RACING EXPOSURE :: Club level motorsport e-magazine

Monoposto 2000 & 2000 Classic Championship (by Tony Cotton)

Snetterton has become a traditional starter for the Monoposto club in the last few seasons, but the new “300” circuit caused some apprehension – would it be a “Tilkedrome” with slow corners breaking the flow? Would it be the desecration of a well loved old friend? As it happened, praise was almost universal for the new JP-designed circuit, with perhaps a little minor weeping for the loss of Russells. Even the weather smiled benevolently (if a little coldly) on the new venue.

Qualifying

Entries were a little down on expectations, but still pretty solid at 16 taking qualifying. Qualifying raised a few eyebrows as MSVF3 competitor Matt Draper chose to run the same car in Mono as well, with all the mods that entails. He stunned us all by pipping reigning champ Tristan Cliffe to pole by a second (1:52.948). Richard Purcell was, as expected, just behind Tristan, but another surprise was Robbie Watts, in his self-built “US FF2000” bewinged Van Diemen. Beautiful cars as these are, and we have become used to Malcolm Scott wringing wonders out of his similar model, it seemed almost miraculous to put the spaceframe car in with carbon Dallaras and 1.5 seconds ahead of the similar car of Malcolm. Interestingly, our 2 “surprise” drivers had both competed at the first round last year but we did not see them again – we hope that Matt and Robbie will become Mono regulars. Anthony Bishop, in the Omicron-run ex-Jeremy Timms Dallara 397 was 5th and told us that he was enjoying his new mount, feeling as though he and it were capable of more speed, and pleased to have a team-mate with whom to share data.

I never tire of seeing Peter Venn’s Anson, and as first classic he was sandwiched between Anthony and Malcolm. Graham Read was the final 2000 car, in a very smart new red and white livery. Kevin Otway was second classic in his FVL, showing a fine turn of speed with a time only just over 2 minutes (2:01.08). Doubtless the adoring Lotus fans, present for the Elise racing, urged him on as “one of theirs”. (For the benefit of younger readers, GM used to own Lotus and liked using the badge to remind people.) I hope the rest of the grid will allow me to skip to the back row, where we had 2 new cars, with Henry Fryer appearing in the tube frame FR Tatuus debuted at the Ray Dackombe Trophy and Lou Watts in a Mk2 Vauxhall Lotus instead of the more familiar Mk1. Sadly I was unable to ask whether it’s a new car or a rebodying.

Race

I asked Tristan if I could have a “Bernie Button” to give him a problem at the start of a race as watching him recover is always good spectating. He replied that one wasn’t needed, he was quite capable of doing it himself…. In this case, after a fairly undramatic start, Tristan was putting the pressure on Matt Draper and put a wheel onto the mud at Hamilton. Around he went, at fairly high speed, fortunately with no damage. He rejoined, just missing Jim Timms. There then began an almighty catch up which was wondrous to watch. Tristan’s described it for us, but if we posted that you wouldn’t read my waffle so we’re holding his prose back a day or two. 10th at the end of lap 1, 8th at 2, 5 at 3, 3rd at 4, including a superb pass at Riches to claim a place over Graham Read, the hard work now began. It took 2 more laps to reel in Richard Purcell, and then the extreme fun started. Would he catch a rapid Matt Draper? With Matt having sped up a little (whilst developing a slight audible miss) Tristan was still around a couple of seconds a lap faster, and eventually took Matt on the final lap. Body language after the line was joyful to say the least.

Richard Purcell had what looked an uneventful race to third on the road, initially being pursued by Peter Venn but losing him after a couple of laps. Peter, in turn, rose to 4th overall with a superb passing of Robbie Watts into Montreal, and then being slightly incongruously involved in Dallara battles. Anthony Bishop came past both Peter and his pursuer Robbie Watts on laps 4 and 6, doing a pretty spectacular 7th lap a full 2.4 seconds faster than qualifying – a man to watch in the future.

The VD F4 pair of Malcolm Scott and Robbie Watts were initially separated by various fighting Dallaras but after 4 laps battle royal was joined. At first it looked as though Robbie easily had the legs over Malcolm but he gradually drew closer until they crossed the line less than 4 hundredths of a second apart. Bet Malcolm wished he’d had an extra coat of paint…..

With Peter Venn wrapping up Classic, the second place fell to Kevin Otway who spent the race in Graham Read’s company, though generally not so close that people might talk. Whilst I’m sure Francis Phillips was pleased with 3rd in class, he didn’t seem to have the most exciting of races, circulating almost in a high speed sprint. Steven Griffin initially had a close race with Jim Timms, but in the last couple of laps Jim slowed quite dramatically, reason unknown. Jim was, of course, re-entering 2000, as his VDFI initially competed with a 2 litre before conversion to 1800 spec. Lou Watts at first ran just outside the top 10, but slipped back a bit and suffered mid race from a deranged front wing. He was racing fairly closely with Lenny Coleman who failed to finish, being parked up at Murray’s covered in dust on lap 7. The lap chart shows Lou having a very slow last lap, and he was last recorded finisher, just behind Henry Fryer, who was consistent and drove well, showing his customary courtesy to the leaders, and probably with a fair bit less power than most of the grid.

After the race, Graham Read and Matt Draper were disqualified. I do not know why, but have heard that both had rear wings slightly above regulation height. Since both had ride height adjustments, this may not be unconnected.

With no material damage, no red flags, a good finishing percentage, a warm welcome for a new circuit and a cracking recovery drive this race was a good start to the season.

