Today I was with regular customers richard and pascal green in their caterham.
The day started wet but dried up so we got to work on both wet and dry lines. We also worked on the ever crucial area of braking and turn in - the hardest part of driving.
A good if cold day out
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Monday, 1 December 2008
Saturday, 29 November 2008
29th november. NSPCC charity day
As ever katie has put a lot of work into planning and organising the day. A big thank you to everybody who attended and to castle combe circuit for giving us a good deal.
A damp start meant it was a bit slippery but the track dried out from midday to the end.
We raised £4000 for the NSPCC which is absolutely brilliant considering the current economic climate!
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Monday, 24 November 2008
24th november - week 5 of ADI training
My ADI course is coming along nicely. My instructor is very happy with the driving. My scores on the theory test are nearly at the level needed to enter me for the exam.
Hopefully I won't have to wait too much longer for my CRB certificate and then I can start the exams.
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Hopefully I won't have to wait too much longer for my CRB certificate and then I can start the exams.
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Sat 22nd nov - goodwood
A lovely sunny day shared by regular customers richard + pascal green and also ryan ratcliffe who was getting his first taste of a track after last saturdays airfield day at alconbury.
Richard and pascal found that goodwood is flat out when you're brave for a good portion of the track in a 150 bhp caterham. Both thoroughly enjoyed their first run on this circuit.
Ryan built up steadily and was going very well by the end of the day. We were in a rented car for this run but he gets his saxmax race car next week. Planned next is a training day at llandow in the race car and to send ryan to have his race licence test at either castle combe or thruxton.
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Richard and pascal found that goodwood is flat out when you're brave for a good portion of the track in a 150 bhp caterham. Both thoroughly enjoyed their first run on this circuit.
Ryan built up steadily and was going very well by the end of the day. We were in a rented car for this run but he gets his saxmax race car next week. Planned next is a training day at llandow in the race car and to send ryan to have his race licence test at either castle combe or thruxton.
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Thursday, 20 November 2008
Brands hatch 20th nov
Today I was working for www.track-club.com on one of their corporate events.
This is a tough job as an instructor as you have to strike a balance between bringing people up to speed in a few laps and not encouraging them to go too fast and out of control. Most of the drivers were total novices.
Everybody had a good day and the weather stayed dry all day which is always pleasent.
Next up is goodwood on saturday.
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This is a tough job as an instructor as you have to strike a balance between bringing people up to speed in a few laps and not encouraging them to go too fast and out of control. Most of the drivers were total novices.
Everybody had a good day and the weather stayed dry all day which is always pleasent.
Next up is goodwood on saturday.
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Silverstone 19th november
The picture was taken whilst Kevins car was having its rear pads changed.
I worked with Kevin mainly focussing on vision and brake pressure modulatiion on approach to the corner.
Mathew has recently done an alconbury day with me and this was his first time at silverstone. It takes a while to learn the gp track so his confidence increased in the afternoon.
We worked on the general approach to track driving plus dealing with putting over 300 bhp down in a car weighing 800 kg. To say this car is fast is a bit of an understatement!
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Thursday, 13 November 2008
Another ADI lesson and off to france
I've been a bit quiet this week after having to take a few days off because of a stiff neck.
Maneuvering was a little difficult as I still can't turn ny head fully!
I'm now waiting at the eurotunnel. I'm at abbeville circuit tomorrow and then staying in calais until saturday for the 'old farts' racing driver agm (an annual meeting involving copious amounts of beer!)
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Maneuvering was a little difficult as I still can't turn ny head fully!
I'm now waiting at the eurotunnel. I'm at abbeville circuit tomorrow and then staying in calais until saturday for the 'old farts' racing driver agm (an annual meeting involving copious amounts of beer!)
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Thursday, 6 November 2008
6th nov - brands hatch
Today I was coaching John Lamaster who is racing in the elise trophy this weekend at Brands Hatch.
A wet start to the day but it dried out. Perfect as we got to work on lines for wet and dry.
John managed to qualify in the top half of the class A field in his first race weekend at silverstone which was very good. He lost a few places during the races as we have some racecraft to work on!
John is still recovering from an injury sustained in his 2nd race meeting (also at silverstone). He was tapped in the side at copse and the sterring wheel wrenched itself out of his hand - dislocating his right thumb in the process. Ouch!
Johns car stood up better than he did with only a couple of small scratches on the front right wheel arch.
