Showing posts with label Datsun 1400 GX. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Datsun 1400 GX. Show all posts
Monday, 15 November 2010
It's all over now.
And so the final race of the 2010 season dawned upon me and I found myself somewhat exited, somewhat apprehensive all at the same time. The outcome no longer mattered after all, all I really wanted was to just enjoy the last race, finish both heats without any unnecessary damage and end the season on a positive note. As such then I feel I have reached such desires and was only too happy to have been a part of it all.
Friday morning I arrived at the track for the first practice session which was scheduled for 09h45 and was hoping that it would prove to be successful so that another session was not necessary. The Datti had been given another set of bearings as a result of the loss of oil pressure encountered during the last race as well as the rockers having been fixed and the oil feeds repaired. The engine sounded as per normal and oil pressure was excellent. I took to the track and did my normal warm up procedure for the first lap after which I increased the speed until I finally reached race pace. On the 3rd lap I noticed that it would jump out of 4th gear around 6000 RPM on the straights both back and front as well as between T3 and T4. I started going through T4 in 3rd to prevent using only 1 hand but eventually accepted it was not to be. I put a call through to 'Mr Datsun' and said I could not race it in such condition. Within 10 minutes the car was collected and taken back to the workshop where the gearbox was removed and replaced with another and was returned to the track by 11h30. I was to again test at the last afforded session being at 12h55. The test was successful and everything worked well, the only feeling being that the Datti was not at her most powerful and seemed to be off pace from her usual. Never the less I was happy that I could sill be in contention for a challenge at finishing the season on a good note.
The 140Z was all previously and meticulously prepared and only a top up of fuel and tyre pressure was needed for a test. Even although the track was not perfect and the wind had come up she was as crisp and ready as ever and awaited the challenges it was likely to face from good opposition in the likes of the ex Hennie vd Linde SABAT Skyline GTX and the late Tony Viana Winfield BMW 745i which were especially invited to end off the classic car season. Both these cars were serious contenders in the heyday and were still no slouches in the very capable hands of their current drivers.
Saturday and as per usual we at the track at sparrows as our qualifying was scheduled for 08h00. The morning was overcast and cool and by 07h15 a light drizzle had crept in and made sure that the track was entirely wet. We both decided that even although it was not raining heavily at all we would chance it and go out on slick tyres. The times were slow and I qualified the Datti at a 1:50.4 while the 140Z also only manged a 1:45.8 putting him 2nd on the grid. By 09h30 it had stopped drizzling and by 10h00 for our first race we had a dry line to at least race on.
Race 1 saw the Datti behind both front wheel drive cars who qualified by 0.5 seconds quicker than me and had the better grid position. At lights out I managed to get good drive and managed to easily pass them before going into T1. I found myself right behind the bumper of the the Scirocco who had by now already been passed by the much faster rear wheel drive cars. I hung on as best as possible but it was soon evident that I was not in any contention to challenge the much quicker Scirocco of Biccari. Everything else seemed to be working perfectly but I was eventually caught by the Zakspeed Escort Mk1 of Robbie Jeptha who was luckily still in class X but had more pace on the day. The 140Z simply stormed off into the distance along with the Mazda Rotary of Chris Carolin and there was never really any challenge from the only invited guest being Paolo Cavelieri in the BMW 745i. It was simply out classed in the race and put in an excellent 1:22.3 lap while that of Chris Carolin only 1 tenth of a second slower at 1:22.4.
Race 2 for the Datti turned out to be a rather lonely race which was also largely due to a huge oil spill that resulted in the race before ours. Large amounts of cement were as such laid down on the oil which soon turned into a dust storm from the cars up ahead. I tried as best to avoid as much of it as possible on the warm up lap but it was difficult to avoid all contact. Again I got away well but visibility was almost zero in some places and instead I chose to be on the cautious side as I new I was unable to be of any major threat to the Scirroco while the Zakspeed was of no threat to me at all as far as points were concerned. On each lap the cement dust became less but it had already taken its toll on those who chose to deliberately drive in or through it. I was as such slowly catching the Zakspeed Escort and eventually passed it where after it came to a halt with likely engine damage as are result of excessive cement dust in the engine. In the interim the guys up front were making a race of it and the lead up front often changed between the 140Z, the Mazda Rotary and even the BMW 745i at times thereby getting the spectators most excited at the possible outcome of the race. Who would be the victor at the finish line. In the end it was the 140Z followed by the BMW 745i, the Mazda Rotary and the Mk1 Escort of Louis Powell all within 1 second between them all. It may not have been the fastest race of the season but judging by the feedback from both spectators and fellow racers from around the track it was one of the most exciting and entertaining races dished up for the season.
And so the Datsuns will now be parked for quite some time until the next season starts sometime in 2011. It was undoubtedly a difficult season both mechanically and emotionally as well as financially at times. Perhaps in hind sight the emotions were allowed to get in the way of racing and as such took the edge off at times and thereby blurred our mental visions. On a more positive note, at least for now we have a stable set of rules which should remain unchanged for 3 years and in turn allow the fields to once again increase knowing that it won't change in the next year.
Above all I have to say a big thank you to my 'boet' for whom without I would only be a spectator. Throughout the entire season he meticulously prepared, rebuilt, modified and made changes which saw the Datti go from a class C car at the beginning of the season to finishing 2nd in class B for 2011. I cannot think of any other car with an engine capacity so small ever achieving such results in class B, a remarkable and commendable achievement.
To all the regular followers of the Datsun's, 2011 will be even better to watch. To all my fellow competitors, best you enjoy the off season.
Thanks 'Boet'.
Tuesday, 29 June 2010
Hit & Miss and then I was OUT.
The bad day at the office continued but it did get better before it got worse. As I mentioned in my previous blog I eventually narrowed my mis-fire down to being the rev counter and as such from there on it should have been a walk in the park to fix. (Ha Ha). A new rev counter (bigger and better and more expensive) was ordered and duly fitted in the week after the last race of 6 June. All other minor and trivial checks were diligently performed where after on Saturday the 19th 'Mr Datsun' took it to the track to test and only to discover that the misfire was still prevalent above 7000RPM and in addition he was notified that the Datti was smoking unusually. So back to the workshop it went and on the Sunday it was stripped down entirely. The crank was attended to, new bearings, rings and even valve guides replaced. Urrrr.....what has that got to do with a misfire??? Dunno. The carburettors were stripped.....again.....cleaned.....again, serviced and finally put together again. By Wednesday late afternoon all the parts had been returned and assembly could now at last begin. In the interim I had arranged to have a complete new electronic distributor done complete with electronic module and coil, all pre-wired and ready to simply put in. I arrived that Wednesday evening (due to heavy soccer world cup flights already pre booked closer to the weekend) and by 22h00 that evening she was fired up. This time we had now put back half of the mods that were originally put on and then taken off in search for the misfire we had encountered on the 6th June. All satisfied with the assembly we let the engine run hot where after we switch off and went home. Thursday morning at 06hoo the under carriage was washed clean, re-torqued the head and the new electronic dizzy was fitted WITH new plug wires, new distributor cap and a new rotor. New ignition wiring was also done, an additional earth strap was made and attached to the engine casing. Again everything was tested and all sounded OK. What more could we still do. OH yes....fit the new SQP rev counter. Such was done with great attention to detail and great care to the wiring thereof. Once done a further test was again done and you will not believe it, the rev counter after all of this was still jumping erratically as it did before we started this whole effort that we had now gone to. F$%^^&*ck me what a waste of time.
Ok, calming down, we scratched our heads and started a process of elimination. First we also then noticed the alternator charging light not coming on when switching on the ignition. We disconnected the alternator and still the same resulting erratic jumping of the rev counter. Eventually frustration got the better of us and we called upon an auto electrician to provide further assistance. The charging module was subsequently also found to be faulty and was duly replaced. Now the charging light at least worked correctly. We demonstrated the erratic rev counter issue we were still faced with and even he (the sparky) was eventually puzzled by it all after all we'd done. Even the digital Alfano timer which incorporates a built rev counter was now also erratic as was the analogue rev counter. To cut a long story 'square', the 'sparky' then requested that we remove all external attached devices and only connect the timing light which had its own rev counter. We obliged as requested and again fired up. Smooth as can be. We then attached the new rev counter just bought and there it was back again. Final proof that 2 rev counters later, one used and one new, both had the same fault condition. We scrounged an old Mallory rev counter last used in 'Mr Datsuns' oval track days, wired it up and 'wha la'......we're back in business. It was now 16h00 on the Thursday afternoon. I attached the A-frame and hastily took it to the track to do the final test. By lap 3 I finally confirmed that all the gremlins had now been resolved and parked the car at last satisfied, washed it and put it back into the garage. As my tyres were of substandard rubber by now, I did NOT practice on the Friday so as to try and save what I could of the now defunct slick tyres and of which there is simply NONE in the entire country to buy.
Saturday Morning it was up early as per usual and down to the track. The car was fueled (minimally) and the tyre pressures adjusted accordingly. At o8h30 we had our qualifying session and the gremlins of a different nature were still upon me. On lap 1 going into turn 5 the car simply died (mors dood, vrek) and I was not able to restart it. I coasted into the pit and was further pushed to the pit garage. Eventually after a while it fired again and for some unknown reason which I cannot explain it was OK thereafter. I somehow hoped and prayed it was a shortage of fuel although I have doubt upon such theory. Race 1 was off at 10h30 but somewhat delayed due to a huge oil spillage which then first had to be cleaned up. We were then again afforded 2 warm up laps after the oil had been cleaned up and not having officially qualified or having posted a time I was rightfully placed at the back of class B and as such found myself right behind the HUGE back bumper of the V8 Studabaker, that of Andre Mouton, next to him Dave Alhadeff in the 2.0l Alfa GT with both 2.0l Scirocco's ahead of the 2 of them. I was tucked right up to Moutons back bumper and at lights out I nailed the 'loud peddle' and dived in between the Studabaker and the Alfa going into turn 1 and managed to take the V8 Stud before turn 1. Alhadeff in the Alfa held the inside line goinmg into T2 and I took to his outside holding him right through and I managed to take him going through the 'kink' and lead him into T3. At every conceivable corner I was tail sliding into the corner loosing time and feeling somewhat uncomfortable. I simply put it down to the worn tyres. What do I know afterall? On lap 5 I must have over done it going into T3 and the back simply got away having no grip (or so I thought) and resulted that I clipped the new T3 inside 'shark teeth' sidelining me with a damaged left front lower control arm. Although we had spares, the state of the tyres simply didn't warrant that we make all the effort and possibly have a bigger disaster through negligence or poor decision making. (I have also just been informed while still typing this blog that the likely result of my spin in T3 was as a result of either the lock diff or a side shaft breaking with drive now only to 1 wheel as confirmed by 'Mr Datsun.)
That allowed us to then spectate the rest of the day in T3 in the icy cold wind along with some die hard classic car supporters.
The moral of the story is, The Datsun GX and NOT the driver is still BOSS at this stage!!
A huge thank you again to my boet for making all the effort during the week and at night to get my car back on track for which I am forever grateful. Our next race will be the PE Ford & Friends Festival after which we will only be back at Killarney (by forceful persuasion) on 4th September.
Thanks ' Boet'
Ok, calming down, we scratched our heads and started a process of elimination. First we also then noticed the alternator charging light not coming on when switching on the ignition. We disconnected the alternator and still the same resulting erratic jumping of the rev counter. Eventually frustration got the better of us and we called upon an auto electrician to provide further assistance. The charging module was subsequently also found to be faulty and was duly replaced. Now the charging light at least worked correctly. We demonstrated the erratic rev counter issue we were still faced with and even he (the sparky) was eventually puzzled by it all after all we'd done. Even the digital Alfano timer which incorporates a built rev counter was now also erratic as was the analogue rev counter. To cut a long story 'square', the 'sparky' then requested that we remove all external attached devices and only connect the timing light which had its own rev counter. We obliged as requested and again fired up. Smooth as can be. We then attached the new rev counter just bought and there it was back again. Final proof that 2 rev counters later, one used and one new, both had the same fault condition. We scrounged an old Mallory rev counter last used in 'Mr Datsuns' oval track days, wired it up and 'wha la'......we're back in business. It was now 16h00 on the Thursday afternoon. I attached the A-frame and hastily took it to the track to do the final test. By lap 3 I finally confirmed that all the gremlins had now been resolved and parked the car at last satisfied, washed it and put it back into the garage. As my tyres were of substandard rubber by now, I did NOT practice on the Friday so as to try and save what I could of the now defunct slick tyres and of which there is simply NONE in the entire country to buy.
