What a long day...Set of for Brands at 03.30 this morning in very humid conditions for the drive down. As we got near to London the rain started and by the time we were in Essex there was a fair amount of standing water on the roads. Was this going to be a declared wet race. By the time we arrived at the circuit the rain had stopped but the track was still damp and the circuit organisers were out busy sweeping the standing water off the track. Just as we startedto unload the car the rains came again and this was to be the order of the day but even when it rained it remained very humid.
Warm Up.
With concerns over our recent over heating issues Alan didn't want to sit and que in the pit lane so he sat in the car in the garage until they started rolling out onto track. I called him out and off he went, figures crossed.
In the drivers briefing they had said that we could run which ever tyres we wanted to, so Alan had optted to go with the wets as the track was still quite wet in places.
As Alan rolled out of the pit lane into Paddock Hill bend, he had a slight issue.
The back stepped out, he caught it, he went again....................sideways is really not the best way to go down Paddock Hill Bend.(Video will be up tomorrow).
The car ran without a single hiccup, although when Alan came in he very unhappy with the handling of the car.
The biggest issue that came out of the warm up session was Alans loack of knowledge of the track and the shear lack of seat time that he has had in this car.
TA - Brands Hatch
Session 2
A bit more rear wing and changes to the tyre pressures and we were ready to go. Once again Alan sat in the pit garage until the circuit was open. Yet again the transponder had not worked in the first session so Alan relocated it further back in the car. As I was watching out timing screen the garage I saw the message come up 'Car 12 Transponder not working'.
I called Alan on the radio to let him know and told him to stay out.
The session was red flagged and Alan came into the pits. We decided to finish the session and then sort out the transponder issue with the guys from TSL.
Again there were no issues with the car.
Qualifying.
With the track drying out the discussion of tyres was formost in our minds, we were either stood in the pitlane or paddock but always looking up at the heavens as there was more rain in those clouds.
Alan came up with an inspired idea, we would fit the 888's to one side of the car, then that way we could leave the final decision until 10mins before the session start as that way we would only have to change 2 tyres.
888's it was.
So off he went and it was clear from where we were watching that Alan was starting to find his feet again and get back into the swing of things. We were still off the pace of the rest of our group but we had decided that today was more about testing the car and Alan getting some much needed seat time time.
Final.
Before the session started Alan, Wayne and myself were all stood in the paddock chatting when I noticed a group had formed around the car and were looking at the engine as the bonnet was up. The car was facing the pit lane so we couldn't see what they were doing, so I asked Wayne to go and keep an eye on them.
All ready to run in our first TA final...........................The car would't start... Bonnet up eyes on everything when Wayne spotted the vaccum pipe from the fuel pressure regulator was off, by now the engine was well and truely flooded and the battery was dying. Then to our surprise a competitors team offered to give us a push to get it started. 6 blokes pushing a sierra down thy pitlane got it going and Alan was off.
The car again ran well and Alan only had one excurrsion off the track. We were able to run the car from start to finish of each session and the only heat issue was the heat in the cabin and not the engine.
A bit more rear wing and changes to the tyre pressures and we were ready to go. Once again Alan sat in the pit garage until the circuit was open. Yet again the transponder had not worked in the first session so Alan relocated it further back in the car. As I was watching out timing screen the garage I saw the message come up 'Car 12 Transponder not working'.
I called Alan on the radio to let him know and told him to stay out.
The session was red flagged and Alan came into the pits. We decided to finish the session and then sort out the transponder issue with the guys from TSL.
Again there were no issues with the car.
Qualifying.
With the track drying out the discussion of tyres was formost in our minds, we were either stood in the pitlane or paddock but always looking up at the heavens as there was more rain in those clouds.
Alan came up with an inspired idea, we would fit the 888's to one side of the car, then that way we could leave the final decision until 10mins before the session start as that way we would only have to change 2 tyres.
888's it was.
So off he went and it was clear from where we were watching that Alan was starting to find his feet again and get back into the swing of things. We were still off the pace of the rest of our group but we had decided that today was more about testing the car and Alan getting some much needed seat time time.
Final.
Before the session started Alan, Wayne and myself were all stood in the paddock chatting when I noticed a group had formed around the car and were looking at the engine as the bonnet was up. The car was facing the pit lane so we couldn't see what they were doing, so I asked Wayne to go and keep an eye on them.
All ready to run in our first TA final...........................The car would't start... Bonnet up eyes on everything when Wayne spotted the vaccum pipe from the fuel pressure regulator was off, by now the engine was well and truely flooded and the battery was dying. Then to our surprise a competitors team offered to give us a push to get it started. 6 blokes pushing a sierra down thy pitlane got it going and Alan was off.
The car again ran well and Alan only had one excurrsion off the track. We were able to run the car from start to finish of each session and the only heat issue was the heat in the cabin and not the engine.
Seat time I would imagine, and I mean no offence by that. When I used to drive on track, all those years ago, the difference between 'absolute confidence' and 'prepared to go quickly' was huge. I am sure that practice will pay the biggest differences for Team TNT 
Nice aggro free report Pablo. What was the turnout like? (spectators and competitors)
Nice aggro free report Pablo. What was the turnout like? (spectators and competitors)
http://www.auto-genie.co.uk
07733 527430
stuart@auto-genie.co.uk
Valeting, detailing and undersealing
07733 527430
stuart@auto-genie.co.uk
Valeting, detailing and undersealing
Thanks guys:thumbs:
The turnout was very good competitor wise with over 25 cars in club class and about the same in the pro classes. It's really hard to say about spectator numbers although the paddock area was a lot busier with spectators than last time we were there.
Seat time is what Alan needs most at the moment. Engine wise, we are at that point where to take it further really requires head work as well and that means getting another mls head gasket. We have discussed some minor changes to the engine that Alan will be disussing with Gordon at some point. I have spoken to Gordon today to lay the ground work as to what we feel we need to gain from any changes or re-mapping.
The lack of rear grip was down to set up, tyre pressures and temperatures. When Alan first went out the rear wing was still set at the usual position. For the next session (which we didn't have time to set the video for), we lowered the tyre pressures to help them heat up quicker and increasd the angle of attack of the rear wing.
The turnout was very good competitor wise with over 25 cars in club class and about the same in the pro classes. It's really hard to say about spectator numbers although the paddock area was a lot busier with spectators than last time we were there.
Seat time is what Alan needs most at the moment. Engine wise, we are at that point where to take it further really requires head work as well and that means getting another mls head gasket. We have discussed some minor changes to the engine that Alan will be disussing with Gordon at some point. I have spoken to Gordon today to lay the ground work as to what we feel we need to gain from any changes or re-mapping.
The lack of rear grip was down to set up, tyre pressures and temperatures. When Alan first went out the rear wing was still set at the usual position. For the next session (which we didn't have time to set the video for), we lowered the tyre pressures to help them heat up quicker and increasd the angle of attack of the rear wing.
