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Another 1st at Harewood Double Header (16/08/2012 @ 13:17:24)
Another 1st at Harewood Double Header

With barely a week to prepare for the Harewood Hill Climb Double Header after Ten of the Best 2012, Steven and the team worked extremely hard to ensure another first place finish for the Banana. On the Saturday Steven recorded a 58.74s run, just 0.42s off the record we had set in 2011. On the Sunday he pushed even harder to a 58.38s run which secured us 1st place on that day also. We are currently in 5th position in the championship overall, even with missing the 4th round. The next event is on the 26th of August so come along to see the Banana in action.

Here's a little video showing Steven's 58.38s run on the Sunday, the turbo is definitely showing signs of needing a service!



Thanks to Simon Smith for the photo.


2nd over all at Ten Of The Best 2012 (08/08/2012 @ 13:43:06)
2nd over all at Ten Of The Best 2012

We had some delays getting the Banana ready during the week leading up to TOTB XI so we had to get Paul from Zen Performance to map the car at the event on the Saturday. Everything went well on Saturday during the runs and the mapping was successful only needed minor tweaks on Sunday depending on how Steven found the car was performing.



Sunday came around and as Steven started his qualifying runs the car started to misbehave, he did manage a 9.4 second quarter mile though! Steven came in with the car acting like it had a miss-fire so Paul got straight on the Syvecs ECU and checked the data logs which showed the timing was majorly out. A minor oil leak was discovered which contaminated the timing belt and caused it to jump 3 teeth so with the problem identified it was a rush to get the car fixed and back out on track. The timing belt was cleaned and refitted, the timing corrected and Steven went straight out to the handling circuit.



With the mechanical work that was needed we had very limited time on the handling circuit and only managed to get 3 out of 5 runs. We still came 7th in the 4WD thanks to Steven's driving talent and from here it was back to the drag strip for the quarter mile and top speed runs. With the mechanical issues we were slightly apprehensive about how the Banana would perform but Steven really did drive the doors off it and drove to a personal best of 8.95 seconds at 168mph. He backed it up with 8.99 seconds at 161mph.



Steven tried his best to defend his winning title against Andy Forrest in the final but, despite getting off the line before Andy, he was pipped at the post putting us in 2nd for the 4WD category. Our top speed run for the day gave us a 194.8mph which was 3rd overall and after the issues we had earlier in the day we were really pleased with the Banana's performance, we know there is definitely more to come from the new set up we are running though.

As the day came to a close we found out that we came in 2nd position out of all the competitors involved in TOTB 2012 and the 22B team won the competition outright. We were absolutely over the moon to have been involved with such a great team again this year and cannot wait until next years event to fight it out for the title once more.


1st in the opening round of Harewood Hill Climb 2012 (09/07/2012 @ 16:11:08)
1st in the opening round of Harewood Hill Climb 2012

Mark and Steven both braved the elements at the first round of the Harewoood Hill Climb this past Sunday hoping to better the new course record for class 3C set by the Banana in 2011. The weather not only affected the people in attendance but the cars competing also with quite a few trackside excursions while the drivers got the feel of the track. The grip levels due to the rain and hailstones weren’t aided by the fact that the course wasn’t “rubbered in” yet with no serious track use since last year.

Steven hadn’t driven the car for 7 months other than in a straight (except for the crosswind pushing him sideways) line at the 30-130 at RAF Marham 3 weeks previously. The weather didn’t help with getting a feel for the car after a long absence in the driver’s seat but he did manage to record a 60.38s lap time on his first run. The closest time in our class was 60.54s. The second run only gave an improvement of 0.06s to 60.32s but the closest time to us was a 62.09s so things were looking good for an overall class win. On the final run of the day Steven’s confidence in the car was growing which led to a 59.95s time. Being only 1.63 seconds off the record on a wet day, a close eye will be kept on the Banana this year to see if Steven can find another few seconds over the track to prove Lateral Performance’s well-earned position as course record holder.


Thanks to Rallyaround.co.uk and Philip Rainford for the pictures.


