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| Quad bike training |
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| Cutting the guide wheels |
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| Dave checks his work |
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| Better nick than many a minicab ... |
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| Looking confident ... |
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| ... a quick spray of oil |
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| ... and they're off! |
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Pit Stop Crew diary
For a couple of years we have been meaning to enter Scrapheap, but January and February are our busiest times in F1. This year we quickly hashed the form together and made a sort of film and sent it off. We had a phone-call saying we were through the initial phase and would have a telephone conference-call interview, which was quite fun. Then we were in.
What had we done? If we lost, we would have a hard time from the F1 community. If we won, everyone would say: 'Well, they work in F1!'
Filming at work presented a problem. Initially we had all worked in the research and development department at Arrows F1. But since we had been accepted for Scrapheap, Marko had left to go to Renault F1 and Ade was at Williams F1. But Arrows kindly agreed to let us back in to film the background piece. Although this only lasts a min or two on the show, it took a whole day to film.
Prep day
We all arrived at the hotel and were taken off to the site for costume fittings, meeting the crew – cheers boys! – a look around the site, learn how to crash the quads and look cool. Ade seemed to upset Lisa: she asked if she could be in our F1 team, and he said she would look pretty sitting in the corner of the garage, so she gave him a hard time during the build day. All the time we were on the look-out for clues as to what the challenge would be. Then it was back to the hotel, to be told that we were required to do more filming for our intro, so we spent an hour or so playing with model cars in the bar garden. We then met the other team and our technical consultants. Despite going out for a meal with the expert, Norm, and our technical consultant, Mick, we failed to learn anything about the challenge.
Build day
An early start, 6am. Just like testing in F1. Lots of running backwards and forwards, telling us to look mean and to shout – difficult as we are the quiet type. Lots of filming from different angles and laughing at the presenters as they fluff their lines.
The first thing we had to find was a vehicle with a sturdy chassis and a narrow track of a certain dimension. After a quick spin around the heaps, we found a taxi which fitted the bill. It was boxed in by a skip and a large bus, but with some abuse from the quad it was dragged back to meet its fate. Then came the standard hunt the battery. Ade was in an ambulance pulling out two batteries when we heard a producer moaning that that was for another show and he should leave it alone. When we finally found a working battery, the taxi fired up and sounded great. Dave and Mick started to chop the old girl up while Marko and Ade started looking for the stuff on our shopping list.
Off the rails
We were on target and going well until, maybe an hour from the end, we found the track of the taxi was too narrow, so the tyres would not run on the rails, they would fall inside. As the road wheels were to be used to drive and stop the vehicle this did cause some panic.
The last two hours flew by – all too soon it was over. Back to the hotel. Managed one beer before we were too tired and all went to bed. After seeing the other vehicle, we were feeling confident.
The next day was safety day. Most teams have a day off here to relax, but Marko and Ade had to go to work!
Test day
Rain, rain, rain, rain ...
We left the hotel and drove to the Bluebell Railway – a great place. On the way the rain got worse and worse.
We then had the usual tinkering time. All we did was get the taxi light working and paint the wheels, while the others guys were welding, hitting, bashing ...
Due to the weather, the road section of the test was cancelled, which was a shame as we had hoped to make up lots of time in that section. Also, originally the racers were to carry four people, but this was changed to two for safety reasons.
Test one was to get your racer on the tracks, drive through the station and stop at the end of the platform. We struggled to get the racer on the rails, as the makeshift ramp was very slippery, but once on the rails it went well. We had to back down in reverse and the rear mounting for the guide-wheels demolished a rail crossing. Oops, sorry Norm!
Up the hill backwards
Test two: on the drive up the hill towing a trailer we could have gone faster if we were going forwards, but as we had no way of turning around we had to go up backwards. But this would give us more speed on the way down. On the way up we had more clearance problems over the points, so when we got to the top we had a bit of modification to do to increase the height of the racer. This meant jacking it up and flipping over the rear guide-wheels. Thanks Tunnel Ratz for the help.
By test three, a sprint down the hill, we were behind on time. The Ratz had been very cautious on the way down, so we had no choice but to go for it. All four of us got on, fastened helmets and seatbelts and gave the old girl her head. We were thundering down making a hell of a noise. All was looking good until we went over the last points and derailed ... It took us, the Ratz, the crew and a few of the railway crew to get us back on the rails.
It was a fantastic experience, and we would love to do it again if the Scrapheap crew would have us back.
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