Stunning Debut for David

Formula Vee newcomer David Josef scored an impressive 4th and 5th place finish in his first Formula Vee race using Alan Forster’s GAC race car. The result is even more incredible when it is considered that David had not even sat in the car until a few hours before qualifying and with no prior testing of a Formula Vee race car at all.

David was impressed with the handling and performance of the Vee, indeed the modern GAC race car has taken the performance of these Beetle-based racers to new levels.

Formula Vee Race Car Makes Racing Return!

Even though Alan might not be racing this year, the GAC Formula Vee race car will be out in action in the hands of ex-Formula Palmer Audi racer, David Josef.  The Scotland based racer  is making his return to racing after paying off his debt from the 2001 FPA season! He has chosen Formula Vee due to the large and competitive grids. GAC will be running the car for David so it will be in good hands!

Alan wishes David all the very best for 2009

2009 Update – Racing Takes a Back Seat

Unfortunately, as with a lot of racers in 2009, the current economic crisis has led to a reduction in budgets and racing has had to take a back seat in 2009. Alan won’t be making it to the grid this year but it will provide some time to evaluate options for next season and to generate a racing budget.

Look out for updates throughout the year as a new project is always just around the corner…

2009 – Onwards & Upwards!

Following a difficult 2008, Alan is hoping to build on the hard work put in to building a competitive car in 2009. The last race of the year at Mallory gave an indication of the performance that Alan is capable of and the first podium finish can’t be far away.

Keep checking on the website to see how he does or better still, get yourself down to a race meeting!

Mallory Park Race Report – 12th October 2008

 After the excellent race at Mallory at the beginning of the year I was hoping for a decent result this time round.  Unfortunately I did not have time to test before the race which is something that I felt contributed strongly towards my performance last time.  As usual there was still something not right with the car and this time it was the brakes.  I had swapped the rear brake cylinders after finding out that I had been using the incorrect ones all season and the brake pedal was inconsistent, it would be firm for half a dozen applications and then would go half way to the floor.  I couldn’t get the problem sorted before race day and so it was off to see AHS after scrutineering to see if they could help.  Jason tried several things but the problem remained for qualifying which wasn’t ideal. 

 

Qualifying

 

Overall the car was very good, the gear change was excellent (finally!), the handling was good, and the engine pulled strong.  The braking was lacking efficiency and power but at least it stopped and I soon got used to braking a little earlier than usual. The only other area for improvement would be to experiment with the fuel jets to get the power delivery a bit further down the rev range, the car pulled like a train towards the end of the straights but if the power had come in sooner the times could have been much quicker. I knew the times wouldn’t be good and with the top ten being so close 12^th place was no surprise.

 

Race

 

I managed to get a good start off the line and made up three places going in to Gerrards before overtaking Jamie Conyers down the straight.  On the second lap Ian Buxton went off heavily at the end of Stebbe Straight and Jamie Conyers managed to get back in front going in to the hairpin.  The next time around and the red flags were out whilst Buxton’s car was extracted from the wall. 

 

For the restart I took up 8^th place on the grid due to the count back and there was a gap in front where Ian Buxton should have started.  I managed a good start off the grid, straight in to 4^th place behind Pete Belsey and then drafted past on Stebbe straight in to 3^rd.  I managed to hold on for a lap before I fluffed a gear change out of the hairpin enough to let Pete through and allowed the chasing pack to catch up.  Going in to Gerrards on lap six and Pete was facing the wrong way and as I went past Danny Hands did the same trick and I had to slow to avoid a collision.  Martin Farmer was several car lengths behind me and had a bit longer to react and managed to keep his foot in which meant he was right on my tail going down Stebbe Straight. For the next few laps I had to defend hard because he was all over me in to the braking zones.  Several times we were side by side but it wasn’t until the second to last lap that Martin managed to make a move stick to take 3^rd at the flag. 

 

It was great to have a close, clean scrap and Martin did well to get past so all credit to him.  To finish the season with 4^th place finished the job off that I started at Mallory back at the beginning of the season, if only I could rewind the clock and start all over again! 

Silverstone – August 23rd 2008

Preparation

 

Once again there was much to do before race day.  After the suspected engine problems at Donington the car was stripped to remove the engine and sent to GAC for overhaul.  My concern for the engine was well founded with a broken compression ring and oil control ring missing on one piston.  While the engine was out it was a good time to get the gear linkage overhauled by AHS.  I was quite surprised when Alan from AHS saw the linkage and said the wear in the UJ’s was the worst he had seen in a long time; now that I have the linkage back the difference is quite remarkable.  Also from Donington was a bad vibration from the front that I suspected was a flat spotted tyre.  There was indeed a flat spot and whilst inspecting the tyre I noticed what appeared to be a small crack in the brake calliper mounting which turned out to be a clean break all the way through!  On further inspection one of the brake pads was missing the friction material which would explain the cause of the lock-up.  Along with a knackered front wheel bearing and crimped brake hose there wasn’t much left to replace on the front corner…

 

The first race was to get the car ready in time for the Friday test session at Silverstone. With the engine being collected only the weekend before there were going to be some late nights.  Long story short, things transpired to thwart my attempts to get to the test session including a burst rear brake hose while bleeding the brakes.  I would just have to hope that the installation and running in of both engine and brakes would be trouble-free for qualifying on Saturday.

