asian312
20+ Year Contributor
- 678
- 4
- Sep 23, 2002
-
Houston,
Texas
Another great weekend in the log book. This one had its ups and downs, but really reminded me about the friendship, camaraderie, and the support that it takes to make a great weekend. And as an added bonus, I don't have to do as much typing...I finally have vids! First up is a little something I wrote on my local boards.
We pick up smelling that familiar sent of the morning dew, the heavy fog still blankets the waiting tarmac. The morning is cool and atmosphere is alive. I find a place to pit along the front straight fence and smile as I here that beautiful sounds of engines come alive. I was back tracking this weekend with The Driver's Edge and tagging along with the S2KCA Lone star chapter. Only Thura in the RX8 and I would be racing this weekend. My brother Colin came out as a photographer and button pusher to encourage faster lap times. Unlike PCA events the varying magnitude of cars was immense. Corvettes and Vipers barked in paddocks while Elises and Exiges waited patiently for their chance to get even. A gorgeous Factory Five Cobra and Noble M12 stole the show in Green, while an even more exotic hardware lay under the hood of an old 280 Datson and green S14. Two 355 Ferraris (one convertible, one challenge) blew their trumpets in answer the American muscle. And the Audi group was also out in force with some vintage Quattro Group B and N rally cars. What a sight!
My first session was a nice warm up, nothing eventful other than a little sideways action in turn one. Have to admit that the AWD spoils me in getting out of sticky situations. Just add power and it'll sort itself out. Session two is where things get interesting. I got a good feel for this run group's pace and knew I could play along side some of the heavy hitters (minus the Hoosier equipped Viper). I grid up mid pack and we're released out onto the track. After the warm-up lap I slowly work my way through traffic. Once again I find myself on the low end of the power scale just above the Minis and Miatas, so getting by on the straights is a painstakingly slow ordeal. Tea anyone? It would be an obstacle that I worked on through out the weekend; managing traffic, reading the car in front, setting up a good approach to the corners that led to the front straights and nailing the exit to give me just enough momentum to warrant a pass. It wouldn't be too long till I bumped into Tim in his red '06 GTO. He had gotten held up by a slower car and I took my place in the train. Our driving lines were similar in a lot of aspects such as the entry and brake zone for turns 1 and 2 which made following him less of a chore as I didn't have to constantly adjust entry and cornering speed. You can see in the video I inch my way up in the twisties, but he lays down a lot of land between us on the straights. There's a give and take to each individual car, each with their own individual strengths and weaknesses. That's what makes sports car racing exciting. Back in the paddocks we have a good laugh over that last session and decide we make a good match for pushing each other out on the track. The times also tumble as the Traqmate shows a 2.11.2.
Then it was my turn to the have the thundercloud over my head. As I went around the car to check tire pressures, it looked like something exploded in my passenger front wheel well. I had to wait for the brakes to cool off, but initial diagnosis was a brake failure as there was a lot of yellow residue on the inside of my wheel. Soon after we got her in the air and wheel off, and to my relief it was the outer CV boot that had torn. It was odd that it was twisted, which seems to have caused the tear and gushed the grease all over the place. Not to worry, simple track side repair! Got to love DSMers. I hit Chuck up for the proper size socket to get the axel nut off (VR4s share the same size axel nut) and within minutes she was ready for a transplant...now we just needed a donor. Calling around to all the auto parts stores in College Station revealed the only option was to have a part brought in from O'Reilly's hub store in Houston. I would loose my last two sessions for the day, but it should get here in time for me to have it all patched up for Sunday. Fast forward to 4:15pm and I've got the axel in hand. I make it back to the track and begin the operation. I go to push the axel in and nothing. I give it a little love push and still nothing. I call up the store and check on the part number. I try again. I call up the store once more and ask them to count the spines on the axel. I have 27 on the replacement axel and he counts 25. Doh! Enter Panic mode. At this time no stores would be able to get me parts till Mon.
