Supercar 2000cc

We had prepared another race engine for this particular event following the early season drama just before the race at Sae Ko when our race engine failed whilst undergoing dyno testing and were hoping for better things from this new build. Dyno testing had gone well and we had at last some decent horse power to look forward to at Bira.

Practice and Qualifying:

Set up we didn’t need too much time to sort out and after the first two sessions we had found something to run with, both for qualifying and the two races. The engine felt completely different to what had previously been in the car and in particular the pull up the hill from turn 1 and when exiting 100R was amazing, without pushing and whilst short shifting through the gears we were already down to low 1-09 second laps on old tires.

During the last practice run on Thursday evening the engine when I pushed it for the first time suddenly lost power and developed a well known “rattle”, I immediately killed the engine and coasted back in to the pits. It didn’t take much of a decision to choose not to run with this engine at the weekend but to go back to the trusty old one that has served me so well with only minor and regular maintenance for the last 12 months.

So a change of engine was completed and I went out for the final practice session before qualifying on Friday morning, it was immediately noticeable there was much less power with this engine than the one from Thursday but we could not take the chance on that engine lasting, so we had to run with what we had.

Qualifying time came around which was only a ten minute session and when changing gear from 1^st to 2^nd whilst exiting the pit lane there was a grinding and grating noise from the clutch and I couldn’t engage 2^nd gear. I managed to select 3^rd and ran up to the to the hairpin at the top of the hill then again tried to select 2^nd gear but could not, so back into the 3^rd gear and tried for 4^th which was OK and ran around the circuit to the Honda corner  in 4^th gear, managed to change down in to 3^rd with a lot of difficulty but could not again select 2^nd gear. Exiting Honda corner I managed to select 4^th again but could not engage 5^th gear on the straight, so the whole of the qualifying session I managed to complete whilst only using 3^rd and 4^th gears………..On the main straight I was on the rev limiter and in the two corners where I normally used 2^nd gear (the hairpin and Honda) I had to use third so very low rpm to pull out of the corner with. I was absolutely amazed to find that I could return lap times in the low 1m-09s, it just showed I had a very good car set up when lacking the gearing required to complete a fast lap. Anyway my best two laps required, one for Saturdays race and one for Sundays race were within 5/100 of a second of each other at 1.09.253 and 1.09.258. I was absolutely amazed to find that these two times had qualified me 4^th for Saturday’s race and 3^rd for Sunday’s race. For sure with gears we could have been close to the front row, if not on it. So with the spare engine and two gears we now find ourselves on the second row of the grid for Saturdays and Sundays races……!!!!!

Mits team changed out the clutch and also repaired a couple of the gear selectors that had become damaged with my brutal treatment of the gearbox in order to record some qualifying times, thanks guys great job.

Round 3:

Saturdays race was a standing start and from 4^th place on the grid I would be running down to the first corner on the outside. The line up was Jack on pole, Manat alongside him in 2^nd , Turk in 3^rd myself in 4^th and Preeda in 5^th . The lights changed and Manat who was starting directly in front of me didn’t move, I don’t know how I managed to miss him but it was pretty dramatic from where I sat and I did lose some momentum when taking avoiding action. Despite this I still managed to run down to the first corner in 3^rd place though Preeda managed to slip though on the inside of me when I understeered a little wide in turn 1.

I held 4^th place around the hairpin and on the run down to 100R, I knew the car was quick then for the remainder of the lap through 100R, S1 and S2 chicanes and around Honda corner. Thamrong was behind me and Preeda in front. Down the straight we all held our own and I closed on Preeda under braking and was very close to him exiting and up the hill. Unbeknown to Preeda his car had picked up some debris and threw it back on to my windscreen straight at me and shattered the screen directly in front of my driving position, good job the regulations call for laminated screens.

I was a little quicker than Preeda around the lap and being held up a little but didn’t want to make any kind of move that could harm both our races. Then suddenly after a few laps Preeda dropped his speed after S1 and headed for the pits, this left me in 3^rd place pursued by Thamrong in 4^th. I was fairly comfortable and not pushing 100% and able to maintain a gap of 30m or so, when suddenly after S2 I saw in my mirror Thamrong disappearing in to the gravel trap of Honda corner. Thamrong later told me he had cracked a wheel across the curbs in S2 and couldn’t stay on the track.

With the first few laps behind Preeda and now Thamrong dropping out I found myself in between groups, there was Jack and Turk up front and no one really close to me in 4^th place. I dropped my pace a little to save the engine and started short shifting at 8,000rpm still recording lap times well within the 1m-10s bracket which kept me clear of anyone behind and a little way off the pace of the front two. This continued for the last 8 or 9 laps and brought me home to a third place overall and more importantly for me a first place in class…….great just what the doctor ordered following my 3^rd place and 1^st place class finishes in Sakeo.

Round 4:

This round was again to be started from a rolling start and I was starting directly behind Jack who was on pole. The line up for this race was Jack on pole, Manat alongside him on the front row, myself in 3^rd , Turk from 4^th and Preeda from 5^th.  I made a good start, though lost 3^rd place to Turk in the first corner and was content to settle down in to the first lap in 4^th. No problem with three grade A drivers in front of me and Preeda behind also a grade A driver, provided we could maintain this running form no Junior class driver could hopefully get in striking distance of me.

I was able to maintain my position on the front three drivers whilst gapping myself to Preeda and things between us front four closed up even more when Jack and Manat got together in turn 1 which put Jack on to the grass on the inside of the track and Manat on the grass on the outside allowing Turk to slip through in to the lead. Manat slowed in front of me which allowed the front two to get away a little, but he was in big trouble with the car crabbing down the road, I guessed from where I sat either suspension or rear tracking damage. I managed to pass Manat between S1 and S2 and there was no one else in my rear view mirror that I could see,

Jack was attempting to close down on Turk and on one of the laps exiting 100R Jack was completely off the track on the grass and heading for the wall. I don’t know how he kept it off the wall but he did, I was already preparing for moving across to the inside of the track to make sure he didn’t rebound back out into the middle of track or something, but he managed to hold it all together and get back on to the black stuff before S1.

Around lap eleven Turk started to drop his pace and was obviously in trouble with some visible smoke coming from his exhaust, after passing him I decide there and then that it was pointless pushing the car any further in the race with now running a comfortable second overall, first in class so started short shifting at 7,500rpm and as was the case in Saturdays race, still able to maintain 1m-10second pace, good enough to keep anyone from closing from behind and not too far off Jack. At the flag I finished some six seconds down on Jack and ten seconds in front of Kittikorn in 3rd, so another good race for me championship wise with a second place overall and first in class.

Special thanks to Khun Mit and his team of mechanics, brilliant as always,  Guenter our race engineer, Thai engine shop for the engine builds and of course Khun Lim for tuning.

Next race on the calendar is the Honda Fest double header of rounds 3,4,5 and 6 at Kaeng Krachan on 30^th and 31^st July, so just 10 days or so to get the car ready for a 4 race weekend.