Post by Andrew Rowland on Apr 24, 2019 16:18:40 GMT -5
Round Two of the Pre War Racing series took place at the famous Manor Park circuit.
Manor Park is a quick circuit composed of 3 straights, two sweeping bends, one of which doubles back on itself, the esses and two hairpins. It tests all aspects of a car, however it is also very flowing designed to simulate the driving aspects of larger circuits. The mixture of fast straights and tight bends requires a car with great acceleration and strong brakes.
Once the drivers had recovered from Round One at Rockwell they began practice for the second round. In the meantime their mechanics had made a few running repairs. The most critical of these was re-soldering the inside rear wheel bearing to Dave. C’s Maserati 4CM. The original spacer was deemed too wide and replaced by a series of selected spacers to give the correct gear mesh. All tyres were carefully cleaned for the new outing and the track swept to ensure maximum adhesion.
At Manor Park the track surface is very abrasive being sandtex paint. This gives high levels of adhesion for rubber but tends to create a ‘marbles’ effect for urethane so tyre choice was going to be crucial. Only the track is grippy, the curbs and run off areas are purposely left flat painted with little grip in comparison with he track. Since the racing line puts the inside (or outside) tyres on this less grippy surface there can tend to be dire consequences for applying too much acceleration when half off the track!
The weather was hot and sunny with an air temperature of around 27deg. C making the grip levels even higher than normal.
As is customary the Voiturettes set out first, each completing 10 laps of the track.
Initial running order was random with Mike Buss in his Maserati 4CM setting off first. He had a great clean run and reported that “the car feels solid here and the motor is running quick and quietly. Overall the car gave me a feeling of confidence today with the brakes allowing us to get deep into the corner zone before application”.
He managed a 6.47s lap and an overall 10 lap time of 67.18s showing good consistency. The track was perhaps still warming up and cleaning off so perhaps the times were not ultimately representative of his form.
Next out was Keith Rollerston in his Mercedes W165. The car did not give a feeling of confidence as it tended to rattle around the track. Keith said “the gearing was giving us great acceleration but not much braking. The tyres were sliding a lot so we were fishtailing everywhere off the track”. Times of 6.51s for a single lap and 67.65 meant that he looked very similar to Mike Buss in terms of overall performance.
Next out was Steve M. The Maserati 4CM (popular car int his series) appeared to be suffering from lack of power as the acceleration was slow and heavy. One spin and a long slide off onto the marbles resulted in some slow laps as the tyres cleaned themselves off. All that meant he was wasn’t able to show his full potential ending the session with a 6.77s lap and total time of 75.77 way off the pace.
Fourth out was Mac with his Alfetta 158. His car suffered from slow acceleration with him complaining of feeling underpowered. The car sounded and felt super smooth but lack of acceleration and brakes meant that he couldn’t maximise this circuit’s characteristics. He ended with a disappointing 6.31s lap although his overall time was consistent at 65.90 which suggested over a race distance he might fare reasonably well.
Then out came Dave Capelan with his Maserati 4CM. He reported that the car “felt really alive, fishtailing under acceleration and braking”. However it “had fast acceleration, running nice and loose”. To us it looked like a bit of a handful. Would he be able to pull it off lap after lap for a whole race distance? Lap time 6.54s and 10 lap time was 69.83s.
Sixth to pull out of the pits was Thomas. His Mercedes W165 looked like a super solid runner. His obviously smooth acceleration and grip in the corners suggested a good power to weight ratio. He did have a few minutes as his hard edged tyres tended to hang on and then suddenly break away. He jumped up the times sheet with a 6.21s lap and 63.72s overall time.
Next came Eric in his Richard Bolster Special. A fast car in a straight line he had a few forays onto the grass as he tried to get around the hairpin and other corners. He complained that “the front is too light and I was suffering terrible understeer… just going straight on at the corners”. The high centre of gravity also made it look quite ‘tippy’. He managed a very competitive single lap of 6.21s to match Thomas but the overall time of 76.63 did not bode well for the full race distance. Eric looked quite exhausted at the end of practice!
Eighth up was Mike Dove. His distinctive black painted Maserati 4CM was going well if letting out a bit of a rattle. It seemed to be giving confidence for long runs. He had just the right grip level for this track and it looked like the short wheelbase was allowing him to get round the hairpins with ease. Possibly partly as a result of the track continuing to rubber in and heat up he managed a 6.34s lap with a total time of 64.28s.
The penultimate runner was John Warren in the sleek Maserati 4CL. The high pitch scream of the motor and smooth drive suggesting a purposeful drive to come. This combination proved by far the quickest on the day with strong acceleration and great braking allowing high speed in the straights with confidence to get through the corners. John said “my only concern was that the narrow track and high grip preventing me from drifting and this led to a slightly tippy feel in the hair pin”. He managed a 5.74s lap and an overall time of 63.25s.
Last out was David M. His car was significantly lighter than most. The beautifully polished red body gleaming in the sunshine. The Alfa Romeo 512 looked quick but turned out to be a slight handful with a couple of spins. David thought “it runs well but feels a bit light, maybe a bit of weight up front would help the balance and prevent understeer”. “My brakes felt a little light too”. A best lap of 6.11 with an overall time of 65.67s was a good strong position for the race.
So the results table for Voiturette Class Practice looks like this:
Can’t wait for the race now!!