I used the video footage to demonstrate the difference in the way that John and I hold the wheel.
We spent most of the day working on vision and reading the road. This meant that Johns good pace became more and more consistant.
Good luck this weekend John!
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A wet start to the day but it dried out. Perfect as we got to work on lines for wet and dry.
John managed to qualify in the top half of the class A field in his first race weekend at silverstone which was very good. He lost a few places during the races as we have some racecraft to work on!
John is still recovering from an injury sustained in his 2nd race meeting (also at silverstone). He was tapped in the side at copse and the sterring wheel wrenched itself out of his hand - dislocating his right thumb in the process. Ouch!
Johns car stood up better than he did with only a couple of small scratches on the front right wheel arch.
I used the video footage to demonstrate the difference in the way that John and I hold the wheel.
We spent most of the day working on vision and reading the road. This meant that Johns good pace became more and more consistant.
Good luck this weekend John!
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Monday, 3 November 2008
Ben goes back to school!
Today was my 2nd lesson in becoming an ADI (road driving instructor).
Gaining this qualification will enable me to work for various car manufacturers on their product launches (when they start selling cars again!).
It's very different (and slow!) But it's still teaching people who want to learn which is what I really enjoy.
2009 should see me teaching new drivers on the road in between the track work. Hopefully I can put a programme together that combines the best of both for road driving as well.
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Gaining this qualification will enable me to work for various car manufacturers on their product launches (when they start selling cars again!).
It's very different (and slow!) But it's still teaching people who want to learn which is what I really enjoy.
2009 should see me teaching new drivers on the road in between the track work. Hopefully I can put a programme together that combines the best of both for road driving as well.
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Saturday, 1 November 2008
31st oct - llandow
Josh has raced a mini around short ovals but has never needed to get above 2nd gear before.
By the end of the day he was heel + toeing and lapping very quickly and consistantly. One of the fastest learning youngsters that I've taught.
We now want to get him out on the circuits that he'll race on in 2009.
Wednesday, 30 April 2008
weds 30th april - Well done to Alex Gassman in his first race
I've coached Alex in his MR2 race car several times over the last year or so and have known from the off that he would be quick. He's learns very quickly - When I told him about heel + toe braking he learnt to do it in 6 corners!
An email from Alex's dad Jeremy:
Ben/KatieAlex had his first race at Silverstone on Sunday and did really well. I feltI had to let you know, and we both want to thank Ben for all of his coachingover the past year, it has been a great foundation and inspiration for Alex.
Brief race report:Alex qualified 5th. Off the line he was a bit tentative into copse - as hehad been advised to avoid an early incident- and as a result fellimmediately to 9th. However he steadily worked his way back up and finished5th. In this first race his best time was within 1 hundredth of a second ofthe fastest lap time (1:15:711).
In the second race he started 5th on the grid, and fought his way right upto 1st place, overtaking even Sam Maher-Loughnan! He and Sam then swappedplaces a couple of times. Unfortunately another car lunged in front and gotout of shape so Alex had to take avoiding action and immediately slippeddown to 5th. He then had an excellent scrap for 4th, swapping places anumber of times before finishing 5th. We are all incredibly proud of him andhe has been going around ever since saying how much he enjoyed it.
The racewill be televised on Men and Motors and Channel 5 in 2-3 weeks time and Alexis sure to feature as he had a tremendous battle for leading places. He has6 more meetings this year so I am sure he will earn himself a podium finishbefore long, the next is Mallory on 27th.You can see the in car video from race 2 at:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcXkZg8Am-s&fmt=18
You can see on the video that his car was a bit slower on the straights thana number of the others, but he was faster through the corners.We have also been following Ben's progress and are really impressed with hisachievements, especially given the incredibly bad luck he has had so far.What an achievement getting the car rebuilt after the fire and then gettingthe 4th places! Sorry we didn't have more time to catch up at Brands theother week, another hectic day! We both had a ride in the Ariel Atom, my Godthat was fast, 0-60 in 2.8sec!
All the best
Jeremy and Alex
An email from Alex's dad Jeremy:
Ben/KatieAlex had his first race at Silverstone on Sunday and did really well. I feltI had to let you know, and we both want to thank Ben for all of his coachingover the past year, it has been a great foundation and inspiration for Alex.
