Post by NS-R on Jul 2, 2007 13:38:09 GMT
Ford Fiesta Championship
Round 5 – Oulton Park 30 June 2007
General
After our debut meeting at Anglesey, the ICR Motorsport mechanics continued to develop our Fiesta STs. The major change was to solve the power-steering problems experienced at the previous meeting. The best solution was to fit a new cooler system, seal the power-steering fluid tank and fit a breather pipe. Limited testing was carried out at Knockhill and the problem appeared to have been fixed.
Additionally, the exhaust system was improved in accordance with the championship regulations with a new Miltek Flexi-pipe and non-resonated CAT-back pipe fitted to John’s car although problems were experienced with the flexi-pipe on Nick’s ST so it only received the CAT-back pipe until modifications can be made.
John’s car also received a brand new gear linkage after his gear selection problems in the second race at Anglesey.
A new ST debuted at this meeting with Richard Kemp joining the series, bringing the total of ST entries up to five, with more in build. We are currently sourcing the shell to commence build for our third car.
Testing
Rain greeted us on arrival at Oulton Park and it would be an eventful mornings testing with both sessions red flagged due to cars spinning off. Having not driven the track before, John spent these sessions learning the circuit, gradually getting quicker as the sessions progressed. This was Nick’s first time driving the car in the wet and was soon on the pace once he got comfortable with the incredible amount of grip the Dunlop wet tyres gave.
Good news to report was that the work done installing the cooling system to correct the power steering issue which had plagued both cars at the previous meeting had fixed the problem. John’s gear selection problems had also been cured.
Both afternoon sessions were run on a dry track and this gave both Nick and John the chance to really let the STs stretch their legs and both cars performed excellently.
The final session was cut short when a BTCC support Renault Clio Cup car experienced a suspension failure at the very fast Island Bend, resulting in a big accident hitting the tyre wall and ending up on its roof.
Qualifying
27 cars went out for qualifying on a wet track which was very busy so we knew it would be difficult to get good clear laps. Nick was on pole until the final lap of the session when Dan Rose pipped him by 0.033 of a second.
John struggled to get up to speed and was overly cautious having had a serious near-miss early in the session when he almost visited one of the tyre walls at the exit of Lodge corner where there isn’t a great deal of run-off for when things go wrong!
Nick also had a ‘moment’ through the double-apex right-hander Druids, taking the whole corner sideways but he managed to keep on the power to pull it through the other side safely.
Qualifying Result
Nick Sanderson – 2:13.364 – Position: 2nd.
John Findlay – 2:22.073 – Position 12th.
Round 5
The rain had returned for our 20 minute race - this was to play a major part in both cars finishing positions.
John’s car lacked traction at the start and 6 or 7 cars went past. By the Avenue, John had regained several of those positions due to an incident ahead. He then set about the cars in front of him and had improved up to 8th when the red flags came out on lap 3 due to Andy Neate’s Si being beached at Druids. Although by this time the front three STs had gone, John was confident that he would have easily reeled in the cars up to 4th had the race not been stopped.
Nick also had problems getting traction off the line, as did our main rivals Dan Rose and Ben Roper with the Si cars being quicker off the grid. Andy Neate had a spin at the Shell Oils Hairpin which allowed Dan Rose to take the lead with Ben Roper and Nick chasing. Nick lunged up the inside of Ben at Lodge, resulting in them being side-by-side over the start-finish straight. Although Ben was on the inside, he over-shot Old Hall and Nick went past on the inside.
At this point, the red flags came out and the race was to be restarted with the grid being formed from the position at the end of the previous lap. John was gridded 11th at the restart, losing three places he’d made up on the lap which was lost on count-back. Nick also lost the place he’d made passing Ben due to the same reason and therefore started 3rd.
The re-start race was to be 10 minutes (4 laps) once Andy’s car had been cleared to safety. Again John’s start was marred by wheelspin, losing several places but he continued where he had left off in race one and sliced through the field to finish 10th. Three further places were within his grasp but the chequered flag halted his progress.
