Author: Gama Aguilar

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Getting an FIA racing license

So you want to go ‘Pro’ racing?  Or maybe you want to have the license that gives you access to every regional sanctioning body in the US? Odds are, you’re going to need more than the regular regional racing license.  And if it is international competition, you’ll very likely need an FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) racing license.  For the Creventic 12 hours of Imola race, that’s exactly what was needed, so here is what that experience was like.

What’s different between an FIA and a national/regional (e.g. SCCA/NASA/ICSCC) type license?

One major thing: FIA licenses are for experienced racing drivers, not just accredited racing drivers.  For just about all other racing licenses, you need to prove that you’ve completed a [insert level of quality here] racing curriculum.  You need not have actually completed many races or been ‘fast’ to get an SCCA, NASA or for me personally, ICSCC racing license.  This level of training shows that you have a base level understanding of race car dynamics, how event is organized, what the flags mean and how to be safe on-track.

From the application process for FIA, they have a higher bar.  They are looking for some level and amount of experience.  They want to know who you are as a racing driver, via the driver biography.

The second thing is the general global acceptance of the license.  At least within the US, if you have an SCCA license, it will be accepted at various levels by other sanctioning bodies.  SCCA being the most widely accepted, NASA following closely behind and more regional licenses also being accepted but having to provide more proof the further outside the region you go because there is a lower probability a licensing director has heard of the regional body.

Bottom line: When you have a valid, in good standing FIA license, you can pretty much race anywhere in the world.

How to get an FIA license: Step by step

Step 1: Collect these pieces of information before you start the application process

  • A passport compliant photograph of yourself.  It doesn’t need to be exactly a passport photo but must follow the general rules.  Here is a link to the United States passport photo requirements.
    • I used a head-shot from a photo shoot at work, cropped to be 2×2 inches or 51x51mm.  Make sure it is saved in .jpeg format for best picture quality.
  • A racing biography.  This was a little confusing as there is no standard template.  So I simply created a ‘resume’ style biography of my driving.  I’ve included a PDF copy of that below for reference.  It needs to cover things like how long you’ve been racing, what organizations, how many races, finishes, etc.
  • A current copy of a medical exam form for racing, that was completed in the past 3 months.  The FIA also does not provide a template, so I used the medical exam for used for an ICSCC competition license and that worked just fine.
  • Your credit card to use for payment.
Gamaliel Aguilar-Gamez Racing Bio April 2018

Step 2: Go to the US FIA Licensing website and fill out the application

  • Application link for United States based FIA licenses
  • Fill out the form.  The first section is your personal details.
  • Select ‘No’ for Have you had a previous FIA competition license.
    • Select and upload your racing driver bio document.  PDF format is your best bet.
  • The second section you should select ‘Competition License only’ and yes for the additional fee for International Competition Authorization.
    • Select Grade ‘C’ unless you are driving a GT3 race car or higher.
  • Upload your passport style photo and completed medical exam form.
  • Check the waivers and acknowledgements.
  • Click next

Step 3: Pay the fee

Yes, this is expensive and resulting in almost $500 USD.  The positive side is that this should be the only license you need if you compete in US national and regional club racing competitions.  You might still need to pay a guest fee of some sort but that’s it.

You will get a confirmation screen and document which outlines everything and even provides a handy QR code to track the progress of your application.

Summary: Simple and straight forward

I personally did not request the expedite service and in under 2 weeks, I got the license in the mail!

My license to kill… tires and lap times!

From the moment I first clicked on the link to apply for the license, to when I got the license in the mail was about 1.5 months.  This was because I had to ask questions about what does a racing bio look like?  What medical form should I use?  Then I had to make and get to a doctor’s appointment, of which was a little hard because work-life and life-life has been a bit crazy.

But overall, if you’re looking to do FIA sanctioned competition its not a difficult process to get through, especially with this guide.  😉

Let us know how it goes for you?  Did you have a different experience?  Have you applied for a B or an A license?  Share other driver bios!

 

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1st Pro Race – 12 Hours of Imola Creventic TCE Series

Going pro racing

My first on-track experience was a 1-day High Performance Driving with Proformance Racing School at Pacific Raceways.  It was a actually a birthday present for my wife.  She had a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 9 and I had a 400whp 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI.

His and her’s AWD turbo beasts!  I still miss that STI!

That day I learned that I had no clue what I was doing behind the wheel of a car from a ‘racing’ standpoint, especially one with that much power and in general the capabilities of the car.  I also realized that learning to drive a car on-track with skill and being fast was going to take time, but I was up for the challenge.

Over the next 12 months, I did several track days and learned about the then, GRAND-AM Continental Tire Series where production-based race cars, like my Subaru, raced in the GS and ST classes.  Further, here in the PNW, we had several drivers who had started out in local club racing and driven or were driving in series like that at the ‘professional’ level.

I have dreamt and continue to dream of owning and racing cars like this!

Since then, it’s been a goal of mine to at least once, drive in a professional racing series in a production-based sports car.

Getting the invitation

Over the past four years racing in primarily PRO3 class, I’ve met several former PRO3 drivers who have or still do drive professionally.  One of which is Dan Rogers and through him, Seth Thomas, of which they have co-driven in multiple race cars and series over the years.  In 2018, they decided to see about putting together a program to do at least a handful of the Creventic 24/12 Hour Endurance racing series, which has races in the most iconic circuits all over Europe and at Circuit of the Americas.

They reached out to several drivers who presumably have a minimum level of proven speed, ability to keep a car clean and ultimately, afford to take part in all or some of the races.  When I first got the email, I almost brushed it off completely, assuming it would be way too expensive for me to afford but it turned out to be not too bad and in the grand scheme of this type of racing, a solid value.  Coupling this with an extended family vacation and a couple of business meetings, taking part in the race went from a pipe dream to a bucket list reality.

12 Hours in a factory race car | BMW M235i Racing

The race will be a 12-hour race, split over two days.  I’m not exactly sure why this is but having visited Imola a few years ago, I can imagine it being a noise ordinance issue as Imola is actually a city park, with residential buildings right on or next to the track property and park.  I’ve also heard from organizing bodies that holding a race over-night is much more expensive than running during the day due to the required workers and lighting.

The BMW M235i Racing factory race car – raced in professional TC series all over the world.

The weapon of choice is a newest generation BMW M235i Racing 2-door coupe, built and sold directly by BMW motorsports as turn-key solution for the ‘entry levels’ of professional racing.  I don’t know the exact class we’ll be racing in but the car is capable of pace just slightly slower than the new global TCR cars.

Sorg Rennsport’s BMW M235i Racing car in for a pit stop

It has a 3.0L, twin-turbo in-line 6-cylinder engine and a 6-speed automatic transmission, with paddle shifters.  Dan Rogers, who has driven the car previously described it as essentially a bigger PRO3 or Spec E46 car, in terms of handling characteristics.  This is music to my ears as it means, well balanced, plenty of brakes and enough power to have a great time but not so much that you could get into too much trouble.  The car is owned and managed by the Sorg Rennsport Racing Team, out of Germany.