Brief race report:Alex qualified 5th. Off the line he was a bit tentative into copse - as hehad been advised to avoid an early incident- and as a result fellimmediately to 9th. However he steadily worked his way back up and finished5th. In this first race his best time was within 1 hundredth of a second ofthe fastest lap time (1:15:711).
In the second race he started 5th on the grid, and fought his way right upto 1st place, overtaking even Sam Maher-Loughnan! He and Sam then swappedplaces a couple of times. Unfortunately another car lunged in front and gotout of shape so Alex had to take avoiding action and immediately slippeddown to 5th. He then had an excellent scrap for 4th, swapping places anumber of times before finishing 5th. We are all incredibly proud of him andhe has been going around ever since saying how much he enjoyed it.
The racewill be televised on Men and Motors and Channel 5 in 2-3 weeks time and Alexis sure to feature as he had a tremendous battle for leading places. He has6 more meetings this year so I am sure he will earn himself a podium finishbefore long, the next is Mallory on 27th.You can see the in car video from race 2 at:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcXkZg8Am-s&fmt=18
You can see on the video that his car was a bit slower on the straights thana number of the others, but he was faster through the corners.We have also been following Ben's progress and are really impressed with hisachievements, especially given the incredibly bad luck he has had so far.What an achievement getting the car rebuilt after the fire and then gettingthe 4th places! Sorry we didn't have more time to catch up at Brands theother week, another hectic day! We both had a ride in the Ariel Atom, my Godthat was fast, 0-60 in 2.8sec!
All the best
Jeremy and Alex
Wednesday, 9 April 2008
Wednesday 9th April - Fixing the G50
After a call from Richard Dean - Ginetta's Managing Director at 6.30 last night. I loaded the car up and headed to the Ginetta Factory.
I'm going to try and get it ready for knockhill! a big project!
I was on my own today so progress was a bit slow. The Ginetta mechanics had to update 11 G50's during the day with some extra poles in the chassis so they were extremely busy.
Still by 8pm the car looked like this:
And this:
Damage so far:
Engine has a hole in the bottom and in the side
Alternator melted
starter motor looking a bit singed
Main wiring loom fried
Melted gearbox sensors, boots and cables
Rear diffuser melted bt repairable
some heat damage to paint on rear bumpers
car covered in extinguisher powder residue
Since taking the pics I've cleaned up the engine bay. I left at 11pm.
Tomorrow - it goes back together plus I have Kenny and Jonny to help.
Sunday, 6 April 2008
Race Report - Cadwell Park 6/4/08
Cadwell Park was the first of the 2 Ginetta festivals in 2008. The meeting had 3 free practice sessions on the saturday and then qualifying and 2 races on sunday.
My dad went to Ginetta on Thursday to get all of the parts needed to rebuild it after Paul O'Neil barged me off of the track at oulton Park 2 weeks ago.
There was more work than I anticipated which meant that it took all of Friday and Saturday to rebuild the car. I would have to qualify the car having not tested it at all which isn't ideal!
We arrived at the circuit late on Saturday night and set up our pit as it got dark.
Sunday saw an early start. The car passed scrutineering with no problems and I went out to qualify. with 8 minutes to go I was p6 on the grid, I pitted to make a suspension change and managed to set a time good enough for p4 on my penultimate lap. I felt my last lap may have been quicker but I found traffic which slowed me down.
Midway through qualifying the car stopped 'flat shifting'. This is where the car automatically cuts the engine when changing up the gears to give a faster shift. The car was also smoking heavily as we had put too much oil in the diff and it was spitting some out onto the exhaust.
On return to the pits we found that the diff bracket had bent like a banana. My ever faithful team of students from Derby Uni dived in to change it in time for the race.
I also asked Ginetta's technicians to look at the problem with the flat shift. They found that there was no voltage in that area of the loom and it couldn't be fixed in time for the race.
When I drove the car onto the circuit I noticed that the gear indicator had stopped working which was a bit of a pain but once you're driving you know how many times to shift for each bend so it's not too much of a problem.
I lined up P4 and got ready for the rolling start. Unfortunately I lost sight of the lights (the car in 2nd was in the way) just as they went out and lost a little time. The absense of the flat shift really showed here too as I lost half a car length with each shift.
A cautious Entry to turn 1 left me 6th. A mistake on lap 3 where I caught my foot on the brake and just kept the car on the track left me 2-3 seconds behind the battle for 4th/5th. I was over 10 seconds ahead of 7th.