At the front, Dan, Ben and Nick fought hard for the full ten-minutes with Ben making a forceful move to take the lead at the hairpin. Dan was pushed on to the grass and Nick dived past before the Knickerbook chicane.
Going into Druids on what was to be the final lap, Ben lost control whilst leading and went across the gravel, Dan nipped past Nick on the inside to take the lead having got a better run out of Knickerbrook and took the win by 0.469 of a second from Nick. Ben recovered to finish in 3rd place.
In addition, Nick took the fastest race lap with a 2:14.278 and we also won the “Team of the day” award for the best presented cars.
Round 5 Result
Nick Sanderson – 2nd (2nd in ST Class) + Fastest Race Lap.
John Findlay – 10th (5th in ST Class).
Summary
Another great result for Nick with another fine podium finish. John’s lack of experience around Oulton Park hampered his qualifying position but his race pace showed that with more time round these circuits, which are all new to him, there is plenty still to come. Both cars returned unscathed from the meeting so do not require any remedial work before the next rounds other than weight reduction.
John carried the television camera in the car for the race which will hopefully provide lots of action and exposure of the car which will be shown on Motors TV on Friday 3rd August at 9pm (with many repeat showings).
The full official Ford Racing UK race report will be forwarded once received from the championship coordinators.
The cars are going back to Knockhill as there is work to do to get both cars down to the minimum weight per the regulations. The minimum for car + driver is 1110 Kgs – at Oulton Park, Nick’s total was 1141 Kgs and John’s was 1160 Kgs so both cars should be faster once this is resolved.
Current Standings
Total Championship Points
Position Name Points
1 Daniel Rose 76
2 Nick Sanderson 47
3 Ben Roper 47
4 John Findlay 36
5 Richard Kemp 12
Total with 2 ‘dropped scores’
Position Name Points
1 Daniel Rose 49
2 Nick Sanderson 47
3 Ben Roper 37
4 John Findlay 36
5 Richard Kemp 12
All rounds score points but the final total is all rounds minus two ‘dropped scores’. The next two rounds are at Lydden Hill in Kent on 14 & 15 July.
Round 5 – Oulton Park 30 June 2007
General
After our debut meeting at Anglesey, the ICR Motorsport mechanics continued to develop our Fiesta STs. The major change was to solve the power-steering problems experienced at the previous meeting. The best solution was to fit a new cooler system, seal the power-steering fluid tank and fit a breather pipe. Limited testing was carried out at Knockhill and the problem appeared to have been fixed.
Additionally, the exhaust system was improved in accordance with the championship regulations with a new Miltek Flexi-pipe and non-resonated CAT-back pipe fitted to John’s car although problems were experienced with the flexi-pipe on Nick’s ST so it only received the CAT-back pipe until modifications can be made.
John’s car also received a brand new gear linkage after his gear selection problems in the second race at Anglesey.
A new ST debuted at this meeting with Richard Kemp joining the series, bringing the total of ST entries up to five, with more in build. We are currently sourcing the shell to commence build for our third car.
Testing
Rain greeted us on arrival at Oulton Park and it would be an eventful mornings testing with both sessions red flagged due to cars spinning off. Having not driven the track before, John spent these sessions learning the circuit, gradually getting quicker as the sessions progressed. This was Nick’s first time driving the car in the wet and was soon on the pace once he got comfortable with the incredible amount of grip the Dunlop wet tyres gave.
Good news to report was that the work done installing the cooling system to correct the power steering issue which had plagued both cars at the previous meeting had fixed the problem. John’s gear selection problems had also been cured.
Both afternoon sessions were run on a dry track and this gave both Nick and John the chance to really let the STs stretch their legs and both cars performed excellently.
The final session was cut short when a BTCC support Renault Clio Cup car experienced a suspension failure at the very fast Island Bend, resulting in a big accident hitting the tyre wall and ending up on its roof.
Qualifying
27 cars went out for qualifying on a wet track which was very busy so we knew it would be difficult to get good clear laps. Nick was on pole until the final lap of the session when Dan Rose pipped him by 0.033 of a second.
