Jolus Formula Junior
... they still don't carry the same mystique and aural impact of a brightly colored field of Formula Juniors.
The News
March 30th 2009
I have completed the first three outings with the Jolus ! I am pleased to say that the car has a very neutral handling, like the previous Drivers described. The car is quite easily controllable in a four wheel drift (on a wet track, I fear it lacks the power to do so on a dry track !), even though there is still lots to learn for me about driving the car. Conditions were as bad as they could be: 3°, light snow drizzle and a wet track mixed with oil and sand. I have yet to become friends with the gear box, I still have not found first gear and am sure have not done the gearbox a favor so far. I found it quite difficult to sort out the gears, but then conditions were miserable enough to take most of my concentration. After all, my aim was to bring the car back in one piece. I still managed to pass a few cars and get a feel for the car.
I could not get a grip on a misfiring problem however. The engine started blabbering above 5.500 rpm (only under load). I have yet to find the cause for the problem. We can cancel out fuel feed, rev limiter and weak battery power, so it looks like electrics. The one problem you should think not have to worry about in a historic race car....
Photos under The Look
April 5th 2009
We have checked the car today for the next test on wednesday the 8th. We have not found a major problem that seems to have caused the misfiring of the engine. It does look like it was moisture that made its way into the ignition system. Geoff Richardson Engines also suggested, that the engine just ran to cold. Considering temperatures are promised to be around 18° on wednesday, we should have the chance to sort things out.
April 8th 2009
We have just returned from the Track-Day at Hockenheim. 18°, sunshine and few cars on the track. I have matured in the car, but am still learning. Drum brakes take a little getting used to after a few quick laps....
Unfortunately we have still not found the problem that is causing the engine to run out of order. We did try all the recommendations, but the problem persists.... It looks like we have to take the whole electrics apart....
Photos under The Look
May 22nd 2009
Spa is a few weeks ago now and they were necessary. We had an accident on the way with the transporter and the Jolus inside. We were lucky enough to be unhurt, but the Jolus did not get away without damage. Although things could have been worse, it suffered a broken frame, damage to the bodywork, a broken windscreen and minor other damages. However with the unique support of Mair Rabagliati and Kitty Chisholm we managed to get to Spa after having pulled it out of the wreckage ! I did manage to run the Car in the Sunday race, after Ian of Delta Motorsport was so kind to weld the frame and help out with the engine that was still causing problems. Needless to say that having to start last of the grid with a bent chassis and the engine still not running over 6.000 revs, the result need not be mentioned.
The car is in good hands now and will be ready for Monza. In the meantime I did have a wonderful race at the Lausitzring in a Stanguellini however....
Photos under The Look
January 5th 2010
It has been a while, the second half of the year rushed by without a halt. Since my last post, I have attended anothr two events of which you will find a summary below.
Monza:
Monza in June is a treat. The weather was fabulous, the event well organized. The track however is not one made for small racing cars with little more than 120 HP. It is simlpy not enough to keep the driver from daydreaming of a Cosworth V8 heating up the tarmac in the back of the car. Things started of well compared to the bad luck event in Spa. We arrived in one piece. It was rather unpleasant to notice that the garage that had prepared the car for Monza had obviously been unable to cure the missfiring problem when leaving pitlane. A good grid position was out of reach. In race one I had an unspectacualr race. Monza must be the most unsuitable track for missfires (Indy and Le Mans are not an option). Three laps before the end driving through Lesmo I suddenly found myself steering into the oposite direction of where the car was heading. Rather unpleasant. Fortunately the steering arm still held on, so I was able to bring the car back in one piece. It turned out, that the garage had not fixed the left steering arm after adjustment. This was fixed between the races. Also Richardson Engines fixed a Lucas Ignition system which bettered the missfiring problem, but could not cure it, due to a faulty ignition mark on the flywheel. We left the timing late to be safe.
In race two, things went a little better due to more power. I moved up through the grid by a few places, only to drop back again 5 laps before the end. A complete loss of the brakes after the start/finish straight cuased the instant position reset. Again not a comforting situation. This time the rear copperbrake lining broke. Another fine job by the preparing garage. Thoughts of talking to the sicilian drivers about a "solution" soon sprung to mind. However we did bring the car back in one piece, needless to say dissappointed about the modest result.
