Everything seemed ok, so I lined up for the first of the practise laps and gave the car a gentle boost assisted pullaway. This is the point in my life where the second driveshaft exploded, in a loud and dramatic fashion. I had no power to drive the car, so Colin pulled me back to the paddock whilst chiding me about the lack of front towing eye (which is fair enough, I should have one according to the regs). Andy Bunney of Servicetune fame offered his truck/ramps to inspect the damage, so we pushed the car to his truck and hoiked it onto the loading ramps to have a look underneath. Funnily enough, the same driver's side driveshaft inner CV joint had shat itself, all over the car and runway. Following a three-way conversation underneath my car; Andy, Dave and myself came to the conclusion that my adjustable arms had pushed the hub out just far enough to stress the driveshaft into dangerous territory and so a plan was hatched. A ST205 driveshaft is identical to the ST165/185, but 20mm longer in the shafter. So according to our scheme, the ST205 shaft would fix the problems.
However, I am at a racetrack in the middle of the Lincolnshire countryside, surrounded by fellow hobby racers of all kinds. Who on earth would have a spare ST205 rear driveshaft? I know, the Merlin Motorsport team!!! I think that this weekend has really cemented the value of good friends, wishing to help you that extra mile when it really counts. Paul, the service mechanic of Merlin Motorsport, just so happened to have a spare driveshaft to fit, so I relieved him if it and proceeded to fit it to my car. Fitment wasnt exactly straight forward, but perseverance saw us able to fashion a suitably sized nut and washer to mount a resurrection campaign to the mighty sledgehammer™
once the driveshaft was fitted (fitting instructions skipped!) I took it on a test drive down the run way, declared all OK and headed out for my first timed run. Due to the large entry list at Blyton Park, I had only missed one timed run! So, I headed out on a tentative blat around the circuit, gradually easing more and more power into the drivetrain to be 100% sure it was able to hold the torque demands of my 2.0l engine pushing 1.7bar through all four wheels. Sure enough, the driveshaft held fine, so I declared my opening lap a success, pulled into the paddock and changed into my racesuit.
The rest of the day was learning about the changes in the car, the sticky tyres I now use (Kumho v70), and the extra power I had available.
Still slightly tentative, I began the official third timed run (which was my second, given I missed the first run) and pushed the car a bit harder. The circuit we use at Blyton is a little tricky, especially the opening first corners where we are on cold tyres and cold brakes, so I was still taking things easy (although I still got sideways!) and coasting through many corners...
Fast forward to the final run of the day, run 7, I had previously blown two intercooler pipes off (testing on race day is never a good idea!) so this was a real “do or die” effort. My class competitor Christian Timms had been setting consistently good times throughout the day in the 1:33's so I knew the challenge was on! I did my best and without wishing to use the racer's handbook of excuses, I was lifting and braking much much too early for “The Wiggler” chicane, so much so I accelerated again before the corner, and similarly at “Bishops” and “Bunga Bunga” where I needn't have slowed for the second apex. However, I finished the A1 Pro class in third place, a close 0.8 seconds behind Christian and 4.7 seconds behind Iain Gard in the rather special “Flymo” orange ST205.
I really do feel that without the, shall we say, development problems, I would have been able to eke more out of the car on the day, however bringing a much improved brake setup to the track, plus unknown transmission problems, served to hamped my ability when racing at 10/10ths. I hope to be back on form at Snetterton in October where I shall be aiming for a class win, although I will settle for second!
This final paragraph is reserved for all my friends and co-racers who helped to make this weekend a successful one. In no particular order, here are the entries:
1. Adrian Smith, Fensport :- for answering my panicked call on Saturday evening when the driveshaft exploded.
2. Dave Brookes, Fensport :- for returning to Fensport to collect spare driveshafts, a diff and oil etc. following the emergency call. Then delivering at 7pm!
3. Paul from Merlin Motorsport, for having the spare ST205 driveshaft to repair my car, the trays of odd fasteners, washer and bits required to fix
4. Andy Bunney, Servicetune, for loaning his truck, ramps and generator to repair my car on Saturday morning
5. Nigel Levinson, for the angle grinder which allowed me to refit my hub correctly.
6. My lovely partner and future wife, Charlotte. Throughout the weekend, no matter how trying, she has been such a great help in assisting me. Whether handing me tools, preparing food or simply keeping out of the way when disaster strikes, thank you so much for being there for me. xxx
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car on ramps being lovingly hit with hammers
Celica GT4 ST165 Sprint Special. GT3071@2.0bar
The TSS seems like another good quality sprint series and with events like this and the MLR equivalent the gap between traditional cloth cap sprinting and Time Attack has well and truly been bridged.