The race weekend in Zolder was difficult. Unfortunately, the cause of the problem only became clear to me afterwards whith analysis. But first things first:
There were a total of 3 x 30 minutes of track time on the 4 km long race track of Zolder. In qualifying I blamed my weak lap time of 2:08 min (in 2014 I drove 2:00 min at the same place) on lack of practice and the heavy traffic. After all, there were over 50 cars on the track at the same time - and almost all of them were faster than me. The fastest race cars were from the BTCC, the former European Touring Car Championship Group A (Volvo 240, Ford Mustang 5 litre), as well as the old DTM (BMW M3 E30, Mercedes 190). In addition, cars up to the year 2000 are allowed, which have usually much bigger displacement than a Lotus Europa from 1969. Accordingly, I almost looked more into the mirrors during practice than through the windshield. Of course, I'm a bit more afraid of collisions than a BMW E36 driver who can buy a new fender for 50 €.
What was very positive, however, were the temperatures of water and oil, which were always between 70 and 90°C, depending on the condition and load. The water was always a bit cooler than the oil.
In the race I had a few free laps, but unfortunately I noticed that I didn't get significantly faster. 2:06 min was the best I managed. Unfortunately, I couldn't really determine the cause yet, but in the course of the race, the brakes deteriorated a lot. After about 25 minutes, the brake performance was suddenly almost completely gone. Fortunately, this happened on the way to the hairpin, which has an emergency exit straight ahead. The next bend was directly before the pit entry and I had to go straight again, so I parked the car in the pits to be on the safe side. I was in a 'far end' position nontheless, so the risk of continuing would have been too big.
When I checked the car between races, it was obvious that the rear brake shoes (drum brakes) were completely gone. Luckily I had another set of shoes with me and replaced them. As the new Pirelli tyres were mistakenly delivered to me in hard compound (my work colleague took delivery, so I couldn't complain), I wanted to use my soft Kumhos tyres for the second race to try something different. As it turned out, these tyres were significantly worse (probably due to age). I was about 4 seconds slower than in the first race. Even during the safety car phase (a Mini shot itself out) I held up other cars in the corners. And with a light car with wide tyres and a widened track, at least cornering should go better than with touring cars that may weigh more than a ton. Of course they have slicks on them and I don't, but that alone can't be the reason. The old semis were the worse choice. Unfortunately, despite being behind the safety car for about 3-4 laps, I had the same problem with the rear brake as in race 1, so that I had to retire again shortly before the chequered flag in order not to risk a total loss of the car.
The only positive thing is that the measured top speed was even higher in every session than in 2014 at the same place. So engine performance should not be the problem.
What I noticed afterwards: the brake pads on the front axle were completely glazed and hardly produced any friction. There was hardly any dust in the front rim after the sessions, while the rear rims were black inside. Accordingly, it must have been the case that the drum brake had to do the bulk of the work, while not much happened at the front. Of course, this could now be fixed with new brake pads. After all, I also drove the 2:00 min with the same brake back in the day. But now that the regulations are much freer than before, I'm going to make an improvement. The ventilated brake for the front has already been ordered. Disc brakes will also be fitted at the rear. As these modifications will of course consume time and money, I already know that I will miss the next two BELCAR Historic Cup races. I'm now focusing everything on the race in Spa-Francorchamps at the end of September. The track is 7 km long, so I won't be lapped that often.
Now a few photos:
