With manic, last-minute preparations going on at RLR HQ there is just enough time for a quick post to mention the live timing for the final this weekend:
http://www.bbk-online.net/gpt/race56.htm
We are now car number 16, which makes us the highest seeded Cornish team, so keep an eye on us online if you can't make the trip to Goodwood with us.
Showing posts with label final. Show all posts
Showing posts with label final. Show all posts
Monday, 10 October 2011
Sunday, 9 October 2011
The Final 2011
This is it. After 9 regional heats and 179 entries the final lineup has been decided. The top 75 cars can now advance to the National Final, at Glorious Goodwood as always, ready to fight for the chequered flag. For a full list click HERE.
This will be our third final and things have never looked better for us. We are now car 16, sitting on the third row of the grid, shoulder to shoulder with such illustrious competition as last year's champions, Zebedee, and our perennial nemesis, Megazord. Our target for the race will be Corporate Challenge qualification which requires us to finish in the top 15 but being so close to the front of the pack makes us think we can do even better, maybe even break the 100 mile barrier, a feat managed by only 4 cars this year.
The arrangements for the day will be the same as for Castle Combe but for those of you who need it, here is the schedule:
0730 - Teams arrive and sign on
0815 - Scrutineering opens
0900 - Team briefing 1
0930 to 1030 - Practice
1040 - Team briefing 2
1100 to 1230 - F24+ race
1300 to 1700 - F24 race
1730 - Prize giving
We will be travelling up to West Sussex on Saturday, taking advantage of early scrutineering at the Greenpower Centre so we can crack on with practice and get the car up to speed as soon as possible. We have also been working on sprucing up the aesthetics of the team, we won the award for 'Best Presented Team' at last years final and we are determined to take it again. Time to get the vinyl cutter out I think. And the spray paint. and the texiprint. and the... ok, this may take some time!
This will be our third final and things have never looked better for us. We are now car 16, sitting on the third row of the grid, shoulder to shoulder with such illustrious competition as last year's champions, Zebedee, and our perennial nemesis, Megazord. Our target for the race will be Corporate Challenge qualification which requires us to finish in the top 15 but being so close to the front of the pack makes us think we can do even better, maybe even break the 100 mile barrier, a feat managed by only 4 cars this year.
The arrangements for the day will be the same as for Castle Combe but for those of you who need it, here is the schedule:
0730 - Teams arrive and sign on
0815 - Scrutineering opens
0900 - Team briefing 1
0930 to 1030 - Practice
1040 - Team briefing 2
1100 to 1230 - F24+ race
1300 to 1700 - F24 race
1730 - Prize giving
We will be travelling up to West Sussex on Saturday, taking advantage of early scrutineering at the Greenpower Centre so we can crack on with practice and get the car up to speed as soon as possible. We have also been working on sprucing up the aesthetics of the team, we won the award for 'Best Presented Team' at last years final and we are determined to take it again. Time to get the vinyl cutter out I think. And the spray paint. and the texiprint. and the... ok, this may take some time!
Sunday, 18 September 2011
RLR1 at Somerset Heat 2011
Our races just keep getting more exciting! A superb effort from the team secured our second podium of the season, bringing home a well earned bronze with the silver so tantalisingly close.
Spirits were high at 5 in the morning as the team met to make the trip up to RNAS Merryfield. With qualification for the guaranteed from our performance at Newquay, this race was all about grid position, a good performance here would move us closer to the front of the grid. We were unfortunately missing Mr Lloyd-King who is expecting a baby any time now.
After making good time on the journey, we arrived with plenty of time to set up our paddock at a leisurely pace, giving us plenty of time to walk the track, get some data and get focused for the days racing ahead of us.
With setup and practice out of the way, it was time to get settled on the grid. We were starting from the 3rd row in a race with 31 competitors, the quality of the other cars was daunting, including the current provisional pole position car, Rotary Racer. Gareth was in the driver's seat for the start, a strong driver and more than capable for the hazards of traffic that comes at the start of the race. After gaining us several places, 40 minutes later, Gareth's time was up and we were 6th.
