Citroën C1 racing
The Belgian circuit is used to faster, more powerful cars roaring along the Kemmel straight but, as Matt Prior attests, seldom have drivers had more fun than in a Citroën C1 24-hour race
Slowest (but funnest) laps of Spa
Have you ever heard a small-capacity twostroke motorcycle haring along the road at top speed, gone to a window to look at it and realised that it’s not going very quickly at all? It’s all ‘niiinnnnng’, and no go.
Welcome to the Citroën C1 Racing Club. Only without most of the ‘ning’.
The C1 Racing Club was born because people used to race Citroën 2CVS in large numbers, but don’t quite so much any more. It used to be one of the cheapest forms of motorsport out there but these days even the newest 2CV is decades old and running and maintaining those cars is, by pastime standards, starting to become rather expensive.
So some of the people behind it thought they would put a C1 racing car together and see how that went. Sedately, is the answer. But also cheaply, so here we are.
The first-generation C1 is, as you’ll probably know, mechanically identical to the Peugeot 107 and Toyota Aygo, though only C1s make it into the club for now. There were 3dr or 5dr versions but the racers are 3drs and alterations between road car and race car are pretty limited to keep costs down and the playing field level.
In the technical regulations, the phrase ‘no modifications’ appears no less than 15 times. Every car has its interior stripped and safety equipment added. The dashboard has to remain in place, with a working radio, to prove the wiring loom is standard, and the handbrake is still there, because every car must have an MOT. The engine, gearbox, exhaust, glass and even the window winders (manual or electric) have to stay as was. The minimum weight limit, including driver, is 910kg. Most cars carry ballast to bring them up to the limit.
Power is – drum roll – a heady 68bhp, delivered to the front wheels through a five-speed manual gearbox whose fifth gear I suspect you’d never see on a race track. You can’t change a thing on the transmission, either.
There are, though, a couple of changes to the suspension. You can shim the rear to adjust the toe angle (dead straight is best, clubbers find), fit strut braces if you like, and mount club-supplied lower front suspension arms, to adjust camber and keep more rubber on the road.
I kid you not, it was one of the best drives of my life
That rubber, mind, is the Nankang AS1, because the club tried a few different tyres and decided that these ones delivered the best balance. And, crucially, not very much grip. They’re also quite cheap.
Does all this sound silly to you? Same here, but it has obviously struck a chord. The club’s first races were this year but already there are more than 80 cars complete or in-build. And I think that’s because, all in, you could be looking at having a car built, race ready, for around £3000. It’s so popular that the club recently announced it would hold a 24-hour race at Rockingham in May. Within a week, it was so oversubscribed that it had to announce it was holding another one in August.
There’s also another 24-hour race, at Spa-francorchamps where no fewer than 108 cars raced – half of them 2CVS, or curious derivatives thereof, and the other half C1s. Remarkably, they all fitted on the same circuit.
This is, I suspect, because the speed differentials aren’t that big. In ‘proper’ GT racing, you might have LMP1 cars and GTE cars on the same track with massively different closing speeds. With C1s and 2CVS (and some weird developed 2CV racers with BMW bike engines and the odd classic Mini), everybody’s broadly… slow.
How slow? A Formula 1 car will lap Spa in 1min 46sec, at an average speed of 147mph. A C1 cannot even dream of 147mph, so wants almost two minutes extra to complete a lap. So there is time to think about what you’re catching, or what is catching you, and that makes 108 cars fit into 4.3 miles quite easily. Besides, an
average of 75mph over a lap doesn’t sound so bad, does it? It sounds, dare I say it, exciting. It is.
It doesn’t matter if it’s quite sedate. Racing at Spa, in the dark, even with only 68bhp, is utterly, utterly brilliant. My first ‘stint’ was two hours from dusk and it was, I kid you not, one of the best drives I’ve ever had in my life.
How’s the car? Not fast, by proper racing car standards, but turning into Eau Rouge, in the dark, in the rain, at 4am, with wipers smearing 12 hours of grit and grime and oil and filth across the windscreen, at 90mph, only a few inches from another car, felt quite senior to me.
The suspension changes make the C1 really adjustable too. It’s not exactly sharp on turn in, but it hangs on gamely and the rear is only a lift of throttle from becoming quite active.
The steering is light and uncommunicative, but the brakes – light pedal aside – are phenomenal, the gearshift easy and the engine revvy. It’s amazing fun.
There are places, even at Spa, even in the dry, where you have to take a small breath before turning in flat. And there are places – quite a few of them – where your right foot feels like you’re trying to trap a lost expenses receipt to the floor in a high wind.
Anyway, I shan’t bore you with full details of how my teammates and I fared, except to say that I didn’t break the car and we finished mid-order, it was the friendliest racing grid I have ever been a part of, and we all had an absolute ball. How much of a ball? Put it this way: I don’t always enjoy racing, but should you happen upon a Citroën C1 race, my intention is that you’ll find me in it.
My kind of road
I recently discovered the B6276 from Middleton-in-teesdale to Brough. If you want to give your tyres a trackday-style work out legally and in relative safety, this is the road.
