Ben Sale's white 1990 NA6

[Guran]

I had a re-read of your article from Jan issue of mxtra. Seems to me that you should be OK. Your four permitted NA6 mods are Bilsteins, King springs, swaybars and catback. The NA8 brakes, subframe braces, strut brace, front lip, wheels, etc seem to be permitted free mods. The only question mark I could see might be the Fat Cat bump stops and holes in the intake box - hardly earth-shattering stuff.

Compression spec is 192psi, and minimum is 175psi. Maybe you could get a rebuild to retrieve some compression and REALLY show them what you can do?!

Btw I see you have an LSD in the shed. TorSen? If you're still in Clubman, you might consider swapping the catback for the LSD to stick with four mods. I suspect the LSD would be worth more in the tight corners, especially Winton. Just an idea - you've probably already put much thought into anyway.

[bensale]

Hi Bryan, you're quite right in that the holes in the airbox are an issue... As is the lack of a soft top, and the front lip spoiler actually. The soft top and lip are okay for this year but will require changing next year due to the new rules. The air box is an issue... We'll see how that one goes...

The LSD was a viscous... But it's life was very short lived... It failed the first time it was dríven in an enthusiastic manner and started leaking oil and it is now an open diff.... I'm thinking I may buy a Torsen if funds permit at some stage as it would be very advantageous as you say at tracks like Winton and perhaps Sandown too... The problem will be finding one with a 4.3 ratio and the expense of having the buy the full set up including the housing and half shafts...

[Guran]

Interesting call on the front lip! Hammer has a front and rear lip on his NA8 Clubman in Standard NA class up here! He's my closest competition and it's no wonder I'm struggling to keep up with him lately.

[bensale]

Perhaps you could lodge an official protest?

In fairness they have given me a bit of notice on that one... It's because it was never available as an option in Australia and it would be worth something aerodynamically and in cooling the brakes... But I would imagine it to be about three microns of stuff all... Probably about as much as me taking the rear mud flaps off...

[bensale]

So... I will be as brief as possible as I don't think my comment will be well worded enough if I go into the full details in this mood....

My car has been disqualified from the clubman class for 3 events... The December Meeting at Phillip Island, the March meeting at Winton and and April Meeting at Phillip Island. For those events my car has been re classified in the modified class.

In my opinion the modifications I was excluded for are trivial and offer next to no performance benefit. Although I accept that by the letter of the 'law' they are modifications and therefore I have to accept my disqualification and also accept that Rob Downes was essentially doing what he was required to do in the wake of an official protest...

The items are as follows.

1- Non standard airbox- a couple of 1" holes in the bottom of the OEM unit.
2- My oem front lip spoiler
3- Non functioning viscous differential (as mentioned above I broke the unit, it leaks oil and open wheels as badly as an open diff. My tyre wear and temperatures and the end of a session prove this. I didn't change it back out as it is a 4hr job.
4- Soft top not fitted to the vehicle (although i have an exemption for this until the end of this week meaning this did not count in my disqualification)

In order to resume racing in the clubman class I have to fix the additional modifications and have the car dyno tested at Caulfield Jaguar my own expense.

I also note than none of the items my car was actually alleged to have in the official protests were found by Rob or Dean at Motorsport Essentials. The only items found are much more insignificant than what I was alleged to have had fitted to the car and offer no real performance benefit.

It took a bit from me to take this... Especially the need to get the car dyno'd and the exclusion from 3 rounds... In addition to this it looks like i was in a good position to win a sheep station after all, the clubs rookie of the year award which I am probably out of the running for now.

My opinion of certain club members is somewhat altered as I believe the way this came about was quite dishonourable and not really in the spirit of it all, especially as I was never approached by either members prior to the protest.

I am very tempted to counter protest one specific car, a stripped na8 which has blatant modifications outside of the rules far in excess of what my car has... I am not sure whether or not to take the moral position on this issue or not...

