Suze's Micra - competing in club motorsport.....

Suze

Club Member (Trial)
I've got a 94 K11 model, originally bought in July 06 as a runaround but since 2007 been my daily driver and competed in club level motorsport too.

Good car for the events I'm doing and may look at getting another in the next year or so in same spec, either as a replacement or as an addition to my current car, so I can build one up into a full on competition car and put in a cage, sump guard etc and compete in different events that I can't compete in now.

Current car hasn't really had any mods, as normally run it in standard classes.

Hope is ok to post a link for more info, as not typing it all! Plenty of pics and results info etc on http://www.suzebisping.co.uk

Don't see many other micras competing, there's a K10, fully stripped out etc which does some autotesting [driving round a course on grass is easiest explanation....]. If anybody does want to know the exact different sorts of competition I do can post the full descriptions of sprints, autotests, Car Trials etc.

Sorry seem to have two threads, please delete this one.....page went down when I was posting so refreshed and now have two threads :glance:
 
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Suze

Suze

Club Member (Trial)
It depends to be honest on what sort of events you are doing.....

Some of them are done on engine size, so that's easy enough.

Others, eg sprinting, are done on both engine size and if the car has been modified or not - ie I have a standard Micra so I enter in the roadgoing class [ie taxed, MOTed etc and not modified] for cars up to 1400cc. You could enter one of the modprod [modified production classes] if you had modified the car, and if you were me and my car was modified I'd enter the modprod class for cars up to 1400cc. Sprinting tends to be done on whether it's a roadgoing or modified car [or a special / kit car if you're not entering a Micra etc] and then on the engine size.

Other events have slightly different regs - eg will be classes for modified cars, roadgoing cars and enduro / road rally cars which are slightly different and have much more limited modifications.

Hope that sortof explains some of it in a nutshell.....
 

frank

Club Member
suze

thanks :grinning:
it must be hard to police a standard class, ( ie scrutineer ) theres a lot you can do to a k11 which is,nt apparent, camber/caster changes, engine mods etc
i did a bit of stock cars, and got away with murder tbh
 
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Suze

Suze

Club Member (Trial)
yes, I think the problem is there are so many different cars the scrutineers don't have detailed knowledge about them all. There are people that take advantage of this, I've never knowingly run anything against the rules, would not know how to do camber / caster changes etc!

other thread deleted for you, welcome to the msc

Thanks for that Mike. I thought I had been a member for over a year or so and just not posted, but when I came to log in again a few weeks ago it didn't recognise my email addresses or anything, though had posted before!

Definitely a very useful forum though..... :)
 

Craig

Unofficial Member (Gold)
Club Member
Hi there, you competing in any series this year? If not, the all circuit sprint looks a grreat one http://www.twmc.org.uk/allcircuit/index.html. Establised and seems well run, I'm planning on entering it this year - would be good to have 2 Micras!
It's organised by the Tunbridge Wells Mtor Club, but both Chelmsford and Sevenoaks are invited so maybe worth investigating?

Also, quite shocked by the amount of dive in this picture:
micragymkhana.JPG

Craig
 
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Suze

Suze

Club Member (Trial)
Ah yes that pic.....what you can't see there is the HUGE bump I've just come over, took it at about 40mph and didn't quite hit the ground, didn't want to risk much more.....

I'm a member of both Sevenoaks & Chelmsford, Sevenoaks being my main club as am a committee member. I'm sprinting at North Weald on 6th April, and will hopefully do some others this year. Drop me a PM if you want more info. But be good to see another Micra out, especially at North Weald if you're around! [requirements - non-race license £37 or so, helmet and overalls and a club membership......]

Not doing the TWMC championship but am doing the Sevenoaks Speed League, and will also do the summer autotest series [though missing a couple as on holiday] and various other events. Did race a single seater last year but just had to sell it :( so just the Micra for now!

Only thing I'd say re TWMC championship is - does your car have a cage in it? I've thought about sprinting at Lydden but not sure I'd want to without a cage.....
 

Craig

Unofficial Member (Gold)
Club Member
Wish I could PM - you have to sign up to get PM feature.
North Weald interests me as it's just down the raod (assuming that you mean Wealdstone?) I will def. investigate that, how much is membership + which club? I take it I need non-race national B license?

Yes, my car is caged, competing in modified production so cage is a necessity.