Frank Wrathall retired with collapsed suspension a few laps from the end promoting me to 5th. Then I started to feel something was wrong. The engine felt down on power. I kept looking at the oil pressure on the dash which read 45psi - a little low but not worryingly so. I thought that perhaps the exhaust had blocked - my g20 did this in a race last year and it felt the same.
As I came onto the back straight on the final lap the car slowed massively and then the engine died. The cabin filled with smoke and I steered the car onto the grass. As I got out I realised the car was on fire and I pulled the extinguisher cable. I then looked around for the nearest extinguisher and sprinted to them, sprinted back and doused the car. The marshals also arrived at this time and helped out.
The car was safe from further damage, my adrenaline reduced and I collapsed to the floor. All of the hard work put in to get there for nothing. A big hole in the engine. It's been a pretty emotional year so far!
We then had the fun job of getting rid of the extinguisher powder - it's extremely corrosive. We took the car to bits and jet washed it for about 2 hours. I had to drill holes in the floor for the water to run out!
A post race analysis with ginetta's engineers showed that the part of the loom which brings the gear cut and gear indicator signals into the car also carries the oil pressure sensor readings. The Motec system is programmed to revert to a preset (by ginetta) setting of 45psi when it loses a sensor. No alarm is shown.
Unfortunately for me the belt that drives the oil pump had snapped. The engine stopped getting oil. Because of the problem in the wiring the dash was telling me I had 45psi so I continued as I knew nothing about this failsafe preset. The engine seized and exploded.
If there hadn't have been a wiring problem then I'd have got an alarm and a reading of 0psi when the belt went. I would have then turned it off immediately. Ginetta are now reviewing this preset level. I will also rebuild the car with a mechanical oil pressure gauge in the cabin as a failsafe.
The car itself isn't in too bad shape. The rear end has some blistered paint and the diffuser has deformed slightly with the heat. Everything in the transmission tunnel is a bit scorched - the wiring and sensors and the heat shielding. I need to take the car to bits now to find all of the damaged bits. I think this will rule me out for the next couple of meetings whilst everything is repaired. Certainly knockhill next week will be out of the question.
The insurance that we take out on the car doesn't cover any of this so it's going to hit the budget hard. I'll post up more news when I have it.
My dad went to Ginetta on Thursday to get all of the parts needed to rebuild it after Paul O'Neil barged me off of the track at oulton Park 2 weeks ago.
There was more work than I anticipated which meant that it took all of Friday and Saturday to rebuild the car. I would have to qualify the car having not tested it at all which isn't ideal!
We arrived at the circuit late on Saturday night and set up our pit as it got dark.
Sunday saw an early start. The car passed scrutineering with no problems and I went out to qualify. with 8 minutes to go I was p6 on the grid, I pitted to make a suspension change and managed to set a time good enough for p4 on my penultimate lap. I felt my last lap may have been quicker but I found traffic which slowed me down.
Midway through qualifying the car stopped 'flat shifting'. This is where the car automatically cuts the engine when changing up the gears to give a faster shift. The car was also smoking heavily as we had put too much oil in the diff and it was spitting some out onto the exhaust.
On return to the pits we found that the diff bracket had bent like a banana. My ever faithful team of students from Derby Uni dived in to change it in time for the race.
I also asked Ginetta's technicians to look at the problem with the flat shift. They found that there was no voltage in that area of the loom and it couldn't be fixed in time for the race.
When I drove the car onto the circuit I noticed that the gear indicator had stopped working which was a bit of a pain but once you're driving you know how many times to shift for each bend so it's not too much of a problem.
I lined up P4 and got ready for the rolling start. Unfortunately I lost sight of the lights (the car in 2nd was in the way) just as they went out and lost a little time. The absense of the flat shift really showed here too as I lost half a car length with each shift.
A cautious Entry to turn 1 left me 6th. A mistake on lap 3 where I caught my foot on the brake and just kept the car on the track left me 2-3 seconds behind the battle for 4th/5th. I was over 10 seconds ahead of 7th.
Frank Wrathall retired with collapsed suspension a few laps from the end promoting me to 5th. Then I started to feel something was wrong. The engine felt down on power. I kept looking at the oil pressure on the dash which read 45psi - a little low but not worryingly so. I thought that perhaps the exhaust had blocked - my g20 did this in a race last year and it felt the same.
