Mondello Park Race Report

July 23, 2018 / jamescaterracing / Leave a comment

James Cater traveled to Ireland for a very rare round of the Heritage Parts Centre UK Formula Vee Championship at Mondello Park, where they would join the Irish Vee racers for their annual Festival as well as a championship round.

James arrived still not knowing if he could even get into the Primrose Hospice sponsored race car, as he had broken his ribs in a motorcycle accident only a week before and was in considerable pain.

Arriving late with only one brief test session squeezed in, James qualified 12^th of the 15 car grid, knowing he needed to find at least another 2 seconds per lap to be in contention.

Graham Gant took pole position honours.

A few set-up changes to improve the cars turn-in did exactly that, and James stormed up to dice wheel to wheel with Bill ‘Wom’ Garner for the Class B win.

After an amazing battle James found himself behind as they went into the last lap, taking several corners at high speed with his wheels interlocked with Wom, before making a late dive into the very last corner. Unfortunately James spun off the circuit, losing a few places to finish 12^th overall but still 2^nd in class.

Graham Gant took an excellent win with Irish wildcard driver Jimmy Furlong taking 2^nd. Ian Jordan took 3^rd, less than half a second behind the winner.

For the second race James had gear selection problems, forcing him to do most of the race only in 3^rd gear. This put him out of contention for the class victory, but he still battled to 11^th place overall to pick up another 2^nd in class and bouncing back to 3^rd overall in Class B, and 18^th in the overall points.

Gant made it two from two, with Craig Pollard and Tim Probert filling the rest of the podium places.

On Sunday the UK cars joined the Irish spec cars for the Vee Festival, with almost 50 cars competing in heat races to get into the final.

With more gear selection problems, James was only able to pick up 17^th overall in his first heat, before a huge accident cut his second heat short, with James picking up some damage from a separate collision.

Having pushed his body as far as he could, James was unable to enter the final races due to pain in his ribs, but was very happy with his performance over the weekend.

The overall Festival winner was Colm Blackburn in a Leastone, followed by Anthony Cross and Luke O’Faolain. Tim Probert, with 5^th overall, was the highest placed UK spec car.

The next round of the championship is at Silverstone circuit on 11^th & 12^th August, where James hopes to take his first class victory.

Croft Race Report

May 30, 2018May 30, 2018 / jamescaterracing / Leave a comment

Racing Team Vee escaped the torrential downpours in the Midlands and made the long trek to Croft in North Yorkshire for an unexpectedly sunny and dry two days.

Having spent every moment repairing the crash damage picked up at Brands Hatch, a few last minute problems were only spotted as we loaded the Primrose Hospice sponsored Sheane Formula Vee car onto the trailer, and so things weren’t looking great for results at one of James’ favourite tracks.

Despite the worries, Glenn Hay had managed to balance the car well and James was able to put some good lap times in to start from 14th and 13th for the races.

James gained a couple of places at the start of the first race before getting stuck into a 6 car battle. With the car struggling on the straights due to lack of power, James tried to make up as much time as he could through the corners but got shuffled back in the pack.

On the final lap the car ahead had a misfire on the fastest part of the track, blocking James at a crucial section and allowing Mark Egan to sneak through and dropping James to 16th overall and 5th in Class B.

Craig Pollard took the win over Daniel Hands and Ian Jordan, with James Harridge winning Class B followed by Andrew Cooper and Jamie Harrison.

Race 2 saw James taking 9th place through the first few corners after some close wheel to wheel action with Andrew Cooper – the battle for second in Class B.

Despite being chased hard for the whole race, James was able to pull out and hold a safe gap to the pack behind who were waiting to pounce on the slightest mistake.

With James pushing to the limits around the high speed circuit the race was red flagged for another incident, leaving James with a solid and best ever result of 10th place and 3rd in class.

The overall honours went to Craig Pollard once again, who just pipped James Harridge and Ian Jordan to the early flag. With Harridge also taking the class B win that left Cooper in second again sandwiched between the James’s.

The next round will be a very rare international race at Mondello Park in Ireland on the 7^th and 8^th July, where the UK Championship races will form part of the Irish Vee Festival. James will be hoping to repeat his new found confidence and build even more speed to take him closer to the leading pack.

A rare viewing of the RTV Collection

June 29, 2017 / jamescaterracing / 1 Comment

As I’ve said before, the aim of RTV is to get several cars out on track again.