Banana cracks 200MPH at the 30-130 RAF Marham 2012 (09/07/2012 @ 15:49:44)

Lateral Performance Banana driven by Steven Darley has driven the Banana to a new Top Speed record of 200.45MPH at this year’s 30-130 day at RAF Marham. This is despite horrendous weather conditions which caused Steven to experience wheel spin at 190MPH!

In Steven's own words:

"I can honestly say, I have never been scared driving the 'nana, adrenaline fueled yes, but scared no. That changed today on my first Vbox run (2nd run of day) when I had spent nearly an hour queuing for a run, and at the last minute decided "feck it, don't waste a run at low boost, go for it" so I turned it to cal 8, nailed it and tried to hold on. The Banana went sideways in 2nd, 3rd, 4th and worryingly 5th, and then a major rev rise in 6th at circa 180mph, this sent me from the left of the white line to 20 metres to the right of it, I couldn't lift, as it would exacerbate the wobble, so I kept it pinned, and brought it back in line just before the braking "gate". I got out of the car at the MLR van, and physically felt sick, shaking like a sh#ting dog, and white as a sheet! 6.90 seconds with more wheel spin than I don't know what, and 196mph!

10 minutes later I was sat in the car for another go!"

Steven’s third run of the day gave him his new top speed record and put him in first place for the day. The datalog from the Banana's Syvecs S8 ECU shows Steven’s 200.45MPH run, the white line in the top graph is throttle position, while the spikes in the bottom graph show wheel spin at speed:


Andy Forrest in his 3.6l flat 6 powered Subaru, who also runs Lateral Performance custom pistons and rods, had an astonishing day despite losing his passenger door! This put an end to his competitive day but not before he had a blistering 30-130 run of 6.38 seconds at 192MPH in the damp. This put him in second place overall on the Sunday. Clive Fulcher in his 2.35l drag spec Subaru, running Lateral custom pistons and rods, recorded a 30-130 time of 7.35 seconds. Clive came in third with the closest runner behind him in the 9’s.

Overall a fantastic day for Lateral with the first 3 cars all running our custom engine internals.

Sadly as Marham is an operational RAF base we were unable to photograph or video the runs of the Banana. This may have been a blessing as trying to catch it in the camera lens may have been difficult at that speed!


Steven Darley's Rollercoaster Weekend at Harewood (11/11/2011 @ 12:18:40)
Steven Darley's Rollercoaster Weekend at Harewood

As some of you know, prior to the final two rounds of the Harewood Hillclimb Championship, I was in second place prior to the weekend, and standing a chance of snatching first place from Simon Green who had led all year.

Sadly (to some) being an accountant i had spent the odd hour or two in the evenings running through various different possibilities of scoring and the impact they would have. Ideally i needed to score mid 19's on both days to put the pressure on Simon, but could get away with one score higher than 19.5 and gamble on Simon not getting within half a second of his own record.

Saturday morning soon came round, and Emma, Tom, James and I set off for Harewood arriving just after 7am to sunshine but chilly. Unpacked the camping gear and then moved both cars to the paddock before it got to congested. Just as we got scrutineered, the heavens opened, oh dear i thought, this weather benefits Simon.

The first practice run soon came, and i took it on the slicks and low boost, no traction at all off the line (no surprise really), tentatively round the first bend and down the hill the car felt unstable under braking, but i caught it and the rest of the run seemed like a damp blur, 69.71 popped up and was FTD at that point.

Dampers softened off, and ready for practice 2, and again the heavens opened, this time with more vigour. By the time i was on the start line it was very wet. Down the hill and i braked early for the esses and foolishly hadnt adjusted the brake bias for the conditions, and the backend just snapped round on me, and i was a passenger going backwards into the grass, watching for objects, thankfully nothing hit and no damage. Chuckle at the moment here http://www.vimeo.com/29277466

Timed run 1 soon came around, but we had switched to the wet tyres now, as it was raining even harder. A tentative run, with more caution down the hill and a finish time of 67.28 popped up, just 1 hundreth behind Paul.



