Details involved in preparing, choosing and competing in various wheel-2-wheel events mainly in the Midwest both in my previously owned 2006 Mitsubishi Evolution IX and other racecar rentals!
One thing I never listed out was ALL the top times per class and what type of car won them. So here's the info, along with a brief reminder of the power/weight per class. Mid Ohio PRO course was the track.
Note; I competed in TTA; with a best of 1:32.8
TTR - 1:27.1 - Radical SR3
TTU - 1:29.7 - Evo IX (BBK turbo + lots of Aero!)
TTS - 1:30.8 - C5 Vette (lots of Aero!)
TTA - 1:32.5 - C5 Z06 Vette
TTB - 1:35.8 - C5 Vette
TTC - 1:36.9 - e36 BMW
TTD - 1:39.8 - Mazda Protege
TTE - 1:41.9 - Honda Civic
TTF - 1:46.3 - Infiniti G20
So entering Sunday I was on top. I felt pretty good about pushing the car Saturday, but looking at my data Sat evening, I found there was definitely a few more tenths out there in some key corners.
The first session looks to be a good one. With a good lap on the books, I elected to make a small setup change in loosening the front rebound. This proved to make the car worse unfortunately and I ran another mid 1:33. It was also a sloppy session with people pushing very very hard. Some of my competitors came out on their 2nd or even 3rd set of new tires at this point! I seen one competitor go very wide and 4-off which didn't get called (you get your times DQ'd if you go 4-off) in my rearview. I watched intently as I was waiting for him to fly back across the track like most do in that particular part of the course and punch the inside wall. But he saved it; congrats on that.
The updated times showed another big changeup in class. Whereas I'd leapfrogged from 3rd to 1st the previous morning; I'd been leapfrogged today! It was insanely close with the laptimes showing:
1st - 132.52
2nd - 132.80 3rd - 132.83 --> ME
There was 1 session left on the schedule in the afternoon. But it then started to sprinkle a bit. Then it cleared up; then it sprinkled more. All I wanted was a dry track and a shot at a legitimate win. I lined up in grid and it started to sprinkle just 15min before our session - but then it stopped and the rain came out! It was going to be close!
The track might not have been 100% dry, but it was close enough. We went out and pushed hard. The 1st lap felt good so I flew into T1 under the bridge; hit the apex and stuck the accelerator to the floor! Only the front tires wouldn't hold the speed and I went 4-off wide on track out. That'd be it as a 4-off means a DQ. I can't recall if I still pushed hard that lap or if it was the next - just for pride. But somehow I tallied a 1:32.9 that session; and the corner workers didn't catch my obvious 4-off. However, per the rules, I admitted to it and that time was DQ'd. In the end it wasn't as fast as my previous best; but I also wasn't pushing 100% because of the early 4-off. I'm wondering if I'd kept pushing what would have happened? lol. Either way; I wouldn't wanna win like that. I had my shot at a dry track which is all you can ask for.
The final tally slotted me into 3rd place out of 14 in a crazily fast group of TTA. The top 4 of us all bested the previous TTA Nationals record set by Gates back in 2008 (in a car that's been reclassed higher since).
In the end, it's so hard to compete on a track with long straights like Mid Ohio with the Corvettes. We're at an immediate disadvantage with respect to aero, drag, gearing, weight, power, etc. I was still able to hit 144mph on the backstraight according to my GPS with the stock turbo! Huge thanks to AMS Performance, AMSOIL, Hoosier Tire, Hawk Brake Pads, Buschur Racing, The Winning Formula, AST, Forgeline, and my wife.
And for the record, I was weighed 4-5 times, fully teched with my points sheet once and GPS'd twice. I think this was pretty close to the other top cars in the class; with a portion of the non AWD cars being dyno'd as well.
The pictures are some that I took in 'Madness' of some of the race groups; enjoy!
Lastly, here's my highlight/lowlight video. Showing a lot of the offs, my near T-Bone on Friday and my 4-off in the last session, etc:
Entering Friday (Day 2 of 4) I was in 2nd of 14, but there was a long way to go. After the politics from the previous day with the rear of the grid, the front of the grid returned the favor with an insanely slow outlap. I was actually going about 20mph into the carousel as the front guys were trying to get the cars in the rear to bunch up tight. Needless to say that screwed everyone's first lap.
