Good news / Bad news

Sadly we did not compete at the Emirates Desert Championship last weekend.  Having reached the front of the queue to pay the entry fee, Richard informed me that there was a fuel leak on the return line, and petrol was pi$$ing all over the bell housing.  So, discretion being the better part of being consumed in a large fireball, we put it back on the trailer.

However, the fuel line having been replaced, we were all set for another event at Umm Al Quwain Motorplex this weekend.  Friday was for practice and scrutineering, followed by 3 laps of a 42km circuit on Saturday, interspersed with service and (would you believe) lunch.  So we did a quick recce on Friday, with Sheila in the co-driver’s seat, and all went well.  The new suspension was behaving itself and the car definitely felt much better. 

Saturday morning we were up with the lark, to get to UAQ for a supposed 9.00am start.  However I had forgotten about the time difference between Dubai and UAQ, so of course we eventually started around 10.30am - at 3 minute intervals.  And because I was the last car to register, I had the highest number (30), which meant I started as the last car.  Eleven minutes later I was right on the tail of the car in front, which chose that precise moment to make a navigational error, allowing me to get past with no difficulty at all.  Result!  Then we passed another car broken down, OK so I’ve gained a couple of places, not a bad start I thought.  Then I realized that the first of the buggies was breathing down my neck, and when the track widened out he was past me.  He was obviously so happy to get past that he opened the taps to the max, and promptly broke down.  Then a second buggy came past me, going like his trousers were on fire.  I followed him for a couple of minutes, and then his right rear wheel made a bid for freedom and left him stranded beside the track.  So far, so good.  Twenty minutes in and there’s another car stuck on a steep dune, right on the track – bugger!  Quick decision, hang a right, slalom past it and keep the speed up through the soft stuff – and another one bites the dust.  So far, so good.  But just when you have such a thought, the god of rallying will choose that moment to spoil your day. 

Going...

Going...

Gone!

We’re just about 2km from the end of the lap and there’s a 120° left, which is well cut-up and soft, and I’m trying to avoid running wide.  Well, I achieve that – but at the expense of running too close to the ridge on the apex – the inside wheels catch the ridge and over we go.  As the in-car video shows, there was a slight outbreak of bad language at that point, as we crash over on to Sheila’s side.  Then comes the difficult bit – escaping.  You have no idea how hard that is, encumbered by helmet and HANS, and of course suspended at 90° from the horizontal.  I opened the harness and fell onto Sheila (not a good start) then managed to get the helmet and HANS off, and tried to get in a position where I could actually brace myself against Sheila’s door and lift open my door.  Newsflash - doors are heavy!  Well, I might have managed it eventually, but fortunately a marshal came to our rescue and opened the door and pulled me out – after which Sheila got out easily.  The windscreen’s cracked and the front right wing crushed, but that’s the only significant damage, and once Ali Al Shawi has pulled it back onto its wheels, it drives.  But the wing is now limiting wheel articulation, so rather than cause more damage, we decide to retire gracefully.

I have a lot more confidence in the car now, and the suspension for sure can be further improved with tuning.  It’s already in Nanjgel’s workshop for a new wing and screen, and they are confident I can get it back in time for next Friday’s EMSF event.  And in case you were wondering, we’re both fine – not a scratch.

The Beast is Back!

Well, dear reader, the event of 21st December did not happen, but was postponed to January - and we missed that date too.  But today the Beast finally escaped from the clutches of Saluki Motorsport, and the amount of work Robbie has put into the suspension redesign is simply awesome.

It wasn't just a matter of fitting new to replace old - it was a fundamental redesign.  A whole new rear sub-frame was fabricated to mount the top of the new bypass shocks, which go down through the floor, through the coil springs and onto new axle mounts.  This subframe also incorporates the spare wheel rack, and mountings for the jack and the compressed air bottle. It's a bolted assembly, allowing removal for access to the tank.

At the front, two new turret assemblies hold the tops of both shocks, and are braced across the engine with a bolted member, removable in case the engine needs to come out.  The whole deal is a masterpiece of fabrication, and I an enormously grateful to Robbie and the team at Saluki for their hard work.

The new Merin tank is in, as are the gorgeous Corbeau seats, which give me a better seating position with my knees that bit further from the steering wheel, plus extra hip-room.
As I write, new(er) tyres are being fitted, the old BFGs which served me well for 5 years(!) are being retired with honour.