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Monoposto 1000-1400-1600-1800 classes (by Patrick Huston)

One can only be impressed by the improvements that MSV have made to the UK circuits that they own, and on Sunday 20th March Monoposto competitors experienced Snetterton 300 for the first time. There was universal praise for the latest incarnation of the Snetterton circuit. Unprompted, drivers sang its praises. Spectators, especially those accessing the new spectator banking at the eastern end of the paddock are offered an excellent raised viewing position. Given the raw earth nature of many of the areas that will be grass, it was fortunate that the weather was exceptionally dry for March, a bit cool, but overall excellent weather for racing.

Mono1000/1400

Qualifying. Your scribe was not at the track for qualifying, but learnt of several incidents. Dan Clowes set a pole time of 1:52.422, the only Monoposto car to average more than 95mph, but problems with the engine’s cam tensioner were diagnosed, and despite a heroic attempt to change the engine before the race, the team failed to make the grid. This left Dax Ward on pole with Mark Fortune three quarters of a second further back. Darren Freeman and Dave Connor were next, all Jedi mounted. The first non Jedi was Adrian Wright’s home constructed GEM, the AW2 version, Adrian said that the debute of the AW3 is imminent.

The large field of Mono1000s include the Jedi of Stuart Digby and Len Turner, and the Aztecs of Daniel Rowbottom, and James Tanser, the latter in his first race. A cloud of smoke indicated that Peter Whitmore’s season got off to a very poor start when his Mono1400 Hayabusa dropped a valve after only two laps. That left Geoff Fern and Christopher Hill as the two Mono1400 runners, starting eighth and tenth respectively.

Two immaculate bright yellow Aztecs caught the eye in the paddock but only one was on the track because Daniel Rowbottom’s version refused to start. Cooperative officials enabled him to make the race, starting at the back of the grid, the prelude to an impressive drive through the field.

The Race. Marc Fortune won the start but ran wide at Melbourne letting Dax through, and into a lead that he held throughout the race. The lead was greatest mid-race, it reduced to 1.5s at the finish, perhaps Dax was pacing himself. Adrian Wright took third place from Darren Freeman on the first lap at Melbourne when the latter ran wide (deja vu, I have just written that), by lap five Darren had caught Adrian, and was lining up to overtake when a misfire started, he retired his Jedi to the garage where it resumed running perfectly. After taking third place in class and overall the Gem stopped, it was towed in without its engine cover.

David Connor’s Jedi finished fourth comfortably ahead of Daniel Rowbottom’s Aztec, the latter drove through the field with some panache. Daniel caught the Woodhouse-run Speads of John Rawlings on the last lap, they rounded Coram together, but the traditional Snetterton sprint to the line never occurred because the Speads broke a drive shaft at the last corner and crawled across the line losing a place to Geoff Fern’s 1400 as it did so. Thus John Rawlings split the two 1400s as Christopher Hill was next up. Geoff had recovered from a first lap incident that delayed some slightly, but put Peter Bragg’s 1800 Mygale into last place, (for the first lap only).

On lap five James Tanser suffered a tyre failure on the Bentley Straight which gave David Parkinson as well as himself an interesting moment before he parked the Aztec neatly on the inside of bombhole with a spectacular tyre failure that threatened to destroy his rear bodywork. The car was at least fifty metres away from the track, on the inside of the circuit, but regulations dictate that while James or the marshals were

trackside of the Armco the corner was covered by waved yellows, and while the car remained trackside the corner had a static yellow i.e. for the reminder of the race.

Stuart Digby and Len Turner bought their Jedi home in tenth and twelfth places respectively, while Dan Levy retired on lap three for reasons unknown to your scribe.

Mono1800

Qualifying. The Mono 1800 field looked significantly different from the entry list I downloaded on the 16th March, Simon must have had a busy few days keeping up with the changes. A loss to the class since last season is the defection of Jim Timms and his Van Diemen FX to the Mono Classic 2000 class. Hopefully Jim will soon see the error of his ways and re-defect.

As one has come to expect, Peter Bragg set the standard with a time of 2:04.288, he was in class of his own, about 6.5s faster than second in class Michael Dale. Michael was in his familiar orange RF82, looking resplendent after its winter rebuild, it must also be said that Peter’s Mygale was also looking good, its driver having finally invested in some blue paint. James Chapman’s smart Van Diemen qualified third in class, followed by two directors, Jonathan Baggott just edging out Doug McLay. Jock Sergison, doing his own spanner work this weekend, headed the final qualifier Marcus Sheard.

The Race. Peter Bragg naturally lead away but took to the rough to avoid spinning motorcycle engined cars, the commentators judged him to be an innocent victim of the incident, when he came through Nelson on the first lap he was dead last, a situation that changed as he rounded Corum. Peter’s speed advantage was such that he rapidly worked his way through the field of 1600s and 1800, and a few 1000s as well. He had a dominant win in the 1800 class and finished ninth overall, the last unlapped car.

James Chapman took second in class comfortably, entertaining himself by chasing Stuart Digby’s Jedi. Jonathan Baggott, in the familiar green Van Diemen, just had the upper hand in the competition between the two directors, but Doug retired on lap three when his gear linkage failed. Jonathan was third in class, the new circuit suiting him. After Doug’s retirement he won a private contest with 1600 victor, David Parkinson, the pair chasing Len Turner’s Jedi.

