RACE REPORT So after a successful first outing at Brands Hatch we moved onto Snetterton last Sunday, which turned out to be one of the hottest days of the year so far, for rounds 3 and 4 of the BARC South East Tin Tops Championship. Qualifying Snetterton is much more suited to the power of the Megane than Brands due to the 2 long straights and the fast corners I find, so I faired pretty well as I have a lot of experience on trackdays there. The car felt good as it had not warmed up yet and the tyre pressures seemed ok (I am still learning this of things). I have no timing gear in the car so I just stick to my lines and ended up 4th in the grid which is my best so far [emoji16] Race 1 By this time the temperature has increased a lot so I dropped the tyres down 2psi. We use a rolling start which takes some getting used too! I made my best dart so far and got into 3rd which is where I would finish however I wish it had been that easy..... I was hounded the whole 15min race by a Seat Leon that was clearly quicker than me [emoji51] I was having the place my car in the right places at the right times! The video makes it look really boring but believe me when I say it was one of the most stressful things I have done! Add to that the tyres we're going off and the water temperature was reading 106, I could not wait for the chequered flag [emoji469] so when I saw it I was elated [emoji16] I even got interviewed by the commentator! Race 2 Tyre pressures were dropped even further now as it was now 27 degrees. I started in 3rd but got pipped at the start. In what turned out to be a quiet and uneventful race I stayed there as the lead cars took off and I could not keep up! A lot of learning to to and the car is 100kg overweight so lots to improve on. Summary After all that I got 2nd in class for race one and best prepared car [emoji106] I am now 4th in the Championship in my first season so not all bad! I need a rear view camera and to lose some weight [emoji848] Below are some pics and the in car video of both races. Next stop Brands Hatch on Sunday 30th April. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Fantastic write up, thanks for posting! Congratulations on another great result too! What was your best lap time?
No problem! 2.15.8 the fastest guys were 2.14s so I have a bit of improvement to make probably more in my driving than the car but I am still a novice and it is not going to happen over night! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
What does the car weigh at the moment? Another 100kg could be difficult to do, without going with lightweight panels etc. Looks from the pics its pretty stripped
That's a great time and 1 sec slower than the fastest isn't much at snett! Do you run any data logging?
None at the moment as budget has been sucked up just getting the car right however it is in a great place with plenty of room for improvement both in the car and myself. I think I will leave the car as is and improve it over the winter! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Your driving looks spot on! If you have a smart phone you could try using that as a cheap logger, I've found Harry's lap timer accurate on lap time and corner g even though it lags a bit. Guessing you know you can get a cheap temp gun and log tyre temps etc?
I do have a temp gun and do use it, mainly for track temp. Here are some pics from the race, even me looking goofy for a post race interview and collecting my trophy [emoji51][emoji38] http://www.barcsoutheast.co.uk/Gall...TinTops Championship/album/tintops090417.html Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
RACE REPORT Or rather just a report in this case!!! Not much to say really, after two great race meetings this was really a low point! So what happened????? Coming out of the pits for qualifying the lead car spun on cold tyres at what must have been 40mph and hit me!! Nothing I could have done! Hindsight being a wonderful thing maybe I was too close or maybe with more experience I could have avoided the car??? Either way it sucked! I had great support trying to get the car out but when I took it out for the warm up lap for the first race the lower arm, which was bent twisted from the accident was straightened but had lost all its strength so just bent when I touched he brakes and was just not safe to drive. So an awful weekend! It got worse when the team I shared a garage with who went above and beyond to help me had their driver have a massive accident and end up in hospital, happy to say he is ok [emoji106] In the short space of time I have learnt that Motorsport is expensive and heartbreaking at times but the highs far outweigh these!!! 3 month gap now until the next meeting, parts already ordered and bodywork to be painted. Also some upgrades to make the meg lighter as we are currently 80kgs over! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
