Another event completed successfully. How to define successfully. On our road to historic racing, success means:

1, Bringing Fossa home in one piece, 2, with fun had, 3, with all her mechanical’s still in reusable condition, 4, ready to race again, 5, and with more lessons learned to apply in future races.

Using the above scale, this event was a “5”.

Petrus Motsoko from TOTAL SA applying a coat of polish and bringing the Total logo to a nice shine

I had some plans prior to the race. One of which was to not hold back and wait for things to happen, yes sure I am a slow learner, but to go to the action.

Qualifying. I had a feeling the brakes were not up to scratch after taking Fossa from the scrutineering bay. That is however a difficult call as she has in the past given that impression and then have perfectly nice brakes in action. Heading out on track, I take it easy, putting some heat in her semi’s and lightly feeling the brakes. Then the first hot lap, I find she does not want to rev in her usual smooth way to 7000rpm, rather feeling as if she has a rev limiter fitted topping out on the high 5000 to low 6000’s. Then the fun, getting to corner two applying brakes to realise the gearbox and engine is going to have to help! Second gear and twitch of her tail. Despite the brake challenge we run a respectable  01:30.33.

Back in our pit, the gloves comes off and the brakes is quickly bled.

The race in pictures taken from our GoPro. Race one.

We are bundled nicely and it is the first time I actually see the red lights go out

For a while we run with the Austin while the rest of the field gradually disappear .. Behind me the Alfa of Jaco Taylor Snr and flashes of Mel Spur’s 315 Ford Consul. Unfortunately Mel withdraws to due to a technical issue.

Jaco’s Alfa passing us with just over a half lap to go …

Race two

The Austin and the Alfa at the start of race two

I manage to pass the Alfa in corner three, but the Austin starts to build a nice gap

Brian Rowlings Ford Anglia not completing race one catch up and pass as Jaco Taylor Snr’s Alfa pulls up next to us

Corner five, Brian takes a tighter line and we manage to follow through

For a little while I manage to keep Brian’s Anglia sight which is slowly pulling me closer to the Austin. A glance in the mirror, it appears that Mel and Jaco is keeping each other busy with a slight gap, not that there is any moment of rest. Then a safety car so that they can remove a car that has retired in a unsafe spot.

All gaps created are zeroed, and soon after Mel pass me. I follow for a while and am passed by Jaco’s Alfa with just over a half lap to go.

The change in strategy made our race much more exiting with some acceptable lap times, 1:29.06 in race one and a 1:29.41 in race two. It was also a learning curve looking at the pro’s racing lines. Two or three wrong gear choices made, but that’s the way to learn.

One has to comment and congratulate Zwartkops Raceway with it’s cleanliness!!  This was really appreciated, thanks.

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Next event, Kyalami Motorsport Festival, 21 – 23 October. Our schedule there has changed to a practice session late Saturday afternoon, qualifying Sunday morning followed by an early morning race and a late afternoon race. This will also test a different Total oil!

See you there!!!

After a reasonably calm season there is a sudden burst in events following ……

We planned to attend the Historic Tour at Zwartkops Raceway on the 8th of October and Redstar Raceway on the 19th of November …….

Enter the Kyalami Motorsport Festival …….. Not just your normal raceday, a true festival. Three days of excitement, 21, 22 and 23 October. And invited to the festivities, the Pre66 Legends of the 9 Hours …

Fossa was on track at the last race before the then uncertain future of the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit, then the waiting, the auction and the purchase of the track by Toby Venter of Porsche South Africa. This was followed by a massive overhaul project bringing Kyalami to spec for a FIA Grade 2 license. It is going to be a privilege to have Fossa and the other Pre66 Legends racing the upgraded track launching history into the future!

We have a 30min practise time slot allocated to us from 18H00 on the 22nd and our 10 lap race at 16H10 on the 23rd!

Cheers, 😉

Fossa first load on her new chariot

A lot of hard work, building larger gates later, we are able to now load Fossa the day before our outings. This is a real time saver and thinking of loading in the early morning in the rain, stay wet a cold at event can now be eliminated.

Redstar Raceway, 6 August 2016. Fossa’s “new” trailer proves a breeze to tow. We arrive a cold Redstar Raceway shortly after six am. At first I am pretty relaxed, Petrus (Total, South Africa) arrives surprisingly early about fifteen minutes after us. Wonder if he is regretting his decision being at a racetrack in the dark and coolness … The relaxness departs standing on one of the pavilions looking at the track looking the other events qualifying ….

We end up pitching camp in a rather dusty veld far away from all the other action taking place on track. We are almost parked in and have to find a route to get to track for our events. A better idea would be to demarcate areas visibly for competitors use only with easy track access.