Jock Sergison reminded the crowds of the old days by spinning as he entered Senna Straight exiting Murray’s (nee Russell). Marcus Sheard was the final finisher, Michael Dale’s immaculate RF82 finishing its day on a tow rope. He was reported to have suffered some sort of failure on lap 2 and pulled off on Bentley Straight.

Mono1600.

Qualifying. Current champion Nigel Davers demonstrated his class by qualifying nearly four seconds ahead of second in class David Parkinson. David had made it easy starting his season with a collision, deranging AVIT’s shiny new bodywork, diffuser and rear wing. The Reynard was to make a rapid return to Ewen’s emporium on Sunday night so Ewen could redo his work. Tony Davies and Michael Wilkinson in their Formula Renaults were the third and fourth qualifiers, while Eddie Guest’s Lola was the final healthy car, Joe Venor’s version managed two slow laps and blew its engine, naturally it failed to make the race.

The Race. Favourite, Nigel Davers, failed to complete the green flag lap. One must presume an electrical glitch, because after the race he drove theTeam Fern RF89 back to the paddock. This left the race to David Parkinson’s somewhat battered Reynard. The Formula Renaults could not challenge David, Tony Davies, running without a rear wing was second in class, but Michael Wilkinson’s version retired on lap 6. In the latter part of the race Tony kept close company with Jock Sergison’s 1800. Last on track, Eddie Guest in his smart but misfiring Lola picked up third in class.

Even Schuey’s only got 7……

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Simon Davey is the current Monoposto race administrator, but still finds time to race, his current tally of championships in FF based cars is currently 15.

Simon was very reluctant to give us an answer but after some gentle persuasion, blackmail (thanks, Judith) and waterboarding we were able to glean the following facts. Simon was even kind enough to dig out some pictures too. So we have here probably the best collection of diverse Formula Ford pictures you will find on one page on the internet.

The answer to the question is, in fact, 15. And they are:

Year	Championship	Car
1979	Carlton & Bullen Pre ’74 FF1600	Dulon MP15
1981	BRSCC Pre ’74 FF1600	Dulon MP15
1982	MCD Champion of Snetterton FF1600	Van Diemen RF78/79
1983	MCD Champion of Snetterton FF1600	Van Diemen RF81
1984	Monoposto Kent	Van Diemen SF78
1985	Monoposto Kent	Kinell MB85
1985	MCD Champion of Snetterton FF1600	Van Diemen RF82
1988	BARC Intercon ’74-’78 FF1600	Van Diemen RF78
1993	BRSCC Pre ’85 FF1600	Lola T640E
1998	BRSCC Super Classic FF1600 Class A	Reynard FF88
1999	Monoposto 1600	Reynard FF83
2000	Monoposto 1600	Reynard FF83/Van Diemen RF78
2002	BARC URS Classic FF1600 Class B	Van Diemen RF78
2003	BARC URS Classic FF1600 Class B	Van Diemen RF81
2010	Avon Tyres BRSCC Southern FF1600 Class B	Swift SC92

The editorial guess is that the championships won’t stop at 15.

The pictures (with Simon’s captions) are as follows:

Previously, Simon Davey explained that to avoid insolvency whilst motor racing the following tips should be followed:

1) Avoid Accidents
2) Collect All The Bits
3) Be Nice And Always Pay On Time
4) Learn To Weld
5) Learn To Use Composite Materials

Let us continue……

6) Save Odd-Shaped Bits Of Stuff

I’ve kept bits of metal and plastic for 25 years before finding a use for them. Very sad maybe, but definitely saves a lot of money, and I’ve had many a happy evening cataloguing them (alright that last bit isn’t true). I do however have three bins that I use to save bits and pieces of materials or broken components: one for steel, one for aluminium & plastic and one for any long rods or tubes. It’s amazing how much time and money you can save by starting to make a vital bracket from something which happens to be roughly the right shape to start with; rather than starting from scratch by going out and buying a largish piece of new material, which is both expensive and needs more work to get it into the final configuration.

For example Van Diemen Formula Fords have flat alloy plate engine mountings that often break, but are then a superb source of material for any number of mounting brackets or lightweight spacers. I’ve converted broken wishbones into engine mountings (and I think once the other way), made exhaust system fixings from six inch nails, and regularly recycled the unworn sections from front aluminium skid plates to make skid plates for the rear etc etc. Saving odd bits of exhaust system is particularly profitable – again with the current Swift I completely rebuilt its badly bent exhaust system with pieces from the metal bin.

My wife thinks this habit of carefully saving bits of old bent metal illustrates that I am completely barking, if mostly harmless – but she does the same thing with embroidery threads!

7) Don’t Buy Flashy Race-Wear

I think this section must be aimed mainly at new-to-racing drivers. I have often seen people in this position going out and spending £1000+ on ace-looking race wear, and then finding they don’t have enough money to actually do much racing.

In my world there are two essential attributes for race wear. It must comply with the regulations and it should be so comfortable that you don’t notice you are wearing it when you are driving the car. Given these two conditions are satisfied, there is an argument that more expensive race wear is safer, because it is better made, or made from superior materials. I personally don’t subscribe to this view. I think the vast majority of expensive race wear will perform its function in exactly the same way as the more modest versions – it just looks flashier. Mark you, this is being written by someone who raced wearing plimsolls as footwear for the first 12 years of my racing career, before my mechanic couldn’t stand it any longer and cadged a pair of worn – out racing boots for me.

