Welcome to the web site of David Gathercole Race Preparation.
May 2012
The HSCC Silverstone International Trophy Meeting was the first event for David Gathercole in his
'little yellow Lola 212' (as described by Marcus Pye who was the guest commentator for the event).
The car was to compete in the Martini Trophy with SuperSports in Class B for unwinged,
earlier Group 6 sports prototypes.
Qualifying on Saturday was plagued by difficult tyre choices from the earlier rain
that seemed unable to dry.
David went out on wet tyres initially and was soon second on the timesheets
to the experienced Class A car of Silvio Kalb.
After two flying laps in the wet, David came in and the team changed him to slicks
(whilst most other drivers were changing from slicks to wets).
After a a couple of laps checking the conditions David put in one flying lap,
improving on his wet time by a full second.
Although conditions had improved throughout the session no-one was to improve on
David's time and he qualified an excellent 2nd overall and first in Class.
Race one was later that afternoon, and the conditions were now perfectly dry, albeit very cold.
As the lights went out David had a fantastic start and the little yellow Lola led into the first corner.
And, continued to lead for the entire first lap.
Unfortunately, after that David could no longer fend off the advances of the later,
BMW and Hart powered cars.
David finished a splendid first in Class (with fastest lap) and 3rd overall.
First three overall
Race 2 was not until Sunday afternoon, and starting positions were to be the
finishing positions of the previous day, David in 3rd.
No-one could have hoped for a better race than the previous day, but it certainly was.
Silvio took an early lead from David, John Burton, Michele Liguori and Doug Hart.
But none of them could establish a gap and the five cars swapped places lap after lap.
After twenty minutes the leading 5 cars crossed the line within 5 seconds of each other
and the lap times showed the best lap between them was separated by a mere 0.4 of a second!
David finished first in class (again with fastest lap) and 4th overall.
First three in class B
David was particularly delighted that he had once again proven that his
'FVC engine is truely competitive against the much later BMW and Hart powered cars'
and he is now looking forward to the next round at Brands Hatch at the end of June.
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11th May saw the Gathercole Lola 212 take its first laps of a track at Silverstone.
David took to the track first and the car immediately impressed, both in terms of speed and looks.
After lunch Lorraine took to the wheel, the first time she had driven one of their
FVC engines - "so driveable";
new gearboxes - "so slick";
and the whole package, well the smiles said it all!
before packing up for the day, Adrian Watt had a few laps, and wasn't holding back,
on returning to the pit lane Adrian congratulated David, and that said it all!
David was also invited to drive the F5000 of Neil Glover, which David had just built an engine for.
A very different beast, and David loved it and thanked Neil for the opportunity.
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David Gathercole & Philip Gladman raced their Chevron B25 & B34D
at the Donington Historic Festival over the Bank Holiday weekend.
Having qualified 6th and 7th (Philip in front) both looked forward to a good race.
Race 1
David made the best start in his FVC powered B25 and was quickly challenging the leading BMW powered cars of Matthew Watts and Philip Harper. Meanwhile a tangle between Jaimie Brashaw and Peter Meyrick left Philip no-where to go and the leading group disappearing into the distance. Philip Harper retired with engine problems and David hung on to Matthew Watts, claiming an excellent 2nd place. Meanwhile whilst charging back through the field Philip suffered a damper failure and had to retire.
Race 2
This time starting in 4th and 5th, Philip got a much better start and hung on to the rear of David.
Unfortunately Philip had a moment and lost a lot of ground, and a lot of places.
David looked to be in a very comfortable second, with Matthew Watts not able to pull away when unexpectedly Matthew pulled off (ignition failure) and David took the lead.
David led comfortably for many laps by as much as 23 seconds when he also had a electrical drama
(an electrical wire had shaken itself loose from the coil).
Meanwhile Philip had climbed up to 3rd place in his BDG powered B34d, behind David and Peter Meyrick.
