26 & 27 July, Race, The BEST TEAM EVER!!!!

“suddenly the cabin is filled with smoke”

You get teams and you get TEAMS! You get friends and then you also get FRIENDS!

We hook up Fossa Ford Anglia for a scenic tour to Zwartkops Raceway for our first anniversary race. Chris “The Roach” has to work and we go via Imperial Toyota.

Friday, 26 July, the place Zwartkops Raceway. Our first event with the distributor supplied by Gerdus.  Annalie take control of our new Canon. Had we known what was to happen, would we have done things differently? We arrive trackside at about 09h30. The first of the on the space allocated to the ‘Little Giants”. We get to pick a space. Annalie suggests we do not take our usual spot as then we do not finish a race. Well, new spot selected, we pitch camp more literally than we thought or you can imagine!

Fossa finds a spot

Fossa finds a spot

The usual pattern follows, little did we know! Unpack Fossa and swop her tow tires for her semi-slicks, do documentation, do scrutineering ….. For a start all single seaters have the track together followed by the tin tops.

Tin Tops 1

Tin Tops 1

Tin Tops 5

Tin Tops 5

Tin Tops 4

Tin Tops 4

Tin Tops 3

Tin Tops 3

Tin Tops 2

Tin Tops 2

We do our first run at 10h15, best time 1:29.83 and speed of 134Km/h.

Second run at 10h43, best time and our best time to date 1:27.46 and speed 134.6.

Third run at 14h06, best time 1:29.03 and speed 134.8 …..

Going around the right hand corners watching the mirrors I can see smoke coming from her tires and Fossa colouring in the track with a black line from her right rear.

Black line

Black line on a lefty

…. During run three on what was to become our final lap, exiting corner seven suddenly the cabin is filled with smoke. In my mind I start to prepare to grab the fire extinguisher, watching for the flames to start leaking into the cabin and past the bonnet ….! It is decision time, my mind racing analysing the situation with a sense of disappointment, Chris Roach’s last words the morning “do not break her!” It is a smell that smells vaguely familiar but I can not put my nose on it. I immediately pull into the pits with none of my minds flames. Another nose, Annalie’s suggest a electric short and I do find a wire has has melted. I check all electric systems and find everything working, tape up the open wire. Problem sorted ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

RUN FOUR. 16h13. Best time 1:28.23. 135.3 km/h …. an uncanny shudder appears running at speed down the main straight, only three laps in exiting turn five that smell again, a little smoke AND THEN NO DRIVE!!! Clutch slipping, I coast into the pits making a note to keep the speed slow and constant as it is an uphill entry to our “spot”. It is with great disappointment that we have to inform Chris on his way home of the latest developments and yet more decisions have to be made. We return home to feed our animal children, collect additional tools, spare and used clutches and pressure plates, bedding, clothes toothbrushes etc. and back to the track. In minutes we start stripping Fossa’s gearbox. It is getting colder.

Removing gearbox 1

Removing gearbox 1

Removing gearbox 2

Removing gearbox 2

Removing gearbox 3

Removing gearbox 3

Sachs Power Clutch after three race weekends

Sachs Power Clutch after three race weekends

Modifying another clutch plate 1

Modifying another clutch plate 1

Modifying another clutch plate 2

Modifying another clutch plate 2

Highly reputed Sachs Power Clutch kit. Three race weekends. R1500.00. Replaced not because we had to, because we did not want to do this work shortly after rebuilding her engine. The machine marks on the pressure plate have not even started wearing in. The clutch plate PIECES still have the white Sachs printing on the clutch faces. Annoyed? Angry? Absolutely the MOER in? The most of our racing friends state it is a faulty clutch plate and we have to return it. You think I will be capable of doing that without swearing and cussing the suppliers? I rather just don’t. One racer commented that it is due to hard down shifting. Maybe, but then it is no friggen “Power Clutch Kit”, more the a “Sponge Clutch Kit”! We modify a spare clutch supplied with Fossa when we purchased her, only to find the plate not to be a perfect match for Fossa’s input shaft and our final resort is the plate replaced in the first place with over two hundred and fifty Zwartkops Raceway laps on it.

