GTracer38's Yard of Cars

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That Excel looks awesome dude! I love grass roots level racing like this, can be a lot more entertaining to watch than Formula 1! I'm going to be getting myself booked into the drivers school at my local hillclimb this September.

That class does have some great racing in it and usually battles all the way through the field. With the entries still going up each year too, its in good shape.

The best thing about it is that you can race around Aus in all of the great tracks with a go kart budget.

You'll have to tell me what the driving school is like as I've neve4 done one. They sound interesting.

What a save! I thought for sure you were going all the way :lol:

Hahaha me too! Suprised me how far the car can go around and still be recovered.
 
That class does have some great racing in it and usually battles all the way through the field. With the entries still going up each year too, its in good shape.

The best thing about it is that you can race around Aus in all of the great tracks with a go kart budget.

You'll have to tell me what the driving school is like as I've neve4 done one. They sound interesting.



Hahaha me too! Suprised me how far the car can go around and still be recovered.

I will keep you updated for sure, I'll make a post about it here when I do it. I'm going to be doing it at Prescott Hillclimb (home of the Bugatti Owners Club).
 
Short post about Round 3 at Winton Motor Raceway.

Struggled on Friday. Missed opening practice and just felt generally out of sorts.

Qualifying felt better but everyone was constantly tripping over each other. This meant that when the session was cut short (by 7 minutes in a 20min session!) I hadn't strung together a reasonable lap in the drying conditions.

Starting 39th in the 45 car grid, I had a strong start and a suprisingly solid race in the rain. Moved forward to 31st when the red flag flew on lap 5 of 9. Pictures to follow for that one.

Race 2 on Sunday was also in wet conditions and again I was able to punch above my weight coming home 20th in yet another shortened session with a long Safety Car period.

By race 3, the track had dried and I was on the back foot as I had not turned a dry lap at Winton. I managed to hang on early but some steering damage reaped havoc with my handling.
I plummeted to the high 30s before a few last lap incidents meant I could salvage 34th.


Overall, the weekend was a big success for me. I was able to race well and battle for position throughout the weekend.

We will fix up the car and look forward to Sandown in July. It will be the first time I will be going into a weekend with some prior running at the track.
 
So, these are the track side pics of 'the big one' in race 1 of the Excel's (both drivers walked away).

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And this an onboard of me at the start of race two.

 
A friend of mine made a compilation of some clip throughout the year. I though I would share that one here, especially since it has been a while since I updated the thread. :)

 
Time for a proper update on the little Hyundai :D

So firstly, the 2nd half of 2018 was one with few highlights. Ran around at the back, struggling for pace.

At the Phillip Island enduro mid year we lost all of Friday due to a mis-diagnosed camber bolt that had given up the ghost.
Saturday was effectively rained out, the track becoming part of Bass Strait :lol:
Our enduro was shortened from 40-something laps before going red-flag and time certain before the CPS window had even opened on lap 14!
Of those 14 laps, 11 were under multiple SC periods, however I found myself 11th after starting outside the top 30, which was weird.

Sprint rounds were okay, but poor handling teamed with a slow motor meant not much really happened.

We changed motor for the end-of-year enduro event at Winton, which was an utter-disaster.
The motor ran hot all of Friday before dying just 7 laps into the 1hr 30min race.

So that was a pretty disappointing end to the year.

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2019.

In the off season, we swapped out engine back to the one we had as it seemed fine albeit under-powered.

Every panel from the doors forward was replaced, as was the radiator, wheel bearings and brake assembly. Then some new stickers for the new season and we were good to go.

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(Hint: I'm the green one).


Round 1 at Sandown. Hopes are high, anticipation and excitement piquing.

Day 1 was the day from hell. Everything that could go wrong, did, culminating in sheering the front axle, trashing the bearing and brake disc in the process. That ended our day early so we took the chance to take the car home for some overnight repairs.

By 1am repairs were complete (because nothing goes to plan) with a very tired mechanic, somewhat relieved.

Day 2...successful. Everything ran smoothly. Car was running well, racing was good with a few great duels with different competitors .

