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Just Beetles goes Touring Car Racing!

Ian Brown

This blog has 19 entries

19 AUG

0

Just Beetles goes Touring Car Racing (part 15)

Posted on August 19, 2011

We’re Back! After a break to get the car properly sorted we are soon to be back on track. The Beetle is now lighter, with more power and with better gearing, so the target is to get the car up in the mid field. In the next few blogs i'll cover the changes we are making in more detail, but for now here they are in brief: Weight: Lightening of the doors and running boards, a smaller lighter battery, light weight racing alternator, electric cooling fan with matching custom aluminium fan...
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20 AUG

2

Just Beetles goes Touring Car Racing (part 15)

Posted on August 20, 2010

Its been a while since my last blog so appologies for that...its been a hectic year so far. If you haven’t guessed already the racecar hasn’t been out so far this season. There are a number of reasons for this, but the big one is ‘cash!’I had a contingency fund set by (very important in motor racing) to cover me for accident damage and breakages. I thankfully had no crashes last year, but I hopelessly underestimated how much it would cost to develop the car. As an example,...
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20 NOV

7

Just Beetles goes Touring Car Racing (part 14)

Posted on November 20, 2009

Suspension set-upAs promised, here is the long awaited round up of our suspension system. I know some of you have been itching to find out how we’ve managed to get the car to corner so well (despite the handicap of swing axles, crossply tyres and an almost stock ride height) So here it is in a nutshell: Front SuspensionBalljoint beam with stock leaves, stock rubber bushes and a pair of Sway-A-Way adjusters1 set of caster shims2.5” drop spindlesCamber adjusters (2 degrees negative camber)Tracking...
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08 OCT

1

Just Beetles goes Touring Car Racing (part 13)

Posted on October 08, 2009

Brands HatchI’d been looking forward to Brands Hatch for some time as this was where the Beetle first turned its wheels in anger. It was also the scene of my first ever circuit race back in July which ended with the car and me coming away with a trophy and our first class win.Based on the cars performance at previous tracks, Brands looked like being my best shot at a good result as i’d driven the circuit before and being the short ‘Indy’ circuit this time, it was nearly...
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09 SEP

2

Just Beetles goes touring car racing (part 12)

Posted on September 09, 2009

Oulton Park (Gold Cup) Race.I was looking forward to Oulton Park. It’s one of the countries best tracks and we were entered in two races. firstly a 20 minute HSCC points race and later in the day a one hour, two driver race for pre-1966 Touring Cars.First job was to learn the circuit, so we had two 20 minute test sessions on Saturday morning. One for me to learn the 2.7 mile Oulton Park International circuit and one for Jeff the second driver who already knows the track, but doesn’t...
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25 AUG

128

Just Beetles goes touring car racing (part 11)

Posted on August 25, 2009

  Mallory Park Race. Motor racing is a strange mix of fun and frustration, and our second race held at Mallory Park in Leicestershire was no exception. After the elderly gearbox broke at our first race at Brands Hatch, we quickly had a fresh one built and were looking for a little extra speed going into Mallory. Unfortunately, as soon as I went out in qualifying it was clear that something was wrong...the 4th gear was far too tall!...so much so, that the engine was having trouble pulling...
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29 JUL

0

Just Beetles goes Touring Car Racing (part 10)

Posted on July 29, 2009

Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit (Race Day)Race day started early with qualifying. The original goal for the weekend was to not qualify last, but as the gearbox was broken and we only had 3rd gear, this was looking optimistic to say the least. The Mini Coopers that we share the 1300cc class with, normally lap the full Grand Prix circuit between (1:55) and (2:04) and the best that we had managed two days earlier in testing (with only one gear remember) was a (2:17).The engine was 10bhp down on what...
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14 JUL

0

Just Beetles goes Touring Car Racing (part 9)

Posted on July 14, 2009

Brands Hatch HSCC Superprix TestingWell, our first race weekend has been and gone....And what a weekend!It actually started on Thursday afternoon a Llandow circuit in South Wales. The plan being, to get there for lunch but we had problems with the brakes which had to be sorted first and so we arrived at the track a 4pm, just as the rain started. So the first time the car would hit the track would be in the wet! We had 2 hours tracktime to check the oil pressures, oil temperatures, get the engine...
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08 JUL

0

Just Beetles goes Touring Car Racing (part 8)

Posted on July 08, 2009

Well, It's the Wednesday after our first race and I thought I would give you a little teaser to let you know how it went. We had 3 Mini Coopers to deal with in the 1300cc class and we broke the gearbox in Friday testing and had to do qualifying and the race with only 3rd gear, so how do you think it went? How about a class win, trophy and maximum points in our first ever race (with only 1 gear!) This car really shifts! There was a Porsche 356A running a mildly tuned 1600cc super 90 engine and...
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01 JUL

0

Just Beetles goes Touring Car Racing (part 7)

Posted on July 01, 2009

This was meant to be (part 2) of our suspension and handling piece, but we will have to put that on the back burner for a couple of weeks. Reason being...WE ARE RACING THIS WEEKEND..Yay!! After a difficult birth, we've now reached a point where we can get the car on-track and see if all the effort has been worthwhile. A big thankyou must go out to Andy and his team at the Farnborough VW Centre (01252 521152) for rewiring the whole car at such short notice and putting in some long hours on our...
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