I jump on the phone and gave Dan, Mike, and Robert a call. Within minutes we've got a plan of action in place. Dan's checking with main O'Reilly's hub store in Houston to see if they have another axel, Mike's rummaging through FIST too see if any can be found, and Robert fills me in on the oil I need to top off the tranny with. Mike's the first one to call back, 'Is it 27 spines?' Wha, wha, wha. In the mean time we pack up for the day and make our way back to the O'Reilly's in CS to return the axel. Seems they ordered the right part, but just had the wrong part in the box. About that time Dan's on the horn with news from Htown. He's sourced an axel and needed to know all its specifications to make sure it was the right one. '99 Mitsubishi Eclipse, turbo, AWD, manual, 25 spines on the transmission side, and 26" long. Success and the DSM recovery vehicle (GTO) was in route with a steak dinner waiting for him!
Class time! Fun doesn't stop just because your car is broken. I pick up some hints and tricks that I thought some of you may find very useful. First off is positioning your mirrors. One of our teachers is a professional racer and test driver for a lot of the car manufacturers. According to him Audi is the only one to ever have mentioned anything about positioning your mirrors. The center mirror is pretty self explanatory. The sides however should be set by tilting your head to the left and right and then setting the mirrors to where you can barely see a sliver of the rear quarter panel. What this does is provides 360 vision with 180 line of sight. It was really awkward at first getting use to it, but it really does work. What happens is that it eliminates your blind spots. As a car moves from behind you, the reflection in the center mirror transitions to the side mirror seamlessly. Another benefit is that you don't get blinded at night. Since you positioned the mirrors with your head tilted, the reflection of light crosses behind your head rather than at your eyes. This made driving home at night much more enjoyable. We were also taught a new approach to the track. Instead of focusing on brake zones, look at the corners that lead onto the straights and where you can maximize the throttle. Then trace back on the track to where you would need to scrub speed to make it happen. It was like a light bulb going off. That's why you always hear announcers say it's good for 'so and so' because the cars in front or behind are fighting for position. Late braking rarely ever leads to the fastest time, but is a necessity when it comes to fighting for track position and controlling a corner. If you can't control the corner and you open the apex, then the car you just passed may sneak under you on the tighter line. But since we're not racing, there's really no sense in late braking then. We continue onto the three C's, which are control, consistency, and cadence. You must master them in this order as they are a prerequisite to one another. Control is getting your line and points (turn in, apex, track out) correctly. Consistency is being able to duplicate your laps time after time. And cadence is essentially rhythm. A rhythm helps maintain your body's resources and fatigue and also you drive quickly without wearing yourself down. There is a time to push and time for cadence. Knowing when to do which one is what separates drivers from racers. And lastly, the steering wheel is what points your car. The throttle is what steers it around the corner. Even for AWD.
The following morning I'm back under the car and in record time the wounded Skye is back on the ground and ready for the track. I make a quick trip out to the gas station to make sure all is ok and grab some fuel. I even remember to bring my wallet and gas can this time around. All seems well and we're back under way. The first session of Sun I'm a little cautious. I'm very tentative, waiting for an inevitable failure. She tracked wonderfully and waited patiently, prodding me to get on the throttle. I pick up a little speed and slowly work back up to form. Soon I'm back in consistent 2:12s and the day is beginning to look a lot brighter. Back in the pits I get weird looks from the S2K guys. 'So how long did it take for PST to put the axel back in?' Um...about 15 min. and I did it myself. Some seemed really confused about doing that depth of work on their own cars, much less track side. DSMs, making every day people into mechanics since 1989.
