GT Cup Silverstone GP – Rounds 9, 10 & 11, 1st & 2nd July 2017
Well what a busy weekend this one turned out to be, plenty of fun but this Mosler is certainly putting us through our paces, to add context, We had decided that we wanted the Mosler to run this year and although we set out with the best intentions, a necessary engine rebuild occurring slightly prematurely, had us end up using the trusty Evora to keep us competing whilst the car was away.
The only shame here though is that the development of the front splitter had led up to a prototype splitter being built, but as yet we are waiting to get it on track for back to back testing as the unfortunate kerb clipping at Spa caused damage to the other splitter which is now in for repair, so keep your eyes out for some follow up on that.
Anyway, the Engine in the Mosler as I’m sure most are aware buy now is a Chevy works unit which was acquired recently due to a previous engine failing critically. It came direct from America and as such required some minor wiring harness changes to fit the cars current system, this essentially meant disturbing the wiring harness and although all efforts have been taken to ensure the harness is still in good order, only time will tell if these disturbances will manifest in problems down the line, it’ll certainly be our first port of call should any issues arise this season.
with the engine back and rebuilt, the Mosler was back in its place as the car of choice for the year and as we arrived at Silverstone for this weekend’s round everyone was in good spirits and both Gaz and Kevin were ready to get some seat time in ahead of the weekends racing. This would be the shakedown for the car after all so they were really going to put the car through its paces!
As it happens, the early start and pre-weekend testing was a good idea as we found an oil connection was weeping under load, a quick fix when the pressure of a race isn’t looming, made some interesting visuals on the diffuser though, real world fluid dynamics. We were joined by a good group of students for the event who got straight on with the necessary repairs and in no time the car was ready to go out for testing again;
So a few images ago you saw the diffuser to the Mosler in all its glory, well that version wasn’t long destined for this world and in testing it caught a kerb, tearing it off the car and taking with it half of the rear floor! We would have to do something about this as the underside of the engine and gearbox would now be exposed to the track and any F.O.D. should it be left as is.
Aside this excitement, there was also a noise that Gaz wasn’t entirely happy with from the engine so the data would need to be studied to ascertain the cause.
We decided therefore to split the team in two, I took half of the team and we addressed the issue with the floor, luckily we keep some carbon sheets on the truck for instances such as this and with a group of proficient engineers we had something knocked up in no time, taking into consideration that the vertical planes needed to be trimmed to miss the high kerbs of Silverstone circuit for the design. Allow me then to introduce what became affectionately named Frankenstein’s monster;
Meanwhile in picnic corner Kieran was showing everyone the data from the run to try and see what was causing the grumble from the engine. A loose plug to one of the cylinders was the diagnosis. As image two suggests, there is always a plush selection of food at the race weekends, we restrict access to keep the team focussed, ha ha!
Jokes aside, this is probably one of the only pictures you’ll find of Jacob not working on the car, he’s one of our longest standing attendees to the GT Cup events and knows the car well, he works very hard to earn his lunch.
Aside the issues, the car made it out for assembly prior to race 1 in its new guise with no issues evident;
With all the effort put in by the team it was with great pleasure that we saw Kevin finish the first days racing with a P3 in class! The car just wanted some general checks through the evening so the day’s work wasn’t quite over, but it was good to have a successful first day of racing. The late night work was captured too;
After a good first days racing, the Mosler placed well for the final day of racing and Gaz was raring to go after Kevin putting in a good performance the day before;
So how would it all end then? Well, Gaz isn’t one for being upstaged, so it could only go one way, another P3 in class!
A great end to a good weekend of racing at the fabulous Silverstone Circuit. The team did a great job of shaking the Mosler down and dealing with the niggles that arose, the car returns to the NMA base for its full check over after its first full weekend outing;
Well done to all who attended and onwards and upwards for the Mosler and team NMA!
Wayne Gater – NMA Curriculum Leader
