Thanks, testing at Snetterton tomorrow, hopefully that won't be so daunting as Oulton, at least it is a bit warmer which will help with grip, just need to find some bigger brave pills :-)
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Thanks, testing at Snetterton tomorrow, hopefully that won't be so daunting as Oulton, at least it is a bit warmer which will help with grip, just need to find some bigger brave pills :-)
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...psxhprwkqt.jpg
Hi Everyone,
Just thought I would post a quick blog as went out testing yesterday at Snetterton in the Radical in preparation for our next race weekend there on May 12th, we only run the 200 configuration where for the race weekend we will be running the longer 300 version but I just felt I needed more time in the car to try and help understand this downforce thing.
In end I got nearly 3 hours of running and doesn’t my body know it today, my arms are really aching as Snetterton is a very fast and physically demanding circuit, towards the end of the day I started making mistakes as that much time in the car really does drain you mentally when you are not used to it.
In the end it was a brilliant day and I learned so much and am now starting to feel at home in the car, after our first race weekend at Oulton Park a few weeks ago I felt that I should have done better really even though it was my first run in the car I knew I had more to give but Oulton is a pretty scary place and my hope was that Snetterton was flat and wide so that would give me more confidence.
To help push me on I had Tom Gladdis who has had a pretty esteemed racing career as my driver coach, he was just brilliant as he didn’t pressure me but just gave excellent advice which I did my best to follow, basically he went out and set a benchmark lap of 1min 17 and then I did my best lap of 1min 23 after my first session then looking at the data we could compare where I was loosing the time, basically as at Oulton it was all on the brakes and in the fast corners, technically my driving style was good it was just I needed to be braver and trust the aero but as the day went on I chipped away with Tom’s help and got down to a 1min 20 which I was really happy with, I think if I had strung every sector together I could have done a 1min 19 but by the end of the day I was frazzled :)
The car went straight from Snetterton to the graphics shop to get it all HiFi Lounge’d up, can’t wait to see it once done.
Anyway here is my best lap of the day, roll on the race weekend :)
https://youtu.be/gIb-9U_8iQs
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...psfmtwgehd.jpg
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...psoph4bnlv.jpg
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...psnmjtk62i.jpg
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...psrak3on1k.jpg
Cheers,
Paul.
Hi Everyone,
Radical posted highlights from our first race weekend at Oulton Park up on YouTube a couple of days ago if anyone would like a look, haven't bought myself to watch them yet but looks like great coverage, links to Race 1 and Race 2 below.
https://youtu.be/cxEvW1iNmgs
https://youtu.be/ET9BfElv7dY
Cheers,
Paul.
2nd Race Weekend at Snetterton this Saturday May 12th!
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps3crsyzw7.jpg
Hi all,
So here we go again, just a quick headsup for anyone that is following my Radical SR1 race adventures that the 2nd race weekend is with us already this coming Friday / Saturday at Snetterton, basically practicing on the Friday with Qualifying and 2 races on the Saturday. Snetterton looks a little more straightforward than Oulton Park in that it is flat and wide but it is actually a very fast circuit so the car will definitely be able to stretch its legs and I will get more practice at trying to get the hang of keeping the speed up in the fast corners which is my main weakness.
I feel much more prepared for this weekend now that I know the procedure of how a race day pans out + I have spent more time in the car so feel a bit more confident there. My main goal for this weekend is to be more competitive than at the first race at Oulton but also the main priority is to finish both races being that I only finished one at Oulton as I spun off in the 2nd race.
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...psv9ajfdio.jpg
New Car Livery
So in-between races we have had the car’s livery designed in HiFi Lounge colours with our Sponsors put on the car, I actually haven’t seen it myself yet so this weekend will be it’s first showing, can’t wait to see it, we have a photoshoot planned for the following week so that we can announce our Sponsors officially and to get the story in the HiFi mags but at least the car will be more noticeable on track from now onwards.
Follow Our Progress with TSL Timing
We actually have quite a few friends coming along to support us for this event as well as taking advantage of the Radical hospitality package so look forward to seeing everyone on the Saturday, for those who can’t make it along but would still like to follow our progress there is a brilliant website called TSL Timing where you can follow qualifying and the race, please see link below -
http://www.tsl-timing.com/
So fingers crossed for a dry weekend so that I can hopefully get a better feel for how I fare up against the rest of the competition in the SR1 Cup.
For those who are coming along please see the event calendar below, looks like it will be a fun weekend of racing.
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...pshsycrkhx.jpg
Cheers,
Paul.
good luck...:)
Snetterton Race Weekend Photo Book + Video!
Hi Everyone,
Just wanted to post a few pictures from last weekends race at Snetterton, a big thanks to Oliver Read, Radical’s Photographer for taking such awesome pictures :)
Looking back on my 2nd race weekend I would say I did OK but not great, made big gains on Friday in testing thanks to my coach Tom Gladdis where he helped me find over 5 seconds from where I started the day getting down to a 2 min 3 sec lap which I was pretty happy with bearing in mind I had never driven the Snetterton 300 layout before.
Race day was a bit of a mixed bag really, I think I was still on the sun bed on my holiday to be honest, qualified 10th for both races, we had some new guys join the grid for this weekend who had a lot of race experience so it was difficult to compete with them. We also reverted over to rolling starts for the first time which was a little nerve racking beforehand but actually went pretty smoothly.
The first race started off OK then around half way I kind of just settled into a pace and almost stopped pushing, not really sure what that was all about to be honest, then between races we had a big downpour which was starting to dry out before the race but conditions were very slippery and as I had never driven in the wet before I just wasn’t confident to push at the start, especially as cars were spinning off on the warm up laps so I went into self preservation mode and just wanted to get to the end in one piece, in the end half way through the race we had a safety car as someone spun off and got stuck in a dangerous place so it wasn’t much of a race but on the last lap I was just starting to feel the grip levels when the chequered flag came out, but good experience if nothing else.
