Rally Legends Portugal - 2-3 July 2016
Main Sponsor: Tima Empilhadores (www.tima.pt)
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After passing the last 2 weeks installing the Gr2 intake manifold and all the needed changes and fine tuning the carburettor, it was time to go testing it in a properly. The event: Rally Legends Portugal 2016, the first one in Portugal. (http://www.lusoclassicos.com/noticias_desenvolvimento.php?c=150)
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After seeing the entry list, I was very happy to see I was the only Fiat 127 there. With one of the smallest engines in the race and no racing experience in closed roads, for sure I had everything needed to come in last.
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On the 2nd July, after passing the normal technical and documental inspections it was time for me to go test and see the Special Stages. Neither I nor my co-driver knew what to do in such a situation. As crashing was not at my plans for at all, the approach was simple. Any turn that could be dangerous in any way, red flag on the road book so he could advise me. Better to be slow than to be crashed (like a couple of them that unfortunately were not so lucky)
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The rally was about to start and at 4pm the 1st car was on the road with the 2 passages at "Monte Novo" special stage. It is a very difficult special stage, with very tight turns and steep hill climbs. My little Smurf was eager to rev in 2nd gear in any situation, but the 3rd gear was completely useless in terms of performance, but still very important to keep speed and avoid overheating the engine. After the 2 SS passages, I was close to last as expected and with 35ºC sweating a lot. Still a lot of fun! I was amazed with the amount of people watching.
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After dinner, 2 night stages. With no experience in night stages, I decided to keep it cool. Very funny to drive around at night! As it was a urban circuit there was no major hill climbs which was good for the car. Since I was in the regularity sport category, I had to be very consistent between both passages which I was not at all, almost 20sec difference from 1st to 2nd passage since my Co-Driver forgot to stop the clock in the end of the 1st passage so we had no idea what time to do in the second try.
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Second day came with 2 goes at "Bussaco" Special Stage, the longest special stage with 11km. It was very warm, 40ºC which was not good for car fragile cooling system. This special stage was a disaster. The car temperature gauge did not work properly and so the car overheated badly and the engine lost power and start knocking. I reckon I destroyed the Head Gasket and a con rod. Probably also a set of pistons too. My little Smurf, that was behaving proudly until that moment, was out of the race. Time to go back to the work shop and start improving cooling system.
My small little Fiat after SS1 and SS2. As you can see, a very small car in the middle of the Escorts MK1 and MK2, Porsche's, BMW's.
26-July
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After having the car on the workshop I have removed the cylinder head to see all the damage. In the end was not that bad as I was fearing. Since I stopped at the first signs of damage, the cylinders, pistons and rings suffered no heat and are not ruined. After showing to a professional e recommended not to change anything since the material was 100% new. I looked at it, it is so new that the pistons still do not have carbon on them. The engine have now around 2000km on it.
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The only thing it is going to receive brand new is a Victor Reinz cylinder head gasket. That one was beyond ruined, I will post the pictures later.
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Overall, a lot of fun in the rally and nothing serious is ruined. Now it is time to start preparing for the next one.
The moment when you know nothing else can be done. I was able to drive to the finish line slowly. But nothing else could be done to the car and the retirement was inevitable.
And of course, a close image of my main sponsor. They were responsible to prepare the car and make it ready for the rally. And when everything when south, it was also them that picked me up and drove back to the workshop.
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Thank you all!
Rally Portugal Histórico 2016 4th-7th October
Main Sponsor: Tima Empilhadores (www.tima.pt)
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The road to the rally
My little Fiat 127 Smurf will be present in the Classic Car event of the year in Portugal: Rally Portugal Historico. With almost 2.000km and 3,5 days of competitive driving going through the famous stages of the old Portuguese Rally (Arganil, Freita, Prestimo...) it is a major challenge to machine and drivers.
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With the enrolment list out, I am officially the smallest engine in the entry list, a powerful 903cc against 3L Porsches, 2L Escorts... Anyways, the objective is to finish the race. It is the first time I am going to do such an event so I still have a lot to learn and finishing the rally would already be a victory.
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After overheating the engine in Rally Legends, I decided to enlarge the radiator to make sure it would not happen again and change the fan to a more powerful one. So I hope that for this rally the car will run properly and cool under any circumstance. Also I had a small crack in a Piston, so I had to put 4 new pistons to be sure the car would be reliable during all the rally. Also, my mechanic said that the engine is quite powerful from its original set up with a high compression ratio. So advice: always run on 98 Octanes (it can run on 95 Oct if you drive normally) and some competition oil and additive to better lubrication.
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Besides the engine and cooling system, I have also replaced the disc brakes, I had a slight vibration on the steering wheel under light braking so I took no risks and changed the brakes to a better set from Brembo. Also all the electrics were reviewed and replaced to avoid electric problems during such a rally.
The rally
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After months of preparation, the rally was about to start. After the technical verifications, the car was ready to start the rally. During lunch time I finally entered the car in the closed park in front of Casino Estoril.
1st Day
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During the Estoril Circuit stage I was not going hard, the rally was just starting and no need to ruin everything in the first stage. Beside, the small engine does not allow for much speed anyways, so it was kind of boring. Then came the open road sections, my favorite ones. Montejunto special stage is a difficult one, specially the final corners. Even with the new discs and pads the brakes overheated slightly so I had to slowdown. Besides that, the car was going well, driving nicely for a 903cc engine.
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The rest of the day was easy, nothing major with the last stage at Tomar already by night, which was a good opportunity to test all lightening gear.
2nd Day
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After the first day, which is just a warm up, the second day promised to be the first serious one. And it delivered. Tough and funny roads where the 60km/h average was impossible to keep with such a small car. During the first 3 stages everything was good, but soon after starting the 4th special stage, disaster. I lost all gears, the knob was 100% loose. Some guys that were watching the rally helped and I was able to re-gain 1st and 2nd, but no more. I called assistance to the nearby village to see if the problem could be solved. After a couple of hours, the car was ready again. The connection between the gearbox and the knob was broken but nothing special, it was just the screw that came off, It was just needed to put everything together since nothing was damaged. After some incredible work by the mechanic (not me, if it was for me, I would still be there eheheheh) the car was ready again.
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During the afternoon we did our best, but the roads were too tough, so I could not keep up with the 60km/h average. Yet, it was loads of fun, the roads were very nice and the car was handling nicely through all corners! In the end, I was able to reach Espinho, the last checkpoint of the day, which was my objective.
3rd Day
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Third day started and we missed the highway exit, meaning we would spend all morning so much behind our entering times it was not even worth to try to reach the starting points on time. After lunch things went good with no problems, very funny roads. Amazing!
4th Day
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Last day was about to start, and the morning was foggy. Before even starting the first stage the car ran into serious problems. It would not accelerate pass the 2.000 RPM and sometimes not even that. After trying to identify the problem with no luck, I called the mechanic to provide support. We were all morning around the car trying to make it work. Changed ignition points, cleaned the jetters and we were able to make the car work, but just barely. It would only work at full throttle and it was clearly down on power.
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Anyways, it was the last day and Sintra was just some stages away. We did everything with the car like that until the end, until the last Sintra stage! After 4 days of racing with mechanic, navigational and driving problems we were able to finish with my mighty Fiat 127! Who would know that a 903cc engine in an Italian car would be able to do 4 days of rallying! No one! Not even the organizers that were very surprised to see me arrive in the last day!