The photographers are still working hard in the dark room developing their photos by hand…..
Manor Park is a quick circuit composed of 3 straights, two sweeping bends, one of which doubles back on itself, the esses and two hairpins. It tests all aspects of a car, however it is also very flowing designed to simulate the driving aspects of larger circuits. The mixture of fast straights and tight bends requires a car with great acceleration and strong brakes.
Once the drivers had recovered from Round One at Rockwell they began practice for the second round. In the meantime their mechanics had made a few running repairs. The most critical of these was re-soldering the inside rear wheel bearing to Dave. C’s Maserati 4CM. The original spacer was deemed too wide and replaced by a series of selected spacers to give the correct gear mesh. All tyres were carefully cleaned for the new outing and the track swept to ensure maximum adhesion.
At Manor Park the track surface is very abrasive being sandtex paint. This gives high levels of adhesion for rubber but tends to create a ‘marbles’ effect for urethane so tyre choice was going to be crucial. Only the track is grippy, the curbs and run off areas are purposely left flat painted with little grip in comparison with he track. Since the racing line puts the inside (or outside) tyres on this less grippy surface there can tend to be dire consequences for applying too much acceleration when half off the track!
The weather was hot and sunny with an air temperature of around 27deg. C making the grip levels even higher than normal.
As is customary the Voiturettes set out first, each completing 10 laps of the track.
Initial running order was random with Mike Buss in his Maserati 4CM setting off first. He had a great clean run and reported that “the car feels solid here and the motor is running quick and quietly. Overall the car gave me a feeling of confidence today with the brakes allowing us to get deep into the corner zone before application”.
He managed a 6.47s lap and an overall 10 lap time of 67.18s showing good consistency. The track was perhaps still warming up and cleaning off so perhaps the times were not ultimately representative of his form.
Next out was Keith Rollerston in his Mercedes W165. The car did not give a feeling of confidence as it tended to rattle around the track. Keith said “the gearing was giving us great acceleration but not much braking. The tyres were sliding a lot so we were fishtailing everywhere off the track”. Times of 6.51s for a single lap and 67.65 meant that he looked very similar to Mike Buss in terms of overall performance.
Next out was Steve M. The Maserati 4CM (popular car int his series) appeared to be suffering from lack of power as the acceleration was slow and heavy. One spin and a long slide off onto the marbles resulted in some slow laps as the tyres cleaned themselves off. All that meant he was wasn’t able to show his full potential ending the session with a 6.77s lap and total time of 75.77 way off the pace.
Fourth out was Mac with his Alfetta 158. His car suffered from slow acceleration with him complaining of feeling underpowered. The car sounded and felt super smooth but lack of acceleration and brakes meant that he couldn’t maximise this circuit’s characteristics. He ended with a disappointing 6.31s lap although his overall time was consistent at 65.90 which suggested over a race distance he might fare reasonably well.
Then out came Dave Capelan with his Maserati 4CM. He reported that the car “felt really alive, fishtailing under acceleration and braking”. However it “had fast acceleration, running nice and loose”. To us it looked like a bit of a handful. Would he be able to pull it off lap after lap for a whole race distance? Lap time 6.54s and 10 lap time was 69.83s.
Sixth to pull out of the pits was Thomas. His Mercedes W165 looked like a super solid runner. His obviously smooth acceleration and grip in the corners suggested a good power to weight ratio. He did have a few minutes as his hard edged tyres tended to hang on and then suddenly break away. He jumped up the times sheet with a 6.21s lap and 63.72s overall time.
Next came Eric in his Richard Bolster Special. A fast car in a straight line he had a few forays onto the grass as he tried to get around the hairpin and other corners. He complained that “the front is too light and I was suffering terrible understeer… just going straight on at the corners”. The high centre of gravity also made it look quite ‘tippy’. He managed a very competitive single lap of 6.21s to match Thomas but the overall time of 76.63 did not bode well for the full race distance. Eric looked quite exhausted at the end of practice!
Eighth up was Mike Dove. His distinctive black painted Maserati 4CM was going well if letting out a bit of a rattle. It seemed to be giving confidence for long runs. He had just the right grip level for this track and it looked like the short wheelbase was allowing him to get round the hairpins with ease. Possibly partly as a result of the track continuing to rubber in and heat up he managed a 6.34s lap with a total time of 64.28s.
The penultimate runner was John Warren in the sleek Maserati 4CL. The high pitch scream of the motor and smooth drive suggesting a purposeful drive to come. This combination proved by far the quickest on the day with strong acceleration and great braking allowing high speed in the straights with confidence to get through the corners. John said “my only concern was that the narrow track and high grip preventing me from drifting and this led to a slightly tippy feel in the hair pin”. He managed a 5.74s lap and an overall time of 63.25s.
Last out was David M. His car was significantly lighter than most. The beautifully polished red body gleaming in the sunshine. The Alfa Romeo 512 looked quick but turned out to be a slight handful with a couple of spins. David thought “it runs well but feels a bit light, maybe a bit of weight up front would help the balance and prevent understeer”. “My brakes felt a little light too”. A best lap of 6.11 with an overall time of 65.67s was a good strong position for the race.
So the results table for Voiturette Class Practice looks like this:
Can’t wait for the race now!!
The photographers are still working hard in the dark room developing their photos by hand…..
