Car Purchased on 10th July 2010.
The car was picked up by Alan and, our friend and fellow racer, Steve Booth. Steve looked after the car for us as ourgarage was full, and his car was being prepared by none other than Harvey Gibbs. We repaid Steve by trying to run him over while reversing into his garage.....ooops.
Coming Home September 2010
After letting one of our projects go, a Silver Mk5 RS2000, we brought her home. We were in limbo for a while and could not do a great deal, apart from a service, and Sponsor decal removal. We duly booked a Trackday and put our own mark on the car with some new logo's of our own, Our only real concerns were the clutch and crunchy gearbox. There was also a spare position for a gauge, we decided to fill it with one for Oil Temp.
TrackDay November 2010 - Brands Indy
We arrived to a packed Brands, and quickly realised we were going to be exposed to the elements, pouring Rain. The wets were already on, so it was briefing, sighting laps and away. After an understandably cautious start on the first few laps, Al come in and said the car was a handfull, but had a huge grin on his face. We were then out in ernest, full of anticipation. We quickly saw that as the first few laps warmed the tyres, Al started to get going. Then to our horror we could see smoke billowing from the back of the car, as Al rounded Graham Hill. He was straight in, and soon it become apparent the Sump had tried to spit the plug. Game over as the threads on the sump were knackered. Long faces, scuffing of shoes, sulking and home.
See the Videos Page for track Day videos...
Dec 2010 - Feb 2011
After a drains up, the sump was replaced for a Big Wing Variety, at Mark Wallaces's garage. Mark is Al's Son-in-Law, and a genius with cars and motorbikes, the latter of which he races. While the car was there we decided to replace the gearbox with a spare we already had. The existing trick baffle was jigged into the new sump, which included a -8AN oil return. We moved the oil breather pipes and the job was a goodun. The gearbox came out and the clutch and gearbox queries were answered in one go. The fulcrum for the clutch fork was missing, a common T5 fault. This caused to fork to "float" about, generating the strange clutch feel.
2011 Season - Dunlop Motorsport News Saloon's
The 2011 season was the first for the GibboRacing team. It wasn't the best first raceday but we all knew that things would only get better. The first raceday is as follows. Al qualified a respectable 14 out of 24 with a time of 55.701 around Brands Hatch. The first race resulted in a DNF due to a boost pipe deatching itself from the Map Sensor. Al Best lap of race 1 was 56.315. As we DNF in the first race we had to start close to the back of thr grid. Al Managed to get back into 14th and was battling with the Blue VW Golf of Nick Bosch. Coming out of the clearways for the dash to the finish, Al managed to pass Nick. As he hit the 'Bumpy' Section on the straight, the bumps unsettled the back of the car which veered the car towards the Pit Wall. Al managed to straighten the car up to avoid a head on collision with the wall but sideswiped the wall. He still Crossed the line in 13th place. Al limped the car back onto the pit entrance start and wait for the car to be towed back to the paddock. The damage didnt look too significant until we took the car apart (As soon as we arrived home from the race) which relealed the real extent of the damage. Our front Quantum damper was bent, as well as the steering rack and at the rear of the car the Axle, Trailing arms and coilovers were also bent. Both Alloys which were new (Less than 45 Mins old) for the raceday were also buckled. On further inspection, the suspension, which was supposidly 'set up' and had 'years of work to get it right' was all over the place with the rear dampers being set to full rebound on the LHR and no rebound on the RHR. This is the most likely cause of the incident. As we were all new to racing, we didnt know how to setup the car which was probably our downfall. we knew that we must move on and we were all eager to get the car back for the next race.
The car was rebuilt just in time for the next race with new Gaz Coilovers all round. The rest of the season went without major fault, but every race we attended we learnt more and more about the car. We finished in every race which helped us gain championship points, but were unable to find the answer to catching the quicker class B cars.
The championship for Class B boiled down to the last race. This was the Truck Meeting at Brands Hatch, to which around 20,000 spectators attended. The car developed a major missfire, which put us in last place and therefore we finished the last race of the season behind our class rival, but as long as we finished we would have enough points for an overall class B winners. But this wasnt to be our year for the Class winners due to a jump start from another Class B Competitor. This Gave the other competitor enough points to leapfrog us into first in Class. We still managed to finish second in class by only one point, which for our first season in motorsport is a great achievement. After loosing the Class by one point it gave us all the motivation to make sure that next season we are back faster and stronger.
Winter Rebuild
Please look at the page named '2011/2012 rebuild' for the full rebuild details.
Pre Season Testing 17/02/2012 - Brands Hatch
With the new engine we were all eager to see what the car could do. The morning session was written off due to a leak from the thermostat housing. This was resolved in time for the afternoon session, where Al had to get used to the 'new' car. On a damp and greasy track Al got faster and faster and soon realised that the new engine is quicker than it was at any time last season.
Pre Season Testing 12/03/2012- Brands Hatch
We turned up to Brands in Heavy Fog, this soon lifted and the sun begun to shine. There were smiles on everyone faces as soon as the first session got underway and the slicks were on. The day got better and better with Al going faster and faster. We were able to test a few different suspension setups until Al was happy. With many cars on track, most of which were Race cars, not alot could keep up. Everyone had a skip in there step and smiles from ear to ear. We were then black flagged, as when the boost is turned up the overrun is releasing a bit too much fuel. The marshals were worried that our engine may have a problem, but a call to Harvey put all our minds at ease. The marshalls also said to Al 'You are putting in some unbelieveable laps' which added to the day. Another racer, of the motorbike variety, was also amazed with how well the car was going, which once put smiles on everyones faces.
After the sucessful testing, we all can't wait until the season gets underway.
Our first race will be on Sunday 25th March 2012 at Brands Hatch. Please see the 'Our next race...' page for more information.