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Phi09 wins EWCC Rnd 4 ........

Phi09 wins EWCC Rnd 4 ........

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	Team Corally UK Newsletter

	Phi/09 takes TQ and 1st overall at EWCC round 4.........
	After the first round of this championship, to say we had problems was an understatement. Initially we felt the random handling problem we had was mainly down to the tyres. We persevered all day, continually reducing the steering which just seemed to increase every run. Poor Mark, he did his best to drive around it, but it was a real handful. At the end of the meeting we put some used STCC tyres on and the car was okay again except it was lacking in steering, not surprising really after having spent all day reducing it........ The next 2 rounds were cancelled due to snow and travel problems, we were looking forward to round 4. I had now stripped the complete car checking and measuring EVERY part just looking for something that might explain the terrible handling problem we had endured. Absolutely nothing wrong with the car, I could not find anything wrong, bent or out of place! After discussing this with Mark, we decided to rebuild the car on the optional super narrow chassis, and leave everything else as it was, however during the re-assembly, we were concerned about the extended stand-off's for the rear shocks and the movement they would cause to the shock tower. After some checking instead of doubling up on the shock tower to stiffen it, I fitted the rear diff bearing carriers from the 2011 prototype, as these have the shock tower mounts on them and moved well back, as well as inboard top link pick up points. But I knew what I wanted regarding the geometry so used the shock tower pick-up points as normal. We did not complete the open practice as the newly installed motor's sensor board seemed to be playing up, so Mark pulled off while we swapped out the sensor board for another one, end of open practice...... 1st round of qualifying, new tyres fitted, shock horror, same problem all over again, the car just had far too much grip and the track would only get more grippier as the day went on! However it looked balanced, front and back were planted, just that it would lift up on two wheels when pushed hard and grip rolls would invariably result. Mark wasn't sure, as I wasn't, whether it was rolling over the nose or side - next round car checked and left settings alone, sure enough grip was increasing and car would just grip roll - however after watching it carefully, I could now see this was a complete sideway roll, front and rear were both biting equally and the car would just jack up...Mark agreed that this is what he felt was happening so I now knew what to do. After a quich change to the roll centres, front and rear, change to the ride heights and droop settings, front roll bar added for good measure, the tyres were not cleaned or treated as they we still so tacky and it was felt this would add even more grip if we prepped them and probably make the car inconsistent! RESULT....... it was clear during the warmup lap that the car was transformed, Mark went from 8th overall on TQ to promptly set outright TQ by just over 4 secs from where it currently stood - I felt there was a little more to come, but we had to wait to see what the other guys could do. They only improved by 2secs so TQ to Mark it was. I made the small change to the front for the next round, car still looked good, and if he hadn't been punted from behind he would have beaten his existing TQ. The timesheets showed he lost just under 5 secs due to the accident, and he finished 2/100th off TQ pace again, however I was interested in the individual lap times and these showed the change was a positive one. Car was re-checked, and then left alone, settings and tyres exactly as it had come off. Last round of qualifying, Mark finished another 4.5 secs under his previous TQ, on 27/300.00 dead. If it wasn't for 2 minor avoidance moves he had to make to go around 2 cars on their roof's he would have broken into a 28 lapper so he had the TQ by almost 6 secs! But, most importantly the car looked good, Mark was really pleased with it, so again, apart from a clean down and check over, it was left alone, including the tyres. Starting from 1st, Mark led from the front, quickly establising a comfortable lead over the next 3 places, eventually finishing over 8 secs up on 2nd place and clinically lapping the field up to 4th place with an impressive display of pin-point driving and speed - we were both very happy with the result, not the finish but that we had solved the handling issue we had been suffering.........it was a VERY good day all round! Setup sheet is online here.

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