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23rd February Oulton Park Test: |
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It felt like today had been a very
long time coming. Tim and Terry worked like madmen over the winter in
order to get my new Sagaris completed, and finally, after four and a half
months since our last race at Oulton Park, we were back there for our
first ever testing of my brand new Sagaris. I'd not seen the car for quite some time and was really looking forward to seeing her finished and I just couldn't wait to get her out on the circuit to see how she felt. the damp weather certainly wasn't going to dampen our spirits, although Tim did threaten to not let me take the car out if it was raining. When we got to the garage at the
circuit Tim and Terry had already unloaded the car and it looked superb,
they'd done an absolutely amazing job. My feelings of expectation were huge and I just wanted to get the sign on formalities out of the way so Tim could do the first few laps to make sure everything was working as it should be, and then, at last, it would be my turn. However, I was going to have to wait for a little while as we only had slicks with us and the circuit was far too wet to go out first thing. The good news however was that the weather was picking up and the wind was helping to dry out the circuit. Just before midday we felt the circuit had dried out enough for Tim to do the first few shakedown laps. The engine started straight off and sounds fantastic, and away Tim went.
Three laps later and he was back in for the car to be checked over as the red flag came out to deal with an off. No problems at all and Tim reported that the car felt spot on, so now it would be my turn to start the running in process in earnest. It felt quite strange at first as apart from the few laps I'd done in Tim's Sagaris last year, I'd never been in a closed-top race car. For running in we needed to keep the revs to 3000-3500, which suited me fine as I needed time to get used to the whole environment. After six laps or so I pulled in for the car to be checked over again as it was the lunch break anyway. Again, no problems at all, and in the session after lunch we'd be able to start winding up the revs a bit.
I couldn't wipe the smile off my face, and the hours lunch break felt like it was going on forever. At last the green lights came on again and away I went once more, this time gradually taking the car up to 4500 revs. What a difference it made. Even just at that rev level I was able to go past most of the other cars on the circuit and go through the bends quite quickly which gave me some idea of the grip levels of the Sag. After a dozen laps it was time to bring her in again for yet another check over and swap over with Tim for him to get an idea of how she felt now she was bedding in.
Tim put in 5 laps, taking the car up to 5000 revs and came back in to adjust the set up. At this higher pace the car was oversteering in the corners and not pulling out of the corners fast enough, so we wanted to adjust the rear wind and stiffen the rear suspension. job done, and out he went again to see how it went. Judging by the speed he and Fred (in the Red no23 Sagaris) went past us in the pit lane. The car was obviously handling better. Several hot laps later Fred appears, but no sign of Tim, and the red lights were flashing on the circuit! After a very long ten minutes, he and two marshals pushed the car back up the pit lane as the engine had cut out due to lack of fuel pressure. Tim and Terry looked over the car and it turned out that the low pressure fuel pump had cut out and a few "engineering" taps later seemed to have resolved itself, leaving me with just enough time for a few laps before the circuit closed down for the evening. Unfortunately, by now it had started to rain again and the circuit very quickly became greasy. On my second and final lap out I had a bit of a moment at druids but fortunately now dramas and that completed an absolutely fantastic day.
Everyone was really pleased with how the day went and how well the Sagaris performed on her first ever outing. Huge congratulations need to go out to Tim and Terry for their stunning work and to Andy over at APM for his work on the new engine build - so far so good! With the car now virtually run in I can't wait to get her out again and see what it's like to start pushing her to the limit. Keep your eyes on the site to find out the date for the next test! |
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