Think Racing

MARRS 1 was a successful event.

http://youtu.be/bEj-dYTkJ28

Six months ago we had a tub and today we have a car that sat on pole position in class and was .2 seconds from the group's overall pole position.

There were three issues I needed to work on prior to Saturday's qualifying. At a recent test I had an electrical problem that kept me from revving past 6k, so I completely re-wired the ECU including replacing the coil packs. I also had cooling issues, so I pulled the thermostat and taped the grill and lastly I did not have a lot of confidence in the brakes, so I replace the master cylinders.

Saturday morning only netted me three laps as I continued to sort these issues - it is a new car afterall. So Saturday afternoon's qualifying race produced my very first hot laps ever. Immediately I ended up about 3 seconds faster than my fastest time which set me up good for Sunday's race.

My duh moment (and I had a few of them) came when I was talking to a fellow racer about my spin(s). I said, you know in the yellow car I braked at 300 yards, but in this car I have to start braking at 400 yards, because I spun at 300 yards just going in too hot. He said, "yeah, and you are probably carrying a lot more speed now then you were then." Oh ... yeah ... I was carrying a lot more speed.

Sunday's race was about as wet as it gets. The entire east coast was getting drenched as on track I couldn't see squat. There was a ton of water everywhere. In the fast sections you were completely blinded by the spray. A guy flipped on the first lap (In a brand new MX-5) and the emergency vehicles came out. When they did, the lead pack slowed as if it were a yellow (mistake) and Jim Harrison (rightfully so) flew by us all like we were sitting still. My plan in the rain was to take it easy a few laps and find the line, adhesion limits etc and use all 20 of them to chase the leader if he passed me. Well now, I was really screwed, because in the twistys the cars in front of me were just as fast and then on the straight would fan out so they could see, but it blocked me from passing, so I was stuck. It didn't matter, I spun in T2 as I hit the gas and looped it. My class leader also went off in turn three and hit the tire wall, but was able to return to the track and finished a few seconds ahead of me.

So, for the first event, we came home second. MARRS 2 & 3 are May 12 & 13 at Virginia International Raceway. The link above are my first two hot laps ever in the car. It is a blast to drive.