Learning the track

Having never driven Imola in-person, my main resort to learning the track was iRacing!  My simulator is primarily setup for iRacing, so even though I realized a couple weeks ago that Imola and a close sibling to the M235i Racing was available on Assetto Corsa, I decided to do all my training on iRacing and using the Mercedes AMG GT3 race car.  The AMG has a lot more power than what we’ll be driving but I figured it had similar characteristics from previous driving; rear-wheel drive, paddle shifters and more under-steering characteristics relative to something like a 911 GT3 or the Audio R8 GT3.

Over the past 4 months, I’ve logged over 1,000 laps and 30+ hours of seat time.  I’ve also used Virtual Racing School’s data pack feature, to compare myself with one of their coaches with a reference lap time of 1:42.xxx.  The data pack is from a different season where multiple updates to the car, tire model and track have been rolled out, so trying to replicate the lap time exactly isn’t possible but my goal was to get as close to it as I could.  My personal best ended up being a 1:45.2xx but most importantly, the last few weeks I was able to jump in and start hammering away high 1:45’s and low 1:46’s, with relative ease and regardless of fuel load.  In an endurance race, yes being fast is important but being consistent and keeping the car clean is even more important.

Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari – IMOLA!

So how well do I know the track?  We’ll find out for sure but by just closing my eyes, I can recite…

  • Turn 1, full throttle and get ready to straighten the wheel and brake past the 200 marker for the first chicane.
  • Turns 2/3, make sure to hit the backside of turn 2, so that I can square off Turn 3 and get a healthy full-throttle run at apex. Stay off the big bumps on the curbs.
  • Turn 4, slight left hander of which the goal is to stay flat but might need to lift depending on the angle of entry and how well the right rear tire is holding.
  • Turns 5/6, similar chicane but there is more distance between the two turns. Similarly, hit the back side of 5, square off turn 5 and get a healthy full throttle run at apex and use the exit curbing as needed.  Do not touch the big bumps on the inside of the corner, they will destroy your time and your car.
  • Turn 7, very slow left-hander that feels like a decreasing radius corner. Important to get the car turned and then back on throttle quick and somewhat aggressively.
  • Turn 9, very fast left-hand turn with a stab of the brakes and then quickly back on throttle – let the car nibble at the exit curbs but don’t get too greedy. It’s hard to stay full throttle with being too much on the curbs as the rear end tends to kick out.
  • Turns 11, 12, 13 – an interconnected, high-speed and critical sequence of turns. A brush of brakes to do a full ‘send it’ into turn 11 and making sure to hit the apex curb.  A stab of throttle before 6 out of 10 brakes, downshift to 3rd gear and bite off a decent size of the apex curb for turn 12 and then full throttle as quickly as possible to go up the hill and Turn 13 ends up being more of the exit curbing of Turn 12 than anything else.
    • It is very easy to let the car run over the big exit curbing here but iRacing will punish you for track limits so make sure to only get a max of 2 tires over the white line.
  • Turns 14 and 15 make up the last chicane of the lap, that feels a lot like Portland International Raceways. Take a big chunk of the T14 curb, flick the car to the left and get to full throttle at or before the apex of T15.  It’s ok and even sometimes the curbing of T15 helps rotate the car, let the car release to the exit curbing but only go 2 wheels off.
  • Turn 16, a full throttle bend in the road – create a straight line that helps you get to driver’s left to setup for a very tough T17.
  • T17, a very intimidating and high speed right-hand corner, where you are flat and right at shifting to top gear. Position the car for a late apex and be ready for 10 out of 10 braking effort, in a straight line and shifting from 6th to 3rd
  • Turns 18 and 19, the last set of real corners before the front straight away and start/finish. Important to get the curbs on both corners and T19 is the most important to get to and stay full throttle as quickly as possible.  Just a brush of brakes is needed and use all of the exit curbs.
  • Turns 20 and 21 are essentially bends in the road. Take them full throttle and have as little steering input as possible.  Steering input = friction = slowing the car down.  Make down the straight away as quickly and frictionless as possible.

Generally speaking, I think I have 80% or so of the track down in my head and developed muscle memory so that when I get into the car, I can focus on driving the car and figuring out how to go fast, versus figuring out my way through the track.

Physical training

This is an endurance race, in Italy at the start of the summer.  I’ve been in Italy around this time of the year in the past and it can get hot, really hot.  I’ve been working on my cardiovascular endurance – 60+ minute runs and cycling sessions.

I’ll be honest that while I’m in decent shape, I’m nowhere near where I wanted to be.  Life has gotten incredibly busy on all fronts and I’ve been lucky to get in 3 workouts per week and a few simulator sessions.  To top it all off, this past weekend, I did a PRO3 race weekend and only did one run group.  The driving felt great but, I improved my personal best lap time during the actual race but by Sunday afternoon, my lower back, on my left side was sore.  I’ve only experienced this last year, when I was a couple months post a surgery and next to no working out.

No expectations

Overall, I am sitting on this airplane with next to zero expectations.  There will be four total drivers, one of which I know will be faster than me (Seth).  Dan will either be around the same pace or faster because he has a ton more experience in professional races and Rob, the third driver – I don’t know at all.

I will work at being as fast, safe and consistent as I can possibly be but overall, am going to focus on having fun and taking the experience all in.

 

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The Impact of Drafting: Extra Data and Gluten Free

Shake and Bake!

We’ve long heard and talked about drafting and bump drafting – how they can make or break a qualifying time, depending on what kind of car you are in and what section of the track you can catch a tow. The fundamentals behind a draft are simple:

  1. The goal is to get from one point on the track to another point, as quickly as possible.
  2. You can do that by slowing down less through a corner (carrying a higher minimum speed). This could be through having ‘better’ tires for better grip, adding downforce for better grip, braking less and/or getting back on throttle quickly.
  3. You can also focus on accelerating faster between the two points by adding more power, reducing the friction on the accelerating drive-train (lightened flywheel, gears or driveshaft as examples), increasing grip on the tires that are driving acceleration OR reduce the forces that are barriers to accelerate through – such as the air itself (e.g. reducing down-force).

We’re going to assume that you are not in formula 1 or some other series that has active aero such as a Drag Reduction System (DRS), so the only option you have to reduce down-force is to have another car punch a hole in the air, for you.

I don’t get it – the air, is the air.  Why does this matter?

For the uninitiated, let’s take a minute and explain why this is important.  You know those videos of reporters that go outside and report on a big wind storm or hurricane?  They go in front of the camera and try to walk against the wind and they get pushed back or can barely move forward.  This is analogous to what your car is experiencing.  The reporter is trying to walk against a 100mph+ wind and your car is trying to drive through the air, at 100mph+.

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When the reporter steps inside from the hurricane, it is much easier for them to walk, jog, run and even sprint!  The reporter not only moves faster but they use up less energy.

