Tuesday, June 23, 2009

2nd Place - Redline TA - Autobahn!!

My first ever experience with Redline Time Attack. It's a different animal getting just 3 hot laps in 2 different sessions! Not a lot of time for mistakes! After the first session I was in 3rd (had no idea). Ended up with 2nd place in Street AWD and got my picture taken with a super hotty on the podium.

Street Class AWD Overall:
1st - Tony Weisenhahn - 1:35.708
2nd - Nathan Pitcher 1:40.389
3rd - Dylan Peterson 1:40.796

I came in Saturday in my NASA TTB trim. I was frantically changing out parts between practice sessions and could not have got it done w/o help from the AMS crew
The car ran flawlessly on Sunday; on a day when a LOT of other cars had issues. Even in the high temps and pushing a ton of boost on the stock turbo.

Time Attack session #1!
I came out pretty hard and was coming towards the last series of corners when I saw I was catching a car really quickly. It looked like it was barely moving. There were no flags from the corner workers and I was trying for my hot lap, so I kept going and hoped I could get around the car before the next corner. Not so lucky. The car went into the corner on the inside and slowly crossed towards the outside. I had to waste the lap. So I braked hard - locked up a little and jerked right to the inside to make it around rather than risking a collision. I ran a 1:44x. Since my tires were hot, I decided to toss away the next lap and even let a car or 2 around. I wound up for the 3rd and final lap of the session and fired a 1:40.873 I had no idea, but I was actually in 3rd at this point.
I knew the practice times the Turn In Concepts WRX was running and new it was out of reach. I was just hoping to make the podium somehow!

Time Attack session #2!
Judging by the fact 2 AWD cars were ahead of me I assumed I was in 3rd. Either way, I knew I needed to just go out and put down the best lap I could and let the times sort themselves out. I fired 3 hot laps, according to my Traqmate, I ran: 1:40.922 - 1:40.396 - 1:40.383 and had no idea where I sat. I suppose if my radio was hooked up I could have been listening...
I squeezed my way into 2nd place.

Big thanks to AMS and Girodisc for overnighting me parts on Thursday to get me fixed up and able to attend. Big thanks to AMS for an awesomely safe tune that I ran hard with confidence and also for a little on-site tech support Saturday! Also thanks to Mueller for some very neutral handling JIC coilovers.

Vids:
Here's 2 laps from the first TA session. Wouldn't ya know, my camera tape ran out before the 2nd session started....
First vid - my best lap of the first session (no idea why the sound gets off).
2nd vid - first lap of the session - caught some traffic at the end unfortunately:
PICS HERE


Monday, June 22, 2009

Ready for Redline Time Attack - Autobahn!


Wow, what a crazy few days.

If you read the previous post, I've been working on redoing the brakes seals as they've started to leak. I got everything together but came home to a big puddle of fluid on the floor Tuesday night (with a track weekend fast approaching). I ripped apart the caliper and found a chuck missing from one of my new seals. Check out the pic!
I made quick calls to AMS for brake fluid and Girodisc for a few replacement seals. Gotta love overnight express!
Thursday everything got delivered. I put in the new seal, bled all the corners again and went for a testdrive. A quick stab of the brakes (with my eyes closed) and the car slammed to a stop. I pulled some more speed and pushed them hard and locked up a front tire. SUCCESS! Did a few more stops to bed in my new pads to the new calipers. Then rolled back home to finally register for the event about 10pm on Thursday night and pack up for the trip!

Bottom line, got the car loaded and ready to make the trip towards Chicago to compete in my first Redline Time Attack event!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

New front rotors and caliper seals!


Well my front rotors were looking a bit sick - well severely heat cracked and a few cracks that were starting to spread. Nothing you want to break, so new rotors it is! I ordered a set of 'blanks' from knsbrakes.com - these are basically one-off copies of the stockers and have an excellently low price.
While I was at it, decided to get a caliper rebuild kit from Girodisc.com Once I pulled out the front pads, I seem some leakage so I didn't hesitate to replace everything up front. They look like new inside now!

Sunday, June 7, 2009