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Diary - Season 2007

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Hello and welcome to Team 177's diary page here there will be diary like bits straight from the workshop or pits reguarding the driver, car and team. Also there will on occassions be racing reports!

SEPTEMBER 2007
 
09/09/07
Time for an update. With a very busy week finally at a end (4 race meetings in 7 days!) the most busiest part of this years Rookie Rod calender has come to an end.
It has been a rather successful end for Noel, with good results all round. Starting back at Eastborne last month at the Southern Championship, with a couple of 11th places. Then at Yarmouth the following day for the final of the Rookie Rod Summer league. Noel had a very successful night with a 3rd and a 1st place, therefore guarenting him a 3rd in the final table standings before the final race. Unfortuatly dispite being 3rd on the grid, and making a good start the heavens opened to a torrental rain storm and completely runied the race!. But needless to say, Noel was extremely pleased to go away with a 3rd place, and not one but two new trophies for the trophey cabinet!.
Which brings us to the past thursday (05/09/07) and to another Yarmouth. Unfortuatly there seemed to be a dip in cars for this meeting, along with the crowd!. However Noel once again had a successful evening, with a 3rd place in the first race. Once back in the pits however he was slightly concerned as the car was heating up!, after further investigation it was found the a damaged fuse was to blame for the fan not working, and this and a tyre change was made before the second race. The second race was not as good, but this was also pretty action packed with cars being spun and mishaps occuring!.
The final was an excellent race for Noel, and one that he has already said was his race of the season. After getting up to third place, both the first and second place cars spun, spilting just infront of Noel, to give him a clear path through. He then remained on a tight racing line for the rest of the race, taking the chequred flag with both of the England Brothers behind him in 2nd and 3rd place.
After so much racing, the team are having a well deserved break!, our next meeting is at the end of the month, back at Yarmouth...See you there!

AUGUST 2007
 
28.08.07
The Start of a very busy weeks racing this week, with Noel racing at Eastbourne and Yarmouth twice!. Eastborne is tomorrow night, and it is the Southern Championship for them, Noel is going to be off the blue grade, so if your going down, give him a cheer on. Unfortuatly the webmistress will have to wait for a phone call to give you all an update on how he bares, as she has got to work and wont be making the trip down south!.
Thursday morning will be full on action to get the gearbox changed and ready for Yarmouth, which is the 7th round of the Rookie Rod summer league. The battle is on for 3rd place, with Noel in the thick of it!.
Then the end of the week, brings another big one, the final of the Rookie Rod summer league, after 8 weeks the top three will be decided. It all depends on how Thursday goes if Noel stands a chance or not!.
 
18.08.07
Well another Yarmouth beckoned and the whole of the 177 was a little nervous to see how the car was going to go after the events of the previous week, and the repairs that were made!.
All didnt start to plan when we arrived rather late and missed out on pratice, so it was straight into the racing at the deep end!.
Heat 1 was ok, with Noel finishing up 3rd and grabbing a £5 for his troubles (hey it brought the fish and chips ok?!), he was unhappy with the car, and I could also see why, it just didnt seem as quick as it had done on previous occasions, so it was decided by the pit crew that a change of tyres with less grip on would need to be done for the next heat....
Both Heat 2 and the final, the car was alot faster than what it had inititally been, with Noel feeling that the car went faster in the 2nd heat compared to the final, but the tyres defintly made a difference. Both of the races Noel came away with a 4th position, not to bad!
Thankfully we came away from the meeting with no damage and the team were fairly happy with the evenings events...Noel is undecided as yet but a few small teaks maybe going on down the workshop this week, but thankfully nothing as extensive as last weekend!.
 
13.8.07
Yarmouth Aug 9th turned out to be a somewhat eventfull meeting in one way or another. Without going into too much detail, Noel ended up sitting across the bend, on the racing line in race 2. Unfortunatly John Smith had not seen him and hit Noel flat out, Causing massive damage to his and Noels car. Luckily both drivers were ok. John managed to get his car out in the final, Noels car barely made it onto the trailer. Noel missed racing at Bovingdon this Sunday, But he has now repaired the car ready for Thursday at Yarmouth.
 

JUNE 2007
13.6.07 - We raced at Yarmouth last Sunday and we got a mixed bag of results. We changed set up seceral times but nothing seemed to change the way the car was handling, probably something to do with the fact that the rear axle is bent. So plenty of work to do this week, because we were asked to change our roll cage at scruitineering. So with race damage, roll cage mods and a rear axle to change i'm going to be busy to make Yarmouth this coming Sunday.
 
