Sebring Club Race

[Dan Yonker]

 

 

I have returned safely from the Sebring Club Race with little damage to my car, and only slightly more to my ego.  I struggled with a head cold the entire trip, but managed to make some progress on the track while thoroughly enjoying the 78+ degree weather.  The new and improved Bionic 911 performed well, although there are still a few issues to sort out.

 

Short of B. Minkin, who made the trip to drive in the DE, I think I was the only other RTR member.   

 

The event started on Thursday with a Test & Tune Day.  I was only able to run several brief sessions because of minor mechanical issues with the car.  Thursday night there were two practice sessions, of which I was able to complete one.  By the second night session a notable oil leak had started from one of the cam towers.  The oil leaked onto the header and made for a lot of smoke, such that the stewards would not let me continue until fixed.  At this point I was pretty sure I was going to have to pack it up as the Dawe Boys couldn’t pin-point the leak.  It turns out there is some sort of small (not visible to the eye) crack in the cam tower that opens up just enough to let oil out when it gets up over 200 degrees.  They covered the general area (of the cam tower) with a temporary sealant, which ultimately did the trick.  The motor will be removed and the cam tower replaced (total hassle).  The good news I was up and running for Friday morning. 

 

Friday was a typical first day of a race weekend – just ran the car and worked on the setup.  Slowly but surely I whittled down the lap times into the low 2:24s, which was about 2.5 seconds faster than the previous year.  Admittedly, I was not terribly comfortable with the new set upon the car and a little displeased that I wasn’t turning faster times. 

 

Friday night came as did the night practice session and night race.  I don’t remember where I qualified, but I ran the race very well, staying first in class until P2 got by me on the penultimate lap. I finished second in class and was pissed with myself for not doing a better job of holding back the tweaked 996 GT3.  For those of you have never raced on a race track, in the dark at 130+ MPH, all I can say is it is an adventure. 

 

Saturday we continued practice and then qualifying.  I qualified like 29/61, 4/10 in class.  I kicked ass on the start and then went agricultural several laps later.  I got my act together and finished 16[suP]th[/suP] overall and second in class.  Going into the second Sprint I was confident with two 2[suP]nd[/suP] place class finishes and got an awesome jump at the start.  Halfway through I pushed too hard in T17 and spun, narrowly missing the wall.  I finished 23/46 and 4[suP]th[/suP] in class.  I was obviously displeased that I spun, but happy that I turned my fastest time of 2:24.1.

 

Sunday morning I looked at some of my data and had a coaching lesson with Trevor Dawe.  We switched compounds for the front brakes and I switched my braking techniques in several corners and adjusted to a slightly later apex in almost all the corners.  Plus I put on a new set of Hoosiers.  The result was a 2:22.3 during the morning practice, a 1.8 second improvement.  I was pleased with this, especially because I knew I left something on the table. 

 

So, they combined the run groups for the Enduro, such that I ran with all the knuckleheads in cup cars.  About 10 of the cup car drivers seem to know what they were doing, the rest are like gnats – getting in your way in the corners and then speeding by you on the straights.  Often I would rid one in traffic, only to be cursed by another.  At least 15 cup cars had DNFs due to incidents.  Anyway, I got a really good start (seems to be my strong point, for the moment) and pressed hard for several laps until my throttle linkage came apart at the pedal assembly.  I was able to pull over, get out and fix it, but it cost me 3 laps, at least.  I got back on the track and made up at least one lap thanks to a really good restart, but it was to no avail.  I finished 27[suP]th[/suP] overall,3/4 in class.         

 

All in all it was a good weekend and I’m generally pleased with the new and improved car.   Tire ware is much better now that I have wider tires and certainly the handling is better.  The new engine is sweet, although there are some mechanical issues to sort out and the ECU needs further tweaking.  I also broke down and bought a cool suit, which was like sex the first time I turned it on….holy cow.  Lastly, I ran with a radio this weekend.  What a difference – I can’t believe I went this long without a spotter……  

 

Later

 
Saturday 1[suP]st[/suP] Sprint:  http://vimeo.com/19667004

[Lainey]

Wow, great recap. Couldn't have been cheap going down there, but then again I'm sure it was worth it. See you at the track!!

[betegh9]

Danny,
You did great! I saw the video and I remembered the track when I was there in 2003. You do not have to tell anyone excuses for not finishing first. You did good driving (except that vegetating in the pasture) and most of all, you had fun. If you can't pass them under acceleration, pass when they make a mistake or under braking...... like you did several times. Enjoyed the video!!

[Brian Minkin]

There was another RTR member who raced at Sebring.  Hugh Mcnenly ran his first club race as a rookie driver and completed 2 sprint races and the enduro.  Congrats to Hugh for moving into club racing and racing on a track he had never seen before.

 

[Lainey]

Brian, how did your 03 car run at Sebring?  All go well?  

Lucky you guys got your fix, unlke the rest of us who had to watch from the infield.  It was fun, bt the parade lap in the Nissan Maxima at DIS didn't help much!

 

[Brian Minkin]

I did not race, just ran in the advanced solo group.  However I will say that my car ran perfectly and I was able to drop almost 8 seconds of my best time from last year. 2:36.2 last year and was at 2:28.4. Might have actually been faster on Sunday but my lap timer broke. It is amazing what a good gearbox and properly assembled engine can do when coupled with a driver that is finally willing to let it "hang out" a bit.  I grided further up this year, position 30 as opposed to position 50 last year so I was in a mix of GT3's, 996 and 997 cars and was able to hold my own.  The Advanced Solo group was over 90 cars.

[betegh9]

Good going Brian!  Any videos?  After watching Danny's video, I got the urge again....

[Brian Minkin]

I have not done video for years.  To lazy to deal with the camera and converting the video to MPG format. I need to buy a camera thats completly digital.

[bobt993]

Nice job mowing the grass!!!  I was watching the video and the 996 dancing behind you must have distracted your braking reference.  At that point it never looked possible to make the corner.  Good job down there.  I hope my car is back ready soon so we can mix it up in GTS4.

[Dan Yonker]

The 996 behind me was the source of distraction all weekend....I need to learn to block that out.  In the second sprint race we got tangled up in slow traffic; I took the rim shot and got around 3 cars and he got squeezed and eventually had contact.  Sweet revenge.