Saturday Morning it was up early as per usual and down to the track. The car was fueled (minimally) and the tyre pressures adjusted accordingly. At o8h30 we had our qualifying session and the gremlins of a different nature were still upon me. On lap 1 going into turn 5 the car simply died (mors dood, vrek) and I was not able to restart it. I coasted into the pit and was further pushed to the pit garage. Eventually after a while it fired again and for some unknown reason which I cannot explain it was OK thereafter. I somehow hoped and prayed it was a shortage of fuel although I have doubt upon such theory. Race 1 was off at 10h30 but somewhat delayed due to a huge oil spillage which then first had to be cleaned up. We were then again afforded 2 warm up laps after the oil had been cleaned up and not having officially qualified or having posted a time I was rightfully placed at the back of class B and as such found myself right behind the HUGE back bumper of the V8 Studabaker, that of Andre Mouton, next to him Dave Alhadeff in the 2.0l Alfa GT with both 2.0l Scirocco's ahead of the 2 of them. I was tucked right up to Moutons back bumper and at lights out I nailed the 'loud peddle' and dived in between the Studabaker and the Alfa going into turn 1 and managed to take the V8 Stud before turn 1. Alhadeff in the Alfa held the inside line goinmg into T2 and I took to his outside holding him right through and I managed to take him going through the 'kink' and lead him into T3. At every conceivable corner I was tail sliding into the corner loosing time and feeling somewhat uncomfortable. I simply put it down to the worn tyres. What do I know afterall? On lap 5 I must have over done it going into T3 and the back simply got away having no grip (or so I thought) and resulted that I clipped the new T3 inside 'shark teeth' sidelining me with a damaged left front lower control arm. Although we had spares, the state of the tyres simply didn't warrant that we make all the effort and possibly have a bigger disaster through negligence or poor decision making. (I have also just been informed while still typing this blog that the likely result of my spin in T3 was as a result of either the lock diff or a side shaft breaking with drive now only to 1 wheel as confirmed by 'Mr Datsun.)
That allowed us to then spectate the rest of the day in T3 in the icy cold wind along with some die hard classic car supporters.
The moral of the story is, The Datsun GX and NOT the driver is still BOSS at this stage!!
A huge thank you again to my boet for making all the effort during the week and at night to get my car back on track for which I am forever grateful. Our next race will be the PE Ford & Friends Festival after which we will only be back at Killarney (by forceful persuasion) on 4th September.
Thanks ' Boet'
Sunday, 06 June 2010
A bad day at the Office
It was bound to happen at some point in time. By all counts literally everything has always gone without any major hassle on almost every race day that I've competed in. Well, this one was different. Quite a bit of trick work was done on the Datti between the last race and this one done on 5 June. Nothing out of the ordinary was done either and merely included implementation of a multi spark distributor with rev limiting capabilities and a device to better control carburetor air flow efficiency. At least that was the planned and desired outcome of the modifications done. Fridays weather was overcast with cool air in circulation. We arrived at the track just before noon in order to do final prep for the afternoon practice sessions. The 140Z required a change in tyre from the 10" variety to a more subdued 8" variety. Some minor fastening was required but otherwise was ready to be tested. The Datti was as ready as ever with only tyre pressures and fuel requirements before taking to the track.
Our first session was out 13h40 but was somewhat delayed due to an earlier oil spill on track. We eventually took to the track eventually at 14h30. From almost word go, there appeared a hesitancy at around 7000RPM which has previously proved to have been dirt in the fuel system. After 3 laps it was apparent it was not going to clear and I duly proceeded to the pit complex. Again a strip down of the carbs was done and lo and behold dirt was again encountered in the float bowls but this time none in the needle and seat or banjos. The carbs were drained, cleaned and put together again. The air jets were changed for a slightly richer setting.
The 140Z on the other hand showed it was still well in contention albeit with a smaller foot print. No further testing would be required and the 140Z was put to rest for the day. I again took to the track at 16h00 for our last session only to find the same (misfire) problem still present. Again I returned to pit. This time the plugs were changed, just in case. The timing was again duly checked and the distributor was checked for any excessive wear/play on the rotor. The implemented air flow device was now removed as well. Everything else appeared normal and within acceptable allowances. All checks done seemed fine and she cleanly revved to 7000RPM. We would now have to wait for the morning during qualifying. A traditional 'braai' was had along with a few well deserved beverages.
Saturday morning and we got to the track at sparrows (06h15) and again prepped the cars for qualifying. By sunrise it was blatantly clear that early morning mist was present and resulted that qualifying was eventually abandoned for safety reasons. That left us in no better position for the race. Our first race was at 10h40 and the grid was now determined from our finishing results from our last race on May 8. As such I found I was now the meat in the Scirroco sandwich in class B with Sandro Biccari ahead and Johan Swart behind of me. I was now on new batting turf. A normal rolling start was done in which I got away cleanly and ahead of the class B cars but coming out of turn 2 the misfire was now again there at around 7000Rpm and getting worse by all accounts. It seemed to last longer and was more noticeable. I returned to the pits after the very first lap somewhat dejected by it all. The 140Z on the other hand was not in the same league as the Porsche of Keith Rose this time around due to being on the 8" tyres but none the less still put up another class X time of 1:22.8 thus ensuring his further participation therein. I in the meantime started stripping the carbs again in hope of finding more dirt. The 'Guru' eventually returned to take over from my endeavor and it was clear that ideas as to the problem were now becoming perplexing. We drained the very last drop of fuel, cleaned the tank, checked the fuel filter, removed the fuel header tank, cleaned it thoroughly, and again cleaned carbs which turned out to be perfectly clean anyway. We put that all together again and decided to go back to basics by further removing the newly installed multi spark distributor. We put the standard coil back and now hoped for the best. All our new imposed modification now came to naught after all of that. We now hoped that race 2 would be back to normal in which we would now start from the back of the field in position 23 by my own choice.
Our last race was at 15h15 and all and any pressure was now off me due to our mishaps. Everything seemed OK until I again hit just above 7000RPM when the misfire was again present. Damn, damn, damn I screamed inside my helmet. I tried to now do a final process of elimination and noticed firstly that if I backed off slightly the miss cleared. If I further accelerated it would again appear once reaching just over 7000RPM. Could it be carburation after all of this? I continued until I eventually noticed that as soon as the rev counter went over 7000RPM it suddenly shot to 10000, then back to 7000, again back to 11000. I suspected the shift control and turned this off with no change, then completely on also with no difference. All during this time I still managed to catch the class E and most of the class D guys but was unable to do so getting beyond 7000RPM. In a final and desperate attempt I tried to physically break the wiring going to the rev counter but was unable to reach the wiring sufficiently due to being strapped in and I eventually abandoned the attempt. The positive was that I finished the race and made up 11 places after all of that and still with a misfire. I can now only put it down to being a faulty rev counter which we will replace for the next race. A very frustrating weekend indeed.
The 140Z was having no such problems on the other hand and made a thoroughly enjoyable race with the other class X and class A guys, which from reports received, had the spectators most excited. The 140Z will now undergo engine maintenance for it's next encounter which will be in Port Elizabeth on the 14th August.
We'll show that Datti who's boss next time out Boet, you better believe it!!
Thanks 'Boet'
Our first session was out 13h40 but was somewhat delayed due to an earlier oil spill on track. We eventually took to the track eventually at 14h30. From almost word go, there appeared a hesitancy at around 7000RPM which has previously proved to have been dirt in the fuel system. After 3 laps it was apparent it was not going to clear and I duly proceeded to the pit complex. Again a strip down of the carbs was done and lo and behold dirt was again encountered in the float bowls but this time none in the needle and seat or banjos. The carbs were drained, cleaned and put together again. The air jets were changed for a slightly richer setting.
The 140Z on the other hand showed it was still well in contention albeit with a smaller foot print. No further testing would be required and the 140Z was put to rest for the day. I again took to the track at 16h00 for our last session only to find the same (misfire) problem still present. Again I returned to pit. This time the plugs were changed, just in case. The timing was again duly checked and the distributor was checked for any excessive wear/play on the rotor. The implemented air flow device was now removed as well. Everything else appeared normal and within acceptable allowances. All checks done seemed fine and she cleanly revved to 7000RPM. We would now have to wait for the morning during qualifying. A traditional 'braai' was had along with a few well deserved beverages.
Saturday morning and we got to the track at sparrows (06h15) and again prepped the cars for qualifying. By sunrise it was blatantly clear that early morning mist was present and resulted that qualifying was eventually abandoned for safety reasons. That left us in no better position for the race. Our first race was at 10h40 and the grid was now determined from our finishing results from our last race on May 8. As such I found I was now the meat in the Scirroco sandwich in class B with Sandro Biccari ahead and Johan Swart behind of me. I was now on new batting turf. A normal rolling start was done in which I got away cleanly and ahead of the class B cars but coming out of turn 2 the misfire was now again there at around 7000Rpm and getting worse by all accounts. It seemed to last longer and was more noticeable. I returned to the pits after the very first lap somewhat dejected by it all. The 140Z on the other hand was not in the same league as the Porsche of Keith Rose this time around due to being on the 8" tyres but none the less still put up another class X time of 1:22.8 thus ensuring his further participation therein. I in the meantime started stripping the carbs again in hope of finding more dirt. The 'Guru' eventually returned to take over from my endeavor and it was clear that ideas as to the problem were now becoming perplexing. We drained the very last drop of fuel, cleaned the tank, checked the fuel filter, removed the fuel header tank, cleaned it thoroughly, and again cleaned carbs which turned out to be perfectly clean anyway. We put that all together again and decided to go back to basics by further removing the newly installed multi spark distributor. We put the standard coil back and now hoped for the best. All our new imposed modification now came to naught after all of that. We now hoped that race 2 would be back to normal in which we would now start from the back of the field in position 23 by my own choice.
Our last race was at 15h15 and all and any pressure was now off me due to our mishaps. Everything seemed OK until I again hit just above 7000RPM when the misfire was again present. Damn, damn, damn I screamed inside my helmet. I tried to now do a final process of elimination and noticed firstly that if I backed off slightly the miss cleared. If I further accelerated it would again appear once reaching just over 7000RPM. Could it be carburation after all of this? I continued until I eventually noticed that as soon as the rev counter went over 7000RPM it suddenly shot to 10000, then back to 7000, again back to 11000. I suspected the shift control and turned this off with no change, then completely on also with no difference. All during this time I still managed to catch the class E and most of the class D guys but was unable to do so getting beyond 7000RPM. In a final and desperate attempt I tried to physically break the wiring going to the rev counter but was unable to reach the wiring sufficiently due to being strapped in and I eventually abandoned the attempt. The positive was that I finished the race and made up 11 places after all of that and still with a misfire. I can now only put it down to being a faulty rev counter which we will replace for the next race. A very frustrating weekend indeed.
The 140Z was having no such problems on the other hand and made a thoroughly enjoyable race with the other class X and class A guys, which from reports received, had the spectators most excited. The 140Z will now undergo engine maintenance for it's next encounter which will be in Port Elizabeth on the 14th August.
We'll show that Datti who's boss next time out Boet, you better believe it!!
Thanks 'Boet'
Sunday, 09 May 2010
Guess who turned 21
Perhaps this is a good time to pay homage to someone who not only puts his money where his mouth is but actually delivers the goods and undoubtedly deserves more credit than is actually given. Not only did he choose to drop the compression ratio of his race car by a substantial margin so as to improve the reliability of his 4-cylinder engine, as well as to duly comply with breakout rule requirements, but he was equally determined to prove a further point by actually starting from the back of the grid instead of just the back of the class. In order to ensure optimum performance though you have to have a good handling race car and he therefore paid extra carefully attention this time to the handling department in every aspect. Having chosen to start from the back of the grid, it was therefore futile to qualify as it would serve no purpose in this instance.
Race 1 was off at 09h45 or thereabout with no warm-up formation lap. It was an out lap and a formation lap all in one and when the pace car pulled off, it was go. The 140Z carved its way through the field like a hot knife through butter and by lap 4 he was already in second place with only the Porsche of Keith Rose still in the distance. By the end of the race the Porsche managed to stay ahead and win by exactly 1 second. In the interim, the Datsun 140Z had posted a personal best time of 1:21.6. (That didn't help getting out of class X though.) Never ever has a 4-cylinder normally aspirated 8 valve engined saloon car been recorded doing such times at Killarney. You can say what you want to, but at the end of the day you simply have to admire the mans masterful race engine and race car preparation ability which is slowly proving unsurpassed at club racing level. What makes it even more amazing, is that it fully complies in every aspect of the rules with period part rule requirements having been met and having been duly verified as such by the technical committee.
Race 2 now saw the Datsun 140Z standing second on the grid next to the Porsche RSR. The start was again the same as the first. The German engineered flat six rudely stormed off and was soon hounded by the Japanese Datsun 140Z. At every opportunity that the Datsun had tried at to make a pass, the Porsche blocked the attempt. On lap 4 he tried it once too often and upon entering T3 the Datsun stuck his nose in as the Porsche does not have the cornering ability nor the corner speed to stay with the Datsun going through there. They approached T4 side by side, the Porsche on the outside the Datsun on the inside. Keith tried to cut across the Datsun but this time found the left front bumper in mid corner and came off second best. (As I recall, that was the second coming together with the Porsche RSR). The long and the short of it was that the Datsun walked the race by 5 seconds with the Porsche RSR knowing full well he'd been beaten fair and square by a superior car and driver.