Final day, all going well. Good second race in the books. Time for race 3.
A bad start made for a hot-headed driver who really wanted to make up some ground.

*Good pass into Dande Rd...tick. Now this next bloke is looking a little weak. If I get good run through T2/3 chicane, I reckon I'll be close enough for a move at the end of the back straight...*

Well...that really didn't work out well. Tried too hard, dropped a wheel of the outside kerb and ran out of road (and talent) before I could gather it up.
damage 2.jpg


About those new panels :lol::banghead:

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2019....take 2.

Thanks to some handy work by friends and family, we were back on track in time for Round 2 (without a lap of practice in between).
In addition, the motor (top end) got a spruce up and exhaust swapped for something better.

The driver performed pretty average over the weekend. But the car ran well. No incidents and by the final race, everything started to click over the weekend.

That weekend also brought with some exciting news. I had been moved from reserve list to entry list for the Winton SuperSprint on this weekend just past (undercard for Supercars)!



What a weekend! Great fun, caught up with plenty of people over the weekend and finally got to race the boss on track.

Such a cool experience to be competing at a Supercars round. Really hoping we get the chance to do it again someday!

I was more competitive than expected, running pretty solid in the mid pack before getting turned around in race 2.
Even with some issues I was able to get back up 30th (of 42) by the 4th race on Sunday which was groovy.


Looking forward to the rest of the year, although the budget has taken a bit of hit of late so I'm not sure when I will next be on track just yet.

Hell yeah (3).jpg
 
Short update.

The second half of the year has been predominately spent in the shed with a few electrical/wiring gremlins (some old, some new).

The car stopped on track in June and decided not to start without setting fire to itself which caused many more little issues. New loom and some smart people later it got back up and running in time for the last club round at the end of September.

Trouble free weekend at PI. Pretty average results and some pretty average driving. The Hyundai is back in the shed where it will likely stay until the new year.

It's been a weird season.
 
Back on track in the Excel for 2020.

The first round of the VIC Club Championship was last weekend at Sandown.

I missed out on the Friday practice day (and hadn't had a pre-event run) so a wet Saturday was pretty testing.
Managed to get through the day without incident having qualified 27th and finished 32nd in race 1 (46-car grid). Full dry setup was far from ideal, but it was more a day of getting back into the swing of things than chasing results.

Sunday went better. A pair of 29th's didn't do justice for how much back and forth racing I was in. Had it not been for a mistake in Race 2 (dropped me from 28th to 36th) and a faulty temp-gauge in race 3, I probably would have been able to work my way towards the top 20.

Still very happy with the weekend. Hopefully we can build on it and have a good year :D

Fun fact - My car is one of the OG's of the class having raced in the first ever race held in VIC (tagged onto the back of HQ's iirc).

SeXcEl Sandown 20 (2).png

Pic: Trackside Action Photography


Side note - The wiring is not much chop at the moment. All I had on the dash was the temperature gauge and that turned to crap. Definitely going to get someone to have a look at it, as electrical issue plague this car something fierce.
 
Back on track in the Excel for 2020.

The first round of the VIC Club Championship was last weekend at Sandown.

I missed out on the Friday practice day (and hadn't had a pre-event run) so a wet Saturday was pretty testing.
Managed to get through the day without incident having qualified 27th and finished 32nd in race 1 (46-car grid). Full dry setup was far from ideal, but it was more a day of getting back into the swing of things than chasing results.

Sunday went better. A pair of 29th's didn't do justice for how much back and forth racing I was in. Had it not been for a mistake in Race 2 (dropped me from 28th to 36th) and a faulty temp-gauge in race 3, I probably would have been able to work my way towards the top 20.

Still very happy with the weekend. Hopefully we can build on it and have a good year :D

Fun fact - My car is one of the OG's of the class having raced in the first ever race held in VIC (tagged onto the back of HQ's iirc).

View attachment 893034
Pic: Trackside Action Photography


Side note - The wiring is not much chop at the moment. All I had on the dash was the temperature gauge and that turned to crap. Definitely going to get someone to have a look at it, as electrical issue plague this car something fierce.