I know that when I get the car to a spec the club is happy with it will perform just as well as it did last weekend... The fact that i have to pay to have a dyno run done in the presence of Rob or a representative of his is very frustrating though and in my opinion completely unnecessary... That and I have lost two lap records which I was very proud of... In my opinion my 260,000km old NA6 is actually at a disadvantage to the stripped NA8 (to the extent holes have been cut into the bodywork and various other parts of the car to save weight) and 10AE which were my main competitors as they have much fewer kms, have much newer and more expensive modifications (as opposed to my now 160,000km old suspension set up which cost $300) and run 15x8 wheels with wider tyres compared to my 14x6's.

I would also like to add that throughout this process I have made all efforts to be as open as possible with Rob and the people looking at my car... Two of the modifications to the car wouldn't have been picked up unless i mentioned them in the interest of honestly... That would have left the club with the option of disqualifying me for a front lip spoiler which I don't believe they would have done... I do not regret being honest about my car to Rob as I believe it is a better way to go about life than the alternative...

Anyway, guess thats enough of a rant... Thanks for reading.

[Guran]

Man that sucks. You have my sympathies Ben. But you know what? If you decide to run in Modified, you could leave it as is, set a quick time at the next trackday, then remove the lip and tape over the airbox holes, and go back out and do the same sorts of laptimes. I have absolutely no doubt that the mods you've been disqualified for are practically insignificant in terms of performance.

[lee]

Would it be worth mentioning the other cars, not for the sake of finger-pointing, but for consistency of scrutineering? It seems rough that you get picked on for having no soft top but others can get away with panel modifications.

It is amusing that they were calling you out on having aftermarket extractors and an ECU, yet all they could find was a small aero piece, weight loss from the roof, and a leaky diff

[bensale]

Guran, I think I might do something like that... Although I would like to go out and try to win clubman at Sandown (despite not having done a sprints day there before). Doing a comparo like that could mean that they'll make me run in modified for the day... I have no doubt that under the same conditions as last Sunday the car will be just as quick... I couldn't see more than a couple of tenths difference in total with the 4 'illegal' modifications. The aim is to get the car dyno'd, fix the issues then go as fast or faster at PI.

Lee, the car with panel modifications also has no soft top... And also has a cf hardtop fitted so in that case he has made an aprox 17kg weight saving... His has also been removed for quite some time as opposed to my removal of the soft top due to it being broken for the last two rounds. Everyone is aware that the car I am pointing out is very questionable as far as class eligibility...

And i agree! It appears that my ecu, cat, extractors, compression and cams are all standard hey? But I still need to put it on a dyno...

[lee]

Maybe it's a good excuse to have a vic dyno day

[bensale]

Lol! When I call them I am going to be pushing to get the best possible price for the run... I'm interested to see the results but it's something I've never seen the need to pay for... I'll see if they'll reduce the price if I organise an event and get a few people along.

[PaulF]

Would it be worth mentioning the other cars, not for the sake of finger-pointing, but for consistency of scrutineering? It seems rough that you get picked on for having no soft top but others can get away with panel modifications.

QFT. But, do it the way you would have preferred to be treated. Go and talk to them in person first before lodging a formal complaint.

[rascal]

Lee, the car with panel modifications also has no soft top... And also has a cf hardtop fitted so in that case he has made an aprox 17kg weight saving...

Which is why the Classification officer gave you an exemption to run without your soft top until the Motorsport meeting this week which will clarify the ruling on hard tops & soft tops.

In addition to this it looks like i was in a good position to win a sheep station after all, the clubs rookie of the year award which I am probably out of the running for now.

Rookie of the Year is given to the competitor with the most points in their first year of competition with the club. Points can be scored in multiple classes.
So you are still eligible for this, and most likely will still win it..


As I understand it, the protests were lodged due to the fact that your 'standard' na6 was significantly quicker 'in a straight line' than all other std NA6s and most of the standard NA8s & NB8's in the club, not because of the impressive lap times you posted. They just drew attention to yourself.

The subsequent investigation highlighted the fact that your car was running with 7 mods (ignoring soft top) when you are only permitted 4, hence the reclassification to modified.You also only specified 2 mods on your entrant statement, which wasn't consistent with what your car actually had.

And i agree! It appears that my ecu, cat, extractors, compression and cams are all standard hey? But I still need to put it on a dyno...

The absence of these items makes the cars straight line speed even more surprising, hence the requirement for a dyno...



