Thursday, September 07, 2006
Two Seater Legends Car
UK Legends Cars celebrated our tenth anniversary at Brands Hatch in August. As well as a full grid once again we were joined by several former drivers who came along to join the celebrations and enjoy some great racing once again.
The big surprise of the meeting was the unveiling of an unusual variation on the Legends Cars theme – a two seater! This did indeed provide a surprise to many people as construction had been a well guarded sectret over the past few months. Smart Motorsport’s team chief, Martin Davey, was the man who put the car together. It’s well known in the UK that Martin can turn his hand to pretty well any kind of engineering project and the two seater proved no exception. When the concept was initially dreamed up there was of course some debate as to whether the second seat would be alongside the driver or directly behind as has been the case with the equivalent projects in Formula One and Formula Three here in Europe. Ultimately it was decided to put the passenger alongside the driver which meant that the end product would be slightly wider than a conventional Legends although only by just over 20cm.
Other modifications included a different differential (a Ford Atlas) although Martin said that will change when the car goes out at other circuits. The car has a one piece propshaft and the gear linkage is on top of the tunnel but other than that it’s very much conventional Legends kit. The car was built over a period of time in Martin’s Workshop down in the picturesque Sussex village of Hartfield which, for the children among us, was where the author AA Milne lived and where the Winnie the Pooh stories where based and written. It’s difficult to measure exactly how many man hours went into the car but Martin reckons three and a half weeks work went into sourcing the parts and putting the car together.
I’m pleased to say that I was one of the lucky few who got to enjoy a passenger ride driven by former Scottish Champion and current National Championship front runner Jamie Clarke. Jamie had just won his race at Brands Hatch when I was strapped in alongside to my session around the Brands Hatch Indy Circuit.
Brands Hatch, like most circuits in the UK, runs in a clockwise direction so that meant that Jamie was sitting on the outside of the car and, quite appropriately I thought, nearest the gravel traps and barriers. Once we were both securely strapped in Jamie was given the all clear to join the circuit. A blast from the throttle sent me back into the passenger seat and we were off down the pit road and onto the race track. The first corner at Brands is the notorious Paddock Hill Bend which is a tight right hander which falls away downhill. I must admit I was a little nervous about how that would feel in a full blown race car but Jamie treated the entry to it with all due respect. I wasn’t quite ready for the second part of the corner though as he nailed the throttle once again, the car moving right to the outside of the track and seemingly heading for the gravel trap. I held my breath as the car gripped and continued at full pelt down Hailwoods Hill and then climbed up to the slowest corner on the circuit, the Druids hairpin. The great thing about being alongside is that you can watch the driver plying his trade. Deft gear changes and braking, neat turn into the corner – all carried out with a mixture of racer’s aggression and precision. On the power again for the down hill run to Graham Hill Bend, a left hander this time. Jamie goes down a gear, dabs the brakes and turns in. The exit is a little wide, in fact we’re on the rumble strips which start to shake you up (by design as the circuit owner hates drivers using the run-off). Power on once again, up the gears and along Cooper Straight before the next left hander, Surtees. Amazingly John Surtees himself was there at Brands Hatch and was seen watching a couple of the Legends races. From Surtees it’s into the double right hander of McLaren and Clearways. The turn in to the latter is much tighter than it looks from the spectator’s view and Jamie’s heavy foot on the gas puts the car into a little oversteer. I look across and see that Jamie is grinning from ear to ear – he’s enjoying himself and entertaining his passenger at the same time. The run from Clearways onto the main straight is the fastest part of the circuit - top gear and top speed to complete a lap of Brands Hatch.
Two seater race cars have to be the ultimate white knuckle ride – especially around the ups, downs, twists and turns of Brands Hatch. Comparing it to a ride in a Formula Three car a couple of seasons back at Silverstone I have to say the Legends Car was much more fun. It didn’t seem that much slower than F3 although obviously there was much less grip. As well as the speed, the best part is being next to the driver and getting to see him work the car – there’s so much going on at the controls that it brings home just how much piloting these cars is an art form.