——————- Saturday 27 July ——————

Somewhere during the replacement it turned into Saturday. Did I somewhere mention it was cold? Well, even if I did, it was COLD! It was extremely flippen COLD. We were CCOLD with the CCCOLD penetrating into our bones. What kept us going? Adrenaline? Madness? A state of craze? Passion? A desire to be successful? I can not say, maybe the occasional hot coffee helped. Any way we call it quits for the night somewhere after three in the morn and settle in to our Cortina best we could.

We are awakened by a ruckus caused by security guards between our tools that quickly dissipate as my knee presses against the Cortina’s hooter somewhere before five. And guess what, it is still cold and dark! We quickly finish the job, clean up our space and ourselves. And we are tired. We promise ourselves some sleep before qualifying and between races.

A lot of discussion on clutches with plenty fellow racers, pro’s and cons. We have decided to go copper button clutch pending price. If it holds out in Locust’s, it should hold in Fossa and not disintegrate!

Qualifying, Somewhere after nine AM. I was informed by Clerk of the Course to have the no 14 sticker indicating “Little Giants” on the windscreen or else I would not be let out on track in slots allocated to us. We run a 01:31.51 and qualify in 18th position of 24. Pulling into the pits Fossa refuses to idle and struggles to start. She had managed to lose her distributor lock down bolt and have done some timing adjustment of her own!

Qualifying

Qualifying

Race 1: None of the self promised sleep. Our best starting position yet. The race starts reasonably routine. Fossa clearly showing more speed than Colin Ritchie’s Hillman Imp catching up rapidly down the straights and Steven Kernick’s MGB breathing down my neck being faster on the corners.

Race one, MGB tailing

Race one, MGB tailing

Steven Kernick's MGB challenging in corner eight

Steven Kernick’s MGB challenging in corner eight

I make the decision to overtake the Imp and do with relative ease with that MGB following suit. At least I now have clear air in front of me and without the Imp restricting our top speed are able to build a slightly bigger buffer between us and the MGB down the straights. We finish in front of the MGB in 16th place. We do not have many pic’s of the race as Annalie was supporter first and photographer second, apparently screaming so loud we are surprised the track did not get calls about noise pollution.

Suicide ride: We offered to assist with the suicide rides of the day and was brought a track marshal for treatment. A young lady, did not get her name. *EDIT*
Kerri Friskin *END*.  She commented that she liked the leaning tower of Fossa!

Suicide ride - One of the track marshal's

Suicide ride – One of the track marshal’s, Kerri

My experience as a suicide lap victim :

It was my first time going in a race car like that around the track and I absolutely enjoyed it !! The way it went around those corners so accurately really made my experience worth it ! I would definitely do that again 🙂 thanks to all who made it possible .
Kind regards
*Kerri* =)

Just sign this indemnity in case one of the penguins bite you!

Just sign this indemnity in case one of the penguins bite you!

Race two: None of the promised sleep …… Edge and Red Bulls order of the day. We are placed in position 16. No run of the mill racing this time. Pretty tired with blood shot eyes, low level afternoon sun, Fossa not wanting to run under 4000 rpms …… Lack of fighting spirit. Whatever, Cameron McLeod’s MGA mysteriously appears on exit of corner eight passes me and Steven Kernick follows through without any resistance. I make a point just to keep the following Imp in my rear view mirror.

Fossa about to be ovetaken

Fossa about to be overtaken

Fossa our pride

Fossa our pride

We manage to finish third in Class U.

Trophy

Trophy

I have recently often thought which of our trophies were the most deserved. It is impossible to say, for everyone we have had to work hard. Every one has a story. This has been our first really exciting race as the improvements and growth on Fossa has at last got us somewhere in the mix.

