Our Porsche GT3

To compete and finish in the Britcar 24hr has been a dream of ours for some time – and this year we made a firm commitment to compete. The commitment of the team has seen us through – this is how we did it!

The core of the team travelled up to Silverstone on Wednesday evening so we could set up and test on Thursday. Testing went OK and we ironed out a few handling issues, trying to get a balance in the car that all 5 drivers were happy with. We had an electrical issue that was quickly fixed and thankfully never reoccurred and  after some routine maintenance and getting the car scrutineered everyone present made their way to the pub for some food and a few hours off.

Qualifying

Day qualifying started at 12.30 Friday and all drivers qualified comfortably. We were classified 22nd out of 55 – we were happy with that, it would be our starting position in the race. No problems with the car so we waited for night qualifying after a quick spanner check.

Night qualifying went well, again all drivers qualified comfortably. Paul and Tim had never raced in the dark before so they were quite apprehensive -  but they were happy with the way it went. The others had plenty of experience so no problems there – we were all set and looking forward for the race. The rest of the team had arrived by now so we had a late BBQ and some “team bonding”, with Tim on the grill doing a fine job with the meat fest, Paul’s iPhone providing the music and the fridge providing the light refreshment.

Race Day

After the public pit walk we did some final preparation and the team manager decided we would push the car to the assembly area from the pit garages – this was a long way and not one of his better ideas!  Paul was out first so he drove the car around from assembly to form up on the grid for the final public grid walk before the start of the race – tension and excitement was building.

The start went well seeing us in 25th after the first lap. Our strategy of keeping out of trouble and trying to put in consistent but mechanically sympathetic laps we were sure would pay off.

It was all going well, we found ourselves in a surprising top ten position for most of the race, reaching as high as 5th at times. We had no major issues with the car in the first 22 hours, then our luck ran out.

Our car lost drive down the the new pit straight and was towed back to the scrutineering bay – why they did that I don’t know because we were at the other end of the pits – so another long push was called for.

We suspected a clutch or driveshaft problem, which would have been manageable but it turned out to be a differential issue that was not fixable – a really unusual failure and really bad luck, but that’s endurance racing for you. Some quick thinking and a very generous offer from one of our competitors meant we could borrow a gearbox to finish the race so the mechanics had the challenge of getting it in the car and the car out on track before the chequered flag. We did it with 15 minutes to spare which was an impressive feat for the guys and one that was appreciated by all in the garage.

We finished in 19th place out of 43 classified finishers. We had completed 482 laps – a great effort.

The most important thing is that we were classified and we were running at the end of the race, which was our goal when we set out – a massive achievement for a small team like ours and a testament to the drivers and crew who bought the car home. Of course when you’ve been running so high up the classification everyone’s expectations rise – but in the end finishing was the most important thing and that’s what we did.

Well done everyone.

The Team

Drivers, in driving order, with their sponsors:

Paul Winter – Dorset Sports Cars
Tim Speed – Dorset Sports Cars
Pete Morris – PMC Midlands
Tim Raven – Stable Micro Systems
Graeme Mundy – Linden Plant

Pit Crew:

Dave – Team Manager
Andy – Race Engineer
Grant, Colin, Matt & Will – Mechanics, Refuellers and Assistants
Steve – Tweeter, Blogger & Fire Assistant

Thank You’s

Thanks to Joy, Lee & Liz for keeping us fed and watered throughout the weekend.

A massive thank you to Marcus Fothergill for lending us the gearbox that allowed us to finish the race, without it we would all feel very different today so many, many thanks from all the team.

Thank you to the team who we shared our garage with; Motionsport. Your cooperation was much appreciated, your team spirit was an inspiration and it was a pleasure to share a garage with you.

A really big thank you to all the friends and family who have supported the team in our wish to race in the Britcar 24hr.

And finally, thanks to our sponsors…

It’ll be a massive achievement just to finish, but we hope for better!

Follow Car 66 @dorsetsportscar

If you find yourself in the pits we can be found in garage 3a – look for the big blue transporter.

Wish us luck!!

