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HiFi Lounge Goes Motor Racing!

Well This is Surreal :)

Hi Everyone,

Hilariously there is a picture of me racing at Brands hatch a couple of months ago in this months ‘Motorsport’ Magazine with Mike Hawthorn on the front cover, now that is something I never thought I’d be saying :)

It is actually a really interesting article about a rookie going racing written by the magazines photographer who was given the opportunity by Radical to move to other side of the lens and follow his dream of being a racing driver for one race which reminded me a lot of my first year last year.

Looks like I’m going to be changing teams for this coming season which is still being finalised, hopefully they can make my car quicker as obviously it is not me that is too slow ;-)





Cheers,
Paul.
 
Radical Awards Evening, Wasn’t Expecting This!



Hi Everyone,

In a nice way to look back at last year Radical hold a yearly awards evening where everyone gets a chance to dress up in their finest, have a nice meal and celebrate the winners from the season that is now behind us, this was my first year obviously, it was held at the Belfry and I have to say that it really was a brilliant evening with a fantastic live band that really rocked, although having to wear a Tux is always a little odd.

So obviously as I came 2nd in my class I wasn’t expecting anything, I will actually upload the last lap when I get a moment from the last race at Brands Hatch to show how close losing a championship by 0.2 sec looks like, I think that will haunt me forever. So anyway I was chatting to Wendy when I heard my name called out and unexpectedly I thrust from my seat and before I knew it I was on the stage accepting my award for ‘First of the Losers’ :) Seriously though it was a nice touch and actually a really nice trophy that will take pride of place in the HFL office as something to spur me on to go one better this coming season :)

Thanks again to Radical for hosting a brilliant evening, to Darren Winter for being a brilliant Mechanic through last season and also to Tom Gladdis for attempting to coach me on how to drive faster and especially to our sponsors for helping to make last season possible as I am sure it won’t come as a big surprise that motorsport really isn’t cheap, right that is the Oscar speech part out of the way, here’s looking forward to doing it all again this coming year :)







Blimey, wasn’t expecting this.





Cheers,
Paul.
 
Radical SR1 Season 2 - Here We Go Again!



Hi Everyone,

So this is a question I get asked a lot, will I be doing another season in the Radical SR1 Cup again this year? So I am pleased to say that yes I will although I did think long and hard about it as last season ended up being much tougher than I ever imagined it could be to be honest, I ended up being no where as fast as I thought I would be although I did love the whole experience, but I have been told by so many people that I’d be mad to abandon it after one season as the first season is such a big learning curve that the 2nd season will be much more straightforward and most people are always quicker in season 2 so fingers crossed.

We have moved teams to 360 Racing who are based at Silverstone, these guys run in the European LeMans series which is pretty epic so they really are a serious racers and I’ll have a team mate this year which will be a great yard stick, they’ve even got a truck with a meeting room to look over data and somewhere to get changed, really feels like we’ve gone up a level already, and I’m really pleased to be working with Darren Winter again and Tom Gladdis who is still trying to coach me to going faster, poor lad, he’s really got his work cut out.

https://www.360racing.net/elms

I’d like to thank our sponsors who have stuck with us for another year so thanks to, in no particular order, PMC, Atlas, Rega, Chord, Trilogy, HiFi Pig, Naim and I’d like to welcome dCS as a new sponsor, still waiting on a couple more that we hopefully can announce soon.

Goals for the year?



So it looks like the grid for the SR1 Cup is going to be much bigger this year which hopefully will lead to much more close racing, there is almost more pressure this year as I can no longer hide behind the Rookie status of last year so I guess my main goal is to definitely be faster than last year, in all honesty it took me till the last 2 rounds to really feel like I was getting on top of the car so hopefully we can carry that into 2019.

It was the last race at Brands that really did help spur me on to this year as it was the first meeting where I actually felt I was racing so I want to attack more and be more aggressive, by the end of the year over 1 lap my times were OK but my racing still left a lot to be desired so I really need to work on that also, I’ve also decided to insure the car this year as last year I took my chances and got away with it but I did feel it was holding me back a little as these things are not cheap to mend so now I’ll be insured that is another excuse gone :)

Losing the Fangio Cup by 0.2 Second

I really meant to post this last year but it has been extremely busy lately but here is the last lap of the last race, basically at the start of the video the car that is 2 ahead was my main title contender for the Fangio Cup, David, I beat him in race one so it came down to whoever won between us took the Fangio crown, as you can see I had plenty of opportunities, unfortunately I just didn’t realise it was the last lap so I have fitted a countdown stop watch in the car for this year, but as you can see I definitely need to toughen up for this coming year, so in the end we lost the title by 0.2 of a second which I felt was a fitting end to any season of motorsport as it went to the wire but congratulations to David, the best man won in the end.


