Archive for category: May 2018

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Pembrey

We’ve now had a debrief meeting with Rockingham and are meeting BARC later this week to review how the 24hr weekend all went; we’ve also had some feedback from members on the weekend, although precious little.  Thank you to those who have given us feedback, but surely more of you must have views on driving standards, admin, facilities and so on?  Please – tell us what you think on how we can make the weekend better both on and off track?

Pembrey, and the trip down the M4 half way to the United States of America-land, is already looming large.  We have a full grid for the 5hr race on the Saturday.  BARC have also just made some track time available for us on the Sunday, so we took that like a shot – if you’ve made the pilgrimage all the way down the M4 to Pembrey, you might as well do two races rather than one; another 2hrs racing and 50 minutes qualifying for £200 is great value in anyone’s book.

Full details for the weekend are on the BARC website here:

http://www.barc.net/pembrey-june-9-10

but here are the bits relevant to us:

Start End
Saturday
0730 Signing on
0735 Scrutineering
1000 1100 Qualifying
1250 1750 Race
Sunday
1030 1120 Qualifying
1400 1600 Race

Bear in mind that, although signing on and scrutineering starts bright and early on Saturday morning, we still have nearly 50 cars to get through, so expect it to take some time.  Please present your car with all drivers in kit (with helmet and HANS), full of fuel, with its C1 Club passport and MoT and with the drilled bolts in the right place for the lock wires.  You will be allowed a maximum of 2 weighs on the shiny new wireless scales; and if you aren’t sure about your car, please bring plenty of ballast with you, since the weight limit requires ballast in pretty much all cases.

As usual, in addition to our shiny new wireless scales, our trusty Breathalyser will be in action again.  If you’re crew chief, pit lane crew or a driver wearing your HuTag, please remember that we have a zero tolerance for alcohol.

To cut down on race day admin we have re- programmed the HuTags with your club membership number; and rather than paying a £10 deposit and returning them, you will now purchase them from us for £10 at your first race (or when you join as a member). It will then be your responsibility to bring it to every race to have it fitted at Signing on. Without your tag you will not be able to get out onto the circuit. No more collecting, returning, deposits etc etc.

Driving standards remain in our focus, since there was still too much panel damage at Rocky.  We will be testing some low-cost in car cameras at Pembrey, which we are likely to mandate in all cars when we are confident that we have a cost and reliability with which we are comfortable.  We are likely to require all cars to have an operating camera at all times, with a penalty if its not working.  Given how little in-car cameras cost now, we hope that you will all agree that this is a step worth taking to raise driving standards.

We are thrilled to announce that Scruffybear will be providing full coverage of the Pembrey weekend.  Find him on www.scruffybear.com.  We are working on the in-car cameras with Scruffy so that he can use the footage direct from the cars, to give full in-car coverage.  Coverage will be on the C1 Racing channel on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW-ebEnSs-c0f7qJRA_-12g), BARC TV (www.barctv.net)  and all the websites that covered the Rockingham 24hr weekend.  Marvin Hall, our club photographer (https://www.facebook.com/mhpic/) will be there taking stills; and Peter Scherer writing it all up.

Rick, from www.smallcarsrus.co.uk will also be at Pembrey with an improved selection of spares and consumables based on what was needed at Le Rock.  If there is anything specific that you’d like him to bring, please let him know.  We will also have a number of everything that is available on the club shop; and will be bringing some of you recent orders along to the track with us.

Lastly, you may have heard about the exciting and thrilling new General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) that came into effect May 25, 2018.  We are overjoyed about this and have been looking forward to it for years!  It’s taken up virtually none of our time and has been so much more interesting than running a race series (Said no-one, ever!).  To help comply with GDPR consent requirements, we need to share our Privacy Policy with you, so please read the page-turning exciting document here:  https://c1racing.club/privacy-policy/

Look forward to seeing you at Pembrey

The C1 Racing Team

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Motors1 – Budget racing with a Le Mans Legend

MAY 25, 2018 at 14:30

The Citroen C1 Racing Club offers almost comically affordable, yet seriously competitive endurance racing.

We took part in the Citroen C1 Racing Club’s 24-hour race at Rockingham Speedway, sharing a car with Le Mans legend Anthony Reid. Read on for tips from a pro-racer on how to make the most of your budget racing experience and our story on why this club should be your first stop if you want endurance racing on a shoestring.

