It was October 2001 when the Y10 ran for the first time with the new 1301cc GTie Turbo engine. An appointment was made with PTS at Luton to set up the electronics that control the extra injectors to ensure they operate at the optimum boost levels. There were difficulties in strapping the car down well enough - she is quite lightweight now - and it seemed that the wheels were spinning when power was applied. However, a more interesting problem became apparent - water was pumping OUT of the header tank overflow. Shortly afterwards a burst of steam emanated from the head gasket area and the session was aborted.

Back to Evolution Engineering for investigation. The head gasket had not gone as was suspected - but of course a replacement was needed once the head was removed to check this. Best guess for the problem seems that the water wasn't circultaing round the emgine properly, possibly because on lifting the engine to help driveshaft angles, the header tank was no longer the highest part of the cooling system. The tank was moved, pipes re-routed and it was back to PTS to try again. All we had to go on so far was a single power reading of 124 bhp (wheels) at 6300 using 0.9 bar boost and 4 injectors. This was pretty consistent with expectations at that point bearing in mind the 2000 car was running a carburretted 1049cc engine with 122 bhp (flywheel) at 5700 with 1 bar boost.

The second session at PTS was very short lived - the engine was running fine and the water was circulating properly. Once again there was a problem strapping the car down, the wheels seemed to be spinning still as soon as power was applied. After a lot of careful checking, involving PTS guys with their noses far closer to the wheels than I would go, it was realised that the 'wheelspin' problem was in fact a slipping clutch. The Sachs Group N competition clutch could not cope with the torque being produced.

Cue long delay (10 weeks) while I chased my supplier to provide a suitable sintered race clutch - agreed this is not something I'm going to find off the shelf for a Y10, the spline centre had to be specially made, but this supplier demonstrated a trait that I have already encountered too often in my short racing career - they just don't seem to want your business. They think they are specialised enough that you can't go elsewhere so they don't have to pull out the stops with customer service! WRONG! But why did it take a major tantrum on my part to suddenly get some action -why should 'he who shouts loudest' become the new priority. Maybe I should just get stroppier quicker! Anyway, finally a clutch turns up, and after a couple of false starts the Y10 was now the proud possessor of a sintered AP race clutch. And after a lot of messing around, it was even made to fit the car - so back to PTS again.

This time I left the car with PTS to do over a week as and when they could. Early signs seemed promising, if not quite what was expected. She would run 1.3 bar very smoothly with good low down torque on only 4 injectors - the flow calculations from Evolution Engineering had suggested that the 5th injector would have been needed before this point. What did seem strange however, was running this extra boost now reputedly gave 164 bhp (flywheel, 130 at the wheels) at only 5500 rpm. This makes no sense at all - can only assume that enough fuel was not being delivered about 5500. PTS then went to wire in the extra injectors and on the power up run the head gasket went.

A familiar story - back to Evolution Engineering and off with the head. Not only had the head gasket gone, but the head had melted too! Thanks guys! So Evolution Engineering got the head repaired, have wired the block and got it all back together. And all this while I was sunning myself on holiday over Easter.

Still with me? Good, we're nearly there now. Came back from my holiday and picked up the car from Evolution Engineering with the engine running sweetly. They had set boost level conservatively at 1.1 bar and had set the 5th injector to open at around 1 bar - even with this the engine should manage at least 150 bhp (flywheel). I decided to race at Snetterton as there was nothing to lose by doing so - at best she would finish the race, I would get some track time in and some points, at worst (so I thought) I would at least get a feel for the totally untried car before it broke, and might get a qualifying point or two. Not going would mean delaying her first track run another week - another week less to repair her in! Saturday was spent with Scheldt & Pettet reassembling the front bodywork and carrying final checks to make sure she would pass scrutineering in the morning.

Sunday arrived, a bright frosty start (actually it was still dark when I left home for the trek to Norfolk). The journey went well and although we were later than hoped, there was still plenty of time to sign on and pass scrutineering before assembling for practice. I say we, because for this season in selected events Nyssa Racing are also entering an Alfa Sud Ti in Class E. For this race, James Whelan was making a one-off drive. As we went to unload the trailers, a problem arose - the Y10 would not start! The engine turned over fine, but it just would not fire up. I assumed it was because it was cold and there is no cold start facility on the car. An attempt was made to push start the car but this failed miserably. After what seemed like an eternity of trying to start her up, it was decided to get through scrutineering first, so we pushed the car the length of the paddock. the scrutineer took one look at the rear spoiler (roof mounted) and said it had to go. This came as a surprise as it had been passed by the organisers of the Le Mans Auto-Italia championship, it failed the MSA Blue Book regulation which stated that rear spoilers must not exceed the roof height! Clearly this regulation does not allow for the vertical tailgate of the Y10 - oh well - it looked good while it was there.

Time was running out - I had decided that if necessary I would grovel to the Clerk of the Course to practice out of session (with the Alfas) but still she would not start. Many of my competitors offered their help (which was gratefully received), the plugs were removed and cleaned, warmer plugs were tried but still nothing. Then we tried to tow start the Y10 behind the Sud, but after a couple of laps of the paddock there was a bang and that was the end of the day. Best guess so far is that a driveshaft snapped - so back to the trailer and home for the Y10. Even when things were warmer back home she will still not start so clearly there is an interesting problem to find.

That leaves James and the Sud. Practice times seem a little slower than I would have expected, but James brought the Sud home with 5 other cars slower. But all was not totally well - the Sud was leaking brake fluid and the brakes were marginal at best. Again with help from other competitors a repair was made that seemed to hold in the fluid so James would be in better shape for the race - a race which I was forced to watch at the chicane.

First race of the season and everyone has forgotten how to do a rolling start - or so it would seem, maybe the organisers were being extra pernickity. It took three attempts before the lights went green and traffic had slowed down to a crawl between the chicane and the start line. Expectations were high, bets were being laid on whether Julian Birley or Graham Scott would come into view first - but Neil Smith was bravely holding on as the cars came round to the chicane for the first time with the Stratos of Graham Scott in hot pursuit. Neil got through the chicane first but I suspect he was caught before the start-finish line. What of Julian - way back in the pack, around 10th or so after the first lap, but by the next lap he was in second place and chasing hard. A few laps later the Stratos had been caught but retook the lead for a while. Suddenly Julian seemed to be able to make a break and the race was his. It seemed that the Stratos had suffered a puncture, a fate that also befell the Alfasud Sprint of my adversary Russ Yates. Next down the field, Mike Watson was engaged in a dogfight with Keith Fawdington's Pantera. I've never seen the Pantera go so well, don't know what you've done to it since last year Keith, but it was a good showing where Mike edged him out for 3rd by a mere 7/10s second. Neil Smith faces a lot more competition this year, both in terms of numbers and in the guise of Graham Warner making his return to the series since his crash (and class win) at Donington last year. Lap after lap they battled in close combat but Neil kept the upper hand by little over a second. Neil's in for a lot more work this year to retain his crown.

And what of James? He was battling away gamely, if in a somewhat lonely race. The Sud has a completely standard 1500 engine and was also running the Dunlop control tyres from the Alfa series, but James still finished the race just a single lap down on the winner and in front of three other cars (by a long distance).

A post-mortem will be held tomorrow (Tuesday) on the Y10 to see if repairs can be made in time for the next round at Brands Hatch, and more importantly if there is any chance of getting some track time in first as I have still not driven the car above walking pace. Nyssa Racing will also be entering the Sud Ti at the next meeting with Peter Dietsch making his race debut in the Le Mans Auto-Italia race while I race the Sud in the Alfa series Class F race. See you there.

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