Project RX8 Race.

Myself and my good friend Jonny have been car enthusiasts as long as I can remember. We also love pretty much all things motorsport. A few years ago after many pub discussions we got around to entering the Club 100 karting series, which you can read more about in earlier blogs. Although the karting was hugely enjoyable we always had a dream of actually getting out on track in a proper race prepared car racing against others on the tracks we all love and know such as, Silverstone, Cadwell Park and Brands Hatch. This is a dream I feel many enthusiast have but due to family commitments, lack of funds, no time etc. etc. there’s usually something that stops you from actually getting out there.

Over this last 6 months we have had plenty of time to think about how we would get to the point of racing. Jonny owns an ever growing fleet of Mazda RX8’s (another story) and 1 of which he was recently planning to restore back to OEM and then sell on to free up space. However as with many car projects he had started to loose his direction with it and wondered if he could simply strip the weight out of it, add some safety gear and go racing. Although technically the answer was yes, the car would be racing in a series surrounded by much faster cars, and due to the regulations and lack of funds there wasn’t much you could do about it. So now with the options of racing in a series where ultimately you wouldn’t be competitive or just carrying on with restoring to OEM, restoring was the better of the option.

This wasn’t to be the end of the story however. Whilst looking in to other racing categories we stumbled across the one make series for the mark 1 RX8. A series designed to keep things cheap and all competitors on a level playing field. The only drawn back was the RX8’s Jonny owns are the limited edition PZ models. These wouldn’t be eligible for the series as only the series 1 231 bhp models are allowed. Now to build a basic car that would match the entry reequipments for the series you were looking at a rough cost of £5000 including the car, although depending on the cost of the car it could be more or less. Once again it felt like 1 step forward and 2 steps back as neither of us could afford the investment, especially during these COVID times.

Facebook to the rescue! Something you don’t often say, but it was to be our saving grace. Jonny had signed us up to the Facebook group of the racing series and a few weeks later a part built race car had come up for sale at a very reasonable price. All the main expensive things had been done including the roll cage and weight reduction. A phone call and visit later we now appear to have our first race car build! The work left to do is probably only a couple of weekends worth and then we can take the car out for testing. As we are already towards the end of the season the car will be hopefully ready for next year and the first round if all goes well. The format of the racing dictates that there must be a mandatory pit stop half way through a race so we will be sharing the driving duties throughout the season.

As soon as the car has been collected and back at the garage we can start working on it and I will be doing updates on here as and when they happen, including race reports and videos of all the action.

Watch this space!

Club 100 Karting.

With motorsport now mostly back on our screens it had me thinking about my time racing in the Club 100 UK Karting series, the UK’s most competitive arrive and drive series. Me and my friend Jonny had always been in to karting and attended local karting sites around work and family life when the time allowed. Jonny had found out about Club 100 and asked if I wanted to give it a go in there newly formed (although gone now) quadrant series. The format was relatively simple, although you could run as a lone driver. The idea was to have a team with a minimum of 2 drivers. There would be 4 races in the day made up of a 5 minute warm up and then a 20 minute race. The grid was divided into classes made up with elite drivers at the head of the field, club drivers in the middle and the novices bringing up the rear. Each group would have a random grid position but you would always start at either the front, middle or back of the grid depending what class you were in. So an elite driver would never start at the rear or middle of the pack and the same goes for the reverse. With 2 drivers in our team we each would do 2 races in the day. We also usually optioned for a test session the day before to familiarize ourselves with the new circuits, of which all were new to us. Now jumping from the type of karts you get at most arrive and drive centers (the 4 stroke type) to a direct drive high performance 2 stroke kart is quite the learning curve, especially when your very first test day at the start of the year is on a track you don’t know, which is slowly defrosting from the overnight winter conditions. Never the less we cracked on with it and after many many spins we did start to get a feel for the kart, all be it in the worst possible conditions. Things could only get better right?

The race report below was one I kept round by round so I could share the experience with other potential enthusiasts who were looking to get in to the next level of karting but were maybe put off by the level of talent (which was generally pretty high) or were just unsure what the racing might be like.

Pile-ups, Pizza & Passes.

