Since the last event, Mark Harrison at Owen Developments had spent some time making changes to the gearchange strategy as we outlined before. The test would be to cope with part-throttle upchanges which, looking at the weather would be more often than the optimal flat change that we had previously used.
This time, we were without Scott as he was looking after another of his customers. Obviously a better one than me - but then a weekend at Nurburgring probably had something to do with it. Nonetheless, Jack and Tony thought they would have an easy day although the weather forecast looked like they might have to change the tyres a few times. How wrong they were.
The first stage was dry but really greasy and we went on Intermediates. To be honest we could have gone on slicks but there's a shame factor attached to getting caught out on the first stage of the day and most people were playing safe to save any embarrassment. Part way round our second lap we caught an Impreza on his first. A little to-and-fro took place and in the end he allowed us space to get past. Only thing was that now the boot was on the other foot! Where he was quick the Clio was horribly slow, I could pull out a gap down the straight and he would catch me at the next hairpin. All this cat and mouse meant that he was paying too much attention to me and not enough to where he was going. When we split for the finish, he followed us and forgot about doing his second lap! Stage max for the Impreza, 10th quickest for the Clio boys!
The car went well enough but on every right hand bend I could hear, and feel, a grinding from the rear left wheel area. Back in service, the boys had a look and we tried to work out what was going on. We couldn't see any obvious signs - normally a wheel rubbing or a shaft touching somewhere polishes anything that it comes into contact with. We did, however, find some movement in the rear hub and on further investigation found that the rear track rod was loose on the subframe. The bolts have no head on the inside for clearance so a stout screwdriver did the job while we tightened the joint. We also found some marking on the driveshaft bolts which we have had before - they run very close to the gearbox casing and have a tendency to polish the heads before settling down. However, two of them were loose and were retightened. By now, time had run out and we went for Stage 2.
The noise hadn't gone away but I knew how to reduce the pain the car was taking until we could have a better look. I started using all the road to make right hand bends less acute. This all worked to plan until the fast entry to the flying finish where I promptly ran out of road and went across the Finish line on the wet grass. On the in-car video here you can hear Mike laughing about the prospect of crossing the line backwards - I was under full control of my vehicle officer.... NOT.
Back in service we had a better look at the cause of the noise and found that two of the bolts securing the engine mount to the body were only just started - obviously from when the gearbox was changed last time. Rapped knuckles all round but at least now we had an easy fix to our troubles and we got some confidence back.
At lunchtime, the predicted summer weather arrived and by Stage 4 the whole place was awash - wets were not required, paddles were! Previously, this much rain would mean that we were better off just calling it a day and going home. With the new suspension we might even have an advantage over some cars! We can get sideways and survive but we also have a big traction advantage out of tight corners. Where others wheelspin, we just drive out - wicked! However, no-one yet has an answer for aquaplaning. On one runway at about 80 or 90mph, the car just picked up and went off left at 20 degrees. Here is the incident on video - looks harmless doesn't it - but what on the video is 5 or 6 seconds felt like 4 years - it is the most heart in the mouth sensation that you can possibly have and one to be avoided at all costs! Panic over we were a little more careful for the rest of the day.
Bearing in mind the car's reputation in the wet we finished the day 10th Overall - our best result so far with the car. So, smiley faces at the end of the day, not least because the transmission stayed in one piece. We are, however, going to pull the box again just to check that the gear gut strategy has worked rather than go to the next event only to have it fail on the first stage. We also have a slight side effect in the gear cut work as we were told by the noise official that you can hear gunshots from the exhaust. Where we are cutting the ignition for longer, unburnt fuel is then exploded when the power comes back on. With our setup, we don't cut the fuel as it's only milliseconds where the spark is cut but apparently you could hear the bangs in the next village! Maybe we borrowed MikeT's turbo for the weekend but mine is the first V6 to run anti-lag.....
Next up is the Promenade Stages on 8th September. This is on the Wirral at New Brighton, down the seafront. Great spectator event, pm me if you think you might pop along.