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SCOR Round 7 : Manston - Race Report

 

 

After limping around Plurenden Manor Farm on broken suspension for most of the day, there was a fair bit to do to the Rav to be ready to race at Manston. The fact that it was to be run as a Safari+ event meant the car needed to be properly ready!

 

Pre race...

First job on list to sort before the next event was a 'new' bonnet. After the suspension disaster, this may have seemed an odd choice, but the suspension issues were going to take a bit more head scratching to progress. The installation of the new bonnet was straight forward and this and the new decals are covered in a previous post.

 

Next was to strip the front suspension. As disassembly progressed we found that the near side shock was starting to leak with oily deposits on the shaft, but the off side insert had completely burst and leaked all its oil into the strut casing. Both inserts also showed significant signs of overheating with discolouration to the paint, and the off side insert showed signs of some internal failure with bulging marks in the casing and cracking paint.

 

The inserts would not go on (the full story will be covered in another post) so after some thought the only option I really had to be ready to race at Manston was to replace the KYB that I bent at Bilsington and get the Rav back on its wheels and ready to race, in some capacity. I discussed the failed top mount with Compbrake and asked them to make me a set in steel. My engineering 'feeling' is the aluminum was probably the wrong grade and too brittle for off road use, so they sent me a steel set and I duly installed them as the struts were reassembled and refitted.

 

Inspecting the car before the struts were refitted, I found what looked like a fresh crack in the driver side strut tower. I was already aware of a historical one in the passenger side, so I welded them both up. I put the new one down the beating the car had taken at Plurenden, driving many laps with more or less no damping at all.

 

Whilst fixing the bonnet and replacing the bonnet pins I noticed that a couple of the headlight mounting points were cracked. I think this had been caused by the bumper skin hitting / rattling against them, so I swapped the lights for a spare set I had 'in stock'.

 

Moving the Rav around the workshop I'd noticed the exhaust had a new rattle, so it was time to drop the driver side underbody guard and investigate. The rear exhaust rubber was splitting, so it was replaced and strengthened with several large cable ties.

 

Last job was to reset the tracking (again) with the trusty Gunson trackrite, and a quick road test via the Shell garage to fill the tank and a couple of cans with Vpower... Then it was ready to load up! This time I was going prepared for another strut top failure - taking an array of bits including the original aluminum strut top bearing mounts, some spare bearings the spring compressor and of course the trusty repair washer!! ... Just in case.

 

 

This was to be my first ever 'Safari+' rules event. With a 'normal' Comp Safari event, the average speed across a lap must not exceed 30mph. This meant the course often has tight twists and turns and especially rough parts to slow the cars down, and reduce the average. With Comp Safari+ the average speed is allowed to exceed 30mph, meaning the course is more flowing with some much higher speed sections.

 

Day 1

As the racing was starting at 12:00 (rather than the usual 10:00) it was not such an early start. We still had a solid 2 1/2 hour drive to get there as (ex-RAF) Manston is in east Kent. We joked it was so far east that if overshot a corner at the far end of the course you would end up in the sea...

 

The day started cold, grey and windy. We arrived and headed for the pits, situated at the western end of the runway next to the section of the site used as a drag strip. We unloaded the Rav and headed to the timing van to sign in. Once the paper work was done I headed for the scrutineering queue. The race had a full entry so it was busy, with people entering from all over the UK. Chatting to a few of the other competitors there were people there from Cheshire, Hampshire, Kent, North Wales, Norfolk, Sussex, Wiltshire and Yorkshire.

 

 

The course had been set at 8.2 miles. There would be the opportunity for 6 laps on Saturday, and a further 8 laps (plus any catchup laps) on the Sunday. We were told that the start interval would be one minute and the starting order would be on a first come, first served basis. The course was very open and we were asked to 'play nicely' and to move over to let faster cars pass.

 

I'd never been to (ex-RAF) Manston before so my first time out on the course was the 'look / see' lap. We joined the queue not too far from the front. A marshal set off at a fairly brisk pace in his jeep, we had a lot of ground to cover. I was a bit worried about the seeding, as there were a lot of cars there that were going to be a lot faster than us, but decided just to get on with it and when it came to the racing just move over to let the faster drivers through. 

 

From the start the course headed south on the grass for short distance, before turning west and running along the side of the runway for couple of hundred metres. It then turned to the north and crossed the runway, looping around the back of the pits into the first offroad 'complex' section on mostly grass with about 15 corners. From here it it opened onto the first tarmac runway section, a short straight blast of about 1/4 mile. 