Tomorrow's event is a 2-hour 20km circuit which we'll probably run 5 times, near Lihbab, and the details are here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Emirates-Desert-Championship/535975483151541.  Richard Bailey has once again 'volunteered' to help out, and we're heading out at 6.00am.

In related news, I am happy to announce that Rick Carless is back from the 2014 DC!  After an absence of a year he's been suffering from withdrawal symptoms.  He's decided that five days in the desert, with skinned knuckles, sunburn, late nights and sand in every orifice is too good a gig to refuse, and we're delighted to have him back.

The Shock of the New

Further examination of my suspension revealed that the rear-left shock had broken the spring perch, the rear right had broken the shock mount off the chassis, and one of the front left shocks was leaking.  All this, gentle reader, after having spent a bunch of cash having all six Ohlins rebuilt after the DC.   They are 5 years old and having been rebuilt twice, they now seem to have lost their Mojo.  The good news is that every failure is an upgrade opportunity!

The problem with suspension is that everyone you speak to has their own opinion of what constitutes the ideal system.   What they all agree on is that your choice is only limited by the thickness of your wad.  The FIA allows a maximum wheel travel of 300mm all round for T1, so it would be nice to achieve as much of this as possible.  However, then you get into the realms of radically changing the suspension geometry, which in turn affects drive shaft angles, exhaust location etc.  This results in ever-increasing cost, complexity and risk.  Then we have the discussion about how many shocks we need, what size, what make, standard vs coilover vs bypass…the choices are endless.   What does seem clear is that the single shocks at the rear have not proven to be man enough for the job.

Finally I decided to avoid radical changes to the suspension geometry, but to go with twin Radflo 2.5” shocks all round.  Each corner will now have one standard remote-can adjustable shock, plus one by-pass shock.  The advantage of the by-pass shock is that the damping is position-sensitive – in other words the damping increases in stages as the shock approaches the limit of its travel.  Robbie - chief fabricator and suspension guru at Saluki Motorsport - assures me that this will transform the handing of the Beast.

Whilst the standard shocks could be a drop-in replacement for the Ohlins, the by-pass shocks need more space – especially at the rear, where they will protrude through the floor.  So Robbie is fabricating a new set of mountings, and the shocks should be shipped at the end of this week.

Meanwhile, the new fuel-cell, fabricated by my new friends at MERIN in Italy, has arrived and will also be installed shortly.  A pair of funky new Corbeau carbon-fibre seats are also winging their way towards Dubai, leaving only a new set of harnesses to be ordered.

Over in Jeddah,  a new rally is being organised to take place at the end of January.  Tempting though this is, it would mean missing two events here in UAE – the 3^rd  EMSF rally and the 2^nd Motorplex Solo Race on consecutive weekends.  And since the Jeddah rally only consists of two stages totaling 150km, it seems a lot of hassle to go there for such little benefit.  So reluctantly, I’m giving Jeddah  a miss.

Back to UAE events, and I can advise that the dates I had given earlier for the Desert Challenge are WRONG.  The correct dates are April 3^rd – 10^th, the prologue being on 5^th.

I’m around for the first Solo Race at the Motorplex on 21^st December – so I’m hoping against hope that the shocks will be installed in time for this.  Watch this space!

Trophies all round

NewTrix Racing, 3rd overall

Mansour Al-Hili, 1st in T2 class and all-round nice guy

Dave Mabbs, 1st overall. His fastest lap was almost a minute faster than mine!

3rd place overall

Just a quick post to say I managed 3rd place overall in the first EMSF Desert Championship event.  Dave Mabbs won and a Buggy was 2nd, so actually I was 2nd in the 4x4 category.  But it was absolute hell, very rough and extremely hard work.  Broke one of the new straps fitted to limit the suspension travel, and damaged a rear shock.  And finished the race with one of the rear doors hanging open and banging around!

OK here's the long version. First we blew a trailer tyre on the way to the start, hardly an auspicious beginning. Then my trusty co-driver decided her gyppy tummy was going to get the better of her, and decided to dip out of navigating. So far, so bad.

I started 4th of the 4x4s, after the buggies had disappeared into the distance, a minute behind Mansour Al-Hili in car 83. Halfway through the first 20km lap, I overtook him - but some very loud, banging noises were emanating from my rear end. (of the car, all right? OF THE CAR!) I pitted at the end of the lap and Richard diagnised a loose jack, bolted it back into position and 50 seconds later I was on my way, without losing the place to Mansour. I passed various stationary buggies, got passed by a few buggies, passed 86 (who must have been on his first lap) and still I was plagued by 'noises off'.

