Lohen at Oulton Park Time Attack Round 5

25 July 2024

Oulton Park, it's just an hour up the road for us so we headed up in convoy. The van, truck and trailers kept the pace modest but the demonstrator MINIs Penny and Dory were hissing and popping in all the right ways as we snaked through the country lanes.

With us was Iain Challinor, 1991. 250cc motorcycle lap record holder for Oulton Park and head of sales at Lohen keeping the pressure on Connor to set at least a personal best lap over the weekend for some bragging rights in the workshop. *See Iain in his prime in the last few photos below.

Oulton Park's International Circuit is new to the Time Attack series so competitors had little to judge each other's ability by going into the event. Connor had some track day experience to draw upon having set a 1:59 a few years ago in his MINI GP2 but not much more. Everyone awaited the warm-up session to get some information about their own and each other's performance.

Last time out as you know, a braking issue brought an abrupt end to the weekend as well as some damage to the front end of the car. After scooping out all of the gravel, Connor made new brackets to fit a new bumper, big thanks to fellow competitor Dave Ward (That Mini) for donating his spare one as well as some custom carbon arches. The broken headlamp was switched out for a new one and a new alternator and GP2 master cylinder fitted, thus replacing parts that had previously contributed to the brake failure. You may have seen some of the photos on our Instagram of the R56's progress in the workshop in the weeks leading up to the weekend.

With the car set up in the paddock and teams waiting for the start of the session, up and down the pit garages, team members checked tyre pressures, added fuel to their cars or waited on the pit wall with the live timing screen on their phones. Connor changed into his race overalls, torqued up the wheel nuts and headed out.

The warm-up went well with Connor taking a relaxed approach, re-gaining confidence in his brake pedal and setting a quick time of 1:58.407 putting him in 4th position but with plenty of room for improvement and knowing exactly where the time was to be gained. A straight-forward session with no issues, just what was needed. Flash forward to the practice session after a refuel and Connor headed out again, this time to gauge better his capabilities at the track.

Whilst out on track, again without any warning, signs of the brake issue returned in the form of a stiff brake pedal. This time the result was not as catastrophic as last time with Connor keeping it on track and getting the car back round to the pits. Discussing the issue with his brother and Evan our apprentice, Connor reported the ABS light coming on and the braking returning to normal whilst driving back round, confirming the ABS pump to be at fault. For now, the quickest fix was to remove the fuse to disable the ABS. This solved the issue in the short term but at the cost of confidence braking into the corners. Despite all of this, a slight improvement in lap time was made on his final flying lap. A 1:58.308 positioned him in 4th.

Qualifying went smoother with ABS disabled, Connor went out and straight away put in a personal best of 1:56.496. He knew where he'd left time on the table so continued to push for another. He was a further eight tenths up when he reached Britten's chicane and met a bunch of traffic. With no clear run through, all the time gained was lost leaving Connor frustrated and unable to reach his potential in the session. Not ideal but good to know the pace was there if the circumstances allowed.

A 1:56.496 put Connor in 4th position for Qualifying and only 0.151 behind 3rd place. The pace certainly had picked up but with Connor and the car both on good form things were looking promising for the Final. However, just as the pocket rocket class were heading out for their session, rain began to fall, not too much but just enough to make drivers anxious about grip and the potential for a downpour.

Given the damp conditions, the drivers all decided to go early and get a lap in with a reasonably dry track, just in case the rain got heavier later. With no ABS in the drizzle, and again a busy track early on, Connor set a banker lap of 1:57.969. Not bad but a time that could certainly be improved upon. On his second attempt, being a full second up he reached Island bend and spun off track locking the rears. The damp conditions and lack of ABS clearly not helping matters. Connor came in to adjust his tyre pressure and just as he headed back out onto the track for his final flying lap, the session was red-flagged, which was quickly followed by the chequered flag. With only a few minutes left on the clock and the session being the last of the day, officials took the decision and the results stood as they were with Connor finishing in 4th and with the 1:57.969 lap time.

Another slightly frustrating finish to the day but overall his outright pace was good putting Connor in a strong position to make the most of the next round at Donnington Park. The class as a whole set quick lap times, a pace that hadn't necessarily been anticipated so as the field progresses it's time to rise to the challenge.

Connor now plans to install a new ABS unit and hopefully be done with brake issues for a while. Donnington park is next up where the car will be put to the test again but until then, keep up with what's going on by following us on Instagram and Facebook. See you for the next round on the 18th of August in Derbyshire!

If you're coming to Donnington Park, and we recommend that you do, we'll be set up in the trade area as usual where you can speak to our team, check out the demonstrator MINIs and see what we've got for sale. The Blue R56 Lohen built track car is still available, read more about it here and if it's not gone already we'll be bringing it along to Donnington with us!