 

Qualifying

 

As soon as I had got out on track I was making my way back in with a slipping clutch.  Fortunately Alan from GAC was on hand to brave the hot exhaust to adjust the clutch, thanks Alan.  Back out on track and I took it easy for the first few laps to bed the brakes and engine in.  The plan to ease the new engine in took a bit of a nose dive when I couldn’t select 4^th gear on the straight and the engine bounced off the rev limiter.  This continued throughout the session with 4^th gear being very much hit and miss.  I was unable to gain the confidence required to set a competitive time but at least the car had made it through qualifying without significant problems.  Qualifying in 21^st position was roughly where I thought I would be but left me ruing not being able to make the Friday test session.

 

Heat

 

I had relocated several components that required new hoses and fittings but all looked well after qualifying. Some subtle tweaks to the gear linkage and the car was ready to race.

 

Off the line and a slow start resulted in several lost places and I found myself wallowing in 15^th place.  Being in the middle of the pack meant there was some frantic action whilst everyone jostled for position with at times 4 cars abreast down the straights.  I was steadily picking off cars but soon came across my race long sparring partner, Tim Probert.  Tim & I slipstreamed each other and exchanged places every lap for the remainder of the race whilst also working our way up the grid.  We had overtaken so many cars including backmarkers that it was hard to tell what positions we were in.  We had a great battle with me eventually getting past on the final lap to take an enjoyable 3^rd place and fastest lap.  The battle was worthy of a mention in Motorsport News for “an entertaining battle for third place with Forster emerging on top.”

 

Final

 

I was looking forward to a solid top ten finish right up until the point where I couldn’t select second gear off the line and ended up last in to the first corner.  My effort to make up places was hampered by continuous waved yellow flags at the end of the straight, the main overtaking place on the circuit.  It was slow progress up through the field and I soon came across my nemesis from the heat, Tim Probert. We once again found ourselves working our way up through the field together but this time it was Tim who took the honours with some crafty use of backmarkers.  15^th place was disappointing but it was great experience.

 

My next race will be Mallory Park on October 12^th.

Donington Park Race Report – 19th July 2008

Getting the car ready for Donington was always going to be a tall order.  The list of parts that needed repairing after Brands was quite extensive to the extent that all that was left in the garage was a bare chassis.  In typical racing fashion at 11pm the day before the race, the car was still not completed or loaded on to the trailer.  A 4am start was needed to get the car loaded and over to Donington to continue the re-assembly.  Fortunately, Alan Harding from AHS had kindly saved me room in one of their garages and offered his assistance to get the car ready in time for qualifying.  It was a close one but we just managed to make it thanks to a 10 minute delay while the track was cleared.  A big thanks to Glyn and Alan who helped me with the car.

 

Qualifying

The track was still wet but was drying out quickly.  There not been enough time to set any of the tracking, camber or even suspension so the handling was interesting to say the least.  I therefore trundled around for 3 laps to guarantee a starting slot before trying to be a bit braver.  It took a couple more laps to get some heat in the tyres but once the grip came in the car was a bit easier to drive albeit the handling was still throwing up some surprises especially on changing direction.  A respectable 9^th was a good result, in fact just getting out on track was a result!

 

Heat

Due to the combined grid from session A & B my 9^th place turned in to 18^th overall and I lined up 7^th on the grid for the Heat.  Fortunately Jason from AHS spent considerable time setting up the geometry and suspension so I was looking forward to some better handling.  I wouldn’t be able to find out just yet as it had been raining and the track was once again wet. I got too much wheel spin at the start and lost several places.  The car was very nervous in the wet and it was a real battle to keep it on the track and lost further places, a spin also didn’t help, but as the track dried out I was soon able to start moving back up the grid.  I finished in 9^th place with 3^rd fastest time and the car felt much better in the dry conditions.

 

Final

 

The sun had come out and the track was completely dry for the final and I was looking forward to a good race…right up until the remote brake bias cable snapped on the warm up lap.  I had been moving the bias towards the front as I had backed it off for the wet conditions in the heat. The snapped cable resulted in the back brakes being partially stuck on and it was no surprise that I lost several places at the start plus a few more down the back straight.  Fortunately the problem didn’t get any worse and I was able to continue racing right up until the second problem occurred.  It’s rather odd but my helmet was lifting going down the straights to the extent that I couldn’t see and I needed to hold it down with one hand. I carried on for several laps but it was getting a bit too dangerous and I bit the bullet and pitted. This problem was one that I had experienced during testing at Snetterton but at no other tracks to the same degree. It was a problem in this race because I hadn’t done my helmet up tight enough but the long term solution is to get much lower down in the seat to avoid the air getting underneath the helmet in the first place. 

 

After the pitstop I had the track to myself and decided to throw caution to the wind and push the car very hard to see what times I could get as I suspected that the engine was not producing the power as it was making nasty noises at high revs.  I really drove the wheels off round the corners and enjoyed pushing the car to its limits.  There was a bit more time to come in the braking zones but my best time was still 4 seconds off the pace and the leaders passed me a bit too quickly for comfort. 

 

The engine is well overdue for a rebuild so the car is coming apart again, the brakes and seating position need looking at too!  I have a feeling I’ve been here before…