Nice! I have been watching prices of these online recently. Can you give us some of the specs on your car?
It's a 270 (or 275 depending on market), 135 hp only but 515 kg, in "Academy" version, to compete in the Caterham Academy races; therefore it's equipped for racing (FIA rollbar, harness, fire extinguisher, and so on). The windshield is optional (to be removed for the races), I also took the doors and top (not pictured). For the colors it's raw aluminium (like a famous f12 tdf here ) with the plastic parts in British green.
Hopefully the car will be (eventually) registered this week, first official training on March 28th and first race on 6-7 April... I received my FIA racing driver licence
So the it is registered now, and it has joined my other vehicles (the Ferrari is undercover, and the Ducati is hidden behind the Citroen DS - the Citroen C4 Cactus is the daily driver). With the doors, the roof and the windscreen, it's in "road" configuration here - all that will be removed for racing Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Here it is in race trim - I ran the two first races but will only disclose results if I improve Even though it's a racing series with nothing at stake, I've been surprised by the commitment of most competitors... Anyway, it was big fun in spite of the rain and my poor results. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Beautiful Rear track or wheel size to spec? Seem awfully inset versus the mudguard/rear wing/fender. Does it oversteer easily? Philip
A short "teaser" clip of my last race (looks like slow motion, without practice between the races it's my natural pace ): The rollcage has been repainted green to make the car easier to spot. The most impressive is the 360 deg camera, it gives amazing results IMHO.
It's Charade, near Clermont-Ferrand (centre of France). It hosted the French Formula 1 GP in 1965, 1969, 1970 and 1972. The track has been redesigned and is not completely the same though; now it's used for less prestigious events and unfortunately suffers from noise restrictions most of the time.
September should be interesting - we have two planned race week-ends, one in Nogaro (South of France, near from Spain) and the next in Spa - Spa is following the Passione Ferrari event mid-September, so I'll train with the 488 before the race
First Spa race was good with respect to my low standards - 11th (mainly due to some penalties on other drivers) on 17 but my second race was ruined by a very bad mistake (spin in the corner after the Raidillon - I'll post a video once edited). With the Ferrari, I improved my previous lap time by about 2s (now 2'53") in spite of running with old brakes and tyres (they were completely dead afterwards, you can check in "Tracking & driver education" thread).
So the 2019 season has ended - for me it was 14th of 16, with the best results being a 11th place in a race in Spa and 9th in qualifying in Alès. Now I'm going for the next category (Caterham Academy is for rookies only, now I must upgrade to Roadsport) - the car will be slightly modified with improved suspension and tyres, and I need to renew my racing licence I have been surprised by how most of the competitors are motivated and dedicated, my approach of dabbling was not really paying off but it's fun anyway...
So my license is renewed - and I registered for the 2020 racing season. Last week-end was to to try the new car set-up (new suspension, with wider front track and rear antiroll bar, and semi-slick tyres), so that I will be even more ashamed of my future results
The last races took places this week-end - we were mixed with the more powerful 420R, so there was a lot to manage to survive... 44 cars on the short (3.8km) Le Castellet track (the F1 configuration, which we also raced this year, is 5.8km). I will try to edit some of my personal videos to show a few interesting actions, but here is a full "pro" report of the last race (commented in French), which I also posted in the "other racing" thread: To follow my modest progress (from last - 44th - on the grid to 37th, 20th to 16th in my category) look at #63... I will try to do better next year, I just need to be more committed...
After four and a half years of racing, I sold my car... It's been an interesting journey, even though I've been basically a backmarker for all races - I joined just to have fun, and never had the commitment that's mandatory to be really competitive. Even in this short period of time, there's been an evolution of the background; initially gentlemen drivers making the effort (spending more money and working harder) had a chance, but for the last few years (presumably due to lack of sponsors for mechanical sports) young and talented guys came to take the top spots. For instance, the winner of the championship I competed in during the 2021 season has been selected as junior Porsche driver, and angaged as a rookie in the Porsche Cup race opening the 2023 24h of Le Mans, he finished 5th overall (of 65 contenders, many of them regular entrants). Obviously no middle-aged gentleman driver, no matter how hard he works, stands a chance against such driver - for me (as someone who never really intended to win) that's rather funny, but others may be frustrated... Anyway, racing for real (as opposed to track days) is a thrilling experience, specially when we have the chance to drive on tracks like Spa, Magny-Cours, Le Castellet, Barcelona or Valencia. Image Unavailable, Please Login