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Martyn’s Meeting.
Qualifying was a difficult session as Martyn was suffering with brake and gear change problems. The gear change problems were put down to still getting used to the
new clutch system but the brake problems were more severe as they were causing pad knock off which means there are no brakes when you need them and the only way to
overcome this is to left foot brake early. As a result of this issue he qualified 13th out of 27th with some work to do in the race.
Between qualifying and the race the brakes were checked and nothing was found so the brakes were bled and fingers crossed for the race.
Race 1 started badly as on the green flag lap it was found that the brakes would knock off when turning the steering wheel this was a big problem considering a
race track has a lot of corners. Martyn chose to start from the pit lane so starting last just to be safe should his brakes fail. He got a good exit from the pit lane
and set about tackling the number of cars in front of him mindful he may not have brakes going into the bends so would left foot brake first. Probably due to the fact
he couldn’t slow the car as quickly he went quicker than he thought possible Martyn set the 2nd quickest lap time on his way to an 8th place finish.
After the race the brakes and wheel bearings were checked and still nothing wrong. It was suggested it could be brake pads as these were getting low so Martyn
changed these and again fingers crossed for race 2.
Martyn chose to start race 2 on the grid and he made a great start to get up to 4th but a missed gear slipped him down the order. The braking issue got worse to
the point it was dangerous and it did cause Martyn to go off but he rejoined and decided to end his race early to ensure his safety.
Barrie’s Meeting.
In qualifying Barrie did his usual Sunday afternoon driving and only managed to qualify 24th of 27. He usually races better than he qualifies; driving against the
clock has never been his strong point.
On the green flag lap for the 1st race when warming up the Vento’s tyres the offside rear stub axle broke causing the wheel to lock solid as it is only held on by
the disk calliper. The car was quickly towed off the circuit to allow the race to start. Towing the car with the locked wheel ruined the tyre. The only consolation was
that if the stub axle had failed during the race on one of the fast corners the consequences could have been a lot worse.
During the interval between races we were able to replace the stub axle and bearings but the disk calliper carrier was bent and hammering it enabled it to be used
but it was not working properly. After a quick test and as the rear brakes do not have a great braking effect it was decided that it would not affect the performance too much.
Race 2 was not any better than race 1. Again on the green flag lap there was a snapping noise after changing into 5th gear and all drive was lost.
The Vento was free wheeled onto the grass up against the barrier to keep it out of harms way. Again it was ignominiously towed back in at the end of the race.
After Race Diagnosis
Only after the race were we told that the wheel bearings on the Beetle were prone to failure because of the extreme camber and this was only found when
the wheels were hot and in use. So next time there is pad knock off we will have to change wheel bearings just in case. Another learning experience.
The Vento problem turned out to be a broken gear change.
The VW Racing Cup Championship for 2009 is now finished. Congratulations to Joe Fullbrook for winning it for the 2nd year running
Both cars now need to be fixed for their final outing of this year in the 6 hour Birkett Relay Race with the 750 Motor Club at Silverstone.
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