Introduction

It’s not entirely representative of all the Citroen C1 Racing Club’s races that you find yourself sharing a car with ex-Le Mans racer Anthony Reid, and a garage with WEC driver Andy Priaulx, Seb Priaulx (Andy’s son), Alan Gow and Richard Solomons – all significant names on the racing scene.

An odd one-off, because the club exists to offer cheap endurance racing. It’s estimated that £12,800 will get you the car, its modifications (which are deliberately minimal and basically involve stripping it out, putting in a roll cage, kill switch and extinguisher, fitting a strut brace and that’s about it) and 107 hours of racing, including a 24-hour race at Spa. Split that between four drivers and it’s £3,200 each. You do have to factor in transport to the races, crash damage and who does the spannering, but any way round it’s crazy how cheap this is.

And here’s another thing: While Priaulx and co. in car 303 were a class apart from most others, they didn’t put it on pole and there were others on a similar level. So while the C1 Club’s garages may not often be so star-studded, there’s a rare mix of brilliant drivers you can learn vast amounts from and novice drivers who offer a field of more reassuringly realistic competition, if (as in my case) you come to the C1 Racing Club with little or no race experience.

Naturally, Reid and the other pros may not be willing to give up the secrets on how to get the most out of a budget race like this, but I am. So here’s my story, as someone who knows how to drive a car fast but is – by my own admission – inexperienced at racing and crippled by politeness and fear of causing carnage when it comes to overtaking. And also read on for tips straight from the racing legends on how to save time and have the best possible race if you’re planning on having a go at cheap racing yourself.

Elastic fantastic

‘Racing is about saving time, in the pits or on the race track.’

That’s a John Surtees quote and one that Reid lives by. With quite some fervour. He might be quietly spoken, impeccably polite and about the nicest bloke you could meet, but there’s also an obsessive, burning competitiveness that characterises everything he does over the race weekend at Rockingham. Sure, this is grass roots motorsport, but he wants to win just as much as he did when he came third with Porsche at Le Mans in 1990.

The first thing he did was elasticate the seatbelts – using the basic, stretchy white elastic normally found in camping shops, he tied the harness to the cage, so that the belt jumped back out of the way when it was undone. It saves precious seconds during driver changes, as you always know where the belts are.

I found out just how good this trick is as I threw myself, deeply terrified, into the car at about 7.30pm. We were in P7 – the same position we’d qualified in. All our testing had happened in dry sunshine and now I was faced with a soaking track, darkness, and a car that had already lost its driver-side mirror.

Still, it was a relief how easy it was to get the belts on since we knew exactly where they were… A nifty, cheap free hack to save you time. Remember that one.

Tyre torture

Another of Reid’s major focuses in testing and the run-up to the race is the tyres. The skinny Nankang tyres cost around £20 a corner, and are of course obligatory in the series. Box-fresh from the factory, they’re then shaved down (still leaving plenty of tread, mind), which makes them rather less grippy.

Reid is tireless (if you’ll excuse the pun) in figuring out the best pressures and how worn they should be in order to achieve the best times. We make sure that all of the tyres are scrubbed with a few progressively harder laps so that they are race-ready but honestly, the monsoon weather makes much of that redundant.

Taking over the car at the end of a safety car stint, I was immediately launched into a field of 52 cars all bunched together into a crocodile. The club is stringent on its driver standards and it has thrown out drivers for executing unsafe manoevres, so the racing is – while utterly hectic – also quite clean.

This stint is hard work. Judging where the cars are and trying to keep the car on the perilously slippery track is more nerve-wracking than fun for me, and it takes a good 30 minutes before I begin to relax and gain confidence – take a wider line than usual to find the grip on the sodden track. Let the car slip a bit and use the lift-off oversteer (there’s plenty in these conditions) to pivot the car into corners. Ease the throttle on with painstaking timidity out of corners or you’ll understeer wildly and let that bloke behind you through…

I managed some adequate times but I exited the car after two hours – when a safety car came out again – feeling wrung out and uncertain whether endurance racing was really for me. If it’s this hard in a 68bhp, front-wheel-drive shopping trolley, I couldn’t help but spare a thought for those who were currently pedalling much, much hairier machinery around a wet Nürburgring at the same time. Fun? Hmm. Maybe. It was time for teammate Jason Barron to take over.