Next up was Ben for another 40 minutes. The quality of the cars at this end of the race were proving difficult to contend with, but Ben was more than a match for them putting in our fastest lap and taking us to 4th during his run, despite the odd light shower.
With Ben's time up it was time for the long, 80 minute stint, this time going to Becky. She soon settled into a groove, keeping pace with the cars in front, slowly eating away at their lead. It was during Becky's run that the sky really opened up, the downpours were mercifully short but heavy when they came. some of the cars began to struggle with the conditions and the front runners began to bunch up (except Rotary Racer which was ahead of the pack by a country mile) but with our wide track and cool headed driver, our lap times were barely affected.
A cold and wet Becky was finally swapped out for Jacca to continue the chase for 3rd place. Our consistency paid off eventually as MPH put in a few dodgy laps allowing both Megazord and ourselves to pass, we finally had a podium place but we were closely followed by a familiar team, Hummingbird from Plymouth Girls' School.
As the race was entering the final stages, success or failure would depend on how well the teams had managed their batteries throughout the race and Megazord was struggling. At only half a lap ahead of us they made their pit stop, allowing us to take the silver medal position but we had to stop ourselves and it had to be quick if we wanted to keep the position. Unfortunatly some dodgy pit lane marshaling lead to a blocked pit lane and our hopes for 2nd were slipping away as the car stood stationary some distance from our pit crew. We finally got the car in and the team did a great pit stop but it wasn't enough and we emerged back in 3rd place by some way, Lucky for us it was Harrison behind the wheel and if anyone could catch up it was him. After putting some distance between himself and the 4th place car, sights were set on Megazord once again. With only 20 minutes or so their lead was shrinking, we were catching them! As the last few minutes of the race ebbed away we were back to within half a lap and Megazord's batteries were failing, but sadly the checkered flag came down before we could get them, all we needed was a few more seconds as they ended up crawling across the line but it was not meant to be.
The team continues to go from strength to strength and this has been our best result ever with a race distance of 85.5 miles we have jumped from 59th to 20th on the final grid. We also brought home the IMechE 'Best Engineered Car' award to add to our impressive trophy collection.
Spirits were high at 5 in the morning as the team met to make the trip up to RNAS Merryfield. With qualification for the guaranteed from our performance at Newquay, this race was all about grid position, a good performance here would move us closer to the front of the grid. We were unfortunately missing Mr Lloyd-King who is expecting a baby any time now.
After making good time on the journey, we arrived with plenty of time to set up our paddock at a leisurely pace, giving us plenty of time to walk the track, get some data and get focused for the days racing ahead of us.
With setup and practice out of the way, it was time to get settled on the grid. We were starting from the 3rd row in a race with 31 competitors, the quality of the other cars was daunting, including the current provisional pole position car, Rotary Racer. Gareth was in the driver's seat for the start, a strong driver and more than capable for the hazards of traffic that comes at the start of the race. After gaining us several places, 40 minutes later, Gareth's time was up and we were 6th.
Next up was Ben for another 40 minutes. The quality of the cars at this end of the race were proving difficult to contend with, but Ben was more than a match for them putting in our fastest lap and taking us to 4th during his run, despite the odd light shower.
With Ben's time up it was time for the long, 80 minute stint, this time going to Becky. She soon settled into a groove, keeping pace with the cars in front, slowly eating away at their lead. It was during Becky's run that the sky really opened up, the downpours were mercifully short but heavy when they came. some of the cars began to struggle with the conditions and the front runners began to bunch up (except Rotary Racer which was ahead of the pack by a country mile) but with our wide track and cool headed driver, our lap times were barely affected.
A cold and wet Becky was finally swapped out for Jacca to continue the chase for 3rd place. Our consistency paid off eventually as MPH put in a few dodgy laps allowing both Megazord and ourselves to pass, we finally had a podium place but we were closely followed by a familiar team, Hummingbird from Plymouth Girls' School.
