Month: January 2018

Roadsport Upgrades

Posted on by Matt

The move up from Academy to Roadsport includes a few upgrades which make the car into a far nicer package to race.

Tyres

The biggest difference by far are the tyres. The Academy runs Avon CR322 which were given several affectionate names like ‘ditch finders’ or ‘van tyres’. The replacements are Avon ZZS which have a thinner sidewall and far softer compound. Having better tyres makes such a difference to the handling of the car. When the back starts to slide on the CR322 it could be very snappy and once you went past a certain point that was it. With the ZZS it’s far easier to control the slide and steer the car on the throttle 🙂

Difference in tread between Avon ZZS and CR322
Difference in sidewall between Avon ZZS and CR322

Suspension

The academy car was a bit ‘wallowy’ in the corners especially the rear end this was due to not having a rear anti roll bar. Which happens to be one of the upgrades for Roadsport. Along with the option to fit a thicker front roll bar. The rear one is adjustable so depending on the track conditions you can change it. Along with the 3 options I now have for the front there is more scope to adapt the car. Having had a play around with it during winter testing it definitely makes a difference when the track is wet.

Roadsport upgrade to green anti roll bar.

Brakes

Finally we have some decent ones! In the Academy the master cylinder is known for not being great and leaks air into the system. After a couple of days on track the pedal travel gets longer and longer. The only solution to this is to bleed the system. It became a bit of a race weekend ritual of every Friday lunchtime during testing to bleed the brakes instead of having lunch. The AP Racing master cylinder puts an end to all of this. The brake pedal is rock solid all the time. Since it was fitted I’ve done five track days and four races including two endurance events and it’s still as good as the day it was fitted.

The other brake related upgrade is a brake bias valve. This little device allows you to move the strength of the braking force between the front or rear depending on the track conditions.

Brake bias valve upgrade
Roadsport uprated AP Racing master cylinder

Collectively all these changes have transformed the car and I can’t wait for the racing to start up again. In the meantime I’ll just have to keep doing track days to keep myself entertained.

 

 

2018 Caterham Roadsport Calendar

Posted on by Matt

I have to admit I’m finding a little strange that my first year of racing has been over for a couple of months now. I got used to every month spending 4 day weekends basically messing around in cars with my mates. Steve McQueen was spot on when he said “Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting.”

With that in mind I only had one option which was to sign up for the 2018 Caterham Roadsport season. The Roadsport category is the next step up in the Caterham Motorsport ladder. The car I originally built for the Academy season gets better tyres along with tweaks to brakes and suspension (more on that in another post). Having done the Birkett 6hr & Race of Remembrance in the new car it’s a big improvement to drive.

Caterham Motorsport have announced this years calendar and it’s looking an interesting mix of tracks. Most of them are relatively close to London which makes life a little easier. Anyone interested it coming along put the dates in the diary!

  • Snetterton, 14-15 Apr (Norfolk)
  • Knockhill, 12-13 May (Edinburgh)
  • Brands Hatch, 2-3 Jun (Kent)
  • Zandvoort, 30 Jun / 1 Jul (Amsterdam)
  • Castle Combe, 11-12 Aug (Wiltshire)
  • Thruxton, 1-2 Sep (Hampshire)
  • Silverstone, 22-23 Sep (Northants)

In Roadsport we will get on track for longer:
– Saturday 20 minute qualifying followed by 20 minute race.
– Sunday 20 minute race

With 14 races and 42 trophies with a bit of luck I might end up with some silverware. However the two Academy groups are merging so it’s likely to be a very close fight between at least the top 10 in each race if not more!

There will be plenty of other close racing over the weekends. A few of the weekends it looks like we will be sharing with the new TCR UK racing category which looks like it could be an interesting new class to watch. If it becomes as big as BTCC remains to be seen.