Finally when we got up to speed, on the quick R-L transition between T9 and T10 I actually had my Traqmate come off the windshield suction cup and fly out my passenger window! Actually this wasn't the first time this had happened, as last year it happened in T7 at Autobahn; only it flew out the drivers side window there!
Friday also brought about probably one of the top 5 scariest moments of my short racing career. I had let a TTS Lotus past me on the outlap, knowing him from Regional events in that he was slightly faster than me I figured I'd be nice and not hold him up - the car in front of me did the same. Well, he didn't return the favor so well! On the first flying lap, the Lotus went into a corner too hot and lost it, spinning and staying on the track. If you're familiar with Mid Ohio, you know how many blind corners and hills are there and how dangerous a situation like this can be. This occurred at the top of 'Thunder Valley' which is T12. This is a corner I usually pitch the car into sideways and drift all the way to the exit on the right - which is coincidentally where the Lotus was still spinning when I came up the hill. Now fortunately for both of us, I overbraked the entry so I was well under control and not drifting or sideways and I was able to react! Only I had no idea which way to swerve as he was still spinning! Changing my mind from R to L; I swerved Left to avoid and the Lotus actually rolled backwards towards the middle of the track just as I'm trying to scoot by. Whew; by unscathed!
Once the session was over the Lotus was moved onto his racegroup, so we'd have to catch up on dramatics and apologies later to be sure! I did have an official come over and deliver my Traqmate to me! I'm thankful I label stuff... And yeah; it still works...
Best lap of the day for me was a 1:33.9. I'd end the day in 3rd place of 14. Once the grid worked its way out from fast to slow, things were a little better in the afternoon session. I still had a difficult time setting tire pressures. They kept coming up way higher than I'm used to. Perhaps I was overdriving the car; or the fact I was doing all 100% hot laps for 6 laps - but that's not entirely uncommon.
Here's a pic of the gridding area for one of the GTS (German Tourning Series) qualifying races as seen from our paddock area -->
After nearly 600 miles 10.5 hrs of driving on Friday (to Ohio via Chicago)...
Sat warmup was pretty early! I did very little to prep the car, having not even started it since I left Mid Ohio in July! After unpacking it, I adjusted the tire temps a little, slapped on the camera and that's about it! I ran about 6 laps, each a little quicker than the last and qualified with a 1:35.0 - which was nearly as fast as I went in July; so I was excited.
I was sitting 9th in grid and 2nd in class; squeezed tightly by 2 C5 Vettes.
I reset the tire temps for S2, made a few suspension tweaks and knew I'd need to push hard as the morning session would be the fastest - plus there was rain forecasted later. I pushed pretty hard, but safe, and ran a 1:33.2 which was a personal best! It landed me in 1st place and broke the TTA track record by a few tenths.
We had a 2+ hr break until S3. I ate, rotated some tires, reset pressures, moved the camera, put in some fuel, tweaked the suspension - all really quick/minor stuff as the car felt pretty good and was rotating well to my liking. I ran some 1:34's but I didn't better my time. Nobody really improved actually. Same story for S4 (which I sat out). S5 was like 5:30 and I was hoping for better conditions with less sun. The car felt good, but not great. I ran a few 1:34's but no improvement.
My time held up and I finished 1st out of 8 in class, taking the Pro Course TTA Track Record (to go along with the Club Course record I set in April)! The car felt really good all day, neutral, able to rotate a bit under hard throttle thanks to the Shep rear diff. AMS tuned power was good; although the Vettes still walk me on the straights - they've got to be right on the class power/weight ratio!
I wanted to give a quick shout-out to AMSOIL for their help this year. I've been partnering with AMSOIL since 2009 and it's been a great experience. I previously had been running their 'Dominator' Racing branded 10w30 oil. However, earlier this year I started to have some bearing wear discovered by the oil analysis reports I send in to an independent 3rd party. This is probably from a combination of the higher power output, higher revs, and resulting higher temps in this year's full TTA buildup. Whereas 2009-2010 I'd see 250-265 temps with some higher peaks with extended lapping, I'm seeing lots of 280-290 temps this year.