A break for lunch was followed by T2, still on the wets, but to a drying track. Just as Paul was about to launch the red flags popped up and we had to wait for the track to be cleared. I was chatting with the start marshalls asking if we could just have one dry run today, as Pauls staged again, rain drops were landing on the windscreen, and by the time i got to stage, it was chucking it down, i launched hard, still on low boost, and there was grip, turned into the first corner and still grip, down the hill and braked a tad later than earlier and all was good, or so i though, but i was having to trail brake into the right hander, not good and i hadnt scrubbed enough speed, the car understeered to the left of the floppies on the corner, and as soon as i went on the grass i was a passenger, the only rough spot on the grass and i found it, resulting in the car going airborn and then nose diving into the ground, i came off the grass midway through the essess, hand gestured for clearance from the marshalls and got a thumbs up to carry on, 80.71 popped up as i crossed the line. As i parked up, i knew something was wrong, steam coming from the bonnet.

On closer inspection, the front splitter had dug in and pushed the whole of the rad and intercooler assembly back some 3 to 4 inches, enough for the lower fan to hit the offside wastegate and cause the fan to chew a hole in the rad. [Frown]

Day over for me, only way to repair a custom rad is to weld it. So i chose to sit and watch the rest of the day and then go and try and repair it at Davids house in Leeds. After much trying and faffing, we gave in, David just couldnt fill the hole in the tube, so we epoxy metalled it, back to Harewood in the dark and refit the rad and fill up and pressure test it. All seemed fine up to 70 degrees. Right food time, will bodge the smashed to smitherines bumper back together in the morning.

One of the great things i have enjoyed about Harewood, is the ability to have a great social evening either before a raceday. The kids go off and walk the course and fly kites and have great fun, whilst the adults laugh over a few beers.

Whilst all this is going on, i am quitely realising that if its wet in the morning, its over, and i would have to drive the doors off the car to stay in second ahead of Henry Moorhosue due to the disastrous Saturday.

At a more sensible time of 7:30, paddock had started to buzz with people arriving and walking past looking at the sorry state of the banana, commenting on the matching colour of the tank tape we were using. The car was back together in time to give it a couple of quick temperature tests before scrutineering. Steve, the Harewood commentator enquired if we had managed to get it back together, and also advised us of the weather prediction (which turned out to be absolutely spot on).

Tests had showed that the repair held out to a temparature of 78degrees, after that the pressure in the system was obviously enough to over come the repair. A cool down, and a test again showed all was good till 78 degrees.

I decided i had to do Practice 1 without running the car up to temp until the start area and gamble on getting to the end before 78degrees! Also trying to start high enough that it wasnt in warm up enrichment!

A dry, tentative, low boost P1 run, on John Stevensons tyres saw a 61.12 pop up, while Paul popped in a new PB of 59.04 on his Avons.



Stopping in pits and the car was steaming again, more so because of the rain soaked heat wrap, but datalogs suggested coolant hit 81 degrees, as i parked up in pits, crossing the line at 78 degrees. However, the fan was obviously out of balance, as it was chewing into the rad again, so we removed the lower fan for extra saftey.

I chose to skip P2, which was to preserve the Banana for T1, with various people asking if it had failed again. I kept my own council, just saying i didnt need to do P2. It was usefull watching others getting close to their PB's, which told me the track had grip!

T1 soon came before lunch, and it was dry, this was it, it was forecast for rain after lunch, so if i was going to do it, now was my only chance. As i sat in the car, i get into my zone and didnt hear the time posted by Simon, i had got into my zone, and all i could see was in front of my visor!

Turning the engine off at the top of paddock, i freewheel to the start line, and start the car as Paul stages in front of me, water temps at 64 degrees, perfect i hope. I stage and look over for the green light, see and go for it, brilliant grip off the line and hard into the first right, down the hill, and brake early for good measure, turn in over and get through the esses up to Country corner, hit the inside kerb and hard on the throttle to Willow, ealry on the power there and up into 3rd, braking hard into Orchard, bang down the box into 1st and nail the throttle on the apex, catching the mild oversteer and up through the box into 3rd, brake hard into farmhouse, too hard, locked up, but catch it and power out of farhouse, short shift to 4th and up the hill, 103mph quick, but not as quick as i have gone, brake for quarry corner and down into 3rd , then as i select 2nd too ealy the back end comes round, i catch it and select 1st and scramble round the corner over the line, just missing the floopies on the line, 58.67 pops up, and i quickly realise thats more than 19.5 points, i had done it, Simon now had to get so close to his own record to beat me. However, i didnt know what he had done.
http://www.vimeo.com/29255825

After parking the car up, and walking to the loo, i met Simon who simply held is hand out and said well done! I couldnt accept it until i had checked his time and done the maths to check.