On a similar path was the little Datsun GX Coupe now still in class C. Mr 'Datsun Guru' still having a book full of tricks up his sleeve had other ideas of me remaining there. Again changes were made between the last race meeting and this one but this time nothing further was done in the power plant department. Upon my arrival on the Friday I was greeted with a complete set of new brakes front and back and a complete different seating position. The steering had also been adjusted to match the new seated position. I tested for 2 sessions on the Friday and was most impressed with the new (unofficial) time and the changes that were made. Saturdays qualifying was the official proof thereof with a slower time of 1:28.7 while in race 1 an improved time of 1:28.2 (still 0.3 sec slower than the unofficial time done on Friday) was further done. Race 2 was done at a slower pace and I only managed a best 1:29.23. The damage however was already done in qualifying. Class B here we come. I now have to ask the inevitable question, has a 1400 normally aspirated engined car ever in the history of Killarney race tracks existence reached class B? I most certainly don't recall it.
Yes I was the driver and obviously played some role, but I stand up and salute you 'Boet' for constantly and confidently chipping away at the pinnacle of the ridiculous to prove to all and sundry that it CAN and HAS now been accomplished with may I say OEM parts which include the drive train (gearbox and diff) and brakes. I will also go on record as saying that even one of the HMC technical consultants thought this was now just a step too much to believe and that something must be going on under that bonnet. Well, we welcomed the opportunity to open up and allow his full unhindered inspection (purely out of his own curiosity) which to his utmost amazement could not believe that the achievements were actually done with an perfectly legal A14 engine on OEM front discs and standard road (NOT race) disc pads and with OEM drum brakes still fitted to the rear. He shook both our hands and said he now had sufficient evidence to prove beyond any reasonable doubt to whomever that you do not always need the best in racing parts alone as many always proclaim, but that given the proper setup with a good dose of race engine and race car preparation knowledge, he now had living proof right in front of his own eyes. Needless to say the Datsun GX Coupe won both its races done in class C for the last time.
My 'Boet', you not only amaze the racing world at Killarney, and elsewhere around the country I may add, but you still boggle my mind with your never ending attempt at going faster each and every race, with success, and all still within the allowable rules.
I truly salute your efforts.
Thanks 'Boet'.
Race 1 was off at 09h45 or thereabout with no warm-up formation lap. It was an out lap and a formation lap all in one and when the pace car pulled off, it was go. The 140Z carved its way through the field like a hot knife through butter and by lap 4 he was already in second place with only the Porsche of Keith Rose still in the distance. By the end of the race the Porsche managed to stay ahead and win by exactly 1 second. In the interim, the Datsun 140Z had posted a personal best time of 1:21.6. (That didn't help getting out of class X though.) Never ever has a 4-cylinder normally aspirated 8 valve engined saloon car been recorded doing such times at Killarney. You can say what you want to, but at the end of the day you simply have to admire the mans masterful race engine and race car preparation ability which is slowly proving unsurpassed at club racing level. What makes it even more amazing, is that it fully complies in every aspect of the rules with period part rule requirements having been met and having been duly verified as such by the technical committee.
Race 2 now saw the Datsun 140Z standing second on the grid next to the Porsche RSR. The start was again the same as the first. The German engineered flat six rudely stormed off and was soon hounded by the Japanese Datsun 140Z. At every opportunity that the Datsun had tried at to make a pass, the Porsche blocked the attempt. On lap 4 he tried it once too often and upon entering T3 the Datsun stuck his nose in as the Porsche does not have the cornering ability nor the corner speed to stay with the Datsun going through there. They approached T4 side by side, the Porsche on the outside the Datsun on the inside. Keith tried to cut across the Datsun but this time found the left front bumper in mid corner and came off second best. (As I recall, that was the second coming together with the Porsche RSR). The long and the short of it was that the Datsun walked the race by 5 seconds with the Porsche RSR knowing full well he'd been beaten fair and square by a superior car and driver.
On a similar path was the little Datsun GX Coupe now still in class C. Mr 'Datsun Guru' still having a book full of tricks up his sleeve had other ideas of me remaining there. Again changes were made between the last race meeting and this one but this time nothing further was done in the power plant department. Upon my arrival on the Friday I was greeted with a complete set of new brakes front and back and a complete different seating position. The steering had also been adjusted to match the new seated position. I tested for 2 sessions on the Friday and was most impressed with the new (unofficial) time and the changes that were made. Saturdays qualifying was the official proof thereof with a slower time of 1:28.7 while in race 1 an improved time of 1:28.2 (still 0.3 sec slower than the unofficial time done on Friday) was further done. Race 2 was done at a slower pace and I only managed a best 1:29.23. The damage however was already done in qualifying. Class B here we come. I now have to ask the inevitable question, has a 1400 normally aspirated engined car ever in the history of Killarney race tracks existence reached class B? I most certainly don't recall it.
Yes I was the driver and obviously played some role, but I stand up and salute you 'Boet' for constantly and confidently chipping away at the pinnacle of the ridiculous to prove to all and sundry that it CAN and HAS now been accomplished with may I say OEM parts which include the drive train (gearbox and diff) and brakes. I will also go on record as saying that even one of the HMC technical consultants thought this was now just a step too much to believe and that something must be going on under that bonnet. Well, we welcomed the opportunity to open up and allow his full unhindered inspection (purely out of his own curiosity) which to his utmost amazement could not believe that the achievements were actually done with an perfectly legal A14 engine on OEM front discs and standard road (NOT race) disc pads and with OEM drum brakes still fitted to the rear. He shook both our hands and said he now had sufficient evidence to prove beyond any reasonable doubt to whomever that you do not always need the best in racing parts alone as many always proclaim, but that given the proper setup with a good dose of race engine and race car preparation knowledge, he now had living proof right in front of his own eyes. Needless to say the Datsun GX Coupe won both its races done in class C for the last time.
My 'Boet', you not only amaze the racing world at Killarney, and elsewhere around the country I may add, but you still boggle my mind with your never ending attempt at going faster each and every race, with success, and all still within the allowable rules.
I truly salute your efforts.
Thanks 'Boet'.
Monday, 05 April 2010
F.....ck those Datsuns..........................are quick!!
Well it was race time again (27th March) however this time round the 140Z was not to be a part of it due to some race parts still being awaited from the USA. The 140Z has demonstrated beyond all doubt that a well prepared and tuned 4-cylinder can put in times that will make any opposition stand up and take note. What has equally been demonstrated is that you can only do so much to a 4-cylinder race engine where after reliability or rather the lack thereof starts playing a vital role as we saw. As such the 140Z will now be de-tuned to a more reliable state of tune where after it will once again resume race duty first in class X and hopefully thereafter back to class A.
In the meanwhile we did some head scratching as to what we will need to do in order to allow the Datti GX Coupe to be a little more competitive in class C. I will be the first to admit that realistically this car is super competitive in class D and ideally does not belong in class C. However going backwards is not an option either and I did the inevitable by asking the very person who gives 110% in preparation on this car if he could squeeze a little more just so that we can at least be up there with the other class C competitors. I had conjured up some weird and wonderful ideologies and suggested that we consider the possibility. The Datsun master said 'leave it to me' and I duly did not expecting anything to dramatic. Boy was I horribly wrong. Not only did he implement the changes to the entire intake and exhaust system but also lowered the entire car all while still retaining the original suspension parts. As per usual I flew down on the Thursday night and we met at the track. After our ritual greeting and hellos I had the opportunity to at least take it down pit lane where after I parked it for the night. The sound of the new exhaust was most obvious. The extra oomph however was mind boggling and put a smile on my face sufficient that if it wasn't for my ears, the top of my head would have fallen off.
Friday morning we had some running around to attend to and we eventually got to the track by 12h00. The normal routine checks out of habit were done and the tyre pressures were adjusted as per the norm. My first practice session was at 13h46 and I was rather eager to get to grips with my rejuvenated Datti. I donned the overalls, helmet and gloves and eventually took to the track slowly at first just to get some heat into the tyres and to get a feel of the car and its handling difference. Man was I impressed especially coming out of the corners. On lap 2 I upped the pace slightly and it felt good and eventually coming at full tilt through T4 and onto the back straight I silently said, 'gimme what ya got'. About halfway down the straight I encountered a miss, took T5 and again nailed it down the main straight again noticing a miss. I immediately slowed and coasted back to the pits. 'Mr Datsun' grilled me with all kinds of questions and eventually made a decision to the likely cause. A further change was made to the fuel system and a new set of plugs were put in just in case. We now had to make a call as to whether the problem was solved or whether we had to make further changes which then required that we go back to the workshop. I duly requested the chief marshals permission for a quick 2 lap test run and was duly given permission to go out with the Sports & GT category. Again I took to the track and all seemed clear. I hit the back straight and let her run until reaching full revs and she was clear throughout the entire rev range. Again down the main straight and again she was clear. I pitted after the 2 laps satisfied that the problem was solved. My next session was at 16h10 and I needed to do a time to ascertain the improvement over my previous best time of 1:32.0 done in February. Again we checked the basics and everything was 100%. Time seemed to move so slowly. I eventually got my chance and by now the air temperature had cooled somewhat all while the track conditions were still good. My first lap was great and it was evident that this Datti had some serious grunt for an A14 and I was soon to see why. I started my second lap and man it felt good, she turned well, accelerated brilliantly and sounded awesome on the back straight. I hit T5 with a much greater speed than normal and the brakes worked well. Coming out of T5 she rocketed out all while drifting slightly to the edge, I held her and let her rev up towards the start finish and even before reaching it 'Mr Datsun' gave me the thumbs up signal, 'Job Done'. I crossed the finish and posted in the 1:29's. My jaw dropped and my delight was like that of giving sweets to a child.
Saturday, race day and again we were denied a qualifying session meaning that we would use our previous race's best time to make up the grid and thereby putting me second to Dave Alhadeff in the 2000cc Alfa GT Junior. Overnight rain ensured that the track would likely be somewhat slower but by now it had cleared and the track was dry. A rolling start was done as per the norm and at lights out I hoofed it clinging to the back bumper of the Porsche 911 of William Carter as we approached turn 1, Dave on my outside having the better line for T2. I took the outside line on T2 and took Carter and got Dave going through the kink heading for T3 with Dave right up behind me. I new the Alfa was quick here but not ever having had the opportunity to be up here with him I was still unsure. We headed for T4, a dab on the brakes and then peddle to the mettle through T4 and on to the back straight. By now I had pulled a slight gap on the Alfa but now it was who had the best legs down the back. The Datti surprised me as it kept pulling down the back. I hit the brakes hard as I passed the 50m brake marker, the left front locking up slightly under heavy braking due to the extra speed carried. Dave closed on me only slightly. Through T5 and on the exit the Datti simply pulled away from the Alfa. Man this was good. This lasted for the entire race with me eventually finishing 0.3 sec ahead of the Alfa and in turn posted a personal best of 1:30.1 during the race.
Race 2 and I now found myself 4th on the grid as all 3 Sciroccos had withdrawn from class B with Dave in the Alfa this time on my left. Again a brilliant rolling start was done and this time I was tucked right up behind the 530 BMW of Charles Arton in class A, the lights went off and I held onto that BM's back bumper like paint going into T1. Dave still next to me held on dearly, but coming out of T1, the BM simply disappeared in to the distance and I managed to out drag the Alfa going into T2. Again for the entire race it was a ding dong battle with Dave pushing me at every corner hoping that I would somewhere make a mistake so that he could capitalise. Mistakes I made aplenty as I pushed as hard as I could through each corner but held him off to the finish line with a mere 0.7 sec separating us this time around. In turn Dave put in his fastest ever time of 1:29.7, while the Datti got down to a blistering 1:29.6. After 16 hard fought laps we were separated by 1 second in time difference.
The 2 wins ensured a class win for the day and to my utmost surprise I was awarded the 'Driver of the Day' award at prize giving that evening. I still cannot actually believe that an A14 motor can be tuned to such competitive heights, proof once again that I still have the greatest Datsun engine builder in the country without any question of doubt.
Thanks 'Boet'.
In the meanwhile we did some head scratching as to what we will need to do in order to allow the Datti GX Coupe to be a little more competitive in class C. I will be the first to admit that realistically this car is super competitive in class D and ideally does not belong in class C. However going backwards is not an option either and I did the inevitable by asking the very person who gives 110% in preparation on this car if he could squeeze a little more just so that we can at least be up there with the other class C competitors. I had conjured up some weird and wonderful ideologies and suggested that we consider the possibility. The Datsun master said 'leave it to me' and I duly did not expecting anything to dramatic. Boy was I horribly wrong. Not only did he implement the changes to the entire intake and exhaust system but also lowered the entire car all while still retaining the original suspension parts. As per usual I flew down on the Thursday night and we met at the track. After our ritual greeting and hellos I had the opportunity to at least take it down pit lane where after I parked it for the night. The sound of the new exhaust was most obvious. The extra oomph however was mind boggling and put a smile on my face sufficient that if it wasn't for my ears, the top of my head would have fallen off.
