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!
My Traqmate GPS data is good for a lot of things, probably a lot more than I use it for. But one of the neat things it'll calculate is the average speed per lap. So I pulled up pretty much every track that I have data for and here's how they stacked up. This is using my best lap at each.
74 mph - Gingerman (Old) - TTB setup
77 mph - BlackHawk Farms - TTB setup
79 mph - Gingerman (Long)
81 mph - Autobahn
83 mph - Mid Ohio (Club)
85 mph - Putnam Park
85 mph - Gateway Int'l - TTB setup
86 mph - Mid Ohio (Pro)
89 mph - VIR Full - TTB setup
97 mph - Road America
Note my older TTB setup is usually 2-3 seconds per lap slower than my 2011 TTA setup.
It's here! The primary goal for this year and the culmination of the entire year's worth of effort. The 2011 NASA National Championships kick off at Mid Ohio Sports Car Course on Thursday Sept 8th and flow for 4 days. For the Time Trials groups, we get 1 practice and 8 timed sessions scattered over those 4 days to set our fastest lap. It's not a great deal of tracktime, so prepping the car with the right setup is critical.
The #929 Evo is currently loaded up and ready to rock. As the forecast shows chances for rain daily, part in thanks to Tropical Storm 'Lee', we decided to leave the rain/street tires on in prep for our first session Thursday @ 11am. I figure I have plenty of time to (happily) switch to Hoosiers if the weather is good. BUT, if it's wet, I need to throwdown an official lap to start working the grid strategy. My group consists of my class (TTA) and the 3 classes above me, TTS, TTU, & TTR respectively. Should be around 30-35 of us including 13 in my class!
I hope to make some pretty regular updates on the blog. Possibly nightly even! But I promise lots of small updates via twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/boomn29
I'll leave you with one of my favorite pictures of 2011...
I thought my rotors might last through Nationals; nope! This pic is of the LF and yep that's a nice looking crack.
The RF actually does not look too bad. Obviously I'm pulling these off in favor of a new set and putting in new pads as well.
More of the same; Stoptech front slotted and directionally veined rotors with Hawk DTC60 pads all coming from Jay at Andrews Racing. Check out his new website and don't hesitate to hit him up for advice on your setup: http://andrew-racing.com/
The TT group was the first group out on track - 8am. Very early. I figured the track might be a little damp, but I was wrong. After about 1.5 laps of 'recon' I started pushing it. I ran a solid time of 1:39.6 but I didn't have the optimal tire/pressure setup so I left some on the table as I did not think the track would be optimal. It was almost a grave mistake as another TTA car ran a 1:39.0 but got called for 4-wheels-off and DQ'd for that session!
Session #2 was at 9:45am so still pretty early. I set everything up, left the wing alone and fired a 1:38.9 which was my fastest of the weekend, reset my track record from Saturday and stood for 1st in TTA on Sunday to give me the weekend sweep!
I pushed the car hard through every session this weekend; really hard! Because of the track layout, I think I was pushing near 7500 rpms 4 times per lap. I kept expecting to find the rev limiter on the front straight but never did. So lots of high rpm revving in 4th, high oil temps, lost rubber, cranked up boost, etc. Everything help up beautifully though. Thx as always for a great tune from AMS Performance.
It's been a pretty good year thus far. 8 wins in 8 events and track records at all 4 tracks I've been to. I've got some ideas for things to change and a lot of mid-season maintenance to take care of before a busy July schedule. Check out the progress via or twitter (@boomn29).
Vid from Sunday:
This is actually my fastest lap of the weekend. Only the audio sucks as the camera is clicking off the window; install error! Still, the car that passes me is a TTS Vette which is 1 class up from me. He's also the 2009 Nat'l champion. We nearly get 3 wide around T6...check it out!
After driving up late Friday night (~6 hrs), got up Saturday, unloaded all the remaining crap inside the car, unloaded the car and did a little prep. This was the first time the car had been off the trailer since being loaded at Putnam Park May 15th! Only changes were a quick wash and I had installed a Kognition rear wing on the car since!
With the new wing set at the lowest possible angle, I lined up and ran a 1:43 for the practice session which put me #3 in grid for the entire TT group. Always strive to be in the first couple spots so I can get some clean laps right away!
For S2 (the first timed session) I was lined up behind the current TTA track record holder; what else but a C5 Vette! We did 3 laps hard laps and I could gain on him in a few spots, but he'd pull away in a few spots too. My best was a 1:40.0 - while his transponder didn't register. Sucks... as we had to be close!
For session #3 I made my 1st wing adjustment and fired a 1:39.3 which broke the track record for TTA! The car felt more planted and I liked it! Session #4 was at 2pm and it was starting to get pretty heated up. I made another adjustment and thought the car pushed a bit. Best was a 1:40x. Session #5 was at 3:40pm; hot hot hot. I backed the wing off 1 step and ran another 1:39x but not better than before as track conditions were degrading quickly.
The car was also sorta hopping in low speed turns under hard throttle. It did this a bit last year in 3rd gear corners, I assumed because the turbo comes on so quickly there. With the new 2011 alignment it's been better, but apparently it's back! I can drive around it, but it's not ideal so I hope to be making some adjustments down the road....
My 1:39.3 stood for 1st out of 6 in TTA. I also ended up with FTD of the entire TT group! It was pushed hard all day through 5 sessions, high revs, high oil temps, high boost, etc and responded with flying colors. Thanks as always to AMS Performance for a truely terrific tune!
Here's vid from the last session, looking backwards under the new Kognition wing; enjoy in HD!