Citroen C1 24-hour race

Fuel pump pain

The Friday before the race, Reid had noticed that the fuel nozzles – a plastic affair that screw onto the jerry cans – were painfully slow and varied dramatically in effectiveness. So he started testing all of them, with the help of the truly brilliant pit crew (check out XDR Motors in Salisbury if you need a good mechanic or race support). Remarkably, the best nozzle was more than a minute faster at decanting the full jerry can into the car’s fuel tank. How much intense driving would it take to save that much time, for a trick that most of us wouldn’t have thought of?

Sure enough, the fast nozzles were marked up and quietly reserved for our car, although strangely we ended up sharing them with the Priaulx car some 10 hours later… Still, even Reid’s perceptive race prep didn’t save us enough time to make up for my less-than-ballsy racing, so when Barron steered 301 into the night just before 10pm, we were down in 16th.

I’m down for the dawn stint, so it’s time for a nap.

A mild crash

While I sleep for a couple of hours, 301 is involved in a mild shunt and ends up with much of its front bumper being held on with duct tape. We write it down to a bit of weight saving, but being recovered from the gravel costs three laps and lots of time, so we’re down in 32nd by the time I creep back into the garage at around 2am.

Citroen C1 24-hour race

Sunlit second stint

Journalist Mark Walton does an ace job of climbing up the ranks during his stint, as the rain eases off and the track begins to dry. Reid’s up next, and I pace, sup coffee and pace a bit more. At some point I have a weird, slightly delirious conversation about exploding penguins, before deciding that what I really need to do is brush my teeth. And drink coffee. And more water, lots of water.

Finally I’m called forward at around 5am. Reid comes in under the safety car, and I’m back out on Rockingham’s International Super Sports Car circuit, heading towards the tight left-hand hairpin that swings you off the speed bowl and into the twisty inner circuit.

There’s a clear dry line appearing, so I stick to it and find loads of grip. With that and the first tint of dawn in the sky, I’m immediately more confident than before and start to gain on cars ahead. Car 301 feels good, turning in well as I trail-brake in. While I still find myself in tight, aggressive packs of cars, I’m confident enough to fight back and hold my own.

In fact, with each lap I feel the racing tunnel vision creeping in. There’s a great overtaking spot if you dive up the inside of Deene – the hairpin running off the bowl. Another if you take a tight line through Gracelands, a fast left-hander that needs just a lift off the throttle to settle the car before you swing in.

Maybe I can get down to a 1:54 rather than the 1:55s that have been my best so far – around three seconds off the fastest times posted.

Next thing I know there’s a car spinning across the bowl in front of me as I’m flat-out in fourth with the car loaded up. I think it’s going to be The End, but somehow – mostly by clenching hard and trying to stay smooth on the brakes and steering – we make it through the melee to live another lap.

The safety car comes out, I check the clock and find I’ve done some two hours. I want to stay out longer but I’ve honestly no clue how much longer the fuel will last and it saves time doing driver changes under the safety car, so I dive into the pits already wanting to head back out again.

Citroen C1 24-hour race

 

Citroen C1 24-hour race

Don’t mind the bullies

Cue more sitting around the pits, and eventually I manage to sleep a bit. At some point I ask Reid about why some cars flash their lights aggressively behind you, since I had come out of one such (granted rather rare) altercation only to be miffed to find it wasn’t even a front-runner as I had assumed. ‘It’s just intimidation tactics. Ignore them,’ was the answer.

So there you have another gem. Of course in endurance racing there’s the difficulty of having cars that are laps ahead or indeed laps behind, but the really fast blokes are notable because they never employ those tactics – they just go round you. A touch humiliating, but then learn about their lines and how they make it look so infuriatingly easy by doing your best to keep up.

So stick to your line, and don’t dive wildly around to give somebody else space. Well-intentioned as you may be, it makes you erratic and more difficult to get around. And don’t be intimidated if somebody goes flashing their lights at you. Be courteous, be clean, but also be brave and don’t let them ruin your race.

Final stint

1pm. It’s lunchtime and I’m back in the car, desperate for more time on track. We’ve clawed our way back up to 18th, which is quite impressive. Everything feels good, the track is now totally dry, and I’m gunning for a 1:54. I can hardly believe how much confidence I’ve built in this one race.

Confidence has always been my issue when it comes to racing – oddly, I have it in karting but have struggled on the handful of occasions I’ve done ‘proper’ racing of any kind. Yet here I find myself the aggressor on the track. I know I’m faster than plenty of the cars out there and I know where I’m comfortable overtaking.

