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By Lance Branquinho and Harvard Ink
Scorching summer racing at Killarney is the exact opposite set of track conditions to what Auto Online Pilbeam MP84 helmsman, Francis Carruthers, started out with back in Scotland in his early days. His foundational race craft was honed on wet track surfaces, a rarity at Killarney during the summer racing months, where dry and windy conditions prevail. Racing in sunny South Africa since 1977, he has certainly learned to master the change.
With track temperatures soaring at the year’s first big racing meet, tailing on severe heatwaves that beset the Western Cape, competitors and car components were going to be severely tested during the Le Joubert SP> qualifying, and two race heats.
Narrow, unforgiving, and technical, Killarney is not a circuit that is kind to cars or tolerant of unfocused driving. Its long straights flow into three very tight corners, with turns one, two, and eight testing drivers resolve and braking system integrity. The season’s first race always presents the challenge of unknowns, especially with the scorching weather.
At the first round of this season’s Le Joubert SP> formula racing, hosted at Cape Town’s iconic Killarney raceway, Carruthers was keen to set the tone for this season’s campaigning in the Pilbeam MP84.
Managing Brake Wear
The Pilbeam MP84, which Carruthers campaigns, is a lightweight race car, featuring excellent weight distribution to reduce low brake wear – something that is always a factor for drivers racing at Killarney. This is especially true on particularly hot days when ambient track temperature adds to the heat-soaking risk and demands placed on brakes.
With a dry weight below 700kg, the British-built open cockpit racer’s design prioritizes driver feedback and meticulous set-up. The chassis is a combination alloy and composite construction, reducing weight while enhancing stiffness – and it’s the latter which allows for such precise driver feedback.
The coil-over inboard shocks offer generous adjustability, allowing technicians the latitude to interpret precisely what Carruthers needs, as he provides the feedback loop after each practice run, qualifying session and race.
Benefitting From That Atmospheric V6
Powered by a naturally aspirated Nissan V6, the MP84 runs true to its powertrain specification at sea level, making it ideally suited to Killarney. Even in the brutally hot Western Cape summer conditions, the oxygen-rich sea level air assures Carruthers has all the linearity racer’s value from a naturally aspirated engine, when trying to steer a car on the throttle through higher speed corners.
Carruthers managed six qualifying laps despite the testing heat to post a best time of 1:14.074. Race one saw the MP84 fulfil the potential it showed in qualifying, with a class win and fastest lap of 1:14.976. Impressively, Carruthers managed to finish two laps ahead of his nearest class A rival.
As a racer with decades of experience, Carruthers knows nothing is guaranteed. In the second heat of the day’s Le Joubert SP> racing, the MP84 finished second in class A, with a fastest lap of 1:15.027. Carruthers continued his commanding form shown in qualifying and heat one and was looking sure for a pair of wins for the day, but at the start of lap 7 of the 10-lap second race, he dropped from 4th to 17th place.
As evidence of the MP84’s pace, Carruthers’s quickest lap was nearly a second better than that of class winner Gary Kieswetter’s 1:15.866.
With ambient temperatures around Killarney reaching beyond 40-degree Celsius on Saturday afternoon, it was a brutal day’s racing at the beginning of the 2024 season’s racing.
A Tribute to a Racing Legend
Francis Carruthers started out his racing career on the same Scottish roads and tracks as many a great racing name, from Jimmy McRae through to Jim Clarke. A rocky start, with family disapproval meaning Francis had to be a true self-starter, saw him tenaciously setting up his own kart and race meets regardless. From there he progressed to saloon car racing. That stubborn will to win against the odds still shows in his track performance to this day.
He was soon gracing the pages of local Scottish tabloids with his racing style and skill.
In the late 70s he emigrated to our sunny shores, and soon a growing family of boys meant less time on the track and more time needed for home commitments.
Once his little family were grown and flown, he had more time and cash spare and mucked about with several great cars. A prepped CAV recreation GT40 and later a Juno 2000 had him racing alongside his fellow Porsche club associates. Killarney, Kyalami, Swartkops, East London and PE all saw this enigmatic racer grace their asphalt.
An Aquila with a chevy L57 engine was one of his latest racing acquisitions, but the design faults on the water manifold meant he was burning through engines.
Today Carruthers is retiring in style and making the most of his golden years in the Pilbeam MP84 – a smooth ride for a smooth racer, enjoying Killarney and the Porsche Club scene.
Keep on winning, Francis.