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#31 Trissy B

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Posted 24 October 2019 - 06:51 PM

The engine bay looks fantastic! That rally stage looks like really good fun too, shame it's on the wrong side of London for me, otherwise I'd be up for that next year.

 

Let me know how that 12 car goes, I'd be interested to know if its spirited driving or clock watching.

 

I went to that autosolo at Finmere. The key words I took away were "if it breaks, it was going to break anyway" 

The course was a little rougher than Abingdon with a couple of drainage channels which were enough to do my car in a bit.

That said I'd known my arches rubbed a touch when cornering at a certain angle, I just didn't put 2 and 2 together and with a tight corner over a small ditch, the wheel managed to hit the arch - bending it out of shape and shredding a nearly new Yoko tyre... >_<   The damage popped out and isn't too noticeable now other than the tyre. I also had a problem with the clutch system letting air in somehow - a small leak I guess, which meant I almost lost the clutch and had to bleed it between runs!! Not to mention the window partially falling off it's runner over a rut  :ohno: What a shambles!  Anyway - some jobs to keep me busy. 

 

There was also a guy doing really well in a standardish mini. He looked very tidy and close to the cones on his turns. I was hoping to have a chat with him, but the clutch took up the lunch break. I found it difficult to know how hard to try and push the car. Going in, I was very conscious of having a 998, I thought I would have to go at the corners quite hard, but it would just result in understeer and wider lines if keeping on any power. I think I need to try to get towards the limit of grip without any power through the corners, then on the power nice and early. Easier said than done I guess. Being careful over bumps cost me some time too, especially after the arch incident.

 

Anyway, I managed to come 43/55, so pretty happy with that, every place is like a victory with the 998!!. Came 4th out of 10 in class - a long way off 3rd though. However, that would drop to 6th out of 12 including championship contenders

 

Hope you don't mind me posting in your thread... maybe you or someone else can learn from my mistakes!!

 

attachicon.gif 2019 Boanerges Results Spreadsheet.pdf

 

Hi Buzzword, 4th in class sounds good! I recognise a few names on there who are quick! I take it you got that damage sorted out ok? i.e. you had spare wheels? I always have an underlying worry about destroying the mini, getting there ok and getting back again, but to be honest I don't have a plan if something more major happens. I suppose phone up a breakdown lorry!

 

There's definitely a balance between 'going for it' and being careful. I think you can give it a bit of stick, especially in the rev's department. Autosolos are great for that I think. Each run is generally no more than 60 seconds and has lots of fast and slow sections, so you are never going to give it prolonged very high rev's. They are also generally on a pretty smooth surface.

 

I've found every event certainly gives the car a good 'shakedown' and I usually drive home with a long to do list! i.e. stick that back on, sort out that rattle, prop that back up.... all part of the fun!!



#32 Trissy B

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Posted 24 October 2019 - 07:17 PM

“The Spur” – BRMC 12 Car Rally – November

 

I have a longer term ambition to enter a rally, probably a Targa. In the build up to that I am going to have a bit of a stab at 12 car rallies. Bognor Regis Motor Club are also just starting these up again after many years of hiatus. Due to this and to get people like myself interested, they have put on a few ‘navigation school’ nights in The Spur pub near Chichester, so I know roughly whats going on. I have also managed to get a friend (Jon) interested enough to be my navigator.

 

Preperation for the event was almost zero due to general family busy-ness, apart from a few checks and filling it up with petrol! But I did manage to meet up with Jon one night to discuss tactics and look at the map.

 

The event started in the pub at 7pm where we signed on and were given marked up begginer maps at 7:30. The maps were black and white and no good to be honest so Jon quickly marked these back up on our own OS map. There was a few ‘black spots’ to miss and a few ‘quiet zones’ to obey as well. Following the route would of course be the easy bit…

 

I would say 80% of the roads were un-numbered single lane roads, mainly across the South Downs area and country villages. Being night time, we barely met anyone else in the 3 hours we were out (other competitors excluded!). As seeing other peoples headlights is pretty obvious, this gives you quite a lot of confidence to push around small lanes.

 

The day of the event was torrential rain but this did ease in the evening with occasional showers. The rain had come off the Downs and covered the lanes in dirt and huge puddles. Surprisingly spirited driving was required which over fairly rough roads which was a huge laugh! We hit the sump guard on more than one occasion!

 

We got massively lost in one section and took maybe 15 – 20 mins lost to sort out and get back on track. More spirited driving was required here! We (mostly me) were terrible at seeing and writing down the code boards which prove you went the right route… so we got many many ‘fails’!

 

We finished last (8th)! Out of ten starters. I believe one retired and one was over the time limit (OTL). I think it appealed to both our competitive sides, got the adrenaline going and was a good laugh. Hopefully we have learnt a bit and bring on the next one in Novemeber!

