Visit to Barwell- 21st February

Following our most recent visit to Barwell Motorsport we can report that the new Z4 is really coming on leaps and bounds.  The hard top carbon fibre roof is now fitted, front end assembly installed and rear differential in place.  The roof did prove somewhat tricky to fit, as getting an absolute perfect fit required a touch of mastery from the Barwell crew.  

The engine installation had also been completed and whilst we were there the engine was being prepped for its initial run up the following day.  This went without a glitch and we are well on track to completing the new car in plenty of time ahead of its first shake down at Oulton Park on 5^th March.  

Mark Lemmer chief engineer at Barwell mentioned that the build was all going to plan.  One of the most time consuming exercises in the Z4 build has been organising all the individual parts for the car.  Every nut and bolt comes in individual packaging with a serial number which needs to be matched to the build manual.  When there are thousands of these small parts this takes quite some time to get everything in order.

We look forward to reporting back after the shake down at Oulton Park

AM

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LE MANS CLASSIC 2012

2012 was probably my most memorable year in racing so far.  Not only did the boys and I succeed in bringing the Ecurie Ecosse name back to top flight international GT racing, but we came very close to winning the British GT Championship at first attempt in an old-spec car, and we proved in the Blancpain Endurance Series that we could compete at the very highest level in what is arguably now the hardest GT Championship in the World.

Shortly after it was restored following 40 years in an Australian museum, I became the second person ever to drive the Tyrrell March 701 F1 car driven to victory by Sir Jackie Stewart in the 1970 Spanish Grand Prix.  In my first ever competitive outing in the car I started the Monaco Historic Grand Prix from Pole Position (as the car did in 1970!), and after building up a 45 second lead I suffered an unfortunate puncture but still managed to finish on the podium after pitting for a wheel change during a 20 minute race.

Jackie Stewart leading the 1970 Monaco Grand Prix in his Tyrrell March 701-2

Andrew Smith in the ex-Jackie Stewart Tyrrell March 701-2 through Casino Square during
the 2012 Monaco Historic Grand Prix

At the Le Mans Classic this year, I was given an epic opportunity by a friend and prolific historic car collector and racer, Carlos Monteverde, to drive three very special cars sharing with him and Gary Pearson.  These are cars that I had only ever dreamed of driving, never mind racing them round the circuit at La Sarthe!

These cars were the ex-Jim Clark Border Reivers Jaguar D Type, the 1970 Le Mans winning Porsche 917, and the 1977 Le Mans winning Porsche 936.  This was quite simply one of the best experiences of my life.  The highlight had to be racing the 936 during one of the night stints in torrential rain, powering up the Mulsanne Straight at nearly 220mph - to be honest I can't quite describe it!

ex-Jim Clark Border Reivers D Type

1970 Le Mans winning Porsche 917

1977 Le Mans winning Porsche 936

 As much as I love driving the BMW Z4 GT3 and it presents an entirely different challenge, for me nothing really comes close to driving a highly powerful and historically important racing car around an evocative race track.

AS

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Winter training

Some photos from my pre-season cycling regime!

Fitness is key for success in Endurance racing, here i am training with the likes of Ollie Millroy..

OB

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Blogs

As mentioned in previous posts the blog will be updated by key members of the team to help give insight into Ecurie Ecosse as it is today.

At the bottom of each blogpost there will be initials which indicate the author.

Simply:

JT- Joe Twyman

OB- Olly Bryant

AS- Andrew Smith

AM- Alasdair McCaig

OM- Olly Millroy

We can blog separately about nicknames somewhere down the line....

Olly Bryant/Alasdair McCaig

Olly Bryant/Andrew Smith

Joe Twyman (John Haribo) Ollie Millroy

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My Top 5 Historic Race Cars- Joe Twyman

The Ecurie Ecosse blog is intended to give in insight into the lives of the people who make the team what it is today.

Andrew, Olly, Alasdair and myself have all put a huge amount of effort into getting the team back on the grid and we all met through historic racing. 

Olly and I have been great mates for the best part of a decade and I met the Scottish contingent probably 5 years ago.

With my historic racing I have been given some amazing opportunities and have driven some fantastic cars. Thinking of things to blog about I thought it would be good to rate the 5 best historic racing cars I have driven.

It will be interesting to see what the others come up with!

Here we go:

Porsche 917 013.