Simon could still do it, if it remained dry. I had chosen not to do T2, as the car didnt need to be punished anymore than was necessary. I stood at the top of the hill to watch Simon go down the slip road to the start and within 5 minutes of him starting, the heavens open up, poor Simon got drenched in his westfield, and struggled up the hill.

A few anxious hours followed as i chose to hold out running, watching the cars entertain the remaining crowds and marhsalls. Suddenly i heard Steve signing off as commentator and it was over, i had done it, being congratulated by several around paddock was great, but it wasnt sinking in, it still hasnt if i am honest.

So thats it, the conclusion to my unplanned 2011 season, Scooby Shoot Out Champion, Ten of the Best X Champion and Harewood Hill Climb Champion and 3C class record holder, unbelievable, i keep thinking someone will pinch me and i will wake up and its all been a dream.

I cant thank enough people for making this year, but will try my best to do so, sorry if i miss anyone, its not intentional.

Emma for being the rock that she is, and putting up with my endless hours fiddling in the shed.

My boys Thomas and James for their encouragement and enthusiasm and also for the mini pit crew facilities.

Mark at Lateral Performance for allowing me to use the car as if it were my own, and trusting me to not destroy it (well not totally destroy it [Wink] )

David Wallis, for being just David, always there to help, and support, no matter what time and what conditions.

Paul Martin for egging me on providing the competition, and his ally welding capabilities.

Paul Blamire at Zen Performance, for stunning mapping and unquestionable dedication to getting the map(s) spot on between runs, and telephone support when he couldnt make it.

Steve Fullbrook at bright green detailing for keeping the car looking clean, no matter how much rubbish i put it through.

John Stevenson, midnight support consultant, general pish taker and the guy who convinced me to have a go at hillclimbing, oh and he lent me his tyres for the last round.

Stevebt, Stu, Trev and everyone who has come along to watch, be pit crew and provide entertainment, cheers!

Lastly, the people behind the scenes that organise these events, and the Marshalls who stand out in all weather conditions to ensure we are safe, you guys rock!

Steven


Banana takes course record at Harewood (24/08/2011 @ 12:30:44)
Banana takes course record at Harewood

Following on from a super successful weekend at TOTB Steven Darley drove the Banana to a new course record at Harewood Hill Climb with a time of 58.32 seconds in class 3C.

This class record had stood unbeaten since 2004 and in Lateral Performance's first year in the competition they have bettered this record by exactly 1 second!

Over a two day event the record was beaten for the first time on the saturday with a 59.09 on a damp day and hopes were very high for better weather on the sunday for a second record bettering time. This was managed with the last run of the day. It was an amazing acheivement and proves the Lateral Performance Banana as a stunning all rounder and competition car.

Steven Darley and Lateral had put in a large amount of work in the week following TOTB to prepare the car for this attempt and with more to come it shows how well the performance parts work in that environment amongst others.


Lateral Performance Banana takes overall win at TOTB X (31/07/2011 @ 21:11:09)
Lateral Performance Banana takes overall win at TOTB X

Lateral Performance pulled off an amazing overall win in Ten of The Best X at Elvington airfield on 31st July 2011. The event consists of 3 events; Handling course, 1/4 mile and a standing 1km top speed run.

The 'Banana' took 1st place in the 1/4 mile and Top Speed runs and 2nd on the handling circuit to earn 35 points and take the prize for the overall winner. This acheivement was a combination of great set up, superb performance, flexibility and great driving by Steven Darley.

Results acheived were:

1/4 mile was done in 9.26 seconds at 155mph
Top Speed over 1km from a standing start was : 194.1mph



Team Subaru takes the win at TOTB X (31/07/2011 @ 19:52:02)
Team Subaru takes the win at TOTB X

The title for Ten of the Best has returned to the Subaru fold once more after a hectic weekend up at Elvington Airfield in Yorkshire. Team Subaru had pulled out all the stops to take the win with some tremendous performances all round by the various members of the team. The team knew that only the best will do and in doing so beat last year's winners MLR by 6 points to take the title.

