Fun Cup 2013 starts with an amazing win for Team Racelogic

April 18, 2013

The opening round of the 2013 FunCup Championship was a voyage of discovery for a number of new teams, and also for some of the old teams who were switching from Diesel to Petrol Sequential for the first time.

jools

Team Racelogic went into the race with a whole season of knowledge of the new car, so we aimed to make the most of this early advantage whilst we could.

funcup

However, Joachim was on holiday, and Nigel decided to qualify and race at Donington in the Britcar race on the same day as well, so Julian had a lot of work to do!

Qualifying was exciting as there was a coming together on the first corner out of the pits, but Julian managed to find a strong tow from a number of cars in the dying moments to post the quickest time.

However, we had to start from the back of the grid for the race, and it started to rain to make it just a little bit harder! Over the next 7 laps, Nigel managed to safely carve his way through the field and pulled out a useful 30s gap, before handing over to Julian. The gap was then extended to just over a minute before we started to suffer from fuel surge (due to an over optimistic fuel strategy!). Julian then drove around conserving fuel for a few laps until the pit window was open, and then dived into the pits earlier than normal, catching his team a little bit on the hop!

Nigel then went out for a double stint, but a safety car a few laps later bunched the whole pack up again. Nigel was then due in Donington for the Britcar race, so he handed over to Julian and climbed in a helicopter!

Julian then went out, and watched as Nigel circled overhead, making sure he clipped every apex, as he knew Nigel was watching and making notes!

The gap over second place slowly built up again, but another couple of safety cars during just before the next round of pit-stops meant that the whole pack was again bunched up behind us when Julian came in for his final pitstop.

Unfortunately we had a very slow last pitstop compared with the normal front runners due to Julian having to run around the car (he needs to go out running more!) and some problems with the belts. This put us back down in 5th place some way off the leading pack. Nigel’s last words were ringing in Julian’s ears, “easy on the brakes and avoid the kerbs” when he left the pits, and was driving quite cautiously thinking he was still in the lead for a few laps until he spotted the pitboard saying P5!

oulton

At this point he realized he needed to up his pace significantly, and set about catching the leaders. A brief battle with ECO Racing who came out of the pits in 4th place slowed him down a bit, but a spectacular spin at Old Hall put ECO back behind again and Julian about 6 seconds behind 3rd place.

It took a few determined laps, but eventually Julian caught Graham Pattle in Team O’Brien Car 207, and thinking it could well be the last lap of the race, Julian dived up the inside at the second chicance, and managed to just avoid Honeywell as they turned in. A close call, but we were now in third place.

Neil Plimmer wasn’t going to let Julian past without putting up a fight, and for a few laps they drove side by side, with Car 147 appearing to double in width at times!

Julian eventually out-braked Neil into the final corner by going the long way round the outside, and set about catching Bram in the rapidly disappearing Nimbus Data Car 263.

This took a few laps, but a great exit and tow from Bram coming out of Cascades gave Julian the inside line into Island bend and he managed to sneak through into the lead.

The race ended a few laps later, with Team Racelogic managing to hold onto to come home in first place, a great result!

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Team Racelogic win at Anglesey

October 2, 2012

A sunny Anglesey played host to Round 5 of the popular and exciting FunCup Championship, with Team Racelogic heading the points table by 21 points over Team O’Brien. We had a team meeting early on Friday before testing and decided that we would still aim for the highest place we could achieve at both remaining rounds rather than backing off and playing it safe. Where’s the fun in playing it safe?!

Qualifying was wet to begin with and slowly dried out, we held P1 for the start but slipped down to P5, until a last minute effort by Julian gave us P3.

However, yet again we had a poor grid draw, ending up second to last on the grid, with a lot of work to do in the race.

Saturday dawned dry and sunny but a bit blustery, and Joachim chose to start the race, as he had a plane to catch back to Switzerland. He managed to stay out of trouble, and slowly made his way up the grid into 6th place, although he was suffering a lot of understeer. He did three half hours stints in a row, but a small mistake at Church, the fast right hander on the back straight, meant that he heavily damaged the front splitter. This cost us a little time in the next pitstop, and a faulty fuel rig also cost us a little more. However, worse was to come when the safety car came out during a pit window. This is always the best opportunity to come into the pits, but Joachim’s radio was not working, so he sailed past the pit entrance as all of the other teams dived in to take a ‘free’ pitstop. He then got stuck behind the safety car, and by the time he came into the pits and out again we had lost a whole lap to the leaders, Team O’Brien who were absolutely flying.

