Hey guys the weather forecast is good for the SMRC weekend of racing this weekend. I'll be racing on Saturday and Sunday and hopefully testing on Friday night.

where abouts is it Sparco?

Knockhill.

I'll try and make it down on the Sunday - try not to break anything before then.

Are you ok for pitlane support - I can make it more definite if you'd need a hand.

Its a bit far for me (plus the missus is about pop at any minute)

Will it be on the televisualiser?

Marco come on now ask yourself the question Scottish Motor Racing Club!?

Matt always needing a hand mate but i reckon we won;t be too pushed for time this weekend as i'm sure we have one round on saturday and one on sunday so lots of time to eat stuff off the bbq in between. Come down whenever mate if you can manage.

Nobby yes it will be on the televisualiser mate in a couple of weeks. I have now got my in car video back working so i should have some in car footage before then i hope.

I'm racing there too - I'll try to get across and say hello - shouldn't be tough as I have loads of time on my hands.

Oh i know Richard i think they have really made a horlicks of the timings this weekend. We'll be there from Friday afternoon until sunday afternoon with not a great deal to do.

How did you get on at Cadwell?

Tell me about it. I think we're racing last on Sat & Sun. Sunday, in particular is going to be a long day...

Cadwell went really well despite not having had the engine tuned at all since it was built and despite being ill. Qualified 5th out of 24 (2nd in class behind the awesome Marshall £120k BDG Escort) and had two great races with the Marshall brother BDA Escort - I took two 3rd in classes. I should have had a 5th (2nd in class) on the Sunday but the safety car brought the BDA Escort onto my tail and I was a sitting duck on the straight. Made for a fun race though which, since I have no chance of beating the BDG, is what it's all about.

Looking forward to seeing what the engine delivers. Looking forward to getting out at KH with a fully-functioning engine for the first time in a year and a half.

Will be there on Friday evening too so we might be sharing the track.

I'll keep out of your way then. I've got my gearbox sorted now with a fully forged dog kit. here's hoping i don;t break it too soon as it was expensive. I'll be running it in tomorrow and generally just taking it easy. Got my first new tyres too so i'll be holding nothing back for qualyfying on saturday morning.

Ooh - new tyres - that's gotta be worth a second a lap. Mine are pretty fresh (having only done 10 laps of Cadwell).

You certainly won't be in my way on the straights and modern cars tend to be at least as quick through the corners - usually faster - especially versus my 1950's suspension design.

At least I'll have someone to cheer for in the Sports & Saloons race - they tend to get pretty spread out with the relatively small grids.

There is a bunch of 4 of us who are pretty evenly matched, well we were at the last race anyway and i have to say i was the best saloon racing yet so here's hoping we can have more of the same. I think realistically i am fighting for a podium position all going well.

Yes new tyres, only on the front mind but i'm hoping they will help.

good luck Marco & Meanredspider!!

looking forward to seeing some in-car clips of yours Marco with the new gearbox!

let me know when your on TV again mate as its a great to see you and the coupe giving other abuse!!

plus it shows other people that coupes are not just straight line car's

Well my weekend was ended before it even begun. Engine failed on the rollers - lost compression on #2 - still no idea why. Trailered it to Newmarket on Friday where the engine builder is going to look at it.

My weekend was not really any better. Went a little something like this:

Friday 1st session - Blew off a boost hose
Friday 2nd session - Went like FCCUK, wow!!!
Saturday Qualy - Melted actuator pipe
Saturday 1st race - Started last and finished last - burst a boost pipe.
Sunday 2nd race - blew a boost hose off at the start DNF.

Total rubbish weekend for me and the first time i have ever had problems with hoses coming off etc. That's racing i suppose.

Yours sounds a lot more concearning than mine though, i hope you get it fixed soon.

gutted for you both

Sparco, was it a case of just clamps not working/ old failing?

or just not put back on correctly?

Changed back to a standard manifold which we ported and ditched the stainless one as it is just falling apart, the wleding is atrocious. So the actuator pipe was closer than before and we didn;t notice so it just touched a little and melted. One the clips faile at the throttle body and the pipe that burst was the reducer pipe coming out of the turbo. Managed to source one on saturday but it wasn't the correct size so had to sleeve it with a bit of the burst one. Didn't work basically. I'll order 2 now so that i have one as a spare and i'm changing all clips for the Mikalor ones which should stop hoses coming off or clips failing. Won't stop hose failures mind but then you can only count on so many things. Just an unlucky weekend.

That's a bummer. Racing certainly uncovers the weak points. On the positive side, it seems as though the 2 seconds a lap I found at Cadwell were running the same power a last year - so some improvement in balance issues and driver "issues".

It's no bad thing the builder is getting the engine back. Means he can run it on his local rollers and find the power he promised.