birchieboy
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Registered: 18th Jan 06
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I don't want to bore you all with the details, but after passing my national B licence in February this year I decided to race in the Trackday trophy series. After an engine rebuild that was carried out by Mr Lee Hearsey and changes to the car to make it suitable for the series regulations I booked up Brands GP race which was held Saturday 27th July.
Testing; 4 weeks prior to the race i went to brands for an evening session where i blew 3rd gear 
2 weeks prior to the race i was still waiting for the correct rose joints for my lower arms.
1 week prior i was adding ballast to the car to keep in within the correct power to weight ratio
3 days prior we noticed the engine knocking, the solid engine mount on the gearbox side had failed
The day before we were working on the car till 12:30am as we noticed the hub had span in the bearing causing alot of play, fitting the gearbox mount, replacing a cv joint as thread had stripped, fitting stickers and changing fibreglass panels back to metal.
on the day we were bleeding brakes, making suspension changes and cutting arches to stop new 205 wide tyres scrubbing..........
http://www.corsasport.co.uk/carimages/10244/james_birch_1.jpg
http://www.corsasport.co.uk/carimages/10244/james_birch_2.jpg
http://www.corsasport.co.uk/carimages/10244/james_birch_3.jpg
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=448786581895396
Video of race start.
after all of that........ IT WAS THE BEST EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE!
if you ever get a chance to race in a series, grab it by both hands! i can only thank everyone involved, most of whom are not on corsasport. I'm lucky to have a great group of friends, this car has been built over the years on my driveway on limited money, I'm no millionaire here, just committed to achieving my dream, to race competitively.
Race report;
Qualified 23rd out of 44
in the first 30 mins of the 45 min race i climbed 13 places to 10th, then while everyone else was making pit stops i went up to 2nd, then i carried out my mandatory pit stop, but there there were oil pressure problems, opened the bonnet and the dipstick had popped out and covered the engine bay with oil.
Forced to retire.
After everything we overcome to get to the grid it was a little disappointing for a dipstick to fail! but so pleased with how the car all came together in the end, it really hooked up well and i was confident i could have grabbed a couple more places.
Now I'm hoping to save enough money to make it to Silverstone for the next round in September, then November back at Brands Indy.
Ill try and get more pics and a video up 
p.s i need a sponsor! if you know of anyone 
[Edited on 29-07-2013 by birchieboy]
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Balling
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Registered: 7th Apr 04
Location: Denmark
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So long story short, you entered a race and lost? 
Sounds like good fun, could imagine it being a great experience.
Out of curiosity, of the 44 cars how many completed the race?
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Ben G
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Registered: 12th Jan 07
Location: Essex
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Your sister said you came 10th on facebook...
That start looked rather chaotic 
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birchieboy
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Registered: 18th Jan 06
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Haha yep, i lost
But the first 10-15 laps dicing with everything were me living the racing driver dream! Sad it maybe, but when your that passionate about something that's how it feels. I still smiling about it today.
To be honest I don't know the answer to that question, I saw one fail on the start line and 3 crashed off, I'd say a few more retirements due to mechanicals, a rough guess I'd say 34 out of the 44......
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birchieboy
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Registered: 18th Jan 06
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quote:
Originally posted by Ben G
Your sister said you came 10th on facebook...
That start looked rather chaotic
Yeah she lied! Lol I said before the start I'd be really happy with 10th or higher.
Think she was so pround of me (family love) she thought I deserved my 10th place, bloody dipstick! Who'd of thought that would end your race......
Yeah it was manic! But I was glad I was in the thick of it, buzz was unreal
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Haimsey
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Registered: 8th May 05
Location: Nottingham Drives: Corsa B
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Great job. Shame about having to retire.
Well done!
Marcy Marc 
White Sport Progress Thread
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Chris C
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Registered: 2nd Jan 05
Location: Hemel Hempstead
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Lucky sod ! Would love to do something like this, bet your heart was going crazy at the start line !!
