Great day!

After a horrible drive up to Oulton Park (M6 was a 'mare), a great Chinese with the guys, and a lousy nights sleep, I was 'pleasantly' woken up by... a generator! Time to get up then, and sign-on for the race.

Last night I found out that we were running on the island circuit, so having never driven that configuration before, I was racking my brains to think about where the circuit must turn right for the hairpin. The exit I could remember from driving the full Shell Oils configuration, and watching the touring cars.

I ended up going out for qualifying behind Richard Breland (81), and knowing he was local to the circuit (as well as running 3rd in the championship) used this to help make up for missing the test day. To my surprise, I kept up with Richard, with some give and take on various parts of the circuit. Richard quicker at Knickerbrook & Cascades, and myself faster at Old Hall & Druids. After lap 6, Richard pulled over to let me past, and I surprised my self by setting my best time on lap 8, and qualifying 5th.

Race time, and yet again, I suffered with a poor start off the mark. Something I really need to work on if I'm going to race MX5's next year! Matthew Robinson was in front of me by turn 1, and I spend the next lap trying to get back past, having more speed, but lacking the room to get past. Near the end of the second lap I managed to get level with Matthew, and drove around the outside of him at Lodge, getting me back into 5th place.

You can see my first few laps from Richard's video footage:


Oulton Park MaX 5 from Fraser White on Vimeo.


The car was working well, and I slowly manage to catch the lead pack, and then pass Joachim Ritter on lap 5 out of the hairpin. Unfortunately, Joachim managed to get past on the following lap, but then ran out of fuel putting me back into 4th!

At the end of the race I was in touch with the lead pack, finishing just ~2.5 seconds behind the winner, and one of my most enjoyable races of 2008.

Less wind that Anglesey

Late entry for Oulton Park means no testing places available, and the local pub/inn is also full. Revised plan is to drive up on the Friday afternoon, camp at the circuit, and first time out on the circuit will be qualifying.

Back for the final round

After missing Croft and Pembrey due to various work & home commitments, Oulton Park has caught me by surprise. Having already blown my 2008 race budget, I'd resigned myself to my next race being in 2009. However, with Oulton Park being one of my favourite circuits, and Paul Sheard using his excellent powers of persuasion, I'm all booked in for the race this weekend!

International

Day 2 of the weekend, and still worried about the tyres not working. Without another set, there was no other option than to run with the same set and hope that they worked better.

Qualifying started off well, grip seemed good, and I made my way past several people on the first few laps. Problem was, after 5 laps the handling wet away again, and I started lapping some 2-3 seconds slower. On the plus side, I ended up qualifying 6th, so a few places up on yesterday.

I was a little slow off the grid, but managed to hold 6th place for the first lap. I found I was quick onto the straight into the hairpin, but on lap 2 Jonathan Halliwell and myself wanted to same tarmac on the entry to the hairpin and touched. Nothing serious, but slowed my exist and dropped me a place as we turned onto the pit straight, and another before the banking.

The next few laps reminded me of Rockingham with no one nearby to actually race. There was one incident around lap 9 or 10 where the pack in front managed to make a mistake, allowing me to catch the up. I managed to get past Nick Wright, again into the hairpin, but I was now loosing rear end grip. Nick was right behind me in the left hander after the Rocket complex, and I ended up taking too much speed a taking the cones out sideways!

I picked the car back up, and kept my distance from Mark Pierpoint, finally finishing 7th... and later increased to 6th due to a disqualification for Joachim.

As ever, a big thanks to Bob Marsh for the race photos.

Coastal

What a difference a day makes. Less wind, a better nights sleep, and a lovely blue sky. Today should be good.

It turns out that we're using two different circuits over the weekend, with the Coastal today, and the International tomorrow. This means we need to run qualifying sessions on both circuits, so the easy answer is have both a qualifying session and race on each of the days.