When a car is in front of your car on a race track, they are somewhat eliminating that “100mph” wind resistance, letting you step into a bubble of protection and as you get closer, that effect gets even stronger, making it almost feel like you and your car get sucked.

You gotta shake it, before you bake it!

Now we all know from the documentary/autobiography “Talladega Nights, The Ballad of Ricky Bobby“, that you can even use this to create a sling-shot effect.  Where the trailing car tucks into draft of a car, gets sucked in and at the very, very last-minute pops out and can motor past the car that gave them the “tow”.

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Ok but for reals now – here is the real thing.

This is used quite often in wheel to wheel racing conditions and sometimes, can be used in qualifying or time attack situations, when the stars align.

What does a draft look from the data perspective?

Below is a session from Spokane County raceways in June 2017.  Spokane is an old school track with a very long straight away, 1,300+ yards long and in most cases, hitting near the rev limiter ( at the top of 5th gear in a PRO3 car.  At least in a PRO3 car, after exiting Turn 8, it’s full throttle past three turns, before braking for Turn 2.

On this day, it was a dry and windy Sunday, with qualifying in the AM and temperatures in the low 70’s.  I went out knowing that I had to setup to get my fastest laps in lap 3 or 4 – when tires would be in their optimal performance window. If I couldn’t get my target lap time then, I’d have to back off, let the tires cool off and have another go at it.

After getting things warmed up, I put together two flying laps where I felt like I gave it nearly my best and being one of only two people to get into the 1:37’s over the weekend lap time from Saturday.

Check out the gradual increase in lap time delta – usually evidence that one lap has a draft and the other doesn’t.

So, what do we have?

  1. The purple lap is where I caught an ok but not great draft.
  2. Towards the end of the green lap is when I started catching the cars in front.
  3. Air Fuel Ratio seems to be about the same on both laps
  4. At the start of the lap, there was zero difference in lap time.
    1. As I start making it farther down the straight-away, the speed difference starts growing, reaching a peak of almost 2mph
    2. By the end of the straight-away and right before the brakes were hit, the green lap was already .188 seconds slower.

I felt like I had left some on the able and backed off to let things cool down for a couple laps and setup two more laps, trying to catch a draft on those as well.

This time, with some video evidence!  What happened:

  1. The red lap ended up being faster than the green lap but that was with not much of a draft.
  2. The red lap, I got a solid draft on the back straight away, where we’ll focus the analysis.
    1. Like the previous lap, the difference in straight-away speed was between 1-1.5mph, through the whole back straight.
    2. You can see the delta graph, where the green lap was shaping up to be just as good as the previous lap.
    3. Engine RPM was also consistently 50-100 RPM higher for the green lap, indicating that the it was able to rev more freely with the lower resistance from the air.

Unfortunately, the car that gave me the tow on the back straight, also didn’t give me the easiest of paths to go through turn 4 (which is totally within their right) and that essentially killed the lap.

Conclusion: The draft is strong!

There is a ton of variables that go into determining the impact of the draft, such as the weather conditions, the track and the type of car.  In this case, with a PRO3 car, which is more of an aerodynamic brick, having something else punch a hole in the air made a difference of .15-.2 seconds on each of the straight-aways.

I think that if I could have lined up a draft on both straights, it could have reduced each of those fast laps by another .2 seconds at least.  How big of a deal is this?  I lost pole position on both days but less than .1 seconds.  In fact, in this video below – we took the video of the fastest segments from that session, stitched them together and this would have been a 1:37.437 – almost .5 seconds faster than the fastest lap and .2 seconds faster than my fastest rolling lap.

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This has generally been what I’ve experienced at most tracks on the calendar because each as a decent straight-away.

Catching a draft in qualifying versus in a race is the same but it is very difficult to control this in a race.  My suggestion is if you can, work with another driver and help each other out.  Take turns having one car have a go at it and then switch, allowing that switch lap to when you let the tires cool down.

Working together is very common in karting and in light-weight and powered classes, like Spec Miata.  In the future, we’ll do a write up like this with a spec Miata and looking at the quantified impact of bump drafting!

 

 

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Pad Knock-Back for Drivers: What is it, how to anticipate it and how to best clean up your undies!

It was August 2015 at Portland International Raceways – the second time at Portland of the year, running the chicane configuration.  It was the second year with my BMW E30 PRO3 race car and this year, was sporting a fresh engine, baller status OS Giken rear-slip LSD rear differential and a fresh exterior paint job.

On the second session of the day, I am feeling good and starting to get into a groove.  Come off turn 7 into the back-straight away, hammer down… 4th gear… 5th gear… BRAKES, hit the FIA curbing on the left, downshift, back to throttle… BRAKES!!!  I said BRAKES!!!  OH $H!%!?!?!?!  No BRAKES!!! Grass… sliding… spinning… no, please no wall!!!  Pump the brake pedal again… oh, brakes!  They work!  I’m alive!  The car isn’t destroyed!  But WTF just happened?!?!?

This is the infamous pad knock-back zone at PIR

What is it?

Pad Knock-back is when for various reasons, the brake pad loses contact with the caliper piston that presses the brake pad against the brake rotor/disc.  The contact is lost for one of two reasons (below) and the result is that the driver goes to apply the brakes and the pedal falls to the floor, with little to no brake pressure on that first application.  The brake system is moving the piston but the piston lost contact with the pad, so it’s moving air and slowing down nothing.

As soon as the the driver releases the brake pedal and pumps the pedal again, the pressure usually returns and the brakes work again.  The problem is that sometimes drivers don’t realize what has happened and don’t hit the brake pedal again, that second time around at all or in time.  And bad stuff can happen when you need to hit the brakes but they aren’t there.

How and why #1: Worn out caliper components

Caliper components live a hard life, especially on a race car.  They are called on to not only slow the car down aggressively with degressive braking but also help the car rotate with long durations of trail-braking.

All of this hot and cold and hot and cold and hot and cold… action makes seals burn up, brake fluid overheat or even boil if it contains water or air bubbles and the metal components deform and lose their snug fit amongst the other brake components.  According to this great and much more technical deep dive analysis from NASA Speed News, even a slightly deformed rotor can cause the pads to separate from the pistons and the pistons to fall deep into their bores.

The fix? Rebuild or replace your calipers at least.  For us, this quickly fixed the problem.  On that first experience, we had back in August of 2015, we bled the brakes and went out for a 1 Hour mini endurance race – the brakes felt better but were still getting knock back every lap before braking for turn 12.

Before Sunday AM qualifying, we sourced a new set of calipers from Advance Auto Fabrication (who also did all of the off season upgrade work), got them installed and presto!

Putting the finishing touches on new calipers for the weekend at Portland International Raceways

Pad nock-back was gone! Over the subsequent years and travels to various tracks we realized that PIR uniquely had the most FIA curbing of all the tracks on our schedule. If a set of calipers had more than 3 race weekends on them prior to heading to PIR, we’d slap on a new/rebuilt set of calipers.

