Media

From Kart to Car

21-year old Luke Schlewitz is on a mission to propel himself from amateur kart racer to successful Britcar champion. David Corfield checks out his car of choice, a rather beautifully prepared Mk2 16V…

Words and pictures: David Corfield

LUKE IS A lucky lad. Not only does his dad run well-known VW Audi tuners Jabbasport, but he also gets to race his own car in his spare time – a rather rapid Mk2 Golf GTI 16V that Jabbasport has supported for the last two seasons. Last year Luke finished third in his maiden championship and set the lap record at Snetterton, and this year he’s got his sights firmly zeroed on winning the Golf GTI Championship outright.
He’s a likeable chap is Luke. Quiet and unassuming out of the car, once behind the wheel he demonstrates a turn of speed that singles him out as someone with talent. He’s had experience of racing everything from karts to Corrados, but it’s the Golf he prefers, liking the innate grippiness that can be found from a chassis that is forgiving yet communicative.

[LAW ABIDING]
The Golf GTI Championship is a fantastic series, with bumper to bumper action and minimal cost in competing. Regulations for the series are fairly straightforward, restricting the amount of permitted modifications and, therefore, the cost of preparing a car. The basic MSA safety requirements include a six-point bolt-in rollcage, fire extinguisher, racing seat and safety harness. This is all mandatory stuff, and everything else is up to you, within reason. Engines are standard with limited modifications allowed; they include fitment of a ‘control’ camshaft from Newman Cams and modification of the lower airbox and panel filter. The inlet manifold and exhaust manifold must remain standard, but the remainder of exhaust is free for you to do as you please. The sump may be baffled but an outright dry sump is not permitted.
Suspension springs may be lowered and stiffened and dampers uprated; also bushes can be replaced but the standard anti-roll bars must be retained.
We walk around the car, stepping over a ZIP kart that Luke used in a previous life, and he points out the various tweaks and mods that he has performed.
“The brakes are standard GTI 16V callipers, as per the regulations, but I’ve fitted plane faced disks with Ferodo Racing DS3000 pads up front, with plane faced disks and modified Mintex Extreme pads at the back.
“It’s a standard gearbox and the final drive must be retained for the rules, with no limited slip diff allowed, whether mechanical or electronic,” he tells me. It’s clear that rule-bending is a strict no-no, the 750 Motor Club (the people behind the race championship) having built up a strong reputation as no-nonsense organisation, with emphasis placed on attracting young drivers (and thus boosting this country’s next crop of Lewis Hamiltons).
“It’s a fantastic championship,” Luke enthuses. “And we all use the same tyres (from Toyo) which makes for close racing. Even the wheels have to be either 14 or 15in only, with a maximum 7in width. They can only be steel or aluminium alloy only.”
The control tyres are Toyo R888s in 185/60/14 or 195/50/15 profile and minimum weights including driver are 975kg for eight valve vehicles, and 1025kg for 16 valvers.

[CAR CRAFT]
Luke’s attitude to his car is the same as his driving: smooth, nicely set-up and fast where it counts. His Golf is the same as last year’s car but with a new engine. “The previous lump was getting a bit tired after a year’s racing, so I sourced this one and fitted it at Jabbasport over a weekend.
“It’s a blueprinted 16V unit with standard bore but with balanced pistons and rods. I had an Allstage blueprinted cylinder head put on to survive the 11 rounds of the championship, and I’m hoping it will be virtually bomb-proof. It has standard championship marked cams as well as a Kent vernier cam pulley,” he reveals. The beauty of a vernier set-up is that it can be precisely adjusted for optimum gearchanges. “There’s not all that much you can do to the car in terms of boosting its performance from an engineering level,” he admits, “so you learn to operate within the rules and take it to the edge as far as you can. We’ve modified the airbox to within the letter and modded the breather system too, running it into the windscreen washer reservoir as an oil catch tank.”
Jabbasport fitted one of its baffled sump and windage trays. By baffle, I mean the fitting of extra metal baffles or plates in the oil sump. Why? “When you brake very hard from high speed you may find the oil-pressure light coming on. What is happening is that the car is slowing down, but the oil is continuing to travel forwards at high speed. In other words, it “climbs” up the front of the engine, leaving very little in the deepest part of the sump. This means that the oil pick-up pipe may suck in some air instead of oil. You see the oil pressure light come on for a moment or two. As you reduce speed, the oil drops back into the sump and the oil pickup pipe is again immersed in oil. “The same thing can happen on very fast cornering, but I’ve yet to find that out!” Luke quips.
A new oil and water pump, plus standard clutch and alternator completes the regulation spec list, but being a chap for whom image is everything, a Pipewerx exhaust just had to be fitted and adds a nice touch of bling to the Golf’s rear end. Which, if you are a fellow racer in Luke’s championship, you might be seeing rather a lot of.
“My car develops 172bhp, which is really good considering the standard engine was designed to produce 139bhp,” Luke remarks.

