Curborough report 9th May - May 2010

9th May - Things don't go to plan and the Clio 172 engine needs attention

Well.. my first event event didn't go too well.. I had two decent practice runs a 41.92 and a 40.74 not as good as my last visit of 38.56 and then on my first timed run about half way round disaster struck, the engine started clanging.. I'm guessing its the bottom end bearings or something. I pootled across the finish line and exited the track and went for an early bath.. The bonus being I got a time so I was first in class being the only competitor in sports libre class

I think the cause was a tired engine as it's never been checked since I bought it second hand. However, once it's fixed I'll be fitting a proper rev counter and setting the rev limited as I don't fancy a repeat of this.

On the up side of things it gives me the opportunity to replace the cam belt and whilst I'm at it the gearbox too.

With a bit of luck I should have it sorted for my return trip to Curbourgh on June 19th

Return to Curborough for the 9th of May Sprint - May 2010

8th May - Preparation for the first sprint of the year
After not getting around to changing the gearbox I'm just going to have to change up gentley if that's possible on a sprint, so expect plenty of grinding as I launch from the line. Sunday will be my first sprint of the year, I have removed the standard Renault 5 GT Turbo seats in favour of a single Sparco Pro 2000 bucket seat. Apart from this I've added another split pin to my exhaust to stop the mount from moving.
I've just got to go and get my race numbers "42" from roadrunner motorsport my local stockist and I'll be ready. With a bit of luck I should have some pictures or even in car footage up here next week depending on how my home made mount works.
I've managed to get hold of the screw that fits into the bottom of cameras, it's called a whitworth thread and I plan to weld this to a piece of metal which I will then attach via jubilee clips to my seat belt bar. This should provide a nice mount for my trusty Cannon Powershot A520 hopefully giving me some high def in-car footage on the cheap!
I've also been reading up on tyre pressures, and has prompted me to buy to items a digital tyre pressure gauge and a temperature monitoring device. I've read that if you take three temperatures across the tyre from left to right you can work out if it's over or under inflated and also whether you have to much or little camber.
For example if the middle temperature is considerably higher than the left and right the tyre is over inflated.
Anyway I've put together a sort of data log for tyre pressures and setup information. This will record all my race information neatly on a form so I can compare for next time.
If the form is any use to you feel free to click on the thumbnail then click download, it will then appear in your browser for you to print from.