For my next session I requested to have an instructor ride along as I was still having trouble in 5-6 and could use some further refinement in 8 and 13. Out goes the camera and Dean introduces me to Colin who drive's a FC and Spec7 race car. He climbs on board and with the pleasantries out of the way we get straight to work. We talk through the warm-up lap, introduce the car, point out my trouble spots, and I run the next lap at speed while Colin watches on. On the main straight Colin suggests we work on 4 first as it will affect how I take 5 and 6. He says 4 can be taken as an early apex corner and I could start my turn in sooner and get back on the power quicker. I liked the sound of that. We whip out of 3 and I listen to Colin's voice guiding my timing. Brake, release, turn now, gas! Next thing I knew I was both feet in. What a riot. Colin didn't anticipate me to respond that quickly to his words so we entered a little early. The front passenger tire jumped between the track and curbing, causing the chassis to unsettle. Before I could even analyze what happened, my hands had straightened the wheel and we were driving straight off (to a nice empty patch of grass of course). It seemed like an eternity for the car to slow down, but I got kudos from Colin on doing the right thing; showed real composure and a good head in yellow. We check in at the hot pits and the next time around we nail the entry and begin work on 5 and 6. We cut through the inside of 5, jab the brakes, turn, wait for the car to rotate, and then catch the slide with a generous amount of throttle. It sure felt faster. Colin asks me about rotating the car and what techniques I use. I'm happy to demonstrate Kevin's hard entry technique of driving in deep, jabbing the brakes, throwing the car into the corner purposefully unsettling the rear, and motoring out under WOT. I also throw in a little trail braking into 8 and 13 for good measure. We came through 4, 5, and 6 again and write it off as my new line. On corners 8 and 13, we modified Chuck's 'motorcycle' line by coming out two car lengths from the left track edge and using a healthy dose of trail brake to rotate the car. This kept the momentum up and my turbo in its happy spot. We corrected 13 much the same way by keeping the car in 3rd through 12. Normally I shift up and have to shift back down, but the there are no gains to be had with this current setup. With those down pat and half the session left Colin suggests a slightly different line in 1-2. Instead of getting all the way to the left track edge, we should straddle the blend line. This would give us a slightly bigger arc for the turn and carry more speed. We quickly found out that was true, but my poor tires weren't up to the extra speed. We worked with the line a little bit each time around and concluded that the line I had originally been taking was balancing the amount of available grip, speed, and distance traveled pretty well. The funniest point of the session is when I came running up to a Mustang Cobra in the 'Carousel'. I chased after it coming out of 12 and caught it under braking in 13. I nailed the entry and was WOT starting from 14. I gained another car length on the Cobra as we entered on the front straight and then stopped gaining ground. I was bouncing in my seat chanting 'Go, Go, Go!' till I was blue in the face. Finally the driver gave me a point by just as my momentum let out and he started to pull away. By this time Colin was in a ball laughing in the passenger seat as I kept shouting at the Cobra, 'I'm at full throttle! Lay off the gas already!' We make it by and the session ends with all smiles.
The next session was the piece de la resistance (full on track assault). I gridded up last amongst the S2Ks in the yellow run group and was ready to give it the beans and shoot for a time. My friend David (also known as Hastablur to the S2K group) was right in front of me and the two of us set into a nice rhythm, dancing through traffic till we caught up to the other S2Ks. David makes it by Jim in the yellow S2000 and soon our duo becomes a trio. For the entire session we weaved in and out of traffic pushing one another to ten tenths. Jim's instructor had him run two laps at his pace, and then run the rest of the session with some speed. Some one sure did light a rocket under his foot and soon he challenged David back for lead. The slower traffic disrupted my rhythm and I found it more difficult to match Jim and David's pace. Seems a lot of the other S2Ks like to try and follow David, but forget there are other cars right behind him. Or maybe my white blends in with the sky, I don't know. What I do know is I had to do double duty to earn my point bys. But I was damned if I was going be left behind. I pushed hard getting by another black S2000 and used the brake zones to make up ground. Turns 1-2 were the ace up my sleeve and I inched my way back up only for all three of us to encounter more traffic. What a run! I achieved my goal dropping 9 seconds in two events. A 2.10.979 without altering my setup marked a sense of accomplishment, but also opened another door for me to challenge. Traqmate says there's a 2.08 to be had and I believe it (time to put more points in the driver mod). Maybe even more impressive is the tighter consistency in the 2.11-2.12 range. Another key note is that this time was also done on street tires and full weight GSX. There were plenty of cars in our run group who are equipped with R-compounds and other 'go fast' bits. Just goes to show there's more to than meets the eye to these Evo brethren.