Eifelrennen /Nuerburgring:
Three days at 20° at the Nuerburgring in fall. Wonderfull and hard to believe. First practice, the car did well. Missfires still, like in race two at Monza. There was no time for me to bring the car to a rolling road. The brake had been fixed, and the combination with old tires resulted in several flat spots until I had the brakes figured out. Unfortunately to late for the tires, which at the end of the session meant a set of new tires. I improved continuously throughout every lap as I for the first time had a chance to drive the car with only minor drwabacks. What a joy to drive ! In race one I had close fights with the very quick Lotus 18s, only to pass them in the Vedol Z chicane in the final lap. In race two I managed to get some disc brake cars behind me and we had a few laps of close racing. After about 5 laps, the drum brakes gave in to the disc brakes. From then on it meant keeping the pressure on in hope for a misstake of the disc brakers. I finished the event second in class with a much improved lap time compared to the first training. A promising perspective for 2010 !
Rolling Road at Viktor Gunther in Cologne:
In December I finally found the time to bring the car onto the rolling road. The ignition timing was set, the carburetors checked and new jets fitted. The engine is in perfect specifications now. Ready to race next year. It will now go back to John Sabourin, who will do some minor modifications, to bring the car back into perfect historic condition. Now it is counting down the days until the first race 2010, Hockenheim.
Photos under The Look
January 16th 2010
Today, the Jolus has left for the U.K. It is back with John Sabourin to have minor modifications made. The pedals will be lengthend to allow better car control. Also all of the stainless stell hoses will give way to clasic rubber hoses. The rear body panels will come back onto the car as is historic allong with a few other modifications. The car shall be ready by the end of February. I will pot photos of the work, as they reach me...
March 9th 2010
The Jolus is ready to go. John called me yesterday that the car is waiting to hit the track. It has been completely stripped and rebuild frame off. We will have a shakedown at the Goodwwod Test day on March 21st. I am very exited to see the car and test it. Photos will be online shortly after.
March 22nd 2010
Goodwood Test Day. John brought the Jolus directly to Goodwood and when stepping out of the Goodwood office, John had already unloaded the car. The car is very tidy now. All sorted out. The test day went well with a finally full running car. It was a completely new experience since the car finally had a pulling engine at full power. Also the car was now reliable in predictable. I ran it on old tires and the weather was quite cold, but I was told that things did look like the car could do well. After four runs out on the track and having gotten a feel for the car, we needed to load the car to catch the ferry and return it to it´s home in Germany.
Photos under The Look
April 17th-18th 2010
Hockenheim. The first race with a complete and running Jolus. Time to learn the car. Qualifying was not spectacular. The brakes left the car after lap one, in addition to me needing to get a feel for the car and finding braking points (difficult with virtually no brakes) this did not provide the basis for a good laptime. After qualifying we disassembled and checked the brakes with no visible problems and then continued to replace the brake fluid for race one. I started 16th on the grid (all results are online at http://www.hockenheim.-historic.de) and made it up to 12th by the end of Lap one. When trying to pass the leader in Class D, Chris Chilcott, on the inside, the brake pedal collapsed again. Being on the inside line at the time and the contender unable to see me, when turning in, I had nowhere to go and a collision was unavoidable. I went into the pits after the incident and found no damage other than the steering wheel pointing of center. Chris Chilcott was able to continue as well with no damage to the car and took a chance by not going into the pits to check the car (although he very much considered). Obviously this paid of and I was one lap down after.
In race two, I moved up through the field up to 11th position, directly behind the leading car in Class D, Chris Chilcott again. All was set for a good race, which we had for three laps, when I managed to pass Chris. I tried to get some distance between us in the following lap, but as the rear tires were already beyond their optimum temperature range, I was unable to do so. After having a suboptimal exit out of the last turn going onto the start/finish straight, Chris was able to repass me. I had the inside line again in turn two setting the car up for a possible pass on the back straight, when the engine cut out accelerating out of the turn, two laps before the end of the race with a broke ignition coil (three races old). Again a very disappointing end to an, by all other means, great weekend.
Photos under The Look
April 24th 2010
The Jolus - Invitation for this years Goodwood Revival arrived ! All is good.
