Ruptured Duck Motorsport

Black skies. Red flags. Muddy Waters.

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Superb day out as always in the Wiltshire hillside in some great company at another exceptionally well run event by BARC (SW). The day started with many discussions about the weather forecasts, all of which would prove right at some stage or other!

The practice runs went well on a damp hill on slicks. Global #0230 ran faultlessly and the recent work on the brakes and engine mount held firm.  Come lunch time, the heavens opened in a Canadian Grand Prix 2011 kind of way, and then the strong winds left us with blue skies following the lunch break. Briefly.

 

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Being in the last of four batches, the whole Sports Libre class watched as the clouds rolled in and near the end of batch 3, we were hit with another downpour prompting frantic activity on all the cars swapping to wet tyres. During this time, red flags were deployed due to the boating lake that now graced the run into the first corner.

The marshals and organisers did their usual sterling job and the hill reopened in a short time, and Mark had the chance to try the Global out for the first time in wet trim.  Top of the hill was achieved as well as a better understanding of what the little car would do.

Unpredictable summed up the weather, but one thing remained constant - a wet track. The roll bar was loosened on the front of the Global to improve the reaction of the front end in the slippery conditions. The time for the second run put Mark firmly in the middle of the class with the knowledge of where more time can be found.

Still smiling!  Linzi's turn tomorrow. If the weather holds, expect a new personal best and dare I say a new best time for the team in a Global?

Filed under  //   2011   Global GT1   Gurston   Mark  

Build-up To Gurston Down

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The Alley's Global GT Light is nearing completion for Gurston Down this weekend.  Linzi and Mark are keen to make the most out of the weekend and learn as much as they can about the car.

Errant handling at the Petroc event at RMB Chivenor was so full of understeer, only a good dose of throttle could bring the car round. This will be resolved by a new set of Avon boots (for the geeks among you, they are crossply 7.2/20.0-13 compound A15) which have been fitted by Warners Tyres of Glastonbury. Dan and his crew carried out the change without any fuss and with the kind of honesty, efficiency, and common sense approach that we have come to know and trust them for.

The Öhlins rear suspension has been away to Aurok for a rebuild, and they have done a very fine job with a very quick turnaround. The rear has been checked over and reassembled ready for the assault on the inclines of the South West.

The hill at Gurston Down (for your SatNav: SP5 5HR) opens from 08:30 Saturday 28th May and Sunday 29th May and there will be the usual amazing mix of machinery as well as the British Hillclimb Championship, and Hillclimb Leaders Championship tackle the hill.  Linzi and Mark will be in the lower paddock and look forward to seeing you there.  Expected guests are the previous owner of their Global; Dee Pee and one Mr Tony Hurcombe (@CotswoldRacer)

Filed under  //   2011   Global GT1   Gurston   Linzi   Mark  

Mixed Fortunes

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Recent events for the team have been somewhat mixed, with Ian taking the Wee Beastie to Wiscombe park after a good weekend at Gurston Down for the April meeting and the Alleys taking their Global to an exhibition day.

Wiscombe ended with a problem early on Sunday morning when the carrier for the drive shaft bearing decided it didn't like its location and jumped ship (see pictures).  Repairs, or dare I say upgrades, are taking place, but will take some time to have completed.  Ian has promised to have the Wee Beastie back on track before the end of the season.

Linzi and Mark got invited to the Petroc Motorsport Family Fun Day at RMB Chivenor, in aid of The C Group and the RMB Chivenor Community Fund. We were in illustrious company with 2011 Lotus Renault GP Team F1 car, Michael Schumacher's 1993 Benetton F1 car, an Aston Marton DBR9 and even a Wall Of Death!  Great fun was had putting on a show with the stage rally and drift cars in the Speed Zone. 

Filed under  //   2011   Chivenor   Ian   Linzi   Mark   Petroc   Wiscombe  

Linzi & Mark's new chariot

The Pulsar was eventually sold and has found a new home in Belgium where the new owner lives a short distance from the wonderful Spa Francorchamps circuit where the car and driver will be regular 'track day warriors'. The phrase 'gone to a good home' has never applied more. Within 24 hours of the sale, Linzi & Mark headed over to the Croydon part of London village to collect their new weapon: a Global GT1 a lot like Ian's but with more 'charm' ('charm is pronounced 'wear'), creating a proper two car team at Ruptured Duck setting the scene for some great rivalry. 