Here is a video of a competitive race at PIR – note the use of the FIA curbing towards the end of each lap (turns 10 – 12):

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How and why #2: Driving hard on the curbing/gators

You might have fresh brake components but if you’re driving hard, eating up apexes and letting the car track out, odds are you are driving on the curbing, if the track has them.

Tracks have a variety of curbing designs but the end result is almost always the same, they cause vibrations that can and do shake up brake components – pad knock-back! This is so common that if you were to watch any pro-level sports car racing on TV or online, you’ll see brake lights light up as the cars are roaring through straight-aways. The drivers aren’t brake checking or trying to confuse a trailing opponent. They are lightly tapping the brakes to get the pistons seated back next to the pads and ultimately, make sure they have a brake pedal.

This is part of what happened to us in Portland in 2015 and just about every other time we went back. But this past June of 2017, we were at Spokane County Raceways, who does have apex and exit curbing.

Here is a pretty fast qualifying lap at Spokane County Raceways.  Note the elevation chart – it shows that it is pretty flat but if you listen closely, each of one those changes in elevation is going over a seam in the road.  Each of those bumps plus the curbing result in harsh vibrations applied to the braking system.

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We’ve been there twice before this, all have been 3-4 days of being on track and not a single issue.

Well this year, we were competing for pole and wins – nearly breaking the track record for a PRO3 car on Sunday AM qualifying. Sunday afternoon, final race of the season – qualified 2nd and was ready to make a great start and pull away.

Coming around the final turn and… GREEN FLAG! Full throttle in 3rd gear… I got a decent start and I have the inside for turn 2. Exit of turn 2 and in the lead, barely positioning myself for the outside of turn 4. Full throttle… 3rd gear… 4th gear… 5th gear… wait for it, wait for it, wat for it… BRAKES! NO BRAKES!?!? WTF is going on? I don’t want to die!

Note – Spokane is an old school track. High speed, built on a budget and in the high desert of Eastern Washington. The pavement nowadays is good. Not great, not horrible – but good. Stay on track with maybe a dropped wheel here and there, and everything is good. Go on an excursion, there will be pain. There are big rocks and boulders watching the action, waiting for a visit.

I was able to pump the brake pedal and luckily – this was the first lap of the race. We were still in traffic with faster cars so we weren’t going at full speed for that corner, which is usually a 4th gear corner.

We’ll update this post later on with the video from the race but what does pad knock-back look from a data standpoint?

An not annotated version of the pad knock-back session
Here is what is really happening on the lap

A few positions were the only thing lost in this occasion but it hammered home the lesson, always pump the brake pedal in between braking zones.

What should you do? Pump that brake!

The more I’ve been racing and steadily improving, getting closer to the front of the pack, stuff just keeps breaking or getting tweaked.  It’s a natural consequence of just pushing the equipment to the limit.  The braking system is not just the most powerful system on road racing and street cars, but it is the thing (and how it’s used) that separates the good from the great and the great from the greatest.

If you watch any form of pro-level racing, even NASCAR, you’ll see the drivers pumping that brake with their left foot because pad knock-back and other potential failures are a fact of life.  It happens all the time, so from now on, assume it will happen every time you go on track, every lap and on just about every braking zone.  PUMP THAT BRAKE!

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No training or exercise for 2 months = Not great performance

Surgery…

On July 7th, 2017 I went in for what was supposed to be a minor surgery.  I was diagnosed with a non-cancerous cyst, which is quite common except for it was located right on top of my tailbone (not on the tailbone but right next to it).  This meant that I was regularly sitting on it, especially when I would slouch.

It had originally come up 3 or 4 years ago after 6 months of karting all the time.  I thought it was just a result of all that trauma to my tailbone.  It was an annoyance but never very painful until this past June, during the second Portland International Raceways weekend.  After the first day of testing, I woke up sore all over my body and my cyst was really tender.

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I ignored all the pain and discomfort and made it through the weekend but went to the doctor the following week.  It turned out that my cyst had gotten so swollen, it was infected and those body aches, were my body fighting the infection.

Long story short, I needed surgery to have it completely removed.  It is a straight-forward procedure and usually within a week, someone can go back to normal activities, but because of the location, the recovery was at least 2 weeks and possibly up to 2 months before feeling ‘normal’ again.  Well for me, it ended up being the 2 months.

+ Bad Decisions

For 2 months, I wasn’t able to workout, do much simulator training and was on various combinations of pain medications.  2 weeks after the surgery, I decided to compete in a race at Pacific Raceways, where I got pole and finished P2 but I needed help getting into the car, out of the car and was icing my incision all day long.

A week after the Pacific race, I was reading to my kiddo and his friend, but I was also laid up, trying to take the load off my incision.

The next couple of weeks were really tough.  I don’t know how differently or faster things would have healed if I had not raced but I think it slowed things down.  A checkup with the surgeon a couple weeks later showed everything looked good but she was surprised to hear that I was in so much pain.

I headed her advice and just tried to rest up, sprinkling in some yoga and days of more walking.  1.5 months after the surgery was the August 19-20 Dash for Kids race, back at Portland International Raceways.

Our setup at Portland International Raceways

= Sub-Par Performance

During the race weekend, we decided to hit the ‘reset’ button on our suspension setup, seeking coaching and advice from the 2016 PRO3 Champion, Olivier Henrichot (a future post on that experience).  We made dramatic changes to the setup, where in the end, I was able to hit the same lap times as before, with less of an effort and more confidence in feedback from the car.

All good things except, I was beat.  On Friday, we had 4 total on-track session and I awoke on Saturday AM, full-body sore.  Saturday, was a typical day of practice, qualifying and the 1-hour race, of which this time, I was splitting seat time with Olivier. We won the race but I again felt beat, after a 30 minute stint.

The next morning, we only had qualifying in the AM and the main race in the afternoon; not a ton of physical workout time.  I qualified P2 and was ready to go for the win during the race.  But about 5 laps into the race, my lower back started hurting.  Halfway through the race, it was throbbing and I was actively thinking about it during the front and back straightaways.  Not a good.

Qualified P2 for the main PRO3 race on Sunday

Long story short, I did not perform anywhere near my full or regular potential and one big reason that I was just not physically fit enough.  Here is the race video from the weekend, of which again, isn’t all bad and 1 year ago, I would have been thrilled to finish P3.

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But How Did I Do So Well at Pacific?

I’m not entirely sure but I think that while I was in pain during the race, I still had more of my strength, stamina and was also on lots of Ibuprofen, which could have masked some of the pain.  At Portland, I think my strength, stamina and reflexes were not at the same level.  This variables resulted in a heavier mental toll and it started impacting me even worse.

At the end of the day, it’s not like I really sucked.  I still finished on the podium, against a couple of strong drivers that I’ve battled with all year.  Jeff McAffer, who overtook me for P2, had a really strong race, with the fastest lap of the race.  Olivier and I also won the 1-Hour endurance race!

