77 replies to this topic

[ChazUwe]

I recall the recovery truck was having difficulty shifting it without the wheels spinning on the grass. I just had to close my eyes when I saw it driving forward to get a run up! I will never forget the noise it made as the front clam ripped off Having seen the car after I was amazed how good shape it was still in. Richard was able to drive it on and off the trailer so must only be cosmetic! Great picture by the way Ben! I thought you were camping tonight too? looked like it might have been a little lonely!

[benw]

Great picture by the way Ben! I thought you were camping tonight too? looked like it might have been a little lonely!

Not my pic....I nicked it from SELOC!

By the time I got back to the campsite there were about four people left in the entire field! Mine was the only tent still standing! I thought I'd leave it up in the hope it would dry out a bit but I should have realised there was fat chance of that happening.

I'm totally knackered now. Too many late nights this weekend. I win the prize for going to bed last on Saturday night. Even the security guard had given up and gone home while I was still finishing off my beer. Bunch of lightweights you lot!

[ChazUwe]

Well at least you can have a good nights sleep now you are home! Will have to check out the others on seloc

[danyeates]

Hi, I turned up on Sunday and parked with the SELOC guys, although it was a bit quiet by the time I got there! Had a chat with JT and the guys from Sinclaires. Was a really good day, except for TMS' mis-haps. I took 1000 photos!! Deleted most of them though. Got some good ones of your car John. Will post them tomorrow.

[Thorney]

Jeeze another long weekend, got home at 11pm last night. Nice to catch up with some people, I may look a bit down but do come up and say hello, we're very much on our own so its nice to chat to VX owners even if we are a bit down about problems. Net result this weekend was actually pretty positive, mainly because we think we've finally turned a corner on the VXT. I'll write the full report today but Richard just got unlucky, he had a great start and took about 5/6 people off the grid but going through quarry he was three abreast and simply ran out of track as he was pushed wide, once he hit the grass it was game over. He's fine (just pissed off) and car damage is cosmetic, new clam, new light and a few bits of trim but will still cost £1k or so to fix For the VXT we've spent a huge amount of time on working on the heat problems we've been having including ceramic coating the turbo and putting extra ducting in the rear clam (which also resulted us being put into class D and clams aren't allowed to be cut in the regs) to try to sort the problem. Sadly 4 laps into qually and we again melted the crankshaft sensor (our 6th) and I coasted to a halt with a resulting 17th place on the grid. A few ideas and some frankenstein effect ducting later and we got to the grid for race 2 where I got the worst of all starts getting stuck behind an S2 and sandwiched against the grass where I watched 10-12 cars simply drive past on the outside, by Quarry we were in 28th or 30th place. After that it got better, car drove well and I managed to pick ourselves through the field to finish 11th, the good news being the crankshaft sensor was fine - the ducting worked. Bad news was that after 11 laps I lost 4th gear (pretty useful round Combe) and when we got it back to the paddock we found both gear box cables had melted. We bring spares but not both (they're £300 each) so that put us out for the second race. I'm pretty happy because it lookes like we've sorted the crankshaft sensor issue, the gearbox cable thing is relatively easy to fix and we know that when its running its quick enough to run with the leaders so with a little bit more time I think we'll have cracked it. We have regs issues with the clam cutouts as these are a particular no no with the series organisers but we're trying to work a deal that will allow the VXT to run and not get penalised. Richard sticking the 2.2 into the wall wasn't part of the plan of course but we'll have that sorted in time for Donny, in the meantime I hope to have the VXT out in a LMA Eurosloons race at Snetterton to see how we run in that series as a potential alternative to the Elise Trophy, also would be good testing for us. Developing a new car from scratch is never easy and we have to balance this with a busy workshop and customers cars to prepare but look at Lotus and their GT car, with all their budget they are still blowing engines each time they go out, it just goes with the territory, I'm sure they will fix their issues in the same way I'm confident we'll get over ours.

[tangerine_sedge]

What a miserable day all round! It stayed overcast most of the day interspersed with mild drizzle. Welcome to the sunny South-West! I always enter the circuit at 'camp' so I parked with the 'commoners', got a good parking spot with plenty of space, only to return at lunchtime and find somebody had squeezed into the gap at the side of me - grrrrr! There was loads of parking 100 yards further along! I toured the pits mid-morning, but as someone else said Thorney looked 'busy', so I decided to leave him it! Perhaps next time... The wet weather seemed to be causing all sorts of problems, and I'm sure the safety car did more laps than any of the competitors did. Despite this, there was some good racing, the historic F3 racers getting a loud round of applause for their 4 wheel drifiting and tail out antics on every corner - you could see the drivers actually driving! Compare this to the Audi Palmer cars that were fantasticly fast, but ultimately boring. The Lotus racing was fun, and mostly clean considering the inexperience of some of the drivers. And it was good to see the VXT complete a race, even if the NA didn't complete a lap (I only knew it was racing, when it came past on the flatbed)... Hopefully, I've got some pictures of the event, but I'll have to wait a few weeks for Mr Kodak to process and mount them for me. Note to self : must sneak a Canon 5D past the wife...

