Round 7 of the BTCC saw us travel up to Silverstone in high spirits after our 3 strong and promising finishes at

Snetterton.

Saturday morning we started with our usuall set up and check over for FP1





Shaun back in the pits for adjustments and check over.



Fresh tyres and quick check of the data logging.



FP1 saw us with the 19th fastest time and 1.7 seconds off Chilton in P1.

Shaun out on track in FP1

Before FP2 we made further changes to the setup and spring rates to try and help get the times down further.



We were still 19th fastest in FP2 but knew there was still more to come from Shaun and the car.







On to qualifying and more changes were made to the car. As we have no previous set up data to work from, it

means we have to learn whats best for the car and Shaun at each circuit.







Shaun was not 100% happy with the car, so more changes were made through out qualifying. With fresh tyres on

and a further spring change Shaun went out with about 8 minutes of qualifying left to try and improve further.

He reported back on the radio that the car instantly felt alot better and his times were starting to come down,

unfortunatley just before Copse, Shaun informed us that the car lost all power and would not restart.

Qualifying finished with us in 19th out of 21. Had the car not stopped on circuit there is a chance this would have

improved after the last set of changes.

We got the car back to the pits and up on the air jacks, had a quick look over the engine and found the alternator

belt missing. Our first thoughts were the Golf had simply ran out of electricity.

The battery jump pack was plugged in and the car turned over, it was at this point we all heard the sound any race

team dreads. The sound of no compression. On further investigation the alternator belt had shredded and gone

into the timing belt, causing it to jump about 7 teeth.

We began to strip the head down and found all the valves bent, rockers, tappets and collets damaged. The

camshaft had also been damaged too.



This meant it was the end of our weekend and we would not be able to race on Sunday.

This by far has been our worse weekend and really brought us back down with a bump!

As the saying goes "thats motor racing for you"

The engine came back out on Tuesday and got taken back to Liechtenstein for repair and should be ready to be

picked up on Sunday.

Next stop Knockhill!

Round 6 saw us make the trip over to Snetterton Race Circuit for what would be a our most sucessful weekend of the BTCC sofar.

Saturday morning the car was prepared and set up for ready for FP1.



Shaun back in the pits for a check over to make sure everything is as it should be.



Out on track during practice



Then back in for some suspension tweaks and fresh tyres.





FP1 saw us with the 19th fastest time and 2.4 seconds of the fastest time of the session. This was slightly down on what we expected after the way the car peformed at the test session.

To try and rectify this issue we replaced the shocks with a pair that had a slightly different internal setup.







During FP2 it was instantly obvious this had helped and Shaun was getting more from the car, getting quick and quicker each lap.

In the pits for a fresh set of tyres and check the data from the first half of the session.





Shaun during FP2



At the end of FP2 we were running 18th and 2 seconds of Jason Plato who put in the fastest time of the session.



While waiting for qualifying everyones eyes were on the sky as the weather looked like it was going to take a turn for the worst.

Just as qualifying was about get underway the rain started to fall. We sent Shaun out on slicks to try and put the fastest time he could in the ever wetting conditions. The track did become too wet and grooved Dunlop's had to be fitted.





Shaun managed a respectable 17th place. Shaun is first to admit he was driving cautiously, to ensure there were no mishaps that could put race day in jeopardy.

On to race day!

In the mornig before Race 1 we made afew changes to the car.

Fresh new Pipercross Airfilter, we change these one to two times every weekend.



A fresh new set of discs and pads all round were fitted.



Final set up and checks before Race 1.



For the first time ever we were actually ready long before Race 1 was due to start..........but things never go that smoothley!

As half the team and the girls moved onto the grid to wait for Shaun to come round it was obvious all was not well! Just as the car was fired up in the garage to make it's way round to the grid the alternator stopped charging.

Stuart and Chris rushed to change the alternator to get Shaun round on to the grid so he could start in his qualifying position.



Unfortunatley Shaun got to the end of the pitlane only 2 seconds too late! It was then a mad rush for us to get to the end of the pit lane so we could front to rear the tyres and ensure Shaun got out of the pits.

Shaun was allowed to start on the grid with the rest of the cars but had to start from the back.

Even though Shaun started from the back he managed his way up to 16th, which is where he finally finished. Closley chased down by Forsters BMW over the line.





Golf back in the pits after a good race.



On to race two and all that was needed was a fresh set of rubber




and the usually set up and pre-race checks.



Shaun would start from 16th in Race 2.

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