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Horton Racing News - 2009News Archive - 2008 : 2007 : 2006 : 2005 : 2004 Post 2009 season – Subaru Update & 2010 It’s been quite a few weeks now since the curtain closed on the 2009 season now, so it’s about time for an update on what’s happening behind the scenes. The item of the most important piece of news is the preparation of a brand new race engine for the Impreza. After the failure of the old unit, the engine and the internals where so badly damaged that nothing was salvageable from it and so it’s a fresh engine for 2010. The engine follows the same core structure and is based around a Subaru 2ltr closed deck block, but with up rated Cosworth internals but has had a new up rated and revised oil supply system included. Also helping with the re-configuration of the engine has been the input from Kent Performance Cams, who have provided a new profile to help with the midrange response and performance to compliment a new design of turbo charger for 2010. The team would also like to thank CDF racing (Upraded Subaru Parts) for help in providing the vernier timing pulleys for the engine and also from miller’s oils for their help with the choice of oils for the car and introduction of their revolutionary “Nano” oils the 2010 car will be using. The engine should be fully completed and installed within the next 2 weeks, before a rolling road session to evaluate the cars performance and a track session to shake it down. The Hortonracing team is planning to participate in the 2010 winter series in preparation for a full 2010 British rallycross championship campaign. Also for 2010, Simon will also be contesting a fully Scooby Sprint Championship in the Pro class, providing there is no clash of dates with the rallycross season. Both the rallycross and scooby sprint champion calendars are to be finalised, so watch this space. Subaru / Mallory Update After the recent catastrophic failure of the engine at Lydden Hill the HortonRacing team is pleased to announce that the Subaru will be back out at Mallory Park on the 18th of October for the final round. After Lydden the car went back in the garage to ascertain what the problem was. It is apparent that there was oil starvation on cylinder no. 3 which caused a big end bearing failure and destroyed the crank in the process. The replacement parts have been sourced, upgraded and are in the process of being installed which includes oil control components from Cosworth. Mallory Parks coverage will also be broadcast live on Motors TV. Top of the Podium at Pembrey! 19th and 20th September With the Subaru out of action Sunday at Pembrey was an opportunity for Simon to go back to his roots for Steve had already proved the day before that the car was running well by winning third place in the final which gained him his first and well deserved trophy. So it was down to Simon on the second day of racing to hopefully continue the cars winning streak. Practice was somewhat different to usual with Simon having to get used to two-wheel drive and less grip compared to his usual 500 hp Supercar. “The day was only meant as a bit of fun and a chance to play out again in the Stockhatch class which I always enjoyed. I chose the BTRDA as I wasn’t eligible for any points and did not want to interfere with any of the major championship battles”. The car took some getting used to in the first heat as it felt very tail happy and was not riding the rough sections particularly well. In the last lap Simon went wide on one of the corners and Darren Clarke pipped him to the finish line with Simon finishing second. After the first heat was run we softened the suspension and lowered the tyre pressures, to help ride the rough conditions on the loose and gain more heat into the tyres, thus improving the grip. In the second heat Simon made the perfect start off the line and sprinted clear of the field to maintain first place throughout and started to find his groove in the Peugeot. Heat three was almost an identical re-run of heat two to within 0.1 of a second at 3.16.430 minutes. With the times that Simon set throughout the day he qualified on pole position for the A final with Dave Martin and Darren Clarke joining him on the front row. Again Simon got an excellent start and led from the first corner and was leading up to the second lap when the race was red flagged due to John Rook rolling his 205 just before the hairpin. Thankfully John was o.k., the car was not too badly damaged and after a discussion with the other drivers John was allowed to take his place on the grid for the re-run of the final. In the re-run of the final Simon did not make as good a start and he also noticed that the car was smoking badly which was probably due to a valve stem oil seal leak at high RPM. This meant Simon had to short shift the car which meant he was not able to use full power throughout the race to help preserve the engine. Dave Martin was on his back all through the race but it was Simon who finished first. Simon claimed the top step of the podium for the first time in two years. “I would like to thank Steve for the loan of the car and to my team and sponsors for all the help over the weekend. The second run of the final was touch and go, every time I went into high revs the engine was developing oil smoke so I had no idea how long the engine would last or the exact cause of the problem, so I drove a conservative race to help preserve the engine and made sure we made it to the finish. Dave Martin ran me very close but it was a good clean race”. As a separate note Simon and Steve would also like to thank LAD Motorsport at Morecambe for their help in setting up the car at short notice before the event. 31/08/09 - HortonRacing feeling the heat!
