Pre-season testing Val de Vienne
3 Days testing at Val de Vienne has been complete.
How did it go? The short version is that we knocked 14 seconds off the lap time last year down from a one off 2:59 last year to consistent 2:46 with a few 2:45s. Are we happy with the result? Yes and no.
This time using the testing as actual testing of a few things, not just trying to work out what we are doing!
Things that are great, the new front brake set up which has removed the fade and inconsistency, which means that we are hitting the brakes at the same spot each lap, not having to pump then hit the brakes.
Part way through day 2 Mark stripped the front end to try to resolve an issue that had been about since Oschersleben which was a high speed serious wobble. The hope had been that the new tyres would resolve the issue, but a full rebuilt of the front end resulted in the shaking being removed after a few minor issues had been found.
On the 2nd day we decided to attempt a different more relaxed riding style. With a concentration on Graeme getting over less, but the movement on the sidecar being much smoother. What was bizzar was that the first session felt slower out there, but looking at the times there was no difference bar Mark and Graeme both being less tired at the end of the session.
So what did this mean visually?
It is amazing to see the difference, which also resulted in less mistakes.
The other big change that Graeme noticed was that as we started to hit the throttle harder the new holder that we added in the middle of the bike got used a lot more.
So what do we still have to solve? The front end still has a quirk that it suddenly goes ridiculously tight making it nearly impossible to turn (with some tricks found by harsh movement of Graeme and Mark to get the bike to flick a bit more as a temporary solution). This will result in the headstock being re-worked again to hopefully resolve the issue. The other items outstanding are to move the huge oil reservoir to clear up more space on the sidecar, and adjust some of the bars after that so that the chair is more usable.
Posted in 2024, testing and tagged 2024, testing by admin with no comments yet.
2023 Plans
For 2023 we are planning to run quite a few rounds of the Camathias Cup (probably not all rounds). This is partly due to the costs involved and that we are planning a full campaign in 2024.
We will be running a Rennsportish chassis, and a BMW 75/5 engine in the sub 750cc class.
As always anyone who is interested in sponsoring anything we would be very grateful for that as it would enable us to develop our plans better.
Posted in 2023, Sidecar, testing, Uncategorized by admin with no comments yet.