My first time at Mid Ohio and my last rookie event. Seems like a long time as a rookie but the new rules require 4 events completed. I've now finished a race last season at VIR (IP) and Mosport (IP) and this year at VIR (CM) and Mid Ohio (CM). Off comes the sticker!
The weekend started out well, other than the fact that I corded a Dunlop slick on Friday that was new at VIR and had 6 cycles. I think we have a combination of a slightly too large tire for the 9 inch rim, not enough camber in the front, and an overly zealous driver who was overdriving a bit and needs to settle down. I ended up putting some old R6's on for the last session Friday after having to run to WalMart to get them installed. $20 to re and re 4 tires on rims. $5 per wheel with 3 guys fussing with them and scratching their heads. Not sure I understand that business model....
Practice on Saturday was short and I continued to try and learn this highly technical track. Lots of different line options each with their own pros and cons. The entire section from the end of the back straight through to the carousel seems like one long connected corner. Blow one and you've blown them all.
For the Saturday qualifier I moved to a set of new Pirelli Slicks which had a heat cycle in them from Friday. They seemed to work really well for the track and did seem to have less roll over than the Dunlops. The Sprint 1 qualifier was more learning and I managed to turn the fastest lap. My first pole.
In Sprint 1 I lead the first 12 of 13 laps. Allan stayed on me most of the time and got real close in traffic. I made a small error in the carousel which limited my drive onto the start finish straight which allowed Allan to pressure me into an error going into turn 1. I paid too much attention to him even though there was no way he could try and take the corner and I should have just closed the door. I missed my turn in by a foot and got a little sideways in T1 which let Allan by. A classic move by a more experienced racer (Allan) and a classic mistake by a rookie (me). I gave it up and had to settle for second though I did set the fast lap of the race at 1:35.7 which turned out to be the fastest lap of the weekend. I'm not sure I understand why the track slowed down over the next two days. I guess the heat got too high for power and optimal traction.
I've got some footage of the first Sprint which is quite boring until we get to traffic. My camera battery died part way so I don't have a record of the end and my error. EDIT AUG 5: Thanks to Allan I've now compiled our video into one so I now have a record of the last lap. Did I really want that? In any event it is more entertaining to watch as I have my video with Allan's inset then Allan at the end when my camera dies.
Here it is:
For the second Qualifier I was unable to get a complete clean lap in and had to settle for 4th on the grid. I settled into 3rd after the start and both Allan and I got by Ike under braking at the end of the back straight. I chased Allan the whole race but didn't have enough to put any real pressure on him. I'll post the video soon. It only has part of the race as my camera finally broke off its mount and bounced around in the car. I guess I should have got around to strengthening the mounting arrangement. Those with Aiptek cameras take note. If you don't stop them from moving around you will fatique the camera body at the mounting point and that's the end.
Second Sprint video:
Sunday's qualifer for the Enduro was uneventful. I was saving tires and put 4 or 5 laps in and was able to put down a time to put me 3rd on the grid.
At the start of the enduro I followed Allan and Ike onto the back straight. I expected Allan and I to get by Ike at the end as he seemed to be slowing quite a bit earlier than us (something to do with spinning off earlier in the weekend into the beach and cording 4 brand new slicks??) As it turned out Ike went down the middle and slowed early as expected. Allan chose to go left and I tucked up the inside to take the lead. Ike spun in Madness which let me get a little bit of a lead out. You can see all this in Peter's video. I have no video as my camera is toast now.
Allan stayed on my tail until we hit traffic then settled back a bit which let me build up a bit of a lead which appeared to be about 4-5 seconds by the time Allan pitted around 30 minutes.
I pitted as planned at about 35 minutes. Man was it hot. Steve refueled for me while I was fireman. I can't tell you just how uncomfortable it was having to close my visor and stand there. That 5 gallons seemed to take forever to go in! I jumped back in the car and got everything buckled in. Then the first problem struck. The car was hot and the battery wouldn't turn over the car. (mistake number one by me - not starting the car soon enough - always get it started with a minimum of a minute to go). Not anticipating this as a potential problem and making sure the team knew it might happen (mistake number two by me). Fortunately Allan has had this problem and had a jumper pack at the pits. Steve scrambled and got me started. In the excitement there was nobody advising where we were with timing so I didn't know if my 5 minutes was up or not and whether or not I should go. I believe we were over the 5 min by now and I think the team assumed I would know this and just go when we got it started. I heard a "go go go" and took off - sort of. I stalled it (mistake number 3 by yours truly). Steve scrambled out to get me started again. By the time I got going I was now more than 30s late getting out of the pits. In Peter's video at 40 minutes you can see me when he comes into the pits. I should have been gone long before he came in. As he pulls in you can see Steve getting the car started for the second time after the stall. Even though it seemed like we got restarted pretty quickly it's amazing watching Peter's video and seeing 30 seconds go by like nothing. Another lesson learned. I was frustrated and grumpy but the mistakes were all mine.
So much for a 5 second lead when coming into the pits. I was now on the chase and didn't know how far behind I was. Turns out I was in 3rd and not sure how far ahead Allan and Peter were. I managed to catch Peter with a lap or so to go. I don't believe I would have caught him if he would have been peddling harder the whole time. Maybe there's a lesson there as well for all of us. And we closed Allan's lead down to I believe 12s at the end.
Given my short racing tenure and history of mechanical failures over the past year I am very pleased with the weekend. The car performed flawlessly, the driver less so. I couldn't be happier with my decision to lighten the car and move to CM. The Bimmerworld S54 solution rocks and Raven builds one of the lightest and tightest chassis out there. My car with an affordable and stock S54 (stock ECU with software only) can hang with a built high compression Euro 3.2 running DTA. I might be down a bit on power but there's plenty more to be had from the driver in time.
I believe we are at an inflection point in CM. It's not a poor man's game but consider what you would have to pay 2 years ago to get the performance I'm getting from the Bimmerworld S54 package. Things that make you go hmmmm...
Many thanks again to Raven Performance and Bimmerworld. Thanks to John, Steve, Jason, and Judy Lewis for your work in the pits and your tireless effort keeping everyone going.
Congratulations to everyone for a successful and fun Club Racing weekend!
I thought I could post this clip in the comments section of Mike K's blog but I guess we're limited to text.
The pass that Mike posted doesn't tell the whole story. The pass from my perspective is at the end of this short clip. The beginning of the clip was a fun compilation using my video and Marty's. The speed differential is large between classes which in itself is not a problem. I think it's important that we focus on making sure we don't ruin other peoples momentum. In the case of Mike he offered it up so I took it. Thanks again!
(mistake number 3 by yours truly). Steve scrambled out to get me started again. By the time I got going I was now more than 30s late getting out of the pits. In Peter's video at 40 minutes you can see me when he comes into the pits. I should have been gone long before he came in. As he pulls in you can see Steve getting the car started for the second time after the stall. Even though it seemed like we got restarted pretty quickly it's amazing watching Peter's video and seeing 30 seconds go by like nothing. Another lesson learned. I was frustrated and grumpy but the mistakes were all mine.