With David now retired Philip set after Meyrick and with a lap and a half to go took the lead.
However, Philip had had such a busy, extraordinary race, he had no idea where he was, and when the chequered flag came out he missed it altogether, and did an extra lap!
No-one could have been more surprised or delighted than Philip.
Congratulations Philip on your first Historic F2 win.
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April 2012
Nelson Rowe chose David Gathercole as his engine builder for this season
and had his first run out at Cadwell Park in the HSCC Historic FF2000 Race.
Nelson claimed Pole Position by a substantial 1.5 seconds driving his Reynard SF79,
and subsequently went on to win both races with significant margines.
Well done to Nelson.
Phil Gladman raced his newly upgraded Chevron B34D at the Jim Clark Revival meeting at Hockenheim.
Despite an untimely early visit to the gravel trap in qualifying after hitting oil,
Philip qualified a very respectable 4th overall.
In race one he again fell foul of fluids on the track,
but a safety car period while they mopped it up allowed him to catch the pack.
Philip then had a sticking throttle and chose not to risk his brand new BDG engine
which finished his race 2 corners short of finishing 4th.
The time sheets showed Philip as second quickest overall which put a more
positive light on his disappointment.
Race two on Sunday morning, remained dry, despite rumours of wet weather arriving.
Philip again started 4th on the grid, but a slight roll, followed by a correction
left him on the back foot and down in 6th at the end of the first lap.
Philip immediately set about getting back through, and despite the best efforts of
Jamie Brashaw, Peter Meyrick and Hans Pieter, Philip moved through and up into 3rd place.
Philip then set about chasing Philip Harper in second spot.
But the 25 minute race was all too soon over and
Philip came away delighted with a fine overall podium 3rd place
and again was second fastest.
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February 2012
As promised, there certainly was something new and exciting to be seen on the
Gathercole Stand at Race Retro.
This is a Re-Creation of a Lola T212
British based Lola Cars competed successfully in many of the world's major racing series.
It was founded in 1961 by Eric Broadley.
The T212 was the next evolution of the T210.
It was constructed in 1971 and designed for 2 litre Group 6 competition.
It had a monocoque chassis & a 4 cylinder Ford engine.
The car displayed at Race Retro was to demonstrate our ability to reproduce
every component of this iconic Sports Racer.
Following several very successful restorations, we have built up an enviable collection
of parts and are now pleased to be able to offer a complete spares service.
FVC or BDG engine, gearbox, chassis, uprights and bodywork etc. etc.
All produced from our own patterns, jigs, moulds and drawings.
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Race Retro - Stoneleigh - 24th to 26th February
We will be 'on display' again this year at Race Retro, the International Historic Motorsport Show.
Stand E62 in Hall 2.
Come along and see something new and exciting!
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News just in that Lorraine has secured an entry to the Le Mans Classic in the Gathercole Elan.
Lorraine is absolutely delighted to have been accepted for this most prestigious event
that takes place bi-annually in July, just 3 weeks after the Le Mans 24 hours.
More details to follow as they become available.
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HAPPY NEW YEAR AND GOOD LUCK TO ALL OUR FRIENDS AND CUSTOMERS FOR 2012
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December 2011
Lorraine Gathercole nominated for the
Britsh Women Racing Drivers' Club (BWRDC) Gold Star Club Award.
Lorraine has just discovered that she is one of just 6 women racing drivers
to be nominated for this prestigious award aimed at recognising talent
and helping the winner to progress to the next level in Motorsport.
The winner will be announced at the Autosport International Show at the NEC in January.
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October 2011
Late October
Philip Gladman decided to finish his first season in the Chevron B34 at Silverstone,
in the HSCC Derek Bell Race, up against the might F5000's.
Philip qualified 7th overall and 1st in class.
In the race Philip quickly came through a number of F5000's,
and progressed up to 5th overall and another class win.
That was a very good way to end your first season,
the only question now is what to do next year?