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Amidst all the celebration and stories from that session I notice the red group coming back in, but some in counter race direction. That means only one thing...a red flag. A corvette had blown its engine through 4 and 5, continued and burst into flames down the back straight coming out of 6. Driver was ok and fortunately the flames extinguished themselves. Damage was contained under the car and everything looked ok under the hood. On the flip side our 4th session would be affected as time ticked away, there were still three run groups left. Instead of switching us to the short course, they coned off the oiled section of the track and flew a standing yellow between 4 and 7. The greenies got a taste first and they all made it through. I lined up at the front of the pack behind a yellow Z06 who I would use as my 'mine detector'. On track we took it slow through the oiled section of track. The cones made it challenging for me to get around 5 and 6 as I was pinned to the inside track edge. I couldn't carry any speed on to the straight since I didn't have enough room to rotate the car. As the Z06 and I launched out of 11 he suddenly got very squirrelly. I back off and he regained control, but pitted immediately. Great, now I was lead. I trucked along being cautious through the debris zone and staying on the left side of the track all the way through 7 before picking it back up. I could feel a little slipperiness to the tires, but the AWD traction held everything in check. On the third lap after not seeing a sole in sight I began to wonder if I missed a flag. I didn't see anything from the corner worker stations so I kept on happily at my own pace. Next time on the front straight I see a Mini followed by David coming up quick. Now I know I'm slow, but a Mini. Truth be told there were two Mini's in my run group that were shockingly quick, probably in the 2.08 range. I let both by and wonder where they were getting their speed from. Sure enough the track was getting better and they were returning to the fast line before 7. I tucked up and followed suit. David would later tell me they were putting around the track looking to see if I had gone off. In attempt to make myself a little more room in 5 I tracked as close to the cones as possibly. Then I heard a 'thump' and watched the first cone sail off in the mirror. Ooops! It was hopeless, I would have to just bide my time through that set of corners, but it was OK. In the grand scheme of things it was a perfect weekend.
Once again I have some thank yous. First to Dan for being a trooper and salvaging the weekend. If it had not been for your kindness, this story would have a different ending. I also like the sound of the 'race team' bit you told to O'Reilly's. To Mike and Rob at FIST; for always lending a helping hand and providing sound advice. There are few people in the world that I would ever trust my DSM to. Just so happens they're local. And to Heather and Colin for lunch, rides in the new Z, and some awesome photos!
More Photos - http://picasaweb.google.com/tann3r/TWSNov1011
We pick up smelling that familiar sent of the morning dew, the heavy fog still blankets the waiting tarmac. The morning is cool and atmosphere is alive. I find a place to pit along the front straight fence and smile as I here that beautiful sounds of engines come alive. I was back tracking this weekend with The Driver's Edge and tagging along with the S2KCA Lone star chapter. Only Thura in the RX8 and I would be racing this weekend. My brother Colin came out as a photographer and button pusher to encourage faster lap times. Unlike PCA events the varying magnitude of cars was immense. Corvettes and Vipers barked in paddocks while Elises and Exiges waited patiently for their chance to get even. A gorgeous Factory Five Cobra and Noble M12 stole the show in Green, while an even more exotic hardware lay under the hood of an old 280 Datson and green S14. Two 355 Ferraris (one convertible, one challenge) blew their trumpets in answer the American muscle. And the Audi group was also out in force with some vintage Quattro Group B and N rally cars. What a sight!
My first session was a nice warm up, nothing eventful other than a little sideways action in turn one. Have to admit that the AWD spoils me in getting out of sticky situations. Just add power and it'll sort itself out. Session two is where things get interesting. I got a good feel for this run group's pace and knew I could play along side some of the heavy hitters (minus the Hoosier equipped Viper). I grid up mid pack and we're released out onto the track. After the warm-up lap I slowly work my way through traffic. Once again I find myself on the low end of the power scale just above the Minis and Miatas, so getting by on the straights is a painstakingly slow ordeal. Tea anyone? It would be an obstacle that I worked on through out the weekend; managing traffic, reading the car in front, setting up a good approach to the corners that led to the front straights and nailing the exit to give me just enough momentum to warrant a pass. It wouldn't be too long till I bumped into Tim in his red '06 GTO. He had gotten held up by a slower car and I took my place in the train. Our driving lines were similar in a lot of aspects such as the entry and brake zone for turns 1 and 2 which made following him less of a chore as I didn't have to constantly adjust entry and cornering speed. You can see in the video I inch my way up in the twisties, but he lays down a lot of land between us on the straights. There's a give and take to each individual car, each with their own individual strengths and weaknesses. That's what makes sports car racing exciting. Back in the paddocks we have a good laugh over that last session and decide we make a good match for pushing each other out on the track. The times also tumble as the Traqmate shows a 2.11.2.