As I came onto the back straight on the final lap the car slowed massively and then the engine died. The cabin filled with smoke and I steered the car onto the grass. As I got out I realised the car was on fire and I pulled the extinguisher cable. I then looked around for the nearest extinguisher and sprinted to them, sprinted back and doused the car. The marshals also arrived at this time and helped out.
The car was safe from further damage, my adrenaline reduced and I collapsed to the floor. All of the hard work put in to get there for nothing. A big hole in the engine. It's been a pretty emotional year so far!
We then had the fun job of getting rid of the extinguisher powder - it's extremely corrosive. We took the car to bits and jet washed it for about 2 hours. I had to drill holes in the floor for the water to run out!
A post race analysis with ginetta's engineers showed that the part of the loom which brings the gear cut and gear indicator signals into the car also carries the oil pressure sensor readings. The Motec system is programmed to revert to a preset (by ginetta) setting of 45psi when it loses a sensor. No alarm is shown.
Unfortunately for me the belt that drives the oil pump had snapped. The engine stopped getting oil. Because of the problem in the wiring the dash was telling me I had 45psi so I continued as I knew nothing about this failsafe preset. The engine seized and exploded.
If there hadn't have been a wiring problem then I'd have got an alarm and a reading of 0psi when the belt went. I would have then turned it off immediately. Ginetta are now reviewing this preset level. I will also rebuild the car with a mechanical oil pressure gauge in the cabin as a failsafe.
The car itself isn't in too bad shape. The rear end has some blistered paint and the diffuser has deformed slightly with the heat. Everything in the transmission tunnel is a bit scorched - the wiring and sensors and the heat shielding. I need to take the car to bits now to find all of the damaged bits. I think this will rule me out for the next couple of meetings whilst everything is repaired. Certainly knockhill next week will be out of the question.
The insurance that we take out on the car doesn't cover any of this so it's going to hit the budget hard. I'll post up more news when I have it.
Friday, 22 February 2008
Friday 22nd Feb - Brands Hatch
Today I was at Brands Hatch working for Trackmasters - a Subaru enthustiasts club.
They had organised the trackday and had booked me to coach drivers in 20 min sessions as and when they wanted me.
They had organised the trackday and had booked me to coach drivers in 20 min sessions as and when they wanted me.
Wednesday, 20 February 2008
wednesday 20th february - alconbury
A half day today with in fisher fury. Powered by a honda fireblade engine the car has a pretty good power to weight ratio and a sequential gearbox too.
The car handled quite a lot like my ginetta g20 did which meant a little understeer but a stable car. the fisher is a bit lighter though so it was more willing to change direction than the g20.
Steven will be racing the car in class c of the 75o motor club 'RGB' (Road Going Bike-Engined) championship. Today gave him a good practice at using the cars braking to full potential and we also worked on trail braking into the corners to get rid of the understeer.
Our plan now is to do a few trackdays at circuits before the race meetings so that steven can make the most of the car on race weekends.
Tuesday, 19 February 2008
Tuesday 19th Feb - Silverstone Gp Circuit
Another day with Kevin Norville in his GT3. We're steadily building pace and keeping the inputs smoother. Now that Kevin is not using too much steering lock his tyres are wearing more evenly and at a lower rate - but we are lapping quicker!
Saturday, 16 February 2008
saturday 16th february - Our charity trackday in aid of the British Heart Foundation
Today was our now annual charity trackday at castle combe. As always Katie organised a top day and mother nature smiled upon us with bright sunshine all day.
A great day was had by all and in total we raised over £2500 for the British Heart Foundation.
A big thank you to everybody who came. Check out our website for more upcoming trackdays.
Our friend Chris Firth who supports my ginetta racing brought along a couple of sponsors for the day and I took them for some passenger rides. It was a great chance to show off our new pit awning and flooring. Many thanks
to The Complete Office for their purchase of this.
A great day was had by all and in total we raised over £2500 for the British Heart Foundation.
A big thank you to everybody who came. Check out our website for more upcoming trackdays.
Our friend Chris Firth who supports my ginetta racing brought along a couple of sponsors for the day and I took them for some passenger rides. It was a great chance to show off our new pit awning and flooring. Many thanks
to The Complete Office for their purchase of this.
Friday, 15 February 2008
friday 15th Feb - Mallory Park - My first run in a G50!