Cut to lap 4, and suddenly Mansour came back past me, going like the clappers, so I decided I had to try and keep up with him - if I could keep within a minute of him, I'd maintain my one-place advantage. People kept waving wildly at me, which I though was very nice of them, so I waved back. On and on we chased, till finally I banged and crashed over the finish line, about 40 seconds behind him after 5 laps.

Only then did I discover that the rear door had been flanging about for half the race, the LH rear shock spring perch had broken off, leaving the coilover loose, the RH coilover had worked loose as well and the RH limit strap had broken. All of which pretty much explained the banging noise. And, of course, the waving...

Keeping that place I'd won from Mansour gave me third overall, which means a nice trophy. One of the buggies was 2nd and Dave Mabbs was first overall. So really I should be considered 2nd in the 4x4 category, but let's not quibble. All in all a good result, but there's work to do before the next event on 15th November.

Once again major thanks to Richard Bailey, spanner-man extraordinaire, for his tireless devotion to the cause of NewTrix Racing. And congratulations to him and his lovely wife Alix on the birth of baby Juliet last week!

Good to go!

Passed scrutineering yesterday evening (hurrah!), paid the entry fees, picked up the transponder and found out where the event is happening.

 

 

You can get to it from the E77 Jebel Ali-Lihbab Rd, or (4x4 shortcut) from the Al Qudra Rd: head out from Arabian Ranches, across Emirates (By-pass) Rd., then left at the 2nd roundabout.  Follow the road to the end, across about 20m of sand, onto the blacktop and go left.

 

Bikes and quads kick-off at 0900hrs (11-10-2013), cars and buggies 1430hrs.  Each event lasts 2 hours.

 

See you there!

Tyred and Emotional (again)

So... the old fuel cell is in the Beast, suitably plumbed in.  The brakes were knackered too, so a new set of pads went in as well. The power steering was leaking a bit, but that seemed to just need a union tightening up.....or maybe not.

Friday I came to pick up the trailer and the race car from work - and the trailer had a flat tyre.  Bugger.  Race back home, pick up the compressor, race back, blow up the tyre - and discover the tyre valve has failed.  Bugger, bugger. 

Saturday morning, and the tyre shop next door replaces the valve, hurrah.  Saturday afternoon - quick shakedown just off Al Qudra Road - and the race car dumps all the power stering fluid in the desert.  Bugger and more bugger.  Back on the trailer.

Sunday morning - all set to take it back to Saluki on the trailer, to sort out the power steering - except that another trailer tyre has gone flat.  Another valve failed.  Bugger.  OK, take off the wheel and get it fixed by our friendly neighbourhood tyre shop - but I can't shift the damn wheel nuts, they've been rattle-gunned to hell.  Damn, blast, buggery and buggeration!  So get on the phone to ZDegree, who allegedly do mobile tyre service.  But do they answer the blasted phone?  Customer service?  NOT COMING IN DUBAI.  Finally I drive round to their office and give them the benefit of some well chosen thoughts on the state of their customer service.  But sir, they say, we arrange our schedule for the mobile service the previous day, so maybe not possible today, sir.  So in future, I reply, should I give you 24 hours warning of an impending puncture?  And how exactly would you like that message delivered, seeing as telephone is clearly not your thing?  Carrier pigeon?  Native bearer with forked stick?

Anyway, they must have taken the hint, and at 2.30 they called to say their mobile service would be there at 4.30, and the conversation went something like this.

'Sir, what type of car is it?'  'It's not a car, it's a trailer.' 
'But that must be very big?'  'No, it's a car trailer, it has 12" rims.' 
'What make is it?' ' It's an Ivor Williams'.
'Ivor....?' '...Williams, probably the largest trailer manufacturer in Wales, surely you've heard of them'.
'What tyre size is it?'  'It doesn't matter, you're only changing the valve.' 
'But sir, I'm not sure if the mobile service can do that.'  'Well, you do that every time you put a new tyre on, so I'm guessing it's not a problem'.
'Well, I'll have to check......' 

And, mirabile dictu, joy of joys, Mr Mobile Service turned up as promised.  And he fixed it.  And I beheld it, and saw that it was good, and I was so happy that I told him to keep the change. 

By this time I'd pretty much forgotten why I wanted the trailer fixed.  But by Monday morning I'd remembered, and by Tuesday evening Lerick at Saluki had sorted it - turned out the rigid pipe taking the return line to the reservoir had actually fractured. 

Tomorrow we shall discover how lenient (or not) the scrutineers will be.  Watch this space.