Rounds 1 & 2 of the Mini 7 Championship
The first two rounds of the 2017 mini 7 S Class championship were held at Castle Combe over the Easter weekend saw Shaun of ShaunTarltonRacing fly to 19th out of 34 but more importantly 1st in class and the first pole of 2017, with the help of Titan Race Pro R oil.
After great results during running in and tuning on the rolling road, the excitement for race day was high.
The turn out for the Howard's Day event at combe was magnificent with a mixed grid of 34 Mini 7 and mini 7 S Class cars and a big crowd.
Qualifying resulted in a 1st in the class out of 9 other class cars. An impressive 0.8 seconds ahead of 2nd in class.
It was during qualifying that a mysterious missfire developed that caused a few grey hairs back in the paddock. The pressure is on with these one day events as time is short, once the car returned from the circuit the team set to work on identifying the cause. The car ran faultlessly in the paddock, thorough engine checks were carried out: compression / valve clearances / timing / plugs / leads / fluids, all good and as expected and frustratingly no reoccurance of the issue.
With the clock ticking down to race 1 time, the fuel was replaced and Shaun set out to the grid.
Green flag lap done, the mini felt great and lined up waiting for the lights! Go!! Bogged down slightly but made some time back over the first lap leading his class defending from 2nd place. Sadly race 1 was short lived, this time after only 1 1/2 laps and leading the class, the misfire returned and not wanting to cause any damage Shaun pulled off and the rest of the race was watched from the marshal post at Quarry corner.
More grey hairs in the paddock! Unable to repeat the problem the tools were back out and further investigations made. Some of the new components fitted for this season were questioned, all appeared ok, sticking valve? No evidence of that.
Race 2 got underway and due to the race 1 non finish Shaun started 29th on the grid of now 31 cars.
Red lights go out and the car has a blistering start, gaining 10 places in 1/2 a lap and now behind the P1 in class. The thrill and achievement at the start was short lived as exiting quarry for the 2nd time, the misfire returned. A frustrating days racing and the team packed up with a heavy heart.
The drive home is not the same with 2 DNFs. After a good nights sleep the car returned to the workshop and work got underway to track down the bothersome misfire.
Rounds 3 & 4 are at the Snetterton circuit on the 13/14 May and both Mini & Driver will be itching for the class win.