The 2010 Vic club motorsport rules state ' Competitors found to be in blatant contravention of the class rules at an event will be
automatically disqualified from the event, and may be disqualified from the championship.'

The motorsport captain would have been within his rights to exercise this clause however, chose not to due to the helpful and honest manner you showed, and simply had your car reclassified into the class that it correctly belongs in in its current condition.
Surely you can't be too annoyed with this approach....

[daffyflyer]

Wow, if a few holes in the airbox and a missing softtop makes you significantly quicker in a straight line, why did I waste all that money on cams and and ECU? Clearly airbox holes are the way to go

[bensale]

Lee, the car with panel modifications also has no soft top... And also has a cf hardtop fitted so in that case he has made an aprox 17kg weight saving...

Which is why the Classification officer gave you an exemption to run without your soft top until the Motorsport meeting this week which will clarify the ruling on hard tops & soft tops.

I acknowledge and appreciate this exception.

As I understand it, the protests were lodged due to the fact that your 'standard' na6 was significantly quicker 'in a straight line' than all other std NA6s and most of the standard NA8s & NB8's in the club, not because of the impressive lap times you posted. They just drew attention to yourself.

The subsequent investigation highlighted the fact that your car was running with 7 mods (ignoring soft top) when you are only permitted 4, hence the reclassification to modified.You also only specified 2 mods on your entrant statement, which wasn't consistent with what your car actually had.

And i agree! It appears that my ecu, cat, extractors, compression and cams are all standard hey? But I still need to put it on a dyno...

The absence of these items makes the cars straight line speed even more surprising, hence the requirement for a dyno...

Yes, when I filled out the entrants statement in July 2010 the car to my knowledge had two modifications, the springs and shocks... Although at that time it also had the air filter mod, the front lip so actually 4... Subsequently i have played with adding a few mods including, the sway bars and exhaust, the diff which failed and I removed the soft top when it tore... As the protests highlighted, I have exceeded my modification allowance due to the 3 additions resulting in minimal or no performance advantage.

Racal, you as well as anyone would know that straight line speed has as much to do with the exit speed you get off the corner preceding the straight. I was very mindful of my exit out of MG using a line which while not the fastest around the corner gave me additional exit speed. I was then very mindful of scrubbing off any speed through the last two flat corners. I would say my straight line speed advantage (if any) is due to this more than any additional power... Other competitors complained that the gap between them and me grew as i accelerated out of MG... Well of course it bloody well will, a 1 second gap is a lot larger visually and in meters when you're doing 180kph down the straight compared to 60kph at the apex of MG even if the rate of acceleration of the two cars is identical... The only person to follow right behind me down the straight was Bob Debont and my car was no quicker than his... The lap i follow Princey before he spun off at turn two I spent the straight a meter off his bumper but did not gain on him. Sure a na6 should be slower, but there is more to straight line speed as i said above.

I would have been surprised if i had have been excluded completely for blatantly contravening the rules as this is not the case... I agree that within the exacting laws of the club my re classing to modified is correct and I can not argue with that decision. However, perhaps an approach where i was asked to remove the additions of negligent performance gain before the next meeting and providing I passed the dyno test with an acceptable result my results could have stood would have been anouther option. I know this is the approach the Victorian Motorkhana Championship takes (situation dependent I would assume though) offering the option to recify the illegal modifications and if they are not rectified then you will be re classed.

Good to hear about about the rookie class =) Also please note that I do not believe that the club was wrong in it's decision.... It is just the way that the protests came about, the minimal advantage the things I am excluded for provided me and the need to dyno the car at my own expense if I am to continue in the class that annoys me.

[-alex]

To be honest this is pathetic, petty, really poor form and not in the spirit of club events.

The way this has been approached by the people who have an issue with Ben's car is cowardly, you should ask someone if you have a problem with them, it's a club environment obviously you have contact with the people involved, why sour relationships by accusing people without first having a chat.

Also it's really rich coming from the parties it did, it's the tar calling the tyre black. Fair enough the rules should be enforced and I'm not against that, but it needs to be universal.

Filing a protest just because some one is faster than you is unsportsmanlike, learn how to drive so perhaps you won't be shamed next time.