So read the regs carefully, buy sensibly, and remember: “when the flag drops the bullshit stops”. (of course this saying comes from the time when races were started with a flag – great days, great days)

8 ) Scavenge

This is my favourite cost-saving section by far. When I’m in the paddock at a race I keep one eye on the ground; it’s amazing what you will find. Most valuable treasure trove items are are Dzus fasters, K Nuts, and R clips, with an additional bounty of nuts and washers of all shapes and sizes. At most meetings I collect £5-£10 worth. Over the season this amounts to about 1% of my racing budget. If you think that isn’t worth bothering about, what I would like you to do is to write me a cheque for 1% of your racing budget, and I’ll bother about it for you!

More pro-active scavenging can be even more cost-effective. At Donington last year Avon were throwing away sets of Duratec slicks with only one practice and race on them. I know several Mono members who collected complete sets of free tyres. When I raced in F3 I regularly used to collect part-worn brake pads that Cellnet had thrown into the skip (probably you shouldn’t try this one at home), and I have certainly acquired several charming nose cones which less impecunious teams have ditched after taking relatively minor damage.

Best-ever (semi) scavenge was once stopping on the slowing down lap at the Bomb Hole at Snetterton to put in an offer on a written-off Van Diemen which was distributed along the banking. Clinched the deal when the wrecker bought the bits and driver back to the paddock, to the frustration of Ken Thorogood who was in the scrutineering bay, hoping to buy the wreckage. Won the Champion of Snetterton title the following year with the rebuilt car.

9) Know Why Things Are The Way They Are

There are three common reasons for why a typical racing car is put together the way it is:

• The regulations say it has to be done that way
• Doing it that way makes the car faster, more reliable or safer
• It’s been prepared by an idiot who had no idea how to do this properly

If you put it together wrong it may break or you may be disqualified, both of which cost or waste money. It will certainly be slow, but that’s a side issue. Vitally, it may kill you and it will probably cost a lot of money to repair or simply put right. The absolute classic example is the number of people who do not understand how the brake balance system on a single seater works, and consequently they assemble and/or adjust it incorrectly, often making the car dangerously unstable under braking. Ask the guy who transposed the front and rear brake master cylinders on my Swift.

Lesson 1 here is to make sure you know what the rules are, and how they are applied in practice. Read the Blue Book and the Championship Technical regs thoroughly. Then go and stand in the scrutineering bay and carefully look at the cars as they come through to see how well or badly people have implemented the rules. Go and ask people about their cars in the paddock (hint: ask nicely).

Lesson 2 is to read as much as possible about the physics and engineering principles which underlie the performance, reliability and safety of a racing car. Do not mindlessly copy what everyone else appears to be doing, and do not simply invent arbitrary solutions, unless you believe you have understood why you choosing this particular way of doing it. A very good place to start is Carroll Smith’s Prepare/Tune to Win books (find out why the Traction Circle is important). Allan Staniforth’s books about the Terrapin single seater are also very good (ever used a String Computer?).

10) Cleanliness Is Next To Godliness

Preparing or repairing a racing car, especially using new bits, is very expensive. Cleaning a racing car is not, and here I’m talking about the mechanical bits: chassis, suspension, engine, gearbox; more than about the bodywork. Apart from the obvious fact that a clean racing car looks better to most people that a dirty one, cleaning the working bits has a number of cost-saving benefits:

• Clean and (if appropriate) lubricated moving parts won’t wear out as fast as ones which are gritty.
• The process of cleaning is the best way of spotting components and structures which are worn, cracked or about to break in some more obscure way, before the worst happens and possibly even more expense is incurred. Just looking at the car is nothing like as effective at spotting damage as picking up a cloth or a paint brush and cleaning it.
• Clean bits are much easier to adjust and replace, saving time and eventually money. I’ve seen more than a few suspension arms with the rod end bearings so comprehensively manked into them that getting them apart undamaged was just about impossible. I once had to flame cut the front rockers off a Van Diemen because of this.
• Especially early on in the season, and if you use an open trailer (like me), then the car suffers terribly from salt pick-up from the road when it’s being taken to and from the race track. Clean it rigorously, and I use copious quantities of WD40 to both restore and protect the exposed metal bits. Otherwise it will corrode and cost you a lot of money to fix.
• I think many people don’t know about the restorative powers of a good wirebrushing (preferably rotary) followed by a vigorous polishing with Solvol Autosol. This process has an amazing effect on metal components and quite often renders them looking like new. If I’m wrong, and everyone knows about this method, then I assume there is some arcane and mysterious reason why it’s never been applied to any of the second hand cars that I have bought over the years!

11) Take Expert Advice Before You Buy A Car

I guess this section is aimed mainly at newbies, but when I see the decisions more experienced people make sometimes (including myself!) I do wonder about that. There are two main ways of falling over when you buy racing car from a technical standpoint.

The first is to buy a car that is never going to be competitive, whatever you do to it. There’s a few horror shows like this in the FF1600 arena, like the ’76 Van Diemen and the ’85 Reynard. They were never any good, the works team couldn’t make them go quick and you won’t be able to either. So when you are thinking of buying a car in a given category, examine the results to see what goes well, then seek out the quick men and ask them what they think about your choice before you even go and look one. Ask more than one person as well!

The second is to buy a car which has the potential to go well, but is such a rubbish example that the cost of fixing it will be very high. This includes the common mistake of buying a rolling chassis, and then discovering that many of the installation bits are missing: engine spiders, exhaust headers, swirl pots, fuel pumps, etc etc all cost a fortune. If you do buy a roller, then if at all possible take the engine out yourself or stand over the seller while he does it!
More generally it’s important to know what costs money and what doesn’t. For example every single suspension arm on the car may have the tattiest finish in the world: the car will look awful – and the cost to fix the lot by shot blasting and oven painting or replating, will be less than £100. Conversely the spherical bearings may look absolutely great, all bright and shiny. Unfortunately if you have run into the one other person in the universe who knows the wire brush/solvol trick (see above) and these bearings are actually worn out then you are looking at around £300 per corner, with no option but to go out and buy new ones.