Testing at Snetterton



So yesterday was my first time out in the car since the races at Brands and boy do I ache today, my arms are killing me, Snetterton is a pretty fast circuit and the last part of the lap really does have you holding on for dear live but it was good to be back in the car, in the end we went 1.5 seconds quicker than my best lap last year and there was plenty of potential to go even quicker, I just never managed to link up all the sectors but happy with that, the next stop is the first race of the season at Oulton Park, this will be interesting as last year when at Oulton I hadn’t driven the car before the race weekend so hopefully I should be much quicker there.

2019 Calendar



All the best,

Regards,

Paul.
 
Oulton Park 2019 Race Report!



Hi everyone,

So a couple of weeks ago we had our first race weekend of 2019 over the Easter Weekend, we were supporting the British GT championship so it was our biggest meeting of the year.

It was certainly great to be back in the car although it certainly felt a little alien for the first 20 min session as I had only done one test over the winter period but at the end of the Friday test I was reasonable happy as I was around 5 seconds quicker than last year although I did have a big moment when going down the back straight, we were out with the Ginetta’s in our test sessions and we were massively quicker so I pulled out to overtake one and he obviously didn’t see me and puled out to overtake the car in front of him which nearly put me on the grass as I tried to avoid a big accident, all good fun though.

Race Day.

Class of 2019



So this ended up being a day of highs a lows which I guess is normal for me, I went into qualifying reasonably happy with the day before pace but due to the unusually hot weather our tyre pressures inflated a fair bit for qualifying and it was a totally different car to drive, it really felt like I was driving on ice, I had never experienced this before so wasn’t sure what was going on, I didn’t know if it was me or the car so in the end I was pretty relieved when we found out the reason why I was 5 seconds slower than the day before. This actually turned out to be a good learning exercise though and also showed that I could drive the car nearer it’s limit as watching the video back you could see I was on the edge so now I just need to drive like that but at higher speeds, easier said than done though.



So anyway we qualified plum last due to this issue but I actually had 2 races I was happy with, I hung on to the pack and was having a fun race with the guy in front and to be fair I’m never going to be able to compete with the guys at the front so as long as I am racing someone then I’m very happy although I felt if qualy had gone smoother I would have qualified more in the mid pack which would have made for 2 very different races.

The biggest issue I need to work on is getting on the pace earlier, it turned out that my quickest lap of the race was the very last lap of race 2 so basically the last lap of the whole weekend and in the races I take a few laps to get to my ultimate pace so I really need to work on this so as the lights go green I’m bang on it, again easier said than done, I’ve got some testing coming up soon though where we are going to focus on this mainly.

Anyway a reasonably good start to the year, a fair bit quicker than the same race last year and I didn’t get lapped which to be fair was actually a good achievement for me as I think I got lapped at every race by the front runners last year.



The next race is at Cadwell Park in a couple of weeks, this was probably my toughest race weekend last year, I loved the track and it’s surroundings, it really is a beautiful place but I really struggled with my ultimate pace, unfortunately I won’t have tested here since last year but hopefully all the things I have learned over the last 12 months will help make it a more solid weekend, time will tell I guess.

I’m actually getting my helmet painted at the moment so that will be ready for Cadwell which will obviously make me faster :)

Cheers,

Paul.

Here is my 2nd fastest lap of the weekend, unfortunately the file got corrupted for my fastest lap, it was only .3 quicker though.




















 
Cadwell Park Race Weekend Report!



Hi Everyone,

This is just a quick one as I wanted to share my quickest lap from last weekend as I feel that I probably did my best lap yet in our Radical SR1, it is a slow process getting on top of these cars but everytime we go out we get a little bit faster which I guess is all I can ask for.

My problem is that I love chasing lap time and here I can find reasonable speed now but I go slower in the races for some reason, not ideal I know so just need to treat the races like qualifying.

This past weekend at Cadwell Park went pretty well, closed the gap to the front guys again, have to say that I absolutely love cadwell Park, probably my favourite track of the year, it is a stunning location and the track really is quite technical and challenging but it definitely rewards an attacking driver and getting air at the mountain is definitely a unique experience which keep you awake.

So I went 4 seconds quicker than when I was Cadwell last year, I put it down to my new helmet design, if I knew it was going to make that much difference I would have done it earlier I was concentrating on carrying more speed into the corners which I am getting the hang of now, for once the below lap actually looks reasonably fast whereas last year they looked pretty pedestrian.

