April ‘23 - Donington Historic Festival
Our preparations for the famous historic race weekend at Donington stared in the winter with all the rebuild work on our 1965 Spider Veloce. Following a successful race campaign in 2022, over the winter we have embarked on a mission to de-clutter the engine bay. The engine and gearbox were removed to be inspected and rebuilt as required. The engine was newly built ahead of the 2022 and so was the gearbox. During our last race at Silverstone last year we noticed how the gearbox jumps out of 5th gear and also it was very crunchy into 3rd gear. In addition to rebuilding the gearbox, we also planned to replace the mechanical clutch with a hydraulic system, unfortunately we ran out of time for Donington, remains a job we need to tackle when we get a breather. Other additions onto the Spider for this season were the brackets for the side mirrors which our Bicester Heritage Skills apprentice has crafted in aluminium. We also wanted to improve the cooling by adding a new aluminium radiator with a filler neck and also getting rid of the header tank. This should help us in our European campaign later in the summer.
In addition to our 101 Spider Veloce, at Donington we have also looked after a client race car, Svein Aannestad (Norway) entrusted us with his GT Junior 1300 racer to get it ready for racing again and also look after the car and him over the weekend. Alficina to the rescue and delivering on all fronts from client hospitality to race preparation and support. We started by getting to know the GT Junior and upon inspection made a list of recommendations needing addressed before we turn a wheel in anger. With every bullet point ticked off, we proceeded to Donington, our home track. Being based just outside Nottingham, for us the Donington Park circuit only 30 minutes away by van and trailer, in close proximity of our workshops to offer classic motorsport preparation and support.
Our weekend started on a flyer on Saturday when Svein recorded a P1 in class during the Historic Touring Cars 50 minutes race. The mandatory pitstop was executed to perfection and the Norwegian driver saw the chequered flag with a big smile. Our good preparation paid off on Sunday also with Ciprian recording a P2 in his HRDC Classic Alfa Challenge race while Svein was fifth in his class during the HRDC Gerry Marshall race.
After over 5 hours of competitive running between the two classic Alfa Romeo, we couldn’t be more pleased not only to have taken part to a well organised event and also come away with recognition.
For all your classic Alfa Romeo race build, preparation and support, race engine builds and tuning, tuition by experience instructor, please contact us via the usual channels for a ‘no obligation’ true alfisti conversation.
Our next racing adventure will be Brands Hatch GP with Equipe GTS on the 14th of May, followed by Mallory Park on the 21st of May with CMMC.
0115 9262266 or info@alficina.com