12) Listen, Watch And Learn

The most general advice I can give to help save anyone a lot of money is to suggest that they constantly listen and watch what other people are doing, for good or ill, and make sure you learn the lessons without spending your own money on them!

So that’s my 12 penneth-worth. As I said, I’m sure I’ve missed a lot, and I’d be very interested to hear other people’s cost-saving advice (see 12 above…) I’m also pretty sure I’ve enraged a few people who will think I an writing a lot of b******s.

That’s fine too – see you on the track guys!

Simon Davey
originally published in Monoposto’s Startline magazine

Practice

The 1600 class is undoubtedly the premier class to which all Monoposti aspire (as David Parkinson tells me), with the 1800 class only just behind. It’s therefore a shame that it is rare that one of these cars crosses the line first. As an experiment, it was decided to try a 16/18 only race at Thruxton. The logic was that this was a long lap, and a wide track, so the 2 litres and 1000/1400′s should be adequately separated here.

In practice it was the Men With A Background at the front. Pole was a 1600, Pat Blakeney in his 1995 Vector. Pat is, of course, an Ards examiner and leads the Thruxton Motorsports Centre, so he should know his way round. Former Mono champion Rob Manger, who was running him, tells us Pat’s son is even quicker.Pat edged out now-Mono regular, ex-F3000 driver Nigel Smith, just ahead of the 1800 contingent of John Whitbourn (another driver who is now a fixed asset of Mono) and evergreen Pete Bragg.

Jim Timms has emerged from a spell in hospital for a shoulder operation. Would this give a problem, hauling the car round the high-G corners of Britain’s fastest circuit? 5th said no, it wouldn’t. Further back current 1600 champ David Parkinson languished in 12th – unusually low for him.

We welcomed 4 newcomers, Marcus Sheard who we met at Race Retro and returning after a 20+ year gap, Michael Wilkinson in a FR Swift, historic FF racer Jonathan Greenwood in a very pretty little Dulon MP15, and Malcolm Cook in an RF83, which was a little odd as he wasn’t on the qualifying sheet but was in the results.

Race

There was a lot of sympathy for the organisers’ efforts as a result of the dreadful accident, and many teams were both surprised and pleased to get a race at all, albeit a slightly shortened one. It was therefore a shame that the grid marshalls made a mess of setting up the grid, Peter Bragg having initially been omitted from the qualifying sheet. As engines overheated, and most switched off it was determined that the only answer to sort it all out was a second green flag lap, which was flagged away as one car was being push started.

Come the race, Pat Blakeney established a 20 second lead after 4 laps and never lost it. Not much more to say really, he showed how it should be done. The expected challenge from Nigel Smith failed to materialise when he pulled into the pits at the end of lap one following some trouble at the chicane. Jim Timms provided the initial challenge until a lap before the end when Pete Bragg passed him, and then, despite remarkable consistency from Jim, he was overhauled by Nigel Davers and David Parkinson, who put in storming final laps of almost unbelievable pace, especially after risng from 11th and 12th on the grid. Perhaps they work to each others’ mutual benefit? The end result was of course that Jim kept his second place in the 1800 class as these two were fighting for second in1600. Despite Pat’s dominance, the group described above plus the RF82 Owners’ Club of Michael Dale and Geoff Pashley made a fantastic sight; close, clean, fast disciplined racing being the order of the day. It was particularly impressive to see Dave Parkinson running a strong third for most of the race in his Reynard. (As this is now unrecognisable as a Reynard following the new featherweight bodywork by Avit, I think he should rename it the “Parvit” and claim entry to the Eigenbau Trophy.) Tony Davies was originally up with them but dropped out on lap 4.

With the top 7 playing by themselves, after a gap John Whitbourn, Phil Nicholson and Rupert Reader came through next. They effectively came together after other private battles, Phil originally running as high as fifth until a 20-second incident dropped him back on lap 4.

Unfortunately, my viewpoint on the pitwall didn’t spot anything further, so no more comments except to add a comment from a respected champion from another class: “Don’t the Mono cars look smart these days?”.

Warning: Motor Racing is Expensive

Despite taking all reasonable precautions unavoidably severe loss of money can occur and in respect of this you are entirely on your own

It took me many years to figure out how to minimise the cost of going racing, and I’m still learning. I’ve tried to distil some of this into the 12 points which follow, but I’m sure I’ve missed a lot. Initially I thought I’d put these in some sort of order of priority, but then I realised that this depends on where you are along the motor racing learning curve, so I gave up and just wrote it down.

Incidentally, none of what follows is about going faster. Properly implemented, this advice won’t necessarily slow you down or speed you up, it will just save you money. Oh – and neither I nor Racing Exposure are in any way liable if you actually do any of this stuff.

Here we go…

1) Avoid Accidents

Accidents are horribly expensive…in three ways. Obviously you have to spend money to fix the car before you can it race again, eg it costs around £500-£1000 per corner ripped off. Less obviously: you lose costly track time you have paid for, and you destabilise the car’s tune-plateau (see Point 10 to understand this one better).

So don’t have them. Be careful out there.