I spend a deliriously brilliant 30 minutes racing with car 399, which is almost exactly matched to my speed around the track. With this circuit taking in a quarter of Rockingham’s speed bowl, drafting is critical, and I get round him that way. Then he gets by me the same way. I open up a bit of a gap. Then I fluff the entry to the bowl and he’s right back on my bumper. So it continues for I have no idea how long, but it is undoubtedly the finest and happiest racing I’ve ever done. I virtually wanted him to win as much as I wanted us to win by the time my stint was drawing to a close.

And all the time I’m learning how to go round backmarkers, how best to maintain the C1’s momentum (because these are comically slow cars), how best to keep the lap times down and chip away at the field… It is the most remarkable learning curve and the best fun.

Citroen C1 24-hour race

Competitive comradeship

Racing can be bitterly, unpleasantly competitive at times. The Citroen C1 Racing Club is not like that – competitive, yes, but also friendly. I had someone give me the thumbs up during an overtaking manoeuvre – it’s that kind of experience, plus the car is slow enough to allow you to do that kind of thing.

Maybe what sums it up best is what happened at the end of the 24-hour race. Around five minutes before the end, car 402 ran out of fuel on School Straight – just ahead of the pits. But he hadn’t run out of luck or friends, since car 318 driven by James Poulton – who had been to-ing and fro-ing with car 402 – took pity and slowed down to give 402 a shove into the pits, where he received further shoves from crews of various garages all the way to his own garage. He managed to get back on to the track to finish the race.

Car 318 actually lost a position in the race (benefitting 301, no less) for his gentlemanliness, but no doubt he got beer enough to make him feel better about it. He also got two points on his licence, but I’m told he’s rather proud of them…

And that’s the sort of stuff that makes the Citroen C1 Racing Club simultaneously a brilliant place for just having fun and also one for seriously working on your racecraft. We finished 14th, which I am heartily chuffed with, especially given how far down we slipped in the middle of the night. Team C’est La Vie in car 349 won the race, and also started on pole, which gives you some idea of how fiendishly rapid the crew of five drivers was.

In truth what I took from it was just how perfect this series is if you want to learn to race better – if you want to learn to race full stop.

I learned how to take time to judge another driver’s style and lines before overaking, I learned strategy, and I had an absolute ball doing it. It’s the perfect balance of unintimidating fun in a race car that’s as easy to drive as they come, mated to low costs, a great field of drivers and some brilliant tracks and good company all round.

If you want to learn to race, start here. Definitely do some track days or karting first, but whatever you do, get into the Citroen C1 Racing Club because it’s the best fun and the best racing, the best bunch of people and the best tuition you could hope for, regardless of the bargain price.

Photos: Marvin Hall Photography
Thanks to the Citroen C1 Racing Club

Gallery: Citroen C1 24 Hours

Citroen C1 24-hour race

24 Photos
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Autocar – 24-hour racing in a Citroen C1: the most fun race on Earth? – 24th May 2018

24-hour racing in a Citroen C1: the most fun race on Earth?

On the weekend of the 24 Hours of Rockingham, we look back at the time our man competed in another day-long C1 race

This weekend, a field of Citroën C1 racers will take to Rockingham for a 24-hour race. To mark the occasion, we look back at the time our man Matt Prior competed in the same series for a day-long race at Spa. Over to you Prior…

Have you ever heard a small-capacity two-stroke motorcycle haring along the road at top speed, gone to a window to look at it and realised that it’s not going very quickly at all?

It’s all ‘niiinnnnng’, and no go.

Welcome to the Citroën C1 Racing Club. Only without most of the ‘ning’.The C1 Racing Club was born because people used to race Citroën 2CVs in large numbers, but don’t quite so much any more. It used to be one of the cheapest forms of motorsport out there but these days even the newest 2CV is decades old and running and maintaining those cars is, by pastime standards, starting to become rather expensive.

So some of the people behind it thought they would put a C1 racing car together and see how that went. Sedately, is the answer. But also cheaply, so here we are.

The first-generation C1 is, as you’ll probably know, mechanically identical to the Peugeot 107 and Toyota Aygo, though only C1s make it into the club for now. There were 3dr or 5dr versions but the racers are 3drs and alterations between road car and race car are pretty limited to keep cost down and the playing field level.

In the technical regulations, the phrase ‘no modifications’ appears no less than 15 times. Every car has its interior stripped and safety equipment added. The dashboard has to remain in place, with a working radio, to prove the wiring loom is standard, and the handbrake is still there, because every car must have an MOT. The engine, gearbox, exhaust, glass and even the window winders (manual or electric) have to stay as was. The minimum weight limit, including driver, is 910kg. Most cars carry ballast to bring them up to the limit.