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SteveoBC
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Registered: 22nd Feb 07
Location: Bucks
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so from doing your licence to an entry fees/costs for the race, how much do you reckon it set you back?
id love to do this myself
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SXIBrad
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Registered: 7th Mar 13
Location: South Yorkshire
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Sounds like a great experience.
Shame about the dipstick though! After all the problems you overcame to get it ready for the race, and a fucking poncy dipstick ends it :/
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birchieboy
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Registered: 18th Jan 06
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quote:
Originally posted by SteveoBC
so from doing your licence to an entry fees/costs for the race, how much do you reckon it set you back?
id love to do this myself
Rough prices were
MSA race pack - 65
ARDS test - 250
Medical - 20
OMP suit/boots/gloves/balaclava all FIA from YB racing (cheap season stock) 320
Entry free - 425 (usually 325 but Brands GP is more expensive) (can be divided by two drivers with shared drive at pitstop)
Petrol - 100quid
Extinguisher/rain light/ignition cut off you could all do for less than 200quid
There were more costs as I wanted to uprate the car, but those above are the minium to get you out there.
Best to half the cost with a friend and share the driving. Just have to toss a coin who gets to start, as in my opinion that was my highlight!
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chris_uk
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Registered: 8th Jul 03
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Congrats on actually entering something, better than having your car sat under a sheet on your drive taking pictures of it with a remote controlled flying toy.
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birchieboy
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Registered: 18th Jan 06
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quote:
Originally posted by Chris C
Lucky sod ! Would love to do something like this, bet your heart was going crazy at the start line !!
Like you wouldnt believe! even more so when there was a 3 car sandwich all rubbing panels infront of me into the first corner! That's when I realised what I'd got myself into! Lol
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*CorsaCal*
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Registered: 3rd Oct 10
Location: Leicestershire Drives: 20XE Corsa
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Nice one mate. Sounds good. I want to get into this in the next couple of years.
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corsadonk
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Registered: 4th Jul 09
Location: Marlborough, Wiltshire
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Well done, for entering.
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Gaz
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Registered: 24th Aug 03
Location: Widnes, Cheshire
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antnee
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Registered: 30th Dec 07
Location: Cov Drives: Clio 197
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Well done on actually making a race. Shame about the dipstick, its common for people to cable tie them down when racing
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birchieboy
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Registered: 18th Jan 06
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Yeah going to make a spring or clip for the dipstick now
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Joey 1.6 sport
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Registered: 23rd Oct 11
Location: Kent
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Well done Jay shame I didn't make it but will catch up soon
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Graham88
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Registered: 16th Apr 07
Location: South East Kent Drives: E46 M3
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Quality mate. Nice one
Was your evening session at Brands on 24th June?
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birchieboy
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Registered: 18th Jan 06
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quote:
Originally posted by Graham88
Quality mate. Nice one
Was your evening session at Brands on 24th June?
Yeah that was me, was meant to be testing the car for the race, but it didn't last long before I blew 3rd gear up
Yours looked like it was going well!
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Graham88
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Registered: 16th Apr 07
Location: South East Kent Drives: E46 M3
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I wondered if it was you but didn't wanna walk over in case it wasn't
Cheers mate what sorta times do you get round the Indy? It looked rapid?
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birchieboy
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Registered: 18th Jan 06
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Haha
I've never timed myself on any track apart from the ring. My mate timed some of my laps at the race on brands GP and best was a 1:53.... Don't know if that was my fastest of the day though. What do you get on the indy?
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Graham88
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Registered: 16th Apr 07
Location: South East Kent Drives: E46 M3
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My best is 55.2, hit regular 56's mostly, purely depends on traffic as you know! Just be interesting to see really
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birchieboy
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Registered: 18th Jan 06
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That's pretty quick! What do BTCC cars do round there? Yeah its hard to get consecutive clean laps on a trackday on the indy circuit. I should be racing the indy in november so ill know what times I do then
There's also a race at Silverstone the day before trax but don't know if ill beable to afford to do it.
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Chris C
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Registered: 2nd Jan 05
Location: Hemel Hempstead
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What dates in November ? I wouldn't mind going to watch.
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