Croc

Some photos to look at – all of these great photos are courtesy of the BAT photographers (who make me better than I really am!). Here I am exiting Eau Rouge and making the climb up to Radillon. This is the classic scene of Spa with the Endurance pits in the background. Here is the car hopping the curb at Radillon apex. The pit exit is the lane in the background. After Radillon you have the gently uphill Kemmel Straight. With a good run out of Radillon I was easily sitting on 6800rpm in top gear (say 115-118mph) well before the braking zone. I usually kept it at 6800rpm since it did not take much to hit the rev limiter at 7000rpm. After Kemmel Straight it is a sharp deceleration in speed for Les Combes, a nicely paced esses series.

The Jagermeister Porsche 962 caused me to ruin my underwear in more ways than one: That was one way. The other way was on Kemmel Straight, rocking along at all of 115mph at 6800rpm in 6th gear, the Porsche blasted past me at something like 200mph. Being a competitive chap and I had carefully listened to a few knowledgeable people in the pits about the benefits of slipstreaming aero cars, I decided to grab a tow by jumping in behind it. Instantly I was sucked hard and was at 7800rpm and through the rev limiter past the red line before I could blink. The BAT mechanics slapped me silly later and said “don’t do it again” otherwise you will be fined. I had no idea of the aero vacuum that sits behind a group C sports car…wow! After my March trip, I had a decent idea of where the circuit went and so I just headed on out and promptly looped it at the La Source corner on the first lap…oops! After a few laps I found my feet and just started pounding around to explore the limits carefully. I had two sessions of instruction included in the car rental with Scott Mansell, a very accomplished race champion. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Mansell BTW - I do like how his Wikipedia profile shows his car being recovered after a track moment of kind! I can relate to that! Seriously, I am amazed how much I get out of top tier pro drivers when they provide instruction. It may cost a lot but the quality of input is superb. He gave me some quality suggestions on day 1 and by day 2 after some work at them the results were evident and I felt much happier in the way I was driving the circuit.

There was a very interesting range of cars on display. Low end 125hp Caterhams, to Lotus Eliges and Ginettas, to higher end Porsche 911 derivatives, BMW M3s and then full on race cars like Radicals, Junos and the like. There was a Lola T70 (best sounding car) and a Porsche 962. Tuesday saw a group 4 (I think) De Tomaso Pantera.

Back in March this year I made an attempt to run two consecutive days on track at Spa-Francorchamps in a BookaTrack rented Caterham. As you will recall from this post… http://usa7s.com/vb/showthread.php?t=8506 ….it did not work out so well as it snowed on the first day and it became an exercise in survival and bring the car home alive. For the second day there were a few more inches of snow that I would have needed an SUV to go around the circuit. Still, I saw enough of the circuit to understand that it is a special place and worthy of going all out for another try. So last Monday and Tuesday I went back – again with BookaTrack in trusty BAT10, a Caterham R300 race car that I have rented several times before. Before I turned up at the circuit, I arrived the day before early to allow me to explore the Spa Circuit museum in the Stavelot Abbey, located in a little village about 6 miles from the circuit. While not large, it has a great collection of cars and some very interesting videos of old races. The track day was being run by BookaTrack. I am firmly of the belief that they run the best track days in the UK and Europe. Great team of friendly people, headed up by Jonny Leroux who gives the best driver briefings of any track day I have ever been on – serious, strict but with a healthy dose of humor to keep you focused. It was an open pit lane format with rules are similar to US track days except (a) passing only on left on straights (b) no point by given the speed differentials between slowest to fastest cars. The Belgians do use a white flag on their circuit. I thought this was reference to them surrendering but it means there is a track vehicle on course picking up debris or giving a flat tow to some disabled car. They do this to avoid shutting down the track which takes a long time given it is 4 miles long. My faith was confirmed – it was an epic two days. The weather was warm and perfect. The track was in in top shape. It was not very crowded so quality track time. Well behaved participants – no troubles getting past other cars. Casualty rate was low – only 1 incident. My car was perfect. My car was again BAT 10 – Caterham R300 with a 180hp 2L Duratec, 6 speed box, running 13 inch wheels with CR500s, full cage, no frills. It has the 3.62 diff ratio so in theory should gear out at 120-122mph area in 6th gear at 7000rpm. Track map: I said it once before in an earlier post and I will say it again – the circuit is simply one of the top 3 circuits in the world. I much prefer it over Nurburgring as Spa is a more fun drive and still a great driving challenge. To me the sense of history contributes so much to understanding just a fraction what the top F1 pilots of the 60s and 70s went through. The elevation changes contribute so much the character. The only other circuit which comes close in this respect is Mt Panorama Bathurst Australia which also makes my top 3 circuits to drive. Yet I think I prefer Spa as Bathurst can be a little too dangerous with is blind corners and places too much demand on power which a relatively low powered car like a Caterham cannot meet. Spa’s design rewards the momentum driving style that a Caterham can produce. At my lap times I was averaging 90mph per lap (3mins for 4.5m) – no wonder I spent most of my time looking for 7th gear on the long straights (the video shows me doing this all the time). While the Caterham may not have the top end speed of the Porsches, Beemers and the like, I would kill under braking and would maintain a higher average speed through the corners. For a power circuit like Spa the seven does not give anything away. For example there was a Ferrari 430 running around – I hounded him for 3 laps – he would get away on the straights but I would kill him on the corners and curvy bits. Eventually he let me past with a cloud of brake dust. Same for the McLaren and Aston Martins and most of the other road going exotica. For its cost a Seven cannot be beaten in the value performance stakes. The Caterham could pound its way around for 30-40-50 minutes doing consistent lap times and was probably faster, and easier to drive over the time than much of the high powered cars. We were based in the Endurance Pits this time instead of the Formula 1 Pits. While more crowded it does have the advantage of more character and you can hang on the pit wall watching the cars barrel past into Eau Rouge and up the hill.