Power is – drum roll – a heady 68bhp, delivered to the front wheels through a five-speed manual gearbox whose fifth gear I suspect you’d never see on a race track.

You can’t change a thing on the transmission, either.

There are, though, a couple of changes to the suspension. You can shim the rear to adjust the toe angle (dead straight is best, clubbers find), fit strut braces if you like, and mount club-supplied lower front suspension arms, to adjust camber and keep more rubber on the road.

That rubber, mind, is the Nankang AS1, because the club tried a few different tyres and decided that these ones delivered the best balance. And, crucially, not very much grip. They’re also quite cheap.

Does all this sound silly to you? Same here, but it has obviously struck a chord. The club’s first races were this year but already there are more than 80 cars complete or in-build. And I think that’s because, all in, you could be looking at having a car built, race ready, for around £3000. It’s so popular that the club recently announced it would hold a 24-hour race at Rockingham in May. Within a week, it was so oversubscribed that it had to announce it was holding another one in August.

There’s also another 24-hour race, at Spa-Francorchamps where no fewer than 108 cars raced – half of them 2CVs, or curious derivatives thereof, and the other half C1s. Remarkably, they all fitted on the same circuit.

This is, I suspect, because the speed differentials aren’t that big. In ‘proper’ GT racing, you might have LMP1 cars and GTE cars on the same track with massively different closing speeds. With C1s and 2CVs (and some weird developed 2CV racers with BMW bike engines and the odd classic Mini), everybody’s broadly… slow.

How slow? A Formula 1 car will lap Spa in 1min 46sec, at an average speed of 147mph. A C1 cannot even dream of 147mph, so wants almost two minutes extra to complete a lap. So there is time to think about what you’re catching, or what is catching you, and that makes 108 cars fit into 4.3 miles quite easily. Besides, an average of 75mph over a lap doesn’t sound so bad, does it? It sounds, dare I say it, exciting. It is.

It doesn’t matter if it’s quite sedate. Racing at Spa, in the dark, even with only 68bhp, is utterly, utterly brilliant. My first ‘stint’ was two hours from dusk and it was, I kid you not, one of the best drives I’ve ever had in my life.

How’s the car? Not fast, by proper racing car standards, but turning into Eau Rouge, in the dark, in the rain, at 4am, with wipers smearing 12 hours of grit and grime and oil and filth across the windscreen, at 90mph, only a few inches from another car, felt quite senior to me.

The suspension changes make the C1 really adjustable too. It’s not exactly sharp on turn in, but it hangs on gamely and the rear is only a lift of throttle from becoming quite active. The steering is light and uncommunicative, but the brakes – light pedal aside – are phenomenal, the gearshift easy and the engine revvy. It’s amazing fun.

There are places, even at Spa, even in the dry, where you have to take a small breath before turning in flat. And there are places – quite a few of them – where your right foot feels like you’re trying to trap a lost expenses receipt to the floor in a high wind.

Anyway, I shan’t bore you with full details of how my teammates and I fared, except to say that I didn’t break the car and we finished mid-order, it was the friendliest racing grid I have ever been a part of, and we all had an absolute ball. How much of a ball? Put it this way: I don’t always enjoy racing, but should you happen upon a Citroën C1 race, my intention is that you’ll find me in it.

How to make a race-ready C1 

On top of a donor car, there are 12 things you need to fit to a C1 to send it racing, mostly to meet MSA regulations. They range from £7 bonnet straps and a £5 foglight bulb, to £650 for a rollcage. The club- supplied suspension and guard kit costs £620 and new springs, which lower the car by 35mm, are £110.

When it comes to the donor car, the club recommends you buy the lowest-mileage car available. Although you can pick them up as cheaply as £1200, and engines are generally robust, they recommend you walk away from any car with more than 100,000 miles. Consumables are resilient. We only used two sets of tyres in a 24-hour race and even that wasn’t essential. Uprated brake pads will last a twice-round-the-clock race and then a few other sprint races before a change becomes necessary.

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Rockingham 24hr Review

Well that was quite a weekend, wasn’t it?  A lot of firsts – it was the Club’s first 24hr race; it was Rockingham’s first 24hr race; it was the first use of HuTags in the UK; it was many driver’s first race; it was many team’s first 24hr race; and it was our first race recorded on video throughout.  The most important first, though, was that of our winners, RAW.  Warmest congratulations to Robin Welsh and his team for a brilliantly-executed race with both first place and the fastest lap.  Well done.