I was mortified when I got home to watch my lap and find that the file was corrupted somehow but luckily I found some guys in California who somehow un-corrupted the file for me which was a huge relief, thanks guys.

So anyway here is the lap, for me it is worth watching just for how beautiful the track is -


Next Stop Brand Hatch in a couple of weeks

Cheers,

Paul.

















 
Brands Hatch Race Report!



Hi Everyone,

The races are coming thick and fast this year as we were at Brands Hatch this past weekend for race 5 & 6 on our calendar, unbelievably we are now half way through the season, I was really looking forward to racing at Brands again as I really enjoyed it last year but the weather really had different ideas.

In all honesty I much prefer dry conditions, especially at Brands as it is a track that really rewards a little attack but for the Friday test it was pretty much wet all day, we woke up Saturday morning to more rain and a drying qualifying session that got quicker with every lap which made it tricky to know how much grip there was but the weather looked promising for both races.

Race 1



So for race 1 we are all in the assembly area where we gather 20 minutes before race start, all on dry tyres but in the distance we could all see this very dark and menacing cloud getting closer and closer and then with only a few minutes to go the heavens opened as everyone was running around swapping the tyres over from dry’s to wets, it was all a little chaotic but I have to say a big thanks to the team who did a stellar job getting the car ready under pressure for the race start.

I must admit at the start of race 1 I really had no confidence, I actually think I drive my van quicker in the wet, but anyway at least I survived with a top 10 finish which when the conditions are like this then I’ll take that, below is the first lap of race 1 where you’ll see 2 cars spin off then another hits the pit wall at the end of the lap, all very entertaining :)


Race 2



For race 2 it was almost DeJa Vu as the track had dried out between races and what looked like the same cloud was hovering again in the same place but luckily the wind changed direction and the race stayed mainly dry, I was a bit hesitant at the start and got overtaken by a couple of cars then 2 cars went off into the barriers at Paddock Hill bend so we spent quite a bit of time behind the safety car then I had a great race with one of my competitors, I knew I was quicker but I just couldn’t find a way past but in the end with 2 laps to go I found an opening, overtook and pulled away but before I knew it the race was over, another top 10 finish though so could have been worse.

Have to say it was a brilliant weekend though where we had every condition to deal with in true British summertime fashion and it ended up being a lot of fun and the car stayed in one piece which was quite an achievement in my book.

Snetterton next at the end of July, I really hope this is a dry one and that I can attack more as I am a fair bit quicker this year so really want to race with the mid pack more as I have been racing more this year and it really has wetted my appetite for more.

Anyway please find a few pics below, thanks as ever to Ollie for taking some brilliant pictures and to the guys from 360 Racing for their support and our great HiFi Sponsors

Cheers,

Paul.



















 
Goodwood Festival of Speed 2019, Meeting my Motorsport Hero!



Hi Everyone,

I know this isn’t exactly HiFi related but I do know a lot of our customers are car and motorsport enthusiasts like myself so I just wanted to share a quick story. I’m sure loads of you have attended the Goodwood Festival of Speed over the years, I actually went to the very first one way back in 1993, it was almost like a garden party back then, and I have been going on and off ever since and have seen it grow massively over the years and it is still an incredible event to attend. Now I wasn’t going to go this year but a couple of weeks ago I read that a particular car was going to be there, now I was sceptical if it would be the actual car as it was also supposed to be paraded before the start of Le Mans this year but that was actually a replica, I am a bit of a nerd when it comes to this particular car, but I really didn’t want to risk missing this car coming over to the UK, I was actually planning to go out to make the trip to see it is it’s normal museum residence in the states so this actually seemed to good to be true.

But anyway I got there Friday morning at 7am and started my hunt, it isn’t easy trying to find one car amongst thousands at the biggest car gathering in the world, but after a couple of hours I saw those iconic Gulf Colours out the corner of my eye, I rushed over to the car and to my amazement it was the actual Ford GT40 Chassis Number P/1075, I actually really couldn’t believe that I was standing next to such an iconic car and it was just sitting there with no security and to be honest most people probably didn’t realise the significance of this particular GT40.