As the race was entering the final stages, success or failure would depend on how well the teams had managed their batteries throughout the race and Megazord was struggling. At only half a lap ahead of us they made their pit stop, allowing us to take the silver medal position but we had to stop ourselves and it had to be quick if we wanted to keep the position. Unfortunatly some dodgy pit lane marshaling lead to a blocked pit lane and our hopes for 2nd were slipping away as the car stood stationary some distance from our pit crew. We finally got the car in and the team did a great pit stop but it wasn't enough and we emerged back in 3rd place by some way, Lucky for us it was Harrison behind the wheel and if anyone could catch up it was him. After putting some distance between himself and the 4th place car, sights were set on Megazord once again. With only 20 minutes or so their lead was shrinking, we were catching them! As the last few minutes of the race ebbed away we were back to within half a lap and Megazord's batteries were failing, but sadly the checkered flag came down before we could get them, all we needed was a few more seconds as they ended up crawling across the line but it was not meant to be.
The team continues to go from strength to strength and this has been our best result ever with a race distance of 85.5 miles we have jumped from 59th to 20th on the final grid. We also brought home the IMechE 'Best Engineered Car' award to add to our impressive trophy collection.
Friday, 15 July 2011
Midseason Update
With the summer break fast approaching, I thought i would give an update of how things stand and what we will be expecting from the rest of the season. With seven of the eleven regional heats complete the qualification ladder is starting to show which cars are the ones to beat. 150 cars have competed so far and leading the table is Rotary Racer from Chipping Sodbury, 2009 champions and one of only four cars to break the 100 mile threshold so far this season. Last years most dominant car, Zebedee, has had a slow start, struggling with the new batteries perhaps, but have since shown their colours and put in a big mileage at Rockingham to put them comfortably back in the top ten.
As for us, we are guaranteed our place at this years final after our podium finish but with only the relatively slow circuit of RAF St Mawgan under our belts we are languishing down in 50th position at the moment. However, with RNAS Merryfield and Castle Combe yet to come, we hope to improve upon this massively. RLR 1 still has a lot more to give, there was plenty left in the batteries after the Newquay heat so we will give it a bit more welly at the next race in September.
Our goal for this season, as determined by team captain, Euan, is Corporate Challenge qualification. To achieve this we will have to finish in the top 15 at the National Final @ Goodwood, an ambitious target but one we think the team can really pull out of the bag. The current team is working magnificently and the recent modifications to the car have released so much of her previously unused potential, the future looks bright, the future is Richard Lander Racing!
As for us, we are guaranteed our place at this years final after our podium finish but with only the relatively slow circuit of RAF St Mawgan under our belts we are languishing down in 50th position at the moment. However, with RNAS Merryfield and Castle Combe yet to come, we hope to improve upon this massively. RLR 1 still has a lot more to give, there was plenty left in the batteries after the Newquay heat so we will give it a bit more welly at the next race in September.
Our goal for this season, as determined by team captain, Euan, is Corporate Challenge qualification. To achieve this we will have to finish in the top 15 at the National Final @ Goodwood, an ambitious target but one we think the team can really pull out of the bag. The current team is working magnificently and the recent modifications to the car have released so much of her previously unused potential, the future looks bright, the future is Richard Lander Racing!
Friday, 1 July 2011
Qualification Ladder 2011
Over on the Greenpower website they have just published the qualification ladder for this year. With several regional heats yet to race this list will change over the next few months but it can be found here:
http://www.greenpower.co.uk/uploads/Qualification_Table_30.6.11.pdf
The top 3 teams from each heat qualify automatically and the remaining places are made up by sorting the cars in order of distance covered. We are currently sitting in 30th position but hope to climb up the rankings by putting in some big milages at the more open tracks in the autumn. The position in this table also becomes the grid position in the final so getting high in the list is now our priority now that our qualification is guaranteed.
http://www.greenpower.co.uk/uploads/Qualification_Table_30.6.11.pdf
The top 3 teams from each heat qualify automatically and the remaining places are made up by sorting the cars in order of distance covered. We are currently sitting in 30th position but hope to climb up the rankings by putting in some big milages at the more open tracks in the autumn. The position in this table also becomes the grid position in the final so getting high in the list is now our priority now that our qualification is guaranteed.