Many Thanks to Our Sponsors for the Britcar 24hr…

The 968 had upgraded suspension at Thruxton and we new that this, along with some tinkering of ride heights, would make it more competitive. After our 30 minute test we decided on a few minor adjustments to the shocks but otherwise we were ready for qualifying.
Mal’s 944s2 had quite a few problems, most of them had been highlighted by in-car footage at Donington. Adjustments to suspension, a rebuild of the gearbox and LSD, a new clutch and new brakes were all completed on the run up to Thruxton and we hoped that Mal would be able to have a much more controlled experience. The short test before qualifying confirmed that he was much happier with the way the car was driving – he was good to go and much happier.

Qualifying
Qualifying went reasonably well for Paul and Tim, although sharing a car for the weekend always makes this session quite difficult – just as the driver is getting a feel for the car and track they need to come in and change over so they can both qualify. This saw Paul qualify in 10th and Tim in 15th, they both hoped for better races. Mal did exceptionally well in qualifying putting his car in 8th, but more importantly, a class 2 pole position. The long hours put into the car over the last couple of weeks looked like it was paying off!

Race 1
Paul drove the first race and managed a creditable 6th. When the experience of the field is taken into consideration 6th should be considered a good result, especially as Paul hasn’t had a great deal of time in the car. However, Paul is always looking to improve time and position so we’re sure he’ll be pushing to get amongst the leaders at our next meeting.

Mal was doing well in his 944, although wheelspin off the line meant he had to concede the class lead early on to the more experienced  Dyer. Performance dropped off toward the end of the race and eventually he had to retire when his tyres were giving him “unusual” handling characteristics. This was a shame because he would have been placed 2nd in class if he could have made them last a few laps more.

Race 2
In complete contrast to the glorious sunshine on Saturday, Sunday was a very wet day. It was with some trepidation that Tim and Mal prepared to go out on the fastest circuit in the country in the pouring rain! We gave both cars a full wet set up (a rudder might have been more appropriate), with Tim going slightly more aggressive in his set up than Mal. Both cars got an exceptional start with Mal 5th (from 8th) and Tim 6th (from 14th!) after the first lap. By the end of the race, by virtue of some very brave overtaking Mal had reached an exceptional 3rd place overall (and class 2 win) and Tim was right behind him in 4th, even after a high speed excursion onto the infield at the fastest part of the circuit! These two had some great battles throughout the race with Tim being marginally quicker but just unable to get past the 944.

Overall we had a great weekend with both cars performing well. Our three drivers were happy with their cars and Mal was “chuffed to bits” with his 3rd place – even if he didn’t realise where he had finished!

Next outing – Rockingham July 16th

I’ll be taking my camera to Donington so, weather permitting I should be able to get some good shots to post on the blog. I’ll also be doing live updates via twitter throughout the day if you’re interested.
http://twitter.com/dorsetsportscar

Later in the year we plan to do the 2011 Britcar 24hr event, our entry’s in and planning is well under way. Our first venture into endurance racing – watch this space!

We have the skills and capacity to run cars for customers in the race series of their choice and our race engineers have experience in running a variety of cars from Porsche in the Carrera Cup, Britcar and British GT to Morgan at Le Mans. Please contact Paul to discuss your requirements for the coming season. (Contact details can be found on the Dorset Sports Cars main web site)

We entered the last round in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge which was supporting the Britcar 24 meeting at Silverstone – an event we didn’t want to miss. The weather forecast wasn’t great but we turned up on Thursday night hopeful that we would get some good racing in over the next couple of days. Friendly and familiar faces greeted us and it was good to be back with the Porsche Club after our rather longer than hoped for break.

Friday

A very wet paddock

Friday was wet, very wet. Those of you who followed our live twitter updates will know that it only got wetter! Both Paul and Tim had to qualify as they were sharing the car this weekend. Paul went out first and came back in reporting that the car felt really good and was pretty confident Tim could set a reasonable time – which he did.

It was decided that Tim would drive for the first race so out he went in wet and deteriorating conditions. He admitted that he wasn’t looking forward to the start but we were confident(!) he’d get away OK.