I have seen it read many times that it is considered the most valuable race car in the world today and as I mentioned it normally resides in the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit where I was planning to go to see it so I really never thought such a piece of history would be in the UK and be so accessible, I guess that is the power of Goodwood, So why is it so special? Well basically it is the only car to win Le Mans on 2 consecutive years of 1968 and 1969, I guess most car enthusiasts will know that Ford was in talks to buy Ferrari and when they fell through Henry Ford made it his mission to beat Ferrari at LeMans which he did for 4 consecutive years from 1966 to 1969 with the GT40, actually there is a big Hollywood film coming out later this year about this story, anyway not only is GT40 P/1075 remembered for it’s 2 wins it is also considered the winner for the greatest Le Mans race of all time in 1969 where is won by only 100 meters after 24 hours of racing, changing the lead 5 times on the last lap with the faster Porsche, you can view the video I took at Goodwood of Jackie Oliver discussing this incredible win below -


Finally another iconic moment of the 1969 race was that Jacky Ickx made a protest about safety at the start of the race, this was when the drivers used to race across the track to their cars and speed off without doing up their belts til they got down the Mulsanne Straight to get a quick start, so Jacky walked slowly across the track, climbed in, did his belts up then left the grid in last place and as it happened there was a big crash on the first lap where John Wolf was killed as he hadn’t done up his belts to get a quick start, so in the end with Jacky Ickx and Jackie Oliver behind the wheel they fought their way from last to win with Ickx crossing the line by the smallest of margins after 24 hours, quite incredible.

Anyway it was an amazing day and a real honour to see P/1075 up close and personal, I probably looked like some weird stalker as I spent all day admiring the car taking loads of video’s and pictures and I really struggled to leave at the end of the day as the chances are it may never come back to the UK again but at 8pm I dragged myself away.

There are a few more video’s on our YouTube page below and probably far too many pictures below.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPJOUerA5TrUPs0HpWORopg?view_as=subscriber













Jacky Oliver Re-United With P/1075 50 Years after it’s famous Le Mans win.

























Cheers,
Paul.
 
Snetterton Photo Book!

Here are a few pics from our Radical SR1 race weekend at Snetterton a couple of weekends ago. It wasn't my best race weekend as the weather really threw up a few challenges and I just don't have the confidence in the wet but it is always great fun to drive the SR1 and we survived unscathed which was more than can be said for some.



























Cheers,
Paul.
 
Donington Race Weekend Report, 1st Trip to the Kitty Litter!



So the above pictures say it all really, saying that I had an awesome 3 days at Donington Park last Thursday, Friday and Saturday, basically 2 days of testing on the full GP layout but unfortunately not enough marshalls arrived on race day so we had to qualify and race on the shorter National layout which I actually prefer but not everything went to plan in the final race.

The strange thing from the whole weekend was that on my 8th lap on Thursday morning after just arriving at Donington I went 3 seconds quicker than my best lap last year then spent the next 3 days not being able to match it which I really don’t understand, I think I was just very keen to get out on track. Again though I learnt a lot, it seems you are forever learning, I went to Donington determined to get my apex speeds up by getting off the brakes earlier which I think I did but then I started breaking fractionally earlier which unbelievably can cost you a couple of seconds a lap but in the end it all came together and my lap times got very consistent.

In Qualifying for race 2 I did one of my best sessions and qualified a little nearer the mid pack where I have been aiming for all season, race 1 was difficult due to a crash at the start for some of my competitors, this put me to the back as I tried to avoid it and thanks to 2 safety cars the race was over before it began. For race 2 I was determined to have a good one, my start was OK, I held my position and I settled in to chase the pack in front only for the guy behind me to get a run down the straight only to out brake himself and then come across to T bone me leaving me no option but to go into the gravel in avoidance, I really was gutted as it felt like I was in for a good race, saying that luckily Ollie, the Radical photographer, was right where I went off so we got some great pictures and at the end of the day it is all part of the experience, below is the incident, if anyone has any idea what I could have done different please let me know.


One race round left at Snetterton and that is season 2 done and dusted unbelievably, gone in the blink of an eye, the trouble is this motorsport thing really does get under your skin and I am now more than a little addicted so I need to look under the bed to see if I can find some sheckles to help fund next year.

Anyway below are a few pictures from the weekend and my best qualifying lap.

Cheers,

Paul.














This is where it all started to go wrong!









 
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HFL Motorsport Season 3 Starts This Saturday!


Hi Everyone,

So here we go again, I get asked a lot what my plans are for this year regarding motorsport, well things kick of this Saturday morning as I have signed up for a 10 race season’s racing in the Senna Cup at Rye House in the Go Karts that we used for our Boys Toys Day last year as I really enjoyed that and it whetted my appetite for more Karting, the funny thing was that my best session in the the Radical last year was the first practice session at Donington which was straight after the karting where I went 2 seconds a lap faster than my previous best so I am hoping that doing more karting will help my Radical racing as the main thing with karting is that you can race hard and be fearless whereas in the Radical driving to the limit takes some real balls and commitment and in all honesty I am still struggling in fast corners with the Radical so it will certainly be an interesting experiment to see if the Karting helps me in the Radical, either way it will be fun finding out.