Friday, 17 December 2010
2011 Race Calender
The dates of the coming season's races have been published over at www.greenpower.co.uk. We really want to focus on racing this year so as well as the Season Opener we will be entered for 3 regional heats. The dates for our races this season will be:
- Season Opener @Silverstone - 1st May 2011
- Southwest Regional Heat @RAF St Mawgan - 23rd June 2011
- Somerset Regional Heat @RNAS Merryfield - 17th September 2011
- Western Regional Heat @Castle Combe - 2nd October 2011
Monday, 18 October 2010
The Goodwood Final
What a weekend! What a dramatic race!
We arrived at Goodwood yesterday with a clean scrutineering check and a car which the organisers had tipped to do well. We had no idea of the dramatic race we had ahead of us!
After some admin delays which cut short our practice session it was decided to alter the gearing to its previous settings. With 2 hours until the parade lap a large part of the car was dismantled, altered and reassembled in record time.
It was now time for the race. We were starting at the back of the grid, a consequence of our relatively poor mileage at the Southwest Heat, but we got off to a great start, gaining six positions in the first lap. The second lap however was not as great, some extremely reckless driving from another team lead to us being rear-ended by a rival car, The driver was OK but pretty shaken up, the car was fine with only superficial damage.
The car continued at a reasonable pace for the rest of the first half of the race with the next driver taking lap after lap. It was soon after the battery change at the halfway point that disaster struck. The car had stopped on the far side of the track and a backlog of other recoveries meant that we had a long wait to get it back in to diagnose the problem. It turned out to be the seed controller, it had completely burnt out! There was no other option but to do an epic repair job, substituting in a relay box for the controller. This would give us a simple but effective electronic system, but leave us vulnerable to an even more catastrophic motor burnout.
With the best part of an hour spent out of the race, our hopes for a good position were dashed, but we could still see the end of the race on our wheels so we loaded up another driver and got back out there for the final leg. With the car stationary for so long there was still plenty of juice left in the batteries and we put in some flying laps and our final position of 72nd really didn't reflect the skill and ability of the drivers and engineers, but that's motor sport for you.
Despite the disappointing finishing position, the boys can be really proud of their performance. When the chips were down and all seemed lost they pulled together as a team in a way they hadn't before and didn't give up the fight until the very end. With the addition of picking up the best presented team award, it was back to the campsite for some well deserved rest.
We arrived at Goodwood yesterday with a clean scrutineering check and a car which the organisers had tipped to do well. We had no idea of the dramatic race we had ahead of us!
After some admin delays which cut short our practice session it was decided to alter the gearing to its previous settings. With 2 hours until the parade lap a large part of the car was dismantled, altered and reassembled in record time.
With the car ready to go, it was time for the parade. The boys really looked the part, the retro helmet and wired scarf (kindly provided by Ben's Mum) completing the look.
The car continued at a reasonable pace for the rest of the first half of the race with the next driver taking lap after lap. It was soon after the battery change at the halfway point that disaster struck. The car had stopped on the far side of the track and a backlog of other recoveries meant that we had a long wait to get it back in to diagnose the problem. It turned out to be the seed controller, it had completely burnt out! There was no other option but to do an epic repair job, substituting in a relay box for the controller. This would give us a simple but effective electronic system, but leave us vulnerable to an even more catastrophic motor burnout.
With the best part of an hour spent out of the race, our hopes for a good position were dashed, but we could still see the end of the race on our wheels so we loaded up another driver and got back out there for the final leg. With the car stationary for so long there was still plenty of juice left in the batteries and we put in some flying laps and our final position of 72nd really didn't reflect the skill and ability of the drivers and engineers, but that's motor sport for you.
Despite the disappointing finishing position, the boys can be really proud of their performance. When the chips were down and all seemed lost they pulled together as a team in a way they hadn't before and didn't give up the fight until the very end. With the addition of picking up the best presented team award, it was back to the campsite for some well deserved rest.
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