2023 Season
|
Over winter we had a good think about the oil and cooling system on the Force. Nigel Keats at Cougar had a few ideas but the major change was to relocate the main oil catch tank to the rear of the car
well away from the exhaust primaries. I took the Caterham for a much needed re-map to Mike Longman Racing who are both the UK dealer for OBR EFi ECUs and have a chassis dyno where the dyno connects to the driven hubs rather than a rolling road.
A touch over 200bhp was a welcome result. New tyres were needed so I opted for Nankang AR-1s. For various reasons we had a very late start to the season - Lydden in May.
The Year:
May: Lydden May 20. Good weather and organisation from Borough 19. Chris was a bit rusty but a third and fourth in the Run Offs wasn't a bad start to the season. I struggled a bit in the Caterham but managed a reasonably
competitive third out of seven with a 86.80s best.
June: Pembrey 3/4 June. If Lydden was encouraging then Pembrey was a real eye opener. We were expecting that the Force would be at a disadvantage on the long fast straights but it turned out to be the reverse! Chris J was able
to carry so much speed through the fast corners. Day 1 saw a close second in the morning Run Off was followed by a win in the afternoon second Run Off - only the second time an 1,100 cc car has won a Run Off. I couldn't really get
the Caterham hooked up and was fourth in class with a 125.02s but well ahead of Mike Smith.
Day 2 on the Clubman track was pretty much a repeat of Day 1 with a win in the First Run Off followed by a third place in the second Run Off with the added bonus of FTD. I quickly reached a plateau in the Caterham with my final three runs all within a few tenths of each other with a 135.26s best although
I just beat Mike again.
Llandow 24th June. On my own in the Caterham and resonably competitive, if a bit behind the others with a 86.55s.
July: July 15 and back to Lydden but just with the Force for Chris J. After a qualifying scare (spin and quick recovery without a red flag) the first Run Off netted a second and this was followed by another win in the second Run Off.
Three wins in three events and the top scorer over 8 Run Offs! We even began thinking about the Championship but then Chris J caught a nasty bout of Covid which laid him low for the rest of the season.....
July 22: Castle Combe for the Dick Mayo Sprint and sharing with Chris P. A close battle between Mike Smith, Chris P and myself (0.44s between us) but with me last and disappointed with a 92.44s
August: August 26th and 27th Snetterton. With Chris out for the season it was just me in the Caterham. I was still struggling with the Nankangs, trying to get used to the initial sidewall flex on turn in which felt like the beginning of a slid.
I was having to adjust my driving style but was at least a competitive last only a couple of tenths adrift of the two ahead of me with a 103.52s. On Day 2 I improved a bit to a 101.73s and moved up a place!
and a one day event at Snetterton on the 100 circuit. An up and down day with overheating and oil coming out of the catch tank again which hampered our running a bit. However, I was now comfortable in the car and finding Snetterton quite benign so was able to push
a bit more. An 89.34s was good enough to come 5th out of 9 in the class, eleventh overall and beating three of the 1600s. Very pleased.
September: Anglesey 30/1. We had the hotel booked so it was just me in the Caterham. Day 1 on the short National circuit and an OK first run followed by two very poor runs for a 74.85s and fourth out of five. Day 2 on the longer International track was worse. A spin in damp practice followed by three very uninspiring runs and
last on a 106.15s.
October:Castle Combe October 14. And now things got worse. Sharing the Caterham with Chris P I had an uninspiring preactice run and on my first timed run the cylinder head gasket let go so that was it. An ignominious end to the season but some ideas for the next one.
End of season: After Combe it was easy to point the finger at a number of reasons for the Caterham's declining performance. The cylinder head gasket was probably failing at an earlier stage and that could be sorted over the winter.
I decided to ditch the Nankangs and revert to Toyos which had suited me well previously. Finally it dawned that the 23 year old Bilstein dampers were probably due for replacement and perfomance gains could be expected from some
clever new, Caterham specific items. The Force was clearly going well so along with a few tweaks here and there it was really hoping that our lead driver could get through the winter in good shape.
|
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