 

After the short runway blast we turned north across the grass to a large earth mound, which we climbed up onto, drove along the top of and then down the other side, then heading to the north west across grass , broken concrete and tarmac to a small jump. From here the course continued to head west through what can only be described as a rubbish dump before doubling back to the centre 'gravel rally' section. Here the surface changed to a large expanse of white gravel where there were about half a dozen fairly fast sweeping corners set out over 1/2 a mile,  punctuated by a fairly fierce (for the Rav) lump / mini jump before heading south to the runway again. Once back on the runway we were treated to almost a mile of flat out blast to its eastern end, and back to the dirt.

 

Here the course traced around the eastern perimeter and after 4 or 5 more corners we were at the most easterly point and the farthest from the start. A final sweeping bend gave a great view over the sea to the south (and you could even see France at some points during the weekend) before turning and heading back west along the southern perimeter of the site. This section turned out to be my favourite, with just over 2 mile of fast corners, ups and downs, and a small jump over one of access roads. After the fastest grass section of  the course only a few corners remained to the finish.

 

 

With the full grid and a 1 min start interval was going to be challenging to fit in 6 laps. Last start time set at 4 and a half hours after your first start.

 

Lap 1

Did not go well. We set off at a good pace. At about 1.8 miles there was a short blast on the runway followed by an excursion over a large soil mound. We climbed up onto it ok but came back off of it a bit hard, triggering an exclamation of pain from my co-driver. I moved off the course and stopped. Something in his back has let go and he wasn't going to be able to continue. We were close to marshal point 4 and the marshal came over assessed the situation and called for the paramedics to recover my co driver back to the pits. Once he was safely handed over I carried on and finished just short of a maximum.

 

Lap 2

At the end of lap 1 my co driver was not yet back at the pits, so I headed straight back out. I managed to complete the lap without getting caught by the starter a minute behind me. This felt like a good sign.

 

 

Lap 3 

After lap 2 I headed to the pits and found my co-driver. He'd been given some pain killers and we thought it sensible he headed for home. I'd be doing the rest of the day on my own. I headed back out for another run, and shaved a few more seconds off my previous time.

 

Lap 4

After lap 3, I lined back up for the next run but we were held. The team had decided the course needed to be modified to reduce the average speed, but some teams were already getting behind on lap count so we waited whilst the teams that has done less than 3 laps were mopped up and put back out on the course.  Once the teams that could had run their 3rd runs the course was closed and the changes made. To catch up the start interval was dropped to 30 seconds.

 

 

Lap 5

By this point I was starting to concentrate on taking better lines to carry speed where I could to allow me to slow down more on the rougher parts and really slow down on the cautions. I was determined to finish the day, and the event. With a good line and entry onto the runway, I hit the highest speed on tarmac section with the speedo showing over 100mph. (The GPS tracker later corrected this to 98mph). As the lap went on I was caught and passed. It started to rain.

 

Lap 6

I was starting to find some great lines and the course was really flowing. I had to limit top speed on the runway due to vibration from wheel balance issues due to the mud build up inside the rims. This isn't usually noticeable on the speeds run on a normal safari! The fuel light was coming on. I noticed fuel surge on a couple of corners, then I was at the finish and all my runs for the day were complete. 

 

I had finished the day. 60 miles driven. The car had driven well. I was last in class A by 2 or 3 minutes, mainly due to the near maximum on lap 1. The remaining lap times put me mid field, but far from last overall. I was hopeful we could catch that up on day 2.

 

By this point it was starting to rain fairly persistently. I thought I'd head straight to the fuel station that was only about 1/2 mile away. The benefit of having a road registered and taxed and MOT'd racer! Unfortunately there was no super unleaded (as everyone else from the race had already bought it all) so it was a fill up of the nasty E10 stuff, then back to the pits to park the Rav for the night before retiring to the hotel!

 

 

Day 2

As the clocks changed that weekend, I got an extra hour in bed at the Holiday Inn Express that was just across the road from the fuel station. I had a leisurely breakfast and made my way back to the pits just before 09:00. I was in the process of checking the car over when I realised there was quite a bit of activity going on around me, and people were heading to the start and out onto the course. I must have missed the memo about the 9am start!! 

 

I hurried my jobs along; clean out the wheels, tightening the bolts for belly pan and adjusting the exhaust, put on my helmet, HANS and screwfix gloves and headed for the start line. The day was again running a 30 seconds start interval so the queue soon cleared. My day 2 co-driver was still yet to arrive so I headed to the start for the first run of the day on my own.

 

Lap 7 (Sunday Lap 1)

The weather was great, sunshine and clear blue sky. The wind had dried the ground, so it was fast and grippy. I always have a feeling of trepidation on the first run of the day, but within a couple of corners I was back in the groove, smiling and having a great time! 