Sunday the 30th of August was a chance to compete in the Belgium Championship together with some familiar faces from the GB team which included Pat Doran, Steve Hill, Dave Binks and Brian Jukes. The timed practice revealed an increasing pace by setting the fourth fastest time of 48.83 seconds. The difference with the Belgium championship took a bit of getting used to as the lights flashed rather than going through the usual British start sequence, the cars started on a line rather than staggered group positions and as there were no grid sheets your fastest lap determined your position on the grid. Heat 1 of the championship placed Simon in 5th place at a time of 2.49 minutes; Heat 2 Simon was tipped into a half-spin at the bottom of devils elbow by a loose bolt on the rear suspension which was later corrected. Heat 3 was fast and furious and he finished behind David Binks and was just half a second slower than Steve Hill. However due to Belgium regulations only six cars make the final and even though Simon was tied on points with Steve Hill, Steve beat Simon by half a second in the final heat and so took the last place on the grid for the finals. Simon comments “It was great to race with some different competitors and maybe if the Belgium event is held at Lydden Hill again I will be more used to the start system”. Monday the 31st was a glorious and very hot day which proved an issue with not only the drivers having to cope with the heat but also the cars boiling on the grid. It was a first again for Lydden Hill on this day as Motors TV were providing Live coverage of the event and we soon realised that simon was in the very first televised race and not only that, was on pole! No pressure then. Simon’s first run in the morning went well after a shaky start as the throttle cable came off the car just as he got to the starting grid but it was soon apparent that it was a false start and luckily Simon was able to line up again on the grid for a second time. The car had a great start and he was able to pass Belgium driver Jan Van Loon at the first corner, the track was incredibly bumpy and took a few prisoners along the way leaving Simon to finish in a respectable fourth place behind David Binks. Lady luck again was not shining on us for Heat 3 as after another great start Simon came off at the first corner resulting in him chasing the pack furiously throughout the race. We hoped with the times that he had set throughout the day he should make a Final. Simon did make the B Final and it was apparent that the heat of the day had caused a lot of drivers difficulty as out of the six cars that qualified for the B Final only two ran. We were all optimistic that the day would finish on a high by Simon giving all he had in the B Final but unfortunately it wasn’t to be. Just as Simon came off the track at the end of Heat 3 something went bang in the engine and sounded pretty terminal. It was decided to call it a day rather than damage the engine beyond any reasonable repair. Simon comments “The car showed an awful lot of potential this weekend but it was frustrating not to be able to take my place in the B Final after all the day’s efforts. Thanks again to all the team for their amazing efforts again and to the Sponsors for their continuing support”. The car is now back in the garage and the engine will be stripped to find the cause of the failure. Watch this space for more exciting news soon! 30/07/09 - Simon goes Double Dutch! The Hortonracing team is going double Dutch in August! On the Bank holiday weekend of the 30-31st of August, Simon will contest both a round of the British and the Dutch championship at Lydden Hill (kent). 03/07/09 – REPAIR UPDATE + AUGUST DATES After the fire damage problems at Lydden Hill at we are glad to report that the Subaru Impreza is now fully fixed and repaired ready for the track again. Thanks to the expert electrical knowledge of Peter Horton, the car has been totally rewired with a new modular wiring loom, meaning that if part ever gets damaged again then to swap out the damaged part would be much easier. Whist the car has been stripped for repairs, it has allowed us to replace damaged pipelines and also upgrade a few components. The Impreza will also be remapped before August to maximise the power from the engine. August will be a very busy month, with the team being on the road for 3 consecutive weekends. August the 15th will be a full test day on track, the weekend after is round 4 of the Scooby sprint at Santa Pod. And the final date is the August bank holiday which will be round 5 of the British rallycross championship at Lydden Hill. 03/07/09 – ROUND 8 (VENUE CHANGE) MALLORY PARK The final round of the Kumho Tyres MSA British Rallycross Championship will be switched from Croft to run on a newly built track at Mallory Park on October 18. The move has come about after new restrictions covering the usage of Croft Circuit (near Darlington) forced the circuit operator, the British Automobile Racing Club (BARC), to reduce the number of events on its 2009 calendar. The BARC also operates Mallory Park (near Leicester) and has recently gone through the process of designing new loose-surface sections in order to allow Rallycross events to be run at the circuit. 03/07/09 - LIVE TV COVERAGE RETURNS TO BRITISH RALLYCROSS Motors TV’s coverage of the Kumho Tyres MSA British Rallycross Championship moves up a gear in August as the ‘High Speed Television’ channel brings live coverage of round 5 of the 2009 season from Lydden Hill courtesy of Hayfisher. 