Just to add fuel to the fire ........

[Dick Roberts (Web admin)]

Posted by Derek Harnett on May 27, 2004 at 18:28:44:

We're in the unfortunate state of not having had a chance to run an '04 spec engine yet. Worse still we probably won't get a chance now before pre 24 hour race tests in June.

I won't bother you with the whole sorry tale, suffice it to say we've found the changeover frustrating to say the least.

Anyway, after the comments this week about 03 cars racing against 04 cars I did a little bit of research. I had been given the impression that 04 engines were expected to be 3-4 seconds a lap quicker around Snetterton and as a result running an 03 engine would not be a viable prospect if one wanted a result in the 24 hour. I though I'd do some research ......

Comparing results for two of this years races to last years I'm not so sure that the lap times will be so different. It may be the data doesn't fully reflect weather conditions etc and only having two races to sample doesn't really give a good picture. However, I'm interested to hear from those of you who have run this year whether you feel the performance difference is likely to be 3-4 seconds a lap in Snetterton or if it might be smaller.

The races I compared were Mallory and Pembrey. It turns out the 04 qualifying/fastest laps in Mallory Park were about 1 second quicker than 03, but that the reverse was the case in Pembrey!

So, if the 03 is close in lap times to the 04 spec then I can see why it might not be desirable to allow starters with an 03 engine.

Perhaps I'm wide of the mark here, I'm interested to hear from those of you who have first hand experience of running this years spec'd cars.