Friday morning we had some running around to attend to and we eventually got to the track by 12h00. The normal routine checks out of habit were done and the tyre pressures were adjusted as per the norm. My first practice session was at 13h46 and I was rather eager to get to grips with my rejuvenated Datti. I donned the overalls, helmet and gloves and eventually took to the track slowly at first just to get some heat into the tyres and to get a feel of the car and its handling difference. Man was I impressed especially coming out of the corners. On lap 2 I upped the pace slightly and it felt good and eventually coming at full tilt through T4 and onto the back straight I silently said, 'gimme what ya got'. About halfway down the straight I encountered a miss, took T5 and again nailed it down the main straight again noticing a miss. I immediately slowed and coasted back to the pits. 'Mr Datsun' grilled me with all kinds of questions and eventually made a decision to the likely cause. A further change was made to the fuel system and a new set of plugs were put in just in case. We now had to make a call as to whether the problem was solved or whether we had to make further changes which then required that we go back to the workshop. I duly requested the chief marshals permission for a quick 2 lap test run and was duly given permission to go out with the Sports & GT category. Again I took to the track and all seemed clear. I hit the back straight and let her run until reaching full revs and she was clear throughout the entire rev range. Again down the main straight and again she was clear. I pitted after the 2 laps satisfied that the problem was solved. My next session was at 16h10 and I needed to do a time to ascertain the improvement over my previous best time of 1:32.0 done in February. Again we checked the basics and everything was 100%. Time seemed to move so slowly. I eventually got my chance and by now the air temperature had cooled somewhat all while the track conditions were still good. My first lap was great and it was evident that this Datti had some serious grunt for an A14 and I was soon to see why. I started my second lap and man it felt good, she turned well, accelerated brilliantly and sounded awesome on the back straight. I hit T5 with a much greater speed than normal and the brakes worked well. Coming out of T5 she rocketed out all while drifting slightly to the edge, I held her and let her rev up towards the start finish and even before reaching it 'Mr Datsun' gave me the thumbs up signal, 'Job Done'. I crossed the finish and posted in the 1:29's. My jaw dropped and my delight was like that of giving sweets to a child.
Saturday, race day and again we were denied a qualifying session meaning that we would use our previous race's best time to make up the grid and thereby putting me second to Dave Alhadeff in the 2000cc Alfa GT Junior. Overnight rain ensured that the track would likely be somewhat slower but by now it had cleared and the track was dry. A rolling start was done as per the norm and at lights out I hoofed it clinging to the back bumper of the Porsche 911 of William Carter as we approached turn 1, Dave on my outside having the better line for T2. I took the outside line on T2 and took Carter and got Dave going through the kink heading for T3 with Dave right up behind me. I new the Alfa was quick here but not ever having had the opportunity to be up here with him I was still unsure. We headed for T4, a dab on the brakes and then peddle to the mettle through T4 and on to the back straight. By now I had pulled a slight gap on the Alfa but now it was who had the best legs down the back. The Datti surprised me as it kept pulling down the back. I hit the brakes hard as I passed the 50m brake marker, the left front locking up slightly under heavy braking due to the extra speed carried. Dave closed on me only slightly. Through T5 and on the exit the Datti simply pulled away from the Alfa. Man this was good. This lasted for the entire race with me eventually finishing 0.3 sec ahead of the Alfa and in turn posted a personal best of 1:30.1 during the race.
Race 2 and I now found myself 4th on the grid as all 3 Sciroccos had withdrawn from class B with Dave in the Alfa this time on my left. Again a brilliant rolling start was done and this time I was tucked right up behind the 530 BMW of Charles Arton in class A, the lights went off and I held onto that BM's back bumper like paint going into T1. Dave still next to me held on dearly, but coming out of T1, the BM simply disappeared in to the distance and I managed to out drag the Alfa going into T2. Again for the entire race it was a ding dong battle with Dave pushing me at every corner hoping that I would somewhere make a mistake so that he could capitalise. Mistakes I made aplenty as I pushed as hard as I could through each corner but held him off to the finish line with a mere 0.7 sec separating us this time around. In turn Dave put in his fastest ever time of 1:29.7, while the Datti got down to a blistering 1:29.6. After 16 hard fought laps we were separated by 1 second in time difference.
The 2 wins ensured a class win for the day and to my utmost surprise I was awarded the 'Driver of the Day' award at prize giving that evening. I still cannot actually believe that an A14 motor can be tuned to such competitive heights, proof once again that I still have the greatest Datsun engine builder in the country without any question of doubt.
Thanks 'Boet'.
Sunday, 06 December 2009
Retro Datsuns
Well after a long wait and preparation it was game on. You may recall that I had posted a video of a lap of Kyalami as well as references to a website in which a full lap description was available. I used this as reference and guide to a track that most of the Cape Town guys who traveled to the 9-Hour retro race had never ever raced on and I believe that to degree it helped at least some.
On the Thursday night the Datsuns arrived, one having been towed up while the other (1400 Datti) was on a transporter together with 10 other cars all from Cape Town. We duly unpacked and prepped our allocated space in the pit area all in preparation for the Friday. Friday morning we were up at sparrows and the Cape Town guys we duly greeted by the Friday morning traffic. A journey that takes 5 minutes took us 30 minutes in the traffic. Then it was down to business. We had already fueled the cars before leaving Cape Town and only had to make tyre pressure checks and changes. Obviously minor pre-checks such as oil levels, brake fluid and water levels etc. were also done. Peter Lindenberg had arranged and made the effort to drive us the race lines for those that had never turned a wheel here before which was most helpful.
At 09h00 and already at a temperature of 23 degrees we were on for the first time and on lap 7 the 140Z put in a lap of 2:02.8 first time out ever. The second session was skipped and in the 3rd session the 140Z got down to a 2:02.3 still on 8" rubber. For the qualifying we decided to change the rubber and on lap 2 during qualifying a 2:00.4 was done to utmost satisfaction. Sadly the 1400 Datti suffered with a miss for all 3 of the practice sessions including the qualifying. We new that it was fuel starvation although we had already replaced the fuel filter (which was dirty) and for the qualifying session we eventually put our original CT jets back in desperation only to confirm that it did not solve the problem either. After the qualifying session had ended the Datsun guru went through the fuel system with a fine tooth comb and worked his way from the back to the front. Upon taken the carburettors apart it was eventually discovered that a piece of black rubber (probably fuel line hose) was the cause of the problem on the back carburettor blocking the fuel bowl from filling correctly. The floats were then also thoroughly checked for any possible leaks. Having now found the problem, I used the post '73 - pre '84 qualifying session to test and duly posted a 2:14.6 which I was more than happy with as it now at least revved cleanly all the way to 7000 rpm. Arrangements were then subsequently made with the COC to allow the time for the pre-77 classes EFG which he duly agreed to. I also duly arranged my original entry form classing to be amended to reflect correctly and was duly assigned to class F based upon my best time officially posted. We sealed the afternoon off with a few welcome liquid refreshments and set off for home and a reasonably early night.
Saturday morning dawned and as per norm we arrived at the track at approximately 07h00 for our traditional race preparation routine. There was not more we could do other than put all we had learned into practice. Race 1 for class ABCD was off at 10h10 and the 140Z was driven hard into third place behind the V8 Capri Perana (Z181) and the BMW 3.0CSL (batmobile) of Uli Sanne and in the process manged to post a fantastic 1:59.4. The fourth placed car finished a full 25 seconds later behind him. The little 1400 Datti had one heck of a dice with a very sideways on every corner 280E Merc for the first few laps which I managed to get past, after which he then fell right off the pace due to excessive tyre wear I guess. I then had a humongous dice with my local JHB race buddy Ted Young in an Anglia for the remainder of the race. I cannot explain the closeness of it and I only hope that the TV coverage will display some of the close action. In the interim I also managed to post a 2:12.0 which was my target time zone anyway (2:10.0 to 2:13.0).
Race 2 was almost a repeat of race 1 with the 140Z again finishing in 3rd place behind the 'batmobile' while the fourth placed Robin Forbes in the V8 Corvette finished a full 30.1 seconds later. This gave the 140Z an overall 2nd in class C. The Datti meanwhile managed to keep the 280E Merc and the more powerful and fatter tyred Escort MkI of Gert Botes well at bay this time round and again landed up with a full 8 lap dice with the class E Anglia, that of Ted Young. The closeness and overtaking opportunities were aplenty on every conceivable lap with Ted holding on to the finish line to beat me by 0.8 seconds. My hat off to Ted for withstanding the pressure for a full 8 laps all while his tyres were fading fast. I managed in turn to take overall in class F for the day, a result most unexpected, yet most appreciated. To say that I was tired is a gross understatement, but one race event that I'll never forget.
Kyalami is undoubtedly a very challenging track to say the least but we managed to get the better of it albeit this time round anyway, never once losing control or letting it get the better of us.
Once again 'Mr Datsun' came up with all the answers and solutions and let both Cape Town Datsuns do the talking. A brilliant way to end a season and again I must thank my 'boet' for just making it so much easier with perfect race prep for each and every race this year.
Thanks 'boet'.
On the Thursday night the Datsuns arrived, one having been towed up while the other (1400 Datti) was on a transporter together with 10 other cars all from Cape Town. We duly unpacked and prepped our allocated space in the pit area all in preparation for the Friday. Friday morning we were up at sparrows and the Cape Town guys we duly greeted by the Friday morning traffic. A journey that takes 5 minutes took us 30 minutes in the traffic. Then it was down to business. We had already fueled the cars before leaving Cape Town and only had to make tyre pressure checks and changes. Obviously minor pre-checks such as oil levels, brake fluid and water levels etc. were also done. Peter Lindenberg had arranged and made the effort to drive us the race lines for those that had never turned a wheel here before which was most helpful.
At 09h00 and already at a temperature of 23 degrees we were on for the first time and on lap 7 the 140Z put in a lap of 2:02.8 first time out ever. The second session was skipped and in the 3rd session the 140Z got down to a 2:02.3 still on 8" rubber. For the qualifying we decided to change the rubber and on lap 2 during qualifying a 2:00.4 was done to utmost satisfaction. Sadly the 1400 Datti suffered with a miss for all 3 of the practice sessions including the qualifying. We new that it was fuel starvation although we had already replaced the fuel filter (which was dirty) and for the qualifying session we eventually put our original CT jets back in desperation only to confirm that it did not solve the problem either. After the qualifying session had ended the Datsun guru went through the fuel system with a fine tooth comb and worked his way from the back to the front. Upon taken the carburettors apart it was eventually discovered that a piece of black rubber (probably fuel line hose) was the cause of the problem on the back carburettor blocking the fuel bowl from filling correctly. The floats were then also thoroughly checked for any possible leaks. Having now found the problem, I used the post '73 - pre '84 qualifying session to test and duly posted a 2:14.6 which I was more than happy with as it now at least revved cleanly all the way to 7000 rpm. Arrangements were then subsequently made with the COC to allow the time for the pre-77 classes EFG which he duly agreed to. I also duly arranged my original entry form classing to be amended to reflect correctly and was duly assigned to class F based upon my best time officially posted. We sealed the afternoon off with a few welcome liquid refreshments and set off for home and a reasonably early night.
Saturday morning dawned and as per norm we arrived at the track at approximately 07h00 for our traditional race preparation routine. There was not more we could do other than put all we had learned into practice. Race 1 for class ABCD was off at 10h10 and the 140Z was driven hard into third place behind the V8 Capri Perana (Z181) and the BMW 3.0CSL (batmobile) of Uli Sanne and in the process manged to post a fantastic 1:59.4. The fourth placed car finished a full 25 seconds later behind him. The little 1400 Datti had one heck of a dice with a very sideways on every corner 280E Merc for the first few laps which I managed to get past, after which he then fell right off the pace due to excessive tyre wear I guess. I then had a humongous dice with my local JHB race buddy Ted Young in an Anglia for the remainder of the race. I cannot explain the closeness of it and I only hope that the TV coverage will display some of the close action. In the interim I also managed to post a 2:12.0 which was my target time zone anyway (2:10.0 to 2:13.0).
Race 2 was almost a repeat of race 1 with the 140Z again finishing in 3rd place behind the 'batmobile' while the fourth placed Robin Forbes in the V8 Corvette finished a full 30.1 seconds later. This gave the 140Z an overall 2nd in class C. The Datti meanwhile managed to keep the 280E Merc and the more powerful and fatter tyred Escort MkI of Gert Botes well at bay this time round and again landed up with a full 8 lap dice with the class E Anglia, that of Ted Young. The closeness and overtaking opportunities were aplenty on every conceivable lap with Ted holding on to the finish line to beat me by 0.8 seconds. My hat off to Ted for withstanding the pressure for a full 8 laps all while his tyres were fading fast. I managed in turn to take overall in class F for the day, a result most unexpected, yet most appreciated. To say that I was tired is a gross understatement, but one race event that I'll never forget.
Kyalami is undoubtedly a very challenging track to say the least but we managed to get the better of it albeit this time round anyway, never once losing control or letting it get the better of us.
Once again 'Mr Datsun' came up with all the answers and solutions and let both Cape Town Datsuns do the talking. A brilliant way to end a season and again I must thank my 'boet' for just making it so much easier with perfect race prep for each and every race this year.
Thanks 'boet'.
Monday, 09 February 2009
Door 2 Door Racing
Well it's been a long time since the last race of December 2008 and the wait had become almost unbearable. It finally arrived for me on the 6th February and boy was I eager. The arm joints needed some loosening up and the racing skills honed for the start of the 2009 season. Well during the off season absolutely nothing was really done to the Datti other than to repair the cylinder head which was damaged on the last race of 2008 and some re-greasing of the wheel bearings.
Fridays practice was slotted at various times during the day but I settled for my first one at 13h45 after sorting out the required documentation and then performing my usual routine checks on the car. The Datti made all the right noises at the right time but I soon discovered I was either VERY rusty having not been active for a while or the Datti was just not making power. No matter how hard I tried, I could not do sub 1:35. In fairness I did consider the slight wind as well as the temperature which was pushing towards the 30 degree mark. I settled for the latter as a reasonable assumption. The next practice slot again was at 16h15. Again I tried my damdest but faired even worse not being able to this time better 1:37's and became somewhat frustrated. By the time Martin had arrived I gave him my run down and told him I personally felt the car was simply just lazy out of the corners. We left it for then and headed home.
The next morning early we were back at the track and 1,2,3 Martin was in think tank mode. Off with the tappet cover and some adjustments were quickly made. Then it was out with the spark plugs and a new set of race plugs fitted. The timing light was hauled out and a quick adjustment and resetting of the timing was done. "Try that and let me know if it's better" he said.
Qualifying was at 10h35 and I was eager to see if I could post closer to my previous best times as in all fairness the track was near perfect with lots of rubber on the deck and temperatures were good. By the end of my first qualifying lap I could already feel and see the difference. The Datti was crisp again and that 'edge' had returned.
I qualified with a best of 1:33.1 again putting me on pole for class D. I was chuffed. Due to the very busy weekend race schedule my first race was only off at 17h00, so for the rest of the day I spent chatting to fellow racers and also sat in T3 watching the other various race categories.
My first race turned out to be an absolute blast and the pace was fast. I had got off to a bad start due to some sleepy race souls ahead of me in Class C and Mike (Napoli) got the gap and got ahead of me. We all managed to get through T1 OK and like a pack of hungry wolves we all stormed for T2 not anyone giving an inch. Mike was this time caught in traffic and I took him going through T2. He hung on to my rear for dear life but again traffic in T5 resulted in Mike coming off second best. I held him off for the rest of the race beating him by a comfortable 3.7 sec margin.
Race 2 was scheduled for 12h05 on the Sunday and temperatures were somewhat cooler while track conditions had improved even further with all the racing that had again taken place. A slight thunder shower on the Saturday evening was welcomed which somewhat brought down the temps just a tad. Race 2 was an absolute cracker with Mike this time 1 row behind me. Mike had a great start and beat me from a rolling start squarely getting by on the outside. We got away from the pack behind us but their cars were definitely quicker. English competitor Lee Moulden in the Gunston coloured Capri was eventually all over me finally taking me going into Turn 1 on lap 6 and splitting Mike and myself. We still raced on one another's bumpers as if we were glued to each other. Paul Ammann in the Scirrocco also got involved with him passing me down the straights only for me to out brake him again in the corners. Paul did eventually get passed and that’s how the 4 of us finished, nose to tail stuff with only 1.2 seconds separating the four places (Mike, Lee, Paul and myself). In the interim I also landed up posting my fastest time ever at a 1:32.57 thereby also incurring my first official breakout. (That I know of)
The last and final race 3 was off at 16h30 with a slight mist now having come in from the sea and bringing some cool relief. This time both Mike and I had good rolling starts and we soon were out on our own with Mike leading due to a 3 car start lead he had from the finish in the second race. Never once were we more than a cars length away from each other and it became a duel to the last lap. Having watched and observed for 5 laps being behind Mike I picked up on some weaknesses and I eventually made a move and took the lead from him going into T1 on the start of lap 6. It was door to door racing, never once touching and only allowing each other enough room to hold our lines. Mike tried all the tricks he had and on 2 occasions pulled next to me going down the back straight into T5 only for me to out brake him and hold my position ahead of him. Coming out of T5 for the last time it was bumper to bumper as we dragged each other to the finish line with the Datti taking the win by a mere 0.173 seconds and the closet other class D car behind Mike some 16 seconds behind. What a cracker it was and much to the joys and delight of the crowds. Thanks Mike for a great days racing between two classic cars.
That’s what racing is all about and I can only again say a BIG word of thanks to Martin who once again had the winning trick tucked up under his sleeve. I was just the nut behind the steering wheel throughout the whole weekend.
Thanks ‘Boet’
Saturday, 13 December 2008
Enough is Enough
December 6th was the last race of the season to be held at the big K and the 'classic car' brigade was afforded an extra race which of course counted for no points as the championship had already finished. This therefore gave some of the old classic die-hards and thoroughbred racers another chance to 'do it one more time'.
Martin had already decided long prior to the race that he would be sitting out entirely as the minister of finance gave strict instructions to 'tighten our belts' and save where we could. This sounded like a good opportunity to do just that and instead he decided to sit in T3 and watch the clowns put on our show.
Qualifying was afforded to the classics unexpectedly and was most welcomed. The Datti was sounding as sweet as ever even although she now had a full and hard race season behind her. The track temperature was already good at 09h20 and the weather conditions near perfect. I thought to myself, do I or don't I. What the hell, just once more. I gave it my best and qualified the Datti in second place with a time of 1:33:2 and was actually quite chuffed I could still post such a time after all the racing the poor motor had already completed during the season.
Race 1 was off at 11h50 and as per usual the Datti performed effortlessly as she had always done throughout the season finishing second behind Jaco who had now decided to race dad's Anglia for a change. I returned to pit and did the necessary race prep for the next heat off at 16h20. I then was off to T3 and watched the rest of the days race precedings from there.
Having enjoyed and spent time out at T3 I returned to pit, put on my 'baby grower' and took the Datti to the pre-race paddock and parked in my start position. There I warmed the car to just on race temperature and cut the engine. While waiting for the race before us to finish I put on the rest of my race gear and as per norm entered 'focus' mode. We started up and proceeded on to the track and as per norm started scrubbing the tyres to warm them up and clear any previous cool down debris. Having not even reach turn 1 I suddenly heard a noise coming from the engine which I was not sure of but it did sound rather terminal and evidently it was. I slowly returned to pit while the rest passed me by on there rolling start lap. A quick inspection at the pit indicated that the problem was in the head but due to my limited knowledge of the internal combustion engine, I was unable to diagnose exactly the cause. I just went back to T3.
Sunday morning we returned to the track and by means of a fancy camera used in the motor industry we (Martin hello) determined that the inlet valve seat in No1 cylinder had disintegrated and was the cause of the problem. Well, I was somewhat relieved that it was not anything much worse and accepted the fact that after continuously revving the Datti in excess of 7000 RPM at each race something had to eventually give.
Evidence of the damage in No1 cylinder.
Having already achieved far more than was ever expected during the season I bid the ol' Datti farewell till next season. In the meantime the motor will be redone and some suspension work is definitely needed for competition in 2009.
Once again I bow my head with gratefulness for all that my 'boet' did and achieved with the 1400 Datti.
Thanks 'Boet'
Martin had already decided long prior to the race that he would be sitting out entirely as the minister of finance gave strict instructions to 'tighten our belts' and save where we could. This sounded like a good opportunity to do just that and instead he decided to sit in T3 and watch the clowns put on our show.
Qualifying was afforded to the classics unexpectedly and was most welcomed. The Datti was sounding as sweet as ever even although she now had a full and hard race season behind her. The track temperature was already good at 09h20 and the weather conditions near perfect. I thought to myself, do I or don't I. What the hell, just once more. I gave it my best and qualified the Datti in second place with a time of 1:33:2 and was actually quite chuffed I could still post such a time after all the racing the poor motor had already completed during the season.
Race 1 was off at 11h50 and as per usual the Datti performed effortlessly as she had always done throughout the season finishing second behind Jaco who had now decided to race dad's Anglia for a change. I returned to pit and did the necessary race prep for the next heat off at 16h20. I then was off to T3 and watched the rest of the days race precedings from there.
Having enjoyed and spent time out at T3 I returned to pit, put on my 'baby grower' and took the Datti to the pre-race paddock and parked in my start position. There I warmed the car to just on race temperature and cut the engine. While waiting for the race before us to finish I put on the rest of my race gear and as per norm entered 'focus' mode. We started up and proceeded on to the track and as per norm started scrubbing the tyres to warm them up and clear any previous cool down debris. Having not even reach turn 1 I suddenly heard a noise coming from the engine which I was not sure of but it did sound rather terminal and evidently it was. I slowly returned to pit while the rest passed me by on there rolling start lap. A quick inspection at the pit indicated that the problem was in the head but due to my limited knowledge of the internal combustion engine, I was unable to diagnose exactly the cause. I just went back to T3.
Sunday morning we returned to the track and by means of a fancy camera used in the motor industry we (Martin hello) determined that the inlet valve seat in No1 cylinder had disintegrated and was the cause of the problem. Well, I was somewhat relieved that it was not anything much worse and accepted the fact that after continuously revving the Datti in excess of 7000 RPM at each race something had to eventually give.
Evidence of the damage in No1 cylinder.Having already achieved far more than was ever expected during the season I bid the ol' Datti farewell till next season. In the meantime the motor will be redone and some suspension work is definitely needed for competition in 2009.
Once again I bow my head with gratefulness for all that my 'boet' did and achieved with the 1400 Datti.
Thanks 'Boet'
Monday, 17 November 2008
I did it 'My Way'
The last race of the championship for 2008 was held last weekend (15 November 2008) and what a race day day it turned out to be.
Thanks my 'Champ'
Well, that is for everyone else that raced. Friday was a limited day for 'classics' and due to the schedule, and understandably so. We were only afforded 1 practice round at 16h00 with a qualifying round scheduled for 17h15. As per usual, every nut an bolt was again checked from front to back, the front disc pads were replaced and oil levels top up where required prior to the car even getting to the track. The motor was ever so sweet and little was done or required in this department. My (our) race strategy was really quite simple, just go out there and finish a race even it's just the one heat. We had already done enough going into the last race to secure the class win for the season. So off I went at 16h00 to just see that all the noises were being made in the right places etc. Well on lap 2, I had lost 3rd gear and by the time I got back to the pits, I'd lost 2nd gear as well. Not phased, I went and collected the stored 2nd hand gearbox from the workshop and returned leisurely to the track. Qualifying was also subsequently cancelled due to some oil spills which had to be cleaned up properly before sunset.
To cut a very long story short, after the 4th time of having to remove and fit the replacement box we finally had it in at 22h00. All seemed OK however it was evident this was not the best race box you could lay hands on. While you could get all the gears, changing from 3rd to 4th and back was very tricky as the selector gates were obviously damaged. So we settled for 2nd best and enjoyed a few well deserved liquid refreshments and and a well earned braai. We left at approximately 01h00 for some rest and returned bright and breezy the next morning at 07h30.
Saturday, race day and it turned out to be a beautiful summers day and perfect for racing. The crowds were huge and the outfields were packed to capacity for this last major calendar event of the season. Our race was only scheduled for 11h00 and plenty time was therefore available to do the pre race checks and refuelling etc. A rolling start was again the order of the day and by all standards it was a good and fast start for a change. Everything seemed great until I just before T2 where for the love of me I could not get 3rd gear. Man it sounded like those early day gear boxes without syncromesh gears just grinding away like a cheap old coffee grinder. I eventually got 3rd, hit the gas peddle and off I went towards T3 trying to hook 4th the just before the kink. Again the coffee grinder was on full song, eventually slipping in just before I had to now change back to 3rd for T3. It was inevitable, this race was not going to be a very competitive one. The rest of the race was very much a procession of grinding and vibrating my way to the finish line eventually finishing a low 4th in my class D, Jaco, Arnold and Derek all having past me while I happily ground my way to the finish. Well, that was not the end just yet, as the Datti had in the interim also vibrated so much so, that the starter motor broke both mounting brackets clean off against the bell housing. Having made it now through T1 I coasted towards T2 but by the time I'd reached T2 the car had now died on me as well with smoke starting to pour into the car. I could immediately smell it was electrical. I managed to stop on the oval track section out of harms way and waited for a tow back to the pit. Ya well no fine. Almost an hour and a half later only then was I towed to where I laid the Datti to rest. A quick check by Martin and it was evident that that starter motor had broken free from the housing and shorted against the cross member thereby causing the electrics to say 'hoesit'. In the meantime while I was stuck out on track waiting for a tow back to the pits, the lovely CAR girls were eager to get their hands onto me and stood waiting in anticipation for my appearance. Of course it never happened and in my absence Martin took good care of all that devoted attention.
Looking back, it was sufficient that I had just completed the race which if my maths is correct I would have earned just 2 points for a start and finish and 3 points for finishing 4th in the race. That therefore makes it my worst race of the season which according to rule 8.3 means this is the race which I will now drop and re-instate my previously dropped 13 well deserved points taking my total tally for the year to 101.
This season must go down as being one of my best years in my life where I had originally only set out to merely compete in 'classic cars' and be a part of my brothers much loved sport. Half way through the season my 'boet' said to me, "you're looking good so far, I want you to just win class D for me for the year, and I know you can do it". I thought this would be the least I could do to somehow repay my boet a favour for all his dedicated efforts and preparation put into my race car during the year. Well, as it now turns out I not only won the class, but also the silver cup and last but not least, the overall 'classic car' championship in my very first FULL year of racing. While I'm immensely chuffed with my achievements for the season, I have to admit and pay credit where credit is due, that without Martin's help and race guidance throughout the season, this would never have occurred and for that I am immensely grateful and proud to be a brother of such a devoted and determined race hero.