Qualifying is late morning, so a fair bit of time to wonder around the paddock and watch the other cars. Dry conditions mean the new tyres were needed, so since they've not been scrubbed in I needed to take the first few laps gently to avoid damaging them. Problem was, when I started pushing the car, the rear end was very loose.... except in the Rocket complex where is just under steered.

The times confirmed the handling problems; my qualifying position down in 9th place. With luck, the fact the tyres have now gone through a heat cycle should mean that they will be OK for the race... so need to get a good start!

Off the line the car bogged down a bit, but I didn't loose too much into the banking. I hooked onto the back of Chris Lovett, but we both ended up off the circuit on the exit; kicking up lots of stones and gravel in the process. After the first lap, the dash started to warn that the water temperature was too high, and a few moments later I spotted a small amount of steam escaping from under the bonnet!

I killed the engine, and coasted into the pits to prevent further damage. On popping the bonnet it was easy to see the problem... there was a massive hole in the radiator. The windscreen also gained a variety of cracks. So my first DNF of 2008, but assuming the engine is still OK, car should be easily fixed for the second race tomorrow.

Wet fun

Not much sleep, but after a coffee and an excellent breakfast, it was time for the new drivers briefing, and then onto the circuit. A 10:00 start made for a relaxed day, and the wet circuit was excellent fun. The weather was horrible when not driving, but the Sheard truck gave us somewhere to stay dry during the rain.

The DL1 data logger was working well, and my times were good against Paul & Joachim. The heavy wet weather called for using the full tread depth tyres, but care needed as the track dried to avoid damaging them.

By the end of the day I was very happy with the car setup, if felt quick; and the circuit fun. If raceday is wet, then I'm all set, if it's dry then it will be a new set of buffed tyres and a guess for the suspension setup.

Windy Wales

I've been to Anglesey once before, a double header trackday at the current circuit with glorious sunshine, and the usual good standard of driving from the BookaTrack crowd.



So when I elected to camp there for the bank holiday weekend, I guess I was expecting a similar weekend. I don't have any pictures from the Thursday evening, but watch the video to see our tents taking a battering from the wind prior to testing on the Friday.

Bank holiday weekend

After missing Mallory Park, I'm really looking forward to the Anglesey race weekend. Testing is this Friday, so planning to drive up there on the Thursday afternoon, pitch a tent, grab some food, and hopefully get some sleep before testing starts!

Weather forecast doesn't look promising, with both wind and rain over the whole weekend... but guess that's to be expected given it's a bank holiday weekend.

On the plus side, I did drive the new Anglesey circuit back in Jun '07, so I'll be able to focus on finding faster lines rather than learning the circuit.

Paul Sheard and Mahinder Caswani have now invested in the Race Technology DL1 & DASH2, making very easy for us to compare our on track performances. It's common practice to change the engine sensors to allow accurate readings on the DL1, but as per my conversion earlier in the year, we're planning to use a small 'box of tricks' to unable us to use the standard MX5 sensors for Oil pressure, Water temperature, & Fuel level.

Rich Videos

I've just been pointed at the Vimeo website which has onboard footage of Richard Breland racing at Rockingham from the weekend. Check out:

http://www.vimeo.com/1349615

...to see the MaX5 Championship race, and #25 in action!

It's lonely out there

2nd race of the day was non-championship, and given the cracking fun of race 1 I was really looking forward to a second shot at improving my finishing position. Start was good, but after a few laps the grip seemed to disappear, leaving me working hard to keep Jon Halliwell behind.

The tyres were the ones I'd used for qualifying & both races at Brands Hatch, plus all of the Rockingham testday, so I guess they had lost their edge. inevitably, Jon got past me on lap 5, leaving me is the massive gap between 6th and 8th.

Rocking Race

I was happy with 4th on the grid, and from the test day I was confident that I wasn't too far off pole sitter Charles Plumley for pace. We'd also changed the damaged front tyre 'just in case', so all ready for the off.

The grid got away cleanly, and in the 'bundle' for turn 2 I was near the front of the pack. At this point, it was clear that 4th place being on the outside of the track was not the best position, as it forces you the long way around turn 2, and I inevitably lost several places. At the end of the first lap I was down in 7th place!