Ginetta had Booked Mallory park for 2 days of testing. Track time was split between Juniors (on half term) and G50's. As the first 6 customer cars were delivered and were testing Ginetta allowed other customers to try the factory car.
I was given twenty laps in the prototype G50 this morning and I have to say I cant wait to get mine! The car is very well balanced and has a tendancy to 'porpoise' a little, very much in the same way that a porsche GT3 does.
My best lap in the factory car was 50.2 seconds. About 1.5 seconds off of the fastest laps set by the other drivers who had been in them for a day and a half. Given a full days testing in my car I should be on frontrunning pace.
I was given twenty laps in the prototype G50 this morning and I have to say I cant wait to get mine! The car is very well balanced and has a tendancy to 'porpoise' a little, very much in the same way that a porsche GT3 does.
My best lap in the factory car was 50.2 seconds. About 1.5 seconds off of the fastest laps set by the other drivers who had been in them for a day and a half. Given a full days testing in my car I should be on frontrunning pace.
Wednesday, 13 February 2008
wednesday 13th February - Alconbury Airfield
It's half term week for juniors so patrick fletcher made use of today and shared his car with fellow Karter Myles ...
We used the sprint course for patrick to focus on his braking technique on corner entry which he improved a lot on. We're at Brands at the end of the month so we'll see if the progress made today will carry over to the proper circuits. 'Patch's' car will also be up to 2008 spec (different tyres and front dampers) for Brands.
Myles had his first taste of car driving and improved very well throughout the day. After covering the basics of using the clutch / changing gear / braking with right foot etc in the morning we progressed on to the sprint course in the afternoon. Myles ended up just 1.3 seconds slower than Patrick in the same car. Very good from someone who had never driven a car before the day!
We used the sprint course for patrick to focus on his braking technique on corner entry which he improved a lot on. We're at Brands at the end of the month so we'll see if the progress made today will carry over to the proper circuits. 'Patch's' car will also be up to 2008 spec (different tyres and front dampers) for Brands.
Myles had his first taste of car driving and improved very well throughout the day. After covering the basics of using the clutch / changing gear / braking with right foot etc in the morning we progressed on to the sprint course in the afternoon. Myles ended up just 1.3 seconds slower than Patrick in the same car. Very good from someone who had never driven a car before the day!
Sunday, 10 February 2008
sunday 10th february - Snetterton
Another Day with Patrick 'Patch' Fletcher in his Saxmax Saxo. Patrick passed his ARDS test on thursday with good reports from his assesors at Castle Combe. Patricks car control is superb and he knows no fear. We got up to a good pace but I feel there's more to come from him in the way he comes off the brakes entering corners. A little more finesse in this area will help carry more speed through the corners.
I was also out with Richard Green - Regular Customer and one of my racing sponsors, in his caterham. Richard Built his car with his son Pascal - who couldn't be with us due to a school trip.
I was also out with Richard Green - Regular Customer and one of my racing sponsors, in his caterham. Richard Built his car with his son Pascal - who couldn't be with us due to a school trip.
Thursday, 7 February 2008
7th February - Silverstone GP
A full day with trackday novice Stephen Shields in his audi RS6. Stephen progressed well and was keeping GT3's in sight by the end of the day. The RS6 is a quick car but very heavy and the smoother you drove it the faster it went and the less the tyres complained!
I also took Kevin out in his GT3 - with some new tyres on! (see 2nd feb) We worked on not getting on the throttle too soon in the corner (creating understeer and scrubing the front tyre).
Saturday, 2 February 2008
Saturday 2nd Feb - Silverstone National
A busy day today working with 3 cars / drivers. Patrick 'Patch' Mason out on cicuit for the first time in his saxmax race car, Kevin Norville in his porsche GT3 and Katie's brother Stewart in his Fiesta race car.
Patrick had a superb day and was really flying. Initialy trying to go a bit too fast into the corners but by the end carrying massive speed through them all. we had the Saxo taking copse at 85mph in fourth gear - not bad at 13 years old!!
Kevin's day was cut short by an overly worn front left tyre which started to delaminate. It was very worn at the start of the day. For safety reasons we stopped driving at mid day. Kevin's using a bit too much lock after the apex of the corners at the moment which is contributing to the wear. Over our next few days training we will focus on this to make him not only smoother and faster but wear the tyres out less quickly.
