Houston, We Have Lost Cabin Pressure
So, the website has been crickets for the last month.
I did attend another track day though. The same kind of track day antics ensued. Of course.
This was way back on July 8th, another TSS RevScene day with our good Canadian friends from Vancouver. The car was as ready as it could be, I had gone through it meticulously to make sure everything was tight and in good shape. It was shaping up to be another hot, sunny Seattle summer day, highs in the low 90s. I wasn't expecting to crack any personal bests with the heat, but, you never know?
Once arrived and unpacked, I made it through tech without issue. I had a couple of friends joining in for this day, so it was nice to have some familiar faces in the paddock.
David, who has amassed quite a eclectic car collection over the last few years (built SW20, STI, LS swapped 240sx) brought his amazingly reliable beater track Civic. But the day before, he changed the oil and the B Series oil pan plug was not sealing (pan had stripped, apparently a common issue). Some track day bush repairs were in order. Since he had a new oil pan at home, this one was deemed a throw away, out came the JB Weld to seal the plug permanently for the day. After an hour of cure time, he was back out on track and she held the whole day!
Once we were through the drivers meeting, I was on track. This was my first real day running in the advanced grouping with TSS, so I was a little intimidated. The cars in my run group were no joke, all running low 2 minutes if not much faster. I knew I had to keep my eyes on the mirrors to not hold anyone up.
About half way through the session, this 350Z was hot on my tail. After giving him a point by, I decided to see why he was so fast. We call these learning experiences. We had a great time playing cat and mouse over the next few laps, and he gave me a HUGE insight on turn 1, which I've consider one of the most difficult turns to figure out on this track. Following him through turn 1, I figured out I can enter it MUCH fast than I thought, since the uphill right after it helps slow you considerably for turn 2. A real breakthrough! I just needed to stop being a pansy.
After a few laps, he pointed me by and I tried my best to keep him in my rear view... and towards the end of the session, he tried copying my line/throttle engagement through turn 11, and ended up spinning. Can't get on it that early in a FR, bud!
Still, that 350z was unassuming, but pretty dang fast. He was running some R888s, which help quite a bit keeping speed through the corners (probably a tire worth 2-3 seconds over my R1Rs). The owner was a nice guy, we chatted after the session, I showed him a thing or two, and he showed me.
The car had run well through the first session, and I had ticked off a bunch of 2:00 - 2:03 laps. Overall, I was feeling the groove.
The next session started, and a few laps in, I came across this NSX.
Big front splitter, carbon hood and wing, NT01s and a big brake kit up front. A bit more serious than meets the eye.
We had a few good laps playing with each other, but eventually I felt I was holding him up a bit and pointed him by. I always love chasing anything MR on the track. It gives me a great learning opportunity what (or sometimes what NOT) to do around this track. Pretty soon I found out this guy knew the track well, and he was fast.
But, anyone can make a mistake. Sometimes just upgrading the front brakes will upset your bias. Once the NSX was pushing himself pretty hard, he was locking his rear brakes on all the hard braking zones on track.
After the session, I had to introduce myself to the driver, especially since he was pitted right next to me. Allan was a very nice guy, although his English was a bit tough to decipher. He had put a bit more DIY work into his NSX than meets the eye.
Ohhhh, full aero and flat underbody. And a very interesting front splitter.
A cool DIY take on Andrew Brilliants design on the HKS FR-S, shown below. Called the "infinity wings." He wasn't sure how much they were helping because this was one of the first times he's had the car out on track, he mentioned it had been sitting in his storage for 10 years!
Allan also mentioned he used to track a 911 GT3, and even a Lambo Murcielago. So yeah, I guess you can forget you own an NSX for ten years if that's also what you're driving! He was a great guy, and we chatted after most sessions about how it went for each of us.
The next sessions go well too. I'm thinking it's becoming too good to be true! Now I had ripped off quite a few 1:59 laps, which was great! I knew 1:58s were within grasp, but the day was getting hot, and tires were getting greasy earlier and earlier. One of my quicker laps of the day was pretty drama filled, with Cullen in his J's Widebody s2000 going off track, and myself getting pretty loose coming off turn 11, and even missing a shift because of it. Check it out below, tell me where I'm slow, tell me where I'm fast ("fast," right).
Cullens S2000 is a very capable car, as he's run 1:56s in it. The Federal FZ-201s help for sure. What's crazy is he daily drives this car.. it's his only car! His off happened because he somehow accidentally killed the ignition while braking, which locked his steering up, no where to go but the beach!