I managed to make up a place, and then become locked in a battle with Richard Breland for some 8 laps. Great fun, clean driving, and I was really enjoying the race. Some places I was cleary faster than Richard, putting him under pressure and making a move, followed by parts where he some how had the edge and could get past.

Turn 1 was excellent, and the first time I've really noticed the massive performance increase of getting a good tow from the car in front. I was apexing turn 1 at the speed I'd usually be at before braking for turn 2.

In view of the our close proximity, and that Richard was a little slower than I wanted at the chicane, I elected to use 2nd gear (rather than 3rd) to see if that gave any advantage on the exit. This turned out to be a bad move, as when I went for 3rd... the gear lever said no! I tried to select 2nd, but it also bulked. Clutch up, and down, sorted the gear selection, but I had now dropped a long way back from Richard.

Fortunatley we had pulled away from the following group being lead by Matt Robinson, so the big question was could I get enough speed up to avoid Matt just driving around me at turn 1. Somehow I kept the lead, but I was now locked into a battle with Matt, swapping places at least once, before I eventually finished just ahead of Matt in 6th place, and behind Charles; who had been overtaken by Richard on the lap where I missed 3rd.

It was frustrating to have not kept with Richard, but two great battles in once race can't be bad.

Qualifying Rock

Way too much going on first thing, and problems with getting the cars through scruitineering means that all 4 of our MaX5 cars were still in the paddock when the others had started their qualifying!

Luckly, only one of the cars needs any fixing... but that car was #25! Nothing too serious to fix, just the plastic handle for isolating the electrical circuits in the car breaking free of the wire when it was tested. Oli & H worked on getting it sorted and re-checked, so I was able to get out for half of the qualifying session (you need to complete 3 laps to qualify for the race). I also noticed that there was a long cut in the front off-side tyre, but if all looked safe.

Interesting how the delay focuses the mind, and on leaving the pits I really felt on a mission. Expect there was actually more speed available with a smoother style, but as it turned out I managed to equal my best 'test day' time, and ended up 4th on the grid.

Testing the Rock

Sign-on was after 09:00, so coupled with a local circuit, no need for an early start today :) Along with all the other 'interesting' cars on the test day, Paul has his Pontiac Grand Prix, and Joachim his new Genetta G50.

Weather was dry, but the car was struggling for grip. Good turn-in, but no grip at the rear of the car. Fun to drive, but not fast! The laptimer said I was in at 1:45.08, but looking at the Nippon Challenge earlier in the year, target time needed to be around 1:43.

Some suspension changes made for the 2nd session, and the car was still light at the back, but getting nearer to a good drift. Car felt that it could be a little soft, so I wanted to stiffen the suspension, but the session ended up being stopped due to Joachim finding a gravel trap with his G50 :o

The harder setup didn't feel as good as the softer settings, and the laptimes confirmed it. In the 4th session I managed to get down to just over 1:43, before it started to rain... increasing the time laptime up to 1:50. Last session was as wet as a wet thing on a wet day, so no chance of improving on the previous laptime.

Testing sorted

Tickets have arrived, and testing now sorted for the Friday.

Last years race was very wet, and unbelievable on how slippy Rockingham gets. Every turn needed to be so smooth, and with minimal steering input you'd still end up in a monster slide through the corner.

Forecast suggests the same for this year :)

2 Races now

The Rockingham round (12th July) has now changed to 2x 20 minute races, rather than the single 30 minutes. Opinions vary in the paddock, and I'm sure mine will change over time, but at the moment I'm in favour of 2 shorter races so a good move.

Only downside is if the second race is on the Sunday, as I'm going to be away on business. The timetable hasn't been released yet, so hoping both races are on the Saturday.

No Cadwell

The MaX5 gang will be at Cadwell this weekend, but I'm not going to be able to make it. Bit of a shame since this is the first MaX5 year where I've done the first 5 races. I guess that's mainly due to getting a front row grid position in the first race of the season at Silverstone, followed by finishing on the podium.