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Early October
Philip Gladman took his Chevron B34 Atlantic car to Dijon
for the final round of the Historic F2 Championship.
In Race 1 he finished 2nd in class and in
Race 2 he also finished 2nd in class, but much closer to the Class winner
(fastest lap only 5 hundreths of a second slower).
All this means that Philip finished the Championship a very fine 5th overall and 2nd in Class.
Well done Philip, a fantastic first season in single seater racing.
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Andrew Storer competed in the last round of the URS Classic Formula Ford Championship
on 9th October at Mallory Park.
Andrew, who had qualified 5th, and only 2 tenths off pole,
intially had a good race holding 5th place comfortably.
However, on lap 9 a mistake under braking, dropped him down to 11th
and with a lot to do, Andrew chased hard and got back up to 8th.
A good consistent season saw Andrew finish 3rd in the Championship.
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And fellow Gathercole engined RF82 Tom Pope,
whose season finished early following accident damage at Cadwell Park,
finished 2nd in the Championship.
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September 2011
The Spa Six Hours Meeting is always a major event on the Historic calendar
and this year was no exception, except, for 2011 the sun shone and shone and shone.
David and Lorraine Gathercole took their series 1 Elan
to compete in the Gentleman Drivers 2 hour race.
This year Lorraine shared the drive with, good friend, Greg Caton,
whilst David took charge of the smooth running of the car,
the pit stop and driver change.
And what a great job everyone did.
The Elan didn't miss a beat, and completed the full 2 hours,
finishing a splendid 2nd in Class, and collecting fastest lap in class on long the way.
You can follow the link on our links page to see some footage on youtube
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Meanwhile, closer to home, Andrew Storer claimed his best result of the year
in his Pukka Pies Formula Ford 2000
where he claimed a 2nd place at Oulton Park, in tricky conditions.
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August 2011
Claus Bjerglund had his first race in his Lola 212, with new Gathercole FVC engine,
at the Oldtimer World Sportscar Masters Race,
at the Nurburgring over the weekend of the 12-14 August.
Claus was absolutely delighted with the performance of his 'little car'.
And even more so after successfully negotiating the wet conditions to bring home a class podium postion.
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The second Croft Nostalgia weekend looked likely to be rained off as torrential rain hit the area
during the lunch break of the first day.
The organisers worked hard to recover the situation and brought the Guards Trophy Race
forward to the first race after the track was considered safe enough to race on.
However, it was far from dry or even drying.
The Gathercole Elan was being shared this weekend by Lorraine Gathercole
and Greg Caton and had qualified 18th.
The car which had been flying in testing the previous day in the dry,
was proving itself a real handful in the wet.
Greg took the start and the first few laps are now on You Tube
and you can follow the link on our links page.
Greg did very well and climbed to 8th overall by the time of the handover.
Lorraine struggled for grip but brought the car safely home in 15th.
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On Sunday, Nelson Rowe, in his newly acquired, Gathercole powered, Reynard SF79,
took a decisive win in the Formula Ford 2000 Race.
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July 2011
The Silverstone Classic at the end of July saw the David Gathercole FVC's prove themselves yet again
to be dominant in the World Sportscar Masters Race.
David was fastest in a 2litre FVC powered Lola 290,
unfortunately a rear brake failure prevented David from finishing.
Next quickest was Anthony Hancock in his FVC powered Lola 212.
Anthony finished 6th overall and 2nd in class.
Adrian Watt in an 1840cc FVC powered Coldwell was running 7th overall and 3rd in class
until a puncture in the closing minutes ended his race early.
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The Series 1 Elan of David and Lorraine Gathercole looked set for a good result,
but a bizarre fire in the boot ended their race early.
Despite this, they claimed fastest lap in class,
which proved their twin cam featuring one of their new iron 'L' blocks was certainly 'on the pace'.
You can see footage of the first few laps on You Tube just follow the link on our links page,
where you will find all our footage from now on.
