Ruptured Duck Motorsport

ACSMC Award

Ian, with Global chassis #9715, has been confirmed as the winner of Class 12, (Sports Libre upto 1800cc) of the 2011's Association of Central Southern Motor Clubs (ACSMC) Hillclimb Championship.  A fantastic result from the first season piloting his Global GT.

Mark is running the adidas Silverstone Half Marathon!

Oh. My. God.  What have I done? Before I knew it I'd agreed to run the Silverstone Half Marathon for the Richard Burns Foundation. How did that happen? Simple. I was moved by a video, and how could any motorsport fan (or human) not be touched by this (caution, contains rallying) :

I've never run very far in my life, in fact, I'd never run at all until just over a year ago, so this seemed like a challenge worthy of 'maximum attack'.  My co-driver for the adidas Silverstone Half Marathon is Tony Hurcombe (fellow motorsport addict who races the 'mighty Fiat Bravo') and I'm determined we'll both make the finish.

http://www.sports-tracker.com/#/view_profile/RupturedDuck is where you can follow my training. If you fancy coming along for a run, running partners welcome to chat to or push me that bit faster or further.

Its time for another run in the beautiful Somerset countryside and time for you to donate here: www.justgiving.com/RupturedDuck

THANK YOU!!!

Wee Beastie 2011 Review

Sadly team mates Mark & Linzi are having to take a break for 2012.  I wish them all the best, and I have my fingers crossed that I can persuade them to come "out to play" at some point.

My first season with the Global GT has been somewhat a baptism of fire, with mechanical 2 failures curtailing my season.  Firstly in May, at Wiscombe Park, a rear bearing failure put me out until August.  In September, the most dramatic failure.  Wheel stud threads stripping, and a wheel coming off at Gurston Down, resulting in me going into the undergrowth!  Damage sustained at Gurston Down has now been repaired.

On the positive side, the Global has shown great potential.  Handling is pin-sharp, with superb grip levels, and very quick acceleration.  If there is a down side, it's the weight.  Built as a circuit racer it's heavy at 395kgs (still has 380bhp/ton).  The OMS SC1 is lighter, as is the Force LM1.  Not much to strip out of the car to reduce weight, but I'm looking at it. 
My first outing at April's Gurston Down test day showed me what the car is capable of.  By the end of the day I was posting times similar to my PB in the old Westfield (Wee Beastie 1). 
Next up was a "fun day" at a drag event run at RAF Odiham, near to me.  Spent the time practising my starts, and getting more used to the gearbox.  1/4mile best was a 12.27sec, with an ET of 124mph. 
Then the issue at Wiscombe surfaced, and I realised the bearing problem may have been slowing the car a bit.  During to bearing replacement, the gearing was also altered to give better acceleration. 
First post repair event was Mamhead.  2 class wins, and set a new class record of 22sec.  Also a 1.88sec 64ft time was also recorded during the weekend!
Then the "off" at Gurston.  A real shame, as Mark & Linzi were there too, and it was our first head-to-head.  Times were very evenly matched.  I went off on my 1st timed run, and had already set a PB during the mornings practice.  Mark went even quicker in the timed runs, and I know I would have matched his times.

All crash repairs are now completed, and I am now working on developing the aerodynamics.  With help of Simon McBeath, a well renowned aerodynamics expert and regular contributor to Racecar Engineering magazine, one of his high-downforce rear wings (made by DJ Engineering) has been fitted, .  Further mods include ducting the radiator at the front, to aid the airflow and cooling.  Redesigned front dive-planes, to help balance up the extra rear downforce.  A new rear diffuser, which will be longer, deeper, and more steeply raked.  Some work on the front splitter to make it more efficient.  Lastly, a new shiny paint scheme!

My event plans for 2012 are looking very promising.  I have seen the proposed calenders for the championships that I normally compete in, and the dates fall into place very nicely.  I can do my usual events, but over fewer weekends (more double headers, and date matching between regional associations has helped).  As my budget is smaller this year, it all works out well, 13 events over 7 weekends (had I done my full 2011 season, it would have been 15 events over 10 weekends).

Once I have confirmed championship dates I will post up the events I plan to do.

Happy New Year

Ian (Wee Beastie II)

(download)

Click here to download:

Wee_Beastie_2011_Review.zip (23.89 MB)

2012 Announcement.

In 2011 after seeing Ian's (@globalbeastie) beautiful GHE Global GT1, we knew that getting our own GT1 was something that would change our relationship with speed events. We weren't wrong. After pedalling the Alfasud Ti and then the Pulsar 931 for over 5 seasons, we'd only managed a single 'pot' for a runner-up spot at BARC Gurston Down in 2010.

Our achievements in the first year of competition in the new car were; 4 class wins, 1 class record, The 'Pit Stop' (BARC SW) and the Carter Shaw (Brighton and Hove MC) trophies. A record we are very proud of and hoped to better in 2012.

Sadly we are taking a sabbatical this year and barring a surprise appearance, our Global GT1 will remain in the garage until at least next year. We have always been upfront about running on a limited budget, and this is the reason for our year off.

We wish all the best for Ian in 2012 and know he will spring a few shocks in his rapidly developing chassis and look forward to following his progress here at www.rupturedduck.co.uk and on the team's Twitter feed @RupDuk.

Linzi & Mark