01/06/2009 : Firey round Four Round 4 of the MSA British Rallycross championship ended before it really even started!! During practise the oil return pipe from the turbo ruptured and spewed oil onto the red hot downpipe which ignited and cause a fire round the turbo area which caused heavy damage to the Impreza’s electrical system and pipe work. The other problem was that the alternator was also damaged by the fire extinguishers which meant that the car wasn’t able to charge once it left the paddock, which with such a heavy electrical load from the fuel pumps, water pump, fans etc caused a massive loss in performance from the ignition system and loss over overall power and response. The team worked flat out after been recovered from practise to locate the damaged items and replace / repair what was possible. Unfortunately due to the extent of the damage the first 2 heats were missed and the so Simon wasn’t eligible for a Final. The Hortonracing team carried on with the repairs and made the grid for the 3rd heat, but with such a loss of performance was unable to keep with the pack. By the good will of the organisers and the other B-final drivers, Simon was allowed to take a place on the grid for the B-final (but unable to score point) and was able to entertain the fans with a spirited battle with Brian Dukes to claim 4th place. Much was learned from the weekend and as much as it was a disappointment for the team, we will be back at round 5 stronger than ever. 01/06/2009 : New Sponsor – HT Auto’s
The Horton Racing team is very proud to introduce a new sponsor on the Subaru Impreza –HT Auto’s. The body panel specialist’s produces aftermarket spoilers, splitters, diffusers and other associated parts for all shapes of Subaru Impreza. Some of these items will appear on the Hortonracing car over the year so please keep an eye out for developments. For more information on the products, please go to www.htautos.co.uk | Subaru Spoilers , Splitters , Diffusers
01/04/2009 : News Update Prior to the 2nd & 3rd rounds of the BRDA Rallycross Championship, Simon has decided to participate in the Scoobysprint Championship at Elvington airfield on the 19th April. After the failure of a selector arm and linkage in the Impreza's gearbox during testing at Anglesey, Simon felt the need to run the car again prior to the Pembrey event to make sure everything is back working correctly and also give him a chance to sharpen up on his reactions at the event. The scoobysprint is a series of events just for Subaru's, but has a large spread of machinery and at the first event will also feature an entry from Prodrive with a WRC 2008 spec impreza driven by test driver Tony Kaby. Due to the spec of the Hortonracing Supercar, it will be placed in the Unlimited class which also feature's the WRC car plus various other huge horse power time attack machinery. For more details on the event go to Scooby Sprint 16/03/2009 : Pre-season Testing News Update On the 1st of March 2009 the Hortonracing team hit the track in style for a bit of pre-season shakedown at the A The most notable improvement from 2008 was in the high speed cornering of the car. With the addition of the newer style aero WRC rear wing and a transfer in location of the weight ballast, the team was able to focus purely on the suspension side of the car. As the day progressed and with adjustments to the suspension damping rates, ride height’s and camber, the cornering speed increased all through the day without sacrificing low speed turn in or straight line speed. “Previously I had a major problem with the back end trying to brake away under braking and in especially in the higher speed corners, but it was clear this morning before we started to play around with the shockers that the rear wing was working brilliantly and pushing the rear of the car into the track. I feel I can now fully attack the entry and exit of a corner hard and the car is working for me now rather than fighting me.” Commented Simon Unfortunately though, as the day was coming to a close Simon was pushing a just a bit too hard and broke the selector arm on the gearbox during a downshift. The result of this diagnosis meant that the replacement parts had to be sourced and meant that the opening round at Mondello Park had to be missed. However on the positive side, Simon will be ready to race for Pembrey in May and will be full of confidence and come out with all guns blazing. Watch this space for pre-event news updates. 20/01/2009 : 2009 Season Preview Welcome to the Hortonracing website for 2009. MONDELLO PARK - 8th March Thankyou all for your continued support and we shall aim to entertain you all in 2009.
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the day and compete in the BTRDA Stockhatch class in Steve Rattues Peugeot 205 GTI.
The team travelled down to Lydden Hill for the annual Bank Holiday event in high spirits, following recent successful test runs at both 
nglesey circuit in North Wales. The car was only fresh out the body shop earlier in the week after being prepped and sprayed by the Greyhound Ford body shop in Accrington and Simon was itching to get back behind the wheel of the Impreza. For the shakedown the car was also fitted with a second seat so that a second opinion on the setup could be advised on track and small adjustments made at the circuit. Simon and chief mechanic Craig Youngs hit the track early and immediately found a severe misfire problem. This was soon fixed, the problem was the gap on the plugs was too large and with the high levels of boost it was literally blowing out the spark. With the misfire cured the attention then turned to handling and braking which was an issue all through the first season with the car. With Craig in the passenger seat, fine adjustments where made to the brake bias whilst on track and Simon was able to commit hard and later on the brakes every lap. 
way and the season ended on a high and pointing in a positive direction for this year. So what has been happening over the winter and what can we expect to see in 2009?