What single seater did you have?
Craig
 
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Suze

Suze

Club Member (Trial)
ah ok. Not sure if North Weald is Wealdstone but it's near the M25 / M11 junction.... Membership for the organising club [Sevenoaks] is £20 / year, 7oaks are also a member of the "Weald Club" which is various Kent based motorclubs, ie this membership would entitle you to enter any events which 7oaks MC is invited to ie scatters, autotests etc too. Yes you'll need a non-race National B license which is £34 / £37.

regs for North Weald will be out tomorrow / beginning of next week so let me know your email addy if you want a copy. Entry fee will be around £50 / £60 mark.

I used to have a Formula Vee [like Formula Ford but VW chassis etc].
 

Craig

Unofficial Member (Gold)
Club Member
Ah, so Essex way, not as near but still close.
What is th competition like in the speed league, from waht I could see there were only about 15 entries?
Does my car need to be road legal for entry?
I'll have a look on their website for the regs now...
Craig
 
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Suze

Suze

Club Member (Trial)
Ah no.....there are a lot more entries than that in the speed league [I think last year 30 - 40 registered competitors] but in order to be classified in the end of year table you have to have done a days marshalling which many hadn't done, hence you'll only see the list of 15 people.

Car only needs to be road legal if entering a standard production class [and you'll have to produce MOT, insurance documents etc]. If not entering a standard calss can be trailered etc.

Regs aren't up yet, will post when they are...
 

pjg1979

THIS IS MY BOOMSTICK!
It looks like great fun, sort of thing people should do when there Micra is on there way out if they'll be doing nose dives like that, lol.
 
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Suze

Suze

Club Member (Trial)
that's a different sort of event.....and like I said only because of a big bump!

Nowt wrong with my car bar the odd age related scratch and it still [touch wood!] gets me to the station and around and about etc each day too :)
 
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Suze

Suze

Club Member (Trial)
It all depends on the type of event......

yes for some events I do have to wear helmet and overalls etc, should be some pics like that on my website.
 

micra_pete

Ex. Club Member
I spend quiet a bit on the hill climb circuit - spectator, not driver.

Have either of you (suze or craig) fancied a go? there is a couple of micras competing every now and then, seem almost stock too.
 

Craig

Unofficial Member (Gold)
Club Member
I have thought about it, but I'm tending towards circuitsprinting for a few reasons, one the motor clubs near me don't seem to be too active, the fact that I'm just starting and circuits have much more generous run-offs than hills, also (from what I can ascertain) hills are generally shorter than courses and the fact that I'd like to do a few competitive laps of Brands as well :D
Whereabouts do you normally go, Pete?
craig
 
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Suze

Suze

Club Member (Trial)
Brands is one of the most expensive sprints per mile - entry last year was £145 I think, that's 3 x cost of the one I'm doing at beginning of April! BTW Craig regs for that are now out....

Craig, where are you based / what are your local motorclubs? If you want generous runoff / to get used to things etc it might be worth starting with an airfield sprint, will give you an idea of the day and the car etc and plenty of run off there and then you can go to circuits. In some ways, airfields can be a bit harder than circuits, because it's only cones etc choosing your lines is critical to a good run.

Pete - have thought about hillclimbs but not sure the stock Micra would be a lot of fun ie not a huge engine / hill etc? Even in sprinting there isn't often much in the way of similarly powered competing cars.
 

Craig

Unofficial Member (Gold)
Club Member
Yeah Brands isn't cheap - especially if it's the Indy course, I was tinking about doing a track day there to get my eye in and get used to the car as I've done thousands of virtual laps at Brands, either that or a trackday at Bedford which has good run offs too but I'm worried about turning up in a comparatively low powered car.
Craig
 
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Suze

Suze

Club Member (Trial)
Yep it is the Indy course, very few meetings run on the Grand Prix circuit [so limited because of noise restrictions].

Bedford might be an idea, or Bruntingthorpe [another airfield] is very cheap, up Leicester way, and again with big runoff. I've taken my car around there before when was there to test something else :)

I think at Brands you can get summer evening sessions for about £99 which isn't bad - a friend did one and managed about 60 laps so good value for money compared to the sprint. Just depends what the other drivers are like....I did a trackday thing when taking my race license test in a VX220 and there were people who would p1ss on me on the straight but come the corners were dog slow and had no idea of lines etc...
 

Craig

Unofficial Member (Gold)
Club Member
That's one of the problems with being down south, everything is so much more expensive...
I wiould really like to do an open day track day, but the micra will be pityfully slow on the straights so a bit worried that i will have to drive way off line to let everybody past.
How quickly will my application be processed to join the club - will I be able to compete in the sprint at the end of April - are the people friendly?
Ceraig
 
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Suze

Suze

Club Member (Trial)
Not sure what sprint you're referring to at the end of April [my club's North Weald is on the 6th] but the application should be sorted within a week, two at most - ie it's a quick process! And yep everyone's friendly and help each other out.
 