The main objective was to finish both races which I did and I closed the gap to my fellow ‘Fangio’ Competitors but in all honesty I was hoping to be a little more competitive.
Silverstone next though on June 23rd, this is the one race I have been looking forward to the most so I am really hoping I can be more competitive there.
Please find below the video of my best lap from the weekend, as you can see the gearbox got stuck in 5th going into the last corner so I would imagine I lost a fair bit of time there but all in all I was pretty happy with the lap.
https://youtu.be/a9FL2Ms1tXM
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...psado4asan.jpg
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...psoaouz9nz.jpg
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...pshcwkgokj.jpg
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps4kbdjtyk.jpg
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps5snmygzc.jpg
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...pssswryxpf.jpg
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...pszfuupfen.jpg
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...pspgsmw7lv.jpg
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...psuz5w4zun.jpg
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...psklmst2yi.jpg
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...psvrhsmxla.jpg
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps4yx3xryl.jpg
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...psfgwunpny.jpg
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...psctyvtl7t.jpg
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...psvcvljswl.jpg
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...pscjbap7ml.jpg
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...psrflcvc2i.jpg
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...pspgiha6av.jpg
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...psobptr8yo.jpg
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...psvyvaihds.jpg
Cheers,
Paul.
Silverstone Lap + Free Hospitality Results from BTD Day!
Hi Everyone,
Our next Radical SR1 race is at Silverstone on June 23rd and in preparation for this I was out testing on Friday to help get more familiar with the car and also with the track, I have to say this was the first time I have been in the car and actually not been scared :) I actually started to feel relaxed in it and really enjoyed the day, I think it helps that even though Silverstone is a fast track it is very wide with large run off areas, I have watched many of my heroes over the years race around here, there is just so much great history, it really was epic to drive a race car around here myself :)
We were testing on the full Grand Prix layout which was great fun but for our race we will be on the National layout which is much shorter but I am really hoping I can be more competitive here, at the end of the day there are only 5 corners, how hard can that be, famous last words :)
Anyway, please find a lap from Friday’s testing, not sure if it was my fastest time as my telemetry was all up the spout, it still amazes me how fast it feels in the car but when I watch it back it really looks like I’m not even trying, I can definitely see where I can improve though which is good news, especially as there were a couple of mistakes on this lap, thanks again to Daz at UPE Motorsport and Tom, my coach, for helping me get the best out of the day.
https://youtu.be/SOBe9Uj1rOk
Silverstone Hospitality - June 23rd
So for this years Boys Toys Day we said for the top 5 times on our simulator we would offer free full hospitality and free entry to our Silverstone race on June 23rd, so please see below for the top 5 times, if you are on this can you please e-mail me on the below address, also for £30 a head if you’d also like to come along and take advantage of Radicals brilliant Hospitality package please let me know.
paul@hifilounge.co.uk
The Top 5 Times.
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...pslvo4intq.jpg
Everyone else’s times.
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...psx70hogvs.jpg
Cheers,
Paul.
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...psixpjp8dm.jpg
I’m not really sure when the idea popped into my head about going racing with Radical Sportscars but as soon as it did I thought it would be really cool if we could run it as a HiFi Car, then the idea developed into a ‘Best Of British’ HiFi Car, so the next step was to approach all my British brands that we work with, now I knew this wasn’t going to be everyones cup of tea, in fact I did wonder if anyone would be mad enough to agree but luckily enough 6 of our brands were crazy enough to think it was a good idea and they agreed to help with sponsoring the car.
So the next step was to design the livery in the HiFi Lounge colours and to cover it with our sponsors, I am really pleased how it has turned out, it looks like a real racing car now where as at the first race weekend it did look a little plain but at least it is easy to spot on track now and is also getting people talking in the pit lane, it turns out one of my competitors makes the case work for dCS, small world.
So I’d like to say a huge thanks to the following companies for supporting this mad cap idea especially as I am finding out that motorsport is definitely not a cheap past time but with their support it is definitely helping but more importantly it is really cool to be driving a HiFi themed Race Car :)
So thanks to our 4 main sponsors of (in alphabetical order) Chord Electronics, Naim Audio, PMC Speakers and Trilogy Audio as well as our other 2 additional sponsors of Atlas Cables and Rega, thanks guys, really appreciate your support.
A couple of weeks ago we had a photo shoot at HiFi Lounge with all the representatives from each company which was a lot of fun, here are a few of the pics from the day with each relevant sponsor -
Maurice From Chord Electronics
http://hifilounge.co.uk/chord-electronics
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...psivwv9nqe.jpg
Mike From Naim Audio
http://hifilounge.co.uk/naim-audio
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...psvf4bzccs.jpg
Tom From PMC Speakers
http://hifilounge.co.uk/pmc-speakers
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...pse03oe07t.jpg
Nigel Representing Trilogy Audio
http://hifilounge.co.uk/trilogy
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps0xzy8kve.jpg
Rob From Rega
http://hifilounge.co.uk/rega
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...psndbobotm.jpg
Donal From Atlas Cables
http://hifilounge.co.uk/atlas-cables
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...pskuioamaz.jpg
Also here are a few random pics from the day + a couple from when on track -
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...psdfl6qjxi.jpg
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...psrqnmlsst.jpg
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps3qekeum6.jpg
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...psap0wapto.jpg
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...pszfuupfen.jpg
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps3phyrxwo.jpg
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...psvcvljswl.jpg
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps4anzgxkw.jpg
Thanks again everyone for your support, know I just need to start getting faster :)
Cheers.
Paul.