Then it was my turn to the have the thundercloud over my head. As I went around the car to check tire pressures, it looked like something exploded in my passenger front wheel well. I had to wait for the brakes to cool off, but initial diagnosis was a brake failure as there was a lot of yellow residue on the inside of my wheel. Soon after we got her in the air and wheel off, and to my relief it was the outer CV boot that had torn. It was odd that it was twisted, which seems to have caused the tear and gushed the grease all over the place. Not to worry, simple track side repair! Got to love DSMers. I hit Chuck up for the proper size socket to get the axel nut off (VR4s share the same size axel nut) and within minutes she was ready for a transplant...now we just needed a donor. Calling around to all the auto parts stores in College Station revealed the only option was to have a part brought in from O'Reilly's hub store in Houston. I would loose my last two sessions for the day, but it should get here in time for me to have it all patched up for Sunday. Fast forward to 4:15pm and I've got the axel in hand. I make it back to the track and begin the operation. I go to push the axel in and nothing. I give it a little love push and still nothing. I call up the store and check on the part number. I try again. I call up the store once more and ask them to count the spines on the axel. I have 27 on the replacement axel and he counts 25. Doh! Enter Panic mode. At this time no stores would be able to get me parts till Mon.
I jump on the phone and gave Dan, Mike, and Robert a call. Within minutes we've got a plan of action in place. Dan's checking with main O'Reilly's hub store in Houston to see if they have another axel, Mike's rummaging through FIST too see if any can be found, and Robert fills me in on the oil I need to top off the tranny with. Mike's the first one to call back, 'Is it 27 spines?' Wha, wha, wha. In the mean time we pack up for the day and make our way back to the O'Reilly's in CS to return the axel. Seems they ordered the right part, but just had the wrong part in the box. About that time Dan's on the horn with news from Htown. He's sourced an axel and needed to know all its specifications to make sure it was the right one. '99 Mitsubishi Eclipse, turbo, AWD, manual, 25 spines on the transmission side, and 26" long. Success and the DSM recovery vehicle (GTO) was in route with a steak dinner waiting for him!
Class time! Fun doesn't stop just because your car is broken. I pick up some hints and tricks that I thought some of you may find very useful. First off is positioning your mirrors. One of our teachers is a professional racer and test driver for a lot of the car manufacturers. According to him Audi is the only one to ever have mentioned anything about positioning your mirrors. The center mirror is pretty self explanatory. The sides however should be set by tilting your head to the left and right and then setting the mirrors to where you can barely see a sliver of the rear quarter panel. What this does is provides 360 vision with 180 line of sight. It was really awkward at first getting use to it, but it really does work. What happens is that it eliminates your blind spots. As a car moves from behind you, the reflection in the center mirror transitions to the side mirror seamlessly. Another benefit is that you don't get blinded at night. Since you positioned the mirrors with your head tilted, the reflection of light crosses behind your head rather than at your eyes. This made driving home at night much more enjoyable. We were also taught a new approach to the track. Instead of focusing on brake zones, look at the corners that lead onto the straights and where you can maximize the throttle. Then trace back on the track to where you would need to scrub speed to make it happen. It was like a light bulb going off. That's why you always hear announcers say it's good for 'so and so' because the cars in front or behind are fighting for position. Late braking rarely ever leads to the fastest time, but is a necessity when it comes to fighting for track position and controlling a corner. If you can't control the corner and you open the apex, then the car you just passed may sneak under you on the tighter line. But since we're not racing, there's really no sense in late braking then. We continue onto the three C's, which are control, consistency, and cadence. You must master them in this order as they are a prerequisite to one another. Control is getting your line and points (turn in, apex, track out) correctly. Consistency is being able to duplicate your laps time after time. And cadence is essentially rhythm. A rhythm helps maintain your body's resources and fatigue and also you drive quickly without wearing yourself down. There is a time to push and time for cadence. Knowing when to do which one is what separates drivers from racers. And lastly, the steering wheel is what points your car. The throttle is what steers it around the corner. Even for AWD.
