History of a Lola T492 Sports 2000 chassis?

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by 911thillclimber

Yes, nice meeting you too, I thought you were 2 x your actual age!!
:

Mike Bell said almost exactly the same thing to me when we met for the first time at Mallory a few years ago!!

I'm obv old before my time!

[911thillclimber]

We did a small 'clubbie' meeting at my Club's hill, Loton Park today to get my hand back in before the next Championship round at Shelsley Walsh in a few weeks time.

Really hot day which I don't like, but better than rain!
Car went well but seemed slow as this is a 56.79 second hill for me.

Had 4 runs, all hot many waits for red-flag incidents and got a best of 58.9, WAY off my best, but the best was not in me today, but good starts at 2.15 secs.

Car was great.
I've added 10mm to the gear lever length, about a 10% increase, and this has eased the force to change gear.
I'm considering a left side cable gearshift from the USA, all £700 of it over the winter and a change to a much lighter flywheel, but 3 races to go and I still have first in Championship class on my mind.

Nearly sold the car 3 times!

One offered me his early standard Radical for the Lola and some cash from me...so that was a non-starter!

Worth doing, but I hate the heat and it was only 24 degC.

[MGDavid]

Don't you dare even think of selling it - you have to win with it first !

[911thillclimber]

Forgot to say won the class in today's event, really easy as I was the only one in it...

Be hard to sell when the day comes.

[911thillclimber]

Shelsley Walsh this weekend and the first of the last 3 events until the year is out.
Rain promised which leaved me doomed with only wide slicks on the car, so with only 2 in the Championship class I think I will come 2nd!
Nigel, my consistence class competitor will be on his demon Kumho V70's, simply a wonderful tyre instead of his slicks, so will thrash me and a few others too I think.

We are amalgamated in with the under 2 litre boys who are really fast in their clubmans Mallocks on wets.

I will soon be dropping my worst scores so in danger of losing the class position if all the events are wet...

[911thillclimber]

Saturday was a waste of time, rain, rain rain but managed to get all my gears!
Sunday was a nice overcast/ 19 C day with some sun at times.

First run up the hill clocked a disappointing 33.34 as I worried about the dreaded 'Esses' part of the trickery you have to get over on this so unforgiving hill. As it turned out, they were bone dry....

My rival, Nigel was hot behind me @ 34.94 and looking confident!

Second run and I needed to keep Nigel behind me so gave it a good run. Car was great, all the gears arrived on request and the chassis was wonderful.
A PB, all of 3/100ths of a second faster, BUT a PB! = 32.06 sec with an average start of 2.15 secs (my best here is 2.08).

Great weekend of hillclimbing, a class mate fell foul of the hill big time, so just a reminder to drive carefully.

2 more hills to go, Prescott in early Sept and Loton in late Sept.

Looking Lonely, David contemplates the magic machine of class winner Nick Mann, 5 seconds faster than his 5 litre BMW V8 powered Pilbeam..

[andy97]

Originally Posted by 911thillclimber

Second run and I needed to keep Nigel behind me so gave it a good run. Car was great, all the gears arrived on request and the chassis was wonderful.
A PB, all of 3/100ths of a second faster, BUT a PB! = 32.06 sec with an average start of 2.15 secs (my best here is 2.08

So you must have driven the rest of the hill really well to be quicker still.

Put that together with a 2.08-2.10 start and hey presto!

[911thillclimber]

I was taking time out at every section, a 1/10th here and there, but must have lost some time up the finishing straight as I was down 2 mph with a sluggish exit from top Esse, but a nice clean smooth run nevertheless, but hoped to pop into the 31's for the end of the Shelsley events I do for 2016.

But, to leave the Shelsley season on a PB is nice enough.

Maybe I can do the same at Prescott and Loton!

[911thillclimber]

Hill climbs and the sector times are quite interesting:

June 16th Meeting, nice warm dry day

2.08 start, 7.24 / 12.73 / 20.70 / 9.48/ 100 mph : 32.09 sec

Aug 16th meeting, nice warm dry day

2.15 start, 7.26 / 12.34 / 20.31 / 9.47 / 98 mph : 32.06 sec

On the Aug run I came out of the Esse section (9.47) slower than the meeting before, it felt it too, lost the top speed and the 0.39 advantage.

Can't blame the gearchange this time, it worked great.

Adding the 10mm to the lever length has made quite a tactile difference.
Or it is all in my mind!

[911thillclimber]

Prescott hill climb this weekend the last but one of the Championship events.
4 in the class with 3 in the Champ class.
Plan is to come 2nd overall in the class as first is a silly thought bearing in mind the car involved, let alone the driver!

I have Nigel as always in his V8 NGT and Nick in his turbo'd Jaguar V6 engine Lotus Elite.
Both are close to me at Prescott so will have my work cut out, but if it rains on Sunday I'm doomed to last as I only have slicks, the others are wet-weather-ready.

Currently at 22nd overall in the Midland Championship with 32 points and Nigel is at 19 points so I think I'm home and dry for 1st in class, but the Fat lady has not sat down yet.

Space frame, EVO 4x4 running gear with methanol and mega mods with a mini bubble over it. Driver has raced the Isle of Man on a bike...

[911thillclimber]

Just back from a hard but good Prescott.
Saturday we had a dry practice run, just a usual 'sighting' run to get the memory straight then it poured down.
Went home.

Today was grey but the track was wet after overnight rain, so the practice was another gentle run, no point bending it.

first run was with a drying track, but news came down the hill the evil Esses were wet so I took the run with some apprehension...

Clocked a sound 48.78 and a good start at 2.18 for the 64ft dash.
The EVOMini clocked a 44.14....
But my other championship runners were well behind me/us.