[richard tms]

Hi just a quick post to say thanks to those who wished me good luck on Sunday ( didn't work ) wasn't my best race, but damaged isn't that bad and it should all be fixed for donnington, after a good start i decided to go round the outside of quarry ( bad choice) looks like i lost the back end and by the time i had corrected the slide i was on the grass, it was so wet that by that time it was all over. i was gutted after having a good start on the grid it looked like i could have brought the car home in a good position. but i guess these things happen and we will have to wait till donnington to see what these cars can really do, I'm determined to prove these cars are as competitive as an Elise!

Edited by richard tms, 18 July 2007 - 07:42 PM.

[ChazUwe]

Good to hear Best of luck for the next race

[jules_s]

Hi just a quick post to say thanks to those who wished me good luck on Sunday ( didn't work ) wasn't my best race, but damaged isn't that bad and it should all be fixed for donnington, after a good start i decided to go round the outside of quarry ( bad choice) looks like i lost the back end and by the time i had corrected the slide i was on the grass, it was so wet that by that time it was all over. i was gutted after having a good start on the grid it looked like i could have brought the car home in a good position. but i guess these things happen and we will have to wait till donnington to see what these cars can really do, I'm determined to prove these cars are as competitive as an Elise!

Good to hear that

I've just finished reading/posting on the seloc thread....and I hope you and John get matters sorted for 2008.

[benw]

Hey Richard! Welcome to vx.org. Don't be too hard on yourself. It was a really tough day to be racing. And I think you were just a victim of the TMS racing curse! At least you didn't just blame the car and walk out of the team......

[richard tms]

Hey Richard! Welcome to vx.org.

Don't be too hard on yourself. It was a really tough day to be racing. And I think you were just a victim of the TMS racing curse! At least you didn't just blame the car and walk out of the team......

I'm certain the cars are quick enough, after putting the car 8-9th from the back of the pack for qualifying, and gaining a few places (before i hit the wall) I'm sure i could have been mid pack, remember qualifying was my first time out in the car, with no set up and in the p*****g rain, so with more time i could have done better.

[jules_s]

Hey Richard! Welcome to vx.org.

Don't be too hard on yourself. It was a really tough day to be racing. And I think you were just a victim of the TMS racing curse! At least you didn't just blame the car and walk out of the team......

No offence to Richard (he presumably had little input prior to CC) but there is a thread running on seloc that makes interesting reading.....

A couple of us have waved the vx banner. Me in particular in relation to us turning up all the time.

It doesn't make good reading when John has to bat his own corner like that about both vx variants

[ChazUwe]

It is a little sad to read that thread on SELOC. I get the impression that this is more a personal dispute than anything to do with the cars

[benw]

Yeah, I read all that on Seloc. There are valid points on both sides but it's a shame it came to that because I think most people have enjoyed having vx's in the series. I also think John has been used. He was invited in to the series with open arms when it was getting started and they needed cars on the grid. Everyone knew the VX's were different and there would be challenges fitting them in (The arguments go right back to the debacle about roll cages remember) but the end result was that everyone worked hard to accomodate them. Now the series has been a success and there's Elise owners queuing up at the door to join, suddenly the VX's aren't suitible and too much of a pain in the arse to be part of it.

[Joe-Turbo]

have you got a link to the seloc thread please? oh, an welcome to the site richard, cheers for all the good work you do on our cars

Edited by Joe-Turbo, 18 July 2007 - 10:01 PM.

[ChazUwe]

http://forums.seloc.....php?tid=128073

Although you will need to register if not already a member.

[Joe-Turbo]

cheers for that, yep already a member, just dont browse the forum

[Thorney]

I'm a bit disheartened thats for sure, however I can't say much as any negative comment will make our being banned more likely. I just want to race but end of the day its an Elise series and if the owner doesn't want us then all I can do is smile and say please.

[Crimson_Killa]

I'm a bit disheartened thats for sure, however I can't say much as any negative comment will make our being banned more likely. I just want to race but end of the day its an Elise series and if the owner doesn't want us then all I can do is smile and say please.

Well if you do just find sponsors and set up a VX220 tour!?

Im sure courtney and regal would be interested would they not?

and then you can invites some elises too?

[Matt]

I'm a bit disheartened thats for sure, however I can't say much as any negative comment will make our being banned more likely. I just want to race but end of the day its an Elise series and if the owner doesn't want us then all I can do is smile and say please.

And you should be with the time/effort and money invested into it!!

But reading the thread on SELOC it seems that the elise/exige/etc... drivers/teams and spectators all support the VX as a valid car for the series. I would suggest if moves were made to ban them whilst still allowing the Honda/Audi engine conversions, which also in my opinion would make them even less of a lotus (i know VX's are more than an elise but for arguments sake), a petition or movement including the other drivers i think would have a lot of support from the current competitors.

At the end of the day its the organisers choice, but how could they say no with the support of all the teams that enter?

EDIT: And like was mentioned on SELOC, would this then also mean a possible/eventual end to the ties between the VX's and Lotus clubs? As others would react in the same manner.

Edited by Matt, 19 July 2007 - 12:02 PM.