The following morning I'm back under the car and in record time the wounded Skye is back on the ground and ready for the track. I make a quick trip out to the gas station to make sure all is ok and grab some fuel. I even remember to bring my wallet and gas can this time around. All seems well and we're back under way. The first session of Sun I'm a little cautious. I'm very tentative, waiting for an inevitable failure. She tracked wonderfully and waited patiently, prodding me to get on the throttle. I pick up a little speed and slowly work back up to form. Soon I'm back in consistent 2:12s and the day is beginning to look a lot brighter. Back in the pits I get weird looks from the S2K guys. 'So how long did it take for PST to put the axel back in?' Um...about 15 min. and I did it myself. Some seemed really confused about doing that depth of work on their own cars, much less track side. DSMs, making every day people into mechanics since 1989.
For my next session I requested to have an instructor ride along as I was still having trouble in 5-6 and could use some further refinement in 8 and 13. Out goes the camera and Dean introduces me to Colin who drive's a FC and Spec7 race car. He climbs on board and with the pleasantries out of the way we get straight to work. We talk through the warm-up lap, introduce the car, point out my trouble spots, and I run the next lap at speed while Colin watches on. On the main straight Colin suggests we work on 4 first as it will affect how I take 5 and 6. He says 4 can be taken as an early apex corner and I could start my turn in sooner and get back on the power quicker. I liked the sound of that. We whip out of 3 and I listen to Colin's voice guiding my timing. Brake, release, turn now, gas! Next thing I knew I was both feet in. What a riot. Colin didn't anticipate me to respond that quickly to his words so we entered a little early. The front passenger tire jumped between the track and curbing, causing the chassis to unsettle. Before I could even analyze what happened, my hands had straightened the wheel and we were driving straight off (to a nice empty patch of grass of course). It seemed like an eternity for the car to slow down, but I got kudos from Colin on doing the right thing; showed real composure and a good head in yellow. We check in at the hot pits and the next time around we nail the entry and begin work on 5 and 6. We cut through the inside of 5, jab the brakes, turn, wait for the car to rotate, and then catch the slide with a generous amount of throttle. It sure felt faster. Colin asks me about rotating the car and what techniques I use. I'm happy to demonstrate Kevin's hard entry technique of driving in deep, jabbing the brakes, throwing the car into the corner purposefully unsettling the rear, and motoring out under WOT. I also throw in a little trail braking into 8 and 13 for good measure. We came through 4, 5, and 6 again and write it off as my new line. On corners 8 and 13, we modified Chuck's 'motorcycle' line by coming out two car lengths from the left track edge and using a healthy dose of trail brake to rotate the car. This kept the momentum up and my turbo in its happy spot. We corrected 13 much the same way by keeping the car in 3rd through 12. Normally I shift up and have to shift back down, but the there are no gains to be had with this current setup. With those down pat and half the session left Colin suggests a slightly different line in 1-2. Instead of getting all the way to the left track edge, we should straddle the blend line. This would give us a slightly bigger arc for the turn and carry more speed. We quickly found out that was true, but my poor tires weren't up to the extra speed. We worked with the line a little bit each time around and concluded that the line I had originally been taking was balancing the amount of available grip, speed, and distance traveled pretty well. The funniest point of the session is when I came running up to a Mustang Cobra in the 'Carousel'. I chased after it coming out of 12 and caught it under braking in 13. I nailed the entry and was WOT starting from 14. I gained another car length on the Cobra as we entered on the front straight and then stopped gaining ground. I was bouncing in my seat chanting 'Go, Go, Go!' till I was blue in the face. Finally the driver gave me a point by just as my momentum let out and he started to pull away. By this time Colin was in a ball laughing in the passenger seat as I kept shouting at the Cobra, 'I'm at full throttle! Lay off the gas already!' We make it by and the session ends with all smiles.