Stewarts Fiesta was fresh back from Daniels Motorsport having had a winter 'service' Unfortunately the car had a sticking right rear brake which was causing the car to 'handbrake turn' at Brooklands - the only real left turn on the circuit. This caused Stewart to have a spin on his first lap which we initially thought was cold tyres. I then drove and the car spun so violently that the steering wheel pulled itself out of my hands. In trying to recover the spin the wheel spun and hit my thumb which now has a masive blood blister under the nail. I wont post a pic! We couldn't fix the problem on the day so had to pack up.
Patrick had a superb day and was really flying. Initialy trying to go a bit too fast into the corners but by the end carrying massive speed through them all. we had the Saxo taking copse at 85mph in fourth gear - not bad at 13 years old!!
Kevin's day was cut short by an overly worn front left tyre which started to delaminate. It was very worn at the start of the day. For safety reasons we stopped driving at mid day. Kevin's using a bit too much lock after the apex of the corners at the moment which is contributing to the wear. Over our next few days training we will focus on this to make him not only smoother and faster but wear the tyres out less quickly.
Stewarts Fiesta was fresh back from Daniels Motorsport having had a winter 'service' Unfortunately the car had a sticking right rear brake which was causing the car to 'handbrake turn' at Brooklands - the only real left turn on the circuit. This caused Stewart to have a spin on his first lap which we initially thought was cold tyres. I then drove and the car spun so violently that the steering wheel pulled itself out of my hands. In trying to recover the spin the wheel spun and hit my thumb which now has a masive blood blister under the nail. I wont post a pic! We couldn't fix the problem on the day so had to pack up.
Thursday, 31 January 2008
Thursday 31st Jan - Track-Club 'taster' day
Today I was working for Track - club at Brands Hatch. We had customers trying out some of the cars and my job was to teach them to get the best from the cars (whilst also staying on the black stuff).
The weather was awfull - chucking it down with rain and very windy. Despite this everybody had a great day and the cars all came back in one piece.
The weather was awfull - chucking it down with rain and very windy. Despite this everybody had a great day and the cars all came back in one piece.
Sunday, 27 January 2008
Sunday 27th January - Alconbury
Today was 13 year old Patrick 'Patch' Mason's first time out in his Saxmax Racecar. Other than a bit of practice around his local supermarket carpark this was Patrick's first time driving a car.
Patrick's dad Edward has bought him Daniel Brown's frontrunning Momo liveried saxo which is extremely well prepared.
We covered all of the usual things for a first day in the car - Gearshift Practice, braking with the right foot, skid control and analysing the feedback from the car. Patrick took to it very quickly and we were doing heel and toe braking within half an hour - most Junior drivers take a day or two's training to get there!!
Now that Patrick has completed an airfield day he can start to drive at some circuits. We're going to silverstone on the national circuit this saturday. I'll try to get some pictures and video and post up here.
Patrick's dad Edward has bought him Daniel Brown's frontrunning Momo liveried saxo which is extremely well prepared.
We covered all of the usual things for a first day in the car - Gearshift Practice, braking with the right foot, skid control and analysing the feedback from the car. Patrick took to it very quickly and we were doing heel and toe braking within half an hour - most Junior drivers take a day or two's training to get there!!
Now that Patrick has completed an airfield day he can start to drive at some circuits. We're going to silverstone on the national circuit this saturday. I'll try to get some pictures and video and post up here.
Sat 26th Jan, Snetterton
Today I spent the day in this caterham. Jonathan who owns the car is a regular customer and this day was the first of a program of days to prepare for his first season of racing. This was Jonathans 2nd day in the car and first time at snet.
We had a slight scare when the throttle stuck open (twice) and I had to react quickly and turn the ignition off. This was traced to an incorrect bolt on the throttle pedal (installed by the previous owner) which we fixed and had no more drama's.
The weather stayed dry but is was very windy which made the high speed corum curve interesting! We had a good day and Jonathan was turning good fast and consistant laps in the afternoon.
Friday, 25 January 2008
Welcome To The Blog
New for 2008 Ben Elliott Racing Ltd will use this blog section in place of the 'Latest News' section on the website.
This section will be used for posting news of events Ben and Katie have been organising and also racing news with results.
Keep checking back for more but just for now here's a nice sideways Porsche Carrera GT for you. This pic was taken on one of our Airfield Training Days at Alconbury (cambs)
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