Since our last report from the Tuning Factory Team, the Dublin Honda Tuners have taken more Pole Positions and Race Wins at a recent Saloon & GT Race held at Kirkistown in Northern Ireland.

With the Tuning Factory CRX about to embark on its voyage to Barbados for the International Race event we have been invited to in August, it was important that we got to the bottom of the engine misfire that hampered the car on its last two outings. So on Thursday a plan was hatched! There was a Kirkistown Saloons and GT race happening on Saturday and it would be the ideal place to check the car was running on power after the guys at Tuning Factory fixed the misfire issue – it was a dodgy fuel pump by the way.

Fellow Tuning Factory racer, Jonathan Brady decided to join us on our trip north so we loaded up the cars and headed to Kirkistown on the Friday evening.

Qualifying

We didn’t bother with testing on the Friday so qualifying on Saturday morning was our first time in the car. After a few laps I was happy that the misfire was no more and started about trying to get in a few decent laps.

The Lap

Come out of the last corner onto the start finish straight, foot mashed flat to the floor in second gear, then grab third and almost immediately 4th. Get the car over alongside the pitwall on the right as you are now fast approaching the infamous left handed corner known as Debtors, grab 5th gear at the start finish line, take a deep breath and turn into Debtors at what must be about 120mph. The road legal tyres on the CRX start to say enough and the front starts washing out…DON’T LIFT!! … As you exit Debtors right up against the grass there is a bump that unsettles the lightweight CRX and the revs jump as traction is lost. Start bringing the car back to the left of the track in preparation for Colonial, a right hander, just as you start looking for your braking point the B18 runs out of revs at 9000RPM and blip blip blips off the limiter. Hard on the brakes, down to 4th and 3rd heel towing to get the revs right and stop the wheels from locking. You can feel the seat belts dig into your chest, take an early turn into Colonial while still braking to get the nose to dig in. Back on the throttle gently, with your left foot sometimes squeezing the brake just enough to keep the nose in against the apex. All you want to do is unleash the 235bhp but not yet…..not yet….NOW! Full throttle out of Colonial 1 just clipping the inside kerb of Colonial 2.

As the car runs up on the exit kerb on the right you snatch 4th gear and start to move the car to the left of the circuit…Next up is the never ending right hander of Fishermans. Look for your braking point, which for me is the service road on the left. Hard on the brakes, down to 3rd and again trail brake into an early apex, almost a repeat of Colonial – you start to feed in the power…wheres the exit kerb? You spot it and let the B18 sing…the front tyres are in agony..Run the car up against the raised exit kerb and as you pull 4th the front tyres chirp in objection and then propel the car towards the chicane. Back on the brakes, blip the throttle as you drop to third gear. A quick but barely noticeable flick of the wheel and aim for the kerb on the right. The rear left tyre is doing all the work now. As soon as you have made your apex on the right hand kerb you launch the car to the left and over the next kerb. The CRXs stiff chassis hoping from one to the other, the revs jump as tyres depart tarmac. The car is on a one way course to the grass on the exit…you hope that you have judged it right and you will stay just the right side of the grass, your brain is telling your foot to lift, your Sparco shod right foot knows better and ignores it. To lift now will ruin your run down the long back straight. The car runs right out to the edge of the kerb and you pull 4th as quick as your left leg and arm allow. Time for a breather now as the long straight opens up ahead of you. Check your gauges, oil pressure – OK, oil temperature – OK, water temperature – OK, battery voltage – OK. Your ear tells you its time to start thinking about selecting 5th so you watch the RPM needle and pull 5th right at the best moment. Nothing to do now but hold on and wait for the braking point into the final right hand hairpin. The CRX is singing its heart out again. Not quite on the limiter here but very close… Braking point spotted you stand up on the middle pedal. This is the biggest stop of the lap. 5th to 4th with a heel toe and 3rd and 2nd almost as quick as you can say it. Get the car into the apex and slowly open the throttle until the circuit opens up ahead of you…3rd gear, 4th gear, 5th gear. Lap done – 63.4 seconds, pole position…………….and breathe!!

The Race

Though we have set the fastest time of all the saloons and the GT cars combined the series always starts the GTs ahead and with a 5 second ‘head start’. I could be annoyed but I’m not, in fact my challenge to myself now is to not just win the race but catch and pass the GTS which are a 5.0 V8 Tiger Sunbeam and the McBennet Motorsport Elise. The two GT cars head off ahead and about 5 seconds later we are off. I have a Sierra Cosworth alongside me again(it was Martin Treacy last week in the ITCC, this time its Jim Wilson). I get a good start and keep along side the Sierra whos RWD gives him a good launch. We go through Debtors side by side and I start to pull ahead. I am cautious through Colonial and Fishermans but stay in the lead. I pull out a decent gap over the rest of the saloons and set my sights on the GTs up ahead. I catch the Elise on the 2nd or 3rd lap and make a move up the inside of Fishermans… One down one to go. The Tiger is going to be much harder work. Its is ferociously fast in a straight line. After about 7 fully committed laps I latch onto his tail. I know I have to pass him at the end of the start/finish straight so that I have enough corners before the next straight to open up an advantage that his vastly superior straight line speed will eliminate in a couple of seconds. I get by and attack the next few corners and as I leave the chicane he is just far enough behind to not be able to attack. Job done, another quick lap or two to consolidate the gap and then run off the last 3 or 4 laps at a slightly reduced pace. Chequered flag awaits…. Job done!!