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Early in July Philip Gladman took to the tracks again in his Chevron B34 Atlantic car, this time at Brands Hatch. An electrical issue looked like it was going to spoil the event until, a change of tacho, resolved the problem and Philip had a splendid second race coming through the field from 26th on the grid to 9th overall and 2nd in class.
Take a look at the For Sale page to see the new classic gearbox cases just back from machining
June 2011
June has been such a busy month for the team
starting with Monza where Phil Gladman put in a strong performance to claim second in class
and 4th overall in the wet on Sunday.
with fastest lap in his RF82 with Gathercole Pinto.
The FF1600's race was won by Ollie Robinson with his new Gathercole engine, also taking fastest lap.
Next stop was Porto for the Masters Historic meeting with the Elan.
A fabulous street circuit that both David and Lorraine found daunting at first, but the atmosphere, weather, sandy beach just up the road all made for a fantastic weekend.
Unfortunately the Elan broke a rear wishbone with just 3 minutes to go,
but not until after David had set a fastest lap in class.
But, Anthony Hancock in the Gathercole restored Lola 212, with FVC,
stormed through from last to win in race 2.
May 2011
The Donington Park Historic Festival was David's next event in the F2 race in his Chevron B25
having its first outing sporting its new 2 litre FVC engine, which showed a strong 294BHP on the dyno,
along with Philip Gladman in his Atlantic spec Chevron B34.
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David qualified a respectable 8th, but was unhappy with his choice of dampers and springs,
unfortunately Philip's master cut-off switch failed just as the cars went out to qualify,
much frantic work on the part of the team got him out before the end of the session,
but not until after one of the other cars had put down alot of oil, so Philip would have a lot to do.
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David performed one of his usual formidible starts, entering Redgate in 4th,
however, later on in the first lap, a spinning Meyrick forced Frank Syntner across Davids brow,
a hard charging Methley went under the back of David,
rotating his car and leaving him facing the oncoming traffic
causing him to drop to 12th at the end of the first lap.
David made good progress through the field recovering to 9th but unfortunately on lap 7,
got tangled whilst lapping a back marker,
with the front right hand corner badly damaged David's race was over.
Meanwhile, Philip, who had started 29th was up to 20th at the end of the first lap
and continued to make progress, but on lap 6 had to make an untimely pit-stop
for repairs to the front splitter.
Philip then continued and finished the race 16th.
Much over-night work was done to both cars to ensure they made the second race on Sunday,
where starting positions were as per the first race, David very greatful for this, and Philip less so!
David again made an impressive start and this time came round in 4th at the end of the first lap,
and Philip was up to 17th.
David was clearly still struggling with grip, but matched the BMW's, Hart's and BDG's
on the straights quite comfortably.
Both cars finished the 25 minute race with David in 5th and Philip 14th overall and 3rd in class.
And, with no major issues both cars will be off to Monza for the next round in early June.
April 2011
David and Lorraine headed to Barcelona with Adrian Watts for the Catalan Classic Revival 8th - 10th April.
Adrian was driving the Coldwell C14 in the World Sportscar Masters race and qualified a respectable 3rd in class and 7th overall. However, over the 1 hour race, Adrian progressed to win the class and came 5th overall. Adrian was delighted and is now looking forward to the next event at Brands Hatch at the end of May.
David & Lorraine, competing in their series one Elan in the Gentleman Drivers events had a number of untimely problems, which resulted in 3rd in class and 18th overall in the first race, but putting all this behind them in race 2 they pulled through to win the class by over 2 laps, and finished a very respectable 9th overall.
March 2011
Philip Gladman took the freshly restored Chevron B34 Atlantic for its first shake down at
Mallory Park on Wednesday 23rd, and he loved it!
Next stop Hockenheim for the first round of the Historic F2 Championship.
