Author: Mark Lowth

Hill Climb Sunday (Again)

Jake and I went out to Ringwood Park for the MG Car Club Newcastle hill climb the other day and had a ball as always. I took the BRZ and Jacob gave his H6 Liberty a squirt.

I left the traction control on like an idiot which is why the car died at the start, and if you listen closely, you can hear it pulling power from me on corner exit, and as i round the right hander heading for the penultimate corner, you can see the car bauk as the traction control pulls on some rear brake. Rookie error. Full second slower when I was aiming to go faster.

Good still. Going to the next one for sure.

Brakes !

Service Time

The brakes on the BRZ are fantastic. I run the factory Brembo`s with DBA T3 4000 rotors and Project Mu Club Racer pads, but like everything, from time to time you need to carry out maintenance or repair, and the brakes are no different.

So with that in mind, I stripped everything down, cleaned it, put a kit through the calipers, fitted new pads and then replaced all the brake fluid.

All good for now for the rest of the season, will need Rotors next time though.

Repairs

Unsurprisingly, taking a production car and flogging it to death on a racetrack can lead to a few issues from time to time. Having said that though, this car has been remarkably robust.

Engine wise the car has been bullet proof. Do not let anyone tell you these Boxer engines are not reliable. If you keep up the maintenance, you will not have a problem. It should be noted though that I do run an oil cooler and I change the oil after each event. I also run an oil surge baffle in the sump.

Outside of normal maintenance, the only thing I have had to replace are the wheel bearings on the driver’s side. This side is usually the loaded side at the tracks I frequent the most, and even though the car only has 29000 Km`s on it, they were basically Catus.

Hillclimb

MG Car Club Newcastle

On Sunday the 19th of April Jacob and I had a go at Hill Climb for the first time.

The event was a club meet held by the MG Car Club of Newcastle at their Ringwood facility north of Newcastle

It was an enjoyable day of motorsport for a very small investment of $80.00.

While Hill Climb does not supply a large amount of track time compared to other forms of motorsport, it is still good fun and rewards consistency and precision, all the things I lack really.

I will defiantly go again that’s for sure.

Round 3

SMSP Amaroo South

Round 3 of the Prospeed Racing NSW Supersprints was held on the 26th of April and was a great day with a great turn out

The day started with a heavy fog with the promise of a nice day once it cleared.

The car was a Jet, and it was so much fun to drive it is difficult to explain it adequately.

I was happy with the time I managed although having not been there before I don’t know if it is good or bad.

I ended up pacing 30th out of a field of 70+ with a time of 1:05 which i think is reasonable for an NA 2ltr, it certainly felt on the quick side. Going back next weekend for the CSCA Round. Can’t wait for that.