The busiest season yet!

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 – 5^th -6^th 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 15^th  on the grid for race 1. After a brilliant start in the race, Rob battled his way through the pack and finished the race 10^th 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 14^th 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 – 17^th 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 21^st 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 6^th 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 4^th 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 27^th 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 8^th 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 4^th 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 3^rd gear remaining and finished 12^th 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 18^th May, a 2^nd 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 – 3^rd-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 14^th on the grid with a mere 1.5 seconds covering 1^st to 14^th on the grid. Race 1 was set to be bumper to bumper racing. After a hard fought race rob brought the car home 10^th overall and had an excellent race again with the field being ultra competitive. With Rob starting race 2 in 10^th 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 9^th 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!”