We took the Lola 290 to Donington Park for the Masters test day
and with the exception of a sticking clutch the car was fantastic,
both in looks and speed. Available for sale and now ready to go,
David really doesn't want to part with it, and if a buyer doesn't come forward
before the first HSCC Martini Trophy race in May, David will compete in it.
Race Retro was a huge success and the stand certainly did us proud.
The Lola 290, now featuring a new Gathercole, iron blocked FVC, is being prepared for use this year, the car is currently for sale, and received much interest.
also on the stand visitors got the chance to see the internals of the FVC engine
and the new gearbox cases which are a copy of classic cases from the 1960's and 70's as used in many sports and single seaters of the period.
February 2011
With just over 1 week to go, a change of plan will see David and Lorraine displaying a
Lola 290 with Gathercole FVC on their stand at Race Retro from 25th - 27th February.
The Lola 290 is being prepared for use this year in various competitions,
the car is currently for sale, so interested parties would be welcome to come and see the car,
and ask any questions they may have.
(More details will be available shortly on our For Sale page.)
Also, on the stand, will be many of the new FVA/FVC components.
A selection of metering units, and associated brackets and injection parts.
AND
Our new classic gearbox cases.
January 2011
David and Lorraine will have their Gathercole FVC powered Coldwell Sports Car
on their stand in Hall 2, Stand E62, at Race Retro from 25th - 27th February,
fresh from victories at Donington, Portemao and Monteblanco in September and October 2010.
Also, on the stand, will be many of the new FVA/FVC components.
A selection of metering units, and associated brackets and injection parts.
AND
Our new classic gearbox cases.
So come along and see what's new!
The Coldwell Sports car on the BWRDC Stand at Autosport International.
DECEMBER 2010
David and Lorraine Gathercole have been invited to display their Coldwell Sports car on the BWRDC Stand 6840, in Hall 6 at Autosport International from Thursday 13th to Sunday 16th January.
The Coldwell has stormed to success since having a new Gathercole FVC installed with class wins at Donington Park, Portemao and Monteblanco.
David & Lorraine will both be at Autosport throughout the weekend and look forward to meeting up with friends and customers, old and new.
 British Women Racing Drivers Club |
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 Autosport International |
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Lorraine has also been invited to take part in some of the BWRDC forums over the weekend, due to her experience of historic motorsport both in the UK and Europe. Lorraine will be contactable throughout the event on 07736 080204.
David will also be on hand to deal with any technical enquiries regarding the FVC and Fuel Injection systems and to pre-launch the new classic gearbox cases. David will be contactable throughout the event on 07971 850613.
OCTOBER 2010
David and Lorraine Gathercole headed for the sunshine of the The Algarve Circuit near Portimao and the new Spanish circuit at Monteblanco for their mid October racing. They took their Series 1 Lotus Elan to compete in Gentleman Drivers and their Coldwell, with new 1840 FVC, to compete in World Sports Car Masters, which was to be driven by Adrian Watt, who had had his first outing in such a car just a couple of weeks earlier at Spa. A pleasant drive down (only slightly spoiled by the first night stop, which turned out to be in a wind farm!) saw the cars and drivers arrive fresh and ready for a weekends racing. The Coldwell finished first in class in both races and a delighted Adrian collected a fabulous trophy to mark the occasion, his wife questioned where he planned to put the trophy, home or work? - keep reading!
unfortunately the Elan did not finish, but its pace showed it would be a contender in time.
The Gathercole team then gathered itself together and headed to Monteblanco, a new circuit, and so no-one had prior experience. We all took advantage of some testing, but mindful of over using the cars kept it to a minimum. David shared the 1 hour race with Adrian in the Coldwell and between them they achieved a first in class, AND third overall!
In the second race Adrian went on to again win his class and another fabulous trophy (I guess that answers his wife's question).
