Race Report – Donington Park 30th August

0 comments

Another CSCC Mondern Classics race saw Karen and Richard driving at Donington Park. Despite concerns over the weather, conditions were dry. They knew that the circuit would favour some of the faster cars and this was borne out by them qualifying 15th out of 28 entrants.



The race began with a rolling start, which was a first for both drivers. Karen braved this challenge and at least it was incident free, although not the best of starts. Just before the pit-stop, there was an under-bonnet problem which certainly surprised Karen and also resulted in a loss of power.

Their pit-stop was helped by their friends Mike, Darren and Hayley. It was a great change over and Richard was soon out again, but he noticed the missing power and it made things a little more difficult for him.



Despite this, Karen and Richard finished 13th overall and 1st in class. It was a great result for them both. Luckily the power loss was soon diagnosed to a boost hose which had come away from the top of the Blow Off Valve (BOV). This was quickly resolved when they reached home and shouldn't be a problem again.


Race Report – Anglesey 3rd August

0 comments

Neither Karen nor Richard had ever driven at the Anglesey circuit. They'd taken the opportunity to walk the course the evening before the race and were amazed at some of the elevation changes. They were looking forward to the racing the following day...

Unfortunately, race day began very wet and although it wasn't raining during qualifying the circuit was still quite wet with a drying line only appearing later on. Due to the conditions they had chosen to run on their treaded Federal 595 RSR tyres. Despite this, they both struggled and were quite disheartened to qualify 15th out of 17 runners.



They decided that Richard would drive the first stint and they would be using the semi-slick Federal FZ201 tyres due to drying weather. Richard got a reasonable start making up a few places straight away. Conditions were still not perfect and the final corner before the Start/Finish straight had him drifting wide first time around!

Karen was having fun in the second stint, but right towards the end of the race the tyres either went off or the handling had gone awry in some other manner as she had a couple of incidents. This resulted in them finishing 12th overall and 2nd in class.

Despite this, the pair really enjoyed their race and driving at the Anglesey circuit. They vowed to return next time and improve their result.


Spoilered Rotten

0 comments

Given the problems with rear traction recently thanks to cold tyres, it was decided to update the rear spoiler. It's been changed from the original mid 90's low version to the final late 90's high version. It's hoped the aggressive aerofoil shape will provide that little bit more rear grip.


At the front end of the car, Powerstation have fitted an oil-cooler. With this and the fuel swirl-pot the car is now capable of longer races. Karen is sharing the car with her husband Richard. The two of them are running as a team in the Classic and Sports Car Club (CSCC) Modern Classics series. The races are 40 minutes in length with a diver swap in the middle.



Race Report – Castle Combe 12th July

0 comments

This was Karen and Richard's first race with the Classic and Sports Cars Club (CSCC) Modern Classics series. Each race is 40 minutes long with a driver change. Karen and Richard were competing in the 4WD turbo class.

Qualifying lasted for 30 minutes and it seemed to go quite well. Conditions were dry, sunny and warm. The pair qualified 10th overall out of 24 runners.



Richard drove the first stint, with Karen driving the second. Richard had a tussle with one of the BMW M3s with both cars having gear selection trouble. Karen's stint went well and she managed to fend off another hard charging BMW M3 for the rest of the race.

The race was red flagged towards the end due to a Volkswagen Golf GTI which had rolled at Quarry Corner. Karen and Richard finished 8th Overall and 1st in class. It was a fantastic result for the pair and they were incredibly excited about the new racing format.


Race Report – Donington Park 8th June

0 comments

This Nippon Challenge event was mixed with the Tricolore Trophy for qualification. This resulted in a large grid of 39 cars! Karen qualified 21st from this mixed group which meant she would start in 8th position in the Nippon Challenge only Race 1.



Karen got a great start and jumped from 8th to 4th by Redgate Corner. However, cold rear tyres caused a spin down the Craner Curves. It could have ended very badly, but luckily the car wasn't too damaged and Karen recovered from last to finish 11th overall.

Race 2 was a mixed affair with Nippon and Triclore cars racing together. Karen started in 20th position, but seemed to struggle and finished the race in 22nd and 2nd in class within the Nippon Challenge.


About Karen Phillips

  • Karen races her Impreza WRX in the Classic and Sports Car Club (CSCC) Modern Classics series, with her husband Richard as a 2nd Driver. The races are mini-endurance events involving a driver-swap. Karen has previously raced in the Nippon Challenge, a race series for Japanese and Asian cars. Karen has been racing since 2006, having started in the MR2 Challenge.
  • Please check this site regularly for updates on Karen's progress through the season and developments with her race car.

Contact Karen

Last posts

Archives

Karen's On-Line Store

Image Galleries

Links

Karen's Sponsors