More Modifications

With the experience of the Season Opener under our belts and now knowing how we will be affected by the battery change, the team have been making some modifications to the car to improve the performance ahead of our local qualifying race in June.

One of the major changes, due to the overall reduction in speed is that aerodynamics has become slightly less important but weight has become more important. With this in mind we have put the car on a crash diet. We have removed as much material as possable from the rear sub frame without compromising its strength. This includes the replacement of the cantilevered drive shafts with a single through axle.

This allows us to remove two bearing blocks and theirssupports from the frame but it does mean moving the braking system to the front wheels. One of our kind sponsors, Teagle, have offered to make our new steering assemblies which will now include the necessary mounting points for the brake calipers and also give us much more control over the precise geometry of the steering system.

While the car has been stripped down the team have also been working on the surface finish. We are trying to get a perfectly smooth finish to reduce turbulence as the air flows over the surface. With only a few weeks left until our next race we will have to get cracking to get all these mods completed but we will be working every lunchtime until the car is back on its wheels once more.

Season Opener 2011

This weekend saw another great event for the team here at Richard Lander Racing. What a great opportunity it was to be racing at the home of British motorsport, Silverstone.

After some last minute fettling on Saturday we were finally on the road and managed to get to the track in good time, time enough in fact to watch the last laps of day from some awesome sports cars, a great education for the drivers on what lines they should be taking when it was their turn the following day.

Sunday morning began with the now traditional egg and bacon breakfast and then it was on the track. The pits were a much more professional affair than we are used to, we had an enormous garage all to ourselves but we quickly made it feel like home with our flags and banners.

After a nerve-wracking time at scrutineering (the new system is certainly thorough!) and Jacca taking the car out for some practice time, it was on to the race. First out was Harrison, our own version of the Stig, who put in some very consistant lap times around the 5:30 region, almost exactly as predicted. A driver change at the half hour mark got Ben out on the track but no sooner had he made it out he was called back in by the marshals. A problem with the car's transponder cost us a couple of laps but the team handled it brilliantly, they stayed calm, took control and got the car back out as soon as the yellow coats stopped faffing around with the only part of they car they are responsible for!

A few more laps from Ben and it was then Gareth's turn to see out the last few joules from the batteries. With very little left in them, speed was way down but we had our most consistant driver in to make the most of it. A recurring issue with the drive shaft saw our batts empty 10 minutes early but we had done enough to claim 28th place from a field of 45, a great result for the first race with the uncertainty of the new batteries.

The team can be proud of their performance and they have shown a level of independence that we have not seen before from any of our greenpower teams. This team and this car certainly have a great future ahead of them and we will see what they come up with at our next race at RAF St Mawgan in June.