Cadwell, or the Mini-Nuremburg, is a cracking circuit with good elevation changes. In fact, the changes are so good that I've a mate who's been there skate boarding! Anyway, back to the racing, and according to the latest update from MaX5 there will be some new faces appearing this weekend, so a bit of a shame I'm not going to be there.

This does mean I'll be dropping off the leader board for the championship, but hopefully I'll be back out at Rockingham (local), or Anglesey in August (it's a long way, but expecting a great weekend)

All the best for James, Joachim, & Paul for the race.

Next time...

After Fridays test session, I still wasn't happy with the car setup, so I had to decide on going with what I had, or taking a gamble on the setup.... I went for the latter!

Qualifying was hard work, the car/track still not working for me, and feeling that I must be well off the pace. Fortunately, the timesheets showed that I wasn't that far off the rest with just 0.448 seconds separating 2nd to 9th places!

First race, and 7th on the grid, so pointing downhill and holding the car on the handbrake. Lights went out, and we were away. Not a bad start, and taking a tighter line at Paddock gave me a good run up to Druids, but not enough to get in front of Richard Breland (Championship leader), forcing me to take the inside line at Druids. I'm not sure what had happened at the apex/exit of Druids, but the inside line seemed to almost stop, and costing me positions.

Richard, Myself, & Mark Pierpoint were in a tight pack until lap 7, where Dean Parker managed to get past Mark and started catching myself. On Lap 9 Nick Wright spun on the exit of Graham Hill bend, and I lifted for a fraction under the yellow flag as he was still spinning. Dean was able to avoid lifting, and had sufficient momentum to get past me before Surtees. I held station until lap 13, where Nick finally managed to get past me, unfortunately pushing me down to 10th place at the end of the race.

Race 2 was the next day, meaning no tracktime before the actual race. 9th on the grid this time as it was based on the second best qualifying times. Still unhappy with the revised suspension settings, I went back to the settings used on the test day.

Poor start due to not releasing the handbrake quick enough (still on the slope), but held position for the first 4 laps, before getting past Richard who had made a mistake at Clearways. Richard was clearly on the pace, and quickly managed to get back in front. On lap 7 Richard managed to get past Dean Parker, and my attempt to follow, led to Andy Burge getting past me at the same time. The rest of the race was excellent, with some great wheel to wheel action with Andy Burge.

Finally finishing 8th, while not a great position, I did cross the finish line just 5.3 seconds after the winner. That's 5.3 seconds after 14 laps, and shows just how close the racing is in the MaX5 series.

Pictures again are courtesy of... Mr Bob Marsh... queue cheers of applause!

... but it's only 6 corners

Early start needed to get over the Dartford Bridge before the main Friday traffic arrived, so ended up being at the Circuit by 07:30. So off for a 'breakfast bap' & coffee to make up for it.

At sign-on, I enquired about getting an afternoon session, and turned out they did have a place available. Paid up there and then, so I now had a full test day (4x 25 minute sessions).

First session went well, and while my times were not as quick as last years pace, I didn't feel I was too far away at 1:01.83 (lap record 0:59.12) being my first visit to the circuit.

Next session I went to work on the suspension settings by doing a few laps, dropping into the pits for changes, then straight back out to see how the car behaves. Brands is definitely a challenging circuit to get it right, making it possible to get a get setup for Druids, but then suffering at the entry to McLaren, or vice versa.

Still unhappy with the setup, I went to continue experimenting for the first afternoon session, but unfortunately 2 red flags stopped any real timing data to backup the handling feel. Best lap still being over a minute at 1:00.66.

Final session soon appeared, but so do did the rain! Surprising how much grip was still available on the wet circuit, but needless to say, not much use for a dry suspension setup.

50 minutes

Phoned Brands Hatch to find out what time testing starts tomorrow, and turns out they are running 4x classes (CaterhamA, CaterhamB, Single Seaters, & Others), each of 25 minutes. That means my morning testing will be just 2x sessions of 25 minutes (assuming no stoppages/red flags).