At about the same time I got the oil analysis report back, I started working with a new rep; Scott. Scott immediately suggested that we try a run of thicker 15w50 AMSOIL and watch the temps/pressures even closer. We ran that oil at the July Mid Ohio event where I seen temps peak and hold at 280 every session. We sent in a sample for analysis and the report can back much better. The bearing wear was much lower; presumably from the thicker oil protecting better under those high temps.
So, I had Scott send me a case of AMSOIL 'Dominator' 15w50 this week as we'll be running that the rest of the year. Hopefully everything will stay protected and safe. The car now has about 24,500 miles and 75 track days on it including 14 so far in 2011.
I run very very few stickers on my car. And AMSOIL is one of them for a good reason. If you want to get ahold of Scott, email him at: fixem2@gmail.com
With the knowledge from our trip to Mid Ohio in July, we're prepping the car a bit differently for the next trip! We'll be back at Mid Ohio for an important NASA MW/GL crossover event, which means double points, bigger fields, more competition, etc. It's also another chance to improve at Mid Ohio for the National event in September.
So currently the car has the stock wing on it, and it will remain that way! I really like the Kognition wing and it obviously produces rear downforce as advertised. However the lack of front downforce produces lift and results in a 'push' especially mid-corner under power.
Therefore we're going to use those 'mod pts' elsewhere on the car. The fancy AMS FMIC will be going back on the car. I think the additional power, throttle response and larger powerband will be a welcome addition for the longer Mid Ohio straights! It should also help counteract some of the high intake temps of the summer.
The picture here is the car as it sits today. The stock FMIC has been pulled and it's awaiting the AMS FMIC to be bolted back in place. I'm hoping to get some additional ducting in place on the bumper to help out temps as well. Time permitting...
Sunday actually started with a fog delay!
I had decided to run the car with the stock wing today. For that, there would be some prep work needed. I put the best tires back on - which meant the corded tires would no longer be in the rear; lol. I pulled some weight in the car as I had 4pts to play with since the Kognition wing was off the car. I also lowered the LR ride height some to help the car turn left. 1st session...fog delayed! I took a passenger out and the car felt pretty tame (not loose like others in the paddock feared); just ran a 1:42x as I was in slow traffic and the track was slick in spots.
Session #2 was fun. The car rotated very well through the fast right-handers and even turned left where it wouldn't on Saturday! It took a few laps to get used to the rotation with different steering inputs and I was picking up speed until I caught traffic. (And by catching traffic I mean the same horrible TTF car that caused a train of cars every session). Best was a 1:35.1; although I was on pace for a 1:34x... This again locked me into 2nd of 6th.
Session #3 was around 1:30pm and would probably be my last as I had a 7.5hr drive home. I ran a best of 1:35.2 with the same story - I was on pace for a rocket of a lap until I caught the same TTF car and the train behind him.
So........
All-in-All I was very unhappy with the car setup on Saturday. I was making changes to things every session to try and make it turn left and accelerate from mid-corner w/o pushing. I know a big rear wing (with no undertray mind you) just is NOT to my liking. That's where me and my suspension guy have differing opinions. I tried it; hate it. I was up pretty late Sat night trying to decide how to change the car for my next trip to Mid Ohio.
I managed to roll back a portion of the new setup changes on Sunday and was happier with the car. It was much hotter and I was having a tough time finding my braking points and running a solid lap before traffic; a train of traffic on lap #2 or #3.
I keep trying to tell myself finishing 2/6 and around 9 of 56 cars isn't bad for a setup I hated. Besides the 1 TTA car in front of me; everything else was higher classed so it's not like I was slow. 1 lower class; TTB had a winning time of 1:39 so we had a group of quick TTA cars! I already have some ideas on how to prep the car differently for August - and I can tell you the STOCK wing will be on it!
