were out of the car, I set to with the oily rags, cleaning the engine bay of three years worth of muck, and taking the time to modify the cooling system to try to make the header tank work properly. The suspension also went back to Chris Taylor for a rework, and I now have M14 rod ends through out, and a repaired and strengthened tie bar. I'd broken it at Loton in October 2004 (this was the source of the vibration that caused my retirement after just two practice runs). I also replaced the quiet exhaust with a much louder one, which has helped with reduce weight, and freed up some more valuable horse power. The crankshaft pulley has also been replaced with an under drive pulley (UDP), which is made from aluminium to reduce weight, and is 75% of the diameter of the stock damper, which means the water pump and alternator are now turning slower, which saves even more energy, and free's up maybe an extra 1 or 2 BHP at high rpms. I'd also relocated the engine steady bar, and drilled some of the various brackets on the engine full of holes, to shed a few more grammes.
The first two practice runs went well. Again, as I dont drive the car that often, I have to reacquaint myself with the extreme levels of noise and vibration that solid engine mountings, and rose jointed suspension bring. Its quite a ride!
Following practice, on my first timed run, on the approach to the Mole Hill, I braked, and heard a very loud bang. The steering wheel was no longer level when travelling straight, and I assumed there was something wrong with the suspension [again]. I carried on regardless, though I did lift on the back straight in fourth gear when visions of veering left in the grass bank flashed before me, and I still managed to shave 0.02s off my PB from 2004. Returning to the pits I stuck the nose of the car on the trailer, and had a quick look underneath. I found that a circlip had fallen out of the NSF track control arm, which had allowed the spherical bearing [that replaces the bottom ball joint] to drop, which was why the steering went askew.
I didn't have a spare circlip, so I had to pack up and go home. A few nights later, I'du dismantled the suspension, and found the reason why the clip had failed. (excess powder coating preventing the bearing from seating correctly, which didn't allow the circlip to locate in the groove 100%), and I've replaced the clip and glued the bearing back in place using Loctite 638 adhesive.
Not a total waste of time, as I did improve on my PB from last year, but a bit gutted I couldn't play in the afternoon.
My times were as follows:
38.60s 1st practice
37.50s 2nd practice
37.27s 1st timed
Result: 1st in class 4B
Weather: Dry and cloudy, approx 20° C
Tyre pressures were 20 psi [F] 20 [R]
Tyres: Michelin A00 190/570R15 all round
Fuel: Shell Optimax Super Unleaded
Pictures from the event
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