Well done from Lateral Performance to all that took part and all that supported over the weekend, watched, brought coffee & tea and helped make it a special reunion with the trophy.


Banana approaching course record at Harewood Hill Climb (30/06/2011 @ 18:43:22)
Banana approaching course record at Harewood Hill Climb

A new challenge for 2011 was to set the Lateral Performance 'Banana' against the stalworts of motorsport in the Hill Climb championship at Harewood in Yorkshire. Steven Darley driving the car to great success, is leading his class after the first three rounds, running forth overall, and is just 1/10th of a second away from the class record. Steven is confident that the record will be ours soon. We hope he is right :)


Paul Doyle picks up two Podiums at Brands Hatch Time Attack 2011 (30/06/2011 @ 14:49:23)
Paul Doyle picks up two Podiums at Brands Hatch Time Attack 2011

A fantastic weekend of racing from Paul Doyle in the K-Sport impreza saw him acheive two podium finishes with a 3rd place and a 2nd place.

Running Lateral Performance custom 2.35 stroker engine internals it is pushing close to 750 bhp

Well done Paul and all the team.


Clive Fulcher records a 9.65 qtr mile ! (19/06/2011 @ 14:39:09)
Clive Fulcher records a 9.65 qtr mile !

Running Lateral Performance 2.35 custom stroker parts Clive recorded a new personal best of 9.65 seconds at 147 mph up at Elvington. Fantastic result and backed up with another 10 passes in the 9 seconds that day.


Andy Forrest runs a 9.99 on first run (24/05/2011 @ 18:31:20)
Andy Forrest runs a 9.99 on first run

Andy's newly built 3.6 litre flat 6 engined Impreza had its first proper outing at Scooby Shootout and acheived a stunning time of 9.99 seconds running just 1.4 bar of boost !

Equipped with Lateral Performance engine internals Andy's car looks likely to be setting much quicker times when fully wound up on the power and we can't wait to see it happen.


'Banana' Wins at Scooby Shoout 2011 (24/05/2011 @ 06:52:01)
'Banana' Wins at Scooby Shoout 2011

Jointly driven by Steven Darley, and good friend Paul Martin, the Lateral Banana really did have a "Scooby Shootout" day to remember.

At an unbelievably windy Elvington, the speed events were made really tough with a 27mph head wind.

Steven went for the 1/2 mile top speed run, achieving 1st place with 171.3mph, over 20mph quicker than the 2nd place speed !!!

Steven then ran the quickest drag time of the day with a fantastic 9.46 1/4, and Paul taking the 2nd quickest time with a 9.62 1/4, and winning the shootout final too.

Then dominating in the handling competition, Steven ran a stunning time of 35.02, Paul Martin just behind with a 35.22, both nearly a second ahead of their closest rivals.

Amazing results, with Steven taking the overall prize for the most points.


Lateral Performance 'Banana' runs a 9.46 second quarter mile ! (24/05/2011 @ 06:52:01)
Lateral Performance 'Banana' runs a 9.46 second quarter mile !

Whilst at Elvington airfield competing in Scooby Shootout the Lateral Performance Banana sees a new record time of 9.46 seconds with a terminal speed of 143 mph.

Driven by Steven Darley.



Lateral Custom GT35 Turbo wins Time Attack Pro at Oulton Park (17/04/2011 @ 12:03:09)
Lateral Custom GT35 Turbo wins Time Attack Pro at Oulton Park

Sporting the latest hybrid GT35 rotated turbo, the BC Racing Time Attack impreza tooks the honours at round 1 of 2011 Time Attack with Duncan Graham at the wheel.

The rotated GT35 was a step up from the MD321V standard position turbo that was used for the last two years and needed to give the necessary power to compete at this level.

On initial mapping it showed 643bhp and 570 lb/ft of torque and is purpose built to give the best response and spool up which Duncan feels is essential in Time Attack. With new cams fitted now he is hoping for around 700bhp when dynod soon.