TR4/4A TR4 at Nurburgring

[Kirk_Fisher]

Wow. That is a Can Am type car he is racing.

TR4 at Nurburgring

 

[trfourtune]

That looks like Christian Marx. Not just a stock triumph! i think he's running about a 320 deg cam etc.
Rob

 

[tomshobby]

That is a great clip. I was wondering why he did not pass sooner.
Also maybe just because of the lack of seat-of-the-pants feel but from the tire squeal it seemed like he had considerable under-steer in the TR4 and was plowing in the corners.

 

[Twosheds]

To be fair, it looked to me like the Prototype was just cruising, not worrying about his line, while Christian was hitting his marks and pushing it. By pushing I mean driving hard, not understeering.

I think a Prototype driven in anger would have no problem with a TR4.

That said, it looks like Christian is a heckuva driver!

 

[tomshobby]

Probably the lack of feeling the ride and seeing it instead. I did think he picked a much better line than the prototype driver.

 

[Kirk_Fisher]

Sweet video. There is a 10 minute one of him with lots of LBC's on the track.

Have you seen this one? The result is not as pretty!

TR4 axle failure

 

[Kirk_Fisher]

10 minute clip.

TR4 at Nurburgring 10 minute clip

 

[TR4nut]

Here's what the outside of that TR4 looked like after the axle failure:

Old Blue

Randy

 

[Simon TR4a]

Christian often posts his videos from Hockenheim and Essen on the FoT list.
Its clear he is pushing hard, well onto the rumble strip on some corner exits, and his car is very fast.
I don't know what the sports racer is but it must be a smaller car as he shows the weight as 480 kilos, it flashes on the video, and I'm pretty sure the guy is warming his oil and transmission for the second lap as there is no question he could deal with a TR4.

Great video!
Simon.

 

[Simon TR4a]

The video of Uncle Jack Drews crashing is very scary; thank goodness for Southwick axles!
I find it interesting that you can hear wheelspin in the right hand corner just before the axle fails; I suppose he is not using an LSD and the inside rear wheel is a bit light. The irs cars wont do that at that kind of speed, at least not in my experience.
Simon.

 

[roofman]

He had em in the twisties, not enough horsepower on the straightaways.
Wonder what he used for a camera mount?

 

[Twosheds]

The video of Uncle Jack Drews crashing is very scary; thank goodness for Southwick axles!

Not to be picky, but I think it's Tony Drews, not U.J. in that video.

I considered putting the Southwick axle conversion on my old TR3 racecar, but went with a stock rebuild due to poverty and the fact that I was running the Dunlop tyres. The Dunlops aren't sticky enough to put dangerous sideloads on the hubs, in my opinion. The new owner is running Hoosiers and put a Southwick axle in. It doesn't actually make the car faster, but the driver might push harder because he has more confidence; effectively making the car faster.

Also, I am sure that the prototype driver was just warming up. Just look at his line compared with Christan's line. No way was he racing with Christian. This is not a knock against Christian.

 

[AngliaGT]

Great clip.Wish my 6 would go that fast.

- Doug

 

[Guest]

Wonder what he used for a camera mount?

Pegasus Racing has some neat roll bar camera mounts, cheapish.

 

[Guest]

What's with the leather skull cap and no helmet at those speeds?

 

[Twosheds]

Also stock three-point belt. This must have been a Club Day or something, not a race, or that would not be allowed.

The date was 2002-3. Christian has since posted videos of him racing that TR4 in real vintage races, so he has added safety equipment. I think he still drives it on the street, though.

 

[trfourtune]

I think this is not a race since he has his full windshield on. when he races he takes it off and wears the helmet. he's probably on street tires.
Rob

 

[Monkeywrench]

Here is Christian's website https://www.tr4-racing.de/index1.html

 

[Twosheds]

Thanks, Monkeywrench!

I was trying to find recent racing videos of Christian, but with Friends of Triumph down, I was lost.

Now I'm found.

 

[MadMarx]

I have to apologize but the videos from 2001-2003 are made when I never thought about to take part at a race.

The car was quite standard with a 280 degree cam. 113 HP power output was estimated by a rolling road dyno. Street tires with wire spoke wheels were fitted at that time.

Year 2004 the car was warmed up a little to 135 HP with racing tires. I've used lot's of hot tips out of the Kastner tuning manuals to make the suspension better raceable.

The CanAm racer was a complete surprise to meet on that event which is only allowed to road legal cars.
The car's weight was 480 kg with 120 HP out of 1.6L.
I had a chat with the driver later the day and he told me that he is not familiar with the track....the reason why he slowed down on the twisted parts of the track.

But it was good fun to pass him anyway and beeing about 500m ahead when entering the long straight. I just cruised at 80 mph to cool down the engine and went on the parking to check the car.

2006 Uncle Jack helped my to hop up my engine a little so it does have 160 HP now. He bought the parts and sent them over to Europe. Nice guy with very good ideas.

Cheers
Chris

This year I will race at the Nordschleife and try to do more than just a practise session. Hope the camera will work this time....