Second, we want to make a big apology to the winners in the 3hr race.  The timetable for the Saturday was so tight that we didn’t have enough time for a podium ceremony and make sure that everything else happened on time. We are extremely sorry that we couldn’t fit it in; and appreciate that it is an important part of the meeting. All the 3hr trophies, caps etc. were in Club HQ ready to be presented.  We are planning to do the presentation at Pembrey as the 1st, 2nd and 3rd teams have all entered and should be present.  We are going to work out a way in which we can manage a podium ceremony for the 3hr race at the next Rocky.

Thank you to the volunteers who helped us.  To Christine, Aubrey, Miranda, Ryan and Richard, to over 60 marshals, to the scrutineers, clerks and course staff, to the 20 people who volunteered to drive the safety car, all of whom gave up their weekends for no pay to make the weekend happen.  We all tend to take this for granted, but having now been on the other side of the fence and seen really how hard they work, we owe a big debt of gratitude to them all.

We’d also like to thank all the drivers who started for the race.  As we said at the drivers’ briefing, you can only lose an endurance race on the first corner, so thank you all for such a clean start to the race:  that is the standard of driving which we expect in the series.  Sadly, not everyone followed suit as the number of damaged cars at the end of the race testified.  Endurance racing is different from sprints:  its much more about how many laps can you do before the end than can you stop the person behind you getting past – especially if that person is leading the race and blue flags are being waved.  A more sophisticated approach is needed:  one driver commented to us that he had waved the lead car through and tried to stick to its bumper, so as to learn from it; and had gained 2 seconds a lap in so doing.  Its not often one gets the chance to follow a Touring car driver in an identical car

We also learned a lot, as it was our first 24hr in the club; so here are some of the things that we know we need to sort out or change for Rocky II:

Briefing documents need to be better.  We now know the list of questions that we got asked, so can deal with them in advance.

Scrutineering needs to start earlier.  We are going to aim for starting at 1000 or 1100 hrs on the Friday morning, so as to give a lot more time for the scrutineers to do their job to the full.   We have ordered some new scales, since we had some inconsistent results from our trusty old (clearly too old) ones.  We will limit the number of weighs per car, since checking six times holds everyone else up (and the winner was 16kg over weight, so it can’t be that crucial).  We need to give a clearer briefing on how cars must be presented to scrutineering (full of fuel, with passport and MoT, with all drivers in kit and with drilled posts / bolts for ballast).

The HuTag system needs refining.  There are already more sensors on order, so that we have a larger sweet spot at the pit lane exit and at the exit of the drivers’ briefings.  We need to add the drivers name to the timing screens as well; and remind everyone that we know the first driver from the nomination form, so you can just drive out onto the grid.

What else, though?  Please let us know your thoughts on what went well, and what didn’t.  How can we improve the weekend and make it run more smoothly?  We will send out a SurveyMonkey survey shortly, but would welcome any ideas or suggestions directly as well, to board@c1racing.club

It was the first time that we have attempted to provide TV coverage of one of our races.   Look out for the highlights programme on Motorsport TV, when we know the timing, we will let you know.  We think that Scruffybear and his team did an amazing job as there were over 3,000 full views of the live stream.  We are preparing short and a long highlights programmes, we’ll let you know when they are ready.  We’d also like your thoughts on the in-car set up – we can do that free, but we can also offer a more sophisticated wireless-based set up at a cost:  Scruffybear is working that out for us.  Again, please let us know your views.

Two final points.  Parc Fermé  needs to be just that.  One team was disqualified because someone, who had lent the lead to them, cut the ballast sealing tags and removed their ballast in Parc Fermé.  We have every confidence that it was an innocent mistake, but BARC had no alternative.  Please, even if Parc Fermé is a little less Fermé than usual, respect the conditions and do not touch the cars.