March 30th 2009
I have completed the first three outings with the Jolus ! I am pleased to say that the car has a very neutral handling, like the previous Drivers described. The car is quite easily controllable in a four wheel drift (on a wet track, I fear it lacks the power to do so on a dry track !), even though there is still lots to learn for me about driving the car. Conditions were as bad as they could be: 3°, light snow drizzle and a wet track mixed with oil and sand. I have yet to become friends with the gear box, I still have not found first gear and am sure have not done the gearbox a favor so far. I found it quite difficult to sort out the gears, but then conditions were miserable enough to take most of my concentration. After all, my aim was to bring the car back in one piece. I still managed to pass a few cars and get a feel for the car.
I could not get a grip on a misfiring problem however. The engine started blabbering above 5.500 rpm (only under load). I have yet to find the cause for the problem. We can cancel out fuel feed, rev limiter and weak battery power, so it looks like electrics. The one problem you should think not have to worry about in a historic race car....
Photos under The Look
April 5th 2009
We have checked the car today for the next test on wednesday the 8th. We have not found a major problem that seems to have caused the misfiring of the engine. It does look like it was moisture that made its way into the ignition system. Geoff Richardson Engines also suggested, that the engine just ran to cold. Considering temperatures are promised to be around 18° on wednesday, we should have the chance to sort things out.
April 8th 2009
We have just returned from the Track-Day at Hockenheim. 18°, sunshine and few cars on the track. I have matured in the car, but am still learning. Drum brakes take a little getting used to after a few quick laps....
Unfortunately we have still not found the problem that is causing the engine to run out of order. We did try all the recommendations, but the problem persists.... It looks like we have to take the whole electrics apart....
Photos under The Look
May 22nd 2009
Spa is a few weeks ago now and they were necessary. We had an accident on the way with the transporter and the Jolus inside. We were lucky enough to be unhurt, but the Jolus did not get away without damage. Although things could have been worse, it suffered a broken frame, damage to the bodywork, a broken windscreen and minor other damages. However with the unique support of Mair Rabagliati and Kitty Chisholm we managed to get to Spa after having pulled it out of the wreckage ! I did manage to run the Car in the Sunday race, after Ian of Delta Motorsport was so kind to weld the frame and help out with the engine that was still causing problems. Needless to say that having to start last of the grid with a bent chassis and the engine still not running over 6.000 revs, the result need not be mentioned.
The car is in good hands now and will be ready for Monza. In the meantime I did have a wonderful race at the Lausitzring in a Stanguellini however....
Photos under The Look
January 5th 2010
It has been a while, the second half of the year rushed by without a halt. Since my last post, I have attended anothr two events of which you will find a summary below.
Monza:
Monza in June is a treat. The weather was fabulous, the event well organized. The track however is not one made for small racing cars with little more than 120 HP. It is simlpy not enough to keep the driver from daydreaming of a Cosworth V8 heating up the tarmac in the back of the car. Things started of well compared to the bad luck event in Spa. We arrived in one piece. It was rather unpleasant to notice that the garage that had prepared the car for Monza had obviously been unable to cure the missfiring problem when leaving pitlane. A good grid position was out of reach. In race one I had an unspectacualr race. Monza must be the most unsuitable track for missfires (Indy and Le Mans are not an option). Three laps before the end driving through Lesmo I suddenly found myself steering into the oposite direction of where the car was heading. Rather unpleasant. Fortunately the steering arm still held on, so I was able to bring the car back in one piece. It turned out, that the garage had not fixed the left steering arm after adjustment. This was fixed between the races. Also Richardson Engines fixed a Lucas Ignition system which bettered the missfiring problem, but could not cure it, due to a faulty ignition mark on the flywheel. We left the timing late to be safe.
In race two, things went a little better due to more power. I moved up through the grid by a few places, only to drop back again 5 laps before the end. A complete loss of the brakes after the start/finish straight cuased the instant position reset. Again not a comforting situation. This time the rear copperbrake lining broke. Another fine job by the preparing garage. Thoughts of talking to the sicilian drivers about a "solution" soon sprung to mind. However we did bring the car back in one piece, needless to say dissappointed about the modest result.