More gratuitous advice on this topic…I think the most common cause of accidents is either you or the guy you are racing with taking a lunge down the inside. The lunger is actually relying on the lungee (got the roles?) to actively change his/her line in some way to prevent an accident. If the lungee doesn’t see the lunger coming, or doesn’t react fast enough, or is bolshy and won’t give way or turns in early; then about 2 seconds later one or both of you are stepping out of the wreckage and it’s pretty much random chance who gets off worst.

And guess what – nobody but you cares very much. The marshals have a bit of excitement dealing with the mess; if you had got past you would be one point better off but no richer, and approx. three people (at best) in the world will have noticed.

My advice? Work at the real skill of motor racing; which is not the same as being able to lap quickly, that’s just the entry ticket to the game. The real skill is getting into positions where you can pass the other guy with minimum risk, and he/she can’t do anything about it. More on this in a later spiel.

"Always collect up the bits" - if the car's not repairable you can always sell them to a collector.

2) Collect All The Bits

So now you’ve had an accident anyway. There are a million ways to have one and some are even really not your fault. When you hop out of the car, get quickly to the safety of a barrier; but when the race is over and the wrecker turns up make sure you collect all the bits. The classic is to be unable to get a broken upright fixed by welding because you left a small but complex (and broken) part of the casting by the track side. Bill for welding £40, bill for new upright £400.

The list is endless. Did you pick up the suspension spring which popped out, the bodywork fixing that got ripped off, the wing mirror that was scythed away etc etc. It never seems important at the time, but later in the workshop a retrieved part can often be repaired, saving ££s. The most vivid example for me was after a major startline shunt at Brands which took out 80% of the grid including me (FF1600s…duh) in the first 200 yards. I harvested 18 loose springs from the field of wreckage before I found any of mine. No-one else was even looking. They were all chasing the guy who had moved over…

3) Be Nice And Always Pay On Time

People who make their living out of motor racing – selling bits, preparing cars, fixing the wreckage, whatever; are human beings who will certainly respond well to being treated well. Be nice! Pay what you owe on time and without hassle. Listen to their advice. If you do this, when you next have a problem it is very likely that you will get good service again. This seems so obvious, but I know from my own experiences on both sides of this fence how varied peoples’ approach to this simple situation can be. Don’t short change, false deadline, bad mouth etc etc – it doesn’t save you money at all: quite the opposite.

Over the years I have very carefully identified and worked with a whole range of expert suppliers who provide a fantastic amount of help to keep my faltering show on the road – specialist welders (Magnesium Mick), precision machinists (Secret Squirrel), rolling roads (Stanley Baldwin), race parts (Simon Says), tyres (Smithy). The list of people who I need to help me is very long and I have been working with most of them for more than 20 years. They are also very nice people. Build yourself a network and make sure you nurture it.

Quality Welding!

4) Learn To Weld

Welding and brazing are key skills to prepare and repair a racing car. If you need to make a bracket to hold an ecu, modify an engine mounting to clear an oil pipe, repair a suspension arm, fix a cracked exhaust etc etc (you get the idea) then you need welding and brazing. Many such jobs are most easily done on the car or next to it. You need to be able to do this yourself, otherwise it’s expensive and time consuming.

There are several types of welding to choose from, the main choices being electric welding such as TIG and MIG, or plain electric Arc; and gas welding/brazing using oxy acetylene equipment. All have pros and cons, but any is invaluable. I’m a gas welding man myself – from years of dealing with brazed space frame chassis. And I reckon there is almost nothing that can defeat you with a gas torch in your hand – worse comes to the worst you can actually cast a new component on the fly with a gas torch and enough rods.

The bad news is that all this stuff is potentially dangerous; whether it’s arc eye from getting careless about looking at arc welding flare or the fire hazard from a garage full of fuelled up racing car and a white hot gas torch. I always reckon that the mark of a good gas welder isn’t speed, or weld-penetration; it’s simply the ability to run down a weld-seam without getting third degree burns. I learned my welding in the most demanding of schools; a back street garage making rally cars from shell weld-ups of road car write offs – and I literally have the scars to prove it. It’s probably better to go to evening classes.

Whatever, I don’t care. You want to prepare a serious racing car at low cost – learn to weld.

5) Learn To Use Composite Materials

Exactly the same is true of using composite materials – and I’m focussing on the polyester-matrix fibre glass most club-spec racing car body work is made of. I don’t have any personal experience of handling advanced composites like carbon fibre/Kevlar, but they look tricky and these comments aren’t directed at them.

I’ve just had a trip down memory lane and I honestly can’t remember a single racing car I have bought (and it’s more than 20 now) where I have come across a bit of repaired bodywork and thought: “my word, what an excellent repair”. Without exception the many “repairs” I have been unfortunate to encounter have apparently been the cruddy output of cack-handed idiots; and are far harder to remedy than it would have been to fix the original damage. Common errors include:

- Hoping fibre glass repairs will adhere to a painted or oil-soaked substrate

- Thinking a molecule-thick layer of resin with no fibre mat has any strength

- Thinking a piece of dirty fibre mat, and virtually no resin, constitutes a “composite material”

- Sticking the glass mat onto the outside of the original gel coat and then sanding it down in a hopeless attempt to get a good finish, destroying any vestige of structural integrity in the process

- Pouring massive quantities of resin and mat into a repair so that the result is probably explosion-proof but also unbelievably heavy

- Attempting to use Plastic Padding “type elastic” as a load-bearing material

The most recent horror I’ve had was with my current Swift. It had minor side panel damage which had been repaired by the above mentioned laminated-oil layer plus dry fibre mat technique, followed by about 5mm of spayed-on body filler, a layer of heat cured vinyl paint, and finally a full vinyl adhesive wrap. The panel was rippled, cracked, weak, heavy and so heat distorted in didn’t fit the chassis. Couldn’t have been a better fix – not.