Round 5 Ellough Park.

This months round took us east towards Ecceles. Another long distance trip for most much like Llandow meant the turn out was a little down on numbers but on the up side it did bring out some new faces to the series.

Again me and my team mate decided to go for the testing hour the day before to familiarize ourselves as much as possible with another new circuit. We would be in for a bit of luck also with part of the track having just been freshly resurfaced which kept my ribs happy for at least 10 minutes.

June 2017, Ellough Park Circuit. Me turning left in to a right, a tricky corner to get dialed.

Heat 1.

With another randomly allocated grid we found ourselves starting mid pack for the first race. My team mate took the duties on this occasion and after the usual 5 minutes warm up the grid was formed up and the lights went green. Keen to stay out of the first lap elbows out my team mate held station for a moment until being tagged from behind and spun off the circuit. Now it was all to do running from the back of the pack and some several seconds off the nearest kart. As the laps went by he settled in to a rhythm and began to catch the nearest driver. A swift pass and then it was on towards the next who happen to be in a small group. As the time and laps went by he did manage to gain 2 more places before the flag came out to end the heat. We ended up loosing 3 places from our start spot in the end which wasn't bad considering.  

Heat 2.

I found myself lined up 6th on our next heat and hoped I could at least hold station for most if not all of the race, however things don't always play out how you'd like...So the flag dropped and I kept to the outside trying to avoid the bumping and pushing on the inside for the first 3 corners. At this point things were going well until we all hit the heavy braking zone for a tight hairpin left. I ended up on the inside line with enough space, I then felt a tap to the rear which I caught but the second one I had no chance. In to the braking zone the back came around, ahead half a dozen other karts had come to a stop with spinning out and one was right on the apex which I connected with sideways rather firmly. Ouch, well F*%k it was probably more like it. After getting the kart straight and being push started I was looking around for a aborted start but no such luck this time. It was time to play catch up once again. I managed to put a few consistent lap times in and started to catch the pack. Soon after I made up my first place and hoped the next wouldn't be to far off. It took nearly the remainder of the race to eventually catch my last pass annoyingly but as the flag dropped I had climbed back up to 6th having not known that some of our other rivals were caught up in the first lap chaos.

Passing a driver in to the tight right hander at the back of the circuit.

Heat 3.

Again my team mate took to the circuit hoping to find a bit more luck this time around, and starting from the back of the grid we wouldn't say no to any help at this point. The first few laps went by and things were going ok for us, staying out of any first lap madness and getting stuck in to making up places. Again things didn't look like they were going our way this time. Whilst battling with a pack of our class runners my team mate made up a few places, however whilst making one of the passes the marshals had deemed that he had made enough contact during the pass to call a passing by contact penalty which automatically drops you back 4 places after the race is over. A really tough penalty especially after look back over the GoPro footage and struggling to see where the contact was made. However the decision was final and although the rest of the race went by without incident we were eventually dropped back down to 2nd from last. 

Heat 4.

My last race of the day and we were gridded again towards the rear of our field with it all to do. The green lights went and this time I kept well away from any lurking trouble on the first lap. I quickly settled in behind a small pack of the faster drivers in our class and started to put in the laps. After following for a few more laps I couldn't hold off the attack from behind and a faster driver went past, however he wasn't to get far and I stayed with him for most of the race. He slowly started to pull away towards the back end of the race be was pulling me along nicely which meant we both caught up to a couple of karts ahead. We both made the passes and pushed on. By this point we had 5 laps to go and he had now gone further down the road and I was quickly coming up on another of our rivals. I stuck with him for the remainder of the laps looking for where I could make a move and coming in to the last hairpin on the last lap I dived down the inside and cleanly took the place. After the flag dropped I had made 5 places in all. 

So not such a good round for us, much like part of Llandow to actually. The next round is Clay Pigeon in Dorset later in the month. 

Video of Heat 2 attached, I didn't get my final race as the GoPro played up, again annoying!

Enjoy and thanks for reading.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8Cpm5zHal8

Reading it back now brings it all back, good and bad but ultimately a fantastic experience and I hope to jump back in to the racing seat in the very near future.