The track dried out over the day, so time to GET ON WITH IT and went to the line with some determination and a PB set in sunny June of 47.334 in mind.

Great start and all gears good (!)dashed under the Bridge at 73 mph and the mini did 76.
Had some understeer in Orchard and the rest of the hill went well but a little cautious of the Esses and clocked 46.58 with a 2.16 start.

The Mini start was 1.89!

So, shy of my pb by 0.24 sec and shy of my competitor mini by a massive 3.90 secs!

However, miles ahead of my Championship class mates so a 1st in Championship class for me.

Car ran just great, some clumsy driving by me so a bit off my PB 'pace' but a great day of hill climbing.

Car was just great despite yesterday's miss-shift of 2nd to 1st instead of 3rd which I caught just in time, so no damage to my self built Porsche flat 6.
Time for some wine and a rest.

Chuffed!

One more to go, my favourite hill, Loton Park on 24 Sept.

[Andy Clegg]

A good weekend then!!!! Nice one.

[911thillclimber]

Indeed!

This weekend is the last for us and the Midland Championship at my favourite hill, Loton Park near Shrewsbury. www.hdlcc.com

Car will be delivered this sunny morning, the weather forecast is good for the weekend and there are 4 in the class including David Seaton's great huge Pilbeam with 5 litres of BMW V8 in the middle.

Hope to do well but will be 3rd or last!

Pig roast on Saturday night with hillclimer live music etc, so a good finish to the year.

A few plans forming for a bit of a spruce-up on the car with 2 experiments added.

Demon tweeks, or demonic tweeks?

About to return my application for the Dinner Dance for the awards, 1st in class.

Done this before, different car, but a very long time ago.

[911thillclimber]

So, the last meeting of the 2016 season, 4 in the class so expected 3rd maybe last!

Saturday we had an unprecedented 3 practice runs, time to remind myself of the track (after 25 years of doing this venue...) and then to get on with it.

Best of the 3 was 57.78 sec so not too bad. PB here is 56.79.

Sunday dawned wet, and the track was very wet, but the first run was a practice again so with the sun out we all trundled-up carefully, 74.46!

Dried, and the first timed run gave me 57.78, consistent or what? Great start @ 2.11 so please with that esp as I was quicker than the mighty Pilbeam with an M5 BMW engine. (58.85)

Second run was a right scrabble as was the whole event day with loads of people falling off the track every where, and my lond standing class mate in his NG V8 fell off too in front of me so I was red-flagged, returned to the chaos paddock and eventually got to the start line, engine well hot, driver boiling and recorded a dismal 58.15, slower at every sector of the track, but home in one piece.

The spooked Pilbean hit back from this morning with amore normal 56.59.

Irritatingly, I felt I had run a 56 on my second run, but certainly did not.

I never do well after a red-flag, Nigel apologised (this has happened several times before!).

So, it is all over.

First in Championship class, several PB's and the car has been reliable.

A million thanks to Sean at McClurg motorsport for a brilliant neutral chassis, me for a great running engine(!), Trish as Team manager/everything.
This has been the best year of hillclimbing I've had for many a year and I get to dress-up and get my award in November.

Great stuff!

[brookesy]

Congratulations Graham.

Don't sell it yet I'm sure there's more to come.

[gt917]

Very well done Graham, and I,m sure everyone else who reads all your great and informative posts will be grateful and congratulating you as well.

[Andy Clegg]

Yes, well done indeed Graham.

[911thillclimber]

Thank you all.

2nd in class last year and 1st this year although the big guns did not run in 2016 so it was almost 'gifted' to me by their absence, but to win, first you have to finish.

A few tweeks to the transmission planned, lighter flywheel on order this week and yet another attempt to make the gear change lighter and some cosmetic work as it has a bit of spanner-rash and lots of stone chips of all things.
Trust your T70 is coming along Graham.

I would like this though, at the Loton hill climb last weekend.

[gt917]

Originally Posted by 911thillclimber

Thank you all.


Trust your T70 is coming along Graham.

Graham,thankyou for asking. The T70 Mk3b is in a thousand pieces and undergoing a complete rebuild. Will take at least a year to do, as it is like the curates egg, good in parts, absolutely awful in others !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Tony Davis]

Originally Posted by 911thillclimber

I know the tolman car was raced by some good drivers and tiff Needell too!

[911thillclimber]

Went to the Midland Hill climb Championship Awards do last night at the graceful Chataux Impney.
All the class winners etc are given their hard earnt awards, and yours truly was there too!

Didn't expect a fancy trophy mind, but was presented with a great one and a 'replica' to keep.
At last a first in class for the Lola, second last year, but top spot in 2016.
These things don't happen often in (my) life, so please forgive the selfish pics.
Thanks to all of you for the support here and at the races, esp a thank you to Sean at McClurg Motorsport for the chassis and above all my very long suffering Team Boss, Financial Boss, Catering Boss and General Trolly-Dolly Boss, my wife, Trish.





I hope to get my demon light flywheel soon but that will be the sum total of the changes for the car along with some cosmetics esp the seat cover.
If I get a permission a fresh set of tyres (they are 3 seasons old) but I've been quicker on them this year than any year.

[MGDavid]

Well done, always nice to have some reward for one's endeavours.
Hmmm I wonder if your mates have tee'd up Trish to purchase a surprise Christmas present - a day's driver coaching

[911thillclimber]

Originally Posted by MGDavid

Well done, always nice to have some reward for one's endeavours.
Hmmm I wonder if your mates have tee'd up Trish to purchase a surprise Christmas present - a day's driver coaching

I think it will take more than a day David....
Thank for the kind words.

[gt917]

As always Graham ............ Bravo and very well done.

[Andy Clegg]

Well done Graham.