 

Lap 8 (Sunday Lap 2)

As I was packing up on day 1 I'd noticed that I'd forgotten to take the HANS from my Saturday co-driver for my Sunday co-driver, and it had headed 100+ miles home in the back of his car! I'd asked around the pits and eventually found a local marshal that had one we could borrow for the day on the Sunday. This was an amazing stroke of luck, as without it I would have been driving solo again.

 

During the lap we were passed twice. The first was by number 24, (a buggy), just before the big earth mound. 3/4 of the way around the lap I pulled over to let land rover number 28 pass, but hung with him. I commented to my co-driver it smelt a bit unwell and within 1/2 a mile of passing us they pulled off the course and retired from the lap. (Looking at the results they did manage to continue and finish the event.)

 

Lap 9 (Sunday Lap 3)

About 1.5 miles into the lap where the new complex of corners was added on the Saturday we were slowed by yellow flags. Car 3 had gone over onto its side and was being recovered. They managed to get going again and finished the event.

 

Lap 10 (Sunday Lap 4)

At the far end of the course I moved over and we were passed by number 82, Alive Racing. This was just before the jump, which we managed to capture on camera. It was a good clean run, uneventful but really fun. With room in the tank, after the finish we headed back to the pits to top up with super from the 2 cans I brought with me.  

 

Lap 11 (Sunday Lap 5)

This was an eventful lap. The OFG team (number 7) were stopped just after the jump at about 4 miles . They gave us the thumbs up, so we carried on. By the time we reached the next corner at about 4.5 miles, number 71 (a yellow land rover) was right behind us so I moved over to let them pass, I left a bit of a gap for dirt and gravel spray and made chase. I was sticking with him. After about 3 corners there was a straight section where the course passed between a patch of bushes and the perimeter fence. As we passed the bushes we clipped something sharp on the ground and burst the front drivers side tyre. As we carry a spare we jumped out to change it. I thought this would be quick and straight forward, but the ground was so soft the bottle jack just dug in. After a couple of tries we gave up, enjoyed the view of the sea and of France in the distance and headed back to the pits to change the wheel and take a maximum. You can watch the overtake and even hear the puncture on the video here.

 

 

Lap 12 (Sunday Lap 6)

With only a few laps to go, I was pushing harder each lap. Trying to carry a bit more speed where I could but still trying not to give the front suspension too much of a hard time on the rougher parts. We were caught and passed by 65 early on in the lap, spoiler alert - they ended up the overall winners of the event. There is a youtube short of their pass from the co-drivers perspective here.

 

 

Lap 13 (Sunday Lap 7) 

We were passed by number 28 again on this lap, I moved over and let them pass just before the increasingly rough rubbish dump section.  I chased them as hard as a dare, and then caught car 21 as it left the gravel for the runway. 21 is a fellow class A competitor and with much longer gearing flew past him. You can see it in this youtube short. As it was our second to last run I pushed on as far as I possibly could before lifting off to brake for the transition back to dirt. The GPS said we hit 104mph!  With the end in sight, I decided to take the small jump across the service road flat out. The car jumps incredibly well, and even on the terrible front suspension the landing was OK!

 

 

Lap 14 (Sunday Lap 8)

Before we knew it, it was our last run. It was only half past one. It was one of those days where everything went relatively well, and the miles just flew by, very different to last months slog around Plurenden Farm and timings going down to the wire. We flew around the course setting our fastest time of the day. 

 

After the race...

There is no doubt about it, Round 7 was the best couple of days racing I've had. The racing was actually very close. Between the bumps the Rav was fairly competitive, keeping up with some of the cars in the bigger capacity classes. Due to the on-going story of the front suspension development I was on best behavior as we had to make it to the end of the event. As a result, I was backing off on the rough parts and taking it very slowly over the ditches and ridges to limit the stress on the front shocks. Looking at the in car videos, and counting the points where I backed off or slowed down I think I was losing about a minute a lap.

 

The puncture (and the failure to change the wheel out on the course) cost us a maximum on that lap adding around 12 minutes to our overall time. In hindsight as the tyre was already ruined by a sidewall slash we should have just pushed on at reduced speed. This would have probably got us back to the finish quicker than a maximum.

 

I now have the winter break to push on with the front suspension development. A plan for custom front struts is now coming together that should see a small increase in travel but a significant improvement in damping and control. This should allow the car to not only carry more speed (as I won't have to slow down or stop for every root and hole) but also improve the reliability and durability.

 

I'm hoping my co-driver recovers fully and quickly so he can be back out racing with me next year.