I couldn't get onto the board at all while away so sorry I didn't make to meet up and put some faces to names. When I asked for Chris at the Jowett garage I was pointed to driver Chris but had a brief chat with him.
Andrew Frankel who was driving the Bentley no.30 talks about his drives on the Intercooler podcast which was released yesterday.
My first time at the Classic and really enjoyed it, lots of walking though, e-scooters needed in 2 years time.
Post by grumpynorthener on Jul 5, 2023 8:57:24 GMT
Ok - Back to Blighty land has of yesterday - caught up on sleep BUT need to catch up on work !! - Still here's a quick starter - much, much more to follow - I will update on a day by day account as it happened - So long story short - I'm invited to crew for a small budget team with a Jupiter - Due to massive commitments elsewhere (Home / Building works at home / Workshop / Club) I cant put significant time into preparing the car prior to the event - but I'll help where I can
Stuff still going together / getting fixed on the day that we depart - Here's Scott who's a fellow Jupiter owner / long term racer - He is over from LA in the states is one of the teams 3 drivers for this year
Mine & Scott's stead for the journey - 1954 Jowett Jupiter SC (one of the last Jupiter's manufactured by the factory) - I restored the panel & paint on this car back 2010 - Mrs GN did the hood
Crew van & kit transport
Tow vehicle / trailer transport and yet more kit in the tow vehicle
Dynamo on the Jupiter road car decides to fail before we even reach the ferry at Portsmouth
But we limp it there
Along with the rest of the team
My workshop duties now beckon - much more to come soon
Post by toomanyprojects on Jul 5, 2023 13:02:27 GMT
Will update properly when I get chance including about the 'mission', alas the day job has got in the way again
Suffice to say though, first time there and wow, I loved every second... well perhaps not the cowering under an umbrella on Saturday while waiting for the race to start
Epic long weekend. I have pictures but they're not going to be as good as others. Hardly any sleep, amazing cars, good people, incredible atmosphere...what more could you want. I'd urge anyone who hasn't been before to go.
Post by grumpynorthener on Jul 6, 2023 7:41:24 GMT
Many, many other classic owners also making the trip on the same ferry
We were virtually the last car to be loaded and only just made it on with our now very much depleted charge battery - shame about the arrogant passenger in the adjacent Healey but Scott soon corrected him
I’d have a chat with the yellow GTC owner ahead of you instead, Reliant owners are infinitely more interesting/odd (delete as appropriate!😁) have a good journey back.
Post by grumpynorthener on Jul 6, 2023 18:51:14 GMT
So with absolutely no chance of the car starting once we docked in St Malo we removed the now flat battery from the car - disguised the battery the best we could with a carrier bag and took it to our cabin - one of my fellow team members grabbed the battery charger from the crew van and we left the battery on charge overnight whilst we ate & slept
Recharged battery had the car started once we docked and through French passport control - found a quiet back street and changed the dynamo over which had been procured from the racing spares in the crew van
15 mins later we had a viable charging car and we set off for our Le Mans circuit destination
Post by grumpynorthener on Jul 7, 2023 17:34:04 GMT
Thursday is all about car preparation our first race isn't until late Friday afternoon - but whilst walking up to the paddock a few images are procured - Just some of the many large transporters that bring the larger teams to the event
There's an abundance of pre organised display areas for various marques of cars - this one being modern Bentley
And look someone displayed a proper car amongst them
We required a piece of metal box section to support the floor - after trawling the paddocks for a short period one of the teams brought out a cordless angle grinder and chopped a piece off one of the circuits paddock tent frames
I added the number decals to the car
And the car went for scrutineering which it passed without issue
Big changes with the wheels this year
These are the Jowett factory rims and are built with a unique PCD
One of the teams had some very expensive alloy rims produced some time ago - They are not much lighter but are wider to the point it gives us much more choice with tyre width which in turn produces much better contact & drive with the tarmac along with much improved braking - hence a set was vital if we were to stand any chance of being competitive at this years Le Mans
Post by grumpynorthener on Jul 9, 2023 8:47:47 GMT
Thursday evening and with camp established we needed to eat - I recommended 'Buffalo Bills' a few miles away - a fast food type chain that we used last year - Classics were everywhere you looked - including the car parks - This fabulous unmolested Citroen DS took my fancy
Friday - The subject of many walks backward & forward between the campsite and our paddock location
So many pics taken on my travels will hopefully give you a flavour of the event (And this is only a small part of it - No way could I get around the entire event aside the paddock duties / servicing & repairing of the race car)
Rare Simca 8 Woody
A pair of Singer's
And a pair of Lea-Francis
On track demonstrations have already commenced - our first practice / qualifying is scheduled for 14:06 hours a 50 minute session - All 3 drivers will compete - our best timed lap will determine our grid position for our first race on Saturday - Still some minor preparation on the car to undertake - further updates later
Post by grumpynorthener on Jul 10, 2023 7:00:51 GMT