There was one moment that made the race for us and absolutely defines the spirit of 24hr racing.  Car 318 and 402 had been battling over 8th place for quite a few hours towards the end of the race, until 402 ran out of fuel one corner before the pit lane entrance within the last hour of the race, so there was no circuit tow back.  318 slowed, and pushed 402 so that it could get back to the pits.  Its on YouTube here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zooliCmvRuo

As they said: “Everyone wants to finish a 24hr race”.  James, you’re a legend, and I’d wear those two points on your licence proudly.  I hope that we would all do the same

The C1 Racing Team

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Motorsport – True sportsmanship – 18th May 2018

Watch: Citroën C1 racers shows true sportsmanship

by Web Editor on 18th May 2018

The spirit of motor racing well and truly lives on, as this clip of a Citroën C1 24 hour race shows

There’s probably nothing more painful than battling for more than 23 hours and 50 minutes, only for your car to stumble at the final hurdle. Just ask Toyota. But that’s what happened at this 24 hour Citroën C1 race at Rockingham in May.

According to the video’s description, car 318 and 402 were battling for eighth place before 402 took the position with 30 minutes remaining.

Then, it all went wrong as car No 402 slowed, having run out of fuel 10 minutes from the finish, and just a corner away from the entrance to the pitlane.

The driver from car 318, in a show of incredible sportsmanship, proceeds to help push his rival’s car into the pits.

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A Driver’s Review – 25th May 2018

15TH MAY 2018

Whilst Le Mans 24hr is a fantastic event with an understandably huge and fanatical following, the cost to buy, enter and run a competitive racing car is very high. For drivers who are new to the racing scene, or experienced racers who want a low-cost alternative, the C1 Racing Club has quickly gained a reputation for providing extremely fun yet competitive endurance racing on a budget.

Scott Parkes, Evans Halshaw Citroen Regional Director, is part of the GMP Developments with QSP Motorsport C1 Racing Team, and we caught up with him to find out more about Citroen C1 endurance racing from a driver’s perspective.

Citroen C1 RacingMore Photos

What drew you to C1 Racing?

C1 racing is a unique proposition for UK motorsport, it offers the lowest price endurance racing in the UK and with over 50 cars on the grid it is the closest most competitive series outside of Touring cars.

How many races have you completed?

This weekend (Rockingham 3hr, May 12-13 2018) was the team’s first outing in C1 Racing but we have 2-3 cars out at Snetterton 3hr, Rockingham 24hr, Croft 4hr and then the season finale at Spa in Belgium for the international 24hr.

How much does it really cost to buy, enter and run a Citroen C1 racing car?

It is costing us on average £4,000 per car to build and entry fees are between £1,500-£3,000 dependent on the circuit and whether it’s a 3, 4 or 24-hour race. Each race we use between 3 and 8 sets of tyres (which are £150 per set) and we use over £300 of fuel.

The C1 isn’t the most powerful car in the world, is it frustrating not having more power?

On a general track day, the power can be frustrating when you have Aston Martins out with you, but when it’s just the C1 racing it’s fine and the cars drive and handle great.

Have you done any other forms of racing, and how does C1 racing compare?

As a family we have raced for over 15 years now. Myself personally, I’ve held my race licence for 3 years, I have raced in the Blue Oval Sports Saloon Championship and the Classic Touring Car Series. Our previous racing experiences were 15-minute sprint races so completely different to C1 endurance, as with sprint races you have to fight from lap 1 whereas in endurance racing you have to ‘finish first to finish first’.

If you could race any car what would it be?

I would love to try BTCC. As a tin-top racer, it’s the pinnacle of motorsport.

Favourite thing about C1 Racing?

It has to be the great team spirit in the pit lane. With over 350 drivers at Rockingham this weekend it was like a huge family party, everyone willing to help everyone. Also, the cost is great!

Any future racing plans?

We plan to continue in C1s helping the club grow and we would like 5 cars out next year. Beyond that, we don’t know as we always need good sponsors to create the budgets.

How have Quickco/QSP supported your C1 racing endeavours?

QSP (Quality Sourced Parts) have been great. They have supplied us with all the initial parts required for 3 cars, from oil and filters to discs and pads they have been amazing and without their support we would not have been able to get out on track this year.

After an impressive P5 finish (as well as cars in P25 and P29) at Rockingham 3hr everyone at Evans Halshaw would like to wish Scott and the team best of luck for the rest of the season.

Want to get involved? Check out the C1 Racing Club on Facebook.

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Pre Rocky 24hr Update

Only a few days to go now until Rocky, so we thought that a round up on admin and where to find things would be a good idea.