So the first race is at 10am at Rye, 15 mins qualifying with a 45 minute race, apparently there is a full 26 kart grid, now as Rye is a bit of a proving ground for up and coming talent then I am sure I am going to get my arse whipped by some young whipper snappers who are just out of nappies and weigh nothing but I am really looking forward to giving it a try.

As for the Radical racing this year, I don’t think I will be able to do a full season but aim to do at least half the season plus some testing and there is a chance of also racing at Spa which would be a huge tick on the bucket list but need to see the cost involved in that first, may have to get my begging hat out for that one.

Anyway If anyone wants to see how we get on Saturday at Rye live timing is available from the link below -

https://live.alphatiming.co.uk/rye

Can’t wait to find out myself.

Cheers,

Paul.

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HiFi Lounge Back on the Race Track in our Radical, Well Virtually!

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Hi All,

Hope everyone is continuing to stay safe and well, for me one of the big casualties of this whole mess has been all world motorsport being cancelled for the time being but what has been a real surprise is how well motorsports has adapted to the virtual world and how entertaining it is, Formula One, IndyCar and Nascar amongst others have taken to a piece of Sim Software called iRacing and I have to say seeing the real drivers competing in these races from the comfort of their homes but with full TV production values has been great fun and in many cases the virtual racing has been better than the real thing, seeing Charles Leclerc and Alex Albon change the lead twice a lap for the entire race at Interlagos will go down in virtual racing folk lore, let's hope when real motorsport returns it is as entertaining.

Needless to say I'm really missing driving my Radical at the moment so when Radical announced they were going to start a 6 race invitational championship I was really keen to get stuck in, now I had never heard of iRacing before lockdown but as Radical where using this as the virtual platform I had to get myself setup with a PC based Sim setup meaning I missed the first 2 rounds but I made the third round on Saturday, we had a practice session on Thursday, Pre-Qualifying on Friday with qualifying and the race Saturday afternoon, now I'm not making excuses, honest, but this is a invitational to Radical drivers from around the world and professional iRacer's but we got through Pre-Qualifying where over 100 drivers were trying to make the 50 car grid, we then qualified 35th which I was pretty happy with, my plan for the race was just to try and keep out of trouble and put in consistent lap times, the first half of the race went really well as I went from 35th to 13th, then unfortunately someone came out of the pits straight into me and took me out of the race which was a tad annoying to say the least but overall it was a lot of fun, there are 3 races left then hopefully we can get back on track for real, Mid-Ohio is this coming weekend so hopefully we'll have better luck there, this is a really tricky track so plenty of practice required this week, then we have Spa which I'm really looking forward to.

Below is Saturday's race which is broadcast live on YouTube with full commentary, have to say it was a brilliant race up front, if you love your motorsport and you don't watch the whole race just watch the last 5 minutes as it was an incredible finish for 1st place, one of commentators reckons it was the best finish he has seen in 10 years of virtual racing commentating so can't ask for more than that.

I will update this post with links for the last 3 races once competed for anyone like me who misses real motorsport, or you can watch live on you Tube, the races start at 4pm on Saturday afternoons, please see the remainder of the calendar below -

  • Rd 4 - May 23 - 15:00 GMT - Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
  • Rd 5 - June 6 - 15:00 GMT - Spa Francorchamps
  • Rd 6 - June 13 - 15:00 GMT - Road America

Cheers,
Paul.
 
Big Tick On The Bucket List This Weekend!

Hi All,

So life really is for living in my book and last weekend was a huge tick on the bucket list after spending 3 days racing in our Radical SR1 at Silverstone on the Grand Prix layout, only a few days after the F1 circus left and we had a new HiFi Lounge Livery on the car to celebrate.

The event was a Radical invitational so we didn't score any championship points but we joined the back for the Radical SR3 grid and gatecrashed their race weekend really, they are about 15 seconds a lap faster than us so there was no way we were going to be racing them but it meant instead of our normal 2 x 20 mins races we had 2 x 50 minute races with pit stops and also a 20 mins sprint race with a standing start, normally we do rolling starts, it turns out that I love the longer races, you can really settle into a rhythm and on Saturday the car felt particularly good and I did some of my best laps ever in the Radical, my SD card played up but I am hopeful I can upload my quickest lap, LeMans next year

Please find a few pictures below of the new Livery and from the race weekend, Brands Hatch GP next, another layout I have never driven before, next year I really do need to give Spa and Nurburgring a go.

I'm never going to be the quickest but it isn't through a lack of trying and it certainly feels quick to me.