Paddock is a hive of activity especially around the Jupiter - it generates a lot of interest especially with it being the only front boxer 4 cylinder engined car in the paddock
Fellow Jowett restorer Scott Renner is over from the states to race the car this year alongside Chris Bates and the cars owner Harry Naerger
Scott has been racing a Jupiter over in the states for over 3 decades and brings a mountain of knowledge to the team
We are up against some heavyweight cars from the likes of Jaguar, Ferrari, Maserati, Talbot Lago, Osca, Cooper, Allard, Lotus & Aston Martin - In many cases we also up against the fact that many of the cars in our grid (The French call it a 'Plateau') were built for primarily racing whereas our Jupiter has been adapted for racing - that's a whole lot of difference when it comes to getting a car race competitive - Hopefully the 'Performance Index' (handicap system) will work to our advantage but this is only applied once our 3 main races are completed
We paid host to some forum visitors too Phil & melody called past as did toomanyprojects - Apologies if I was AWOL at the time that anyone else called past - back later with some video of the car leaving the paddock enroute to the practice / qualifying
Post by grumpynorthener on Jul 11, 2023 8:29:30 GMT
Meanwhile on my travels between the paddock / pits / campsite
There's a whole fleet of Type 2 VW buses running around to get the drivers / mechanics to and from the campsites to the paddocks but the traffic delays during the event means that it sometimes just quicker to walk / cycle or the new thing to have is a E Scooter - some teams have several of them
We then have to get the cars from the paddock to the circuit holding area - this is normally scheduled about a hour prior to the race - time now starts to move really quickly
Being a team member gains you the important 'Assistance' armband which allows access to the pit garages / pit lane & pit wall - you wont get any closer to the cars or racing than this
The grid 1 cars (The French call it a 'Plateau') are already out racing (The Citroen pick up is a service vehicle) - Grid one are cars from 1923 - 1939 - we are in the next race Grid 2 cars dated from 1949 to 1956 (several years are lost between the 2 grids due to the second world war) - More later
Post by grumpynorthener on Jul 15, 2023 19:12:49 GMT
The grid 2 practice / qualifying begins - I don't have anything fancy camera wise - just my phone - I'm no super shot with the camera either and my eye is always on the pit window or the car coming in which is when I'm needed
There is also conversation occurring within the pit crew as the race develops on race tactics and any mechanical issues with the car
A couple of shots from the early incoming driver changes in the pits
Then I have to dropout of taking any pics as our own car is due in to the pits - Its a battle too - 82 cars divided by 45 garage locations means you have to share with another team - the French team that we are sharing with have 2 cars (Triumph TR2's) They are a paid race support team and try the big boy tactics of this is our pit space - you need to stop your car elsewhere - I'm having none of it and speak in the broadest Yorkshire accent a two syllable word one of which is 'off' - Whilst the incoming driver is assisted out of the car by the outgoing they then reverse roles with the incoming driver assisting the outgoing driver with his belts - Myself and Peter take a side each and check wheel nut torque / tyre pressures - look for any obvious damage & leaks - set the mirrors for the new driver - we have a problem with some loss of engine coolant and higher temperatures - engine off and I depressurise the system - Peter adds more water - and Keith directs the car the car out into the pit lane - the seconds take an age but it is literally seconds
End of the race before we know it and the car returns to the paddock - drivers debrief us and we set to work - coolant system comes apart and gets rebuilt whilst the rest of the crew take the decision to remove the newly fitted overdrive system - its not working as planned hence we revert back to the original gearbox / propshaft set up
I also detect a blown gasket on the exhaust manifold that needs sorting
Time fly's by but we need to eat
Thankfully, Jayne has everything in hand at the campsite
Post by grumpynorthener on Jul 18, 2023 7:15:03 GMT
Final prep
Good lighting on any race car is essential
Some teams have more to do than us
Whilst other teams are out of the running - this was the 1954 Kieft Sport in the next paddock garage to us
Overheating problems again with a blown top hose - the system is over pressurising - Chris manages to get the car back into the pits and repairs undertaken - refilled with coolant - engine run up and further checks made - The French team sharing our pit garage are still playing stupid games and stronger words are forwarded whilst they have to undertake their pit stop behind ours (they wanted us to move our car and work on it elsewhere which just wasn't going to happen) - Scott is in the car and gets back out running the car to the end of the race - With the car returned to the paddock further repairs undertaken a few swapping of coolant parts from the road car to the race car should resolve our cooling issues - Now need to get some sleep - its 03:30 Saturday morning - we can afford to sleep in a little our first main race is not until 17:45 but the car will need to depart the paddock to the race holding area by 17:00 hours - Still some work to do along with refuelling which can only be done with official fuel via the circuits pumps at the end of the pit lane - this alone can take quite a chunk of time as you have to drive the through access roads which are packed with spectators - More fun to come
