Our journey continues …….

… hours and hours of work on those sidedraughts have me thinking we are closer to the solution. The only way to verify, a Supertrax Day at our second home, Zwartkops Raceway.

But first. Still contemplating attending a trackday, Petrus from Total, makes contact again. He is going to pay us a visit. Saturday, 11 June, we receive a delivery of oils to be tested over the next few events. Total have provided three different oils, all with different properties, one which I am very keen to try. I have however been advised that one will be the last one to be tested, eish. Oil being such a sensitive subject amongst competitors, more will only be revealed on completion of all the tests.

Petrus – Total

Petrus “convince” us that the 12th will be the day to test and that he will attend.

We arrive shortly after six am at a very dark and freezing cold Zwartkops Raceway. Fossa is unloaded, parked and we wait …. for heat, coffee, action and Petrus. Petrus arrives first.

While the Zwartkops generator is started, Petrus is taken on a walk about shown our second home. Then that welcome coffee.

The newbies are called to briefing and we accompany Petrus so that he can get the complete experience. After the newbies introduction to the track we attend the usual drivers briefing with the rules of the day.

Due to the uncertainty of Fossa’s side draught state the team has decided that Petrus will have the first stint as passenger. Should they fail and force retirement, at least he would have had an opportunity to experience the fun.

Petrus, ready for action

Petrus is strapped in with assistance of “The Roach”. He is a difficult character, normally I can judge a persons level of fear/excitement …. I can only trust Fossa will live up to expectation. We pull out into pit lane and wait for the previous session to complete. Soon enough we start out and Fossa is launched onto the track. Heading around and with the need for sudden deceleration the brake work done on Fossa looks rewarding. Fossa twitches as I throw her back into second and as the restriction on track disappears floor through corner five. It is obvious that getting heat into her semi’s is going to prove a challenge.

Starting off mild and gradually pushing harder, the side draughts prove to still be rather useless running through corners. Once on the straights it shows some promise. Before commenting, take note, professionals have had their hands on them and we take all information and research into consideration. We are aware that it is going to take some time to setup. That will however take place on Anglia three on her completion. For now, I want to go and play, knowing I will have response and power through corners, not just music. The 38DGAS will return to duty.

Petrus in the hot seat

Running Fossa on the stint I spend all my attention to sounds and other feedback Fossa relays through her actions. Only once I start reducing the happy pedal after eight “hot laps” I once again become aware of Petrus in the shotgun seat. Pulling into our pit, there is movement, he is still alive!

“With regards to the laps we made yesterday, I really enjoyed myself. Fossa did not disappoint in any way. The ride exceeded my expectations. Before yesterday I had never been in a racecar going around any racetrack. I am amazed at the cornering speeds that can be achieved through the Semi-slick tyres.  The hardened suspension of racecars made sense to me yesterday and the power required to allow for faster acceleration and the brake pads required to handle all the hard braking.

This was an experience that will stay with me the rest of my life.” Petrus

I sincerely trust that Petrus will attend a track day with the 38DGAS. Are you in for a surprise! We run a best lap of 1:29.31. Three seconds off our previous best.

On every return to pit, Petrus pulls out a rather nice toy producing these psychedelic images,

Thermal camera

Images of the engine will be released on completion of the oil tests.

We complete two more stints with “The Roach” riding shotgun after our visitor declined a second trip. Resulting lap times1:29.05 and 1: 30.86. A lot of much faster racecars in attendance made it challenging to get a nice clean run. Ultimately, this does not make a difference, for now the sidedraughts fail.

Not actually sure of attending the trackday, neither our Canon or Go Pro is charged. Here is some alternative footage though.

Arriving home, Petrus collects a sample of the Total oil for analysing. This is going to be very interesting and revealing.

In the mean time, some other project @ home needs some attention this week. Will continue on Fossa on feedback from the oil analysis at worst be ready for Redstar Raceway 6 August,

😉