The main point is that to perform at or near peak levels, you need to be mentally and physically at your peak.  I know there are drivers that aren’t into physical fitness and they are solid, if not incredible drivers.  They have other strengths, such as functional fitness and years and years of experience.  I don’t have more than a few years of racing experience, so I rely on physical fitness as a way to compete.

Moving Forward

For me personally, I am much healthier now and turning my training back up.  It will be some time before I’m as physically as fit as before but that is the goal.  And if in the future, I am injured, I am going to bite the bullet and rest/heal properly before trying to get back into the cockpit.

 

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I crashed: HPDE Edition

What: The very first time I crashed, which happened to be an HPDE road trip/event.

If I knew then, what I know now:

  1. I would have actively sought out training on how to handle “going off track.” Going off track is not a bad thing inherently and will happen. Handling it properly would have saved me a ton of money.
  2. Had a HANS or NecksGen device: the impact was a classic sudden forward neck movement, with a concrete wall.
  3. Reinforced that in motorsports, even recreational – if you’re competitive (I am) it’s not if you will crash, but when you will crash.  How are you going to move forward?

Things you should check out:

The car: 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 9 GSR

This car, was technically, my wife’s car. A few years prior, I had decided it was time to get back into ‘car game’. It was about 3-4 years from when I had graduated from college, had paid off my student loans and bought a house. Prior to college and for some time in college, I was active in ‘modifying’ street cars.  But after several cars, experiments, blown engines and essentially sunk money, I bought a 1999 Ford Contour SVT (black), which had an aftermarket exhaust, broken sun-roof and called it good.  So I thought.

Fast forward to 2011 and we had a heavily modified (and unnecessarily) 2008 Subaru WRX STi (mine) and a 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution GSR (my wife’s).

Soon after we bough a house, we had an STi and then an Evo 9. This was in 2008, maybe 2009 but not sure why the pictures look like it was in 1988 or 1989.
Yes, we did car shows and here is my wife claiming a prize for best something. Oh the shame…
Proof from the car shows…
And we even did photo shoots. Oh, the double shame!!!

I slowly took over the Evo because I had gone too far with the STi, making it not track-capable.  With an upgraded turbo and 400whp, it was too much car for to handle and very likely wouldn’t make it a day or two without over-heating or blowing up as EJ25 engines were and are notorious for not liking even mild track sessions.

I’ll be writing a car profile post and update this article later on, but in terms of specs, it had the basic bolt-on’s, a tune by Cobb Tuning, a harness bar, some gauges, upgraded brakes (lines, pads and rotors) and I removed the rear seats for “weight reduction.”  😆  Functionally, it allowed space to bring alone a full set of track tires/wheels, a jack, jack-stands and pretty much everything I needed for a track day.

My experience thus far: Intermediate run group, on the cusp of Advance

This was the first year that I had decided I was done with simply modifying cars and hard-parking.  I had taken an HPDE full-day event the prior November and the bug had bit.  I had spent that entire spring and summer, attending track days and this was also the first year a friend and I had started developing Track Attack.  Each time we went out on-track, it was not only fun but a chance to test and improve Track Attack.

At the time, I had somewhere around 8-10 track days, without any real incident; a spin here and there.  Generally, I felt quite ‘seasoned’ by the time this trip came around but by no-means did I feel fast.  I had also done a couple autocross events and had decided that was not my path.  Nothing wrong with Autocross but all that standing around, with no practice runs and for at most 4 under 60 second runs (of which I sucked at all of them) – I was OK sticking with track days.  🙂

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The setting: A three-day track day road trip (Portland International Raceways and Oregon Raceway Park)

Most of my track days were with either ProFormance Racing School or The Ridge Racing School (now the majority of their events run by Turn 2 Lapping).  Each year, ProFormance racing school would organize a ‘road trip’, hitting Portland International Raceways for two days and Oregon Raceway Park for another two days (Thursday through Sunday).

I was excited and intimidated a little about Portland, mainly because it had the ‘International’ in the name – implying, at least in my head, the more professional and potentially hard aspect of the track.

The back-straight at PIR getting some instruction and likely told I suck.
Coming off Turn 12 at PIR
Holding up traffic in the Festival Chicane

The first two days at Portland went great!  I had hired an instructor for the first day at each track, to help guide me through the track as it was my first time at each.  At the end of the day on Friday, we caravaned over the mountain range.  I stayed with a friend (Robert) I had made in my modifying days, that was a Shop and History (I think) teacher, in The Dalles, OR.  He was/is a big car guy and had just gotten into Evo’s and was gracious enough to let me stay at his house.

That first day went really well and aside from frustrations with the Track Attack app (no cell phone reception at all) was ready to get back to the track and make some serious gains on my lap times.  That Sunday morning, Robert came out in the AM and we were able to give parade rides, which was fun to show him around the track.  Once he left, it was time to get back on it.

What happened

It was what would have been the second to last session of the day.  I forget my exact lap times, but I want to say they were in the 2:10-2:15 range, of which looking back on it now, is well below the abilities of that car.  I honestly don’t recall having too much of a structured learning or driver development plan, so I was pretty much just lapping around “trying to go faster” but no real thing I was actively or consciously working on.

Oregon Raceway Park is an incredible track, with lots of rolling hills, blind corner exits and no real long straightaway, giving little time for brakes to cool down or a rest for the driver.  It is ran primarily in the clock-wise direction, though it is regularly run counter-clockwise.  It’s out in the middle of nowhere, high central desert, Oregon, where if you go off, there really isn’t anything to hit.  Generally, go off, pick up small rocks and dust – come back into the paddock, clean and vacuum your car and you’re back at it.

Except one section: Start/Finish main straight with a wall

Check out this video of one of the best club racers (and drivers in general), Cody Smith in a race at ORP.  You’ll see that right at the last corner, there is a wall that protects the hot-pits.  The only real place to get in trouble here is that wall and that’s what I learned.

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You see what happened at 2:32 mark?  That’s exactly what happened to me. 

On what would end up being my last lap for that weekend, I was coming up on the final turn, I braked, turned but turned in too early and probably too lazily.  As I started exiting the corner, was on throttle but noticed I was going to run out of road and I lifted.  🙁

Off-Throttle Oversteer: Engaged

Not sure if the car actually dropped a tire but the rear end whipped around and next thing you know, I am sitting there, staring at a wall and corner workers running over to me.  I then look to my left to see if any other car is going to collect me and this awesome green E36 M3 purposefully goes off-track, along with a nice 370z.  No damage to them, aside from a dusty car.

Within 10 minutes, I’m out of the car, physically fine and am able to limp the car back to the paddock, where front end is pushed in a few inches, the Seibon carbon fiber hood latch is broken but that’s about it.  If it weren’t for the leaking radiator, I might have even tried to drive it home.

The aftermath

First, I have to thank Don Kitch Jr on how calmly he handled himself (not having been his first rodeo by a lot) as that helped calm me down.  I had recently started working with English Racing, in Camas, WA and made the call to see if I could have the car towed to their shop, so they could take over assessing and fixing the car.