There are loads of open corners with full view and most are too tight to exceed the speed limit. There’s wonderful scenery if you have time and inclination to look and seemingly hardly any sheep to worry about.
I can’t wait to try this road again. Just be aware of your altitude in the context of frost.
I’d also mention the Cafe 1618 in Middleton-in-teesdale; delightful hosts and as a good a mushroom soup as you’ll find anywhere. John Lovel Via email Thanks, John. Does any other reader have road, cafe or soup recommendations for us? — MB
Right is right and left is wrong
Left-braking brings up a host of problems (Your Views, 1 November).
First of all, you have to get used to braking smoothly with your left foot; especially if you are coming from a vehicle with a manual transmission and using that foot for a clutch.
Then there is the problem of ‘riding’ the brake pedal. If I had a pound for every time that I have seen a vehicle (obviously an automatic) move off from, say, traffic lights and accelerate away with his brake lights on, therefore wasting fuel and brake linings, I would be a rich man. More dangerous is the fact that with the brake lights always on, the following driver has no idea as to whether the car in front is braking or not.
For these reasons alone, I always brake with my right foot. Timothy Dabbs Surbiton
Special relationship
I must congratulate Andrew Frankel for his article on the Porsche 911 GT3 RS (‘From Weissach with love’, 1 November). Very few motoring writers can actually convey that tangible feeling that a particularly
special car provides. This is the essence of motoring and the love of driving which legislation has almost destroyed.
As Andrew says, older cars are more likely to provide this special relationship. I’ve discovered that you don’t need a supercar, either. Modern cars are incredible in their design and construction but let’s hope that the spirit of driving somehow survives. John Fernley Lytham St Annes
Reborn with new badges
I can’t be alone in spotting the modern take on the wonderful Toyota 2000 GT. The only surprise was that it is launched by Honda, in the shape of the Sports EV Concept shown at the Tokyo motor show! Tim Boles Isle of Man
Let the train take the strain
I read your feature involving a black cab, Uber and sat-nav (‘We’re all routing for you…’, 1 November). It’s interesting that John Evans was unable to conclude that the best option for the Richmond to Waterloo run was clearly the train at just 16 minutes and less than the cost of all three. Indeed, quite how cabbies can justify a fee almost 100% more than Uber is beyond me. Anthony Bunnage Via email John didn’t conclude the train is superior because that wasn’t the point of the comparison — MB
It’s a deal breaker, Peugeot
As an alternative to the mainstream, the Peugeot 5008 has its merits. However, as long as Peugeot continues to persevere with putting a small steering wheel in the lap of the driver, obscuring the instruments in the process, it’s a car I won’t be buying. Steve Butterworth Via email
Run it up the flag pole
I was thrilled to read Steve Cropley’s article on the Bloodhound SSC (News, 1 November). It should make us all proud that despite being the first to break the sound barrier, the Noble-green team are pressing on to smash the almost unfathomable 1000mph speed ceiling.
However, while I applaud the goal of showcasing Britain and its talent, someone ought to point out that the Union flag on the tail, is upside down. Roly Bardsley Cheshire Roly, we queried this with Bloodhound officials, who said: “When wrapping a two-sided triangular tail fin with a rectangular flag there is no rule book to follow. The designers did it as if there is a flag pole mounted on the back of the car and the Union flag is being blown backwards by the direction of travel. The flag is correctly oriented for the right to left, but reversed for the left to right.” – MB
Fangs for the memories
Has anyone seen the part in the
movie ‘AVP: Alien vs Predator’ where the Predator removes its head protection gear to reveal its actual scarred face, and then opens these huge mandibles to reveal its fangs?
Well, this is exactly what the front of the new Lexus LS F Sport looks like (First Drives, 1 November).
They are so alike that I am amazed anyone thought this car looked good enough to be signed off. Lee Ryan Via email
Useful LPG advice
I have been reading your long-term test reports on the Lpg-equipped Dacia Sandero Stepway. I have been running an Lpg-converted Skoda Octavia VRS Mk1 for two years – it’s my second Lpg-equipped car, the first being a Land Rover Discovery V8 – and find it to be much cheaper than using petrol for commuting.
I thought you may like a couple of tips. The LPG indicators are notoriously unreliable. I always keep it running until the gas actually runs out to get a meaningful idea of range from the tank, which is usually about 300 miles on a fill.
A useful website – filllpg.co.uk – shows the locations of LPG stations and has links to download them to your car’s sat-nav. I tend to fill the fuel tank up, and then just use the petrol for starting the car, as it will switch over to gas when it is ready to (usually when the engine reaches 60deg C). Alan Hurcombe Hereford
Type R is right Honda money
I suspect that people who criticise the looks of the new Honda Civic Type R secretly love it, but are worried about what other people will think.
I am about to turn 50 and I do not give a stuff what other people think! My Civic Type R puts a smile on my face every time I look at it, and an even bigger smile on my face when I drive it. It does over 30mpg, is more refined and more comfortable than my wife’s Volkswagen Golf R and my teenage kids love it. It is best hot hatch on sale today, innit? Alex Roebuck (age 49 and 3/4)
via email