Porsche 917 at Goodwood Festival of Speed

Lotus 15 at Goodwood Revival with Roger Wills

To anyone who claims to be a petrol head a Gulf 917 is right up there among the very best. 013 boasts a fantastic period history with the likes of Pedro Rodriguez, Jackie Oliver and Derek Bell having raced it. When I drove the car at the Goodwood Festival of Speed it was a big box ticked! I probably didn't get a true feeling for the car but for the weekend I certainly felt like Steve McQueen in "Le Mans". Ironically the car was run by Barwell Motorsport (who run the EE Z4) and at the time I think team principle Mark Lemmer thought "who the hell is this 19 year old pinching my seat for the weekend?" If you look in the photo you can see a very young looking Mikey Brown (who has now defected to the newly reformed Gulf Racing team) and Terry who looks after tyres on the Z4!

Lotus 15 

Having raced a Lotus 11 for a few years I was always at the envy of those in Lotus 15's. When my boss Roger Wills bought the ex Graham Hill car I was very excited about the opportunity to drive it and it certainly didn't disappoint. Over the past few seasons we have had a great time with the car winning races at Le Mans and Goodwood amongst others. The car has such a good balance and is able to overcome its "small engine" in the corners. It may be a 50 year old car but it certainly doesn't feel like one 3 a-breast into Maggotts Becketts at 130mph!

Cooper T45/51

Leading the later Lotus 25 and Cooper T66 at Monaco

The Cooper is essentially the Grand Prix version of the Lotus 15. Running the same engine and similar gearbox the car is a lot lighter which enables you to throw it round even more than you would the 15! With an amazing period history (Salvadori, Burgess, Von Trips etc) the owner doesn't like the car being raced week in week out and as such I have only raced it 6 times in the past 5 years. First time out I was 2nd overall at Silverstone and my second event was Monaco (talk about baptism of fire!) I raced the car twice at Monaco and I won the class both times (the 2nd year I was 3rd overall with the oldest car on the grid). Its like a big Formula Ford with rubbish brakes. I like that!

Ford GT40 P/1009

Like the 917 it is one of the boxes to tick. The most extensively raced GT40 in period 1009 didn't just look the part, it felt it. I drove the car at the Goodwood Festival of Speed (sharing the driving with it's original pilot Peter Sutcliffe) and also at the Spa 6 Hours in the same year. We were leading the 6 Hours at the 2hour mark and the gearbox let go. The noise, the smell, the performance makes it one of the best! If I ever get the change again it won't take a heartbeat to say yes!

GT40 P/1009 

Elva Mk 7

Elva Mk 7- Goodwood Revival.

The final spot was a very tough call. Not many people will have heard of an Elva Mk 7 whereas one could argue the others on my list are quite well known! The Elva is here because it just does everything you want it to. Its predictable, fun, easy to drive and is a giant killer! I have done so many races in this car I can't count and have always been very excited about doing so when I have been asked. In all those races the highlight has to be winning the Sports Racing Masters race solo at Portimao, beating the bigger engined McLaren's and GT40's (told you it was a giant killer!). The last race I did in the car was actually with Ecosse team mate Olly Bryant (again at Portimao) and I am sure he will back me up that these are fantastic little race cars!


OK I really cant leave out the Tyrrell P34 either so I have to have 6! The 6 wheeled Tyrrell is a very strange car to drive but utterly brilliant. I have never raced the car but have driven it extensively in testing and also in filming for the forthcoming Rush F1 movie directed by Ron Howard. There is nothing quite like the kick from a DFV and the noise it makes is music!

Ex Patrick Depailler Tyrrell P34/2.

So, there we have it... Choosing 5 (6) was really difficult. I am extremely lucky with the opportunities I have had over the years. Someone asked me the other day what the worst car I have driven is. Despite their being a few contenders I think all the opportunities i have had have been learning experiences and I treat them as such! Some of the experiences haven't been great but I very rarely get out of a race car without a smile on my face!

JT

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Wednesday 13th February- Visit to Barwell

The 2013 Ecurie Ecosse BMW Z4 GT3

Ahead of announcing Ecurie Ecosse’s 2013 plans, which will take in the best of both domestic and European GT championships, Andrew Smith and myself made a visit to Barwell Motorsport HQ in Surrey to see the build progress of our 2013 BMW Z4 GT3 car. 

As you can see from the following photos, there is plenty of work to do ahead of our pre-season testing program due to commence in March. The car arrived behind schedule from BMW so the Barwell crew are up against it to complete the build in time, but from experience I have no doubt they are up to the task.

My relationship with the experienced GT squad goes back to 2009 when Andrew and myself raced the Ginetta G50 Zytek prepared by Barwell in British GT. Whilst the car had some initial teething problems costing us a strong result at Spa Francorchamps, the team soon got on top of the issues and driving with Joe Osborne and Piers Johnson, I was able to claim 2 outright British GT wins at Rockingham and 2 second place finishes at Snetterton, in addition to a fastest lap at Silverstone. 