Thanks again 'boet' for all that you have done during this memorable season and we will both celebrate our success achieved at an appropriate time and venue later this month.
Thanks my 'Champ'
Monday, 06 October 2008
Something's 'A-miss'
Glorious sunshine beamed down upon Killarney and the race fraternity this past weekend bringing some welcome relief to the rain drenched Cape. Spectators were plentiful and racing was good.
During the previous event of September and now (October) a little refreshing was done to the Datti 1400 GX and clearly the times were proof of that as she constantly ran 1:33's throughout the day even allowing me to clinch pole in class D ahead of Jaco Lambert with a 1:33:64 on the Friday evening. (Just for the record my 1400cc posted an unofficial 1:32:55 during Fridays practice even although I had a good tow from being behind Rob Ferrolli's Jetta)
Saturday dawned and our first race was off at 10h20 with Jaco Lambert in his Escort 1700cc plus on my left going down the straight into turn 1. I managed to hold Jaco until turn 2 where he managed to get ahead of me while I held Glen in the class C Anglia at bay. Unfortunately it was not for long as Dougie Davids dumped his sump from turn 2 all the way around turn 3 making the race line almost impossible to follow. Being fully aware that Jaco was nowhere in contention as far as points was concerned, I settled for second place in class D for the first race with Arnold Lambert 0.2 seconds behind me in his 1600cc plus Anglia.
Having refuelled the Datti with another 10L of 102 octane propellant, Race 2 was off at 15h05. My closest rival was in class F as far as the championship went but he only managed to finish 3rd in class F during the first heat due to a spin resulting from the oil on the track. This took a little more pressure off and allowed me some slack which unbeknown to me was going to come in very handy later on. Again I was in the 1:33's posting a best of 1:33:36 in lap 5. Jaco was again well ahead of me with both Mike and Arnold hounding me like hound dogs chasing a fox. Lo and behold in lap 6 I picked up a miss which suddenly had me in a flat spin. I wasn't too concerned about my position as I had already done the necessary calculations before the race but was more concerned about not finishing the race at all. I slowed in the event that I was running low on fuel and finally crossed the finish line in 4th place after allowing both Arnold and eventually Derek through as well. Upon returning to the pits all the electrics and plug wiring was double checked without any finding but a tap on the fuel tank produced a rather very echoing and hollow sound clearly indicating that the liquid propellant required for proper and efficient internal combustion had been rapidly consumed through normal aspiration and combustion leaving the remainder of 102 liquid propellant well below the pickup.
My combined total race time resulted in me finishing 3rd overall for the day and un-officially the championship should now be out of reach to the rest of the classic car contenders as my closest rival Peter Harrison posted a DNF in the second heat thereby putting him out of further contention. It hasn't quite sunk in yet but with one race left I still have one final move to make on the 15th November all while we wait for the official points results and announcements.
Again it goes without saying that without a person with the vast amount of race knowledge and engine technology such that my 'Boet' Martin has, I wouldn't find myself in the position I now am. I will go publicly on record and now declare that there isn't a more experienced person in South Africa today that knows more than Martin when it come to racing Datsuns/Nissans.
Finish and Klaar!!
Thanks 'Boet' my CHAMP!!!
During the previous event of September and now (October) a little refreshing was done to the Datti 1400 GX and clearly the times were proof of that as she constantly ran 1:33's throughout the day even allowing me to clinch pole in class D ahead of Jaco Lambert with a 1:33:64 on the Friday evening. (Just for the record my 1400cc posted an unofficial 1:32:55 during Fridays practice even although I had a good tow from being behind Rob Ferrolli's Jetta)
Saturday dawned and our first race was off at 10h20 with Jaco Lambert in his Escort 1700cc plus on my left going down the straight into turn 1. I managed to hold Jaco until turn 2 where he managed to get ahead of me while I held Glen in the class C Anglia at bay. Unfortunately it was not for long as Dougie Davids dumped his sump from turn 2 all the way around turn 3 making the race line almost impossible to follow. Being fully aware that Jaco was nowhere in contention as far as points was concerned, I settled for second place in class D for the first race with Arnold Lambert 0.2 seconds behind me in his 1600cc plus Anglia.
Having refuelled the Datti with another 10L of 102 octane propellant, Race 2 was off at 15h05. My closest rival was in class F as far as the championship went but he only managed to finish 3rd in class F during the first heat due to a spin resulting from the oil on the track. This took a little more pressure off and allowed me some slack which unbeknown to me was going to come in very handy later on. Again I was in the 1:33's posting a best of 1:33:36 in lap 5. Jaco was again well ahead of me with both Mike and Arnold hounding me like hound dogs chasing a fox. Lo and behold in lap 6 I picked up a miss which suddenly had me in a flat spin. I wasn't too concerned about my position as I had already done the necessary calculations before the race but was more concerned about not finishing the race at all. I slowed in the event that I was running low on fuel and finally crossed the finish line in 4th place after allowing both Arnold and eventually Derek through as well. Upon returning to the pits all the electrics and plug wiring was double checked without any finding but a tap on the fuel tank produced a rather very echoing and hollow sound clearly indicating that the liquid propellant required for proper and efficient internal combustion had been rapidly consumed through normal aspiration and combustion leaving the remainder of 102 liquid propellant well below the pickup.
My combined total race time resulted in me finishing 3rd overall for the day and un-officially the championship should now be out of reach to the rest of the classic car contenders as my closest rival Peter Harrison posted a DNF in the second heat thereby putting him out of further contention. It hasn't quite sunk in yet but with one race left I still have one final move to make on the 15th November all while we wait for the official points results and announcements.
Again it goes without saying that without a person with the vast amount of race knowledge and engine technology such that my 'Boet' Martin has, I wouldn't find myself in the position I now am. I will go publicly on record and now declare that there isn't a more experienced person in South Africa today that knows more than Martin when it come to racing Datsuns/Nissans.
Finish and Klaar!!
Thanks 'Boet' my CHAMP!!!
Monday, 08 September 2008
Beaten but not Broken
The weather Gods were on our side this time around and glorious sunshine was bestowed upon all the racers for the past September event. The fence perimeters were filled with festooned spectators cheering their heroes on and applauding there achievements. This can only have been heaven. Then I realized no, wait a minute, this is Killarney, home to the Western Capes local racing fraternity and I was to be apart of this spectacular event.
As we've grown accustomed to there was again no qualifying for the 'classic car' guys and a draw was again done by drawing from a hat. Here I was less fortunate in that out of ten class D entrants I was drawn 10th putting me right at the back of my class. I took it on the chin determined as ever to fight my way honestly and defiantly to the front. Racing was off at 09h55 and was done as per usual by a rolling start. Already 2 places were not filled giving me a slight upper hand and as the lights went out the Datti was on full song. By the exit of turn 1 I had moved into third position taking Billy Matthee in second place going into turn 3. By now Jaco Lambert in his rejuvenated MK1 1760cc Escort was still in 1st place after starting in pole for class D. No matter how hard I tried there was simply no way I could close the gap posting a best time of only 1:34:3. Simply too good on the day. However Mike Napoli had other ideas with my Datti and hounded me for a solid two laps. I managed to sell a dummy on lap 5 going into turn 2 causing Mike to lock up and spin onto the outside of T2. The pressure was at least off for now allowing me to finish in second place 1.7 seconds ahead of Billy at the finish.
The second heat was no different even although I now had 2nd place on the grid next to Jaco which was a reduced race to being 6 laps only. At the start I was right up there but again Jaco was just too strong. This time Billy was determined not to let me go and run away ahead of him. I managed to hold him at bay for most of the race even although I seemed to be getting slower and slower as the
race progressed. Jaco knew he had the upper hand and actually ran almost 2 seconds slower in the second heat making it more spectator friendly. Eventually by lap 4, myself in the Datti, Billy Matthee, Dave Alhadeff, Johan Swart and Jaco Lambert were all grouped together running side by side through turn 4. Again the bigger boys in their 2.0 litres opened a gap down the back straight with Billy almost inside my boot. I managed to hold him off until the last and final lap when coming into T5 Billy chose the inside line and slightly out braked me allowing him to have the inside coming out of T5. A charge for the finish line saw Billy beat me by 0.07 seconds for a deserved and well earned 2nd place. I finished in 3rd place but due to the time difference over both heats I secured 2nd overall for the day. Great driving and close racing was thoroughly enjoyed and rates as one of my best races to date.
No doubt the Datti will need a bit of TLC in the engine compartment before the next race to get just a few more ponies out and keep the vultures at bay.
The Datsun SSS was a little less lucky as she had huge competition to deal with in the likes of Granada Parana V8's, Chev Can Am V8's, Capri V6's not forgetting the very quick Mazda rotary and also the very quick VW Scirroco of Jannie Matthysen. All said and done he finished a respectable 6th. However all weekend from the Friday he battled with performance and no matter what, could not get below a 1:27. Although all the times appeared to be approximately 1 second off pace this is simply not good enough for Martin. He wilol no doubt be making changes to improve those times. An oil leak (drop) from the gearbox resulted in that he withdrew from the second race (highly peeved off) and spent the rest of the day as spectator in turn 3.
All in all it was a brilliant day at the races having also met some of the great forum members on the Thursday night, as well as on and during race day.
Once again I pay my loyal respects to my boet for preparing an 'as always no matter what' competitive little Datti 1400 GX Coupe.
Thanks 'Champ'
As we've grown accustomed to there was again no qualifying for the 'classic car' guys and a draw was again done by drawing from a hat. Here I was less fortunate in that out of ten class D entrants I was drawn 10th putting me right at the back of my class. I took it on the chin determined as ever to fight my way honestly and defiantly to the front. Racing was off at 09h55 and was done as per usual by a rolling start. Already 2 places were not filled giving me a slight upper hand and as the lights went out the Datti was on full song. By the exit of turn 1 I had moved into third position taking Billy Matthee in second place going into turn 3. By now Jaco Lambert in his rejuvenated MK1 1760cc Escort was still in 1st place after starting in pole for class D. No matter how hard I tried there was simply no way I could close the gap posting a best time of only 1:34:3. Simply too good on the day. However Mike Napoli had other ideas with my Datti and hounded me for a solid two laps. I managed to sell a dummy on lap 5 going into turn 2 causing Mike to lock up and spin onto the outside of T2. The pressure was at least off for now allowing me to finish in second place 1.7 seconds ahead of Billy at the finish.
The second heat was no different even although I now had 2nd place on the grid next to Jaco which was a reduced race to being 6 laps only. At the start I was right up there but again Jaco was just too strong. This time Billy was determined not to let me go and run away ahead of him. I managed to hold him at bay for most of the race even although I seemed to be getting slower and slower as the
race progressed. Jaco knew he had the upper hand and actually ran almost 2 seconds slower in the second heat making it more spectator friendly. Eventually by lap 4, myself in the Datti, Billy Matthee, Dave Alhadeff, Johan Swart and Jaco Lambert were all grouped together running side by side through turn 4. Again the bigger boys in their 2.0 litres opened a gap down the back straight with Billy almost inside my boot. I managed to hold him off until the last and final lap when coming into T5 Billy chose the inside line and slightly out braked me allowing him to have the inside coming out of T5. A charge for the finish line saw Billy beat me by 0.07 seconds for a deserved and well earned 2nd place. I finished in 3rd place but due to the time difference over both heats I secured 2nd overall for the day. Great driving and close racing was thoroughly enjoyed and rates as one of my best races to date.No doubt the Datti will need a bit of TLC in the engine compartment before the next race to get just a few more ponies out and keep the vultures at bay.
The Datsun SSS was a little less lucky as she had huge competition to deal with in the likes of Granada Parana V8's, Chev Can Am V8's, Capri V6's not forgetting the very quick Mazda rotary and also the very quick VW Scirroco of Jannie Matthysen. All said and done he finished a respectable 6th. However all weekend from the Friday he battled with performance and no matter what, could not get below a 1:27. Although all the times appeared to be approximately 1 second off pace this is simply not good enough for Martin. He wilol no doubt be making changes to improve those times. An oil leak (drop) from the gearbox resulted in that he withdrew from the second race (highly peeved off) and spent the rest of the day as spectator in turn 3.
All in all it was a brilliant day at the races having also met some of the great forum members on the Thursday night, as well as on and during race day.
Once again I pay my loyal respects to my boet for preparing an 'as always no matter what' competitive little Datti 1400 GX Coupe.
Thanks 'Champ'
Saturday, 02 August 2008
Hurry Up & Wait
Yip it's August and you will not believe this quirk. There was NO DAMN RAIN. For 5 solid race meetings it threatened, it rained and was cold and terrible at times. The only month Classic Cars are given off and that I don't have to fly down to race.....bye bye rain. If only I still had any toys left in my cot!!