Last weekend, I took a very rare look at some of the cars we have in storage.

There always seems to be a great sadness around racing cars that are covered in dust and up on stands, or in a million pieces! Here is a quick look at some of what’s to come:

This is Glenn Hay’s Scarab Mark 1 that he won the UK championship in. It’s still the car that he wants to drive again – and that’s not too surprising when you consider how many races he’s had in it!

You may also know this as the car that Ian Flux won the title with.

It’s been well stored, and since it’s been sat here since 1999 it’s in amazingly good condition.

Initially we were going to repair the Ray, but now this looks like a more viable option to get back on track first. At worst you should see Glenn back in this for the Formula Vee Festival at Brands Hatch at the end of the year – and it might even make it to the 50^th Festival at Cadwell Park!

This chassis was initially known as a ‘Swift’, but then the name was changed. To swallow, possibly. Built by Clive, driven by Dave. Tim Flynn got 3^rd at Donington in wet.

There is no current plan to get this one back on track.

The red rear cowl you can see on top of the Mini Cooper (and that’s a whole other project that Glenn wants to get track prepared!) is from Glenn’s first ever Vee – a Landar.

Arguably the most significant Formula Vee here, this is certainly of the most value historically. This is the Beach which won the first ever UK Formula Vee race in 1967. Not only that, but the winner was the excellent Jenny Nadin.

Glenn acquired this in the early 80s when it was known and run as an Express Vee by VW North London. Its heritage was traced back to the car driven by Jenny Nadin as it has has packing behind the front beam which was done by Stuart Rolt as part of a repair.

Although it looks abandoned, there has always been a plan to have this car back out again. It will take a lot of clean-up work but isn’t as bad as it may look buried beneath tins of Roses!

This is the 1997 Ray, last driven by Rob Cowburn and crashed at Mallory Park. It is the sister car to that currently driven by Mark Egan, although there are some differences between the rear suspension on each car. You should see this one track ready before the end of this year, too.

And, of course, there is still the 1997 Sheane driven by James Cater! This car actually won the B Class championship when Rob Cowburn drove it in 2009.

If you would like to see your company or brand on these cars, please get in touch and we can agree a package that’s right for you! You can contact RTV in the Contact section at the top of this page, or come and meet Glenn and James at any of the races or shows.

Snetterton 300 – 24/09/16

October 3, 2016 / jamescaterracing / Leave a comment

At the final race weekend of the year, James Cater finally managed to get on the elusive B Class podium with a hard-won 3rd place and 11th overall on the Snetterton 300 circuit in Norfolk.

Following the disastrous Silverstone weekend where two engine studs snapped (likely to have been caused by the long holding times with the engine running), Glenn Hay made the decision to swap in next years engine, using most of the internals from the ruined engine.

With no time to test, Racing Team Vee drove the trusty VW camper to the Norfolk circuit on race day – with almost all the other drivers having arrived at the circuit the day before to test or set up. 750 Motor Club put on a great value extra test session at 09:00 – but with qualifying scheduled for 10:35 if we found any problems we’d have had no time to fix them anyway.

The RTV Sheane took to the track for a very limited qualifying session. With a red flag stopping the session, James only managed one lap whilst trying to get up to race speed, putting him 22nd and 21st on the grid for the final two races of the 2016 Formula Vee championship.

James reported that the car felt good, and it felt like he was driving hard but it still didn’t seem fast. He opted to leave the settings as they were for the first race, possibly stiffening up the damping front and rear for the second race, if the speed couldn’t be made up by his driving.

Another great start in race 1 moved him up the grid onto the back of a large pack fighting for the final trophy place, mixed with a number of higher spec A Class cars.

After fighting through to the front, James was able to hold off the assault, pulling away with 2 laps to go when several of the chasing pack fell victim to an oil spin on the infield of the circuit.

Despite another hard fight in the second race, James fell back from the main battle with the engine losing power, finishing in 18th place overall and 5th in class.

All of the action was captured by cameras supplied by sponsors JooVuu – the UK based action/dashcam company.

Although the regular season has now ended, RTV will be out one more time on the last weekend of October for the Formula Vee Festival at Brands Hatch, where there will be qualifying and 3 races against competitors from the Irish championship.