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Posted by Bob

Accelerated Learning with Video VBOX

September 18, 2012

Using video data logging to make rapid improvements in the quest for better lap times

In an illuminating chat with GT driver and ARDS S class coach, Rob Barff, we gain an insight into how he translates his seemingly supernatural ability with a race car into easily understood lessons for his clients.

Rob is a natural driver – he has never known anything else and his CV demonstrates that he has a talent most of us can only dream of. Consequently he is in a position to pass on his knowledge and experience to those wishing to emulate his achievements. The advent of video and data logging means that Rob can translate some of this instinctive ability much more effectively and – crucially – faster than ever before.

Using Circuit Tools, we analyse some video taken from this year’s Dubai 24hrs which Rob shared with an amateur driver to put a GT3 F458 on pole. It becomes obvious that he doesn’t consciously make driving decisions. We look at one specific braking point: “I have absolutely no idea…[where I brake] but here we go, 20m before the 100m board, and I’m applying 95bar of brake pedal pressure.”

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Posted by Bob

Making Stewarding Decisons Easier

August 31, 2012

Video VBOX footage – the quickest way to make a decision

“Rubbing is racing, son!” This is Harry Hogge’s advice to Cole Trickle in the NASCAR biopic “Days of Thunder.” A fictional (and largely forgettable) early Tom Cruise film, but rubbing is very real in American Oval racing. In fact, you could go as far as saying that if you aren’t participating in this practice, you’re not trying hard enough.

But what about in the rest of the world?

Driving standards are discussed in every drivers briefing at every meeting – safety is paramount. However, the standards in all formulae are adhered to in varying degrees, with a similar level of inconsistency in penalties.

In F1, it’s never out of the news; in GT’s it’s hardly ever mentioned. However, in FIA World Touring Cars they’ve made a step to pre-empt any dubious driving by installing Video VBOX Pros (with two cameras) in every car to assist with the stewarding of the meeting. The graphical overlay in the video footage assists stewards calm a situation and decide fault, if any. It mustn’t be forgotten that racing incidents are inevitable and, for some, that is the reason they watch motor racing.

FIA World Touring Cars uses Video VBOX for race stewarding

Closer to home – what about the BTCC? So long a trailblazer for innovative application of new saloon car methods, approaches and technologies. The “show” is very important to the BTCC; entertainment of the gathered crowds and the audience on ITV4 is good for business. Wherever the action is being watched, the audience, the teams, drivers and all involved want the action to be close. But are the driving standards crossing the line? Is the “show” too important?

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Posted by Bob

Early success for Alex in Caterham Roadsport series

August 17, 2012

Alex Macindoe provides us with an insight into his racing life and how he is getting on in his first season in the Caterham Roadsport championship…

“After finishing 7th in last year’s Caterham academy, this year I moved up into the Roadsport spec series and was determined to improve my performance. Getting in practice over the winter was therefore essential, especially with the need to familiarise myself with the new sticky CR500 tyres, a rear antiroll bar and the ability to use my Racelogic Video VBOX at events!

“Our first race of the season was at Silverstone in March. This came around so quickly I only managed to get one track day and test day in before the race weekend. Despite this, it was my home circuit which I had been to a few times so I was determined to do well. I had a lot of VBOX data to compare myself against from previous Roadsport competitors, and as Silverstone is such a long circuit the odd tenth here and there makes a huge difference to your overall lap time.

“Being the first race of the season I had no clue what to expect. To add to this, the combined groups from last year’s Academy all went out to qualify at the same time. I therefore planned to go out last to ensure I had a clear track for at least a few laps, and maybe even get a tow from a car in front to gain even more time. I worked out on the VBOX that a tow can be worth a whole second on the hanger straight alone!

“Driving through the pit lane after Qualifying one of my friends indicated I had done well, which was confirmed when I got to scrutineering – I had gained pole position! My first pole ever! I was ecstatic and over the moon, but nervous at the same time.

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Posted by Bob

Team Racelogic win at Brands

August 7, 2012

Brands was set to be an exciting weekends racing with an unusual format of a one hour ‘sprint’ race followed by a four hour endurance event, with both counting towards the championship.

Race1

Qualifying was crucial for the first time this year, with the grid position for the one hour ‘sprint’ race being determined by qualifying times. We managed to qualify in third place, second in class behind Team O’Brien and Eco Racing.

