As I mentioned yesterday, today was the first official day of the race weekend, with four sessions on the schedule:
- Group 1 Qualifying
- Group 8 Qualifying
- Group 1 Non-Points Sprint Race: ~20 minute race with results not counting towards the PRO 3 championship but your fastest lap counting towards the final qualifying grid)
- Group 8 Race: 1 Hour mini-endurance race that counts towards the 2017 Mini-Endurance championship (I’ve won the championship the last two years in a row!)
Yesterday, I felt like I had established a new level of performance with the car and my driving, by improving my personal best lap time at Pacific Raceways by nearly .5 seconds and being able to repeat it, though in just one lap, with a set of brand new tires on a ‘heat cycle’ run.
Today, my goal was to take those new tires, and do a qualifying run in them for Group 1, improve on my personal best lap time and then put them away until Sunday. Then swap back on the older set of tires, which would be going on their 10 – 12th heat cycles and while still good from a tread standpoint, I fully expected the performance to start wearing off towards the end of the 1 hour endurance race.
How’d it go?
Group 1 AM Qualifying
Time of Day: 9:26 AM
Conditions: Mostly sunny, 61 degrees Fahrenheit
Result: 1:37.617 (new personal best by ~.2 seconds)
Similar issue as I had during qualifying for Group 1 in Portland but I didn’t position myself best in the pack during pre-grid. I got out early in the line up and while I was at the front, I didn’t have the benefit of a draft like when running in a pack. I did about 4 laps but not cracking the 1:38 barrier. So I decided to back off a bit and get behind a pack of PRO3 cars to catch their draft. After a couple laps, I was able to get a 1:37.766 but then was too close to them and basically started ‘racing’, so I tried to back off a little before the start of a lap and then make a run but I’d get too close about halfway through the lap and the lap would get ruined. Either way, minor improvement and felt like I at least collected enough data of several low 1:38’s, which used to be my personal best and figure out what to do.
Group 8 (Mini Enduro) AM Qualifying
Time of Day: 11:30 AM
Conditions: Mostly sunny, 68 degrees Fahrenheit
Result: 1:37.533 (new personal best by ~.1 seconds)
With the field being lighter for Group 8, track position wasn’t as important, so I just went out and tried to put down fast laps immediately after doing more of a warm up lap on my out-lap. Since these were the old tires, we were trying to make sure we’d get them up to temperature and pressures for the race in the afternoon. I did two fast laps of 1:37.855 and then 1:37.533. BOOM! Another personal best. What was I doing? Just focusing on having next to no transition period from ending trail-braking to throttle application, especially on the longer corners like turn 2 and turn 8. I came in to the hot-pits for a pressure and tire temp check and was out but was only able to put down a 1:37.792. The good news? 1:37’s were starting to feel like the new normal!
Group 1 – 20 Minute Non-Points Race
Time of Day: 1:50 PM
Conditions: Mostly sunny, 75 degrees Fahrenheit
Result: 2nd place finish and 1:37.258 (new personal best by ~.3 seconds)
These races are interesting. It’s racing but it doesn’t count towards point, so this year they changed it so that the laps count towards qualifying. So, you should never try to win at all costs but the goal is more to get into a flow and go for some fast laps. I qualified 4th but started third in class, because the pole setting car decided to start from the back OR they were late to grid. Either way, my goal was the same – get a good start and stick my front bumper to the rear-bumper of the fastest PRO3 this year, Brian B in the Blaupunkt liveried car.
And that’s what happened! Man, I am so happy about how this race went (video link below soon). I knew at least at the time that I would have to work really hard to get the start I wanted and then work even harder/smarter to stick with Brian. I pushed myself even more to be on maintenance, plus a little more, sometimes mid-corner and I found myself using throttle to get that final phase of rotation going in the slower corners of 3a and 3b.
The best thing? Mid 1:37’s became the new normal, even in greasier but not horrible conditions.
Group 8 – 1 Hour Endurance Race
Time of Day: 4:30 PM
Conditions: Sunny, 78 degrees Fahrenheit
Result: 1st Place finish and 1:37.364 (only .1 seconds off of personal best)
The fields aren’t typically super-stacked for the endurance races, usually only about 10-15 cars per class and with the SCCA Majors Tour happening in Portland this weekend, the overall field was much lower, with only about 19 or so total cars on the grid. There would only be one strong competitor battling me, Jeff M in the newly painted green and black #24. Jeff and I have shared many battles the last couple of years and he and his car are a rocket. With tires nearing the end of their top end performance life, my goal was to just drive clean, consistent laps and hopefully win but not do anything stupid.
Enduro’s are an opportunity for more seat time for me, in a racing environment and over a long period of time to try different things. I also like that one mistake won’t kill you and there is a strategy aspect to the race.
In the end, Jeff and I traded spots a couple times. I was able to get him in the beginning and get in front but a mistake in turn 8 gave him the position back and I had to work to get it back. After the mandatory pit-stop, I was able to get him back but due to traffic, worsening track conditions and his driving, I wasn’t able to pull away. Aside from winning, what I am incredibly happy about is being able to put down a 1:37.364 in the second half of the race! Man, I am so happy about that.
Takeaways? A new normal and 1:36’s – here I come!
Today was an absolutely awesome day and from a driving standpoint, I believe the reason is that I have fresh in my body and mind, what it feels like to drive, look at data, see what to do differently, visualize what that looks like and make it happen. I will create a separate post that looks only at the data analysis I did over the whole weekend and what I did to prepare myself to do things differently.
The last thing here, especially from the lap times from the endurance race, if I am getting near my personal best lap times on a nearly 80 degree day, in the second half of a 1-hour race and on 11 heat cycle tires, that means this car is capable of so much more. If the driver can get it together or with a pro-level driver behind the wheel, today, this car could have probably turned a low 1:36.xxx. Lots of progress but so much more to go!