GP de l'AGE d'OR - Page 2

356sc · 9 Jun 2018, 06:54 (Ref:3827774)

Yes spot on Gerard...getting the engine out is the easy bit, the gearbox is integral to the back end of the car!

With the only 2 “mechanics” being me and Dad we were well and truly “trained”.....slept well last night for sure!

We have got a few hours before the race today,so can go back over the car and finesse the stuff that was rushed yesterday, fingers crossed for a quiet day!!

Gerard C · 9 Jun 2018, 08:51 (Ref:3827792)

Will, we have a proverb saying something like: "when s... happens during practice, the race will be quiet!" Hope its works for you and your dad. Have fun.
By the way, from Mike's excellent picture, your team could be a french one: two working hard under the car, two watching! An please, put some tyre valve caps, they are mandatory in some categories…

Alan Morgan · 9 Jun 2018, 17:13 (Ref:3827832)

Some of our guys fell foul of the "no dust cap" rule at Charade. Cue frantic removal of dust caps from trucks and trailers... Also, for the first time in my experience, people were told to route header tank and gearbox breathers into the catch tank.

grantp · 9 Jun 2018, 17:18 (Ref:3827833)

What is the benefit obtained from fitting dust caps to valves on racing cars?

Is there a potential de-benefit?

**Mike Bell** · 9 Jun 2018, 18:45 (Ref:3827841)

When working on tyre pressure in test or qually, not having dust caps makes the job a lot quicker, but I know they are mandatory sometimes so we always use them. Using 2 people to do pressures speeds things up enough....

Anyway, the 60s result! SLR 10th o/a 1st in GT3 and 1st in under 2.5 litre. Well happy with that! Oh, and we’ve now been told that the Lotus 11 that pushed us down to third at Spa was in our class by mistake...... Bit late now!

Also excellent result for the Stephens 356 after their Q problems, and also good to see the Elva GT160 finish strongly, albeit after losing time having to change tyres half way during their driver change.

Looking forward to the BBQ tonight at the aero club. Wonder if they will fire the Sea Fury up again. It gave a great display just before our race....

Gerard C · 9 Jun 2018, 18:47 (Ref:3827842)

Benefit? Probably someone pretended that at speed the rotation of the wheel tends to move air out from the tyre. When air goes out often it means puncture ! To route any breather to the catch tank makes sens if we dont follow this common sens rule, we'll have to remove any coolant from our rads, its the case in motorbike racing I think.

Anyway, the SLR seems to finish 10 overall and the "new" gearbox allowed the 356 to finish 20th overall. BLP for the Porsche is 1'44"3 -really amazing being that slow in the long straight-, 1'41"19 for the SLR. Congrats to all!
Did you enjoy Mike and will and others?

**Mike Bell** · 9 Jun 2018, 21:53 (Ref:3827865)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gerard C

Anyway, the SLR seems to finish 10 overall and the "new" gearbox allowed the 356 to finish 20th overall. BLP for the Porsche is 1'44"3 -really amazing being that slow in the long straight-, 1'41"19 for the SLR. Congrats to all!
Did you enjoy Mike and will and others?

To be fair- One or two of the quickest 911s are concentrating on the “2 litre cup” so missing from the 60s grid.

And to answer your question, I love Dijon as a destination and a circuit, so it’s always a treat to be here. Only disappointment for us is that after the good result there was no podium due to results still being provisional..... BTW the TVR got another penalty for a refuelling infringement!!!

Now watching an amazing lightning display and listening to the thunder. Hopefully means dry for CER tomorrow. Maybe!

356sc · 9 Jun 2018, 21:57 (Ref:3827866)

All the hard work was certainly worth it!

I think Dijon is a great circuit. Round the twiddly bits the 356 is an absolute hoot to drive, we just loose out to the bigger engined cars on the drag up the hill to the start line...

Gerard C · 10 Jun 2018, 07:48 (Ref:3828018)

Phiew I dont remember such a penalty board during a PA event! Mosquito season, may be? Six jump start with penalties going from 3 to 6 minutes! Penalty for incorrect refueling going from 1 lap to 5 minutes… Now that's done, I guess it will be open bar for the rest of the season…

Gerard C · 10 Jun 2018, 15:47 (Ref:3828103)

Mike, your racers got many SC. First B 8 and 12th overall just after a fast Pantera I guess?

**Mike Bell** · 10 Jun 2018, 17:28 (Ref:3828125)

Yes, loads of SC periods! Lost count....

We suffered a very rare (unique, to be precise) misunderstanding between first driver and the pit wall, resulting in him coming in before the pit window opened, but during an SC intervention. He was sent straight out again and rejoined the pack, losing 40 seconds. At the end of the day it made no difference to our result, which was best that could be expected- being in the same class as the B19s, T210s etc....

356sc · 10 Jun 2018, 21:26 (Ref:3828183)

I did wonder what the first stop was for!

NHSL · 11 Jun 2018, 10:21 (Ref:3828317)

Is it a requirement in the Peter Auto 2 hour races that you have to refuel? The French TVR that is picking up penalties when refuelling is the car (UK Reg 9299 VC) that Norrie Nicoll and I ran from 2000 until 2015 and we never had to refuel in 2 hour races, we usually had about 10 litres to spare at the end. Our tank was 70 litres and I know that other Granturas had bigger tanks than this, 105 in one case. Perhaps there is a fuel tank size limit now? Either that or it is using a lot more fuel than before, probably because, to be fair, M Delaplanque is going a hell of a lot faster than we ever did!

**Mike Bell** · 11 Jun 2018, 14:22 (Ref:3828408)

Quote:

Originally Posted by NHSL

Is it a requirement in the Peter Auto 2 hour races that you have to refuel? The French TVR that is picking up penalties when refuelling is the car (UK Reg 9299 VC) that Norrie Nicoll and I ran from 2000 until 2015 and we never had to refuel in 2 hour races, we usually had about 10 litres to spare at the end. Our tank was 70 litres and I know that other Granturas had bigger tanks than this, 105 in one case. Perhaps there is a fuel tank size limit now? Either that or it is using a lot more fuel than before, probably because, to be fair, M Delaplanque is going a hell of a lot faster than we ever did!

It’s not a requirement, but is optional. Some decide to start lighter and add more at their driver change or stop. This is mandatory 5 min, including any fuel, so easy to accomplish. The refuelling is done at pumps located either in the pit lane somewhere just behind, so in a monitored safe area.

I thought I’d seen the TVR before. It’s certainly a very quick one!

Colin McKay · 11 Jun 2018, 20:26 (Ref:3828485)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

so in a monitored safe area.

That made me chuckle Mike! When I was last there two young lads on skateboards were whizzing round inside the refuelling area, and a dog was running loose as well at one point. Two front runners had to wait at the pumps (hand pumps on 45 gallon drums) while a forklift trundled some more down from the far end of the pits as they'd run out. Another car pulled in a bit later with the brakes on fire and, no urgency, was asked to park by the fence rather than by the pumps. All very entertaining!