This weekend Phillip Leonard will have his RV8 GT2 car racing again at Heartland Park Topeka. This is the first time out since we got it weighted and balanced and fixed a few items along the way. Hopefully the oil problem will be fixed as well. Wish us luck for a great debut appearance and picking up some points.
Good luck.......wish I could be there......Can you shoot some in car videos? Let us know how it goes
SAFETY FAST
Don't know about the videos, I'll have to see if our driver would mind having my GoPro on board. I'll try though.
Best of luck guys, you deserve it. Cheers, roverman.
Post race report. Our driver, Scott Schmidt was excellent all weekend. Consistantly brought his lap times down every session. This was two day format SCCA National Race and Scott was the number one qualifier in his class of GT2 on both days and won the two afternoon races very handliy over his competition . Phil turned up on Saturday with matching British Racing shirts from Curtis and we looked very professional on Sunday. Photos and video to follow, but for now a couple of teaser photos.
From left to right, Phil Leonard (Car Owner), Bill Young (Honary Crew Cheif). Robert Maulpins (back up driver and crewman),
Scott Schmidt (Driver), and Bill Davidson (Engine builder and tuner)
Thanks to the guys here on this forum we solved the oil drain problem with a vent tube from the timing chain case to the catch tank as was suggested. No oil problems in almost 60 laps at speed in practice and racing.
Second Photo, Scott on the false grid prior to the Sunday afternoon race.
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outstanding news!
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
That is Fabulous guys ! Try not to win by too big of a margin,SCCA will "find" away to slow you down. Onward, roverman.
YaHoo! Congrats on a successfull outing! What were the other cars you were running against? What were your lap times doing? I see a camera on the roll bar, some videos perhaps? dave bash
There was only one other car in our class, a Datsun 240 260 Z car that has been in the area for several years and should be well sorted by now. Our best lap times were around 1:54 durning the last race of the weekend, started out Saturday morning at some 1:59s while a Viper running in the same group was lapping at 1:49. He definitely was the fasted car in the group all weekend. We were consistanly around a second a lap faster than the Z car all weekend. I thought that was pretty good for a basically untested car with a first time driver.
Got video from two cameras during one race, one pointing forwards and one to the rear. I have the video of the rear looking camera, Scott has the rest and will burn a CD of his stuff for us to share on U tube as soon as we can.
Interestingly enough, a 240/260 Z was the fastest production based car, in the VARA Race at Buttonwillow. This includes 2 early nineties Nascars, Vettes, Camaros/etc. That is until two laps before the checker, and the engine let go. "Doesn't matter how fast it is, if it don't finish". Cheers, roverman.
Here is a list of the entries in the SCCA National Championship race at Elkhart Lake, September 2011.
In order of finish:
1. Mark Jurczyk - Chicago, IL - Porsche GT3 Cup Car - total time 30:13.475 best laptime 2:17.732 (13 laps)
2. Tom Patton - Hamilton, OH - Sunbeam Tiger - 30:18.096 2:18.886
3. Mark Boden - Winnetka, IL - Porsche GT3 Cup Car 30:21.254 2:17.886
4. Gary Stewart - York, PA. - Porsche GT3 Cup Car 30:56.797 2:21.145
5. Robert Lentz - Leesburg, VA Nissan 300Z 31:09.447 2.21.355.
6. Bob Humphrey-Greenvile,SC Porsche GT3 Cup Car 31:13.556 2:22.069
7. Tim Gray - Eden Prairie, MN Porsche GT3 Cup Car 31:50.213 2:25.200
8. Mike Smellie-PtSt Luce,FLA Mazda RX 7 30:41.667 2:27.303 (12 laps)
9. Richard Smith Loxahatche,FLA Mazda RX7 31:47.258 2.33.881 (1 lap)
10.Pete Peterson Lumberton,NC Toyota Celica 14:11.498 2:18.816 (7 laps)
11. Tony Giordano Ovlnd PK, KS Nissan 2780Z 14:38.822 2:47.932 (8 laps
Competing with these SCCA racers - the ones who qualified for entry into the 2011 GT2 National SCCA Championship race - is a formidable goal with a MGB roadster. It would seem that even a Rover V8 powered version - the MG Rover RV8 - might stand little chance of beating any of these seasoned racers.
However, at least in the Midwest Division of the SCCA, the MG Rover RV8 now stands as winner of 2 National SCCA races in the GT2 class. Only 2 more finishes in Division stand between our invitation to the September 2012 SCCA National Championship race at Elkhart Lake.
Wish us luck in finding a way to put the MG Rover RV8 on the starting grid of the Elkhart Lake GT2 SCCA Championship Runoff Race.
keep 'em on the track
phillip g
Chin up Phillip, "Nothing Conquers Like Persistance",(quoteth the Ant vs Rubber Tree Plant). Good Luck, but sweat equity also goes a long way, roverman.