[HIDDEN DETAILS]
You can tell Luke spends a lot of time in his Golf, as the hidden touches start to make themselves obvious. It’s things like a novel hook on the rollcage for the quick-release Lico steering wheel to hang while Luke is getting in and out, and the custom-made footrest as well as carbon covered roof skin (light, but adds stiffness to the shell) that mark out this car as a front-runner in the series.
Like any racer, there are always things that can be done to make the car quicker, but Luke knows that at just 21 the best he can do now is to learn the circuits and perfect his racing lines. “The car’s good enough to win the Championship, I know that. The big question now is whether I am.” With a lap record under his belt in just his first season, I think that question already has its answer. You’ll just have to wait until September and the last race in the championship to find out for sure. Bring champagne.

[Panel]
Golf GTI Championship
There will be 11 rounds in 2009 at premier UK circuits; including Silverstone, Brands Hatch, Cadwell Park, Oulton Park, Donington and Snetterton.
Registration fee for the Championship Season is £125.00 (or £75 for those registered for the 2008 series). Club membership for 12 months is £50.00 including a joining fee. Each race costs in the region of £160 to £210 depending on the circuit.

[Panel]
Luke Schlewitz’s 1990 Mk2 Golf GTI 16V championship car

Interior:
Custom Cages core kit rollcage
Corbeau Revenge seat
Luke six-point harnesses
Lifeline fire extinguisher system
Lifeline removable steering boss
Lico steering wheel
Omex shift light
Rollcenter lap timer
Stack oil pressure, oil temp and AFR gauges
Interior painted black
Lowered steering column

Exterior:
Standard Helios Blue big bumper model
Carbon-covered roof skin
Bonnet and boot pins
15in Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2 wheels
Championship marked Toyo R888 tyres
Smoothed wiper holes from tailgate
Custom single wiper conversion

Suspension and Brakes:
All suspension components rebuilt or renewed
KW Clubsport dampers
Eibach springs
All rubber bushings replaced with polyurethane alternatives
New sub frame, rear beam wishbones and stub axles
All new standard GTI 16V brakes (as per Championship regulations)
Plane faced disks with Ferodo Racing DS3000 pads (front)
Plane faced disks with modified Mintex Extreme pads (rear)
New brake load distributor
All brake lines replaced from master cylinder to calipers
New manual steering rack, rods and ends.
Custom suspension setup

Engine:
Blueprinted VW 1.8l 16V
Standard bore with balanced pistons and rods
Allstage blueprinted cylinder head
Standard championship marked cams
Kent Vernier cam pulley
Jabbasport baffled sump and windage tray
New oil pump, water pump, clutch and alternator
Green panel filter and modified airbox
Pipewerx manifold-back exhaust system
Modified breather system
Setup to 172bhp

Thanks
Jabbasport www.jabbasport.com
Eibach Suspension UK
Demon Tweeks
Peterborough Raceway www.peterboroughraceway.co.uk
750MC Golf GTI Championship www.golfgti-racing.co.uk
“And to everyone who has been involved with the project, especially my parents!”

[Panel]
Profile

Name: Luke Schlewitz
Location: Crowland, Lincolnshire
Dream Car: Audi R8 V10
Fave mod on car: the complete package, it’s all awesome
Top Choonz: Anything that takes my fancy at the time “although the sound of a 16V 1.8 at 7,000rpm is pretty sweet”