Sunday it was wet; again, as it rained overnight. I skipped S1. In S2 I put down a 1:39.4 and slotted into 2nd as the Corvette in front of me broke the track record! S3 I had planned on being my last of the day as I had a solid 7.5hrs home but I had issues. Basically I was late to grid because I was waiting to switch in the wing mounts (remember I'm sharing them so we keep frantically switching them from Mark's ITR onto my car and vice-versa). I only got 1 hotlap in as I had a 2 lap penalty and had to work through the slower traffic and play nice; no improvement.
I stayed for S4 - and ran a 1:37.6 re-breaking the Club Course track record! The time held up and I got my first record of 2011 at Mid-Ohio. Vid Below.
I've got to thank AMS Performance for fixing some boost leaks and retuning the car. It's running even smoother than before and hitting 143mph on the backstraight. I beat on the car to the tune of 210 miles this weekend with no issues. Also to Aaron @ Winning Formula for the alignment and setup on the new suspension - and also for taking some tire temps for me Sat. The car feels great; but we have a laundry list of potential tweaks already!
Overall; Mid Ohio is a lot of fun. It's super technical and it's faster - a dangerously fun combination. Blind corners, off-camber turns - and combinations of each! Plus a huge backstraight, and if you're running the Pro Course I'm assuming an equally huge frontstraight. I unfortunately had 2 car-buddies find the wall this weekend and they have some repair work!
After 7.5 hrs and 466 miles (over 2 days) I pulled into Mid Ohio very early Friday morning. I ran the testday mostly in the rain; we were running the Club Course all weekend. My best lap of 2:10 in the rain and a 1:55 in the last session when the track was a bit drier. Knowing the class leading times would be nearly 20 seconds faster over the weekend...
Saturday morning at Mid Ohio was foggy and a bit cold - but worlds better than the Friday testday that was full of rain and 48 degrees for a high. In S2 I had a 1:42 on my first hot lap just as things were warming up. But on lap #2 I went wide into T8 and spun it. Fortunatley I stayed on track and nothing was damaged. With NASA you lose your times if you spin or go offtrack, so I had no official time at this point.
We had a decent break over lunch and we decided to change the AoA on the ARP wing I was running. Here's where things went wrong... Not sure if it was hosed before or during our adjustment attempt but we had the adjustable rod screw break off inside the nut. We tried drilling it, pounding a hammer into it, pounding a screw into it, using vicegrips to turn the hammer/screwdriver - nothing. It was hosed. I did have a close neighbor (Mark; aka Brad) with a sweet ITR and the same wing! He agreed to let me borrow the supports when our schedules worked out. So we had a plan! But first was S3 and I had no time to switch the mounts so I figured I'd do some 'testing' as to running wingless! Let's just say the car was a bit loose! Braking down the backstraight from 140+ was very loose and any corner entry was loose. So I adopted the brake - get back on the gas - then turn in - method and pulled a 1:43.
S4 & S5 I was able to switch in the borrowed mounts and run with the wing! simply used whatever angle Mark had which was a lower flatter angle and what I was planning on switching mine to anyway. And the track was pretty much dried out except for a few key spots (namely T1 under the bridge). I mounted up the stickered Hoosiers and tossed down a 1:39.9 and climbed into 2nd; sandwiched between 2 Corvettes. I reset the tire pressures for S5 and put down a 1:38.8 taking 1st for the day and just .4 off the track record.
Talked things over with my pit crew (the wife and sometimes the puppy) and the advice was to put the rains back on the car in preparation for the Mid-Ohio forecast this coming weekend. At the time it was showing mid 50's and 30% chance of rain on Friday. Knowing I HATE to change tires in the rain; the advice was to show up on the rains/streets.
So I made the change, tightened things down and loaded the car on the trailor this weekend. I then made the trip to my get my Annual tech inspection for NASA. Doing it early keeps me out of the long long lines at the track - and being an Annual it means I'll be free from tech the rest of the year!
So I again hit my new goal of having the car on the trailor the weekend BEFORE the event. Awesome feeling to not be rushed. Here's a pic of it stuffed in the garage.
The 2011 NASA season starts this weekend at Mid-Ohio! This will be my first ever trip there.