With less than three weeks from changing to the Global, they had very little time to get things ready for the first meeting at Gurston Down on 16th/17th April.  A few basic were done - spanner check, oil and water change etc before a hastily arranged test at the Haynes International Motor Museum to familiarise themselves with the car and see if anything needs changing.  All appeared to go well with only a charging issue ending the day early as we ran out of electricity. This was to be very minor compared to what was to follow.

After catching up with work for a few days, they managed to start looking at the electrical issues only to discover that there was far more serious damage to the engine caused by an oil feed issue (blocked pickup), resulting in either a full rebuild or replacement unit.  With only a week until Gurston Down, we felt it prudent to withdraw out entry, not only to allow time to affect a proper repair, but to also have the chassis setup professionally and to have the rear dampers repaired.

A new engine has been found via the forum at Uphill Racers and has been stripped, ready to install in the Global.  Next stop; Mamhead (or Gurston)!

 

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Filed under  //   2011   Global GT1   Linzi   Mark   Pre-season   Pulsar  

Next stop Mamhead!

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It has been a very long 20 months since the last outing in the Pulsar 931, but the drought is over and we are returning to competition at the picturesque Mamhead Hillclimb, near Exeter, Devon on this Saturday.

The Torbay Motor Club organised event will also be attended by Ian in the Beastie who is continuing his assault on the hills of the south of England by taking part on Saturday and Sunday's events. Both drivers are hoping for clear weather and good times (on the clock and smiles on faces!).

Mobile signal permitting we will tweet updates and times live from the event. Follow us at http://www.twitter.com/rupturedduck to catch the updates.

 

Filed under  //   2010   Beastie   Ian   Mamhead   Mark   Pulsar  

Testing, development and preparation for Mamhead

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A good afternoon was had testing the Pulsar 931 at The Haynes International Motor Museum, Sparkford. Given that the car had not turned a wheel in anger since September 2008, we need to make sure all was good and bring to the surface any issues that will need resolving before an outing at Mamhead in two weeks time on the 29th May.

A few sedate laps started our session and nothing fell off, which was a good start. Some more laps were needed to bring the brakes back into condition, Some 'spirited' laps were later put on the car without any major issues. In total we ran around 30 laps. The only issues that we found were: a minor mounting issue with the new diffuser, a small weeping of fluid from the differential housing, a failed wheel stud and issues with the seat mounting.

All the issues have now been resolved and we have one more development in the pipeline that we can't wait to see on the car: new rear-wing end plates that Ben from Bazzworx is developing as part of a CFD (Computational fluid dynamics) design project. These sexy new bits will have half the drag of the old end-plates with no loss of downforce. Pictured are the wind-tunnel models ready for testing.

Filed under  //   2010   Haynes   Linzi   Mark   Pulsar  

That'll Do!

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A good day was spent fitting the last few panels, undertaking a nut and bolt check, checking all systems, firing up the engine and running up through the gears with the car still on stands. Most impressive was that Lynsey was able to still fit in the seat! A much used phrase during our preparation was "That'll Do" which has now been adopted as Lynsey & Mark's motto.

The eagle-eyed among you will notice a missing wing end-plate. This is because Ben has been playing with CFD and has designed replacements that have half the drag. We've seen the pictures and they are even pretty. Hopefully they'll be in place for our test at the Haynes International Motor Museum, Sparkford (www.haynesmotormuseum.co.uk) on Wednesday afternoon.

Filed under  //   2010   Haynes   Linzi   Mark   Pulsar  

Coming soon to a hill near us

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Filed under  //   Beastie   Gallery   Ian   Linzi   Mark   Pulsar  

Pulsar South West Tour 2010

Taking a cue from Ian’s post about the Beastie, we have planned our diary for 2010 in the Pulsar. Despite a sabbatical in 2009, the Pulsar, Mark & Linzi are ready to go!

Sporting some revised parts, the Pulsar will be looking as sexy as ever and at the following venues:

* 29th & 30th May - Mamhead
* 19th June – Gurston Down
* 31st July & 1st August – Mamhead

Filed under  //   2010   Calendar   Gurston   Linzi   Mamhead   Mark   Pulsar