Racing a Lancia Delta HF Integrale 16v

[Jaydub]

Well done, great result.
 As Tim suggested, you might consider a larger fuel tank. Presumably your tank is foam filled and has an internal swirl pot to stop fuel surge? If your car is better in the wet do you stiffen up the dampers and anti roll bars for the dry, which is the normal set up procedure?
Not preaching to the converted I hope.

[Thurbs]

Thanks guys. I have a 80L ATL foam filled tank with two pumps and should be able to do well over an hour on a tank. I am competing the Birkett (team race over 6 hours) this year with 4 others and I am hoping to do a 72m stint.

The problem is you don't want any excess weight at the end of the race. Each kg costs time to brake, turn and accelerate again. We weigh the car before and after each session, compare against the base weight and then add fuel to suit. It is more complex than that as Petrol is lighter than water so you can’t use the 1:1 conversion from weight to volume (Petrol weighs 0.75 gram per cubic centimetre).

You always push it and we pushed it too far. Next time we will make sure we have about 5kg spare rather than the usual 2kg and see what happens. 

[Thurbs]

Birkett Preview - Saturday 28th October 2017 @ Silverstone Historic Grand Prix Circuit in Northamptonshire.

Jim Clark, Graham Hill , Gerry Marshall, Vic Elford and Richard Attwood all took part in it. Steve McQueen is said to have become hooked on endurance racing as a result of it. Colin Chapman, Jem Marsh and Eric Broadley developed their now-famous brands with help from it. What is ‘it’? The famous Birkett Six-Hour Relay Race, in which historic saloons can run up against modern specials. Up to 70 teams of between four and six drivers compete to lap the circuit as many times as possible within the six hours, with only one vehicle per team allowed out on track at any one time. Entry is restricted to saloon and sports cars – no open-wheelers – but that still allows for a hugely eclectic mix of cars of all ages out on track.

In fact, the Birkett is often said to be two events in one, because in addition to competing for the maximum number of laps in the Six-Hours, teams also compete in a handicap classification, which in theory can be won by anyone. Each team, unless it’s in ‘scratch’ position, is credited with a number of laps, according to perceived performance (based on observations and timings by the organisers at previous race meetings throughout the season). This means all teams should have a chance of winning the handicap side of the competition. In fact, due to the volume of traffic on track, it actually favours the slower cars, which are more easily able to meet their target race times as they’re less affected by congestion. The event is over a single day with qualifying starting at 9:00am and the race it’s self-kicking off at 11:45am for over 6 hours.

Like all endurance events, the Birkett is a team event and this year we are part of the “Legends of the 1990s”. The team is made up of a trio of turbo charged 4wd cars and a trio of BMW M3s. Normally racing together in the Classic Sports Car Club Modern Classics, this motley crew of racers have joined forces to take on the best of endurance racing. With two ex-rally cars and lots of driven wheels, the team are hoping for a 50/50 wet dry to make best use of the cars capabilities and drivers alike. The 4wd contingent is made up of a duo of Toyotas in the shape of a Celica GT4 sporting a brand new engine of Richard Hayes as well as the 3.0 twin turbo Supra of Roger Hayes. The final 4wd car is our Lancia Delta HF integrale 16v, a fresh build for this year. The team of mightily rapid BMWs is made up of Michael Russell, Tim Barley and last but not least Matthew Johnson. Racing on list tyres, the team has entered in class b as well as the overall handicap race with hopefully a very slow target time to beat! Check out Tom Barley’s facebook page: www.facebook.com/Tom-Barley-Racing-416065758749096/

The team went testing at Donington Park this week on the national circuit. The aim of the day was to get the car better set up for the dry so we are able to take the fight to the front of the field. Autumn (or “fall” to our American friends) is not the best time to go testing a dry setup and we had a day of fog, rain and cold. This meant that whilst exploring the balance of the car and the limits of grip there may have been some drifting! http://youtu.be/jzo30NuhD-g Not the quickest way around a circuit but enormous fun never the less. Came away 2.5 seconds faster than our last race two weeks ago where we managed an overall win. http://youtu.be/b2itOICjjKw

Looking at the forecast, at the moment it is cloudy and dry but definitely on the cold side with temperatures from 8 to 12 degrees Celsius (48F to 54F). The Lancia has both the Nankang AR-1 for dry and the Nankang NS-2R for any heavy downpours on standby, but all fingers and toes are crossed for rain! http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2637827

All to play for and the team are confident that if it rains we should do well. Here is a video from last year in the Renault Clio 182 championship car with “Team Clio 182”. http://youtu.be/oxnIFFTx2hw

Live timing for the event: http://www.theresultslive.co.uk/750-motor-club/2017/750-motor-club-2

Please feel free to come and say hello. Tickets are £10 on the gate with full access to the whole circuit and paddock (but not grandstands sadly). At the moment I am out first for an hour between 11:45 and 12:45 but that may change depending on weather and other dramas.