The Elan qualified a respectable 6th overall and David made an impressive start up to 3rd at the end of the first lap and second at the end of the second lap, at the end of the first hour David handed over to Lorraine who continued to hold on 2nd in class comfortably for some 45 minutes until a spin (not much tread left on the tyres!) and a hot, stalled engine, needed a restart from the starter motor which wouldn't work - another disappointing dnf, but we did get fastest lap in class by nearly 4 seconds!
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SEPTEMBER 2010
David Gathercole claimed 2nd overall in the HSCC Historic Roadsports race at Brands Hatch last weekend. David was driving his uncle's Plus 2 Elan, an unusual car for competition, which it had been Jim's purpose to bring to the tracks. David qualified 4th but when wet weather arrived moments before the start David revelled in his chances. He claimed the lead by the first bend, Paddock Hill, and drove away from the rest of the field claiming a healthy advantage until the safety car was deployed and the advantage lost. With the weather improving, David couldn't make the break from Paul Tooms in his much lighter Series 2 Elan on the retart and on the penultimate he lap lost the lead and had to settle for second.
Although disappointed, having lead for so long, both David and Jim were delighted to have got this unusual racer on to the podium.
David Gathercole claimed 2 class wins in the little known Coldwell powered by his new FVC engine in the World Sportscar Masters race at the Donington Revived meeting last weekend. The Donington meeting was a huge success and David was delighted to take part in this event that marked the return of this wonderful circuit to the race calendar.
Only just missing overall honours David claimed 3rd overall in the first race and 2nd overall in the second race. David was stunned with the results in his Coldwell which is one of just 3 built by Billy Needham from Yorkshire to contest the early 70's International sports car races. The Coldwell had been put to one side whilst David spent time manufacturing all the parts for the FVC engine and now with the engine project complete David has had the time to install one in his own sportscar and this superb result clearly shows it is the class of the field.
David Gathercole Race Engines launched the new FVC engine at Race Retro, Stoneleigh, 12-14 March 2010, and have been inundated with orders and enquiries from as far afield as New Zealand, Australia and the US whilst also supporting the European market and sold out within days of the launch of almost all stock, new blocks and heads were immediately ordered and the next batch of engines have just being completed.
David was invited to drive the Ex Jo Bonnier Lola 290 fitted with one of these new engines at this year’s Classic Le Mans, and you can watch the first 2 extraordinary laps of the night race here.
Later this year our Coldwell C14 group 6 car will also take to the tracks once again, sporting a new cast iron FVC in some selected World Sports Car Masters races.
David will also have a one of these new engines in his Chevron B25 F2 car later in the year.
Generally FVC’s were the domain of sports cars and so far that is where the engines have been selling but in F2 the FVA was the popular and dominate choice in the late 60’s and early 70’s. Cars from this period have been given FIA dispensation to run BDA’s as an alternative to the FVA as it’s availability had become difficult. However, with the arrival of the new FVA, cars from this period can now go back to their correct period configuration.
Another area for the FVC is within the rally world where in the late 60’s and early 70’s these engines were a popular choice, particularly, as unlike the BDG they had no exposed belts. David is currently looking to install an FVC into a suitable rally car, if you would be interested in becoming the first in this area David would be prepared to offer a particularly favourable deal, so do please contact him.
For those that missed the launch, on display at Race Retro, were the various components that make up this new engine including the:
* new alloy and cast iron blocks which can take up to a 90mm bore size.
* new billet cam carriers.
* new alloy heads.
* new cam covers.
* new drive gears.
Visitors learnt that the unique selling point is that these high quality components are now for sale as complete engines dyno’d and ready for installation; or as complete kits ready for assembly; right down to individual components to complete, update or improve existing units.
Also on display were a selection of the various Lucas replacement metering units currently available, along with the various fitting options and slide assemblies. We are delighted to have now completed the remanufacture of a direct replacement to the Lucas 6mm and 8mm metering units for 4, 8 and 12 cylinder engines.
View our gallery from Race Retro 2010. Click here.
You can see a selection of photographs and more details on the fuel injection page.