Done well, and in your own garage, it’s perfectly possible to rebuild large areas of damaged or even missing panels by forming a mould around the outside of the damage, applying a release agent, and rebuilding the damaged panel from the inside with gel coat, resin and mat. The biggest job I’ve ever done like this was to “coke bottle” the voluminous side pods an F3 Ralt when converting it from ground effect to flat bottom spec, which involved making a pair of aluminium “moulds” each about three feet long and two feet high.

Take lessons, read a book, go on a manufacturer’s course; but for heaven’s sake learn to apply a gel coat and the supporting resin and glass mat properly.

Simon Davey

Part II will follow next week…

Monoposto Championship Thruxton 8 May 2010: 2000, Classic, 1000 and 1400

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It would be wrong to start the report without saying that the whole meeting was marred by a serious accident in the GT race to front runner Jeff Leadley. At the time of writing, very little is known beyond the following statement from the GT Cup website. “On Saturday May 8th at Thruxton Circuit during the GT Cup Championship race Jeff Leadley was involved in a serious accident at Club Corner. The emergency services were on the scene immediately and Jeff was taken to Salisbury Hospital by ambulance. He is currently in intensive care.” The whole club sends its best wishes to Jeff and his family for a recovery to full health.

Practice

The weather couldn’t have been more difficult. The air was wet, and there were tiny spots on visors, but no standing water. So the choice between slicks and wets was difficult and there was no consensus. The track was greasy and the times were 15-20 seconds off a dry pace. The greasy track might have been responsible for some of the incidents which led to the deployment of the safety car.

One victim of the problem was Peter Venn, returning to Mono after a long gap (Spa 2002?) in the Anson previously run by his Uncle, David Dudley who was a very welcome face back in the paddock. Peter was a disappointing 23, 3 places behind another disappointed 3-lap driver, Chris Woodhouse. But if there were shocks in who wasn’t at the front, there were a few shocks with the front of the grid. Nobody was surprised to see Tristan Cliffe on pole, but by 7.2 seconds? He complained of aero understeer and a rev limiter misfire, but there is the possibility he was winding up your reporter. Noise was also a problem for him, but that was resolved.

There was no surprise that Jeremy Timms was next up, hoping that his 2009 run of bad luck had been ended by winter rebuild work. But in third we had Ian Hughes in the Vauxhall-engined RF88, sporting a smart and stylish paint scheme. Yes, you read that bit about the paint correctly. Ian was ahead of some formidable opponents and machinery, so was justifiably delighted. In the wet/grease/slime, Ian’s superb car control comes to the fore. Another delighted driver was Arty Cameron, putting a Jedi 4th and looking very incongruous amongst the heavy metal (or should that be heavy carbon?). Also pleased was Mark Schofield, in sixth, a good reward for this arch enthusiast.

There were also 2 very lucky young men who must be thanking their guardian angels. Thruxton isn’t a place where you want a sticking throttle, but Chris Anstruther had one in the SF2000 Reynard. He was fortunately going slowly in the safety queue, so was able to kill the engine with not too much drama. Jeremy Goodman lost a left front wheel. Again, Thruxton is not where you would want this to happen and the wheel ended up (according to one report) 2 fields away from the track. Damage was, amazingly, confined to a wing tube and a bit of mud in the sidepod, and whilst Jeremy had to leave before the race, the car was lined up ready to run had the race been called earlier. Tough cars, these RT3s.

Amongst the bike engines, it was great to see Peter Collier back after last year’s Mallory shunt, the OMS looking as good as new. Not too surprising because I guess lots of it is new. Super-fast Thruxton may be regarded as an interesting choice for a return debut – but as Peter said it’s relatively local and he was looking on it as a test session. Definitely not local, Paul Heavey was over from Ireland again, but an oil pressure sensor gave way and deposited his finest Total oil. “If I didn’t have bad luck, I’d have none at all.” he said with justification as he packed away. Let’s hope he’s back at his “local” track, Anglesey.

There was a 3 hour wait in the assembly area as the poor CoC tried to balance the requirements of the meeting with those of the police, who needed to attend due to the seriousness of the GT accident. There was much uncertainty, and the race was called at 1.30, having been delayed by an hour, to finally start at 4.30. That the 2 litres got a full race, and races were run for the 16/18 Monos and 3 other categories says much for the organisational skills of the officials, and I think they all have our thanks for achieving what they did in difficult circumstances.

Race

After Tristan’s dominant qualifying most of us were ready for a lights-to-flag run for the Norfolk man. But Mono doesn’t often do boring, and poor Tristan stalled as the lights went out and, thank goodness, despite there being less flag waving than might have been hoped, the ever alert Monoposto drivers managed to miss him. This meant that Jeremy Timms went into the lead and, with an oil pressure problem, Ian Hughes slipped back to allow Arty Cameron to pursue the blue and white Dallara with his self-prepared Jedi. The sweeps of Thruxton suited Jeremy and his car better than Arty, and Jeremy initially pulled 4 seconds a lap out of Arty but then slowed a little. Meanwhile Tristan had sliced through the field from a dead last start and by lap 7 had passed Arty. He now set off in pursuit of Jeremy, regularly raising a puff of dirt on the outside as he just clipped the edge of the circuit after the chicane. By lap 11 he was just a 1.5 seconds behind Stroud’s MOT king, and on the last lap took the lead into section 1 of the chicane, to lose it coming out leaving Jeremy with a hard fought win, with Arty following them in. Phew!

