tDR Posted January 28, 2005 Share Posted January 28, 2005 I had a days legend racing at Knockhill circuit, Fife, Scotland yesterday so just thought I'd share my experience for those considering doing similar... http://www.etracksonline.co.uk/Europe/knockhill_map.gif http://www.knockhill.com/images_new/platLegendsPic1.jpg For those that don't know - a Legend is a 5/8's scale racecar based on the shape of some of the old American hotrods. They weigh 501KG's all in and pack a 1250cc motorbike engine, fuel cell, sequential transmission, oil cooler and cosy single seat cockpit with just the pedals, rev counter, steering wheel and gearshift on show alongside a switchbox with ignition / fan controls. You strap yourself into your bucket seat via a 5-point harness, flick the ignition switch to on which lights a green light to say its in neutral and its ok to start, press the big starter button to crank it and blip the throttle to hear the fesity little powerplant growl into life. I was in love straight away ! It's then down with the clutch, push the stick forward for first with a hard shove til you feel it slot in, give a little revs and slowly does it off the clutch 'til you're rolling. Then accelerate out the pits checking the diddy roof mounted mirrors for any traffic, tugging hard and short on the stick backwards now for 2nd...3rd... 4th. Jesus this thing's f**cking QUICK!! Easy does it for the first couple of laps getting used to the little rocket and it's mince traction (but huuuge fun and skill demanding) BF Goodrich T/A Comp. control tyres. Now I'm up to speed and used to the solid rear axle and non ABS (or servo assist I think going by the hugely progressive feel) brakes. Jesus these formula first single seaters look like they're going backwards - GET OUT MY WAY I think, remembering I'd been told to wait for them to move across to the right on the straight sections before gunning it past them. They're dropping like flies too, finding 3 span out / off the track in my first session. Then there's the MG ZR 160's... god they look like people carriers from this perspective... and so S-L-O-W and BIG, they're like moving roadblocks!!! AND the instructor driven on a passenger thrill ride lap v6 MG ZS... out my way dude! Here's how one of my hot laps of the circuit went: End of the home straight flat out in 5th gear... stay wide and line up the approach to dufus dip... brake and into 4th gear making sure to get the turn in just perfect and apex the corner nicely into dufus (mind it's steeply downhill at this point and off cambered) - if you don't get this right it all goes pearshaped all the way through to McIntyres as you can never quite get on line again... back on the throttle apexing the the exit of dufus and drift to mid track before getting real wide over to the left again then brake pretty hard for McIntyres - a sharp right hander. Apexed nicely and drift wide onto the kerb on the other side of the track - the perfect speed in will force you to do this. Full throttle as soon as the back end doesn't feel loose anymore (but gradually applied as the back end of a Lengend is lively to say the least)... stay to the left of the track still full throttle as you approach butchers and start to go uphill again.. gradually steer right to apex butchers and stay at least mid track approaching the uphill chicane... ride the kerb on the left and immediately hard right on the exit kerb of the chicane... this is a leap of faith as you put your car totally on the kerb full throttle and cannot see the exit of the corner as it's a blind off cambered crest to the hill... start to drift wide and feel the car launched to the left (be ready to catch the back end) and suddenly you can see the far side kerb and exit to the corner.. just let the car slowly drift over there to reduce steering angle and friction and stay over to the left full throttle still in 4th along Brabhams straight... stay wide and you can see the entry to Clarks right hander fast approaching - time to brake and turn in hard to Clarks, making sure you get the whole of the car on the kerb again as you apex the corner - it's a blind exit again so it's vital you get the angle right... drift wide again and you can see the exit kerb you ride and carry on full throttle along Railway bend (quite straight but stay to the left)... hear the engine scream as you pull high RPM's and feel the power start to drop off - time to slot the box into fifth so another quick tug on the stick and super quick clutch prod / throttle release and back on sorts that and you feel the car surging hard towards the uphill Taylors hairpin... S-H-I-T it's getting close very fast so hard on the brakes staying very wide to the left 'til you're nearly level with the apex, blip the throttle and downchange into 4th and then straight into 3rd with another blip of the throttle... now you've bled off enough speed to turn in hard and make the off cambered uphill incredibly sharp right hander Taylors hairpin... turn until you have about a cars width of tarmac between you and the apex (it's quicker than apexing... they widened the apex for F3 I think it was).. now let it drift wide towards the exit kerb on the left and DON'T get on the throttle too early even though it's sooo tempting - doing so will soon have you in the kitty litter! Now riding the exit kerb you wind full throttle back on gradually with your right foot and slot it into 4th..... full throttle as you drift to the middle of the home straight (it's actually a very long right hander into dufus dip) and across the start / finish line.. revs screaming again so quickly slot back into 5th and WOT again, now drifting back to the left as you begin to see dufus ahead, wide as you can.... then brake hard and select 4th as you come to the end of the lap and approach dufus again with a huge on your face at the sensation of speed you just experienced! I was told by ally the instructor that my lines were excellent and there was nothing he could teach me (even after following me on track in his Legend) so I was well chuffed with that! Would I do it again? HELL YES! The reason I went as I want to go back into competition (did Karting for years before uni) and wanted to move into something more like cars - so wanted to assess what the Legends were like as it's a very cheap form of motorsport due to the identical spec cars and strict rules / control tyres that last 6,000 miles etc. etc. - All down to driver skill who wins races. The other grid evener is the fact car & driver must weigh 601KG's so that gives the driver up to 100KG's - almost everyone will carry balast and be the same total weight. I've now got my RACMSA starter pack on the way so I can get my license after my ARDS test and hopefully get racing Hope that's useful info for anyone interested Brian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustGav Posted January 28, 2005 Share Posted January 28, 2005 Now that sounds wicked fun.... Wonder if they do this down south at all... Gav Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tDR Posted January 28, 2005 Author Share Posted January 28, 2005 Now that sounds wicked fun.... Wonder if they do this down south at all... Gav It was! There's a UK championship mainly based at English tracks and there's a Scottish championship mainly based at Knockhill... both are around 12 rounds a season. Cost of the car is around £12k second hand (18k brand new) for a decent one bought outright or if just want to arrive and compete in an already prepped car not bought you can hire one for £550 per round. If you own a car, the cost per meet is actually quite small maintenance wise - about £200 so long as you don't have any bumps (expect to pay around £350 ish for most accident repairs you're likely to have once every few rounds). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Getrag Posted January 28, 2005 Share Posted January 28, 2005 Looks like you had a fantastic time. Always liked those little racecars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tDR Posted January 28, 2005 Author Share Posted January 28, 2005 Looks like you had a fantastic time. Always liked those little racecars.Yeah it was ace m8 - you're local so give it a go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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