John struggled to get up to speed and was overly cautious having had a serious near-miss early in the session when he almost visited one of the tyre walls at the exit of Lodge corner where there isn’t a great deal of run-off for when things go wrong!
Nick also had a ‘moment’ through the double-apex right-hander Druids, taking the whole corner sideways but he managed to keep on the power to pull it through the other side safely.
Qualifying Result
Nick Sanderson – 2:13.364 – Position: 2nd.
John Findlay – 2:22.073 – Position 12th.
Round 5
The rain had returned for our 20 minute race - this was to play a major part in both cars finishing positions.
John’s car lacked traction at the start and 6 or 7 cars went past. By the Avenue, John had regained several of those positions due to an incident ahead. He then set about the cars in front of him and had improved up to 8th when the red flags came out on lap 3 due to Andy Neate’s Si being beached at Druids. Although by this time the front three STs had gone, John was confident that he would have easily reeled in the cars up to 4th had the race not been stopped.
Nick also had problems getting traction off the line, as did our main rivals Dan Rose and Ben Roper with the Si cars being quicker off the grid. Andy Neate had a spin at the Shell Oils Hairpin which allowed Dan Rose to take the lead with Ben Roper and Nick chasing. Nick lunged up the inside of Ben at Lodge, resulting in them being side-by-side over the start-finish straight. Although Ben was on the inside, he over-shot Old Hall and Nick went past on the inside.
At this point, the red flags came out and the race was to be restarted with the grid being formed from the position at the end of the previous lap. John was gridded 11th at the restart, losing three places he’d made up on the lap which was lost on count-back. Nick also lost the place he’d made passing Ben due to the same reason and therefore started 3rd.
The re-start race was to be 10 minutes (4 laps) once Andy’s car had been cleared to safety. Again John’s start was marred by wheelspin, losing several places but he continued where he had left off in race one and sliced through the field to finish 10th. Three further places were within his grasp but the chequered flag halted his progress.
At the front, Dan, Ben and Nick fought hard for the full ten-minutes with Ben making a forceful move to take the lead at the hairpin. Dan was pushed on to the grass and Nick dived past before the Knickerbook chicane.
Going into Druids on what was to be the final lap, Ben lost control whilst leading and went across the gravel, Dan nipped past Nick on the inside to take the lead having got a better run out of Knickerbrook and took the win by 0.469 of a second from Nick. Ben recovered to finish in 3rd place.
In addition, Nick took the fastest race lap with a 2:14.278 and we also won the “Team of the day” award for the best presented cars.
Round 5 Result
Nick Sanderson – 2nd (2nd in ST Class) + Fastest Race Lap.
John Findlay – 10th (5th in ST Class).
Summary
Another great result for Nick with another fine podium finish. John’s lack of experience around Oulton Park hampered his qualifying position but his race pace showed that with more time round these circuits, which are all new to him, there is plenty still to come. Both cars returned unscathed from the meeting so do not require any remedial work before the next rounds other than weight reduction.
John carried the television camera in the car for the race which will hopefully provide lots of action and exposure of the car which will be shown on Motors TV on Friday 3rd August at 9pm (with many repeat showings).
The full official Ford Racing UK race report will be forwarded once received from the championship coordinators.
The cars are going back to Knockhill as there is work to do to get both cars down to the minimum weight per the regulations. The minimum for car + driver is 1110 Kgs – at Oulton Park, Nick’s total was 1141 Kgs and John’s was 1160 Kgs so both cars should be faster once this is resolved.
Current Standings
Total Championship Points
Position Name Points
1 Daniel Rose 76
2 Nick Sanderson 47
3 Ben Roper 47
4 John Findlay 36
5 Richard Kemp 12
Total with 2 ‘dropped scores’
Position Name Points
1 Daniel Rose 49
2 Nick Sanderson 47
3 Ben Roper 37
4 John Findlay 36
5 Richard Kemp 12
All rounds score points but the final total is all rounds minus two ‘dropped scores’. The next two rounds are at Lydden Hill in Kent on 14 & 15 July.
