Some pics and vids here as promised. I worked for Adrian Coles Racing at the weekend supporting the British Touring cars finale at Silverstone. Adrian Coles (who is a bank manager during the week!!) runs a Formula Renault team and a Formula BMW team. They also run a very successful kart team and have won something like seven national championships in about fifteen years. He keeps the kart team ticking over to feed drivers into F. BMW and F.Renault.
It's a small almost family run team but is very professional and had some good results in F.Renault, especially seeing as this is there first season in the category.
I travelled to the circuit every day seeing as I go to college there so it's the same journey just with heavier traffic
I was working on the Renault cars (I hope the new Formula Renault bodywork they have for next year is not as ill fitting as all of the Formula Renault cars I have worked on previously) and with a new driver in our car called Kris Loane,
http://www.impartialreporter.com/cgi-bi ... reeid=1328 (2nd article down)
http://www.ff1600.co.uk/index.php?id=1150 a young Irish lad who had only done a bit of testing for them. With Dean Smith
http://www.deansmithracing.com/default.asp in the first car (site needs updating) He was inline to win the Graduate Cup and was in direct competition with a driver from a team called Fortec who are very successful in Renault and British F3, but got punted out of the second race losing him the chance to take home a cool £10,000. (They are running Matt Hamilton and Roger Oglive in the BMW's.... keep your eye out for that Hamilton)
Even though Dean didn't win the title the scrutineers still wanted to look over the fuel tank, check engine timing , check diameter of bearings in rear uprights, weigh all wishbones... I mean it was crazy. We got the cars out of parc ferme at about half three and I thought I was going to miss all the traffic and get an early night but no such luck.
Now for some video I took on my phone. Some of it is very short and not of amazing quality so I do apologise.
F.BMW leaving the garage.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiYFbKNzSdc
Pitting in after practice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVgBPaGFgPg
Jez warming up car no.9 for Kris.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtSosy5PKvk
This is how crazy it is in the pits. F.Renaults come in from practice and are on way to parc ferme, Touring cars are trying to get out for their practice session, mechanics are zipping about on quads, people are legging it off the pit wall... it's crazy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9JZHAh_6PY
The view from the grid.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00FHdxxR-as
And finally the end of the second race after Fortec have just nabbed the title.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Duvw4Pvo0D0
This is the boys whipping the fuel tank off which means removal of wing, gearbox, wishbones, etc, etc. It's a massive job and took them about two hours, even
with me passing them tools.
This is the engine out ready to be picked up by someone from Renault because it has to be sent to France for analysis ( ! )
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'box
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Had a great weekend even if I did feel like I had run a marathon by Sunday night.
This Enzo was parked outside of Ferrari G.B. yesterday in between no less than nine, yes nine Ferrari 430's. (Ferrari G.B. is practically our next door neighbour at our Silverstone site)
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...but the biggest news of the week is that I went to meet the Chief Mechanic at Triple 8 Race Engineering who run the works Vauxhall British Touring car team yesterday........ I'm starting in Sub Assembly on the 31st of this month. They are giving me a work placement, I can't believe it. All I have to do is prove that I'm not a complete halfwit and I should be alright. Although I want to get into top level single seaters, Triple 8 are such a good team and the B.T.C.C. is such a top series that it won't matter.
I'm going to be doing a bit of everything. Sub ass, fabrication (they even make there own radiators), composites as well as going away with the team as a spare mechanic looking after gearboxes and diffs to start with as well as spanner checks etc. when everyone else gets tied up.
..... I'm on the ladder people, and it feels bloody good!! Gonna have a beer now to celebrate.
