Elise Trophy 2010 - end of season stocktake

So, the end of the 2010 season didn't go so well. After missing 2 race weekends due to the engine oil leak, and being constantly frustrated by lacking power to the fast section of the grid, Stu decided to get the engine rebuilt in time for the last race he was registered for - Silverstone National.



In addition to the rebuild, slightly fruitier cams and a better exhaust manifold were fitted to try and up the grunt. Along with an Emerald ECU, we were hoping for above-the-limit figures that could be tuned down to be exactly legal. Didn't exactly go to plan as apparently it only really made an extra 5bhp.

Qualy wasn't too bad as it was cold and wet but the engine still felt pretty piss-poor. Made things interesting though, several incidents to enjoy! Couple of pics from other sessions give you an idea:







I decided that 12th on a grid nearly 30 was frankly amazing after I went and watched race 1, Stu was literally getting butt-fucked on the straights. He'd make up anywhere between 3 and 10 car lengths on the brakes and through the corners, but even with a run on people out of the exit he'd get left behind. It looked ridiculous.



A new alternator had also been fitted after the rebuild, which failed during the first race so I set about swapping it for another new one and rewiring the diode. It was tight getting to the grid as I had to re-tap the thread in the block for the bracket as well. Thankfully it didn't fall off, but he still went backwards during race 2.



It also made it down to TDi a week later - who dyno'd the car at the start of the year for series regs - so we could compare figures. Despite a proper ECU, rebuild, Piper cams and pullies, proven exhaust manifold and a 4mm larger throttle since the start of the year, about 24bhp and 20lb.ft had disappeared (if memory serves).

Still, at least we know roughly where the problem is, and hopefully a cam timing tweak will sort things out. The rest of the car is great thankfully so with any luck it will be mainly small jobs over winter. Then with the missing horses back in the stable it should be consistent top 10s next year, potentially a podium in the mix somewhere. Fingers crossed for better luck in 2011.



As you can see, I have linked the photos in this post from www.snappyracers.com - because they are great, and what I take with my phone is shite!

Trophy Daily Driver

I've got Stu's Elise to pootle about in this week, give the engine a run in before it goes on the dyno for mapping. I'm sick of my Mazda as a daily but this is just ridiculous!

Elise Trophy 2010 - part 2

So, this is waaaay late, but worth sticking up a short note anyway. About 6 weeks ago was the Classic Team Lotus Festival at Snetterton circuit. There's pictures of all the stupendously fantastic F1 cars all over the net, but I was there because one of the features of the weekend was the Lotus Cup Europe and Elise Trophy races.



Stu's car had some new graphics on it so it stood out a bit more than it used to - just another dark car in the pack - and now it's one of the most recognisable. For the next round it'll have the roof on as well, so will be yet more awesome!



Anyway, damp quali meant the playing field was levelled out a bit (worth pointing out here that it slashed down. Alot. Ridiculous monsoon weather, Horrible weekend!). Stu got P9 out of 45-odd cars, storming effort! Race 1 didn't go so great, traffic and a couple of racecraft lessons meant a 14th place finish. Race 2 on the other hand was pretty good! It started with a reverse Top 10 grid, so good old 56 was in P2. After a sweet launch and leading into the first corner braking zone, he was done for the lead with some twinning round turn 1. After that, a solid drive and a few fights ensued, and despite getting runs on several occasions, 3 guys extra power meant they could walk past. In P5, having a fight with one or two other guys was prematurely ended by a red flag, so 5th it was. Fantastic result!

Elise Trophy

On Saturday I headed down to Silverstone for my friend Stu's first race day. He bought a Lotus Elise 111S to compete in the production class of the Lotus on Track Elise Trophy, and after more than his fair share of trouble finally got to head out on circuit.



One of the great things about race meetings is looking round the car parks! Generally, it's mostly car enthusiasts that go, which means some sweet rides parked outside. It's also mainly car enthusiasts who race, so the paddocks usually have a certain amount of unobtainable metal, so there's always something to gawp at.









Like with most one-make series, the racing is good in the Elise Trophy, plenty going on all through the field, and all sorts out there from the famous, to the talented, to the rich, to the not-so-talented.



Queuing up in the pits, waiting for the GTs to come back in:



Certainly looks the part, and does the job:



Surprised I managed to get such a good race photo with my lame phone. I was only in on a normal public ticket, and could watch from the pit wall! If that's not worth a measly 10 quid, I don't know what is.



Check out Stu's blog documenting his path from seasoned trackday veteran to fully fledged competitive racing driver. Don't let the title fool you: Back Row Racing