On the plus side, not many corners to worry about. Time to search YouTube for some help.

Brands is go, go, go!

Managed to get a half day testing at Brands Hatch for this Friday morning, so I can now enter the race. Never done a trackday or race there before, so going to be another learning experience as per Castle Combe.

Bouy was that wet

One of the regulation changes for the 2008 MaX5 series, is the introduction of a 'wet tyre'. No fancy F1/CART style technology here, but it does mean we can run the standard tyre (Toyo Proxy T1-R) with it's full 8mm of tread. As qualifying time drew closer, the choice of tyre became easier.... it was really wet out there.

Out into qualifying, and all was fine until I touched the brakes for turn 1, when a massive wobble was sent through the steering wheel. The same happened every time I touched the brakes. Qualifying is only 15 minutes, so with no time to see what was the problem, I carried on. It's amazing what you can get used to, and after a few laps it seemed quite normal.

I caught up the pack of 3 in front, and was expecting to get the advantages of a tow down the back straight, but due to the conditions everyone was braking early... too early from my experience on earlier laps, so I backed off a little to give some space. The next lap was much better, with a time of just over 1:40. I tried to do the same for the next lap, but caught the pack in front part way around the circuit. The problem with this approach is you're cutting you number of flying laps in half. For each flying lap, you need a slow lap to get the space back. Anyway, the next flying lap was my fastest, and also the last lap of qualifying.

Over the break we found that the front wheel bearing had failed, and since the brake pads had been changed the previous night, we also took the precaution of putting new brake discs on as well. That was it, all ready for the race.

It's always difficult to get a good start in the wet, as it's so easy to light up the rear tyres. Thankfully I made a clean start, and lead into the first couple of corners. Paul went past me, and then I was locked in a battle with Dean Parker, swapping places a couple of times before a red flag stopped the race.

My restart didn't go that well, and whilst I was level with Paul, Andy Burge must have hooked up well as he went flying past us both. My slow start causing me massive problem at turn 2, losing several places. It was difficult fighting back, as the new disc/pads were making it very difficult to modulate the brakes. That said, I did have an excellent battle with Matt Robinson, even if he did take my 4th place ;).

3 rounds down, and I'm second in the MaX5 Campionship. Next round in a Brands Hatch on the 7/8 June, but currently not sure if I'll be able to make it.

N.B. Photo's curtersy of Bob Marsh (I can't take pictures when I'm racing ;)

Sunshine today, but probably a wet race

Excellent weather for sitting in the garden watching the day drift by, or maybe having a drink in the local pub's beer garden... but I guess it's not too much of a hardship driving the MaX5 around Snetterton either.

I looked at the 2007 laptimes for the MaX5, so went along aiming at low 1:28's... major frustration that after the first session my best laptime was in the mid 1:30's! Luckily, asking around the pits, others were finding the track equally slow.

I spend the next session adjusting damper settings, and the 3rd session working on my lines.... but I still didn't get into the 1:28's. I tried another couple of setup changes in the last session, and did get a good improvement, but the best time still started with 1:29!

Roll on tomorrow.

Oi, that's my car!

The POWERnights series started last year, and yesterday kicked of their 2008 season. All events are at Silverstone this year, so since I raced there last month & have just competed at Castle Combe, I gave the first event a miss. However, #25 was there!

As per my earlier post, Paul Sheard had been suffering mechanical gremlins at Castle Combe, and unfortunately these gremlins followed him to Silverstone. Luckily, Paul had my car with him, so rather than waste the entry fee (and with my consent), #25 had an extra outing. Paul had a good drive, finishing 3rd & 4th in the two Invitation MaX5 v MR2 races. Detailed results are available at http://www.tsl-timing.com/brscc/2008/81932.pdf

BARC have confirmed my Snetterton entry for the 25th May, and I'm also planning to attend the testday on the 24th.

Gained 3 places

Qualifying wasn't until 11:00, which seems like forever when you arrive at 08:30 and keen to get out onto the circuit!