5.6.07 - We raced at Bovingdon on Sun 3rd and it was very hot. This was only my second time here so we did not expect too much. I had left the car set up basically as I had raced it at Wimbledon in the wet, except with different tyres. I started the first race from the back of the red grade and managed a 7th place. The car felt good with the back end being a little loose it seemed to get round the tricky bottom bend quite well. We changed a tyre in the second race, but it did not seem to handle quite as well. I finished 4th on the track but got dropped to 7th for contact. I expected this as I had accidently spun another car when I missed my braking point going into the top bend. Apoligies if it was you. I was not placed in the final, All the red tops were busy racing each other and we let the lower grades dissapear into the sunset. The racing was good and clean all day except for the final where one particular driver seemed to keep getting spun, then coming back onto the track without looking, straight into the side of me. But I guess thats racing. See you at Yarmouth on Sun 10th June
 
MAY 2007
28.5.07 - We raced at Wimbledon last night and was it wet. In the first race I drew  30th on the grid and finished about 15th. In the second race I started 4th on the grid and after some adjustments to the car it was going quite well. I had found a good line on the outside and was gaining ground on the leaders. I was trying to go round the outside of one car when a car spun in front of me. I avoided him but spun myself, I was then t-boned by another car that had nowhere to go. Thats Racing! I had snapped the steering rack and bent the leg. We managed to fix it for the final and we lined up in 19th place. As soon as I went into the first bend of the final i knew the car was not right. I was all over the place and such I was getting quite a lot of damage. Once I had been lapped I pulled off to avoid any more damage and to avoid ruining anydody elses race. damage and to avoid ruining anybodys race.
 
16.5.07 - We raced at Yarmouth on Sun 13th May. What can we say, It was very very wet. I like racing in the wet, but had not raced this car much in the wet, So we took a guess at setup and it seemed to work. We managed a 4th in the first race. 5th in the second race and 7th in the final. It was a good meeting but I did get a fair bit of damage which has to be put right before our next meeting at Wimbledon on 27th May.
 
APRIL 2007
23.4.07 - We raced at Yarmouth yesterday with mixed fortunes. We did one lap in race one when we pulled off with a sick running engine. We changed everything we could in the pits to find the problem. The last thing we checked were the plugs and you guessed it. We changed them and everything was fine. In race two we managed 4th after a good race with No.6. In the final we got 6th I got stuck behind a car which I just could not pass but was a lot quicker than. We need to do some work on the suspension set up, then hopefully we can use the outside line more. Next meeting will be at Yarmouth on the 13th May.
 
17.4.07 - We have just finished repairing the damage after racing at Bovingdon, We had moved the front of the car over by about an inch.This happened when I hit an out of control driver who was going across the track in front of me. A racing incident that could not be avoided, Thats Racing! It appears at the moment I could be a Blue grade for Yarmouth, So i better get the paint out.
 
9.4.07 - After spending all week getting the car ready, we were off to Bovingdon on Good Friday. I was not allowed any practice and as I had not raced here before I thought I would start the first race from the back. But alas I was not allowed to do this and had to start in my grade. Race one was hectic with about 30 cars racing. We finished but not in the top ten. We made a few alterations to the car ready for race two. The car was going much better and we were getting to grips with the track. There was some kind of racing incident between another driver and myself which the cleark of the course duly sorted out! The final was going to be hard work and a top ten finish was the aim. I think we managed to work my way up to 8th place, this is still to be confirmed. We now have a lot of work to get the car ready for Yarmouth on the 22nd April. This was my first time at Bovingdon, it was hectic with a lot of contact but was still fun, so we are hoping to visit again this season

March 2007
 
28.3.07  -Sundays meeting at Yarmouth was not our best. The car seemed to have lost a lot of power and was handling like a rowing boat on a choppy sea. I blew a radiator in the first heat and got a ninth and tenth in the other two races. We now have a lot of work to do to get the car ready for Bovingdon on good Friday. See you there.
 
22.3.07
We will be at Yarmouth this coming Sunday, hopefully we should pass the inside weight rule this week after making several adjustments, including moving the battery.
 
22.3.07
Over the winter months we had made some changes to the suspension, the car was so much better and took some getting used to. The car seemed best in the first race, even if I did try and do a clutch start in 3rd which put me straight to the back.
In the second race the car was going well until I tries to go round the outside of some white tops, Someone got out of shape and knocked my inside front wheel, giving me a puncture. We fitted a new wheel and tyre for the final, but the car did not seem right, although it came good in the last ten laps. On investigating when we got home I had bent the inside front suspension leg, more money. Ahh well thats racing!

12.3.07 - Yesterday was our first meeting of the year, Spedeworth decided it was time to check the inside weight of all the Rookie Rods, as Rookie Rod drivers are mainly novices this causes a lot of trouble because not many of us have scales to adjust and alter our inside weight. We tried moving the battery  to the passanger side footwell, this took us .5% over the inside weight. The rule I have no problem with but to face a ban if it fails at the next meeting is rather silly. Surely if a driver makes an improvement then they should be allowed to race and adjust again for the next meeting. Anyway we were all allowed to race, we managed a 5th in the first race after a re-start where I tried to start in 3rd gear. DOH! The second race we did not finish due to a pucnture. In the final we managed a 4th. The car started off pretty poor in the early stages of the final but came good in the last ten laps another five laps and perhaps we may have claimed 3rd. Hopefully we will be racing again at Yarmouth on the 25th March (inside weight permitting)
 

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