2006
Loton Park, 2006 Season – Starting 1st April 2006 – Ending 1st October 2006.
October 1st – National B Meeting.
The day started off very wet and remained like that for most of the day. Our first practise run was completed in just under 80 seconds — not great but considering the track conditions it was not bad. On our second practise, Rob managed to get a 68.86sec — which could have easily been a record for us (p.b is 68.18) if Rob had not gone from 2nd gear to 5th, realised it was not 3rd and then finally into the correct gear up Cedar Straight!
The day went down hill from there – we only managed to have one timed run, along with everyone else due to the long gaps caused by the rain, which resulted in lots of standing water they had to try and sweep away. The last run of the day was just over 76secs – an improvement over the first wet run, but still way off where we wanted to be. The class win was taken by a Mk2 Group A Rally Ford Escort – which was extremely fast. However, considering these cars often cost the think end of £50,000 it was to be expected.
A rather wet end to a good season. We can end this year knowing that Rob has beat his personal best, and has learnt more about the car and the track, and we all as a team have learnt more and gone deeper into the amazing world of Motor Sport….bring on 2007!
(PS – Plans for 2007 – Plate Type LSD, Softer tyres, thicker Torsions bars, and Anti-roll bars, rebuilt bottom end of engine, rally cam. Best time of 2006 = 68.18. Our aim for 2007 is 65.50)
August 12th & 13th – National A Meeting.
It managed to stay dry for both the Saturday and Sunday. As it was a National A meeting our driver Rob Morgan, along with all other drivers had three practice runs on the Saturday and two timed runs Sunday. At National A meetings they normally only allow two runs on the Saturday. However, as there were no real big “offs” meant we could all have a third go! Rob did not beat his PB of 68.18. Both days netted times in the mid 68s. The final timed run netted a slightly disappointing low 69sec, this was down to a 50:50 grass/track moment when Rob came out of Keepers Corner.
Overall, although no records broken Rob managed to get respectable times. All we need now is that engine rebuild, Rally Cam and LSD and we should be in the 66secs! – roll on 2007!
July 8th Race Day – National B Meeting.
The day started clear and fine and stayed like that for the rest of the day. As it was a National B meeting we had two runs in the morning and two in the afternoon (the latter two counted!)
To start off Rob Managed 69.32sec not too bad, but the tyre pressures were 24psi Front and 22psi Rear. Rob felt these were a bit too low and as a result the car was a little soft. The second morning run netted a 70.82 – mainly due to Rob almost putting the car into the bank at Museum corner near the finish line. This detour lost around 2 seconds overall. The tyre pressures where altered to 24psi Front and 22psi Rear – they stayed at this for the rest of the day….
However, after lunch the first real timed run was a success and Rob smashed, yet again our record in the Peugeot 205GTI. The record stands at 68.18 – the previous record was 68.60 set at the April Easter meeting. The final run was a little slower but still under 69sec.
To conclude we had a successful day, and Rob is doing us proud with his driving! We even came across a yellow Frog Eyed Sprite with an “As Seen on Top Gear” decal added – this was the exact car The Stig used some months back during an episode when he was racing a “Max Powered” Peugeot 306 at Prescott Hillclimb – he won.
We asked the driver if he met The Stig whilst filming and does he know who he is, all he said was that he would not show his face, and turned up the shoot with a race balaclava on…may be he was making it up, as rumour had it, that this man was indeed The Stig….True? make your own minds up..but he could certainly drive…..very quickly…
May 20th/21st Race Day – National B Meeting.
Oh dear! what can we say! It rained almost all day on both days. Apart from Rob launching the car on to the grass at Fallow and a few lock ups here and there, there was nothing further to report for both days.
However, we were very impressed with the cars tyres (Yokohamma AVS Sport) which proved very good rain tyres. The times were in the late 70s – On the last track session, Rob adapted the cars Koni suspension so that they were on the softest setting, and took 4 seconds off the previous time (75.84 vs 79.51) albeit it started to dry our in places.
Far from being a great weekend – the main thing however Rob enjoyed (?) was getting more experience in wet track driving!
April 17th Race Day – Easter Meeting.
We were more than pleased as it stayed dry all day! We were also very please to report that Rob again beat his personal best, getting a 68.60, beating his best by 4/10ths of a second, which was only set the day before!
The second run up this hill netted a 69.89 thanks to a lock up at Triangle corner as Rob missed a downshift by 0.5 of a second which resulted in a delay in engine breaking – normally the two work well together (footbrake and engine) but when one fails the time lost is great.
We managed to come second in class based on our time set at practise time. Rob was pleased to receive a trophy and a good applause from fellow racers at the end of the day.
April 16th Practise Day – Easter Meeting.
The day had the odd April shower, but when our time on the track came, it was dry and Rob M managed to get a respectable time of 69.86, not bad considering he managed an 80mph 4-wheel lock at Fallow corner!
Although 69.86 is our best time, the second run netted us a 69.00. After talking with Rob he reported the following; “the car feels it has much more grip than before, this is down to getting the correct tyre pressures and having a nice warm track. The car felt really good, thanks to all the hard work put in by the team at Drivers Domain UK.com”
April 1st – Members Meeting – Saturday Only.
The day was wet/dry on and off. We managed to have 5 runs up the hill. In the morning the first run was a wet one! However, we managed to smash everyone’s time in our group. The second run however, resulted in a 180-spin and picking up a nice wedge of grass and bending the front bumper slightly. This aside, Rob was delighted to have beaten his personal best, which now stands at 70.11sec. Rob said “the new Koni suspension set-up, and new rear beam has made the car more stable around the track, and as a result has helped improve the car’s time. We are still focused on breaking the 70 second barrier, which will hopefully happen soon“
The final run of the day was during very heavy rain, so we are not even going to count that time! We were also pleased to meet Kevin from Practical Performance Car Magazine (one of our sponsors) who has taking photos of Rob in the car – mainly going sideways/on three wheels etc…- so no doubt our project car will be featured in their great publication in the next month or so.
Overall, a great day as always and a good start to the 2006 season, even though it was only practise day!