I somehow still remember as a young boy watching the movie with my dad called "Le Mans". There was a section in the movie just before the start of the actual race....there was deathly silence.....then perhaps a pushing of a button.......silence again.......Steve McQueen looking at the clock........silence..........back to the clock with the minute hand edging closer.........silence again.........(it seemed like an eternity) and then bang they all roared off. It feels as if I'm reliving the whole sequence again in slow motion.
Well not much if anything was done nor has happened since the last race and I'm sure by now the head and block of the Datti must be badly rusted and corroded from all the standing. Hopefully all the rust and corrosion will be removed just in time for the next race which is only in September. Now if my calculations are anywhere near correct, I think September and October will be the last two official races in the classic car championship. I am of course aware of the pending race in December but don't think it counts towards any championship points. If that is however the case, I will still have my work finely cut out.
Martin on the other hand has had a rather torrid and busy time. Firstly he decided to partake in the 'All Tar Rally' during July with the 200 SX and although he put up a show, rumour has it that the SX now has a slightly shortened front-end. Luckily the next race in the SX is only.......well a long time away. In the interim, having endured all the questioning and gossip around the Datsun SSS, he finally did his magic within the power train department again, wiped her down, oiled her up, made a few adjustments to the suspension and it seems as if she'll be ready to 'kick ass' again come 6th September.
In the meantime I'll be taking another month off patiently waiting for the next race and hopefully by then the price of racing fuel will also have returned to R120.00 a drum.
Oh, and I know you'll do your best again with my Datti boet, so just in case I do forget........
Thanks 'Boet' my Champ!
I somehow still remember as a young boy watching the movie with my dad called "Le Mans". There was a section in the movie just before the start of the actual race....there was deathly silence.....then perhaps a pushing of a button.......silence again.......Steve McQueen looking at the clock........silence..........back to the clock with the minute hand edging closer.........silence again.........(it seemed like an eternity) and then bang they all roared off. It feels as if I'm reliving the whole sequence again in slow motion.
Well not much if anything was done nor has happened since the last race and I'm sure by now the head and block of the Datti must be badly rusted and corroded from all the standing. Hopefully all the rust and corrosion will be removed just in time for the next race which is only in September. Now if my calculations are anywhere near correct, I think September and October will be the last two official races in the classic car championship. I am of course aware of the pending race in December but don't think it counts towards any championship points. If that is however the case, I will still have my work finely cut out.
Martin on the other hand has had a rather torrid and busy time. Firstly he decided to partake in the 'All Tar Rally' during July with the 200 SX and although he put up a show, rumour has it that the SX now has a slightly shortened front-end. Luckily the next race in the SX is only.......well a long time away. In the interim, having endured all the questioning and gossip around the Datsun SSS, he finally did his magic within the power train department again, wiped her down, oiled her up, made a few adjustments to the suspension and it seems as if she'll be ready to 'kick ass' again come 6th September.In the meantime I'll be taking another month off patiently waiting for the next race and hopefully by then the price of racing fuel will also have returned to R120.00 a drum.
Oh, and I know you'll do your best again with my Datti boet, so just in case I do forget........
Thanks 'Boet' my Champ!
Monday, 07 July 2008
Slip Sliding Away
Round 5 of the Classic Car racing was held on the 5th July in AGAIN miserable wet and cold conditions, not something I particularly aspire towards nor enjoy. Race officials have it on record as one of the worst race seasons in years and cannot recall such ongoing adverse weather conditions. As I stated early in the year (see February blog if you don't believe me) I would have to adapt to the conditions as 'mother nature' sure as hell 'aint gonna' change for me. My weather information early in the week indicated severe weather conditions forecasted for the race weekend and I made the decision to buy a set of 'wets' to tackle this situation head on.
Earlier in the month Martin ordered the required parts to fix the Datti's front suspension which had caused me to somewhat loose out on the previous race event. That now being all repaired, wheel alignment done and a thorough check of all the under carriage works and all was ready for race day. We replaced the set of slicks with a set of proper wets and were as prepared as could be. Lo and behold came Friday and the rain poured as predicted. I eventually got down to the track at about 13h00, did my usual pre-practice routine checks and was ready for a soaking track. Believe it or not by 13h30 the rain had subsided and the track had somewhat started drying. I eventually took to the track on schedule at 14h00 and only managed 2 laps before I pulled in as the track was simply not wet enough for wet tyres and I sure as hell wasn't going to destroy them by trying to be heroic.
Sadly the rest of Friday was a total waste and I never got any further practice time as the rain simply held off. I settled for Saturday's qualifying without much wet weather practice under the belt and hoped for the best. As luck would have it Martin and I rose extra early on Saturday morning as qualifying was scheduled for 07h45 (even although statistics showed that sunrise was only at 07h51) all while the rain gently fell and ensured that wet weather was here for the day. Having fueled the Datsun the previous night already I began by warming the engine and ensured a repellant windscreen was ready for the rain conditions. I strapped in, pulled onto the pit apron and awaited the go ahead from the pit marshals to enter the track along with everyone else patiently waiting as well. 5 Minutes before the scheduled qualifying time the C.O.C called it off due to poor light and bad track conditions. Man I was peeved off. This was now the fifth time without setting a qualifying time. Back to the garage we all went and awaited further instructions which again turned out to be a draw from the 'Hat'. This time round though it worked in my favour and I was drawn for pole position in class D. Not that it meant much in the rain!!!
Not much else of interest really happened throughout the day save to say race 1 was held in very wet conditions causing many drivers to spin and some even digging in on the infields never to get out again. (See recent photos) I played it relatively calm and settled for a comfortable second place behind 'old dog' Nick van Rensburg who has many years of oval track and wet weather racing under his belt. Nick incidentally started last in class D and ran away from the rest of us in conditions which he loves.
Race 2 was in even worse conditions as it rained quite heavily and made it super slippery out there with poor visibility. Again I settled for a comfortable second place again behind Nick who made it 2 wins for the day. I must say however that the wets played a major role in my personal above average results as 'intermediates' just don't work for me in these conditions. So much so that Nick and I even lapped some drivers twice in 8 laps!! Money well spent I'd say.
Again I must give credit where credit is due and thanks again to Martin (Martin incidentally sat out of classics with the intention of competing in the 2Hr endurance race) who made sure that every nut and bolt was tight and ensured it never missed a beat once. I only ever recall genuine Swiss watches to be so reliable and accurate. Must be something the Japanese never told us about. Keep 'watching' (pardon the pun) this space as the season heads towards year end with about 3 race meetings (September, October & December) to go. This 1400 Datsun GX still has a thing to prove yet!!
Next race is only in September. Till then!
Thanks 'Boet'
Earlier in the month Martin ordered the required parts to fix the Datti's front suspension which had caused me to somewhat loose out on the previous race event. That now being all repaired, wheel alignment done and a thorough check of all the under carriage works and all was ready for race day. We replaced the set of slicks with a set of proper wets and were as prepared as could be. Lo and behold came Friday and the rain poured as predicted. I eventually got down to the track at about 13h00, did my usual pre-practice routine checks and was ready for a soaking track. Believe it or not by 13h30 the rain had subsided and the track had somewhat started drying. I eventually took to the track on schedule at 14h00 and only managed 2 laps before I pulled in as the track was simply not wet enough for wet tyres and I sure as hell wasn't going to destroy them by trying to be heroic.
Sadly the rest of Friday was a total waste and I never got any further practice time as the rain simply held off. I settled for Saturday's qualifying without much wet weather practice under the belt and hoped for the best. As luck would have it Martin and I rose extra early on Saturday morning as qualifying was scheduled for 07h45 (even although statistics showed that sunrise was only at 07h51) all while the rain gently fell and ensured that wet weather was here for the day. Having fueled the Datsun the previous night already I began by warming the engine and ensured a repellant windscreen was ready for the rain conditions. I strapped in, pulled onto the pit apron and awaited the go ahead from the pit marshals to enter the track along with everyone else patiently waiting as well. 5 Minutes before the scheduled qualifying time the C.O.C called it off due to poor light and bad track conditions. Man I was peeved off. This was now the fifth time without setting a qualifying time. Back to the garage we all went and awaited further instructions which again turned out to be a draw from the 'Hat'. This time round though it worked in my favour and I was drawn for pole position in class D. Not that it meant much in the rain!!!
Not much else of interest really happened throughout the day save to say race 1 was held in very wet conditions causing many drivers to spin and some even digging in on the infields never to get out again. (See recent photos) I played it relatively calm and settled for a comfortable second place behind 'old dog' Nick van Rensburg who has many years of oval track and wet weather racing under his belt. Nick incidentally started last in class D and ran away from the rest of us in conditions which he loves.Race 2 was in even worse conditions as it rained quite heavily and made it super slippery out there with poor visibility. Again I settled for a comfortable second place again behind Nick who made it 2 wins for the day. I must say however that the wets played a major role in my personal above average results as 'intermediates' just don't work for me in these conditions. So much so that Nick and I even lapped some drivers twice in 8 laps!! Money well spent I'd say.
Again I must give credit where credit is due and thanks again to Martin (Martin incidentally sat out of classics with the intention of competing in the 2Hr endurance race) who made sure that every nut and bolt was tight and ensured it never missed a beat once. I only ever recall genuine Swiss watches to be so reliable and accurate. Must be something the Japanese never told us about. Keep 'watching' (pardon the pun) this space as the season heads towards year end with about 3 race meetings (September, October & December) to go. This 1400 Datsun GX still has a thing to prove yet!!
Next race is only in September. Till then!
Thanks 'Boet'
Monday, 09 June 2008
David(s) & Goliath
Saturday 7th June came and yip you guessed it......it rained again. This time around I was not too perturbed at all. I had been watching the weather pattern since the Tuesday and this time however I had pretty accurate weather info which actually held up to be true. By 09h45 the rain had stopped, the skies had cleared and remained so for the rest of the entire days racing.
Again we had no qualifying and a rather complicated (and not yet fully understood either) method had been implemented. I was allocated 3rd on the grid with the two previous class E drivers i.e. Wilsnagh and Davids having being drawn as positions 1 & 2 in class D. My initial thought based upon their previous best race times was that I should be able to pass with relative ease and win the race. As the saying goes, 'NEVER under estimate your opponents'. Our first race was off at 12h15 in dry and somwehat cool conditions allowing us to make use of slick tyres. A rolling start was again the norm and I stayed tucked up close to Davids' tail hoping to slingshot into the first corner. The lights went out and both Davids (Escort MK1) and Wilsnagh (Ford Anglia) gave it there all holding me back going through turn 1. By turn 2 little had changed and I positioned myself nicely for turn 3. I had the outside line and took Wilsnagh on the inside and Davids on the outside going into and through turn 4. The Datsun 1400 lived up to all expectation and ran away from the pack eventually wining by a comfortable 4.28 sec with Davids finishing second. Round 1 to Goliath!!
Race 2 was last off for the day at 17h15 and I had pole for the second race. I had a good rolling start and soon opened a gap on Andrews who was then ahead of Davids (Wilsnagh retired in race 1 with a slipping clutch). The pace was slow at that stage but it suited me for now. On lap 5 I noticed the car wanting to veer violently to the left going through the Kink between turns 2 & 3 as well as going down the back straight. I eventually backed off and allowed both Andrews and Davids to pass me going into turn 5. Not letting them get too far ahead I kept up the pace with the Datsun still wanting to dive to the left all the time. On the last lap and still in one piece I decided it was now DO or DIE and I again went for it putting in my fastest lap only in lap 7 at 1:34:6 finally out-braking Andrews going into turn 5 and hounding Davids to the finish line. I managed to catch Davids but not enough to grab the win with Davids finishing ahead of me by 0.15 seconds. Round 2 to David(s)!!
The time difference over both races still allowed me to take overall honours for the day with Davids second and Andrews taking third.
(Oh, the veering to the left problem was found to be caused by a damaged castor rod bush!!)
Martin on the other hand would rather want to forget the day as it was not a good day in the office for him!! The Clubman guys qualified at 08h00 on a soaking wet track and although times were slow Martin only managed to secure 18th place on the grid out of 62 entrants with a time of 1:46:2. The race itself went off at 10h10 still on a wet track. Martins decision NOT to go full wets cost him dearly. He basically went backwards finishing in a disheartening 26th place with a best time of 1:48:9. The track was dry by 11h00 resulting in that he at least got a dry second race. The second heat was off at 15h10 and starting from 26th position he peddled the Nissan SX200 like never before posting a best race time time of 1:24:79 and finishing a more respectable 8th place. That's a full 18 places made up in 8 laps. Not bad going there 'boet'. Unfortunately it wasn't his day and I guess he'll have to try again next time.
Hang in there boet, we all know what you are still capable of.
Thanks 'Boet'
Again we had no qualifying and a rather complicated (and not yet fully understood either) method had been implemented. I was allocated 3rd on the grid with the two previous class E drivers i.e. Wilsnagh and Davids having being drawn as positions 1 & 2 in class D. My initial thought based upon their previous best race times was that I should be able to pass with relative ease and win the race. As the saying goes, 'NEVER under estimate your opponents'. Our first race was off at 12h15 in dry and somwehat cool conditions allowing us to make use of slick tyres. A rolling start was again the norm and I stayed tucked up close to Davids' tail hoping to slingshot into the first corner. The lights went out and both Davids (Escort MK1) and Wilsnagh (Ford Anglia) gave it there all holding me back going through turn 1. By turn 2 little had changed and I positioned myself nicely for turn 3. I had the outside line and took Wilsnagh on the inside and Davids on the outside going into and through turn 4. The Datsun 1400 lived up to all expectation and ran away from the pack eventually wining by a comfortable 4.28 sec with Davids finishing second. Round 1 to Goliath!!
