Team Doris had an excellent test day. Thanks to all at Ardent for hosting us, and having all the kit available as promised.
We used a T car and the race chassis. The Sorex tyres are good, and with a lot of running on ours, wear was minimal. It seemed to us that the 32s are not as hard on the car as the 28s we used the last time. It isn't that there is much less grip, but it does seem that the car doesn't load the motor as hard.
Our very old motor did release it's built-in smoke capsule, but on dis-assembly it had got a lot of mileage. We practiced a lot with driving styles to check temps, and the way you drive affects temps. Our new motor ran fine, and we did a 30 minute run that went well. A fan on the speedo helps a lot too.
We also did a wet-tyre run, and found a good set up. That stint will provide a respite for the motor, and the key will be consistent driving style and not hitting anything.
There were up to four cars on track, and we all found our way round each other. You spend 10 minutes eking out half a lap lead, and then lose it if you make a single barrier tap. This is going to be really close racing, so congratulations to John for the choice of both car and motor. I hope everyone will help with passing, otherwise there will be a large amount of frustration.
I thought the speeds were quite close, with most differences being confined to what stage the cells were at in their run, and how the motor was being treated by the driver. We tried a few different gear ratios, and ended up back on the one we started with - the 34T pinion on the kit spur!!
Looking forward to it all now, and hoping the other teams are too!
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