Photo Credit Jonathan Elsey
Rounds One and Two of 750 Motor Club Enduro
April saw our first race of 2024 in 750 Motor Club Enduro. After a difficult and very busy off season and forced into a very late change of plan, we finally got our hands on 'Audrey' at the very end of March..... A beautiful race prepared Audi TT, carefully built and finished by Luke Handley to the TTCR spec, many thanks for all his help and advice too,.... with only three weeks to race day it was needed. The delay actually helped, giving me more time to raise funds with race season starting soon, lots of printing jobs coming in for Graph X Studio, and finalising new negotiotions with sponsorship partners, including the addition of Critical Power Solutions this year whose electric blue logo looks absolutely perfect with the new livery.
First stop was Donington for a little shakedown which went very well. Both myself and Bobby really happy with the car and soon down to a decent pace after only a couple of hours in the new office. With limited time we got her home and set about her first service, installing the timing equipment, cameras, the amazing new wrap/livery (completed on the driveway under the awning in horrific weather) and making sure we had the essential spares, plus everything else needed for our first ever time doing a live in race fuel stop, including a visit to Target Fire Protection for a suitable fire extinguisher.
Race weekend soon came around, and after a nice relaxed Saturday with the crew going through some last minute adjustments to harnesses, mirrors and cameras, testing comms equipment, etc. After the last few names were added to the roof, we had a little photo session with Audrey while she was shining in the sun sat on brand new wheels and tyres.
Sunday morning and straight to scrutineering before getting prepared for qualifying at noon, with both drivers practicing driver changeovers, and Darren DT Motorsport looking over the technical aspects as our race support for the day. Audrey was getting a lot of attention in the garage, and it was nice to meet a few people for a chat and photos, a couple even found their names on the roof. Bobby was first out in qualifying joining the 37 car grid made up of 19 A class, 10 B class, and 8 C class cars. We would be in B class which is the category up to 250bhp per ton. He did a great job soon getting us to P6 in class and row 10 on the starting grid with 20th overall, meaning I could complete my three mandatory laps and get as many laps as possible to get used to the track and fwd car, having driven the rwd Trophy BMW here last year.
We had both found the set up on the car a little too loose on the rear, and a bit of a handful under braking. So after qualifying we got prepared for the late afternoon race slot with DT Motorsports Darren making some setup changes, the rest of the team running through pit stop strategy, and filling the car and the dump jugs with fuel ready for the race. It was decided that Bobby would start the two and a half hour race having qualified and placed the car relative to his pace. He drove a great first stint and we were happy to be running P5 in class for the majority of the first half with the car handling much better than in qualy. The crew did a top job with our first ever pitstop, again under the experienced guidance of Darren, and I exited the pitlane for the second half of the race. As my stint and the other teams' fortunes and strategies unfolded I was lapping consistently and we were up to P4, which we would have been very pleased to finish with on our first race. But sadly as we approached the two hour mark having completed 62 laps I started to get a noise under braking which I was able to relay to the pitwall over the radio. After easing off and monitoring it for a couple of laps, I decided to bring the car in so we could investigate. Upon inspection it was obvious we needed to retire the car as the brakes had completely overheated leaving it impossible to continue..
Disappointed after we were going so well, but safety and avoiding more damage was priority. On a positive note we were pleased to have been running P4 in class in Audreys' first ever race. Two and a half hours without any teething problems was in truth a big ask for a first serious outing, especially after minimal testing and with a freshly built car. Still a great first team weekend with a lot learned, we completed 63 laps and were still classified, with quite a few things to work on and improvements to make to come back stronger.
We couldn't wait to get the car home and assess the damage more thoroughly. After many phone calls, sourcing parts, and a lot of helpful advice from Ryan and Darren, we managed to build and fit some air ducting to cool the new brakes, did a full system flush, replaced the seals and upgraded the fluid. Really grateful for all the support and help from the hugely knowledgeable Alan and all the staff at Questmead. After the major things were complete, the usual full service and oil filter changes plus a few minor jobs were completed with only days to go to the next race, with no time left to test the improvements we had made to the braking, but we were sure that we couldn't have done any more...