He had a good race in really heavy rain – so heavy they had to stop the session a few minutes early. After a brief spell in 3rd we finished in 4th, so made up a place on our qualifying position. The car was performing really well and the result saw us coming first in Class (2), those in front running class 1 997′s or  in the unrestricted Invitation class. Tim was delighted with the result and we were too and looked forward to tomorrows two races.

Saturday

It had stopped raining but it was still damp. We were only the second race of the day so the track hadn’t dried out as much as we thought it would – we had taken an optimistic view on set up. It was a roll of the dice that might pay off. It was Paul’s turn to drive today so he lined up in 4th place on the grid not knowing really what to expect from the track.

Unfortunately our gamble didn’t pay off, no dry line appeared and even toward the end of the session he was still a long way off the dry time we know he’s capable of. We finished 7th which was a disappointing result so we were determined to improve things in Race 3.

A dry track for race 3 and we felt that we had the car set up properly for the conditions. We hoped to be much nearer the front in this race but its always tough in a class 2 car racing against class 1 and the invitation class – but that’s club racing and we’ve always enjoyed the challenge. Paul got away well after some close racing with drivers in superior machinery he was rewarded with a 3rd overall and a 1st in class – which was an outstanding result.

Video footage should be available shortly and I’ll post it as soon as its ready.

It was a happy team that packed the car away. We decided to visit the pits to catch up with Andy (who had volunteered at short notice to engineer for a team this weekend in the Britcar 24hr race) and some old friends who were helping out with various teams. Walking around the pits and watching the cars go around at night brings it home just how hard it must be to run a car for 24 hours, but strangely its whetted our appetite. Perhaps Dorset Sports Cars could put a car out in a 24 hour race – watch this space!

Free Practice/Qualifying

Free practice and qualifying went as well as could be expected. The car hadn’t been run on track since the engine rebuild so both of the free practice sessions were used to shake the car down and scrub tyres in. The weather was pretty changeable which made getting the car set up tough, but we did our best.

It was completely dry and very warm for qualifying, but we paid the price of lack of running time.  We found it hard to set a quick time and ended up qualifying near the back of the field for both races. It was decided to make a few changes to improve font end grip and we’d see how we went in race 1.

Race 1

Warm and dry again and we felt positive that we could do better than our qualifying position suggested, however our race didn’t go to plan. The first lap provided some exciting moments, too exciting for some. Our race came to an end just after Surtees when we got mixed up with someone else’s accident and damaged our front radiator. With the car limping back to the pits we didn’t know if our weekend was over or not, but we’d do our best to get out for race 2 if we could.

The damage wasn’t as bad as we first expected, replacing the radiator was all that was needed and we had a spare.  We would be out for race 2.

Race 2

This race was much more sensible and we improved our overall speed, eventually being classified in 19th after a few close battles in the middle of the race. Not a great result but after so long out of the car and very little set up time we did OK. We managed to get a reasonable amount of track time to help develop car set up and the engine work has proven a success, which was important.

We’re all looking forward to the next outing and for better results!

During our motor racing sabbatical we’ve been very busy. We’ve moved premises to a more central location, which has been a great success. We can now offer our customers a much improved experience for both sales and servicing of their road cars and the increased room has meant we have been able to take on more technicians and expand all areas of our business.

A key addition to the racing side of our business is Andy, a race engineer with factory team experience up to Le Mans level. Andy, who also has experience in British GT and Carrera Cup, has been with us for over a year now and has settled into the team while bringing a new level of technical know-how to the business.

Having Andy on board is sure to be of benefit our customers who wish to race their own cars and it also means we are now able to offer arrive and drive opportunities in our Porsche 996 GT3 Cup to experienced drivers with a realistic budget. If this interests you please contact Paul to discuss possibilities.

New for this year will be a real time Twitter update from meetings. You can follow us @dorsetsportscar and of course we’ll update the blog when we have news.

One 30 Minute and one 50 Minute Race

Weather: Fri – damp, Sat – Dry, Sun – Wet (very!)

Spa Francorchamps

Our last meeting of the season, and all to play for. The 2008 Porsche Open ‘Driver of the Year’ would, for the first time, be awarded a race in one round of the 2009 Carrera Cup GB, in the Porsche Cars Great Britain run, ProAm2 car.

