July 2018
Event: Victorian Six Hour
Location: Phillip Island
Notes: ok – attempt number three to get a podium at Phillip Is. Weather this year was all over the place. Team too seemed unsettled.
I arrived to Phillip Is and found an exhaust leak in the uppipe. Not a gasket, in the flex pipe itself. No parts nor time to change it out, we ran was it was. My gauges didn’t indicate any boost loss, but I’m sure there would be some.
Practice: I’m not sure why, but my fist session out and I felt foreign in the car and my confidence wasn’t there. I hesitated in the corners. There was a red flag three laps into the session when a corolla lost a left front wheel. Didn’t really find space to stretch my legs when I was called back in. Second session was like a race. Cars were darting left and right I was just trying to find a groove and you’d have someone come down the inside of you and your times were shot.
Race Day: Was number five to run today in the team. By that time we’d already accumulated a number of penalties, so there was no point in being a hero, wasting tyres and brakes. Penalties are a killer. One maybe you could still get there. We had a least three at that stage. So I ramped up slower than usual. I was too curious to others, leaving me unable to get my times. Again got a red flag in this session and the track was somewhat greasier than yesterday.
S2 and it was mayhem. Every second lap there were yellow and loss of adhesion flags out. It started to rain in the latter half of the stint. Tyre pressures never really got there but it felt ok.
S3 and I softened up the suspension for wet weather. I completed the last five laps of the day and as we passed the checker most of the team was packed up or well into it. There wasn’t much in the way of team spirit for this one. I’m putting it down to the fact we blew out to early, breaking the one rule we set for ourselves, “Don’t get any penalties”.
We’ll try it again next year if we can. But we’ll have to practice more on day one.
April 2018
Event 2: MTA Come and Try Day
Location: Logic Park
Notes: Was suppose to be a brotherly challenge this weekend, but Dave’s buggy wasn’t up for it, electing to give his girlfriend a run in a liberty he acquired for a few bucks. So I used the day to play with suspension settings and try another PB at Logic. However I had brain fade. I thought the day would be warmer and elected not to top up the pressures after yesterdays TnT. Each time I retuned to the pits the tyres were still a few psi lower than I wanted. Car felt ok, but the grip could have been better.
Three different suspension settings were tried and I learned a lot about suspension setup.
Session – Best Time
Session 1 – 59.79
Session 2 – No Time kept (caught competitor)
Session 3 – 1:00.12 – had trouble getting out of the corners.
Session 4 – 59:52 – Bump changes on all four corners. Rebound change on front.
Session 5 – 58.76 – Further bump changes on all four corners
So no PB this weekend. I couldn’t get there. When I got home I remembered I didn’t add the camber back into the rear. doh! I’m suspecting that had I put the camber back, that would have given me the grip I needed to push harder through the corners. But we won’t know now until we get back there.
Event 1: Winton Test & Tune
Location: Winton Raceway
Notes: Took a day to go play at Winton today. There’s another Logic Park event this weekend, so I thought I’d do a TnT on the Friday. My goal was to play with setups and do a new PB.
S1 car ran well but didn’t hold the corners like I remembered. Achieved a 1:44.17
S2 took a bit of camber out of the RR. Better grip now in left turns. Best Time 1:43.34. I had a massive loose a T3 looping around and going partially into the infield. I handed finished spinning when Jim Pollicina passed by millimetres in front of me. I was very pleased not to be across the track when that thing came roaring past.
S3 made some more changes to camber in the rear on both sides and now the grip felt good. 1:42.88, so heading in the right direction.
S4 and I kept coming up on traffic, but not before I banked a 1:42.04. I tried braking later too for this session, which did help.
S5 and again traffic galore. Everyone was out for final runs. Still consistent at 1:42.08 and more fun than you could poke a stick at. Had a great day!
March 2018
Event: NSW Six Hour
Location: SMP GP Circuit
Notes: Attempt #3 to get a podium at the NSW 6Hr. Warming the car up after arrival I noted a hint of smoke coming from the engine bay. But I couldn’t locate where it was coming from. It cleared once up to temperature. So that’ll be on my mind the whole weekend now. (it was much later found to be the start of an exhaust leak). It’s a new team for this event with Dave appearing for the first time and a couple of other drivers swapped out.
Practice and I was happy with the way everything was running. Changed the bumps settings which settled the car and gave me more grip through the corners. Nominated a 1:57 regularity time. With the rest of the team dialled in, it was a case of sit and wait.
Race Day and I was to be out second. It was different, normally I’m fourth or fifth car. My first session and it was mayhem out there. An MX5 went wide and off at T1, right in front of me. A supra left coolant on in T8 for all to play on and had a really close call with a Falcon who was trying to hold his own in T3. I was just trying to stay out of everyones way. I finished the session accumulating 40points and no blow-outs (Yay!). The nominated time was perhaps a little ambitious, as the track had changed quite a bit in the heat, but still achievable.
Session two and my confidence was up, I was having a good time when a safety car appeared and held us for three laps. In the pack I was trying to find space and sure enough, in that vein I blew out my times. More than once. So I wasn’t pleased with that. But the car ran strong, I was have a ball and really enjoyed the event. I was one of the top point achievers in the team, happy with that. Dave was having problems on older tyres in the heat and the car was nervous.
January 2017
Update: Brake Upgrade
Notes: Over the Christmas New Year break we got hold of some STI twin pot rear brake callipers. This mod calls for a change of backing plates (The plate that the callipers bolt onto). Fortunately the guy was selling the whole lot, calliper, backing plate with rear sub assembly. I was fortunate too that the bearings still seem to be in great condition, so the whole lot was just bolted on. There was no hassle at all. All seems to good to be true.
[pic]
This should help balance out the car. I didn’t realise at the time, but reviewing my notes from the last event at the Brabham Circuit, I think the car has a little to much front bias, with the occasional tip in feeling incorrect and occasional locking of the rears as the front dipping when you really stand on them.