 



#33 Trissy B

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Posted 22 March 2020 - 08:54 PM

Brooklands Autosolo 15th March

 

Haven’t written a blog post for a while and as there’s no motorsport for the foreseeable future (very gutted about the Goodwood 78MM being cancelled!), so I thought why not.

 

First Autosolo of the year for me was last weekend and Brooklands museum which was actually carried out on the original finishing straight, with lining up on the old banked circuit. It was a bit of a slow day as there was only 3 tests instead of the usual 4, but it was fun and saw a few faces from the Club Triumph crowd.

 

The tests seemed simple enough and featured 1.5 laps of a top circuit and then 1.5 laps of a bottom circuit. Turns out it wasn’t as simple as it seemed (!) and I did quite poorly on the first test, getting lost a number of times!

 

For some reason I put tyre pressures right down to 18psi on the front, which led to the tyre coming off the rim!!! But managed to save this with the help of a fellow competitor, pumped it back up and it held air. Decided to put them back at ‘normal’ after that: 28 front and 26 back.

 

Somewhere between the second and third tests (tests B and C which were actually the same) it rained quite a bit making the last test wet. Funnily enough I was loving this and somehow improved a lot on my overall time (over 10 seconds per run!!). I think I enjoy it more and do better when the surface is a bit looser. I also knew the way and was really going for it on the last runs, rev’ving all in first gear up to 5500rpm ish (not sure how fast that is, still pretty slow no doubt!).

 

Aside from the tyre incident, the mini behaved itself very well. Overall I came 31st out of 51, which I wasn’t totally happy with. But based on only the last test, I would have come 10th overall!! I obviously need to give it that much and remember where to go.

 

Really hope that things settle down soon for everyone and we all get back to normality, its a stressful time for a lot of people. Hope I can get to another event in 2020, but am using some of the down time to do a few jobs on the mini e.g. out on a bottom engine steady bar, new fly off handbrake, fit an electric fan etc.

 

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I am car 17


Edited by Trissy B, 22 March 2020 - 09:00 PM.


#34 Buzzword

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Posted 20 July 2020 - 10:41 AM

Just to let you know, Abingdon is back on for September. The entries open on Thursday - I imagine it will fill up super quick, have a look if you're interested. Think I'll be going if I can get a place. I've been doing a bit of long overdue maintenance - new cones all round, hilos up front, to match the back and rear radius arms, so I've got the car sitting a bit higher. Bit worried as last time I did a bit of damage at Finmere, but I think I need to 'get back on the horse'  



#35 Trissy B

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Posted 15 October 2020 - 06:55 PM

Just to let you know, Abingdon is back on for September. The entries open on Thursday - I imagine it will fill up super quick, have a look if you're interested. Think I'll be going if I can get a place. I've been doing a bit of long overdue maintenance - new cones all round, hilos up front, to match the back and rear radius arms, so I've got the car sitting a bit higher. Bit worried as last time I did a bit of damage at Finmere, but I think I need to 'get back on the horse'  

 

Sorry Buzzword I only just saw this! Hope you got on OK and hope to meet you one day!... I also need some new cones - mine seem to have dropped a lot very quickly.



#36 Trissy B

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Posted 15 October 2020 - 06:58 PM

9-11th October - 12 Car Rally and Autosolo

 

Well it has certainly been a funny kind of year. Managed to fit in a couple of Autotests over summer but the first two ‘proper’ events of the year were done over this weekend.

 

We entered last minute into the ‘Ashes’ 12 car rally with Southsea Motor Club. This started on Portsdown hill and took in lots of the lanes just north of Portsmouth. We struggled to find lots of the roads early on and started to loose time. Also missed a time control or two but just managed to get within time (+28 minutes where 30 minutes is OTL Over Time Limit). A few other fails put us last finisher (8th). But hey at least we finished!

 

We had a couple of interesting moments too. Firstly when turning right the ‘long way around’ a triangle up a very steep slope. I completely beached the mini!! We had to both get out and push/lift before jumping in and reversing off. Second, we almost got stuck in a lot of deep mud. There was a long stretch of it right in the middle of the road and must of come over the sump guard, but I just about managed to keep momentum (and our feet clean).

 

That was Friday night. Saturday I headed to ML Motorsport in Kent for AC Dodd to give the mini a quick tune up. Turns out the carb is worn and needs sorting out, but it now ticks over and revs up much better on a new needle. Thanks AC.

 

Sunday was off to Kempton Park for the Southern Car Club Autosolo. These tests were really long and could pick up much more speed than usual in second gear. Also some tight turns so overall they were great! Day didn’t start great though... first run I had fuel coming out the filler cap, rubbing on the wheel arch and hit a cone so hard the fibreglass arch came off!! Lots of really good drivers and difficult competition! Came 38th in the end out of 55, in between the two other minis.

 

Overall, 400 miles done in the mini, one rally and an autosolo. Car did really well; nothing some wd40 and insulation tape couldn’t fix. But I do need to change my rubber cones, the drivers side has dropped a lot!!

 

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