Cheers,

Paul.

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Season 3 Done and Dusted, What To Do Next Year?

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Hi All,

So in this strange year that is 2020 it is amazing that we had a season at all in our Radical SR1 but fair play to Radical for pulling it off, we have just finished with 2 race weekends, one at Brands Hatch on the full GP layout, this was a first for me and was another tick on my motorsport bucket list then last weekend we signed off with 2 days at Donington Park which along with Silverstone if my favourite UK track.

At Donington the first race and qualifying was dry but then the end of the world happened as a monsoon hit, they tried to run the race but it was definitely the worst conditions I have ever driven in, even going round behind the safety car we had guys spinning off, give me a dry, hot and sticky track any day of the week, anyway after 5 laps it was abandoned, a sorry way to end the season but that kind of sums up 2020 I guess.

So that is the end of Season 3 in our Radical SR1, it has been brilliant fun with some huge highlights, I really never thought I would be lucky enough to get an opportunity like this, yes I wish I was faster but it really has been an amazing experience. What to do next year though, I can stay in the SR1, as there is talk of longer races next year which I like the sound off, take the SR1 into a different championship, upgrade it to an SR3 and try the 750 Moto Club or do something totally different, maybe look at racing a Lotus of some kind, one thing is for sure it is now in my blood so if I can I definitely want to carry on racing in one form or another.

Anyway please find some pictures below from Brands Hatch and Donington Park.

Cheers,

Paul.

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HFL's New Race Car for 2021, Yes We're Racing a Lotus :)


I am excited to announce that for the 2021 motorsport season we will be competing in the Lotus Elise Trophy Championship around the UK's best circuits and here is our new race car fresh from the Lotus Cars Production line.

I've owned Lotus's for over 30 years now, my first true car love was a Lotus Elan M100 back in 1989 and since then I have had the pleasure of owning quite a few Lotus Cars, so to finally get to race a Lotus is super exciting and especially so as Lotus recently announced that 2021 is the final year of Elise production after over 25 years so better late than never though I guess to finally drive one in anger on track.

So thanks to the team at Lotus Silverstone for supplying the beautiful 250 Cup in Porsche Miami Blue, the car is now off to Hangar 111 Lotus Performance to be converted into a race car which basically means pulling it all apart and replacing a ridiculous amount of parts.

I will update regularly with how the season is progressing and hopefully soon motorsport fans will be allowed back to the track so feel free to come along to watch the shenanigans unfold.

For More info please follow link - https://bit.ly/2Oyc8ve

Some more exciting HFL Motorsport news coming very soon!

Cheers,

Paul.

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Introducing iLounge Racing!

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Hi All,

So this is an idea I have had for a while so I am excited to finally announce the launch of iLounge Racing.

What is iLounge Racing I hear you say?

So the idea behind iLounge Racing, hope you like the name by the way, basically HiFi Lounge without the Hif, is that we have got some exciting motorsport, racing simulator and car plans for the year ahead and I know a lot of our customers are also Petrolheads but I am also aware that not all HiFi enthusiasts share this passion so as to not overwhelm HiFi Lounge with car stuff I thought it prudent to start a separate website + social media channels where I can share all our motorsport and car news + stories in this area, I will still mention the big news on HFL but this gives us more scope to cover everything without overcrowding the HFL blogs section with non HiFi news.

So what does 2021 have in store?

Lotus Elise Trophy!

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So as many of you will know after racing in the Radical SR1 Cup for the last 3 years it is time to try something new and as I have been a lifelong Lotus enthusiast it made sense to give the Elise Trophy a try so we will be uploading the race videos from each of this years 7 events + any other footage we have, the Elise is at the race shop at the moment being converted into a race car with the first test on the 9th April, certainly can't wait to get back on track, please find more info below -

https://bit.ly/2Oyc8ve

New Race Suit

We've also had the below race suit designed, certainly starting to think it is a case of 'all the gear and no idea' though.

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Go Karting!

After my return to Go Karting last year after 20+ years away I have signed up for another year in the Lotus Cup at Rye House, yeah it is all Lotus this year, basically an hour long race once a month, have to say weight is everything in Go Karting so I have been sweating the weight off on my Peloton over the last 12 months so am now over 2 stone lighter than this time last year so hopefully that will help move me up the grid, I’ve now got a new GoPro so we will be uploading highlights from each round, I really love the cut and thrust of Go Karting, it is real racing, so can’t wait to get stuck in again.

UK's only Domestic Racing Simulator Demo Facilities.

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This is the really exciting news, during this third lockdown we have moved the Headphone demo room into a smaller more intimate room to free up the space for an exciting new business, basically the UK’s first demo room for domestic home racing simulators.

