Brooklands
College Motorsport begins their busiest season yet!
After the outstanding success of the 2013 racing season,
Brooklands College Motorsport have embarked on their most challenging season so
far with three different cars to run in different series and championships
across the UK.
For 2014 the team negotiated and agreed to run their own
Fiesta Zetec in Castle Combe Saloon Car Championship with driver Rupert Hinde.
The teams Audi A8 Quattro would make its racing debut after three years in
development with Assistant Head of Technology, Jonathan Nicholls sharing the
drives with Daniel Gill in the MSV Team Trophy. The final car is a Mazda MX5
which was offered to the team by owner/driver Robert Way who approached the
team to prepare and run the car for him for the whole season in the Mazda MX5
Supercup.
Pre-Season Testing
The season started with two successful test sessions, one for
the Mazda at Llandow Circuit in Wales and one for the Audi at the Silverstone
National Circuit. The Mazda ran faultlessly with team being able to make setup
changes and improving the cars performance over the day in preparation for its
first race at the Silverstone International Circuit. The Audi made its Silverstone testing debut
in very wet conditions but it was a great opportunity to test the car in
extreme conditions. The car completed 27 laps of testing before the day was
called off due to torrential conditions that made the circuit unsafe to drive
on. During the day the team developed
the paddle shift for the transmission and concentrated on learning about how
the car performed in wet conditions. They were able to gather lots of data that
would help the student team with improving the Audi’s performance during the
first races of the season.
Power run for the Audi
Quattro
As part of the regulations for the MSV Team Trophy, any cars
competing in the series are required to have a power run completed on a
dynamometer to check the power and torque output of the engine. The student
team prepared the car impeccably for the test and took it to Torque
Developments for its official test. The results were excellent and after the
test it was confirmed the the Audi would run in Class B of the series based
upon its power to weight.
 |
| Audi A8 Qattro Ready for its Power Run at Torque Developments |
Let the Racing Begin!
Mazda MX5 Super Cup – Round 1&2 –
Silverstone International Circuit – 5th -6th May 2014
After being
vinyl wrapped by Brooklands College Motorsport title sponsor, Reade Signs, the
Mazda was prepared for racing at the world famous Silverstone Circuit. After
ensuring the car passed its first scrutineering test of the year, the student
team used the practice session to help driver, Rob Way to set the car up for
the fast flowing Northamptonshire circuit. After a tough qualifying session Rob
qualified the car 15th on the
grid for race 1. After a brilliant start in the race, Rob battled his way through
the pack and finished the race 10th overall against what was to be a
very competitive field of drivers.
Onto race
two and student team made further refinements to the car and were optimistic of
getting into the top 8. After a flying start of the line Rob turned into the
very fast Abbey corner only to be hit from behind and spun around in the middle
of the fast approaching pack. After stopping in the middle of the circuit Rob
managed to get the car going again to discover that the incident had broken one
of the steering arms on the Mazda and the car would need to be retired from the
race. Despite the disappointment of a DNF in race two, Rob was really pleased
with the weekend and was extremely impressed with the professionalism of the
student team and commended them highly for preparing such a competitive car.
The car was
brought back to the teams workshops and over the Easter break the team worked
hard to repair the damage and the car was prepared ready for its next test
session at Brands Hatch on 14th April at Brands Hatch where Rob put
the car through its paces once more in preparation for the next 2 rounds of the
championship that would be held at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit.
Final Pre-Race Testing
for Fiesta and Audi (and a late night!) – Castle Combe Circuit – 17th
April 2014
The student team headed to the fast Castle Combe Circuit in
Wiltshire for some final pre-race testing for the Audi and the Fiesta. The team
split itself in two to run the two cars for the day which presented an exciting
challenge for the team. Each car ran in 15 minute slots throughout the day with
both cars completing a total of 2 hours running each. The student team were
able to evaluate tyre performance and improve handling characteristics for both
cars and with Audi really showed promise for the season ahead putting in some
very competitive lap times throughout the day. The fiesta ran well throughout
the day again with and array of data taken by the students in order to evaluate
tyre performance and handling characteristics. Unfortunately towards the end of
the day the filler neck for the fuel tank broke loose and the rear tyre wore a
hole in through the plastic pipe. After arriving back Brooklands College at
9:30pm that evening, the student and staff team worked until 11pm to replace
the filler neck and to prepare the fiesta read for its first race 2 days later
on later on Easter Monday back at Castle Combe.
Castle Combe Saloon Car
Championship – Round 1 – Castle Combe Circuit – Monday 21st April
2014
The Fiesta made its 2014 season debut on Easter Monday after
the successful test at Castle Combe the week before. With an entry of 37 cars
for the race and 6 in the Class D with the Fiesta, driver Rupert Hinde would
have has work cut out in the 15 minute sprint race. Once again the student team
ensured that the car passed scrutineering and prepared the car for it
qualifying session. After a very busy session with lots of cars jostling for
track position, Rupert qualified the fiesta 6th in class with a good
chance of the gaining some places in the race. After some further tweaks and
the fitment of a new exhaust silencer to ensure the car met the sound
regulations for the circuit, the car took its place on the grid. After a hard
fought race Rupert brought the fiesta home 4th in class narrowly
missing out on the top 3. This was a great result considering the level of
competition in the field. Rupert was extremely pleased with the race and said,”Once
again the Brooklands College Motorsport students have prepared an excellent car
and gave me a real chance of a top 3 finish in class. I am really looking
forward to the next round where hopefully we can gain some more silverware for
the team.”
