It has been a little while since I have posted. Since the last post a lot has happened with our race program. Our website went live a few weeks ago. Go to
http://internationalautosportracinggroup.com/ and check out what we have put together. Most importantly, we got our new motor from Fletcher Made Horsepower. Doug Livingston and International AutoSport got the car assembled in time to make the NASA Races at Putnam Park Road Course on May 15-17. He spent many days and nights pushing to make it happen. We were fortunate to have the added help from Geoff Eaton (crew and data), Calvin Krug (crew) and Bob Young (towing). A true herculean effort to make getting the car on track and running the whole weekend without anything breaking. It was completely amazing to witness as the weekend began to unfold. These guys really pulled out all the stops and gave 100%.
Friday was a test and tune day which was good because the 9:00 am test session was the first time that I had strapped into the car in 2010. Since the offseason everything except brakes, differential, transmission, wheels, body panels, pedals mirrors and the steering wheel have been modified or changed out completely. So I was basically driving a totally new car. The day was a tough one at that track that day running the shakedown and breaking in the new engine. The setup really needed more track time, but we made good progress each session. The day ended early as we needed to update our dyno numbers in order to race the next day. In addition, we needed to pick up 2 new sets of hoosiers for the weekend and still make it to our dyno appointment. Bob Young stepped up and towed the car so that I could make the dyno, while Doug picked up the weekend's rubber. Turns out that our Fletcher Built Horsepower really improved motor performance (and the motor is not maximally tweaked with the magic of Chris Fletcher). Dyno results were completely unexpected, as with the motor build from Chris Fletcher we picked up 34 hp and 30 ftlbs torque over last season. Numbers like these created quite a dilemma. At the new ratings we would need 1000 lbs of ballast in addition to my weight in order to make specs for GTS2. So we decided to remove 400 lbs of ballast that was in the car and bumped the car to GTS3 (which is the class we will race the rest of this season). Not what we planned for the season, but I am learning to expect the unexpected.
Saturday was race day 1. We had a great crowd and a number of our team supporters showed up to cheer us on. The day started dry, but it would end up raining in the mid-afternoon before the race. Morning practice was rough as we continued to get the car prepared. The improvements showed in qualifying and we put the car in the show mid-field in GTS with a 1:19:01. While lap was the first sign of the car's potential, I know we have another 2-2.5 seconds in the car once we get the setup figured out. Our upbeat mood was tempered when the rains came in the early afternoon. The track began to dry out and again we were left in a dilemma as to tire selection. Anticipating a drying track, Doug made the call and sent me out on slicks, as did most of the 54 car field (overall across all race series/classes competing in the race group). The race was quite an adventure for everyone as the track was as slick as a hockey ring. It quickly became a apparent that the goal was to simply complete the race and bring the car home in one piece. During the race I had 2 spins and we finished at the bottom of the GTS field. I was disappointed at where we finished, but realized that we crossed the finish line without contact or crashing; which considering the conditions was an accomplishment that many of my competitors could not claim. Given that the car was in pieces 36 hrs prior to the race, and that I had a total of 2 hrs of testing, finishing our first race of the season felt like we had made the podium.
Sunday was the second race day, and again weather would play a significant role in the outcome of the day. Heavy rains Saturday made the track green on Sunday. Moreover, the Saturday race had taken a toll and fielded 36 cars. Although it was dry and sunny the times were slower in qualifying due to green track conditions. However, I improved my qualifying position by 2 spots over the previous day. Qualifying was promising and I was gaining confidence and getting acclimated to the car. Fate as it would have it had a different plan and the Sunday race would start dry but end in a rain of biblical proportions. As we were preparing on the grid for the race the skies clouded up and smelled of rain. We had a great start gaining 3 positions on the first lap. In the early part of the race we held our own as the car handled well enough for me to be quite aggressive. Then mid-race it started to rain quite hard just as I was navigating the Turn 9 and 10 complex. My Hoosiers quickly aquaplaned and I nearly put the car into the wall at the exit of turn 10. Immediately Doug radioed me to nurse the car around the track and take it to the pits. Indeed, before I crossed start/finish the skies completely opened up into a massive rainstorm. There was nothing to be gained staying on track under those conditions on slicks except crashing the car so I babied it around the track and put the car straight into the trailer. The DNF was not the way that I wanted to end the weekend, but was most certainly the correct call.
At the close of the weekend the team gathered and recognized that while we have a lot of work to do this season we had accomplished our goal of competing at Putnam Park. Many thanks to all the folks that helped make this happen (Doug, Calvin, Bob, and Geoff) and to our supporters. We are on schedule with making some suspension modifications that will greatly improve rear grip and are making adjustments to the car in preparation to compete in the GTS3 classification. We will get the #09 BMW Z3 MCoupe to the front this season.
Our next race weekend is June 25-27 at BeaveRun MotorSports Complex (
http://www.beaverun.com/) located about 1 hr north of Pittsburgh, PA (my old hometown!). If you are in the Pittsburgh or Cleveland area come down to the track, say hello and spend a Saturday or Sunday enjoying some sports car racing. The weekend will be challenging as NASA GreatLakes/MidWest region has not raced on this circuit before. Therefore, most competitors will be working through the same experiments with car setup that will face us. We are just going to need to be the fastest at getting the correct setup.
Until the next post...
MS
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