Hoping to improve on the 9th place finish we had last year, and knowing that the new engine is reliable, we should be able to get a little more from it, and James will be keen to push harder as a driver on his 3^rd visit to Brands Hatch Indy circuit.

A full drivers-eye-view of the racing is on wwwjamescaterracing.com

RTV Logo Competition Winner!

September 6, 2016 / jamescaterracing / 1 Comment

We are proud to announce that the winner of the competition to design us a logo is Dan Traynor, for this brilliant design!

I’m sure you’ll all agree the sleek and modern-looking design will look amazing on the car, and we can’t wait to get it on there. Dan also wins a brand new, super HD JooVuu X micro camera, very kindly donated by UK based camera company JooVuu.

Dan is a web developer for Proportion Marketing and lives in Middlesbrough – which he swears isn’t the worst place in the world to live, and judging from the other designs he submitted isn’t a bad place at all for inspiration.

Dan is a big lover of motorsports and graphic design, and first saw the competition from a post on the Piston Heads forum. He’ll be using the JooVuu X as a dash camera for extra security on the roads – and this competition came at the perfect time as he has just decided he needs one after driving to watch Formula One in Belgium!

Huge thanks for the very professional looking design! You can follow Dan on Twitter at @hookdesignalter.

And another massive thank you to everyone who submitted designs!

Glenn and myself had a very tough job trying to narrow the entries down and choose the winner. They ranged from retro designs to ultra-modern, reflecting the minimal brief we gave which made it so hard from both sides of the competition! You all really stepped up to the plate and we loved the creativity and diversity.

There is some serious talent out there, and thank you all for doing what we couldn’t!

NEW PRIZE UPDATE! COMPETITION: Design a Racing Team Logo!‏

August 24, 2016August 31, 2016 / jamescaterracing / 2 Comments

**EDIT**: Our sponsor, UK based action and dash camera company JooVuu, have offered one of their awesome JooVuu X cameras as a prize for this!

The JooVuu X is a high-spec micro camera than can be used as an action camera or in your car for the extra security provided by a dash camera. Offering Super HD 2.5k resolution and 60fps, it’s reliable and discreet, with constant support from a company who listen to what users want from these cameras, and build it in.

Go check out the specs and win a JooVuu X, GPS cable, a mount, a data cable, and a CPL filter – normally worth over £100!

https://www.joovuu-x.com/

As a celebration of the newly formed Formula Vee racing team, called RTV – Racing Team Vee, we would like to offer you a chance to help us out. The current decals we have on the car were rushed purely to meet a tight deadline.

We know that you guys can do better!

We would love to be able to put a logo on the cars and website that is distinctive, recognisable and memorable.

If you would like to see your own design on a racecar, we would love to see what you can do!

We would like the letters RTV to be the main focus, but feel free to use or incorporate the full name – Racing Team Vee – or the website www.RacingTeamVee.com in your design.

Designs do not need to be overly intricate, as a bold, clear design often looks better when you see it from a few feet away.

The Formula Vee car we currently run is yellow with a blue roll cage – you can use these colours or try something totally new.

If you can submit a design in as high a quality as possible, it’s a bonus – preferably using CMYK vector graphics. If you don’t know what that means, don’t worry!

The prize (an ultra-high spec JooVuu X camera pack and other assorted goodies) and full credit will be given for any design we use.

We want to get the design on the car for the next race, so we would also ask that you get your designs in by Tuesday 06 September to give us time to get stickers made up for the car in time! Please send any designs to jamescaterracing@hotmail.co.uk or post them to the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/RacingTeamVee/

Thanks for any help!

Silverstone International – 20/08/16

August 23, 2016 / jamescaterracing / Leave a comment

Silverstone International – 20/08/16

Making up 8 places before the first corner at the start of the first race sadly came to nothing, as engine failure at the end of the first lap forced retirement.

Starting out the day with the aim of testing a newly rebuilt gearbox, James Cater had the added problem of a very cold and wet track – having only driven at Silverstone International last year in dry conditions.

A miscalculation with the suspension settings (we were totally focused on the gearbox and actually went out with the dry setup we’d used at Anglesey!) added to the problems, but despite a few spins James still qualified 23^rd of the 38 cars entered.

With the track almost dry for the first race, conditions were better suited on what is a brilliant circuit, exactly one year from when James had his first ever race there.