MSV Team Trophy –
Silverstone Arena GP Circuit – Sunday 27th April 2014
The 5.9 KM Silverstone Arena GP Circuit was the location of
the Audi A8 Quattros’ first ever race. After 3 years of development involving
numerous students from all levels of engineering and motorsport courses, the
car would finally line up on a grid and race wheel to wheel with other race
prepared saloon cars in the well supported MSV Team Trophy Series. After a
4:30am departure from the college the student team arrived at the circuit ready
for sign on and scrutineering at 7:30am. With this being the first time the
Audi had been scrutineered, the team were thrilled when it passed without any
recommendations and was declared ready to race. After some minor adjustments
and tweaks to the car, the Audi made its way onto the circuit for qualifying.
Driving duties would be shared between Assistant Head of Technology, Jonathan
Nicholls and private driver Daniel Gill. Jonathan took the car out first,
quickly putting in some competitive lap times. After a quick driver change
Daniel went out onto the circuit for his first experience of the Audi and the
Silverstone GP tarmac. The team qualified 8th in class with the car
performing well, but showing some difficulties engaging some of the gears.
After qualifying the team fitted a new set of performance
brake pads to the front and rear of the car and set about modifying the front
bumper and the cooling system for the transmission in order to try and reduce
the heat running through the components for the hour long race to come.
In the race, Jonathan started the driving duties and made a
solid start from the line but very quickly the transmission started playing up
and was struggling to change into 4th gear which was reducing the
top speed of the car along Silverstones’ very fast straights. This meant the
car was falling back slightly in the field but was still going. After
communications between the team on the pit wall and the Jonathan in the car it
was decided to bring the car in for its mandatory pitstop and driver change
just as the pitstop window opened. After a quick change and a few checks over
the car the team sent Dan on his way to race for the final 40 minutes of the
race. The team decided that the car completing the race would be an achievement
in itself and encouraged Dan to keep pushing. Despite the obvious transmission
problems Dan finished the race with only 3rd gear remaining and
finished 12th in class.
Despite the disappointment of not finishing further up the
order, the team were immensely proud that the Audi finished its first ever
race, particularly given the amount of work it has taken to get the car to this
stage.
Peter Avenell, Assistant Head of Technology and Audi A8
Quattro team leader said, “What the students have achieved is out of this
world. To take a road going car that would never really be considered for
racing and turning it into competitive race car that brought lots of attention
from fellow team and drivers and finishing a gruelling 1 hour race is true
testament to their ability as race engineers. They have worked so hard over the
last 3 years to get the car to where it is today and I am immensely proud of
them.”
With the car booked in for the next round of the series at
Rockingham Speedway on 18th May, a 2nd Audi A8 Quattro
was sourced from Ebay on the way back from Silverstone. After agreeing with the
seller a sensible prince the team picked up the donor car the following week.
In the space of 2 days the student team removed the V8 engine
and transmission from both cars and the newer engine and transmission is being
fitted to the race car to prepare it for the next race. Once again a true
testament to their desire to keep pushing the team on and achieve excellent
results.
Mazda MX5 Super Cup – Round 3&4 –
Brands Hatch Indy Circuit – 3rd-4th May 2014
With one
week since the Audi was out racing the team got ready for the next round of the
Mazda MX5 Super Cup at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit. After a successful test
session at the circuit in April, optimisim was high for a great result and some
competitive racing.
Competitive
racing was exactly what the team got and Rob was able to really push the car
during practice and qualifying to get the car on pace. Rob qualified 14th
on the grid with a mere 1.5 seconds covering 1st to 14th
on the grid. Race 1 was set to be bumper to bumper racing. After a hard fought
race rob brought the car home 10th overall and had an excellent race
again with the field being ultra competitive. With Rob starting race 2 in 10th
expectation as high for a better result that race one and once again the racing
was nose to tail throughout the race. As the chequered flag came out, Rob
crossed the line in 9th place with his fastest lap only four
hundredths of a second behind the winner.
After the
race the team were awarded a trophy for most positions gained. A fantastic
achievement for the student team.
One again
the team performed brilliantly, preparing the car and making adjustments to
allow Rob to push the car to the limit. Expectations are high for the next
round of the MX5 Super Cup at the tight and twisty Cadwell Park in June where
the team will be looking for a top 6 result.
Jonathan
Nicholls, Assistant Head of Technology and the Motorsport Team Leader said,
“This has been an immensely challenging and busy start to the race season for
the student team but they have coped tremendously well under a vast amount of
pressure. To run three different cars in three different series at circuits all
over the country is something that even professional teams wouldn’t take on and
this team are doing it. They are really putting into practice the knowledge and
skills they learn at Brooklands at the circuits and are gaining experience that
is often hard to find. For many of the students involved this is merely the
start and I fully expect to see them on the TV on Sunday afternoon’s race
engineering F1, touring and GT cars in the future. They are a real asset to the
college and provide inspiration to many of the students progressing through our
motorsport and vehicle technology courses and also new learners applying to
join the college in the future. We will keep pushing for the rest of the season
in the search for more silverware to add to the growing trophy cabinet!”