The big surprise of the meeting was the unveiling of an unusual variation on the Legends Cars theme – a two seater! This did indeed provide a surprise to many people as construction had been a well guarded sectret over the past few months. Smart Motorsport’s team chief, Martin Davey, was the man who put the car together. It’s well known in the UK that Martin can turn his hand to pretty well any kind of engineering project and the two seater proved no exception. When the concept was initially dreamed up there was of course some debate as to whether the second seat would be alongside the driver or directly behind as has been the case with the equivalent projects in Formula One and Formula Three here in Europe. Ultimately it was decided to put the passenger alongside the driver which meant that the end product would be slightly wider than a conventional Legends although only by just over 20cm.Other modifications included a different differential (a Ford Atlas) although Martin said that will change when the car goes out at other circuits. The car has a one piece propshaft and the gear linkage is on top of the tunnel but other than that it’s very much conventional Legends kit. The car was built over a period of time in Martin’s Workshop down in the picturesque Sussex village of Hartfield which, for the children among us, was where the author AA Milne lived and where the Winnie the Pooh stories where based and written. It’s difficult to measure exactly how many man hours went into the car but Martin reckons three and a half weeks work went into sourcing the parts and putting the car together.
I’m pleased to say that I was one of the lucky few who got to enjoy a passenger ride driven by former Scottish Champion and current National Championship front runner Jamie Clarke. Jamie had just won his race at Brands Hatch when I was strapped in alongside to my session around the Brands Hatch Indy Circuit.
Brands Hatch, like most circuits in the UK, runs in a clockwise direction so that meant that Jamie was sitting on the outside of the car and, quite appropriately I thought, nearest the gravel traps and barriers. Once we were both securely strapped in Jamie was given the all clear to join the circuit. A blast from the throttle sent me back into the passenger seat and we were off down the pit road and onto the race track. The first corner at Brands is the notorious Paddock Hill Bend which is a tight right hander which falls away downhill. I must admit I was a little nervous about how that would feel in a full blown race car but Jamie treated the entry to it with all due respect. I wasn’t quite ready for the second part of the corner though as he nailed the throttle once again, the car moving right to the outside of the track and seemingly heading for the gravel trap. I held my breath as the car gripped and continued at full pelt down Hailwoods Hill and then climbed up to the slowest corner on the circuit, the Druids hairpin. The great thing about being alongside is that you can watch the driver plying his trade. Deft gear changes and braking, neat turn into the corner – all carried out with a mixture of racer’s aggression and precision. On the power again for the down hill run to Graham Hill Bend, a left hander this time. Jamie goes down a gear, dabs the brakes and turns in. The exit is a little wide, in fact we’re on the rumble strips which start to shake you up (by design as the circuit owner hates drivers using the run-off). Power on once again, up the gears and along Cooper Straight before the next left hander, Surtees. Amazingly John Surtees himself was there at Brands Hatch and was seen watching a couple of the Legends races. From Surtees it’s into the double right hander of McLaren and Clearways. The turn in to the latter is much tighter than it looks from the spectator’s view and Jamie’s heavy foot on the gas puts the car into a little oversteer. I look across and see that Jamie is grinning from ear to ear – he’s enjoying himself and entertaining his passenger at the same time. The run from Clearways onto the main straight is the fastest part of the circuit - top gear and top speed to complete a lap of Brands Hatch.
Two seater race cars have to be the ultimate white knuckle ride – especially around the ups, downs, twists and turns of Brands Hatch. Comparing it to a ride in a Formula Three car a couple of seasons back at Silverstone I have to say the Legends Car was much more fun. It didn’t seem that much slower than F3 although obviously there was much less grip. As well as the speed, the best part is being next to the driver and getting to see him work the car – there’s so much going on at the controls that it brings home just how much piloting these cars is an art form.
