Well i have been reading the "blue book" and looking at the flags in preperation for next weeks ARDS test.
I have also been looking at what else I need for the car, so looking at the blogs and recomendations i have purchased some racing front pads, and a "race" cap for the brake fluid so that it hopefully will not throw out all over the car.

The next thing has to be tyres... everything i have seen seems to indicate that there is a need for more than the "one set" caterham tell you that you need for a race season. so i am on the hunt, i may have missed a couple of bargains earlier in the year as i was in the hope that i could only need one set of tyres, so I am now probabily  going to have to look at a good set of tyres and hopefully wheels what ever the cost (hopefuly not new ones)

Once I get the car back i am also hoping that i will be able to fit the "oil breather kit" that is manditory for the academy, so that will be the next thing to do with the car (it does seem never ending).

If there is one thing I would recommend if you are thinking of entering the academy and going to build the car yourself, is get your car as early as you can, and be prepared to spend a long time getting the car to the IVA, and then even more time getting the car race ready.
(but having said that... it is great fun ! ! ! ! !)

Today i have sent the car back to caterham for the 1000 mile service and to have the paint work which was damaged by the brake fluid leak fixed.
Because of the issue with the build manual Caterham are doing the paint under warranty, and thankfully they are also looking at the powder coating of the chassis to make sure that is not damaged too.

In the mean time i have received my MSA pack and am busy studying for my ARDS test, so at least i have a distraction whilst teh car is in for repairs.

I also need to look at the Race class rules and familiarise myself with those too.

Bedford Aerodrome Turismo circuit, is 4.1miles long, and with a 1km straight means you get the top end of the car, and with two hairpins, and numerous other technical corners, it means you get to play on what i would say is a firly challenging, but forgiving track.
Forgiving because it is wide, and the runoff is wide, and mainly grass, which means that you are unlikely to take all the lovely paint of your car with kitty litter or Armco 

I finally got to take the car on track and play with what it can do, and I have to say in the dry what a car, superb. I was a little nervous about what i could do with the car, and although i had done 600 mile in it, i was not really that confident with the car yet.

At first I started a little cautiously as the track was a little damp. but once I got into stride, the track dried out and following a minor adjusted to the tire pressure (down to 23 and 25 (front and rear respectively)) the car behave with impecable character and my confidence and understanding of the car really did start to grow.

However after lunch, the rain came (and when i say it rained, I had the wipers on full for about an hour). In the wet the car was a completely different animal, stopping was a trick in itself (one it took me a few goes to master, and cornering, well lets just say there were a few twitchy moments, some from the back of the car, and some from the back of me.
however I class the couple of sideways cornering incidents and the one excursion onto the grass when I failed to make the chicane at the end of the 1km straight as a very successful day.
That coupled with progress as the day went on, to start with i was passed by quite a few cars, but by the end of the day i was passing most of the cars on the track (with a few exception). and before you ask, some of them were the ones passing me in the morning.
  
I have put a few pics below which a friend took whilst i was playing, and i will upload a couple of vid's which i took on the new "drift HD" cam i brought at the autosport show.

Went to London yesterday to help Max (group 2) put his engine into his car. I also met Paul (group 1) who popped in with his son to say hello and to have a peek at my caterham for inspiration on completing his own car.

It was a good day, drove down the M1, and through london and over Kew bridge, with a big grin on my face, and a spring in my accelerator as the weather was lovely. However on the way back it was not only dark, but raining fairly hard. I didnt have many problems and even though there was a few drops coming in from the bottom of the doors at speed the weather gear did it's job well.
It was pretty surprising how stable and happy the car was at speed in the wet, and the large puddles didnt seem to bother the car too much even at speed. I will say i was happy that i coated the windscreen with an anti water coating (it is like rain-x) as that made the water stick to the screen a lot less than it would have done, and the vision was very good even in the wet weather.

Well i am glad to say that we got Max's engine in place so it was a good day all round... good luck Max.. !!!

I have just booked the tickets to the "Auto sport " show at the NEC for the Sat 14th January so I can go and have a look at the goods ready for racing this year and to also to watch some of the great motor sports show that is put on.... Can't wait.

I am also thinking of doing the Donnington cuircuit (open lane day on the 21st) to see what the car is like on a track and to get a feel for it's cornering capability. 

Well that's the plan ... so far !!!

Went for another blat inteh caterham yesterday befor all the forcast rain. and had a couple of minor issues,
1) When i cornered around a left had bend at any speed there was a metal sound on the outside of the car - turned out to be the exhaust had turned and was now facing more downwartds, so when the car leaned in the corner the beveled end of the exhasust scrapped the floor... must have been when i replaced the engine... so tightned up and all is good.
2) I took a passenger for the a drive the other day and any large dip in the road means that the rear grounds out on to something at the back of the car... not sure what. I now need to look into loading the suspension, or looking waiting for a full car set up once the car is properly loosened up... not sure what to do here...
 ---    --- ---   --- any advise?????

Just to let you know, my car is going in for Caterham to repair the paint issue caused by the brake fluid leak in January, so hopefully that will be the end of it.

When i was looking at the gearbox leak last week I noticed that the paint on the underneath of my car was pealing off.... mainly around the rivits and the holes in the underneath of the chassis. 
The paint flaking was mainly on the passenger side, but there is some on the drivers side too.. 
I spoke to Caterham about this, as I beleive that this was due to the leak that ws caused by the manual requiring a washer that means the front brake pipes do not close properly (see my build diary). 
I am now waiting for Caterham to agree that they will do this work uner warranty as this is caused by the changed specification and not updating the manual.... not through my ability to build the car... i do hope that this is sorted very soon...  

About a week ago i had a letter from Caterham racalling the rear brake calipers because of a failure on the IVA test. I am told that the Calipers were not of the standard that is requried by Caterham, and could cause impalance between the two rear wheels in some cases (my interpretation from a conversation).

Fairly easy to do, ~I changed the rear calipers very quickly, it is basically draining the fluid, two bolts for the caliper, the brake pipe nut and of fitting and then filling and bleeding the brakes (all 4 of them)... simples !!!!

So i have got my new calipers and have today changes them,  and put them on the car... now it is time to test them ... Wish me luck !!!

post script - I have had a couple of chats with people who have had thier kits recently and the guys i have spoken to have been told that they have been provided with calipers which do not have the problem my batch had .... but it is always worth checking if you are not sure.