Firstly, a lot of you have been asking about where you can watch the race live.  We have a number of live feeds that will cover the whole race, including our own YouTube Channel, the club website and on:

Car Magazine at
www.carmagazine.com

MotorsTV at
https://motorsport.tv/

Motors1 at
https://www.youtube.com/motor1

There will be further videos and articles on the race in Car Magazine and on their website; and on Motors1 website; and potentially a short program on the race on the main MotorsTV channel:  we’ll post more details on that as soon as we have them.

Scruffybear Productions have been hard at work this week putting the cables in place and installing the rest of the equipment for the coverage.  The drone will be up throughout the race; and we have cameras covering the pit lane and roving the track, as well as a number of static cameras.  You should expect to have a camera lens pointing at you regularly; and the commentators putting a microphone in front of you just as you fall exhausted out of your car at the end of a stint; especially at night, when the track action is less effective.  There will be in car cameras in a number of cars which we thought might be particularly entertaining.

Secondly, we are really pleased to announce that, as part of our partnership with Trade Team, Peugeot Citroen’s genuine-parts subsidiary, that TradeTeam are not only providing the winners hats for the entire season (which have just arrived and are gorgeous); but have also provided winners prizes for the whole season as well, including Spa.  They will be on a team basis as follows:

  • 1st place:  £200 voucher
  • 2nd place:  £100 voucher
  • 3rd place:  £50 voucher

The vouchers can be redeemed against Citroen & Eurorepar parts including lubricants and Trade Team merchandise (including Jackets fleeces etc.) purchased from Trade Team Robins and Day parts in West London.  As the saying goes, terms and conditions apply and will be printed on the vouchers.

Paddock access will require a pass for vehicles from Friday morning until Sunday evening; and these have now been sent out to teams.  The paddock is going to be very busy, so the Club will be removing any vehicles that have not got a pass clearly displayed.  Motorhomes should be parked at the back of the paddock, away from the garages:  happily the C1 is quiet enough that the noise won’t keep you awake, but its safer back there; and we need all the space we can near the garages for the race cars, pit crew and equipment.  The end of the paddock near Club HQ will be the area where you will find the trade stands, pop-up Citroen dealership; and one of the food areas.  Again, please don’t park there, we’ll just move your vehicle to somewhere you won’t be able to find it.

Thank you to all those who have volunteered to drive the safety car.  We have ended up with 20 people in the safety car over the weekend; the rota has now been published.  Hopefully, there won’t be too much for them to do, but its been a big help to BARC for the weekend and a great way of getting more people involved in the race and on the circuit.

The supplementary regulations have been published for the weekend.  Probably the most important is the 30 kph speed limit in the pit lane.  This is deliberately low, so that we are able to use the pit lane next to the garages, rather than the remote (hot) pit lane.  Its narrow; we will be using the Club’s speed gun all weekend; and there are suitably draconian penalties for those who break the limit.  None of us want to see any one hurt; and if BARC do not feel comfortable with how we have behaved, we may end up not being able to use the nearer pit lane in the second Rockingham 24hr.

The link to the supplementary regulations is below, please make sure that you have read them:
https://barc.blob.core.windows.net/barcnet/2018-24-hour-specific-8t9lb.pdf

The Club breathalyzer will be in action at signing on and throughout the weekend; and we will be applying our usual zero tolerance approach to alcohol consumption for those driving, or running a team, in both races.  At the test day in April, one person was caught and was not allowed to drive, so don’t spoil yours or anyone else’s weekend.

Driving standards are also very close to our heart.  All four directors have completed the Driving Standards Observers course, which the MSA kindly ran for us.  We are all recorded as DSOs and Judges of Fact for the weekend.  This is a low-cost endurance series; and accident damage materially hikes costs.  In a 24-hour weekend, whatever Senna said, all you can do by “going for a gap”, or trying to win on the first corner, is lose the race, and ruin someone else’s (including all your team mates).  We will be out there watching; and we have TV coverage recording the entire race, so please remember that motor racing is a non-contact sport.

The timetable has been live for some time now, here’s a link in case you’ve lost it:

https://barc.blob.core.windows.net/…/2018-hq08-rk-v1-e9ni8.…

Unrelated to the 24hr, we are planning on a limited run of our rather dashing embroidered Club polo shirts.  If you’re interested, let us know.  We will put them up on the website after the 24hr, so that we can collect orders, colours and sizes and have them made up.

Lastly, we look forward to seeing you all there.  We will be arriving on Thursday evening and setting up camp.  Our mobile numbers will be on the wall in the Club HQ if you need us, but Club HQ will be manned throughout the 24hr.  We can’t wait.

The C1 Racing Team