When race cars go *pop*

General General Lotus Talk
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[image]http://cayman.globat.com/~sydphoto.com/DSC_1432.JPG[/image] http://cayman.globat.com/~sydphoto.com/ [This message has been edited by lotus_boy (edited 22 May 2003).]

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[image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/shocked.gif[/image] [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/shocked.gif[/image] [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/shocked.gif[/image]

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isn’t it the race elise motorsport with the Honda conversion staying in donnington at the lotus show?

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This was shot at Oran Park Raceway, Australia.

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It’s always sad to see such a drama…One Elise motorsport less!

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You think that’s bad - picture this:At Wombourne (South Staffordshire -near Wolves), a couple of months ago a young delivery driver pulled over in a lay-by, tired & fancied a quick tug on a Bensons. Only problem was he was delivering containers on the back of his small van which had HIGHLY INFLAMMABLE vapour leaking from one of them. He was blissfully umaware of A) The contents and B) The leak. He was extremely aware of the consequenses when he struck his match…At least the racing driver had his nomex underwear on.Not nice.

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I hope I remember that my car has a fire system in this situation before things get out of control like this.

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shocking [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/shocked.gif[/image] must buy that extingusher from elise parts…

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The extinguisher from Elise Parts will be too small to handle anything apart from a very small fire.

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this car was driven by Mike Reedy in a recent NSW Production Sports Car (www.prodsports.com.au) race at Oran Park (near Sydney). A fuel injector was knocked loose in a hit from behind, spraying fuel onto the exhaust and sending the car up in flames. It had a plumbed fire system which was activated, and was extinguished quickly by the marshalls. No word yet how badly the damage is. I was supposed to be racing in that meeting, but I was at Targa Tasmania…

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Matt,Any idea how the injector was knocked loose?How were they fixed to be able to be knocked out?

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MAttInjector knocked loose ?? i’d also be real interested to know how a knock up the rear caused that ? Any more info?Also how was Targa Tasmania and how did you fare?

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:slight_smile: Good Question re the hit knocking loose an injector. This car is prepared by a different team than mine. My mechanics find it very hard to believe than a relatively small hit from behind could have knocked an injector loose, as they are held very very tightly. We’re trying to find out more details, but they may not be forthcoming. Also this car had been rebuilt in a hurry before this race after being crashed heavily in the previous race, though this team’s preparation has been excellent all year. Who knows?Re Targa, check out www.cybernoir.com.au for a status update. Basically we had a problem with a “home made” bracket which held the crank angle motec sensor in place. This meant our engine either didn’t run or ran badly for about 1/2 of the 44 stages. Next year we’ll run the sensor off a modified flywheel. But when it did run, we flew!! We mostly ran in the top 10 outright, setting faster times than 4wd Porsche turbos, EVO V11’s and GTR N1’s in the wet. There were about 5 professional drivers (multiple Bathurst winners like Peter Brock & Jim Richards) competing also. We won one stage outright (a tight twisty 5km stage of 99 corners up a mountain side) and caught and passed a couple of GT3’s on some stages where they had a 30 sec headstart. Generally much better than we expected, as I was hoping for a top 20 finish… of course I put it all down to excellent driving/co-driving! :wink:

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Good result Matt [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif[/image] - Hope to see you in the top 20 when that crank sensor is fixed [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/grin.gif[/image]

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update on the fire - it was a sheared bolt on the fuel rail, not a loose injector

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MattFuel rail breaking sounds more understandable - not good but… understandable.thanks for the update an the TT and I 'm really glad you are happy with your results notwithstanding your problems. Love the colour of your car… [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/wink.gif[/image]. We’ll keep a close eye on Motors TV for coverage of it.later