Well we had fairly high hopes for this year's Manx Classic
usual last minute panic to:
fix exhaust
fix rear height adjustmt
free off front calliper
get it running right
find another Federal 205/50/15 tyre to raise front
fit the E28 engine mounts
In the end the new shiny stainless exhaust would not fit with the e28 engine mounts- so back to the e34 ones- plan was to fit a slightly larger tyre 205 vs 195 to raise front as the worry was that we would ground out on the bumpy Sloc
The tyre didn't arrive in time- and the rear adjust things were the wrong diameter- "top up and motor on"
and we were running well - keeping up with a 7.2 litre Jensen in the same class:
But then on the last dryish run on the Sloc Herman ground to a halt just after crossing the finishing line- I hit the rev limiter on the penultimate corner in third- which was quite a result- but this cooked the ECU
I was convinced it was the silly immobiliser thingie- until we got it recovered back to workshop and tried the old ECU
therefore I did the rest of the event- being the third day at Ramsey- in the Hartge
Lots of thrills and some spills
A GTD40 kitcar managed to spin in its own length at Governors hill taking out the wall and his radiator:
ouch!
other highlights included a real AC Cobra that managed to pip my class record (in Camaro) at Ramsey:
makes me wish I had Butch with me!
All the superfast Caterhams 300+ bhp and 500 kgs - hence called 600Rs were shaded by a spaceship Audi Quattro Pikes peak thing with 850 bhp!
But there again the Audi Monster was itself shaded by the most unbeleiveable PUMA thing- with 650 bhp cossie motor and 4wd- this thing simlpy blitzed the records for unlimited Kitcars
Just goes to show that once you get involved in moderns- there will always be something faster, better with more tech etc than you!
Lesson 1 is to stick to the Classics- and in any event only Classics may win the overall Manx Classic afterall!
Herman was a handful in the damp and bumps and slightly loose surface of the Sloc- quite handy to promote the easy oversteer and slide the back round- like many I simply hate understeer. The really quick rally Escorts were much faster than the Rally Porsches (and Big Red).
Big Red was suitably consistent- when I got into the groove my 3 timed runs at Ramsey were 90.50; 90.46 and finally 90.28
just shows that there really was not much left (pity there wasn't an index of efficiency as we would have won!)
I should add that the previous record at Ramsey set in Butch was a 77.04!
But the news here is that that GTD40 far from giving up rose like Lazerus to compete again in the last event after some sterling work performed by Steve and the use of my trailer
see below:
although he did take it easy with a fastest time of 93.20
the other GTD40 changed clutch plates in the middle of the day and got nil desporandum as a consquence