For Paul to win the prize drive we had to finish both races on this challenging GP circuit. Would we be up to the challenge?

Getting the Car to Spa

Taking the car abroad represents some significant logistical challenges for a small team such as ours, especially as all the support crew are volunteers. The truck was booked onto the ferry for about 6pm so we set off in plenty of time to get to Dover – the rest of the team would follow on as soon as they could. However, we hadn’t counted on serious traffic problems.

We rolled up to the track about midnight in the truck and took a space in a car park to get our heads down, the rest of the guys arrived overnight, some three hours later. We moved the truck into the paddock in the morning and after setting up the rest of the day was our own – we set up camp just outside the circuit and in the evening went out for a meal – looking forward to qualifying on Friday.

Qualifying – Friday (45 minutes)

Both Paul and Tim needed to qualify. The plan was that Paul would race in the first race on Saturday and they would both race in the second on Sunday. The session was dampish but Tim put in a time toward the end of the session that qualified the car in 7th, 2nd in class. Considering the conditions it was a good start to the meeting.

Race 1 – Saturday (30 minutes)

After a reasonable start Paul settled in to putting in some consistent laps and keeping out of trouble. He finished in 5th, 1st in class, so we all felt that it was a job well done – winning the series was within our grasp – only one more race to go. We were all praying for a fine day tommorow.

Someone had the bright idea that we should cycle round the track that evening. A motley crew of cyclists with a couple of outriders on quad bikes (just in case we needed a tow) took up the challenge. All I can say is; Spa looks a damn site flatter on the TV! I for one was glad to get back to camp and the BBQ.

Spa - In the Rain

Race 2 – Sunday (50 minutes)

Our prayers had gone unanswered – we had some wild weather overnight and it was raining in the morning. Our race was at 12.40 and it was still raining – the track was really wet. Tim was a little apprehensive about the race and it was decided that Paul would take the opening stint and Tim would take the finish line.

The race, in the end, was started under the safety car. A couple of sighting laps so the drivers could see where the standing water was laying and then the safety car came in and we were racing. Paul had to be sensible so it was unlikely that we were going to have an eventful race – however, you can never account for the weather, poor visibility, standing water and back markers having their own problems.

Down the pit straight a 944 had a bit of a moment in front of Paul. While trying to avoid him Paul just glanced is rear quarter. It was a bit of a scary moment for all concerned – but thankfully there was no serious damage and both carried on.

Paul came in to the pits for the driver change over and we noticed just how bad visibility was – but there was little we could do. Some quick body modification was needed after Paul’s troubles but Tim was out quickly, determined to bring the car back in one piece and to lay some demons to rest – Spa hadn’t been good to Tim the previous year.

Tim brought the car home in 6th place, 2nd in class with a huge grin. This meant that Paul had more points than any other driver that year and had won his prize drive.

The weather was still decidedly damp and none of us were looking forward to the trip home. It was a long and tiresome drive but I rolled back into Sturminster Marshal at about 3am which saw us back home by 4.

What a way to end the season.

Two 30 Minute Races

Weather: Fine

This was a big meeting that we had all been looking forward to. Tim was unable to make this meeting as he was on his honeymoon (what sort of excuse is that!) – and the rest of us had been having a particularly heavy work schedule leading up to the event. However, we were set up and ready to go for our early qualifying on Friday, dedicated bunch that we are!

Paul qualified the car in 6th, 2nd in class and considering the opposition he was satisfied with that. With not much to do on the car it was time to relax for a few hours before our afternoon race.

In race 1, Paul brought the car home in 5th, 2nd in class. He also took fastest lap for his class, which is always satisfying. In Saturday’s race 2, Paul finished 5th, 3rd in class while racing some stiff and experienced opposition.

With an eye on winning the series this was a good couple of results for us. Not too eventful on the racing front – but we are in a strong position going into the last meeting at Spa. We packed the truck up and moved it out of the paddock and over to the campsite so we could all settle in to watch the main event of the meeting – the Britcar 24. After a “reasonable” amount of sleep (for a 24hr race) we were all on our way back home on Sunday afternoon.