The next session was the piece de la resistance (full on track assault). I gridded up last amongst the S2Ks in the yellow run group and was ready to give it the beans and shoot for a time. My friend David (also known as Hastablur to the S2K group) was right in front of me and the two of us set into a nice rhythm, dancing through traffic till we caught up to the other S2Ks. David makes it by Jim in the yellow S2000 and soon our duo becomes a trio. For the entire session we weaved in and out of traffic pushing one another to ten tenths. Jim's instructor had him run two laps at his pace, and then run the rest of the session with some speed. Some one sure did light a rocket under his foot and soon he challenged David back for lead. The slower traffic disrupted my rhythm and I found it more difficult to match Jim and David's pace. Seems a lot of the other S2Ks like to try and follow David, but forget there are other cars right behind him. Or maybe my white blends in with the sky, I don't know. What I do know is I had to do double duty to earn my point bys. But I was damned if I was going be left behind. I pushed hard getting by another black S2000 and used the brake zones to make up ground. Turns 1-2 were the ace up my sleeve and I inched my way back up only for all three of us to encounter more traffic. What a run! I achieved my goal dropping 9 seconds in two events. A 2.10.979 without altering my setup marked a sense of accomplishment, but also opened another door for me to challenge. Traqmate says there's a 2.08 to be had and I believe it (time to put more points in the driver mod). Maybe even more impressive is the tighter consistency in the 2.11-2.12 range. Another key note is that this time was also done on street tires and full weight GSX. There were plenty of cars in our run group who are equipped with R-compounds and other 'go fast' bits. Just goes to show there's more to than meets the eye to these Evo brethren.
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Amidst all the celebration and stories from that session I notice the red group coming back in, but some in counter race direction. That means only one thing...a red flag. A corvette had blown its engine through 4 and 5, continued and burst into flames down the back straight coming out of 6. Driver was ok and fortunately the flames extinguished themselves. Damage was contained under the car and everything looked ok under the hood. On the flip side our 4th session would be affected as time ticked away, there were still three run groups left. Instead of switching us to the short course, they coned off the oiled section of the track and flew a standing yellow between 4 and 7. The greenies got a taste first and they all made it through. I lined up at the front of the pack behind a yellow Z06 who I would use as my 'mine detector'. On track we took it slow through the oiled section of track. The cones made it challenging for me to get around 5 and 6 as I was pinned to the inside track edge. I couldn't carry any speed on to the straight since I didn't have enough room to rotate the car. As the Z06 and I launched out of 11 he suddenly got very squirrelly. I back off and he regained control, but pitted immediately. Great, now I was lead. I trucked along being cautious through the debris zone and staying on the left side of the track all the way through 7 before picking it back up. I could feel a little slipperiness to the tires, but the AWD traction held everything in check. On the third lap after not seeing a sole in sight I began to wonder if I missed a flag. I didn't see anything from the corner worker stations so I kept on happily at my own pace. Next time on the front straight I see a Mini followed by David coming up quick. Now I know I'm slow, but a Mini. Truth be told there were two Mini's in my run group that were shockingly quick, probably in the 2.08 range. I let both by and wonder where they were getting their speed from. Sure enough the track was getting better and they were returning to the fast line before 7. I tucked up and followed suit. David would later tell me they were putting around the track looking to see if I had gone off. In attempt to make myself a little more room in 5 I tracked as close to the cones as possibly. Then I heard a 'thump' and watched the first cone sail off in the mirror. Ooops! It was hopeless, I would have to just bide my time through that set of corners, but it was OK. In the grand scheme of things it was a perfect weekend.
Once again I have some thank yous. First to Dan for being a trooper and salvaging the weekend. If it had not been for your kindness, this story would have a different ending. I also like the sound of the 'race team' bit you told to O'Reilly's. To Mike and Rob at FIST; for always lending a helping hand and providing sound advice. There are few people in the world that I would ever trust my DSM to. Just so happens they're local. And to Heather and Colin for lunch, rides in the new Z, and some awesome photos!
More Photos - http://picasaweb.google.com/tann3r/TWSNov1011
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I'm going to see where my current power lands me in the TT classes this winter. I think it's fun as hell chasing these high HP cars with 220HP (according to Link). Did Rich ever get reclassified with a dyno sheet, or did he just compete in the default TT class?
