Ed does RGB!

Ed does RGB!

Well the title says it all.  Finally got the chance to go racing.  I have been waiting for this moment for many years.  Always been an ambition to go head to head with fellow wannabe speed freaks and now its actually going to happen.

The car having one final outing before its rebuild.

Getting to this point has been quite a journey.  I was very fortunate to meet a chap through  the Spire GTR club who also shared an interest in wanting to go racing; Tristan Kipling.  He decided to buy Dave Masters race car (Fisher Fury) and proceeded to completely strip it down to the chassis and do full rebuild whilst incorporating many new additions and improvements to the car.  The main change was upgrading the engine from a CBR919 power  plant to a CBR1000RR beast of an engine.

The final result....a very quick car!

Obviously, once the car was finished being rebuilt, testing sessions were booked and the fun began....

First test session was at Anglesey.  Although we had the car set up by a 'proffesional' I have to admit on the initial out laps in the morning the car felt good.  My attention was on looking out for clonks and knocks, but there were none.  After gaining confidence with it, it was time to start cranking up the power, then this is where it got interesting.

First issue of the day:  Front splitter decided to detach itself.  This did not really do much for the handling.  It was like steering a boat.  What sharpness there was on turn ins had gone.  In a straight line taking it over 100mph was very scary.  The car had lost all stability. Few adjustments to ride heights and dampers we were able to stabilise things but it wasn't solved by any stretch of the imagine.

Many laps later, coming round 'Church' corner up into the hairpin, round i go, applied the power and the car bogged down and grinded to a halt.  Very baffling.  I could only assume at this stage the brakes had locked on after the heavy braking zone into the hairpin.  Whilst the marshals worked out the best method of removing the car from the track everything cooled down, and miraculously the car was able to move again, so on that note drove very slowly back to the paddock.  That essentially drew that session to a close.

Next up....Snetterton.

Well....it was very wet.  What else is there to say?!

We decided to get hired help in to help us with car set up etc in the form of Andy Bates, owner of AB Performance.  On my first outing in the car the it was a case of start to learn the circuit.  So many corners to remember but eventually i started to string a few half decent laps together.  At this point it was a case of getting a good balance of the car.

First up was getting brake bias sorted.  I had just had 2 offs going daisy cutting.  Combination of standing water, brake balance which was to cock and knackered front tyres did not help.  Much more bias to the rear inspired a whole load more confidence in the car knowing i wasn't going to exit track randomly.

It soon became apparent that high speed straights really should not be dealt with in an uncontrolled manner.  The car was bobbing around still, as at Anglesey so Andy set to adjusting the toe in on the rear and fronts.  Couldn't quite believe the transformation it had made.  Whats more it made us realise the money forked out to get it done 'proffesioally' really was not worth it at all.  Never-mind, live and learn.

The car was far better in a straight line, couple with getting the brake bias sorted out, ooohhh and remapping  the power commander to resolve a horrendous over fuelling issue it felt great.

Sheared off output shaft on diff

After a spin by myself coming out of Coram before heading up the straight which took me by surprise, i decided to take a back seat for half an hour and think about what went wrong.  In the mean time, Tris went out in it.  However this was short lived.  3 laps in and the diff decided to let go.  The output shaft had sheared off and the bearing destroyed inside as it turned out.  Did this contribute to my spin, a failing diff, who knows....

What fell out!

It was good a day, and thanks to Andy, we managed to really start to get to grips with the car and understand it.  But the diff needed to sorted asap.

Hats off to Tris, as soon as he got home that night, had the car stripped down and the diff out ready for it to be repaired.

Move on a week the diff is back in with a load of mods done to the car to improve some niggly issues.

So roll on Cadwell Park!
















Cadwell Park - What better venue to have my first race than at Cadwell Park.  I have driven this circuit a couple of times before and absolutely loved everything about it.  Fast straights, fast corners, slow technical sections and lots of hills.  Awesome!  However my opinion of it might well change after this weekend.

We have decided to do the PM testing session on the Friday before to make sure the car is ready to go slogging it out head to head.  Hopefully it will be a good one.