Jeeeez its been a long year. This is still the most recent race event - perks of being in Victoria :lol::banghead:

Fortunately I have been able to get on track on 3 separate occasions this year with varying degrees of success.

- A Sandown test day earlier in June went well, no real issues and felt that we made a real step forward as far as the handling is concerned.

- In a brief parting of the COVID waves, we found ourselves in Winton where I was able to get a great look at the back of the Ford Ranger Raptor. 7 sessions resulting 5 flat tows and silently coasting back into the pits in another.
A testing day but we did resolve the issue before our final run. Got the frustration out and headed home thinking that we would soon be able to go back racing.

- Now it's October and there are a few events scheduled to close out the year. How many of those we'll be involved, I am unsure.
We did get back up to Winton last weekend for the Friday Test&Tune and Saturday Repco Sprint which was good fun.

The car ran well, no major issues to complain about really. Clutch is a little suspect and after seeing some of the onboard from the Bend, I definitely think we need to look at a better shifter arrangement. That and the lack of any gauges bar temp.

Managed to talk the old man into having a steer on the Friday as it was something that we had spoken about early in the year.
He had fun and went better than he had thought during the day. Always liked the idea of him driving the car to get a better idea on what I try to convey from time to time.

7WAyx4E.jpg


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On a non-racing note, the VF is running like an dream. I was a little surprised on the fuel economy on a highway run a while back but it seems I've been a bit too lead footed to get back to those numbers.

I haven't done anything as far as modifications go as I haven't felt any need. It's a really nice car to be in and live with.

Only two notes I've made is that it feels big in towns for whatever reason and that its a bit quiet for V8.
Unless you see the badge/under the bonnet or give it a boot full you would be hard pressed to know it was a V8 which is a little meh from what was the top model VF at the time.

Doesn't help when the boss man has RAM that sounds fantastic. :lol:
 
Went to the local hillclimb and competed for the first time in a couple of years (and first time in the comp car).

Great fun! Had a pretty good run over the day given my lack of experience on the course.
Set a new record for the Excel class on the figure-8 layout before a brake failure sent up an earth bank.

The damage is/was relatively minor and we seem to have avoided bending the chassis.

Also found the cause of the failure, which is a big plus. The brakeline had been pinched and broke in near the front right wheel.

A good thing about racing something like the Hyundai is that they are a dime a dozen and spare parts/cars are easy to come by.
With that in mind, the front left wheel assembly has been replaced with that out of another car that was sitting around (yet to be stripped and discarded).

Obligatory picture...doesn't do the back section justice but its a cool, twisty bit of road to drive on.
Tricky and the Excel gets very light in the rear in few sections, which is a handful to say the least.
upload_2020-11-14_18-21-32.png


Still aiming to compete in one or two more events before the year is out, namely the Shannons MA4 Festival at Sandown (3 weeks away).

After that, it'll be time to plan for the new year and some trips interstate because why not. :D
 
Time for an update!

We did end up competing in the Shannons MA4 Festival late last year, which was good fun.

Unfortunately the weekend highlighted just how much everyone else had stepped up their game - so even though we ran quicker than we ever had, we ran at the back all weekend.

Still, great battles were and a pass in the gravel trap on the last lap of race 3 made up for the lack of results. :lol:
Motorsport Australia Festival 2020CAM33641-2-ZF-10597-26808-1-001-005.jpg


In addition, we ended the year with another run at the hillclimb. We now have the class record on two of the configurations there which is neat.

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Fast forward to last weekend and we finally made our way onto the track again.
In between, we got a new set of rubber and had the car corner weighted.

It was a great weekend. Knocked off a second in lap time and ran consistently in the mid pack.

For the first time in a while it felt like we really took a step forward with the car. I'm finally getting the hang of driving it too.

We will try to strip some more weight out the car next because we run about 50kg over the class minimum.
Never helpful when you're down on ponies to begin with.

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Blendline TV covered the weekends action so there was some good footage from the weekend too


 
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