Honda Racing Fest. Rounds S 7 & 8

Saphin Hin Park, Phuket on 17th & 18th September 2011.

Pro Cup Grades A & B
After the big accident we had at Kaeng Krachan in Round 5 of the championship, the car has been rebuilt over the past 6 weeks and we were keen to try it on the track for the first time since the rebuild. After any major rebuild we were expecting a few teething problems but at least we had a couple of practice sessions prior to qualifying to sort them out.

Practice and Qualifying:
Set up we didn’t need too much time to sort out even though we were using the Tein suspension in the car as the KW suspension that was sent to Germany for rebuild following the Kaeng Krachan accident was still in Germany under repair. It was the first time that I had used the Tein system in the EP3 and was pleasantly surprised at this street circuit that it performed so well.

Although the set up was quick to sort out we had a continued problem throughout the weekend with the car moving and wondering when under hard acceleration. No matter what we tried we could not cure the problem and it was difficult to drive at 100% because of the cars unpredictable movement.

No matter, we went out and qualified 5th overall on the gird so not too bad although I had hoped for a top 4 place.

Round 7:
The race on Saturday was a mid afternoon start and we had hoped for some rain to come along just to help out a little and form a level playing field to some of the other cars that run with 280+BHP, something we at this moment in time cannot get close to matching.

I had a good start and followed Khun Tor into the first turn with everyone being just  little careful not to take one another out. The race settled down and we were all running nose to tail for the first couple of laps, then both Jack and Tor out braked themselves going into turn 1, although I was able to take advantage of Jack and pass him I just failed to complete a pass on Tor. I was much quicker than Tor around the full lap but on the straight sections he had far more power than me and I couldn’t get close enough to make an out braking pass at the end of the main straight.

Tor had a problem after running wide in turn 1 when he out braked himself with Jack he had smoke coming from his front right wheel whenever he turned at a left hand corner, in addition he had oil (later found out from him that it was gear oil) coming from his car which made the track slippery for me and also covered the windscreen and front of the car with a film of oil. We circulated for a few more laps running hard until the Safety car was put on track after Khun Bam ended in the barriers at the pit chicane turn.

The safety car was out for 3 laps and at the restart the top five order was, Khun Bank leading from my team mate Thomas, then came Tor, myself in 4th and Jack in 5th place. Bank straightened up the last corner leading onto the main straight in order to be able to lay the power down early on exit and we all went with him. After the safety car Tor’s front wheel problem seemed to have disappeared though I still had the problem with him dropping the gear oil.

Suddenly a couple of laps later we came upon Thomas touring down the main straight (later found out that it was a 10Baht cable connection to his throttle body sensor that had broken) and the running order of the top 5 then became Bank, Tor, myself, Jack and Khun Jazz.

This order was maintained through until the final flag without any further incident, though with following Tor and the problems that he had experienced throughout the race we didn’t either of us return a good lap time for qualifying for Sundays main race. The lap times that we were running were only good enough for Sundays race starting 7th and 8th respectively. Obviously pleased to have finished 3rd overall, but disappointed that Thomas had to retire when running a very strong second. It would have been nice to have us both on the podium at the same time

Round 8:
There was not too much additional work to do on the car to prepare for Sundays race, other than to continue to try and sort out the steering problem that we had with the car wanting to wonder all over the track during hard acceleration. Saturday afternoon and evening the steering rack was disassembled and reassembled, the wishbone joints and steering rack joints all rechecked in an attempt to discover what the problem was, but with little improvement. This problem would require a complete strip down when back
at the workshop.

I had a great start and managed to pull alongside both Khun Supachai and Tor on the run down to turn 1. Supachai was on the inside line with Tor on the outside and myself sandwiched between the two. As things became very, very, tight going into turn one, I decided to pull out of the move and give ground to both of them. With being in the middle of the sandwich I could see myself being squeezed and turned around. With the remainder of the pack behind us it wouldn’t have proven to be a healthy proposition.

Apart from the problem under hard acceleration the car felt good and I was able to pass Supachai out braking him in to turn 1 on lap 2. Tor had made a pass on Khun Ekprawat at the same time as I passed Supachai and now on lap three I was right behind Ekprawat in 6th place and looking for a place to pass. I decided I would try the same maneuver that I had passed Supachai with at the end of the main straight and settled down on this lap to try and get a good run out of the last corner of the lap on to the main straight. All went well around this lap until exiting the hairpin corner around the large, tree two corners from the end of the lap when suddenly I couldn’t engage 3rd gear changing up from 2nd gear. I lost around 15 metres and the chance to get close enough to Ekprawat in the last corner to be able to mount a passing move in to turn 1.

I was in trouble, changing down in to the last corner of the lap I couldn’t get second gear, then difficulty in getting 3rd also 4th along the main straight and I now had Khun Hadtai all over the back of the car. I struggled around the lap trying to get gears and finally had to allow Hadtai to pass on the run down to the last corner of the lap, also passing me at the same time was, Khun Suriyah, Alex and Khun Bam. For me my race had been run and all I could do was find a gear that the car would operate in and continue to tour around to the flag hoping to pick up a couple of championship points.

To add insult to injury, it started to rain. With the rain I know it would have been possible to gain a few more places for sure as both Thomas and myself enjoy the rain races more than most and we have scored a number of wins due to wet and rainy conditions, but it wasn’t to be as I continued to tour around stuck in 4th gear. At the flag I finished 12th overall, 8th in class, disappointed for sure but the team had worked hard getting the car ready for me and we did expect a few gremlins following the rebuild.  

Both Thomas and myself continue to wonder why for some reason we cannot both finish a race together, it seems that when Thomas finishes I have a problem and when I finish, Thomas has a problem, It would be great for the team to have us both on the same podium…….We’ll keep on trying for sure.

As a team we all enjoy coming to Phuket to race, the track is fun to drive and the whole weekend has a bit of a party atmosphere with the local Phuket Town people all making us feel very welcome, particularly with their visits to the pit area right through until deep into the evenings. We never left the track before 10.00pm in the evening due to the number of people coming and chatting and generally interested in the race weekend, great time Phuket Town, keep it up.

The next race follows quickly after Phuket and by the time the car returns to the workshop in Pattaya it will be Wednesday, leaving just one week for preparing for Supercar Rounds 5 and 6 to be held at the Bira Circuit on 01 and 02 October 2011. The engine will be sent to Thai Engine Shop for a routine check, Khun Mit and his mechanics will rebuild the gearbox and install a new clutch and Guenter our race engineer has much work to do to discover why we have the problem with the car when under hard acceleration. Oh almost forgot a little bodywork damage to sort out also before Supercar…..