Fossa passing a Mustang during its rally stage

Qualifying: 2:49.431. Qualifying is always a rather mixed bag as cars pull in at any time during the allocated time slot to come and strut their stuff. Getting a nice clean lap often not possible and then our first time on this track with the reputation of changing track drivers into rally experts …. Manage to keep Fossa on the black stuff in what I considered to be a scouting trip. It is an exceptionally busy track, left, right, left ….. right and right about here you realize you are confused or have been for the last two corners already. You can not afford not to concentrate.

Corner one

Corner ….

Race 1: 2:45.100. Being more structured in a sense knowing you are going to be lapped with a Mustang and a Camaro in the mix but there will be a few laps of fun without “interference”. My target, finish the race and try and add some fun. The fun starts soon as this flat track allows for extreme cornering and I can see why so many will end up in the rough.

Just having fun

Race 2: 2:40.846. The environmental temperature and sun have increased to a rather scorching feeling. Based on the Fossa’s temperatures post race one is a bit of a mental concern. Also monitoring her oil pressure in heat one I have wonder how the Total 5000 mineral oil is going to keep up …… Lap one I realize, that 36DCD is keeping up with my demand and I decide this is going to be a road race and a true test of our capabilities. I hitch up behind and an Alfa in a tussle with a Mini. The idea to stay as close to them as possible, at times they pull away and we are able to play catch up. With the Alfa’s ability to break through class U times at Zwartkops Raceway with a time of 1:24.79 this experiment is going to be interesting.

The results based on the best lap times in race 2;

Alfa – 2:40.230, Mini – 2:40.384, Anglia – 2:40.846

Smoking, the pic of the day taken by The Roach

The fun is testing new limits with that 36DCD having Fossa screaming all four tires and at the few occasion sliding a bit around the corners. Going through the twisty bits is literally throwing Fossa from the one side to the other. It was good to have the same quantity of laps as the other races. A lap counter would have been nice and a last lap indication would have been cool.

As usual on race completion, Petrus produces the thermal camera taking readings of the engine and other interesting components. The exhaust branch measure a cool 274°, matching the front brakes …. Almost as hot as the driver!

After the race we go and enjoy a nice cold beer and meet up with Paul Blackburn. I am very quickly told of my one two wheel on the soft stuff and that has the evidence. I was NOT aiming at the photographer!

Petrus Motsoko

The Historic Tour_Round 6 (6 August 2016)

The day started off very early. Upon my arrival I could see that Fossa was looking good even before getting warmed up. I then immediately got the feeling that today would go well. The weather was also perfect.

Today was the event that we decided to use to test out one of the oils we had previously intended to test out on Fossa to enable us to get the near perfect oil for the application that Fossa is being used for.

Fossa had previously experienced some technical difficulties on the track, and sometimes did not even finish races. So on this morning everyone was nervous. The driver was nervous about Fossa and the new track since this was the first time our driver would be competing on this particular track. The pit crew members were also nervous, not only about Fossa and how she would hold up, but also because our driver was not familiar with the track.

After doing pre-trip inspections on Fossa, it was time for the qualifying laps to be done. Our designated driver managed to keep Fossa on the black stuff which saw to it that we get a good start up position for a car in its category. Chris and Fossa had their hands tied as they diced with vehicles younger and with bigger engines. As tough as it was, both Chris and Fossa did a great job keeping the other vehicles on their toes.

Upon returning to the pits after hard driving around the track, results in terms of position were shared then everyone went back to their cars to prepare for the actual race. Oils Pressures and Levels were recorded. Wheels were torqued.

Time came for Fossa to go race. She did well and finished the race with well improved lap times. This proved to us that Chris was getting with acquainted with the track. Another sign was the sound of all four wheels squealing as Chris and Fossa came around the various corners of Red Star Raceway. On their return, engine temperatures were taken, oil levels and pressures checked and finally refueling.

Fossa was looking good. There was no need to open her up and fix anything. No oil leaks spotted. After lunch preparations for the last and final race were underway. Fossa was still looking good and sounding good. No smoke was coming from her. She went onto the track and Chris did what he was called for, which is to race Fossa. They had lots of fun on the track, and this was evident in the improved lap times.

Fossa did it. She completed her race without any mechanical breakdowns. She was still in such a good condition after a long day on harsh driving. One could literally drive her back home.

The figures are looking better than before. We now look forward to the next event so that we can test out another oil to see if there will be any improvement in the times.

Yours sincerely

Petrus MOTSOKO

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Thank you for the support TOTAL. Usually associated with the leading Toyota’s on off-road circuit, this is much appreciated. Now for the next oil to be tested, the one I favour, though the results will only be released after all the test have been completed.

Our next race should be 8 October at our second home, Zwartkops Raceway. I would like to attend at track day at both Redstar Raceway before then to both test the 36DCD at Zwartkops and to take the team and Petrus around Redstar, 🙂

From a smiling Fossa Ford Anglia and team, cheers