Avon Heat at Castle Combe 2006
As usual we left school at 6.00 am, not without drama as someone had damaged the roller shutters and this left our minibus and trailer trapped inside…. briefly. Flexible working for our long suffering caretakers does not include 6 am on Sunday morning!! We had a good journey down until J16 M4 which said it was closed. Turns out it had been, but opened pretty much as we turned off. Still, we got to the circuit at 8.30 and then it was pretty much “rush/frantic/where is the gaffa tape” until the race started at 11.00. However, our GPS speed logger was working (at LAST) and so was the current (see the graphs from practice here, real values too) and we were able to determine our strategy with ease. TSR-1 was going so well (not sure why) that we decided to up the gearing by ½” on the drive pulley and so the race began. After just a few laps TSR-2 reported a nasty burning smell and did a quick pit-stop, it seemed to be a binding disc brake caused by the heat of the day. A quick adjustment and out it went again, settling down into regular 4.15ish laps. TT and SS were having a ‘I can go faster than you’ game for the first hour, anyone who doubts the influence of aerodynamics should see these cars go past down the pit strait, hotly pursued by Slippy Trug that occasionally showed a similar turn of speed. The race progressed without any drama for us although those teams who did have problems had my sympathy – it really was so hot there! As expected the Rotary Racer and R-Pod were on top form and looked as if they would keep us well out of the awards. At the 51/2 hour point we were 6th, with Slippy Trug on a charge behind us, RR a long way in front, R-Pod still going faster than us and TT & SS well out in front. I lost the plot at this point and although it looked like R-Pod was slowing, it was only in the last 10 minutes that it really slowed. I did not register the non-appearance of SS, or the sudden cessation of ST’s charge and neither did anyone else on the team as after the race we loaded up and only then remembered to go and cheer the winners. To our (pleasant) surprise we had clinched 3rd place, probably by a fraction of a lap up on R-Pod, but at least it (R-Pod) got it’s first Gold, along with a strange looking but clearly serious contender Rotary Racer. I would love to see a data log from a bubble on vs a bubble off lap (I bet they would too!)
All in all a great day out and a really good circuit for Greenpower – the long pit approach really slows people down and made the pits so much safer. TSR-1 even managed an 8% increase with 127 miles. I also managed some time out on track with the recovery marshals (they work hard!!) and I have video and stills of most of the cars. I’ll put the lot on a CD in a week or two should anyone want a picture of their car ‘out on track’. Bear with me, I’m up to my neck until the 20th July!
RGE 3/7/06
