Simon Neill - Lydden Hill 17th July

"

Saturday 17th July saw me travelling to Lydden Hill for the Ray Heal TWMC/B19 Sprint. Lovely little circuit with some challenging corners to say the least. This is run over 1.75 Laps….

 

For the first time it was dry from the word go and I had tracked the weather early on and decided to make the first change to setup. All I did was move tyres up to 19/20 psi (front rear) and stiffened front shock by 4 clicks (so they sat on 8 clicks) and rear on 10. Theory being that each run being so short that really little heat would get into the tyres…. Oh and new oil and filter and a nut for the top engine mount to cradle, plus bolt/nut check.

 

Arrived 0730 and no shade! Roasting… car off trailer and take off the space saver wheels that I have to put on as otherwise she is just too wide for trailer… All sorted out and car ran up to temps for 0900 and turned her off and started to worry about the first right hander…. It’s a 90 degree right that is kind of almost uphill, with slight banking which flattens to start finish. Big lump of kerb on entry so cant cut it and no run off on exit, bit of gravel then tyres…

 

Anyway, number called and car does not start… Same issue, no fuel pump… Seems to be connected to the starter relay thingy and a few mins of wobbling and moving fuses sees her back up and running… And late I appear at the start line, nervous as a nervous thing…. And off (only practice so does not count) first time through the right hander is slower so not too bad, off the startline with a double bite on clutch and a bog down in first but soon off and up into 4th through to the start finish straight and a kink left and down hill where you see an entry to a long double / triple right hander that is up hill and part blind, in to this sequence in 3rd, and quickly think 4th would have been better, all over the place trying to pick an apex (very scruffy) and spat out of this right hander into anoth right that is open and links into a left with blind exit, struggled with braking point and took in 3rd, uphill blat to a 180 hairpin (2nd) and down hill picking up speed to that first right hander, I was teased in by a good looking line that had me slightly wide of apex in 4th gear, as I turned in I had that immediate feeling that she was not going to stay on the track… running wide, scrabbling for traction and tyres coming quickly,,, I nailed the throttle and drove straight line through the gravel (all 4 wheels) and through grass, spinning 270 degrees on track… Picked her up and drove back to finish… OMG not fun, car handled like a roller-skate on ICE, just no traction in corners… 

 

Feel quite sick… Strangely no times for practice due to timing issues!!! My embarrassment is hidden from most.. I am there with friend who are in Caterham R500, CSR and Supersport (220BHP), so much the poor relative J

SO thinking about it, I dropped tyres back the other way in terms of pressures. 15 front / 16 rear and took 4 clicks off the front shocks and added 1 to rear. This is as she was at pembrey but with 1 psi less tyre pressure and 1 click extra on front and back shocks.. I was throwing her around there. 

 

So first timed runs start and again she struggles in 1st gear – not revving cleanly but ok after I get going, into the first right hander and off down and to left , hitting rev limiter in 4th so 5th next time and into the right handers, more traction now and feels ok an before I know it I am late braking for the left hander which was scruffy and had me just keeping off the grass… round hairpin sideways and down hill to the nasty right hander… backed right off and down into 3rd, back on power and nailed just past apex on constant steering input and she just came out and kissed the edge of grass, and off again, into 4th, 5th and drove cleanly to end. 85.82 secs…

 

Timed 2 saw me take another 1.7 secs off at an 84.09, timed 3 saw another .75 secs off on an 83.24 and with timed 4 coming up I was feeling confidence in her and starting to get the power on really early in a couple of places and bravely carrying 5th gear into the double/triple right handers and the traction is there. Tryes keep taking some air out so that they start at 15psi front and that seems to have changed her today, Anyway T4 to go for now.. Off the startline well and quickly redline in 5th before the double right or triple right … right anyway, feel great compression into the seat as track rises, comes in nice and tight to inner kerb and then power constantly letting her drift out to outside edge of track and then nail throttle into 5th and just hit limiter again before the left hander, down 2 and nail 3rd gear taking 4th on exit with 1 wheel left on track and up to the hairpin, block change down to 2nd gear, slipper clutch protesting and nail throttle mid corner and short shift third on exit, down hill 4th, 5th and the nasty right hander is there, down into 4th, set on entry close in on apex and back on throttle a touch, constant throttle or slightly trailing and used full width of track just hitting grass a touch but back on throttle and up into 5th down hill and up into the right handers in 4thagain, great traction and slingshot out and back onto the left hander to find car in front spun off in gravel, I slow and claim a re-run… I had just put together a great lap and then had to do it again, I managed an 82.04… 

 

Caterham supersport is 0.03 secs quicker, CSR is .1 sec quicker and the R500 was 2 secs quicker. I know I can go quicker too, that first right hander got the better of me until Timed 4 but great confidence on that run and everything working well. Think overall placing was 6th in class with the 3 caterhams I went with in my class, keep in mind I am under 1 L engine here too.. But overall there were 115 cars of which it was a round of the HSA Championship with 12 Race cars and a couple of other race cars in other classes, but I was placed 27th I think overall, so not a bad 1st outing there… 

 

Great car, confidence growing more with goodwood next I know I will struggle with top end but I can get some back in the wigglies!

"
Back to blog