The NEW home for Tolman Motorsport

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The first competitive outing for the Tolman Motorsport built, Lotus 19 Monte-Carlo Recreation, was deemed a success by all involved. The newly completed car set competitive times throughout the race and ran as high as 5th in class before an unfortunate component failure brought its race to a premature end.

During the test day the two 30 minute sessions were red flagged after only 10 minutes of running due to the high number of vehicles on track. Having only 6 timed laps during the whole day, over both sessions the Team were unable to make significant improvements. A brake balance issue was the focus of improvements throughout the day.

Having made some big changes overnight the team were nervous to see how the Lotus 19 would fair in such a competitive field of 46 cars, especially with temperatures so high. After only completed a handful of laps the previous day, and with the car only ever run continuously for 10 mins at previous tests Michael Shryver put in an impressive performance to qualify 6th in class and 35th overall. The brake balance was still not perfect and pick up coming out of some corners was becoming a problem the faster the car was pushed. Following a thorough debrief vital changes were made for the Masters Historic Sports Car race the following day.

On race day, the team were delayed in getting the car to the assembly area and with just 10 minutes to go they were forced to start from the back of the grid. Michael pushed hard and on lap 2 took 2.5 seconds off his best qualifying time! The improvements obviously working to his liking. By the midpoint of the race he had worked his way up to 27th overall and 5th in class! Unfortunately Michael missed the pit entrance and had to complete another lap putting the team just 5 seconds over the allocated time for the pit window, resulting in a stop-go penalty. With just over 42 minutes of the 50 completed and still pushing hard a component failed in the gearbox forcing a retirement. Michael brought the car back to the pits where the decision was made to stop.

Overall the weekend of the Silverstone classic was a great success for both the Tolman Motorsport team and the car’s owner Mr Christopher Ross. The Lotus 19R’s first competitive race was very much a success for all involved. A program of testing will now get to grips with some of the small issues that have arisen from this great first competitive outing.

It was with great sadness that we learned of the fatal accident involving Denis Welch, driving Malcom Ricketts Lotus 19. On behalf of Tolman Motorsport we would like to pass on our condolences to Denis’s family and Malcom.

July 21, 2014