GreenGSX
DSM Wiseman
- 371
- 5
- May 13, 2002
-
Rochester,
New York
We want to keep posting in the same BLOG thread to keep this organized. However, this is Stephen's (nrvous on this board) report from this morning's skid pad.
Last thing we did before we left our borrowed garage space Friday night was to throw rainX on the windshield. Running the skid pad wet, means that there are sprinklers running and spraying out onto the course from the inside. This turned out to work great, because once I was moving I didn’t even notice the splashes of water on the car.
You get two full rotations around the track, in both directions. The starting point was about two thirds away from the time I entered the circle, meaning I had about half a lap of water time to figure out where the car speed was going to sit. I went in what I thought was pretty hot so I could find the slipping point and dial it back. The car ended up sticking better than I could have hoped, so I actually kept squeezing speed until I hit the green flag. I knew I had found my mark about a quarter of a rotation past the flag when I got the rear to come out a little. I dialed it in and set the speed. Those two laps felt tight and perfect, with almost enough to make me want to drift the car. I got the checkered flag for those laps, and turned around to hit the course clockwise.
Clockwise I didn’t do as well, at least I thought. I didn’t find the magic grove early, and ended up on a line that is way outside of where I needed to be. Not being in the right line, the car kept pushing out, so I dialed back and went for the line that I had. I finished up, knowing I didn’t spin out, but a little disappointed I couldn’t get the grove that I had on the first run.
The team and our newly formed fan crew came over to let me know that I placed second in our class, which is awesome news for the team. It wasn’t until they posted the official results when we reached Autobahn, did I realize we placed 9th overall and pull .872 Gs in the process.
Last thing we did before we left our borrowed garage space Friday night was to throw rainX on the windshield. Running the skid pad wet, means that there are sprinklers running and spraying out onto the course from the inside. This turned out to work great, because once I was moving I didn’t even notice the splashes of water on the car.
You get two full rotations around the track, in both directions. The starting point was about two thirds away from the time I entered the circle, meaning I had about half a lap of water time to figure out where the car speed was going to sit. I went in what I thought was pretty hot so I could find the slipping point and dial it back. The car ended up sticking better than I could have hoped, so I actually kept squeezing speed until I hit the green flag. I knew I had found my mark about a quarter of a rotation past the flag when I got the rear to come out a little. I dialed it in and set the speed. Those two laps felt tight and perfect, with almost enough to make me want to drift the car. I got the checkered flag for those laps, and turned around to hit the course clockwise.
Clockwise I didn’t do as well, at least I thought. I didn’t find the magic grove early, and ended up on a line that is way outside of where I needed to be. Not being in the right line, the car kept pushing out, so I dialed back and went for the line that I had. I finished up, knowing I didn’t spin out, but a little disappointed I couldn’t get the grove that I had on the first run.
The team and our newly formed fan crew came over to let me know that I placed second in our class, which is awesome news for the team. It wasn’t until they posted the official results when we reached Autobahn, did I realize we placed 9th overall and pull .872 Gs in the process.