The second round at Brands Hatch soon arrived and I was really looking forward to being able to drive the GP layout for my first time, plus hoping to learn from Bobbys recent experience there with Team BRIT and hopefully get myself up to speed quickly.
Very late arrival on Friday night for us, with Audrey the Audi arriving Saturday morning being towed by a lovely Ford Ranger thanks to BTC Vehicle Rentals, which also came in handy to run out and pick up our tyres from the helpful guys at TyrePoint Services nearby, and the fuel for racing on the way back. We then spent a warm relaxed afternoon with all the people around us who make things happen, working through car checks, some amazing food prepared by my mum, and watching a few races here and there, followed by an evening track walk learning from Aston of Nurburgring Tours who also has experience of this circuit.
Sunday raceday came around and this time we were joined by JJ as TeamBRIT race support, who was a great addition to our team with his technical knowledge and experience with pit stops and fuelling. We made our way up to the garages for Qualifying with the rest of the 43 car grid, with 12 in our class B. With more experience and having driven Brands recently with TeamBRIT, Bobby went out first as this would also be Audreys' first run after the extensive work on the brakes. After warming up and resetting the tyre pressures he soon had us up to 2nd in class and 15th overall. This left me with some time to get used to the GP circuit, which I haven't driven before, however with traffic and incidents I only actually completed two flying laps before the end of the session, but still we were very happy with how the car performed and to end the session still in P2. Afterwards I was able to study Bobbys' fast laps thanks to some high quality video footage taken by the RoadAngel dashcam.
After a team discussion we decided Bobby would start the race and we would try to split the 75 minute race as evenly as race unfolding circumstances allowed, meaning I could join a more spread out field on my stint and be able to learn as I go with hopefully some more clean laps. We got the car prepared and refuelled ready for the afternoon and went over the driver change and pit stop drill.
Starting on row 8 in P15 over all with the B class pole sitter just in front, Bobby made a great start and got us into the lead early on, then over his stint building up a 7 second lead in class B. He would lead the opening 20 laps up to our pit stop. Our team pitstop was organised and very well executed, a mandatory 3 minutes with the car stationary we refuelled and swapped over.... All complete with a few seconds to spare and I was released down the pit lane. Unfortunately as I got to the exit there had been a safety car called and I wasn't to be allowed to rejoin, sat at the red light while the train went past twice we lost a lot of positions. So when I was finally released we had dropped from being in the lead by 7 seconds, to P9 and two laps down. Once the safety car came in I was able to get everything warmed back up and myself into a rhythm, so after four or five laps was feeling confident in the car, and I pushed hard to get us back up to 5th in class and 15th overall by the chequered flag. Although we were happy with our racing the safety car rule put a very cruel stop to what was surely at least a podium finish if not the class win. But we were awarded Drivers of the Day for our efforts and received £200 to spend at Tegiwa, which has bought enough quality engine oil to service Audrey for the rest of the season.
Photo Credit Jonathan Elsey
Taking the positives from the weekend our Audi TT was very well suited to the circuit, the new brake ducting did a good job in keeping the brakes cool, and we know we have the pace to achieve a podium if things go our way. Once again a huge thank you to all the sponsors, Nurburgring Tours, Critical Power, Teamkarting, & our race partner TeamBRIT, everyone who has put their name on the roof of the car and/or played a part helping us in any way. It has been a tough year so far and it means a lot to be able to do this, every little bit of help we receive contributes towards making it possible and is very much appreciated.
Already looking forward to the next round as we return to Snetterton on June 23rd where I landed my best finish last year in the BMW, 5th place and driver of the day in only my second solo 1 1/2 hour race. Lets hope we can make the top step this time.
Sandro#19
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