[sparehead3]

Looks great Richard ! Good luck

[lancialulu]

Good luck. Will be thinking of you from afar....

[sparehead3]

Thanks for uploading some pictures Richard : The calendar looks quite "themed" at the moment : http://www.lanciamc.co.uk/calendar.htm and http://www.lanciamc.co.uk/calendars/LanciaPlanner2017-A3.pdf ( if it doesn't look themed then more pictures have been uploaded ) ....

[Thurbs]

  I had no idea! I was uploading for the NEC...

Here is the report from the Birkett.

Racing Against BBC’s Top Gear

Welcome to my blog on turning a rusty old shed in to a thoroughbred Italian winning race car. In the last episode we were at Donington Park racing against cars from the nineteen eighties. After qualifying 10th and making our way up to 8th the race was stopped and restarted at the end of the day. http://youtu.be/b2itOICjjKw The great news for us is the restart was very wet and from 6th on the grid we were in the lead by the exit of the first corner and took a dominant overall victory. http://youtu.be/DBMgupBVXAg In this episode we take on the Birkett relay racing against the BBC Top Gear crew in an epic 6 hour team endurance race.

About
The Birkett is an endurance race where 70 teams of between four and six drivers compete to lap the circuit as many times as possible within the six hours, with only one vehicle per team allowed out on track at any one time. In addition to competing for the maximum number of laps in the Six-Hours, teams also compete in a handicap classification, which in theory can be won by anyone. Each team, unless it’s in ‘scratch’ position, is credited with a number of laps, according to perceived performance (based on observations and timings by the organisers at previous race meetings throughout the season). This means all teams should have a chance of winning the handicap side of the competition.

Like all endurance events, the Birkett is a team event and this year we are part of the “Legends of the 1990s”. The team is made up of a trio of turbo charged 4wd cars and a trio of BMW M3s. Normally racing together in the Classic Sports Car Club Modern Classics, this motley crew of racers have joined forces to take on the best of endurance racing. With two ex-rally cars and lots of driven wheels, the team are hoping for a 50/50 wet dry to make best use of the cars capabilities and drivers alike. The 4wd contingent is made up of a duo of Toyotas in the shape of a Celica GT4 sporting a brand new engine of Richard Hayes as well as the 3.0 twin turbo Supra of Roger Hayes. The final 4wd car is our Lancia Delta HF integrale 16v, a fresh build for this year. The team of mightily rapid BMWs is made up of Michael Russell, Tim Barley and last but not least Matthew Johnson. Racing on list tyres, the team has entered in class b as well as the overall handicap race.

Race
Racing against Top Gear saw Matt LeBlanc, Chris Harris and Rory Read entered with a trio of comedy cars. Matt was in a Bentley, Harris with a S600 and Rory had a Rolls with massive, wheels, wings and diffusers. The forfeit car was a Dacia Sandero which looked completely standard.

The starting order of the race is determined by the team’s handicap and we started on the 23rd row in position 46. The Lancia took up the baton to take part in the first stint fuelled up for an hour of racing with the aim of making up places and keeping out of trouble.

Video: http://youtu.be/CoyhjR2ls-Y
Extended Version: http://youtu.be/rk9KNnQMgVo 

After a good start, seemingly overtaking some drivers not quite awake start we set about picking off competitors one by one and ended up finishing the session a respectable position 25 on scratch and 21st on handicap at the one hour mark. Second out on the road was Roger and then Richard Hayes who completed 45 minutes each. After the second hour Matt completed his first 30 minute stint and then Tom did an hour in his rapid BMW 325. At the half way mark the team was position 36 on the road and 22nd on handicap. Then over the next three hours, Richard and Matt did their second stint and Michael did his double stint and managed to pull out something pretty special. After a fill six hours of racing we finished position 32 on the road (14 positions better than hour handicap) and when taking in to account our credit laps, we were lucky 13th overall. Racing against 69 other highly competitive ammeter racers and coming away 13th is amazing and the whole team were really happy with the result.