When qualifying time did arrive, so did the surprise of the MaX5's having their qualifying sessions shared with the Caterham Classics. My first few laps were hampered by a couple of Caterhams, but after that the circuit flowed well with the two classes. Unfortunately I never managed to get a tow to work for my lap times, and ended up qualifying 10th on the grid. Timesheets show the Caterhams & MaX5's were very comparable in performance around Castle Combe http://www.tsl-timing.com/ccrc/2008/81968.pdf

DL1 & DASH2 information was reliable, with sector times and lap information all being displayed & recorded. My own measured lap time was within 0.01 seconds of the published time. Differences can be easily seen if the circuit is using a different datum for timing the lap, so maybe I was just lucky on where I put my sectors?

Start of the race was good, with everyone making it around turn 1; which is impressive given we were probably 5+ abreast at the time. I managed to keep with the pack in front for a few laps before needing to take more defensive lines with Jon Halliwell right on my rear bumper. On lap 7 or 8 Nick Wright managed to get a good tow, and flew past both Jon and myself. Paul Sheard then managed to get past Jon, and myself a lap later. Nick, under pressure from Paul, ended up spinning on the exit of Bobbies chicane which forced Paul to make a slight lift. This was sufficient to enable me to get a better run down to tower, and I moved to the inside line to get past Paul. Space ended up being tighter than we were both expecting, and the subsequent slides almost caused us to loose a place to Jon, but we managed to keep going and retain our positions. Sadly, Paul had engine problems shortly afterwards, and ended up retiring. Jon didn't let up any pressure for the remaining laps, and at the end of the race I finished 7th, with a lead on Jon of just 0.143 seconds.

I'm happy that my performance on the day was as good as I'd achieved on the Friday, but don't feel that I have mastered Castle Combe. More track time is definitely required for me to find the best lines for the MaX5.

04:30 Start!

Time to learn Castle Combe circuit, and get the car back to Paul Sheard http://www.mx5racing.com/ at the same time so he can get it prepared for the race on Bank Holiday Monday.

Trackday was booked direct with Castle Combe http://www.castlecombecircuit.co.uk/ for the Friday, and an early start taken from Cambridge to avoid any problems with traffic. After an excellent breakfast, easy noise test for an MX5, & the usual drivers briefing, it was time to get on circuit.

The trackday was split into 4x 15min sessions, with #25 being placed into the same session as most of the Caterham Graduates http://www.graduates.org.uk/ (who are also racing on the Monday). The circuit is simple in layout, but with several key areas to get right; Quarry Corner, The Esses, Bobbies & Camp Corner. My performance on Monday will be the real test.

#25 was left with Paul Sheard at the end of the trackday, then a quick stop at a local pub for food (thanks to PaulW & Mel), before heading back to Cambridge with an empty trailer.

DASH2 in a MaX5

Installation of Race Technology's DASH2 is now complete, and all appears to be working well. I ended up keeping the standard MX5 sensors, which means that the calibration is a little crude; but hopefully sufficient for my needs.

The reason for getting the DASH2 was to provide instant sector/lap timing information from Race Technology's DL1 data logger. If anyone is looking to do the same, Race Technology are just about to release two versions of a new DASH3 product specifically targeted at showing the data that's being logged by the DL1.

Entry forms have now been sent for the MaX5 race at Snetteron on the 25/26th May. Going to be interesting to see how the tyres hold up to a 30 minute race.

First post!

So welcome to my blog for my MaX5 racing activities.

For those of you unaware, MaX5 racing is a one make race series based on the mk1 Mazda MX5. For the official site, and the details for the championship, take a look at http://www.max5racing.com.

I've only managed to attend a few races in previous seasons with MaX5, but 2008 is off to a better start. I've already completed the 1st race at Silverstone (qualified 2nd, & finished 3rd), I'm booked into the 2nd race at Castle Combe this bank holiday Monday, and I'm just about to send off my entry for the 3rd race at Snetterton later this Month.