When Andrew, Alasdair, Joe and myself embarked on the return of Ecurie Ecosse in 2011, I was sure Barwell were the team for the job and the 9th place finish at the 2011 Spa 24 hours and the 100% points finishing record in 2012 that so nearly brought us the British GT crown is testament to that. 

2013 Pedal Box

As you can see the engine has just gone in and the fuel tanks and pedal box assembly are in situe. The pedal box is one of the upgrades over the car we ran last season (also photographed in the workshop visit). You can see the 2013 specification rear wing (see photo) which is more efficient and will produce more downforce with less drag. 

Just like a big mecano set!

We are all looking forward to the season ahead and we will keep you updated as soon as our plans are announced, in addition to photos and reports from our testing program.

More horsepower than last year, should help us on the straights!

2013 spec rear wing.

OB

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Ecosse Painting

The 2012 Ecurie Ecosse team Christmas card was one of Anna-Louise Felstead's "naughty" ones. The original was auctioned off and raised £1000 for Teenage Cancer Trust.

Prints can be obtained through A-L's website. Click here for details.

JT

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BES Photos

Seemingly wherever we went in 2012 with the Blancpain Endurance Series the rain followed us. Ironically the only event at which we didnt see rain was the one place we expected it: Nurburgring. Throughout the year a number of photographers got soggy on Ecosse's behalf and below are a selection of some of our favourite shots. Photography: Jakob Ebrey, Peter May & Brecht Decancq.

In 2012 we had such a great team camaraderie. This is pre race at the Nurburgring with Grahame Bryant, Chris Clark, Olly Bryant, Joe Twyman, Ollie Millroy and Alasdair McCaig.  All those not in overalls travelled over from Spa Francorchamps where they had been doing the historic 6 hour race. Andrew Smith is in the car waiting to go!

Monza was very wet and a real baptism of fire for all the boys! Andrew started the race and it ran for 40 minutes under the safety car!

Silverstone was similarly wet with the race started under the safety car again. This time it was Joe's turn to endure the stint from hell.. The issue in both instances was more spray related than anything else. Its like driving blind into a sea of mist. Not ideal when you know there are two others waiting to have a go in the pits!

Paul Ricard is a great place and despite the long Mistral Straight the Z4 went very well there. Unfortunately we were robbed of a points finish on the last lap with a "fuel issue"..... Here we are seen with the Haribo racing Porsche. Its always good to be pitted next to them for obvious supply reasons!

Andrew's first stint at the Nurburgring was fantastic. The boys picked up their first BES championship points after a gruelling 3 hour race on the GP circuit.

The final round of BES at Navarra. Our 2011 spec Z4 is up against the Vita4One and Marc VDS 2012 examples. There was about 9 tenths difference in the upgrade kit and we knew we were getting the best out of the 2011 car when we went quicker here than the 2011 FIA GT3 Pole time.

JT

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2012 British GT Photos

In 2012 Jakob Ebrey was at all of the British GT events with his team of fantastic photographers. Below are some of our picks of photos taken throughout the year. For prints and information please click here to see Jakob's website.

2012 British GT Media Day: This was our first taster of the Z4 and we knew we had a good year ahead!

As part of a feature with one of our associates Motorsport Magazine we did a photoshoot in front of the old Ecosse transporter. To have actually got the car there was a fantastic achievement and the 4 of us look pretty please with ourselves (and also blinded a little by the sun!)

Debuts dont come much better than this! Ali and Olly take Ecosse's first win in the British GT Championship at Round 1! This is the moment the car crossed the line. It still seems surreal!

It doesnt get much closer than this! The end of the 2 hour race at Brands Hatch. We finished 3rd, but boy it was close!

Maggotts, Becketts is an awesome section in the Z4. This is Ali who was sharing with Ollie Hancock for the Silverstone 3 Hours. They finished 2nd which put Ali into the title hunt for the final round at Donington.

The start of the final round. 5 cars could win the championship and one of them was us. A clash with the M-Tech Ferrari (to our left in this picture) cost us the title...We were nearly the British GT Champions though!

A fantastic photo of the Z4 at Donington. We love this shot. If we are being "arty" then it would symbolise the sun setting on the 2012 Championship...

 JT

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2012

2012 saw Ecurie Ecosse return to international sportscar racing for a full season. This time, the weapon of choice was the potent BMW Z4 GT3 in the British GT Championship and Blancpain Endurance Series. Alasdair McCaig and Oliver Bryant contested the UK Championship, whilst Joe Twyman and Andrew Smith were joined by former BMW Scholarship driver Ollie Millroy to contest the European Series.

