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November 2009
Doug has taken his car to
Honda Performance Development in Santa Clarita (southern
California) where it is being used by Honda to design
and fit the kit for late model VanDiemens to compete in
the newly changed SCCA FF. He hopes to be back at
the track in 2010 racing in FF.
Thunderhill
May 23rd- 25th Double Regional.
We went to the track a
day early so that Douglas could test the car. The car
would not start and the dash showed low oil pressure.
Both could have been major problems but turned out to be
a simple fix and a false alarm. The motor Douglas put
together was phenomenal and had a lot more horse power.
We were on the rev limiter well before turn one so we
had to do a gear change. Our data logger showed
133mph at the end of the straight and 119mph in turn 8!
The weather at the track was a surprise. It was
extremely windy the first two days, and then it rained.
In qualifying for the first race of the weekend we used
our old Hankook tires. We
qualified 11th. We put on new Avon slicks and
without scuffing them in or doing any setup changes went
out in the race. It sprinkled all during the race
and we finished 5th overall and 2nd in class.
Qualifying for the second race was one lap because some
people couldn't seem to stay on the track. Never the
less Douglas qualified first in the FS group and fourth
overall. We were not able to get the proper air pressure
in the tires in qualifying as we never got them hot
enough to do a proper check. In the race the tires
built up too much pressure and caused a very eye opening oversteer condition. We finished third after an
exciting dual with Darrell Benner who finished
second. Darrell and Douglas made it very hard on
the announcer (Benner/Brenner)! Our next race will be at
Thunderhill at the end of July.
Thunderhill March 13th
2008
We came to the track
early to practice, but the car was low on power. The
cause is a valve problem. So we packed up and came home.
Doug is hoping to get a new engine head put back on the
car before Sears Point /Infineon March 29th /30th .
Thunderhill Doug with Roy
and Kole replacing front wing end plates before
practice.
Willow Springs end of
February 2008
We had some very cold
weather and half a day of rain. Douglas had a good test
morning on the Friday and got some fast times. On
Saturday the car was not running right, but Doug still
got the track record for FS. and a trophy and checkered
flag. We decided to leave a day early and visit
with family and friends. When we got home Doug found
that one of the spark plugs had a crack in it, which was
a relief and so we will be ready to race again at
Thunderhill March 14th -16th.
2007 Laguna Seca weekend
of September 28th - 30th.
Douglas practiced on
Friday with slower times than he would have liked in
retrospect the new tires which are radials were not easy
to drive on. On Saturday he was quicker but still not up
to par and qualified second behind Darrell Benner by a
tenth of a second. We were all set to have a good race
but the car would not start on the grid.
The starter teeth were worn and therefore the flywheel
was worn as well. Doug put in another starter hoping to
make qualifying for the second race on Sunday. The car
still would not start. The ECU seemed to be another
problem. So a replacement ECU was put in. The car
started up right away. Then just before qualifying the
car would not start again. Douglas then started to
systematically check the wiring thinking that may be he
would start at the back in the race. This was not to be
as Douglas slipped and fell while coming out of the race
car trailer and cut his elbow. So we packed up the
trailer, came home a day early and got a refund for the
race entry fee.
Infineon/Sears
Point Aug/Sept 2007
Douglas and Marlane
after the race on Sunday , Doug placed second in
the race on Saturday.
From left Eddy Roberts, Doug, Marlane, dogs Roy and Kole
and Eddy's friend Michael Holcomb.
We came through the race weekend with a win in
FS and not FC. This change came about because in the first of two
races Douglas was run into by an FM car who tried to pass him on the
OUTSIDE of turn one. Douglas was running second at the time and
finished third. He protested and the end result was that race
officials disqualified him and gave him penalty points for not
allowing racing room. In other words he should have looked in his
mirrors and allowed the other car to pass him. Douglas then decided
to remove the restrictor plates on the engine, take the lead weight
out of the car reconfigure the fuel map, and run in the FS class. He
had a great race, being able to go much faster than he had driven in
a long time and staying ahead of most of the cars. His only other
contender in FS did not take part because of a crash in the first
race. We will now stay in the FS category where Doug can hopefully
stay away from most of the other cars.
MB
June 7th 2007
Mo is ready to race at
last !! we will be at Thunderhill race
track Willows California from June 22nd til June 24th.
Race day is Sunday June 24th.
May 17th 2007
The race car is almost
complete, all the wiring has been done, the motor put on
and started and now all that is left is the suspension
and the body work. Expect to see us at the track June 23
-24th Thunderhill.
May 2007
The car is coming along
well, thanks to the motivational help of our friend
Nicholas who has given Douglas a schedule to work with,
and calls almost every day to see how things are going.
It may be possible that the car will be ready by
Thunderhill at the end of May. So far most of the wiring
has been done and the next step is to get the side
pieces on and the engine mounted. Then the suspension
and body work .