I also called my insurance and told them I had run into a mechanical issue while on a road trip and needed a tow truck.  With no approved partner within 100 miles, they allowed me to use the local tow truck provider (a story for another time) and I had the car towed to English Racing, with me going along for the ride.  Myles Kerr (Gringo Integra) was incredibly awesome, meeting me at the shop (I think they were actually there anyway) and giving me a ride to the local airport, where I picked up a rental car and drove home.

At the end of the day, the damage wasn’t bad at all and the learnings were great.  The majority of the front end needed to be replaced (front bumper cover, lower lip, radiator support, radiator, intercooler, headlights [I think]).  The rest of the body parts were repairable and while it was at a body shop, I had the body shop massage all of the fenders so I could easily fit the 275/45/17 rubber I was running without rubbing and had English do a full mechanical evaluation, tune-up, install a new TRE rear differential, bigger injectors, new fuel pump and a new tune, bringing the power to 334whp and 276ft/lb torque.

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The Dark Side

I’m not gonna lie, I had some dark thoughts in the first 24-36 hours after the incident.  Even before I got out of the car, staring at the wall, I thought to myself – “What the hell am I doing?  This isn’t for me.  I’m not good at this and I can’t afford this.  Did I just financially ruin us?”

The scariest thoughts were those “this isn’t for me and I’m not good at this” thoughts.  I had already heard from Don and other experienced drivers that crashing on-track isn’t a question of “if but when” it will happen.  And multiple “when’s.”

Luckily (or maybe not), I’ve had a history of dealing with thinking and being told that certain things weren’t for me and that I sucked at them.  In most cases, I’ve been stubborn and hard working enough to prove others and myself wrong.  So it took some time, but I consciously decided that this incident would not hold me back.  Motorsports and specifically, being the best driver I could possibly be was something I wanted to be a significant part of my life.  So I picked myself up, dusted off, fixed my car and got back it.

At ORP a year later and more than 10 seconds faster than the prior year.
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Collateral Damage – Headlights

What: Stuff breaks when you go on track, this time – headlights and driver side mirror.

If I knew then what I know now:  Consider two layers of Lamin-x on your headlights and depending on your car, have a backup set of headlights.  If your OEM headlights are glass, see if there are plastic alternatives.

Check out:

Reality check – stuff will break

It kind of sucks but that is a fact of the track-life.  When you go on a race track, autocross course, rally stage, drag strip, etc. your car is going to be flying through the air at normally illegal speeds and changes in speed.

Bugs, rocks, small birds, rubber from tires and even parts from other cars will at some point, leave their mark on your beauty.  After this most recent race weekend at Spokane County Raceways, my headlights finally bit the dust.

Lamin-x, film, racing, headlights, bmw, e30
Doesn’t look too bad, right? Well the high-beams are duct taped because they were completely broken and the Lamin-x film was keeping the low-beams together.
an up-close look reveals a not as pretty picture. Eek!

The fix – new (to me) headlights and new Lamin-x

Although the remaining races for the year are during the day, we are in the Pacific Northwest and that means there is always a chance for rain.  When it rains, I prefer to have all the lights on, just to make sure other cars on track can see me.

To fix the headlights, at least for an E30, there are a few different options:

    • Replace just the light bulb: These light bulbs are old school and thus the whole light bulb and actual headlamp assembly are one-piece.  In most modern cars today, there is a headlamp assembly and somehow screwed to the inside, is the actual bulb.  So you can replace either the headlamp assembly or the bulb but we don’t have that option here.  To buy the integrated headlight, head over to Amazon and you can easily get one, like this one below (click on this link or the image below to go to Amazon and buy).  Each bulb will run you about $45/bulb.  Check to make sure you are ordering the right thing – the high or low beams.  They are not inter-changeable.  On the plus side, there are no side dependencies.  So the low or high beam bulb can fit on the left or right side of the car.
    • Replace the whole assembly: You can also choose to replace the whole assembly, which includes the bulbs and the frame that holds the bulbs in place and is screwed into the radiator support area.  Normally, this is too much for broken headlights but this is where eBay is your friend.  There is an option to buy brand new and even LED and projector headlight assemblies, which are awesome but pricey.  Here is an option from Amazon.  Beware though, these look awesome but are just as fragile as the OEM stuff.  Keep that in mind before buying and taking back on track.  🙂

Ebay to the rescue

As you can see from the Amazon search results, a new, truly new and even aftermarket set of the full assembly headlights can run $200+. Instead, I went to eBay and was able to find a used set of the full headlight assembly for just over $80. This is also less money than buying new (intgrated) bulbs and the already come in the assembly.  Click through the banner ad below to see search results that I used to get my new (to me) headlights.




Install in less than 5 minutes
Because I was replacing the whole assembly, all I had to do was:

  1. Remove 6 clips that pinch the headlight assembly to the grill that surrounds the headlights.
  2. Unscrew two screws for each headlight area, that holds the grill to the front area of the car.
  3. Unscrew two other screws that hold the headlight assembly to the radiator support.
  4. Disconnect the bulbs from the wiring harness.

And they’re off!

Out with the old, in with the new (to me)!

Lamin-x for extra protection

While the old bulbs were off, I cleaned off the new bulbs with generic window/glass cleaner and then installed a set of #prospec yellow tinted Lamin-x film covers.  These are the same ones I had previously but this time I put them all four headlights.  You can get these almost anywhere: Amazon, eBay or where I got them, ECS Tuning.  These are the exact product I ordered.  But since we fund this site through affiliate marketing, here is a link to Amazon, for the exact same product, of which clicking and buying helps keep this site alive.

 

 

Back to looking good for the next race!

In under 10 minutes total, including cleaning, taking pictures and moving slowly as I was recovering that day from minor surgery, old broken headlights were replaced with fresh, low cost, new (to me) headlights with extra protection from Lamin-x.

Back to looking fresh!

I think about headlights and even windshields as almost consumables. If I can go the rest of the year without having to replace them again, that’ll be great. But with the next race at Pacific Raceways, where there is gravel off-track and people love to drop tires, I’m not very hopeful.

The lights that will strike fear into my competitions mind and heart. Move out of the way!!!
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Burn 1,000 calories in an hour, lower back pain, kidneys and dehydration

What: A small addendum to the cardio training post, let’s expand on it with a real world experience that happened just a few weeks ago at Pacific Raceways.

If I knew then what I know now: Hydration, hydration, hydration – start it at least 5 days prior the first day on track and keep it up while you are on track.  Simply drinking lots of water the weekend of, is not enough.

Check out: 

1 Hour Mini Enduro’s as a Workout

Most of my racing is a sprint format, but each Saturday afternoon, there is a 1 Hour Mini-Endurance race (referred to as Enduro’s but spell check hates this word). During the May 20th 1-Hour Enduro at Pacific Raceways, I decided to start a ‘workout’ using my Apple Watch to track my heart rate and calories burned, more accurately.  In this mode, the watch samples movement, skin temperature, heart rate, etc. at least 1x per second, versus about 1x per minute, while generally going about your day.