*EDIT* – A year ago we were in a battle with a friend,  John Martin’s DKW. He said we would move on. I just could not believe him, yet a year later we were fast enough to overtake him. This is when you realise what a few seconds on a race track does. *END*

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Thanks to our friends and supporters. These guys kept us motivated, entertained and offered advise. Thomas Falkiner, Gerdus Smit, Denzil Bhana, Mari Ducasse, Gary Stacey, Hein Scheepers (Bolt Stop), Colin Kean and Paul Perriera. You will never know how much the support meant to us, THANKS!

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And mostly, thanks to the rest of my team. Without you there would have been NO RACE. Stripping Fossa’s guts, replacing the clutch and reassembling without an extra bolts remaining in what felt like freezing temperatures. My body still have the cuts and pains. I can see the individual wear and tear. Thanks for the effort. You could have easily opted to skip the race. THAT IS KICK ASS!

Thanks Annalie and Chris “The Roach”. TUXRACING RULES!!!!!!!!

 

Super Trax Day, 21 July, Zwartkops Raceway ….

It is an extremely cold Zwartkops Raceway that meets us at 06H40. Frozen to the bone and with the wind chill we stay “cool” the whole day.

The cool-ness also reflect in our results for the day. Prior to the day we had the semi slicks refitted to have the insides outside and vice versa as the outside were starting to run off and the insides showed no wear. This made the initial laps a bit different as the handling had changed.

Fossa running down the long straight

Fossa running down the long straight

It is the Trax Day with the most racing cars present that we have attended to date which made for a bit of traffic. We could have probably filled a grid!

With Fossa leaning over in corners she lifts her inside rear wheel and loses traction and we lose time. I make use of the day to start trying new ways through corners to reduce spinning the inside rear and getting out of the corner faster and have reasonable success on corner two. Maybe that is what cost us our second?

Fossa starts misfiring again like it is going out of fashion. We return to the pits and run some checks finding her rotor badly burnt away on the one side. A reposition of her distributer has her firing right again. We are also given a very neat to brand new distributor by Gerdus Smit, present with his Locost lawnmower.

In the last stint Fossa start gasping for fuel after leaning through corner seven … Suspect possible fuel starvation due to the fuel level in the tank as she gains power again in time to power through corner eight.

We do a best of 1:29.13. Not too bad but would have liked to match or improve our previous best. Something new that has happened, having the 185 Yokohama’s complaining on the exits of corners six and eight.

Thomas Falkiner riding shotgun with the penguin

Thomas Falkiner riding shotgun with the penguin

Thomas Falkiner arrives to give his long term Hybrid Honda a run on the track and get his dose of Fossa.

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With our next race less than a week away we quickly convert the dizzy supplied by Gerdus with our AccuSpark and fit. We also resolve our oil splatters at the crankcase ventilator. Fossa’s ignition timing looks a lot more stable ……. Time will tell!

See you Saturday, 27 July at Zwartkops cheering Fossa and friends! Greetings.

Classic Car Show, NASREC, 7 July 2013

The Classic Car Show came and went ……..

With my younger sister being a Ford Cortina and my means of transport via a-frame and a member of the Ford Cortina Club of South Africa, I was fortunate to pose on the corner to the club’s site.

Me next to the Ford Cortina Club Gazebo

Me next to the Ford Cortina Club Gazebo

Of course I attracted attention, after all I am a Legend Racing Car! More pictures of this event can be found on Facebook. Remember I am also on Facebook, just look for Fossa Ford Anglia!

Fossa Ford Anglia, that's me!

Fossa Ford Anglia, that’s me!

On the way home my a-frame bent and had to be temporary rectified. It has however now been upgraded by reinforcing. Until I have my trailer I will only accompany my sister to the race tracks and selected shows. I caused quite a scare when I attempted to overtake my sister!

My immediate program includes Super Trax Day at Zwartkops Raceway, the 21st of July, Historic Racing on the  27th of July at Zwartkops Raceway and the 4th of August for Cars in the Park again at Zwartkops Raceway! Hectic!

See you there!