D Beddows
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| posted on 26/5/03 at 09:28 PM |
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Explain this then.........
OK bored of this..........the Locost lap record for the Fosters circuit at Oulton park was broken by a clear 3 seconds today - now all of your
friendly Locost commitee members, who include a previous champion and a couple of race winners (ie decent drivers with well set up cars) who are
running with engines so squeakily legal you wouldn't believe (Brett's even running with points ignition at the moment) and they were all
built by different people, Brett Townsends' by me, Brian Mitchams' is a Randal engine but with a Kent Cams p103/4 (mmmmm ehh?), and
Darryl Beckwiths' was built by someone else whos' name escapes me but I know he knows how to build a crossflow properly - and although
their race/practice/testing times at Oulton were a good second below the lap record (better engine building, different weather conditions etc) they
were remarkably similar, as you would expect from a single make formula........but none of them stood a chance of winning the race........
Sounds like sour grapes I know (and I'm well aware the 'best' engines have been declared legal in regards to the tests that they
have been subjected too so far) but c'mon something is going on, we didn't turn into car/engine building muppets/crap drivers over the
winter
So go on someone, explain to me where we're all going wrong
Cheers
Dave
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Rick
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| posted on 26/5/03 at 10:05 PM |
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Well everyone! we are all listening.
Been through this in karting and it don't half P*ss you off.
Rick
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D Beddows
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| posted on 26/5/03 at 11:35 PM |
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So c'mon Steve26, aka Mr Lee Stevens, the new lap record holder, how is it done with a completely legal engine then? A good few of us old hands
would obviously be interested - as you must have built that engine yourself, what with all the developments you've done to the car and all those
qualifications etc, there must be a few crumbs you can throw to the rest of us........... or should we just put back in the bent ca.....ts?
Dave 
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Rob Palin
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| posted on 27/5/03 at 02:13 PM |
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I watched Tim Gray almost completely strip down his engine with 2 scrutineers present. Nothing dodgy there.
There were several front runners testing at Oulton on the saturday but monday's times were still a bit quick.
I suffered from having the wrong tyres - 175/60 A509's (and because i can't drive for toffee), but it made me wonder if the difference
isn't the engine but the tyres.
3 seconds per lap would be a lot to get out of an engine without it showing but softer tyres could do it and still be untraceable (or so it says on
the cans you can buy from Demon Tw**ks).
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Mark Benson
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| posted on 4/6/03 at 12:32 PM |
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Tyres are certainly a feasible theory - this months Circuit driver takes 4 secs off a lap by changing from road tyres to cut slicks with no other
mods. When everyone is looking at the engines with such focus, it's probably even easier to slip non-control tyres under the wire.
The whole idea of cheating in any way in the Locost championship is something I never expectd - I thought I was getting into a series where people
competed for fun, it's a real eye opener....
But then I'm speaking from the viewpoint of a driver whose biggest advantage would come from being able to drive....so what the hell do I
know.
I still enjoy myself though 
Raced a Locost for a couple of years, then bought an Elise.
Now back building a Fisher Fury, can't yet decide on V8 power (which I already have waiting to go in) or some kind of V6 (which I'd have
to buy, when I can sell the Elise, if I sell the Elise).
I'm not the most decisive person in the world.
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Rob Palin
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| posted on 5/6/03 at 07:45 AM |
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I think rumours of cheating are rife in pretty much every category and we've just got to live with it. Club racing seems to be every bit as
fiercely competitive as the more professional stuff and some people will do whatever it takes to get ahead.
IMHO Locost is supposed to be a standardised 'one-make' championship (at least as near as is possible for kit cars) and the leaders should
be ahead because they do the same things as everybody else but just that bit better.
If it was F1 or something then it would be fair enough to get a half second advantage by coming up with a new design idea or whatever, because
that's part of the competition. With us its not.
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DickieB
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| posted on 16/6/03 at 09:20 PM |
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I followed a well-known and (this year) highly successful Locost racer in to a corner during testing at Snetterton - he went in far faster than I
could (if I had braked less I could have gone in at that speed) and I could hear his tyres squealing from inside my car. There are so many variables
involved in racing, and if you get all of them right together, as I am sure he has, then the results speak for themselves.
For example, look at how much our lap times improve from qualifying to the race - my best race lap at Oulton Park was 3 secs quicker than my
qualifying lap (I'd never been there before). A simple days testing will gain you countless positions on the grid.
There is also the advantage of being on pole and quickly pulling away from the traffic. Having to look in your mirrors all the time or tangle with
the guy in front will lose you speed and position, so if you can get to the front and pull just a couple of seconds ahead then it makes a world of
difference.
I was sceptical, but have seen "the boy" in action and I can not compete, but equally I am not worried by it. C'est la vie. There
will always be someone with more time and, to a lesser degree in our championship, money. The best bit about Locosts is that you simply can not throw
huge amounts of money at it, other than testing to get the optimum performance.
Dickie B
Locost 71
http://www.teamdickie.co.uk
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Mark Benson
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| posted on 19/6/03 at 02:50 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by DickieB
I followed a well-known and (this year) highly successful Locost racer in to a corner during testing at Snetterton
I tried following him into Paddock at Brands,  I bottled well before he did, he is a better driver and knows the circuits better, simple as that as
far as I can see.
quote:
There are so many variables involved in racing, and if you get all of them right together, as I am sure he has, then the results speak for themselves.
Absolutely true.
quote:
A simple days testing will gain you countless positions on the grid.
Good, I have half a day booked at Pembrey next month, watch out Tim!!!
quote:
There is also the advantage of being on pole and quickly pulling away from the traffic. Having to look in your mirrors all the time or tangle with
the guy in front will lose you speed and position, so if you can get to the front and pull just a couple of seconds ahead then it makes a world of
difference.
I wouldn't know - one day maybe
quote:
I was sceptical, but have seen "the boy" in action and I can not compete, but equally I am not worried by it. C'est la vie. There
will always be someone with more time and, to a lesser degree in our championship, money. The best bit about Locosts is that you simply can not throw
huge amounts of money at it, other than testing to get the optimum performance.
...absolutely. And also that wherever you are in the race, front, back or just somewhere in the pack, there is always good, fun racing to be had.
Raced a Locost for a couple of years, then bought an Elise.
Now back building a Fisher Fury, can't yet decide on V8 power (which I already have waiting to go in) or some kind of V6 (which I'd have
to buy, when I can sell the Elise, if I sell the Elise).
I'm not the most decisive person in the world.
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