So what happened?

First, Pacific Raceways is already a physically demanding race track – super old school, banked turns, big time elevation change and even catching air on all 4 wheels.  Before I even looked at the data, this is how I felt:

Thank Goodness for the Dead Pedal: While you probably aren’t going to be able to tell from the video, the combination of braking, lateral g-forces, camber in the road and downhill ascent of 3a and 3b complex, make it super grueling as you are carrying a good amount of speed.  I found myself hanging on for dear life, thanking my OMP seat, Schroth harnesses and most importantly – the dead pedal.  After each session I found myself thinking – “man, if it weren’t for the dead pedal – I think I would have fallen out of the seat.”

Oh dead pedal, how I love thee!

Dehydration: That day was warm but not ‘hot’ with a high of 72 degrees Fahrenheit.  I have a helmet blower system hooked up to my Stilo ST5 GT Wide Composite SA2015 Helmet with Noise Attenuating Ear Muffs (Large), of which after experiencing this – I don’t know how everyone doesn’t have one.  And we were planning to run the Cool Shirt CS-12 Club System but we forgot to pickup ice.  No worries, we went on regardless.  Well after a day of two qualifying sessions, one 20 minute race and an hour race, I felt drained and truly dehydrated – with my lips feeling chapped, which is a rare occurrence for me.  I’ve probably used chap-stick or lip balm maybe a half-dozen times in my life.  I have a rule that 7 days prior to stepping into a race car, I don’t drink any alcohol (usually wine) and that week, I bent the rules and I think that didn’t help.  While I only had a couple glasses with dinner, I could feel the difference.

Lower-Back Pain: Yeah – even this!  WTF!?!?!  I climbed out of the car with my lower back, not throbbing, but sure as crap not feeling great.  During the race I felt sharp pains and while I’ve had back issues the past few years – a combination of physical therapy, cross-training, plyometrics, stretching and chiropractor visits have my back in pretty good shape. Even still, I had back pain.  One theory, was that this was actually kidney related as it is common to have lower back pain, from your kidneys, when you’re too dehydrated and I felt it.

As an aside, the following morning I was pretty sore – especially on my right foot, calf, lower back, right shoulder, forearm and hand.  These PRO3 cars don’t have power-steering or ABS, so they are quite the analog animal to manhandle.

The data says… holy crap!

Calories burned during an auto race
This is the health data from throughout the day. You can see the spike when I logged a workout during the 1-hour endurance race. I didn’t log a workout during the earlier three sessions (two qualifying sessions and one non-points race)
Here is an hour by hour breakdown of my heart rate – note that during the 1-hour endurance race, my heart rate reached around 160-165 beats per minute.

 

Think about this – when was the last time you did a workout and burned (approximately) 1,000+ calories?  I am talking about just the logged ‘workout’ because in the previous three sessions, I didn’t have the Apple Watch Nike+ 42mm logging calories or else the full day of calories burned would have been 2,000+.  That is a TON of calories and physical effort.

Conclusion

Competitive racing is a legit, physical sport that is incredibly demanding.  We are using our hand-foot-eye coordination, reflexes, core-strength, neck-strength, arm-strength, leg-strength, cardio stamina and mental stamina, just like happens in many other ‘high intensity sports’.

If you are and an avid racer, actually competing and on a regular basis – I highly encourage you to have a regular training program and eat well at minimum to avoid injury and really, to help improve your performance.  Yes, you need to know what to do with your driver inputs to go fast but you also need to be able to physically do this, consistently and over long periods of time – especially for all those endurance racers.  If you aren’t exhausted when you get out of a race car – you’re just not driving hard/fast enough.

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Days 16, 17 and 18 – 30 Days of Racing in a row

This is a combo article because I frankly fell behind righting as the race weekend took over.

Back to PIR to get the bad taste out of my mouth

The last time we were at Portland International Raceways (May 2017), the weekend was going great but on the main points race Sunday afternoon, the race was over by turn 3.  A couple of Spec E46’s were tussling ahead, one got pushed off and insisted on getting back on track, immediately spun when the front tires grabbed and got side-swiped. While it sucked for the team, we fared much better than two other PRO3 cars which were nearly totaled.

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As an aside, another example of how important it is to know how to properly go off track and apply those techniques, every time – even in racing conditions. The reality is that going off will happen and applying those techniques will save you and everyone else a lot of money in the long run.

That race was run without a chicane (usually reserved for endurance races) and this would be the first of two race weekends with the chicane, aptly named the “Chicane Challenge” and I was really excited to see how the investment in simulator time would pay off.

Friday Test and Tune Day – .5 seconds faster right off the trailer

This isn’t a perfect comparison because of differences in weather conditions but when I looked at my first session off the trailer this Friday versus the same first session, in August 2016 (the last time I ran PIR with a chicane), I was ~.5 seconds faster and broke the 1:30.000 barrier for the second time.

What happened? Softer braking, which lead to higher min-speeds through each corner.

Looking at the data comparison below, it’s clear to see that I was able to use less brake pressure and carry more mid-corner speed AND get on throttle (and full throttle) sooner than a year ago. On this specific session, I remember letting the tires warm up and then attacking the corners and surprising myself that I had so “easily” hit a 1:29.xxx lap time. On the following lap, I tried to repeat it but found that while carrying more speed through the turns 4-5 transition area, the bumps in the road unsettled the car too much while I was on throttle, causing the left rear corner to break loose.

A comparison of my off the trailer, 1st session on a test and tune in August 2016 versus June 2017.  Look at the brake pressure differences and the delta chart.

Also, I was driving on relatively old tires (Toyo Proxes RR 225/45/15’s) that were on their third race weekend and their 12th heat cycle. There is an urban legend that PIR “likes old tires” and my personal interpretation is that PIR is a very smooth and grippy track and thus older tires still work well but newer tires are still going to be optimal.

A track map of Portland International Raceways, with a Chicane

The rest of the day I stayed on the old tires and struggled to break 1:30.xxx as the day got hotter and grip went away but we focused on helping that rear left corner take the beating. With PIR being a 12 turn, clockwise track and only 3 of the 12 turns being left handers the car left rear tire is under constant heavy loads, trying to get out of nearly every corner as quickly as possible.

Saturday Qualifying, Points Race 1 and 1-Hour Enduro Race

This was a unique weekend with the Saturday Group 1 race being a championship points race, along with the Sunday race. So each day we would start with a clean slate, qualify in the AM and race in the PM.

First up was Group 1 qualifying, which went ok but I couldn’t find good track position, to get me a solid draft on laps 2-4, where the fastest lap times would come happen.  I ended up with a 1:30.092 and qualified 4th.  Not bad but not great, being .5 seconds clear of 5th place but almost .7 seconds from pole – ouch.