A demon start took the RTV Sheane closer to the B class podium finish we were aiming for, before a 120+mph spin at Abbey at the start of the second lap meant dropping back down the order.

Red flags a few corners later due to another accident caused a restart, but with the engine sounding off, James took the restart from the pit lane after checking in with Glenn Hay. Sadly, the problems got worse back on track, and he had to pull back in to the pits and retire from the race.

An inspection found two engine studs had snapped, one proving too tough to remove the remains of the broken thread from the engine case at the track.

Despite a valiant effort from Glenn to repair the engine, we unfortunately ran out of time before the start of the second race, and the weekend was over for us.

We’re disappointed with the result, especially as James had new sponsor decals on the car for British action camera company JooVuu, and also the newly formed RTV.

We will be hoping to make amends and get a solid result at Snetterton on September 24^th for the final race of the year.

As always, you’ll be able to read the more in-depth race report from James’ perspective on www.jamescaterracing.com shortly.

Here is the onboard footage from qualifying:

RTV at Dubtoberfest 2016

August 2, 2016 / jamescaterracing / Leave a comment

Dubtoberfest Festival 2016

Racing Team Vee had the honour of being asked to display the Sheane at Dubtoberfest at the weekend.

This is a great little festival for the VW camper van brigade, with a Bavarian theme and a family-friendly atmosphere, held at Throckmorton airfield near Pershore.

Displaying both the new JooVuu and RTV stickers in public for the first time, we joined Gary Richardson and David Leniewski with our three very different Vee’s on display.

With live music playing all through the day, loads of food on offer, a 2000hp ‘Mental Breakdown’ dragster, dog agility course, show & shine car competition, archery, and some rather nice partying each evening (in lederhosen, no less!), a great time was certainly had by all of us – and the equally friendly crowds of people seemed to be enjoying themselves just as much.

Some of them (including James’ fiancée, Julie) even got to experience riding on the Dodgems with a load of ultra-competitive Formula Vee racers!

It’s a great festival, still in its early days, and I’d heartily recommend it for next year!

Massive thanks to Damian Cottrell for the invite, organising things, and his hospitality! As a racer himself (and pretty good by all accounts) and being a local, it’d be good to see him back out on a grid again soon!

I’ll leave you with some pictures from the weekend.

RTV – The Newest Race Team in Formula Vee

July 28, 2016 / jamescaterracing / Leave a comment

RTV – The Newest Race Team in Formula Vee

I’ve hinted before about the pending formation of a race team, both to give Glenn more credit for his untiring work on the spanners, and to also make it clear that we are a team when we get more cars out of track.

I can now proudly announce the formation of RTV – Racing Team Vee.

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The name is inspired by the professional Super Vee teams of the mid-70s, who used similar naming styles, and reflects our focus to both push and strengthen Formula Vee in the UK and across the globe.

Combined with the new stickers on the car for our sponsor JooVuu, it’s been an exciting few weeks!

I have made this page for RTV, where you will find race reports, updates on the other cars/drivers, and maybe even some history. I’ll even see if I can coax some Super Vee information out of Glenn, as there isn’t much around about that.

But don’t worry! I’ll still be doing my thing over at www.JamesCaterRacing.com – in depth warts ‘n all reports, thoughts, answering your questions, and giving my perspective of things!

So please like/subscribe/follow the new RTV page on Facebook and WordPress.

A huge thank you to everyone for your support, and contact me if you want to get involved in any way.

RTV – Racing Team Vee:

Website/blog: www.racingteamvee.com

Facebook: RTV – Racing Team Vee

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Welcome To RTV

July 23, 2016July 26, 2016 / jamescaterracing / Leave a comment

Welcome to RTV – Racing Team Vee!

RTV run in the Ravenol UK Formula Vee Championship, currently with a Class B Sheane.

Glenn Hay – Glenn started racing in Formula Vee in the early 70’s, winning the UK championship himself in 1979, having a brief stint in Super Vee in the mid-70’s, and racing his championship winning Scarab into the 90’s. He then ran cars for Robert Cowburn (winning the Class B championship in 2009), and latterly for James Cater.

James Cater – The current driver competing in Class B in his first ever season of racing. For his more in-depth views, blogs and thoughts, please go to www.jamescaterracing.com.

This is a new site – please check back for regular updates!