I've driven at Brunters too. Great track. Managed to get 185 out of the Tuscan S I was driving on the 2 mile straight. Only got to the 160mph limited max in my standard (at the time) 300zx though.

Ivan
 
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Suze

Suze

Club Member (Trial)
Cheers Ems.

Bruntingthorpe is a good place to test, is where I first drove a single seater and did laps in a Micra and a Mazda something [can't remember what spec] as well to learn the circuit.

Spent today doing boring things on the car, eg checking the "standard" necessary things and polishing it.....at least is looking a bit better now!
 
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Suze

Suze

Club Member (Trial)
Me and my Micra have now had our first overall win..... :grinning:

Will update my website later today.... :)
 
Hi folks. Not posted on here for a while now.
Im currently competiting in my debut season in the Formula1000 tarmac rally challenge, in my little micra, ill try and get a photo up.
Its nice to know more females are getting into motorsport, and winning!
Does anybody on here compete in the F1000?
 
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Suze

Suze

Club Member (Trial)
nope, you're not in the sponsored drive are you? Only asking as a friend is sponsoring it....
 
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Suze

Suze

Club Member (Trial)
Well been doing some more competing recently......had a "bit of a difference! last weekend and drove my boyfriend's rally car in an event having never driven it before - 1st in class with him driving and me navving, 6th in [same] class me driving him navving. Not bad seeing as all the people ahead of me have competed in these sorts of events before.....

Anyway this week was back to the Micra. A 3rd overall midweek and a 3rd in class today in amongst all the snow etc wasn't bad. The conditions were really tricky and was fighting with a general lack of grip, loose back end, understeer etc. Craig came along to see what it's all about and hope you enjoyed it, but sorry about the weather again :(
 

Craig

Unofficial Member (Gold)
Club Member
Yeah, good little day out (bar the weather!) think I will definately have to try my hand behind the wheel next time, just need to sort mi license+car out.
Sorry I didn't get a chance to say goobye, I had a look for you and couldn't see you so went home for my dinner before it snowed again :)
 
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Suze

Suze

Club Member (Trial)
No probs I didn't see you either and figured you'd gone.

From yesterday waiting for the start, and the start itself.....

car.JPG


post-1-98953-R0012125A.jpg
 
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Suze

Suze

Club Member (Trial)
well it was the first round of the summer autotest series last night, finished mid class but would have been better if it hadn't kept jumping out of first..... [and holding it in is hard as the left hand also has to operate the handbrake!!].

Now in need of a new front engine mount.....
 

Craig

Unofficial Member (Gold)
Club Member
Give Matt Humphris a all - you can get the full Nismo set for ~£90, not sure if it against the spriti of the rules though?
 
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Suze

Suze

Club Member (Trial)
Spoke to Matt first thing this morning and now got the part I need on order :). It's not against the regs nor against the spirit of the rules, why do you think that??

For sprinting it means I couldn't run in A0 as it's a non standard part but am fine for B1 which is where I normally run, and it's fine for autotesting regs too.
 

Rob

Cosworth turbo'd 1.3
Hey Suze.

Can you pm me some info about the Modpro class?

Currently building a proper K11 rally spec micra and wouldnt mind doing couple of other events to se how it proforms.

Thanks Rob
 
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Suze

Suze

Club Member (Trial)
Hey Rob, sorry don't have PM on here, let me know your email address and will drop you a line :) Likewise would be interested in finding out what you're doing as thinking about building up my car...
 

Rob

Cosworth turbo'd 1.3
yeah i got your email thanks Suze.

the only things im struggling with at the moment s exactly what license to apply for and exactly what type of rally i can do and what the cars spec lets me entry.

Rob
 
to make stock racing fair to they take into account how much people weigh?
iam nearly 20 stone !!!!!!!!!

a killer with go-karts up hill iam always last up the hill- but the quickest thro bends or tyres lol
 
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Suze

Suze

Club Member (Trial)
email me and I'll explain Rob, is probably easiest! But it's quite straightforward, just let me know the details of what you want to compete in etc and I'll let you know which license you'll need.

Stock racing - do you mean stock car racing or circuit racing or what? Very different things! Normally with circuit racing there is a minimum weight for car plus driver - I normally lose out on this one as am light, I think they allow about 90kg for the driver [this is when I raced last year but that was in a single seater series].
 
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Suze

Suze

Club Member (Trial)
Here's a pic from the autotest two weeks ago. Doing another tonight, tightened handbrake cables and new engine mount is now in so fingers crossed that'll stop the jumping out of first issues!

post-1-28766-
 
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