Tiger on Track

Yesterday I took the Tiger for its first track outing. An evening track day at my local circuit – Brands Hatch. The event was on the short Indy circuit, which at 1.2 miles packs in the legendary Paddock Hill bend, plus the hairpin at Druids and the long right-hander, Clearways. Unlike many modern motor racing tracks, Brands Hatch has been built around the contours of a natural amphitheatre, and one of the reasons Paddock Hill bend is such a test is because it turns into a very steep down hill before bottoming out into the charge back up to Druids. It’s quite an experience. I have driven the course a few times before, but this was the first time in my own car.

I wasn’t sure what to expect. What would the other drivers be like? Would the car behave? Would I be embarrassingly slow? The event was well organised by MSV people – registration was quick and easy and then the car was noise tested. The new silencer came out at 97dB. Spot on. All the drivers then assembled for a briefing, which covered track safety rules as well as driving technique. It quickly became clear that we were a mix of experienced drivers and rookie track drivers. Looking round the pit garages, there was a wide range of machinery as well. Several 7-type cars like mine, a few full-on race cars that had been trailered to the event, as well as some road going saloons, such as BMW and Toyota. There was also some exotica on show such as an Arial Atom, Ferrari and Noble. Top car was a AC Cobra replica which the owner had just completed after a 4 years build. Stunning car, and a brave owner for taking it on the track.

After a couple of mandatory sighting laps behind the safety car, we were then let out on the track. The first few laps I used to warm the car up. In particular, the brakes and tyres don’t reach proper operating temperature until they’re hot. I soon realised that the Tiger is quick. Very quick. I was a little nervous about speed round the corners as I was running on road tyres (still waiting for the new wheels and track tyres to arrive), however, the handling was impeccable and after half an hour or so I really started to get a feel for the car. That made all the difference. For the first few laps I was being overtaken. However, after I’d got some idea of how the car handled, I started overtaking back. Realistically, only the other 7-type cars and a Fisher Fury could stick with it round corners, although some of the larger cars had more power down the straight. Timing wasn’t permitted so I don’t know what the lap times were. However, I don’t think we went below 60mph anywhere except Druids and on the start/finish straight (according to my passenger) we reached 115mph. And it’s only a short straight at Brands Hatch before you arrive at the fearsome Paddock Hill so I’m pretty pleased with that.

About an hour in, the car started to misfire when the throttles were fully open, which seemed odd. So we pulled in to the pits and discovered that one of the socks (air filters) which cover the carburetta trumpets had started to disintegrate and had been sucked through the engine. The socks were quickly removed and we carried on without any misfire. Unfortunately, towards the end of the evening a red light on the dashboard flickered on. The car had stopped charging. I suspected the alternator as these are notorious for failing on Tigers. Two reasons. Firstly it is located very close to one of the exhaust manifold down pipes, which means it gets very hot. And secondly, they are often running at over the maximum revs they were designed for, which inevitably takes its toll. Realistically, that meant the end of the evening as I couldn’t risk not having enough battery power to get me home. There was a plus side though, as on driving out of the circuit I realised that the fuel tank was completely empty. There would have nothing more embarrassing than running out of fuel and having to be recovered from the circuit. The alternator problem coincided with a Subara Impreza deciding to visit the gravel trap at Clearways, which resulted in the circuit being closed whilst it was recovered. All in all, I think we only lost about 15 minutes of track time.

The car made it home without any problems, and seems none the worse for being driven so hard. It used hardly any oil, and apart from the alternator problem and a small damp patch on one of the hoses which needs investigating, it lived up to – in fact exceeded – my expectations.

Now, all I need to do is book the next track day.