Top Gear? They finished 69th out of 70 in both the scratch and handicap race. Unlike the first Top Gear race at Britcar, I got the impression they were not really competing but spent their time filming a narrative to suit their script. We managed to overtake a slow Chris Harris in his Mercedes but they were lapping 20 seconds slower than our team so there was no real contest. We look forward to the episode on TV and are hoping the Lancia makes an appearance.

Summary
The Birkett represents our last race of the season and we have thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We will be publishing a season highlights video over the next few weeks so don’t forget to comment below.

Site: www.lanciadeltaracing.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/LanciaDeltaRacing/
Timing Sheets: http://www.theresultslive.co.uk/750-motor-club/2017/birkett/2017-grove-dean-holly-birkett-6-hour-relay

[Jaydub]

Well done Richard, a very satisfying season I think. Thanks for the Blog. Roll on next season.

[frankxhv773t]

Indeed, well done and thanks for the blog. I did wonder if the "ammeter" racers were in an electric formula?

[Thurbs]

Thanks guys. Spelling was never a strong point of mine... 

2017 was Lancia Delta Racing’s first year of competition. Watch the first part of the 2017 Season Review by John and Richard about their highs and lows with competing in a new car.

http://youtu.be/7JqrA2tOGds

Races mentioned in this video are:
Spa Summer Classic: http://youtu.be/c6LwLrw2olI
Croft Future Classics: http://youtu.be/3sEnWkRo8Ekv
Brands Hatch Festival Italia: http://youtu.be/2LUd6ryZRI8
Donington Park Modern Classics: http://youtu.be/WRrkPtfd8cw
Donington Park Future Classics: http://youtu.be/b2itOICjjKw

John Shields runs www.jjperformance.co.uk and was instrumental in the cars design, build and engineering.

[Thurbs]

Boxing Day Tuesday December 26th @ Mallory Park in Leicestershire, UK.

The 43rd annual Plum Pudding race meeting returns on Boxing Day, Tuesday 26th December 2017. The Plum Pudding is the only race meeting on the circuit calendar to feature two, three and four wheels and is the ideal excuse for the whole family to get up off the sofa and away from those mince pies, because with fresh air and racing engines… it doesn’t get much better!

An event that’s become something of a tradition for those local to the Leicestershire circuit, it gives competitors who love to race on two, three or four wheels a chance to work off the Christmas turkey in a slightly more unique way than normal! Whilst those who love to race bikes and sidecars will have races to cater to their tastes, a pair of races each will be run for sports cars and also saloons respectively.

The way this works, however, is a little different to any other race meeting. This is because although competitors will still have a regular practice session, there is no qualifying on the day to determine the grid, nor is it chosen by a random draw. Instead, our grid position is set by the order of entries received. The grid for the second will then be a reverse of the result from Race 1, so if one wins they start at the back and so on.

For this event we shall be trailing a live broadcast of the practice and both races. We have no idea if there is the signal, bandwidth or if the camera will pick up any sound. If it works we will be looking to do it as a regular feature next year. Keep a watch out on the YouTube channel at approximately 9:45, 12:40 and 15:05.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=richard+thurbin

Full timetable download: https://tinyurl.com/ycg4w9l9

Stay up to date with live timing here: http://livetiming.tsl-timing.com/BRSCC

[Thurbs]

Couple of updates for you all...

Plum Pudding Race One

We “qualified”, or got our entry in ninth place right in the middle of the twenty car grid. The second bit of bad news is that ninth was on the right hand side of the circuit next to the pit lane.



The start was taken very tentative given the grip advantage that 4wd has and there was no space to drive in to. Once the race got underway the slower cars dropped back and we were in a battle with similarly passed cars. After overdriving the car for a number of laps, the car came off the circuit on the exit of Gerard’s Bend and splashed through the puddles losing two places. Then followed a recovery drive where the lovely sounding Rover Vitesse was caught and passed after a better exit out of Devils Elbow corner. We finished fifth overall but 3rd was definitely possible without the off track antics. We had opted for the Nankang NS2-R tyres which are full wet “list” tyres but this was probably the wrong call as there was a definite dry line and the extra rubber given by the Nankang AR-1 would have been better.



Race Two

The Clark of the Course decided to change the starting order and instead of reverse grid the whole field, reversed the top six. This was great news for us as it meant we were starting in second position on the front row.



