Details on the Saturday night event are still forthcoming, but Sunday is set.
I will be running in HPDE4 with open passing for the first time while getting evaluated for my Time Trial license. If I get approved, I will then get my license and be able to officially compete from then on in Time Trials.
What an awesome day. Great groups, great people, and slow lap times thanks to the silly heat. I only got a lap time in the 1:48's, not as good as I'd hoped, but good nonetheless.
Clay! What happened?!? I heard 4th gear blew up on you??
Yeah, I lost 4th on the 6spd after 8pm when I was really starting to run well on my street tires. When you spoke to me, I think that was when I was taking off the corded race tires that did me no good, but I hadn't yet gone on my RT615s. They were amazingly better than the weak race tires, which allowed me to run some 1:47s and then a best of 1:46.9, so I was very happy, but then right as I was eating up the ass end of that MAC 240sx, 4th gear just broke right off. Apparently, 4th is showing itself to be the weak link in our 6spd, because I'm the 4th and 2nd road racer in 2 weeks to have the same failure. I'm going to take it out and send it to Shep this week for his 6spd rebuild. You should be aware of the same issues, because it's bound to happen eventually if you keep road racing.
Your 1:48s are still good. On Saturday evening, only 2 cars were under 1:50 - myself and the white/green AI Firebird race car who ran 1:48.8, although he only did 13 laps. I'm eager to see what other cars did on Sunday to see how many went below 1:46.9. I think you'll notice that the times we see on these transponders with NASA are much slower than what we see with the CarZ transponders for some reason. I ran 1:46s on my street tires all day in the mid-day heat at the CarZ open track day with a best of 1:45.7 and a 1:45.9 with passenger, but I was driving even better on Saturday but was a whole second "slower" according to the lap timers - I think there is a discrepancy.
I'll definitely be looking into the Shep rebuild. I'll likely plan to have this done sometime this winter of early spring, hopefully before next season.
4th is the first gear that uses a single synchro, so maybe that's why they're commonly failing. When you find out, (or if you already know) let us know exactly what failed (synchro, dog teeth, gear teeth, fork, shaft splines, etc).
Hey Clayton, on Sunday I think only a couple cars got below 1:48. One of them was the 43 AI Camaro who pulled a 1:45 in the AI race - what a race that was by the way! I don't think anyone else got below 1:46 or maybe even a 1:47. We'll see once NASA gets the results posted. I couldn't seem to get better than a 1:52 on my all-season tires on Sunday. I wish there were transponders available on Saturday night when it was cooler out. I would have liked to see if I did better.
Sounds like the NASA transponders read a little differently than others.
Yes, Rick Snyder raped his Toyos and hit 1:46.xx with me along for the ride. The photog got a shot of me in the passenger seat throwing the devil horns during a hot lap in his SRT4 around turn 1.
Chuck black flagged him (during another session) for no reason, so Rick came through the paddocks and did a 1-2 burnout trying to run him over. It was pretty damn funny.
Rick was also saying that he had recently run a 1:43 in the same car using a different transponder system, so he was also under the impression that the times may not have been 100% accurate.
That's good info, then. If RayBob did 1:45s, and Ricky did a 1:46, then I'm in good shape with the street tire 1:46.9. When the V710s were new and fresh back in March is when I did the 1:45.5 with the same NASA transponders.
Dave, do you know your exact time on the best lap? I want to add it to the list.
The times usually get posted, so it may just be a few days, then you'll have an electronic record of each session for each group that uses transponders (3+).
an annual membership is $40, and registration for each event is anywhere from $115 to $175 per day. The website explains everything, but basically there's a breakdown into 5 groups.
These HPDE events are awesome because you stay within a group of a similar skill level and experience so there's no surprises. There's no pressure to move through the groups, so if you feel comfortable where you're at, stay and enjoy it. The extra benefit is that you'll have instructors working with you (less for the more advanced groups bus still available). In this respect it's MUCH better than going to a normal open track day, even though t's more expensive and you get less driving time. If you'd like to get into time trials, this is a great path.
Group 1: For rookies, no track experience whatsoever but want to start on the right foot. Emphasis on learning basic track dynamics and etiquette.
Group 2: Beginner/intermediate. Focuses on developing skills, not speed. For those with some track experience, and understand the basics but still need instruction.
Group 3: intermediate/advanced. Controlled passing zones and more aggressive group etiquette. Transponders are available to this group for tracking lap times.
Group 4: Advanced only. Open passing, racing practice, may have very aggressive lap attacking. Transponders available.
TT: Time Trial. Basically timed racing. Go like a bat out of hell to get the lowest lap times possible.
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I'll see if anyone on NasaRM can dig it up.