In Group 8 qualifying, we strapped on some new tires so I could scrub them in for Sunday’s race and boom, 1:29.635!  New personal best and, it didn’t seem too hard.  The big difference?  Carrying a tiny bit more speed into the chicane, more speed into turn 7 and through turns 10-12.

Group 1 Points Race: 3rd Place

At the start of the race, I got a really good start and was behind a the Spec E46 of Dan Rogers, who has a ton of race craft.  We were on the inside for turn 1 and more importantly, the outside of turn 2, which is the chicane.  On these low speed, high G-force turns, in traffic, it is generally best to be on the outside, because you have less steering input and can get on the throttle sooner.  This is because when going two or three wide, we aren’t going at normal speeds, we’re going 10-15 mph slower and thus nowhere near the traction limit.

This gave me a solid run through the chicane and coupled with an incident where another PRO3 car tried to squeeze through where there was no room, spinning both cars – I was in the lead by turn 3 and leading my first PRO3 race?!???!

Leading my first PRO3 race ever, holy crap! Maintain, maintain, maintain….

I lead for a few laps but eventually, Brian Bercovitz got me and pulled away.  Then the PRO3 who spun the other car, caught up and when we were going around slower traffic, he got a clean run out of a corner while I had to check up and he got past.  I ended up in P3 but further improved my personal fastest lap time.

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Group 8 1-Hour Race: 2nd place for being greedy

The 1-hour races are basically more practice for me – I like doing them by myself because I can just focus on hammering out laps and hard-coding improvements.  I always strap on the oldest tires I have on-hand and try to set fast and consistent laps.

This was no different and from the start I was battling with a regular foe and friend, Jeff McAffer.  I was in the lead the majority of the race but Jeff was able to stick with me the entire time.

After the mid-way pit stop, I decided to try to push a bit more as I was hitting 1:29 lap times, on crappy tires and a greasy track.  Suddenly, 1:29.7xx!  I felt like that lap time wasn’t too hard to get, so I went for a repeat but the tires didn’t agree.

This could have easily been just my inputs but my hypothesis is that I over-pushed the tires and I was asking them to do a qualifying lap when they were in lap 35 of a race.  I had the win in the bag and Jeff about 5 seconds behind but I got greedy, went off and ended up in P2.

This is not a good POV at turn 12 at Portland International Raceways

Now I know there is a reason for the saying…

“Go only as fast as you need to finish where you’re going to finish.”

Sunday Group 1 Race

One thing that I started doing this year is running just Group 1 and Group 8, which means I get a solid amount of track time and on Sunday, I only have one group to worry about. This way I’m rested and not rushing on the day that usually counts.

Sunday Group 1 Qualifying: 1:29.874 P4

Coming off of the Saturday’s lap times, where I got a 1:29.466 in the afternoon Group 1 race, with fresh tires but loaded up on weight for race trim, I felt that I had the potential for a very low 1:29 in qualifying and thus in the running for pole. I just needed to have good track position on laps 2-4, where I could get a draft on at least one of the straightaways. But it wasn’t to be – I went out and was stuck in “no man’s land” for the first part, then I slowed down and waited for a group of PRO3 cars to come by so I can get behind them. I was able to finally do so and had a low 1:29 going but got behind a PRO3 car that slowed down way too much for turns 10 – 12. It was still good enough for a P3 but I knew I had the pace to battle for the podium and possibly the win. If I would have had an average sector time for turns 10 – 12, I would have been easily with a 1:29.4xx with my rolling best lap being a 1:29.522.

Purple cells = rolling fastest lap and yellow cells = fastest segment times

Sunday Group 1 Race: P7 finish due to a late race off-track excursion

The race started well and hard for most everyone, with a clean first lap.  I tried hard to make up at least one spot on the start but it didn’t happen, so I was stuck behind the #81 of Brad McAllister, who is a strong driver and PIR is one of his strongest tracks.  He’s also a pretty tough pass, with a strong racing history in the SCCA Playboy MX-5 Cup, PRO3 and recently the TRANS-AM TA2 series.

Brian Bercovitz, one of the regular competitors I’m trying to best started from the back because he had a mechanical during qualifying and eventually caught up to us.  The couple laps leading to Brian catching us, I had to brake harder than normal to not ram Brad going into the chicane, which over-heated (I think) my front tires.  Going into turns 5 and 6, my front end washed out, and as I was waiting for the fronts to grip, the rear-end swung out and I went-off track.

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It was not too bad but just enough time for a couple cars to pass me and by then the tires were too hot and the distance too great for me to catch up and make up the spots.

I ended up finishing 7th and I think if we can do a better job of tire pressure management (to give me more life towards the end of the race) and I can do a better job of not screwing up, there was a 3rd place finish in the stars and maybe better.

Overall, a great weekend and new personal bests!

While I’m not terribly happy with the Sunday result, overall we made a ton of progress on the car and my driving.  There is one more race at PIR with a Chicane in August and I believe we’ve gathered the knowledge to fight for poles and a win.  We know what we can do to drop some low 1:29’s and maybe even get into the 1:28’s, which is encroaching on track record territory.  Let’s cross our fingers for some sunny and not too hot, weather in August!

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Day 15 – I can’t believe this is happening

This is the last day of iRacing before the big race weekend at Portland International Raceways.  The goal today was the same – another 20+ lap sessions, with no accidents, pushing for consistent, fast but not personal best laps.  Just get into a rhythm and pound out lap, after lap, after lap – all near the limit (or at least mine).

The session started off normal, with low-1:20 lap times steadily falling and then suddenly, lap 6 – BOOM! 1:19.410 – new personal best.  

I smell blood in the water…

That lap was good but there were some small mistakes, I can do better.  So I put my head down and starting pounding away trying to repeat it and make improvements.  over the next 10 or so laps, I got close several times and even spinning at one point, but keeping it out of the wall.

I checked up, let the tires cool down, as I would in real life and went back at it.

More mid-1:19’s and suddenly… 1:19.351 – another half tenth shaved off.  But I wanted more, especially with a low fuel load, I knew I could do it.  So I pushed on but ultimately, I dropped a tire on the exit of the chicane and ended up with a 1:19.398.

Oh so close!!!

What happened?

I found that if I can slow down, just a tiny bit more, in the entrance of the ‘esses’ and turn 7 and the chicane, I was able to get the car turned faster and back on throttle and full throttle, sooner. Same lesson from before, just applying it better and better.

Check out the throttle traces of the graph below.

Slow down earlier, get the car turned and then get back on throttle.

Now seeing as that new personal best was done at the end of the session, with yes lower fuel – it was also well past the peak performance of the tires. Something I started thinking about today, as I have been preparing for the Portland race this weekend, is that I’ve noticed that many times, in a real world race, my fastest lap of the race comes in around lap 2-4.

This is when the tires, brakes and everything are at their prime conditions. I wonder what could happen if we did a low fuel run, with just 5 or so laps and fresh tires? I am thinking that the lap times would come down significantly!