So I started playing racing simulators with Geoff Crammond’s Revs on the BBC Micro in 1984, a notoriously hard F3 simulator with only one track at launch, Silverstone, but at the time it felt like you were driving a real race car rather than an arcade game, then I worked my way through all Geoff’s F1 games up to Grand Prix 4 in 2002, then there the Papyrus games like Indycar Racing and Grand Prix Legends then last year I was introduced to iRacing where online racing really is taken to a totally new level.

I find it hard to believe that I really wasn’t aware of iRacing until thanks to Covid-19, Radical Cars took their racing online due to the UK Race Circuits being closed, I had previously been racing a Radical SR1 in the real world so was keen to see what online racing was like, needless to say I have been addicted ever since, installing a multi screen setup at home where I now race everyday after work.

When looking around at simulator equipment to buy for myself I realised that there was no where in the UK that I could find where you could demo a full system and get advice on what would be the best setup for me and funnily enough I soon figured out that the home racing simulator business is very similar to the HiFi Business and basically having a demo facility would be a good idea, I focus on iRacing and to be honest there is a hell of a lot to learn, a year in and I am still learning new functions and tricks so we want to help people choose the right system for themselves and answer any questions that iRacing is bound to throw up, obviously these systems can be used with any other racing sims but iRacing is where we focus.

We will have 3 simulators on permanent demo at 3 different price points but all very engaging and capable of posting the fastest times on iRacing and that will allow to realise your potential as an online racer, if you are interested in motorsport and have never tried one of these simulators please come in to give one a try and I know once experienced you will be hooked as I was.

We can also offer the full build and install package so there really is nothing to worry about, you can just get stuck straight in and enjoy your motorsport everyday.

As a customer of iLounge Racing you will also be eligible to join our weekly league races, for me this is where iRacing comes into its own, I race in a league every Thursday evening, to race the same people once a week in a championship really does add another level of competition, you can also join our Discord channel where we can discuss what happened in the race and look forward to the next race, really looking forward to creating an iLounge Racing community.

Sim racing is fun but I must admit I am surprised how serious I take it, it is certainly more than just a game, if you would like to explore this world more please feel free to get in touch to discuss your requirements or feel free to book an appointment to try out one of our simulators.

Please see below for more info on my home system, which already I'm thinking of upgrading, see just like HiFi -

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Live iRacing Race Video’s

As mentioned above I race in the UK&I Radical League every Thursday evening which really is brilliant fun and HiFi Lounge is one of the title sponsors, we have just bought on a commentator and the races are now streamed live on YouTube, please search for ‘Milky Cereal’ to follow these live at 9pm every Thursday.

Please find a link to last weeks race at Oulton Park, I actually had a pretty good race here.


New Car Livery

Plus we've just had the below Livery designed for our Radical SR8 that I race daily on iRacing so if you watch any of the races that will be me behind the virtual wheel.

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Car Videos

Finally we will be looking to add some car stuff to the website, I love my cars so we will start off with doing some videos on the cars I own then see where it takes us, we have quite a few HiFi customers with really nice cars so it would be great to do some videos of their cars also, if you fancy it let me know, doesn't have to be a SuperCar, just an interesting car.

To Sum Up!

So as you can see 2021 promises to be a busy year and why I feel that starting the iLounge Racing website and Social sites made sense as not to mix it up with the HiFi news, if you’d like to keep abreast of what iLounge Racing gets up to please see all the links needed below and please feel free to follow them -

Website - www. https://iloungeracing.co.uk/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ilounge_racing/

FaceBook - https://www.facebook.com/iloungeracing

You Tube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK-P27LCxLlSAqRScDGHqKg

Twitter - https://twitter.com/IloungeRacing

And remember as Steve McQueen said (from the greatest motorsport film ever made, Le Mans)-

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Thanks for taking the time to look and if you fancy coming along to any of the track action or to check out our simulator demo facilities please feel free to get in touch to discuss.

Regards,

Paul.
 
Photobook From Shakedown of new Race Lotus Elise at Silverstone!

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Hi All,

I just wanted to share some pictures from our shakedown drive of the new race Lotus Elise at Silverstone last Friday, back there again this Sunday for one more drive before the season starts at Donington on April 23rd.

The day went well other than it raining most of the day but the Elise drove beautifully until the end of the day where we got a bad judder on the front left corner and also realised that trying to drive on a track with traction control switched on isn't the best idea but luckily that could be switched off which made it a lot more fun to drive.

