Rockingham, 12-13 July 2008
For Nyssa Racing the season appears to be over, certainly as far as racing the Lancia kappa, that is the case. Auto Integrale carried out investigation work on the engine. At first they took off the sump and checked over the big end bearings, but although there was some wear showing, it was nothing untoward. After reassembly, the engine ran fine until it got warm at which point it would sound rough again. Disconnecting coil leads one at a time gave little clue other than making the rough noise go away. So there was nothing left to do but to remove the head and take a look inside.
And the news couldn't have been much worse. All pistons showed evidence of "melting", some were more damaged than others. The bores don't look a whole lot healthier meaning that the block is scrap along with the pistons. Even the head might not be reusable, and while it would be nice to believe we can reuse the crank and/or the conrods (the whole engine has only done about 4 miles after all), its most likely we will have to start all over again. We are back to the same position we were last May, and while we planned to regroup ready for the new season, things didn't really go to plan. So we are loathe to make new promises given the evidence of the past, but the plan is to regroup like we should have done last year, build (yet) another engine, attend to a number of other issues (most of which didn't get done over last winter), and of course get the kappa out testing, properly set up and ready, prior to the start of the 2009 season!
We have been more than happy with the work carried out by Auto Integrale over the past 5 years but they are now moving to smaller premises and will not have the capacity or the space to work on the kappa any more. This leaves us now looking for a new preparation partner to be engaged sooner rather than later so we can plan the way ahead for a better 2009 season with the LMA Euro Saloon and Sports Car championship.
So the double header at Rockingham went on without us - and because of the large entry, the races were split to allow more drivers to take part. The heavy bias towards Classes A and B caused an interesting decision on how to split the races, the eventual choice being to run Classes A, D and F (there were two guest cars running) in one race, and Classes B and C in the other, with each pairing getting two races each over the weekend.
Qualifying - ADF:
The Lotus Exiges of Rex Stamp and Steven Taylor set the pace at the front of the field, but Tony Soper in the Harrier LR9 ran them close to qualify third. With Richard Gould's Noble in 4th, the front two rows comprised mid-engined cars, before the Honda Accord Super Tourers of Stewart Whyte and Derek Hale headed the front engine cars. Series leader Nick Williamson was a lot further back than usual in the Escort Cosworth, back in 8th place.
Simon Taylor led the Class D cars back in 11th overall - hardly surprising as Rockingham offers the fastest cars the chance to stretch their legs on the banking. Jim Mepham (Renault Megane Coupe) was just 0.5 seconds back from Taylor with Andy Neal (Honda Integra) and Simon Jackson (MG ZR) taking the 3rd and 4th grid positions in class.
Qualifying - BC:
Joss Ronchetti (Talbot Lotus Sunbeam) set the pace in the Class B & C race with the Seat Leons of Simon Blanckley (back after his sojourn with the BTCC) and Rhys Lloyd in close attendance. Top running Class C car was David Hinde in the first of six Vauxhall Vectra challenge cars competing in this race, with the similar cars of Simon Parker and Craig Odams taking 2nd and 3rd in class. David Roberts' Rover Tomcat may have felt outnumbered but narrowly missed 4th in class which fell to Derek Kelly-Cooper.
Race 1 - ADF:
Nick Williamson launched through from 8th place to end the first lap in second place splitting the two Lotus Exiges, but the following lap Steven Taylor had passed Williamson to take 2nd, but already 3.4 seconds behind Rex Stamp out front. One of the guest entries ran off on the first lap and on lap 3 the safety car was brought out while it was retrieved, bunching the pack right up again. The safety car was out for just two laps, but one lap later came a sudden shower. Williamson took full advantage of his Escort's four wheel drive and was lapping fully 5 seconds faster than anyone else. In the space of three laps he went from 3rd place to take a 16 second lead from Taylor, Stamp having fallen away after a slow first wet lap. As the track dried, lap times dropped to something approaching fully dry times, but Williamson's lead was unassailable and he won by 10 seconds from Taylor. John Hammersley also fared well in the wet, moving up from 8th to 3rd as the rain fell.
Class D was thrown wide open on the first lap with Simon Taylor's Honda Civic suffering gearbox failure. Jim Mepham was holding a steady 2 second advantage over Andy Neal from the first lap and maintained this lead throughout the race to record his first class win of 2008. Jason Newman (Peugeot 306) and Simon Jackson were scrapping for 3rd in class, Jackson initially looked to have the place in the bag but Newman responded quicker to the drying track conditions to make the pass and hold onto 3rd place.
