2CV 24hr

[Chris Y]

Originally posted by redshoes
..and I'm going to be very sore for a few days...

Not as sore as me

Just got back this afternoon, after staying over on the Sunday night. Bit disappointed that there wasn't much of a 'party atmosphere' in the paddock, but the bar closed fairly early, so most people either went off-site to a pub, or home.

The atmosphere was pretty good all weekend - nice and friendly in the paddock, but most teams were pretty busy, with engine changes and the like so there wasn't a lot of socialising going on, and not much beer flowing either.

I would have liked to have seen more racing from the spectator areas, and seen more of people who came to watch, but I'm afraid I had to stay with the team and help out/be ready for any problems that might arise. Sorry

I did see a bit of the night racing from Russell - very impressive, and I was surprised just how much you could see from inside the car during the night. I certainly had no problems, but then I had a team that are pretty expert at the annual 24hours - they know how to set up light pods!

12th place was our 'offical' result, bt I actually believe that we would have been higher if the timing wasn't bust between 9pm and 5am. Quite a few teams had long stops in the night, and the results don't reflect this, whereas 'Stinky' ran pretty flawlessly for the whole 24hours, requiring only fuel and driver stops - no garage work at all

We were one of just 2 cars in the event not to change engine or gearbox (There were 5 engine changes in the first hour-and-a-half!) and we only completely used 2 tyres from a fresh set. Brakes were superb and still lots of meat on them. Suspension survived with kingpins intact. Almost no panel damage apart from a minor ding in the bonnet (Malc admitted to it ) and a tyre mark on the rear offside wing. Stinky has had more wear and damage in sprint races!

Racing was good. There were a few people trying to 'block' during the race, which is pointless, since it slows both cars down. The idea is to let faster cars past and then get the tow off them on the straights. A good tow earns you about 2-3 seconds a lap around Snett and there were regularly chains of 3-4 cars towing each other around and taking turns at the front - good stuff!

I've never done more than a 30 minute race before, so I was a bit apprehensive about doing a 2 hour run, but once you've gone past 15 minutes in the car, you don't really notice too much because you get into a nice rhythm, especially if there's other cars around you to concentrate on and co-operate with. Night time sessions were very cool and almost peaceful. Great experience which I wish more club racers could experience. A bit difficult at first with headlights shining in your mirrors (and not being able to tell how far people are behind you) but great when you settle into the routine..

Anyway - must stop writing now! Waaaay too much to talk about after a weekend like that... I'm sure Malcolm (MaxxUK) will add to it once he recovers