Glen - I think I just have to put you in my seven for a session at NJMP - that will seal the purchase!

Mike - Karl also runs a set of BBS wheels purchased through MOG Racing (Joachim is on here with a video effing up a Porsche ) I am sure they are quite reasonable in price (for some people! :jester:)

Very sad news. He was the perfect gentleman in my correspondence with him. At age 61 he was too young to go.

What is it about such pornographic images that I cannot stop looking at them! Looks fantastic! :cooldude:

not me - I am not on Facepalm

Go for it MoBoost! As a CSR owner I can say they are the fastest point to point road legal car that I have ever driven. The suspension makes a huge difference. :cooldude: I am sure your wife would understand...

Mike - is it this one? http://www.sevenselans.com/cars_for_sale/2006_caterham_csr/index.htm

Yes I have used Evans. I ran it in my previous yellow Caterham more as an experiment than anything else. I like the idea that you can have a non-pressuirzed system and that the cooling effectiveness seems to extend to lowering oil temps slightly (important to me at the time). On the downside, it is expensive especially when you consider you have to use the prep fluid. Also if you lose any coolant then you can only replace with Evans - no mixing with water or other regular coolant mixes. It is also a no go for track work. My mechanic swears by it for older cars as his experience is that the cooling is more effective for keeping block temps down plus you have the anti-corrosive benefits. I dont run in my current Caterham and have not felt the need to other than for possibly indirectly lowering oil temp which to my mind run too high relative to water temp.

Interesting question. I can only think of motorbikes that provide the same thrills for money equation. Although they have the added bonus of coming with a free donor program sign up for the inevitable accident. However, like most things in life (money, beer, women, shrimp, wheels, etc) I prefer 4 over 2. If you start thinking modified then you get things like: - V8 Miatas from Flying Miata - 300hp Honda engined Minis from that crazy mini place in VA

That is just a lovely seven - clearly the best thing to wake up to with my morning cuppa.

I wonder if Jude has hit upon the issue - vapor lock in the fuel rail due to heat?

Clearly it is broken so you need to go out and buy a brand new engine from Cosworth. I can take your old engine off your hands....

Overfilling can overpressurize the system on hot days but it has got to be really hot. Do you break the rules and run coolant mix or just plain water like the rules say? Did your overheating start while waiting on the dummy grid before going out on track? In those temps my car gets very hot because of the lack of any airflow - the fan alone is not enough. It then takes a while to bring the temps back down when driving. Your bigger issue was probably oil temps and you did not know it. With our Duratecs, oil temp is far higher than water temp and I red zone that before I overheat water temp in hot ambient temps.

No you cannot do that! Its illegal. Look at what happened to the captain of the Exxon Valdez!

Why am I thinking of the movie Caddyshack right now?

George had a few things on his plate not that long ago. He is still going just fine. He is in the middle of repairing one of the NJMP group's caterhams and is still active. I find him more responsive through a phone call rather than emails. Top guy!:flag:

Sure you will fit. I can think of a few 6 footers with standard sevens. Just need to think about headroom with a roll bar and you can achieve this with a tall roll bar and lowered floors in a Caterham or Birkin. Stalkers and Ultralites are easier to accommodate those taller people. The only thing you may not have considered in shoe size. The standard Caterham S3 chassis pedal box is very tight for those with large feet. If you were at George's workshop then you must be local? You talk about Atlanta so not sure? There are a group of us (6 Caterhams) that frequent member days (non competitive) at NJMP about an hour east of George. you just missed the Sevens weekend this month with 12 cars cycling through. There are group there tomorrow and this weekend but then it gets pretty light until Sept. We can arrange a guest pass if you want to come in, meet the group and learn about sevens. I am sure we can convince you to buy one!

Tom - I read blatchat extensively and know exactly the theories you refer to. I also think the air is blocked from under chassis ventilation by the full ali streamlining fairing which is intended to make it more aerodynamic. So the air gets trapped in the engine bay and the gearbox tunnel. As for a chin spoiler for your new S3, have you seen the new nosecones that they sell on the R500? They are reprofiled to include a deeper profile with a vent - comes closer to an integrated chin spoiler concept. I saw one on Jeffs new R500 and thought it was an interesting hybrid to adding a chin.

:rofl: Me a wizard? I am definitely from Oz! :cooldude: LOL - just very patient with electronics to find out the best way of making them work. As for master of driving - I think I was the only one to kiss the wall lately :ack: I will try to find time to write a thread this weekend with links to sample footage and suggestions on what works or does not work.

THe CSR chin spolier would look to be your best approach to mounting a front license plate like Skip has done: http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/CSR/October%202011/DSC_1989_edited-1.jpg Another option would be to use slimline mounts like these: http://skenedesign.com/FPBracket/index.shtml As for the internal fairing inside the nose cone, I have never taken a photo of that and do not have the car handy at present to take a photo. Maybe search Blatchat for a posted link? Personally, I think the radiator fairing idea makes the car cockpit hotter even if it is good for the engine temps. Certainly my car is the hottest seven I have even been in.

Mike - You are being way too hard on yourself. For a start the location under the rear tonneau in the boot area is actually pretty good since it is a resonator. It works ok on my CSR with the same mic on track and a UK S3 I have video from so why not yours - I have no idea? You have to look at my record from 2 weeks back at the sevens weekend - I wired up 4 cars with powered microphones under the bonnets on Sat and only 2 of those worked. For Sun I went back and rechecked everything and still only got 2 (different) cars working. :banghead: Decent sound on video from our cars is one hell of a challenge.