Race 1 - BC:
With the track dry again, Joss Ronchetti headed the 2 Seat Leons for the first four laps, but all three cars were running little over a second apart. Rhys Lloyd upped the pace on lap 5 to take the lead, Simon Blanckley followed him through 2 laps later, but by now Lloyd had a 6 second lead. Douglas Ellwood (Marcos Mantis) was running a steady 4th some 8 seconds behind Ronchetti who slowly fell back from Blanckley. The race finished with a win for Lloyd from Blanckley by 9 seconds, with Ronchetti 3rd a further 11 seconds back and Ellwood bringing up 4th. Andy Glossop headed the Renault Clio contingent to take the win in the Mark Fish sponsored Clio Cup.
With 6 Vauxhall Vectras out in Class C, the odds on a Vauxhall victory were good. David Hinde converted his class pole into a class win (7th overall), and the only Vectra not to be lapped by the winner. Craig Odams enjoyed a good tussle with a pair of Class B Clios (David Pierce and Mark Crook) and ended up splitting them on his way to 2nd in class. David Roberts prevented a total Vauxhall podium bringing his Rover Tomcat home in third. Hinde played his joker which contributed to Vauxhall scoring a massive 104 points in the MSE_Performance.com manufacturers' cup.
Race 2 - ADF:
With Rex Stamp unable to take part, and no interference from rain, Steven Taylor was able to take full advantage and cruise to a comfortable win from Derek Hale by over 20 seconds, with Richard Gould further back in third. The real drama during the race lay further back. Stewart Whyte missed race 1 and started this race from the back - a storming start saw him drive through the pack and up into 5th place as lap 1 ended. A collision with Tony Soper saw Whyte pit to have the Honda's front splitter repaired, and then Whyte put it a massive effort to pull back through the pack from last to finish 8th, just taking fastest lap away from Soper in the process. Williamson was struggling in the dry and lost 2 spokes from a front wheel lapping a slower car near the end of the race, amazingly he was able to complete the race and just outdragged Soper's Harrier to the finish line as they exited the chicane side by side on the final lap.
With Simon Taylor unable to repair his Honda's gearbox, Mepham played his joker and took full advantage scoring his second win of the weekend. This now moves Mepham out front in the championship, the third leader is as many events. Simon Jackson was getting to grips with his MG ZR and found himself challenging Andy Neal for 2nd place, losing out by just 0.4 seconds, the best showing for the MG so far.
Race 2 - BC:
Blanckley had a poor start to race 2 and found himself down in 4th place after lap 1 behind Lloyd, Ronchetti and Ellwood. He slowly moved back up to second on lap 4 but was already 6 seconds down on Lloyd. Blanckley maintained the gap until lap 10 but then damaged two wheels which slowed his Seat finally allowing Lloyd to extend his lead. With two laps to go, Ellwood caught and passed Blanckley and finished second, but 14 seconds adrift of Lloyd, and a second ahead of Blanckley. Fergus Trenholme got the better of Glossop in the Mark Fish supported Clio Cup, just avoiding being lapped.
David Hinde looked set for a second class win of the weekend but his race ended on lap 13 allowing Simon Parker to take over the lead and go on to record the Class win. David Roberts had been feeling confident after race 1, his Tomcat was performing well on the banking so he played his joker for this race. A good start saw Roberts move past Parker and into 2nd place, but on lap 2 a minor coming together with a Clio saw the Tomcat spin and Roberts fell to last. Undeterred, Roberts set about chasing down the Vectras again, but worn tyres caused a couple of lock-ups near the end of the race, and to add insult to injury, the Tomcat started to misfire on the last lap!
Joker-playing Mepham now leads the championship on 138 points from Williamson (134), Lloyd and Neal (both 128). Of these, only Lloyd has yet to play his joker.
Andrew Glossop (112) moved past David Pierce (110) in the standings for the Mark Fish Clio Cup, while Vauxhall's massive 202 point haul brings them up to third (276 points) in the MSE_Performance.com manufacturers' cup, but still some way behind Hinda (456) and Renault (414)
The RS Capp/SELEX driver of the day awards went to Fergus Trenholme (Saturday) and Tony Soper (Sunday).
See how some of the other drivers saw their day.
So the LMA Euro Saloon and Sports Car championship moves to Silverstone in 4 weeks, probably without us. We are mulling over other options, do we put the Calibra into race ready order (and can we do that in time?). Should we rent/borrow a car for the Silverstone race - we have been very kindly offered the loan of Pongo if we can solve the logistical problems. Or we might just write off 2008 as a disasterous year for Nyssa Racing and concentrate our short term efforts on our karting protege Geri Nicosia. A brand new Zip Storm Cadet kart has been ordered and should be with us in the next couple of weeks. From there we plan to get Geri through his ARKs test asap and enter some races at Rye House and Whilton Mill circuits building up experience for his assault on 2009.
Visit the LMA site for details of the LMA Euro
Saloon and Sports Car championship and standings so far.
Check out the current points
standing.
Send comments to: webmaster@nyssaracing.com