We are working on it, but have a long way to go. Notice that the guy we beat this past weekend is Tony Giordano who finished dead last at the 2011 runoffs. Right now we're only a couple of seconds a lap quicker than he is, so we have a long long way to go to be competitive with the front runners or even to be a mid pack contender. It's an auspicious start though and we are indeed proud of it!
So, how far below max hp., rpm wise, of this engine are you at exit of slowest to fastest turns ? Running a "teletale" or other devices to map progress on track ? I suspect knowing this, could help plot actual hp., gearing and handling deficits ? Good news is, your not racing for points against the Porsches ? Good Luck, roverman.
Art, I really don't know, we don't have any type of data logger installed on the car and the driver wasn't really keeping track of the rpm. Besides we haven't had the car on the dyno yet so we don't know the rpm sweet spot yet. He did report that it pulled smoothly off idle and up through the gears but started having a high speed miss around 5000 rpm that got progressively lower as the race went on dropping down to around 4700 at the end. This caused him to shift up to 5th gear where the car really wasn't pulling well at all, so if we can get the engine to rev cleanly up to our 6000 rpm red line we should be fine at most tracks and only need 5th for very long straights. Haven't checked the ratios yet, but should be a .62 overdrive ratio in our T5 would pull better with a .78 or what ever that is closest to that. Might change to a different T5 if we can find one that will hold the horsepower and offer a better 5th gear ratio as well as intermediate ratios. Right now a true racing 5 speed is both out of our financial range and would cost us a weight penality so we'll stick with the standard T5 for now. As it is if we can turn the engine to 6500 reliably we are geared very well for most of the circuits around this part of the country, only on longer straight tracks like Road America would be be wanting a taller rear gear or a lower OD if we can get the rpms up a bit.
Not knowing all the details of engine build, I would "guess" max power is well below 6k, even with no miss. Chassis dyno time, in the budget ? Have valves been clay checked for piston clearance? "Might" consider 1.6 or 1.7 roller rockers on intake side, if valves/guides clear. Serious motor will need Merlin replacement heads,(standard valve centerlines). Dan Jones suggestion of a racing 390 carb and single plane intake manifold are minimal requirements. Hi static compression woun't matter unless other components are upgraded to match. SCCA has a serious problem with low enties and attendance. They need to counter this with reduced restrictions on the rover engine. This should encourage more entries and with more entries should come more attendance. Good Luck, roverman.
Ran across a video of Phils car on Utube that 1589 had already viewed, no one told me it was there yet! Anyway look up MGR V8 testing at MAM..........
Racers,
Scott Schmidt, driver of the SCCA GT2 National race winning MG RV8 GT2 car - has posted part of his 2nd race, and 2nd National win, on U TUBE.
Next SCCA National races for the British Numismatics MG Rover RV8 are scheduled for the Midwest America Motorsports (MAM - Omaha) track, June 5 & 6.
Let us know if you can be on hand and be a part of the MG Rover RV8 crew.
Your help will be very much appreciated.
keep them on the track,
phillip g
Phillip, The MAM races are on a tues-wed ? roverman.
Art, that should be the 2 and 3, that's what I have on my calendar. Saturday and Sunday.
Art,
My mistake. Sorry.
Of course - MAM SCCA Nationals Saturday June 2 and Sunday June 3.
This has been a long week.
cheers,
phillip g
Racers,
Happy to report another SCCA GT2 class National race win for the MG RV8.
Scott Schmidt, driving the British Numismatics sponsored MG RV8 GT2 racer, won the Sunday June 3 "big bore" GT2 class National race at the MidAmerica Motorsports track near Omaha, NE.
With 3 National race wins in the GT2 class of Midwest Division SCCA racing, Scott is now just one race short of qualifying for an invitation to the "Runoffs" at Road America, the Elkhart Lake, Wis. SCCA National Championship races, Sept. 17-23, 2012.
Congratulations to Scott Schmidt, driving in 2012 the MG RV8 to a 3rd. National SCCA race win.
keep them on the track,
phillip g
Congratulations Phillip and team. That is great news ! Not bad for 175 hp eh ? I shall start planning for the "Runoffs" now. Good Luck, roverman.
Art,
You will be very welcomed as a crew team member of the SCCA RV8 GT2 car at Elkhart Lake, Wis. - Sept. 17-23 !
cheers,
phillip g
Racers,
Scott Schmidt has posted this great video of the Rover MG RV8 at the recent MAM National SCCA race.
keep them on the track,
phillip g
MGR V8 @ MAM '12
<iframe width="600" height="338" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/nF3DkaeabYw?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Tremendous! (and that car is only going to get better too)
Phil and crew, man I really love to watch this video! feels like you are riding along----it felt lke Scott really picked it up the last 2 or 3 laps on the video! When is the next race?
Needs more horsepower.
But otherwise looks very good.
Jim