Race 2 was last off for the day at 17h15 and I had pole for the second race. I had a good rolling start and soon opened a gap on Andrews who was then ahead of Davids (Wilsnagh retired in race 1 with a slipping clutch). The pace was slow at that stage but it suited me for now. On lap 5 I noticed the car wanting to veer violently to the left going through the Kink between turns 2 & 3 as well as going down the back straight. I eventually backed off and allowed both Andrews and Davids to pass me going into turn 5. Not letting them get too far ahead I kept up the pace with the Datsun still wanting to dive to the left all the time. On the last lap and still in one piece I decided it was now DO or DIE and I again went for it putting in my fastest lap only in lap 7 at 1:34:6 finally out-braking Andrews going into turn 5 and hounding Davids to the finish line. I managed to catch Davids but not enough to grab the win with Davids finishing ahead of me by 0.15 seconds. Round 2 to David(s)!!
The time difference over both races still allowed me to take overall honours for the day with Davids second and Andrews taking third.
(Oh, the veering to the left problem was found to be caused by a damaged castor rod bush!!)
Martin on the other hand would rather want to forget the day as it was not a good day in the office for him!! The Clubman guys qualified at 08h00 on a soaking wet track and although times were slow Martin only managed to secure 18th place on the grid out of 62 entrants with a time of 1:46:2. The race itself went off at 10h10 still on a wet track. Martins decision NOT to go full wets cost him dearly. He basically went backwards finishing in a disheartening 26th place with a best time of 1:48:9. The track was dry by 11h00 resulting in that he at least got a dry second race. The second heat was off at 15h10 and starting from 26th position he peddled the Nissan SX200 like never before posting a best race time time of 1:24:79 and finishing a more respectable 8th place. That's a full 18 places made up in 8 laps. Not bad going there 'boet'. Unfortunately it wasn't his day and I guess he'll have to try again next time.
Hang in there boet, we all know what you are still capable of.
Thanks 'Boet'
Monday, 19 May 2008
In Full Suspension
The month of May is a rather quiet one for us 'classic car' racers simply because there is no race for classic cars this month. Somewhat boring all said and done.
Well OK, while there is no on-track work, there is quite a bit to do off-track to both the Datsuns (SSS and the GX Coupe). Firstly the SSS is rather tired and really needs a lot of work to get it back into full race trim. For one the engine needs refreshing (rings and bearings) for a start and the rear suspension needs some work as well. Tyres are still reasonable but ideally a fresh pair would do nice. Unfortunately the budget is simply not enough to do everything all at once. Also remember there's a Nissan 200SX as well which must be tweaked to do REAL battle in Clubman Cars. All a trifle much when the only real sponsor is the back pocket (Mr Wallet).
As for the little GX Coupe, what can I say? For one, the front suspension really needs some 
serious work done soon as she's rolling a little too much nowadays around corners and is definitely rubbing down on the tyres under braking. The little 1400cc engine is now going on for 11 months without a hiccup or misfire and will sure need a little refreshing very soon. Unfortunately the same problem exists as above with Mr Wallet. On a more positive note, the reliability and endurance that this motor has performed to is absolutely gob smacking to say the very least. Currently I am now 17 points clear in class D and lead with a comfortable cushion between second place, while overall I am currently lying 2nd in the championship. While this is not in any way important nor what I am all about, it is very reassuring to know that this little Datsun GX Coupe is super competitive in it's current class and format, all while I have yet so much to learn as far as being a race driver is concerned. For now I just wish to continue on this learning curve in my first ever full race season and ideally want to finish the season well which I know will mean the WORLD to my 'Boet' whom meticulously prepares my car for each race.
Rumours are that some class D competitors have already rebuilt engines with even more power, are changing gearboxes and diff ratios and some have or are even building complete new cars to be more competitive in this class. For now though I'm still safe. For how long, I don't know!!
So, while May month appears to be all quiet, behind the scenes it actually seems many are busy with serious preparation for the upcoming races which lay ahead. June and July months are going to provide some really interesting and competitive 'Classic Car' racing. Till next time then.
Thanks 'Boet'Monday, 21 April 2008
Un-Stoppable but Almost
It always happens. Every time I go down to Cape Town for a race event, you better believe it - it will rain. This past Saturday again lived up to expectation but my weather judgement, positive thinking and as always determination to get a dry race won the day over.
However the Friday threw a few curve balls of its own and had its moments of 'patience testing' in which and I almost gave up and retired the Datsun 1400. The first practice session resulted in producing a left front damaged brake calliper causing me to almost loose it in turn 2. I cruised back to the pits and Martin subsequently removed the calliper and made arrangements for it to be overhauled at a nearby brake repair workshop. That was sorted , replaced and back in business ready for session 2. Lo and behold that session also resulted in disaster because of low fuel and again I could not post a reasonable time at full race speed. I further managed to squeeze a 3rd session with the Clubman Cars practice session which, you guessed it..... again ended in disaster with the same left front calliper failing and had me going around turn 5 at a speed I never dreamt of. Once again I safely returned to the pit area which was now at 17h30 and most if not all businesses, scrap yards and repair shops already closed. Martin once again removed the previously repaired brake calliper and smoke started bellowing out of his ears from an intense thought process which was taking place deep within his cerebral cortex. It was at this point which I stated, "I think this is a subtle message telling me to withdraw my race entry". Ja right, it's not that easy with Martin around. I somehow remember my motivational pep talks to him at the last race of the last season. This time it was his turn. I also recalled a recent famous comment by president Thabo Mbeki stating 'Crisis, there is no crisis'? A phone call later and some unknown terrestrial was on his way from the Northern suburbs to deliver not one, but two front brake callipers for a Datsun 1200 currenlty being broken up for spares. By George!!!....so there you have it, miracles are still actually performed in 2008. By 20h00 the job was completed, brakes bled and a well deserved braai was awaiting our company along with a few well deserved sundowners no doubt.
Saturday, yip, rain and all started the day with many not quite sure which way the weather would turn out. My information was that the rain had been somewhat downgraded from an 80% to a 60% to finally only a 30% chance of precipitation . As lady luck would have it by 09h00 it had started clearing with patches of blue sky appearing. First off was Martin in his Nissan SX200 at 10h15 in the Clubman Race on a dry but cold track and still with intermediate tyres. Having made some additional changes to the motor he managed a solid performance but she did not quite deliver the results he was quite hoping for.
Race 1 for the "classics' guys was only off at 12h30 with a draw again having been previously done from the 'hat' as time was just not available on the day for everyone to post a qualifying time. Martin in his Datsun SSS had pole position in CLS A while I and my Datsun 1400 GX Coupe was placed 26th on the grid and 9th (last) in CLS D. Having had 2 previous brake failures without any further testing done, this was going to be a real tester for me. Martin controlled the start to a pace which technically suited him and managed a brilliant rolling start, leading the field for lap one. By lap two the BIG guns started passing him pushing him down the order. I on the other hand sat right on Mervin Ellis' rear (in 24th grid position) and as the lights went out dived out from his slipstream and past the 1st half of the class D guys by turn 1 managing to take the rest by lap two. I went on to win the class (finishing 15th out of 33 entrants) for the 1st heat posting a best time of the day at 1:33:0 while Martin managed a 6th place finish in class A also with a blistering 1:26:7.
Race 2 in his Nissan SX 200 was done on full slicks this time and times were at a more acceptable 1:27:4 however still not at the envisaged times wanted. He managed a good dice with some of the BMW's but again only managed to finish 3rd in his class. He won 3rd overall for the day and his efforts were thus not all a loss.
Heat 2 in 'classics' produced some fast and close racing up front with Martin in the SSS mixing it up with the class B guys this time. A brilliant dice ensued between Peter Gough, Louis Powell, Martin and Charles Arton with 0.3 seconds difference between them. Their race time said it all, everyone of them posting in the 1:26's with only a 10th of a second difference between each of them. (see the full race report here.) On the last lap Peter and Charles touched causing Charles to run wide thereby letting Martin straight through the middle with Louis following in close persuit. Gough won it from Martin who lead from Powell. Charles end up 3.6 seconds behind at the flag.
I again had little opposition without Jaco Lambert (Ford Escort) having already retired in the 1st heat, as well as the absence of Nick v Rensburg (Fiat Sport) and so won class D comfortably from Billy Mathee in his well prepared Fiat 132. Overall I won class D for the day much to my delight as the initial drama had other ideas, which thanks to Martins 'mechanical genius' resulted in a brilliant days racing.
Thanks 'Champ'Monday, 03 March 2008
A fabulous threesome
In our favour and largely thanks to a brilliant race engine builder (Martin Richards) there was little or no work to be be done on either the SSS or the GX Coupe other than an all round spanner check. Due to a very full race program we (Classic Cars) were exempted from qualifying and grid positions were done by drawing positions from a hat. (We've now done our bit towards limiting the 'greenhouse' gas environment.)
Saturday was a busy day with the first classic car race off at 11h40 with the SSS in 9th position and the GX Coupe in 17th. Weather conditions were good, the track was hot and clean and fast race times were clearly reflected. The SSS managed to finish 8th in Class A amongst the big guns with a most respectable time of 1:27:10. My little GX Coupe managed a blistering 1:32:76 (almost a breakout) in lap 6 while dicing with Nick v Rensburg in the Fiat 124 Sport and I finally finished 1st in class D after starting 4th on the grid.
Race 2 was off at a slightly earlier unscheduled time due to an oil spill and although times were generally slightly slower than the first heat, good racing was still managed amongst all competitors. Martin in the SSS managed to finish 7th after putting in an even better race time at 1:26:35 in lap 6 while my GX Coupe again finished 1st in class D at a slightly slower time of 1:33.19. (Guess you'll know why!!!) My sincere thanks again go to my 'Boet' Martin for ensuring a reliable and very well prepared & competitive little race car.
While the off season was enjoyed by many a racer relaxing and soaking up the sun, Martin had other ideas which resulted in him producing a 'Magnificent' red Nissan 200SX (which almost hugs the ground) for its first ever outing in the Indy Oil Clubmans series. (To the best of my knowledge, this is the first ever Nissan 200SX to be raced in South Africa) While it would be acceptable that most new comers to a new race series encounter some teething problems that inevitably side line them for the day, Martin's preparations had none of the kind. Having to compete as a class X entrant for the first time out in the SX he posted an above expectation race time in qualifying and ran in a brilliant 1:27:41.
Race 1 was off at 13h45 where Martin finished a most respectable 8th place and right
up there with the class B guys and having put in another 1:27:78. Race 2 was again similar finishing 7th comfortably and overall far ahead of the much rated Ford Focus of Philip Booysen.
I guess a better finish to the weekend could not have been asked for with a resounding impact slowly being made upon the 'Ol faithful' Datsun and Nissan supporters around the Killarney race track.
Thanks 'Boet'
Saturday was a busy day with the first classic car race off at 11h40 with the SSS in 9th position and the GX Coupe in 17th. Weather conditions were good, the track was hot and clean and fast race times were clearly reflected. The SSS managed to finish 8th in Class A amongst the big guns with a most respectable time of 1:27:10. My little GX Coupe managed a blistering 1:32:76 (almost a breakout) in lap 6 while dicing with Nick v Rensburg in the Fiat 124 Sport and I finally finished 1st in class D after starting 4th on the grid.
Race 2 was off at a slightly earlier unscheduled time due to an oil spill and although times were generally slightly slower than the first heat, good racing was still managed amongst all competitors. Martin in the SSS managed to finish 7th after putting in an even better race time at 1:26:35 in lap 6 while my GX Coupe again finished 1st in class D at a slightly slower time of 1:33.19. (Guess you'll know why!!!) My sincere thanks again go to my 'Boet' Martin for ensuring a reliable and very well prepared & competitive little race car.
While the off season was enjoyed by many a racer relaxing and soaking up the sun, Martin had other ideas which resulted in him producing a 'Magnificent' red Nissan 200SX (which almost hugs the ground) for its first ever outing in the Indy Oil Clubmans series. (To the best of my knowledge, this is the first ever Nissan 200SX to be raced in South Africa) While it would be acceptable that most new comers to a new race series encounter some teething problems that inevitably side line them for the day, Martin's preparations had none of the kind. Having to compete as a class X entrant for the first time out in the SX he posted an above expectation race time in qualifying and ran in a brilliant 1:27:41.
Race 1 was off at 13h45 where Martin finished a most respectable 8th place and right
up there with the class B guys and having put in another 1:27:78. Race 2 was again similar finishing 7th comfortably and overall far ahead of the much rated Ford Focus of Philip Booysen.I guess a better finish to the weekend could not have been asked for with a resounding impact slowly being made upon the 'Ol faithful' Datsun and Nissan supporters around the Killarney race track.
Thanks 'Boet'
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