B’sRACING Ben Bonfield Wiscombe Park Hillclimb Torbay Motor Club Wildlife Autosport OMS 2000m

So a really positive weekend with the 2000m at Wiscombe, lots learned with the car. It was the first time bringing the car to Wiscombe Park Hillclimb and we were expecting a few challenges. We started the weekend off on the Michelin slicks which seemed to handle the surface really well and a 40.50 was the reward and close to my target of 40s. Unfortunately it then began to rain which meant an exploratory run out on the wets which proved a good choice to do as it gave a comparison to the Jedi in the wet and it wasn’t far off on the same tyres. It did however show up that the brake bias was definitely on the rear. After trying to pull a Neil Gould at sawbench and then having the rear twitch changing down and slowing down for Martini it was concluded that a change was required for the Sunday. I’d made an adjustment to the pedal after first practice on the Saturday which was an improvement in feel and made for a more comfortable leg position. We found that the cutting out issue was back on left handers, we thought with the amount of fuel 8-10L we had in the car was enough to stop it but it turns out we still hadn’t put enough in. Still the mornings run was good enough for 2nd in class, well done to Tom Williams for the class win and Ed Hollier for the FTD.
Sunday was a fresh day, with the bias now adjusted forward and a swap of tyres to the Pirelli we started fresh, the change in bias and pedal position (again) gave so much more confidence, practice went under the 40s barrier. The warmer temperatures really helped and the track felt really good with the next run going sub 39. Unfortunately the fuel surge issue reappeared 🤦🏻‍♂️ due to not enough fuel. On the last run we decided to run with around 15L in the tank that definitely fixed the fuel surge issue and it didn’t stutter once. Really happy with the results and I feel so much more confident in the car. Happy with the times managed in the car for its first visit to Wiscombe and really happy to have such a great battle with Tom for the class win again with it going down to 0.1 of a second. Well done to Ed again for the second FTD of the weekend.
Well done to both organising teams Torbay Motor Club Ltd and Wildlife Autosport for putting on great events. Thanks to all the marshals who on Saturday had the rain to contend with and then the hot Sunday weather.
We learned lots and I’ve got a few adjustments to make including fitting a swirl pot or fitting a smaller taller tank to stop the surge and hopefully mean we won’t have to carry an extra 10kgs of ballast in fuel. The next time out for the 2000m is Llandow so I have a bit of time to make the changes but I’m looking forward to getting back out in the car. Next weekend the Jedi will make its return to clay pigeon for the Sunday and Monday which I’m really looking forward to driving again.
Photo credit: Nigel Cole

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