Eifelrennen /Nuerburgring:
Three days at 20° at the Nuerburgring in fall. Wonderfull and hard to believe. First practice, the car did well. Missfires still, like in race two at Monza. There was no time for me to bring the car to a rolling road. The brake had been fixed, and the combination with old tires resulted in several flat spots until I had the brakes figured out. Unfortunately to late for the tires, which at the end of the session meant a set of new tires. I improved continuously throughout every lap as I for the first time had a chance to drive the car with only minor drwabacks. What a joy to drive ! In race one I had close fights with the very quick Lotus 18s, only to pass them in the Vedol Z chicane in the final lap. In race two I managed to get some disc brake cars behind me and we had a few laps of close racing. After about 5 laps, the drum brakes gave in to the disc brakes. From then on it meant keeping the pressure on in hope for a misstake of the disc brakers. I finished the event second in class with a much improved lap time compared to the first training. A promising perspective for 2010 !
Rolling Road at Viktor Gunther in Cologne:
In December I finally found the time to bring the car onto the rolling road. The ignition timing was set, the carburetors checked and new jets fitted. The engine is in perfect specifications now. Ready to race next year. It will now go back to John Sabourin, who will do some minor modifications, to bring the car back into perfect historic condition. Now it is counting down the days until the first race 2010, Hockenheim.
Photos under The Look
January 16th 2010
Today, the Jolus has left for the U.K. It is back with John Sabourin to have minor modifications made. The pedals will be lengthend to allow better car control. Also all of the stainless stell hoses will give way to clasic rubber hoses. The rear body panels will come back onto the car as is historic allong with a few other modifications. The car shall be ready by the end of February. I will pot photos of the work, as they reach me...
March 9th 2010
The Jolus is ready to go. John called me yesterday that the car is waiting to hit the track. It has been completely stripped and rebuild frame off. We will have a shakedown at the Goodwwod Test day on March 21st. I am very exited to see the car and test it. Photos will be online shortly after.
March 22nd 2010
Goodwood Test Day. John brought the Jolus directly to Goodwood and when stepping out of the Goodwood office, John had already unloaded the car. The car is very tidy now. All sorted out. The test day went well with a finally full running car. It was a completely new experience since the car finally had a pulling engine at full power. Also the car was now reliable in predictable. I ran it on old tires and the weather was quite cold, but I was told that things did look like the car could do well. After four runs out on the track and having gotten a feel for the car, we needed to load the car to catch the ferry and return it to it´s home in Germany.
Photos under The Look
April 17th-18th 2010
Hockenheim. The first race with a complete and running Jolus. Time to learn the car. Qualifying was not spectacular. The brakes left the car after lap one, in addition to me needing to get a feel for the car and finding braking points (difficult with virtually no brakes) this did not provide the basis for a good laptime. After qualifying we disassembled and checked the brakes with no visible problems and then continued to replace the brake fluid for race one. I started 16th on the grid (all results are online at http://www.hockenheim.-historic.de) and made it up to 12th by the end of Lap one. When trying to pass the leader in Class D, Chris Chilcott, on the inside, the brake pedal collapsed again. Being on the inside line at the time and the contender unable to see me, when turning in, I had nowhere to go and a collision was unavoidable. I went into the pits after the incident and found no damage other than the steering wheel pointing of center. Chris Chilcott was able to continue as well with no damage to the car and took a chance by not going into the pits to check the car (although he very much considered). Obviously this paid of and I was one lap down after.
In race two, I moved up through the field up to 11th position, directly behind the leading car in Class D, Chris Chilcott again. All was set for a good race, which we had for three laps, when I managed to pass Chris. I tried to get some distance between us in the following lap, but as the rear tires were already beyond their optimum temperature range, I was unable to do so. After having a suboptimal exit out of the last turn going onto the start/finish straight, Chris was able to repass me. I had the inside line again in turn two setting the car up for a possible pass on the back straight, when the engine cut out accelerating out of the turn, two laps before the end of the race with a broke ignition coil (three races old). Again a very disappointing end to an, by all other means, great weekend.
Photos under The Look
April 24th 2010
The Jolus - Invitation for this years Goodwood Revival arrived ! All is good.
Racing 2010
F.I.A. Lurani Trophy* April 17th-28th Hockenheim Historic*
* May 22nd-24th Spa*
* June 5th-7th Imola*
* June 19th-21st Dijon*
* July 3rd-4th HSCC Superprix
* Aug. 14th-15th Nuerburgring*
All dates Provisional !
Events that are marked with a * are events, that Jolus # 2 is planned to run at.
Visit: "www.formulajunior.com"