Barwell Motorsport were again chosen to run the Z4 and they turned out a faultless car all year. The season got off to an excellent start with Ecurie Ecosse winning at Oulton Park in their first race in the British GT Championship. Bryant and McCaig followed this up with podiums at Brands Hatch and Silverstone (where Ollie Hancock stood in for Bryant).  

The Ecurie Ecosse BMW scored points in every round of the championship and this left McCaig just half a point behind the leaders going into the final round at Donington Park in September. The championship was so competitive that 6 different drivers could leave Donington as Champion. McCaig was re-united with regular driving partner Bryant after a 2-month injury forced lay-off.  With ten minutes to go in the two-hour race, it looked as though the pairing had done enough to secure the championship for Ecurie Ecosse and Alasdair at the first time of asking. Oliver was  running 3rd on the road out of the points-scoring runners. Disaster then struck  as Oliver was handed a 1-minute stop-go penalty for accidental contact with the championship rival Ferrari. This dropped McCaig to 5th in the drivers standings much to the disappointment of the huge crowd of sponsors, friends and supporters in the Ecurie Ecosse garage.

In the highly competitive Blancpain Endurance Series Ecurie Ecosse had some very promising showings against more up to date machinery.  The season kicked off in miserable conditions at Monza, where Smith, Twyman and Millroy brought the car home an impressive 11th in class and 21st overall on the massive 55-car grid.  At Paul Ricard, Oliver Bryant joined Twyman and Millroy. The trio were enjoying a very strong run, running 8th in class and 12th overall until fuel pick-up issues on the final lap dropped the car several places. Even so, the Ecurie Ecosse machine came home an impressive 13th in class and 20th overall.At the Nurburgring, Smith was back in the car alongside Twyman and Millroy and the trio enjoyed an excellent run in dry conditions. Unfortunately the smaller fuel tank in the 2011-spec BMW meant that they could not take advantage of a safety car period to re-fuel the car and therefore lost some positions.  Despite this, all three drivers did an excellent job and the result netted a points finish of 10th in class and 20th overall. For the final round at Navarra, Smith, Twyman and Millroy were together once again and had their best run of the season. A podium finish was on the cards when the heavens opened and the safety car dropped the team a lap behind the rest of the pack.  The team’s qualifying pace was outstanding with Millroy putting in a time confirmed by the factory which was quicker than a 2011-spec Z4 has ever lapped on the circuit and would have been good enough for pole position in the 2011 FIA GT3 Championship.  The team made a big impression, surprising many of the bigger well funded teams by running at the front on a fraction of the budget in older specification machinery, proving that with a brand new 2013 car Ecurie Ecosse can challenge for overall class honours in what is now the world’s most competitive GT Series.

JT

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Gridstars

For anyone wanting amazing videos produced you should check out our friend Will Schryver at Gridstars.

Will has done two video's for Ecurie Ecosse and we love both of them!

Check them out on his Vimeo page:

Spa 24 Hours 2011

Ecurie Ecosse 2011

Turn the sound up!!

JT

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60th Anniversary Chronometer

To celebrate the 60th Anniversary of Ecurie Ecosse in 2012, we teamed up with Bremont to produce a limited run of watches.

We still have a few pieces available and they are strictly on a first come first serve basis. Details of the watch are as follows:

• Automatic Swiss Chronometer Tested Movement. Calibre 13 1/4” BE-50AE automatic, 28 jewels, 42 hour power reserve. Bremont moulded and decorated rotor

• Hour/minute/second, date at 6H, chronograph, stroke rate counter, small chronograph counters with seconds and 30 minutes

• Hardened stainless steel Bremont Trip-Tick® construction with scratch resistant PVD treated case barrel. Case diameter 43.00mm, lug width 22.00mm, case thickness 16.00mm

• Stainless steel case back with integrated flat crystal, 5 stainless steel screws with polished heads, serial number engraved

• White metal dial, blued nickel hands with SuperLumiNova® C3 luminous coating

• Domed anti-reflective, scratch resistant sapphire crystal

• Water resistant to 10 ATM, 100 metres

• C.O.S.C chronometer tested

• Embossed Calf Skin Leather Strap with solid deployment buckle and engraved security clasp.

• 3 year warranty • £4,500 including VAT

To purchase one of these truly individual time pieces, please contact Ecurie Ecosse for further details.

Production will be strictly limited to only 60 watches, and therefore orders are subject to availability.

Email: team@ecurieecosse.com

JT

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