March 2007
Doug is putting together
the wiring in the car which is somewhat complicated
because of the new computerized dash system. Hopefully
everything will work from the tangle of wires that he
has carefully numbered and made notes about.
Two
pictures of Douglas now and in the 1960's working on a
race car !
All the body work on the
race car has been fitted, sanded and is ready to paint.
The new dash system has arrived and Douglas is pondering
on how he will set it up and then do the wiring on the car.
The car still has to be painted.
Our plans now are to stay
with Regional races.
Douglas had a chance
to take Marlane and the girlfriends of his two sons and
the girlfriend of Mark Mercer (co owner of the
Mazda RX7 gen 1 which Doug drove) for a thrilling ride
around Thunderhill racetrack at full racing speed.
Everyone enjoyed it very much and all the girls now have
a new outlook on what is involved in driving a racecar.
Below are Marlane and
Doug with Jody fastening seat belts.
After the ride from
left Amara, Erika, Doug, Chelsea & Marlane with Roy &
Kole.
Doug's son's Jody and
Jonathon took turns racing the same car a Gen 1 Mazda
RX7 in ITA and ITX at Laguna Seca the weekend of
September 30th. Jonathon had never raced before
and did extremely well with a second and third. Jody
also did well improving his time by four seconds from
qualifying. Both son's had almost identical best times
of 1:50 differing in tenths of minutes for one
lap.
The new engine was put in
the car to check for correct placement and fit, and all
went well. Below is Doug double checking the fit.
He used his Brenner Lift to maneuver the engine in and
out of the car.
Work is underway on the new Zetec engine, the
valves have been adjusted and the cams timed.
Below is a picture of Doug at work on the engine in
his shop. Does he really know what he is doing
?
Doug has decided to go zetec and has sold the
pinto motor from MO. He has a new zetec motor
waiting and ready to covert into a race motor.
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Nicholas and Doug with damaged car |
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Buttonwillow on April 21-23rd a Double National .
To make a
long story short the car suffered a damaged nose and
front wings in the race on Saturday. Doug passed
several cars at the start after qualifying fourth
and was in second place. There was a crash that was
started by one car in the seventh lap. This
then caused others to rapidly brake and involved
several cars including Les Phillips.
We then
borrowed a nose and wings, very generously loaned
by Paul Marciano.
Qualifying
on Sunday was disappointing because of many cars on
the track and no clear laps. Doug qualified in third
place.
In the
race Doug was once again in second place but stuck
behind a CSR. A formula mazda decided to
pass with about two laps to go and destroyed the
left rear everything on the car including the
brakes. Doug protested and he now is on probation
for three races for abusive language. He got
out of the car so rapidly that the wires were
broken on the radio and he forgot to tell his wife
that he was OK !! The other driver also got the same
punishment but for his driving mistake.
Thankfully
the borrowed nose was undamaged and Doug was also
undamaged physically.
We then
could not go on to race in the pro race and because
of the expense of repairs will be out of action for
a little while.
The
support , sympathy and help from our fellow racers
was outstanding . Nicholas Belling, Mark and Heidi
Belling and crew , Thomas Copeland and Darrell
Benner, Gary Guzman ,Bill Kincaid , Les Phillips and
Stan Clayton.
We also
found that the lift and stand came in very handy for
getting the car from impound back to the trailer.
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Roy with the damaged car |
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Thunderhill Double National March 18th & 19th
Doug qualified on the pole for the
first race on Saturday and was extremely pleased
with the performance of the car.
The race was a disaster, with three
crashes, one not his fault, one his fault and one
maybe a toss up . Amazingly the car finished the
race. The main damage was to the left top A arm
which was bowed when a formula Atlantic car clipped
his left front wheel and knocked him off the road in
turn 8 at about 115mph. We did not have a spare, but
Darryl Benner let us have an A arm off his car (
that he had brought to the track to test but not
race) There was a hole in one of the rear tires
which was discovered an hour before qualifying on
Sunday, and there was a mad dash to Walmart in
Willows to get a tire repair kit (don't tell the
Goodyear guy!!).
Qualifying was slowed by the tires,
when the car was back in the pits we saw that the
right front tire was worn down to the kevlar, and
the car did not handle well.
We had another set of front tires for
the race.
In the race the tires let us down
once again and Doug could not catch Nicholas Belling
who came down from Canada and got the track record
in Qualifying. We finished second and happy to have
no more crashes. After the race we
noticed that the new fronts were graining.
This we suspect was "cold graining" caused be going
out and working the tire too hard before it has a
chance to get hot.
Our next race hopefully will be at
Sears Point/ Infineon the weekend of April 1st.
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" Mo " and Douglas on the grid Thunderhill |
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Doug's youngest son Jonathon completed drivers
school the weekend of March 4th 2006 and follows his
older brother Jody into the world of auto racing.
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