Japanese Performance magazine will now be covering the MR2 Racing, Nippon Challenge and Subaru Cup. Please keep an eye out for this fantastic magazine carrying race reports and phtotographs of all the action from these exctiting race series.

June's issue should contain the report from Snetterton and possibly from Pembrey as well. Here's hoping the coverage encourages more people to join the series and more spectators too.

Details of stockists and subscriptions can be found here:
www.japaneseperformancemagazine.co.uk

Our engine and gearbox oils and oil filters arrived from Opie Oils. So Richard also sourced some Redline Water Wetter, some sump plug washers and some plumbers PTFE tape in anticipation of changing all Rexy's oils.

He also bought a new sump plug with a super strong magnet:


So on Saturday... Having inspected the current engine oil, it was in far too good a condition to warrant changing it! It'll be done as a matter of course after Pembrey. When the new sump plug will be used and the original will be kept as a spare.

The gearbox oil swap was easy and straightforward. Richard noticed there was some swarf on the plug, but nothing too bad. The gearshift quality didn't seem to have changed at all. We'll see what happens at Pembrey. However, the rear diff oil swap was a little troublesome thanks to not being able to undo either the fill or drain plugs! Richard tried again with a new plan on Sunday morning and all came good. Thanks to needing the car level on the ground, access was tricky and he ended up having to use a big syringe to get the oil into the diff. Another time consuming and uncomfortable job.

Richard then used a very fine blade on an angle grinder to cut sections in the return flange of each rear arch. His step-father Terry then used his bodyworking skills and tools to bend them all back out of the way and we used some seam sealer to keep them in place and treat them. Richard has just got to let that dry and then he'll paint over it with some black Hammerite or underseal.


When removing the rear wheels to facilitate the rear arch work, Richard noticed a carbuncle in the sidewall of one of the Silverstone tyres! They've all lasted really well and we were looking forward to using them at Pembrey, but now we'll be using our other (so far unused) set. We'll discuss the problem with Silverstone Tyres, but we'll probably have to buy a new tyre!

In an effort to help Rexy keep it's cool, we're going to add some Redline Water Wetter to the coolant system. It's supposed to help by reducing the coolant temperatures and this has been proven in independent tests. Every little bit helps, after all...

Opie Oils specialises in the distribution of quality oils and lubricants. They sell one of the most comprehensive ranges of quality engine oils and automotive lubricants available anywhere in the UK from manufacturers including Fuchs, Silkolene, Castrol, Mobil, MOTUL, Redline and Amsoil.

Opie Oils sell oil for all makes of cars and motorcycles, from the most modern super cars to vintage and veteran cars and motorcycles. Their range covers mineral monogrades to super high tech race synthetics!

They also sell Brembo Brake Parts, Denso performance Spark Plugs, UFI Filters and other performance upgrades.

Opie Oils offer excellent discounts to Members of Car/Motorcycle Clubs and Forums with whom they are associated and also have an extensive trade selection for businesses. They have kindly agreed to sponsor Karen, so expect to see her car with new Opie Oils livery at Pembrey in mid-May.

If you need any oil for your car or motorcycle then don't hesitate in visiting their excellent website: www.opieoils.co.uk

Snetterton saw the 1st race meeting of the Nippon Challenge in 2009, now also containing the Subaru Cup in which Karen was competing. The Subaru Cup had four entries which would be driving against themselves and the various other Nippon cars for overall honours.

Karen came back in from qualifying complaining of power problems when exiting the Russell Chicane and trying to power up the main straight. After discussing the problem with her it became apparent that she may have been hanging on to the revs too long and the rev-limiter was cutting in. Changing up at about 6000rpm seemed to solve this problem for the rest of the day.


Image copyright Lance Wittenberg, used with kind permission
When the timesheets were published, we discovered that Karen had qualified in 14th place from a field of 23 cars. Quite prophetic, given her racing number is 14! That put her as the last of the Subaru Cup cars but ahead of the poorly GT500 Subaru of Stuart Ward.

Karen got a brilliant start in Race 1 and got the drop on Martin White and Darren Hughes, but as she pulled alongside Darren she had a little trouble finding 3rd gear. Darren got ahead and Karen had to follow him closely until Sear corner where she got a chance to accelerate past him up the straight and ahead into the Esses. That's how things stayed until Karen suffered another gear problem into Sear corner for the second time. She went for 3rd and got 5th instead, allowing Darren and Miles to shoot past. That's pretty much how things remained for the rest of the race, but later on Karen was driving around Coram corner when she spotted Darren facing the wrong way on the in-field. Thus she finished 3rd in the Subaru Cup, behind Miles Hulford and Martin White. Martin and Miles had a brilliant battle, with Martin taking the win. Karen was 11th Overall in the Nippon Challenge.


Again in Race 2, Karen got a great start and would have definitely overhauled Darren, but her start was totally ruined by an inability to find 3rd gear and then any gear for a while! She was overtaken by just about every other car in the field and had to begin an exciting recovery drive...

First to be passed was Jason Jesse in his MR2 mk1, then the MR2 mk1 of Nick Reed. Half a lap later it was the MR2 mk1 of Gareth Newton and the Subaru Impreza of David Williams. Next up were the squabbling MR2 mk2's of Nick Jones and Dallas Jackson. Later on she passed the ailing Honda Civic of Richard Johnson. She was determined to catch up with the Subaru Cup cars, and was hunting down Darren who's car was fighting him around each corner due to damage from his off in Race 1. She didn't have enough laps though, and finished up just a few tenths of a second behind him. That put her in 4th place for the Subaru Cup and 9th overall in the Nippon Challenge. Congratulations to Martin for another Subaru Cup win, and to Darren for a well deserved 3rd place!


Karen had a really enjoyable day's racing. She had fun chatting with all the racers in the paddock and the Silverstone Tyres crew, and was thrilled to get her podium place in Race 1 for which she received a lovely trophy!


Image copyright Lance Wittenberg, used with kind permission
Karen would like to thank Silverstone Tyres for their sponsorship of the Subaru Cup, and XSpec Motorsport for their hard work in preparing her car for the racing. She's really looking forward to the next event at Pembrey in May, and hopefully by then Richard will have improved the gear shift so she can give the other 'Cup racers a proper run for their money.

Rexy is now complete and ready to race at Snetterton this coming Saturday 4th April. A few minor jobs remain like swapping the road wheels/tyres over for racing the racing items and when we're actually at the circuit we'll also remove the number plates. Otherwise, all we need is a decent slug of super-unleaded and it's ready to get stuck into the Nippon Challenge/Subaru Cup!

It's going to be really interesting to see how such a standard car compares against some of the other machines out for the Nippon Challenge. This is going to be great...

XSpec Motorsport came to Karen's rescue by removing Rexy's engine and replacing the head gaskets. It seems the previous gaskets fitted were faulty. Both were leaking with the turbo side of the engine suffering worst.


Graham and Alix had some help where possible from Darren and Richard. The engine was removed and the gaskets were replaced, but this time with metal cometic type ones. Richard replaced the intercooler core with a better condition item and also replaced some boost pipes with SFS Silicon versions. Everything was then reassembled and the engine was slotted back in. The oil was replaced and the coolant topped up carefully. It fired up without problem and soon settled down to a steady idle.

Richard tried the car on the local roads and then it was given a power run on the rolling road whilst Graham listened carefully for any sign of detonation. No problems were encountered and Rexy made a healthy 186bhp at the wheels!


Karen would like to thank Graham and Alix for all their hard work and generosity. Here's hoping there will be no more problems with the engine and Karen will have a trouble free start to the season at Snetterton on the 4th April.