As there was plenty of space in front of the Delta we made a good start but the flying Audi TT Spaceframe yellow rocket came flying past and quickly disappeared in to the distance. We had opted for dry tyres this time with the Nankang AR-1 and once warm after the two warm up laps the tyres were giving lots of confidence inspiring grip even in the damp patches. Sitting pretty in second we were on course for finishing well but an Impreza had other ideas. After a few close laps swapping places and beginning to overdrive the car again, the exit of Gerard’s Bend caught us out again and we followed almost the same path through the grass and puddles. This time we had lot lost any places but the Clio Cup car had caught up a whole bunch of time. Sadly the Impreza retired from the race and the Clio Cup car, driven by an instructor from Mallory Park caught and overtook the delta towards the end of the race. We did have a brief fight back but off line there was much less grip so a lunge down the inside would not have finished well.



Still, third is a good result, second was on the table without the error at Gerard’s Bend but even without this error, the Clio would have probably caught and passed us for the second step.



The Plum Pudding was a surprise entry to the seasons racing and was a nice way to cap off a great first year with the Lancia. Please check out the season review videos on our YouTube channel and please subscribe, comment below and give the video a thumbs up.



Facebook: www.facebook.com/LanciaDeltaRacing/

Video: http://youtu.be/eFvfkLnjrnw

Extended Version: http://youtu.be/A7IBaU1FTtk

Additional Footage: Colin Taft http://youtu.be/2bkYypguyAQ

[Thurbs]

2017 was Lancia Delta Racing’s first year of competition.

Watch our season review programe split in to four parts by John and Richard about their highs and lows with competing in a new car.

Part 1: http://youtu.be/7JqrA2tOGds
Part 2: http://youtu.be/TRC7L_aRlb8
Part 3: http://youtu.be/wxZCdJlJ7as
Part 4: http://youtu.be/bCZqcIXSxPM

A playlist for the seasons videos can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmsJCCDm9ELZv8z-zEB4kYCAZfjytNqNY

John Shields runs www.jjperformance.co.uk and was instrumental in the cars design, build and engineering.

[sparehead3]

Well done Richard ! - great result and great photos - can we see the cameraman from the in-car footage ( going "eeeekkk" ) ?

[Thurbs]

Well done Richard ! - great result and great photos - can we see the cameraman from the in-car footage ( going "eeeekkk" ) ?

Thanks Steve..! I enjoyed Mallory very much but sideways whilst fun is actually a very slow way of going around a corner. I tried to tame the car in race 2 and the results speak for themselves.

Our 2018 calendar has been finalised and we can confirm the season’s calendar as follows:   

    7th April @ Snetterton 200
    6th May @ Silverstone International
    2nd June @ Oulton Park
    22nd to 24th June @ Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
    14th July @ Brands Hatch Indy
    18th August @ Thruxton
    19th August @ Brands Hatch Indy Festival Italia
    16th September @ Donington Park National
    6th October @ Mallory Park
    19th to 21st October @ Magny-Cours, France
    27th October @ Silverstone Historic Grand Prix (Provisional)
    26th December @ Mallory Park Plum Pudding (Provisional)

Last year we took part in two series of the Classic Sports Car Club, namely the Future and Modern Classics series. For this year we have decided to compete only in the Modern Classics series designed for cars produced in the 1990’s. We took this decision for a number reasons including;

- Logistically, JJ Performance are running an awesome sounding Holden GTS in the New Millennium series and the Modern Classics is on the same day
- The competitiveness within Modern Classics is better
- But most importantly, the cars competing are not one-off specials but normal production cars which one can compete realistically against in the dry

We will also be competing in one off events with other clubs such as Motor Sports Vision, the 750 Motor Club and the British Racing & Sports Car Club.

This year’s calendar visits some great circuits throughout the UK featuring the super fast Thruxton, a double visit to both Silverstone and Brands Hatch as well as the location of our second ever win at Donington Park. The season opens at Snetterton in just a few weeks time using the traditional “200” layout suited for fast high-powered cars. The visit to Oulton Park in Cheshire will be our first and we were gutted to miss the event last year due to a clash of diaries. Even more so when it ended up being a very wet race…
The highlights have to be our continental visits to Belgium where we hope to start at least one race as well as our first ever visit to Magny-Cours in central France.

As always, everyone is welcome to come and watch with prices varying from free (at Spa) to at the most £13 for an adult. We are always happy to talk to visitors in the paddock and show the car off in all of its glorious detail.

Don’t forget to check out our 2017 Season Review videos with John from JJ Performance:

    Part 1: http://youtu.be/7JqrA2tOGds
    Part 2: http://youtu.be/TRC7L_aRlb8
    Part 3: http://youtu.be/wxZCdJlJ7as
    Part 4: http://youtu.be/bCZqcIXSxPM