It was a surprise that Neil Harrison was a few seconds behind Arty, but he had an apparently untroubled run to fourth (3rd in class), followed by Richard Purcell into fifth. Richard put in some impressive laps and constantly kept the pressure on Neil. Clearly, he has got to grips very early on with the injected Graham Read-built F300 and resolved the initial noise issues. With his own new Dallara not quite race-ready, Chris Woodhouse chose to run the trusty Speads and the Kidderminster ace did well to rise from 20th in qualifying to an overall 6th, never having seen the circuit before his 3 laps of qualifying. Chris’s speed events DNA must have helped his start, because he was 7th at the end of lap 1, an exceptional achievement. Also coming through the field was 1980′s Mono stalwart Peter Venn in the legendary Anson. From a lowly 23rd he was 11th by lap 1 and gradually attacked Malcom Scott until lap 7 when he passed. Peter won Mono Classic. Malcolm had a fairly traumatic start to the race when he needed a push to get away from the collecting area, but in the end all was well.

Geoff Fern (Van Diemen FF2000 based TFR07 – described by the roving commenatator as one of the best presented cars on the grid) rose from 14th to 9th at the finish, just edging out the oil pressure afflicted Lotus 79 look-alike Van Diemen of Ian Hughes for second and third respectively in Mono Classic.Geoff was, despite the official results crediting him with 1400 fastest lap, in a 2-litre car and not the 1400 JKS/TFR09 as billed in the programme. Ian was the last unlapped runner and was just ahead of the Reynard pairing of Francis Phillips and Russ Giles. Russ finished 15 seconds ahead of fellow director David Cox in another, but previous generation, F3 car, his RT3. David was suffering from Mallory 125mph gearing, so lost time in the high speed sections.

From a director in his 30th season of Mono to a current year joiner giving a very strong account, Kevin Otway was 14th. ahead of Lenny Coleman who had the Reynard 883 working well, managing to defeat his long-standing rival from FVL days, the ever-enthusiastic Lou Watts. The next 7 cars were Renaults in various permutations, with interlopers. Chris Scott’s (unique in British competition?) Alpa FR led the seven, just ahead of Tom Brown’s Tatuus version. Tom was, I would guess, suffering from a horsepower deficit, running in BARC trim in the beautiful carbon chassis. (Thinks: how would that car go with a 200+hp injected 3SGE?). Interloper Pete Bragg kept up the honour of the hard-trying 1800 class in the 2-litres with his Nemesis Mygale, whilst everybody was delighted to see Terry Clark triumph over the adversity of a clutch seal failure in the assembly area to start from the pitlane and finish. Of the last three finishers. Mark “Renault” Smith put Mark Schofield, whose race result was sadly behind his outstanding qualifying, into a Renault sandwich between himself and Anthony “Stig” Bishop (ie he had white overalls) in a BARC Tatuus.

Of the non-finshers, Peter Collier coasted to a halt as he passed the pit lane and Graham Read pitted after 3 laps. It’s good to report that as far as I know there was no accident damage responsible for the non-finishes.

Comments

Ian Hughes “There was no oil pressure. After qualifying 3rd I’m gutted.”

Sara Hughes “Ian says he’s gutted. I’ve got to sit by a gutted driver all the way home. I’m not looking forward to it.”

Arty Cameron “It was flat all the way from the first chicane to the second. That was seriously hard work.”

Peter Whitmore “It just stopped – I’m not sure why at the moment.” (At least he got the real 1400 fastest lap).

David Cox “Having given a talk at the last technical seminar about clutchless gearchanges, I had clutch failure and so put it into practice.”

Chris Woodhouse “I was undergeared – the engine was doing 12,000.”

Super Clutch Driver of the Day
Lenny Coleman (improved 16 places)

For full results – click here

Tony Cotton

The Monoposto Racing Club (MRC) has joined forces with MSVR – the racing division of MotorSport Vision – for seven of its 13 rounds in 2010.

Monoposto is a club level single seater series for cars that are at least four years old, and is designed to give enthusiastic amateurs the chance to compete in Grand Prix style cars at a low cost.

The MRC will join MSVR’s racing bill this season for five events at Brands Hatch, Thruxton, Snetterton, Oulton Park and Silverstone.

“We’re pleased to welcome Monoposto on board with MSVR in 2010, as its eclectic grids and the racing pedigree of the cars mean it will be a very interesting addition to the programme for spectators,” said David Scott, Race Operations Manager for MotorSport Vision Racing. “MSVR is continuing to grow in the strength and diversity of series under our fold, and next season should provide some close and exciting racing in all our categories!”

Monoposto Chairman Nick Harrison added: “Being recognised by MSVR as a major force in single seater racing is excellent news for the Monoposto Racing Club and its 120+ members.

“2010 has all the makings of the best season yet with MSV’s organisational skills, excellent circuits and new members set to swell the Monoposto grids further.”

Monoposto calendar 2010
28 March – Brands Hatch
8 May – Thruxton
22/23 May – Anglesey
19/20 June – Snetterton
29/30 August – Mallory Park
11 September – Oulton Park
25/26 September – Croft
2 October – Silverstone GP
16/17 October – Silverstone National