That's why The Ridge is a great track though, safe offs! At other local tracks *cough* Pacific Raceways *cough* you might be going head first into trees or walls.
So, after a successful morning with 4 track sessions (and nothing broken!), it was lunch time. I grabbed a quick bite to eat, chugged two Gatorades, and strolled the paddock camera in hand. I love the TSS Revscene days. It's not your typical Corvette/Mustang/Porsche fest out there, there's a lot of variety, and a lot of JDM goodness. Let's check the highlights.
Parked on the other side of us in the pits, was this beautiful Caterham. The owner was still getting used to the car's handling, since he had aquired it about a year ago. I would've loved to try this out on the track, one of the purest, simplest, lightest version of a track car you can buy.
Jun's S2000 is just awesome. Very tastefully modified to the teeth with nothing but the best parts, he has built a serious machine. So serious, it's capable of 1:54s. All with a pretty much stock F22 engine. He's building another with a goal of 300 whp, while still being N/A. Should be even more potent then!
Just your typical Ferrari 430, and Ferrari wannabe. Up close, that NSX was a best of show capable car. The paint was perfect, the mods tasteful, and an exhaust note to match. The 430... well, it's a Ferrari.
Some championship white lined up. I believe the Integra was owned by IG-famous tuner Nightrunner, but the new owner only spent a few sessions out on track. The EP3, tastefully modified, and the 911, yeah, dreams.
This turbo Miata was built right, and looked the part out on track.
Marc came down from BC in his SW20. Glad to see another out there! He was in the novice grouping and said he had a blast, until his turbo crapped out on him early afternoon. All I could say is...welcome to tracking your MR2! Hope he gets it back together for 2 The Beach.
I'm not much of a s14 guy, in fact it's probably my least favorite of the generations. But this one was just clean (I don't use that word often), with Regamasters, a mean stance, and a vanity plate I couldn't help but love (damnit, now I can't have it).
Speaking of Corvettes, there was only one there! While growing up, I just hated Corvettes. They just weren't my bag. Lately, I've come around to them. Something about the V8 up front and rear wheel drive, it's just a simple equation for good clean fun (and jean shorts).
The owner of this mean C7 Grand Sport was in fact, Italian. After one morning session in which he followed me a lap or two, and then passed me on the front straight like I was in reverse, the owner came up to me and had some very flattering words about the MR2. He was surprised by it's cornering speed and acceleration. Very cool words from a very fast driver and car. I definitely had to remind myself of half my motto, "No Ego." (this is called foreshadowing)
After lunch, a friends asked if he could ride along. I said, sure. The day was just getting hot, and I was pretty sure a 1:58 wasn't gonna happen with ambient temps approaching 90 degrees. To be honest, I just wanted to go have some fun.
After a few laps chasing this Porsche we were on the front straight at 110mph or so, when we felt a VERY loud THUNK. My first reaction was "intercooler pipe, crap". But, then I looked in my rear view mirror and saw the problem immediately.
Yup, my engine lid had popped off, flown back, and slammed into my wing. Since we were on the front straight I had already passed the pit turnoff. So, I had to make an entire lap of the hot track with my engine lid looking like this. Remember... No Ego? This is a good way to keep the ego down.
I honestly couldn't help but laugh at the situation. Driving around the track very slowly, getting passed by all my peers in the advanced group, and being black flagged by every turn station worker while I waved at them "yeah, I know my car is falling apart."
Fortunately (for me), soon after Allan in the black NSX had an off on the track and all the attention turned to him instead of me.
I got off the track and inspected the damage. It was worse than I thought.
Engine lid, mostly frigged. Trunk, totally frigged. Wing, frigged. Engine lid latch, frigged.
Yeah, so that'll take the wind right out of the sails on what was turning to be a pretty good day at the track (still haven't had one of those...).
Luckily, David with his fancy non-broken civic hatch had room to bring my engine lid back to Seattle. So, I called it a day, packed everything up, and drove home with the wing and trunk lid bent to hell. Got a few concerning looks on the freeway, but got home in one piece-ish.
I managed a 159.3 on my fastest lap of the day, just a tenth short of my PR set on that cool track day a month prior. So, I know the car has a 1:58 in it. Hopefully I can get this fixed (next weeks post!) and get at least one more day in this summer.