Power come back!

Due to the lack of power of the Hornet, we thought the only thing that could cause that would be the timing.
Last weekend a tech day was held and the cam belt was checked. The cam belt was one tooth out and the tensioner was loose!
The belt was corrected and the tensioner re-tightened. When the cam belt was changed when the car was bought, marks were made on the old belt and pulleys to assist the new belt going on correctly. I’m sure that the belt went on as it came off, so the assumption is that the belt jumped a tooth due to the loose tensioner, although if that was the case then why only one toot?. So maybe after all the belt was replaced incorrectly?
Whilst they were there, the power steering belt was replaced and the alternator tightend up.
So, hopefully there will be a bit more power for Debden. Hopefully I’ll narrow the gap!
Last month the Hornet went to the ‘ring. Underpowered as hell, but still managed a 10.49 lap, (not by me,) brilliant fun, great time was had by all. Brilliant atmosphere, some rather nice cars, some of which fell off! A brilliant road, and the carousel!
If you haven’t been you must go.

Be in awe of all this power!

The Hornet attended one our sponsor’s (Wheels in Motion) Knowledge days for Toyota Supras. A rolling road was in attendance so we put the Hornet on it out of interest.
When new, Mazda quoted 115bhp at the flywheel.
The figures today were:
Flywheel: 84.5 bhp.
Rear wheels: 66.9 bhp.
Be very afraid of the awsome power of the MX5!

Looking at the graph, torque peaked at 5k rpm and dropped of at 6k rpm, I had my shift light programmed to 6,250 for change, so I think I need to change earlier!

Ready

The final bits are falling into place, I have gloves, and today my licence arrived.
I have all the bits for the beam breaker, all I need to do now is assemble and paint them.
I fitted the Avon tyres to the Hornet this evening, and found one was flat. Bugger! I’ve pumped it back up and hope all is ok as I’m off to North Weald in the morning. Hoping to get some practise in time for the 14th.

Well the following morning the tyre was flat again, waited for the local tyre shop to open and found the metal valve seal was leaking. Wheels in Motion are closed on Sunday, have pm’d them and they have seals so can fix the wheel for me, so will have to get to them during the week. So I missed North Weald.

Still at least it gave me time to make the beam breaker. Have to set the height of the breaker on the mount and paint it black.

Getting there.

Things are starting to come together.
Fireproof overalls arrived today from Lille Reacewear, in blue and with white piping/stitching. Rather fetching. Hope my driving is as smart and tidy.
Also got 4 new tyres for the Hornet to go on the old 14″ ‘comedy’ rims. Avon ZV3’s, never tried these tyres before, so time will tell what they are like.

Equipment

I need some equipment as the sprints are run under MSA rules.

These are:
MSA Licence.
I have applied for this an I am awaiting it’s arrival.
Fireproof overalls.
As I am a short a***, nothing off the peg would fit me, or it would in one area but not the others. I have ordered a 2 layer proban suit off Lille Racewear. It looks thought that  in 2011 the suits will have to be fully approved, not just the fabric as it is at the moment.
Helmet.
The old motorbike helmet that I’ve been using on trackdays is not acceptable, it has to be to Snell 2005 Spec. I picked up a Headtec from Motorsports Events, full face and Snell 2005 certified for £139. Good fit and finish. It even takes the standard Bell tearoffs.
Only one niggle, there is a small d ring fitted to the left hand side of the helmet which I could hear rattling away. I was with the top down, so this may not happen in an enclosed cockpit. I may just have to tape this down!
Gloves.
Again need something that is MSA certified so a set of OMP from Demon Tweaks. 
Boots.
At the moment they are not mandatory but recommended and I expect that for 2011 they will be mandatory.
Beam breaker.
This has to be 2″ x 10″ (or the metric equivalent of), matt black   fitted to the front of the car, not obscured by any part of the bodywork. I am cutting down an old numberplate for the beam breaker, and once that is done work out how to fit it to the car!

So I am slowly getting ready for the first event at North Weald on the 14th March. Luckily Lotus on Track are running a fun day there on the 7th, which I will be attending, so I should get some practise before the first day.

Made the decision!

After having a couple of years fun on the track I have decided to add a little competition to driving and have signed up to start sprinting in the Lotus on Track RDC classes in the Borough 19 organised sprints.

Sprinting is racing againt the clock, against cars in the same category, timed to 100th of a second. It is done on special sprint circuits or race tracks. Sprinting is done by standard saloon cars to Formula 1 type cars. Having classes means that you will be racing against similar cars so have an opportunity to win a class.

These sprints are run under MSA regulations, so I will require a National B licence, fireproof overalls, helmet and gloves.

I will be using the Hornet, the Planet MX5 track car, a Mazda MX5 1.6l normally aspirated with 115bhp (or was when new!) GAZ gold shocks set up for track and a WIM full track set up. The Hornet is sponsored by GAZ, Wheels In Motion, TR Lane Fabrications, MX5Heaven and Mazda on Track.

For the car to comply with the regs, I need to ensure that tyres are approved to MSA list 1a or 1b and to attach a beam breaker to the front of the car.

The first event will be at North Weald on the 14th March.

The other events for the year are:

18th April – RAF Honnington
2nd May – Hethel (Lotus test track)
11th July – Debden
8th Aug – Hethel (Lotus test track)
September – TBC

There are not too many events for it to be great financial commitment, so I should still manage to get some trackdays in as well.