Unfortunately, we had a small problem with the gasket seal on our carburettor, which meant that we were still working on our car as the rest left the grid for the warm up lap. Julian had to start from the pit lane as the whole pack made their way through Paddock Hill bend. Julian then fought his way up to 5th place overall and handed over to Joachim. Joachim drove brilliantly and overtook Team O’Brien with a great overtake into Paddock Hill bend to put us in third place. He then ran closely with Eco Racing and Honeywell before handing over to Nigel in 3rd place.

Nigel caught Eco Racing and tried a great overtake around the corner at Druids, but was hit by Eco in the process. No damage was done to us, but Eco suffered a puncture which promoted us into second place. Nigel then had a battle with 146 who were a lap down. This dropped us back from Team Honeywell, but Nigel eventually got past and concentrated on catching Honeywell who were in the lead. Nigel then pulled off a very tight overtake coming out of Graham Hill bend with the two cars almost touching all the way along the back straight with Nigel managing to hang on to first place as they went into Clearways. This is the first time a petrol car has won the race outright, and starting from the pit lane made the victory that much sweeter!

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Posted by Bob

Team Racelogic at the FunCup Spa 24hours – race summary

July 13, 2012

After a few technical difficulties with blocked fuel filters, we eventually qualified P2 in class, 32nd overall, missing out on pole by a couple of tenths to Team Tiger who had been running very strongly in all previous sessions. The diesels were much quicker than the petrols at Spa due to the long straights and steep uphill sections, so we couldn’t bring the fight to them at Spa.

The fuel strategy was going to be crucial for the 24hours, as the fuel stops were fixed at a minimum of 5 minutes at the pumps to try and avoid any problems due to queuing. You don’t want to run low on fuel at Spa because it’s a long lap and can take up to 30 minutes to be recovered. On the other hand, you want to absolutely minimise the amount of 5 minute pitstops, as this can make the difference between coming first or out of the top three.

Therefore Nikki (Nigel’s girlfriend) diligently worked a laptop for almost the entire 24hours, entering dry, wet and pace car laps and adjusting the fuel consumption to match the figures we got back from the fuel pump attendants. This was done so well that typically she was accurate to within half a litre after a 2hour stint!

Nigel Greensall started the race at 5.30pm on Saturday, and overtook 10 cars on his opening lap! He steadily progressed up the field, and handed over to Julian in P1 in class and around 10th place overall after a dry 90 minute stint. Julian put in a trouble free stint in the dry and handed over to Kartsen still P1 in class but now P5 overall with a lead of a lap over Team Tiger in second place.

Karsten steadily got up to pace (he missed all of testing and qualifying), and was putting in some good lap times when he handed back to Nigel for his next stint still P1 in class.

Nigel took the sunset stint, and handed it over to Julian for his first ever night stint. As Julian rounded the end of his first lap, the heavens opened! The next 2 hours was really tough with very poor visibility due to the rain and the dark. However, Julian managed to bring it home still P1 in class still with the same lead over Team Tiger who were pressing us hard.

Karsten then took over for his night stint, but the combination of poor visibility and horrendously wet conditions meant that we steadily lost ground to the reigning Champions Team Tiger, and eventually handed it back to Nigel P2 in class a few laps down.

Nigel then put in a marathon double stint over night and clawed back some of the lost laps, and we got to within two laps of Team Tiger. Julian’s next stint was again spent splashing around a very wet circuit with both bright sun and torrential rain taking its turn in appearing during his stint. Julian managed to make up a minute on Team Tiger, and we closed to within one lap as he handed over to Karsten.

Team Tiger then ran into problems with an alternator failure which had been plaguing them for some time stranding them out on the circuit. Time ticked by as Team Tiger were recovered back to the pits, but a very fast and efficient pitstop minimised the delay to a couple of laps lost.

Team Racelogic were then back in the lead, but missed calling Karsten into the pits to refuel and change brakes during a crucial ‘Code 60’ period where all the cars run at 60km/h until cars are recovered from the circuit. This lost us about 3 laps from Team Tiger who made a perfect pitstop call during the next Code 60 period to further jump ahead of us.

By the time Karsten handed back over to Julian we were down to P4 in class, but a long 2hr 15 minute stint by Julian got us back up to P3 in time to hand over to Nigel who would be pulling a mammoth 3hr stint to get us the end of the race.

Nigel quickly reeled in CCS Media to get us into P2, but even though Nigel set some blisteringly quick times, we still didn’t catch Team Tiger who had set a remarkable and consistent pace throughout the race. Matched with some very smart strategy calls, they took a very impressive second win at the Spa 24hours with Team Racelogic a couple of laps down in P2 and CCS Media in P3.

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Posted by Bob

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