Still nowhere near its limits but the Elise is such a confidence inspiring car I really feel I will be able to get on top of it's performance easier than I could with the Radical, well here's hoping anway.

Cheers,

Paul.

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Build Pictures Converting Road Lotus Elise into a Race Car!

Hi Everyone,

I just thought I would post some pictures of the conversion of our Road Lotus Elise into a Race car, Lotus used to supply race Elise's but no longer do unfortunately so if you want to race in the Lotus Elise Trophy you have 3 options really, buy an Elise that has already been converted, buy a used Elise and convert it, there are certainly a lot of S1 Elise's racing or the way we did it, buy a brand spanking new Elise then pull it all apart, replace a hell of a lot of parts and put it back together again and hey presto, you have a race car.

Lotus specialists Hangar 111 did the conversion for us, have to say they did a brilliant job and whilst they were doing the work they took some snaps to show the work involved, have to say in the end you really wouldn't know that the car had been through this dismantling process, great job guys.

Please see pics below, really does show the amount of work involved, if interested you can see more pictures on www.iloungeracing.co.uk

Cheers,

Paul.

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I Can Now Say I've Raced A Lotus, RD 1 Photobook!

Hi All,

So last weekend we had our first race in the Lotus Elise at Donnington Park, one of my favourite tracks, firstly it was a huge tick as I can now say I have raced a Lotus, Lotus is my favourite car Marque, I've lost count how many I have owned over the years so for me this was a very special day.

So how did it go? if I am totally honest I was a little disappointed that I wasn't a little quicker but we did come away with a trophy for third place in our class so I really can't complain at that and as seat time is so important, and I was racing people who have been in the Elise Trophy for years, then I'm hopeful as I get to know the car better then we can move up the grid and taking positives from the weekend I got faster with every session on track with my fastest laps coming at the end of the 45 minute race on Sunday.

Next stop in Silverstone in a couple of weeks which I am really looking forward too as I'd like to think we can really be in the mix there and whichever way you look at it I will be racing a Lotus as Silverstone, now that really is a dream come true.

Please find a selection of pictures below taken from the our first race in the Lotus Elise Trophy at Donington Park.

Cheers,

Paul.

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Lotus Elise Trophy Race Updates Rounds 2 and 3!

Hi Everyone,

Got a little behind with our race updates I'm afraid as we have now completed race 2 of our Elise Trophy which was at Silverstone and was very wet and I wasn't very competitive to be honest so the less we say about that the better but then we went to Oulton Park last weekend and it was great weather and I felt I really started to get the best from myself and the car although I did find a second on my last very lap which was a surprise so I am not sure where that came from but Oulton Park is such a great drivers track that encourages you to attack every corner, really was a lot of fun and spectators where allowed again which did make all the difference.

Next weekend we are at Cadwell Park which is arguably the prettiest UK track and is often called the mini Nurburgring which makes me a little nervous as it is so narrow and the barriers are very close and you can get airborne at the so called 'Mountain' which will be interesting.

But we left Oulton Park with another trophy for 2nd in our class so that was a great way to end 2 fun days at the track, please find some pics below and a video of my 2 best laps around Oulton park which also are my best laps in the Elise so far, unfortunately we think there is something wrong with the camera as the quality isn't great so we have sent it back to the supplier to check it out but it will give you an idea of how great Oulton is to drive.

Oulton Park 2 Best Laps



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Cheers,
Paul.
 
Photobook From Round 4, Cadwell Park, The Prettiest Track in the UK!


Hi Everyone,

Just a quick update from our Lotus Elise Trophy exploits, for the last round we headed to Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire which without doubt is the most picturesque race track in the UK, I must admit I’m always a little nervous when arriving there as it is very narrow with some really fast corners, it is also very undulating with not a lot of run off so get it wrong and it will bite but as always it worked its wonders on me again and I left falling in love with Cadwell all over again.

No trophies this time I’m afraid but had some good track action which is the whole point really and the car survived the dangers of the Mini Nurburgring as it is affectionately known.

The season is disappearing fast, this weekend we are at Snetterton, nowhere as pretty as Cadwell but equally as demanding, every race we have got more performance out the car and from me also so really hoping that trend continues this weekend and that it stays dry.

The penny dropped the other day when testing at Snetterton that the Elise is a very different animal to the Radical, basically with the Radical it feels planted thanks to the aero I guess but with the Elise if it isn’t moving around under you then you are just not going fast enough, you almost have to drive it to the point it is just about to break away, the good news is that when it does oversteer it is very easy to get it back, very much like a big go kart, so I really hope to test that theory more this weekend.

Please find a few pics below for the stunning Cadwell Park.

Cheers,

Paul.

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