A couple more pictures. The intercooler pipes and intercooler are temporary until Charlie builds new race spec designs. There is only so much I can afford at a time so we made a great beginning for sure. Charlie says the down force will be much greater as the "evolution" continues.
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What happened Saturday?

Where do we see race results?

Congratulations to Dave (and Charlie of course)

Michael Wilson

 

I knew my only chance was to make it to turn one before Jr's black Sti. and then I could keep ahead of him. If he got there 1st I doubt I could pass him again. Jr is really fast at the Glen. I will race any time with Jr Depaula in his Sti. I totally trust his abilities.

 

I want to thank Mike Wilson (hill climb specialist) who took several days off, drove up in his GTR and helped Charlie and me make the build possible in time for the event. I could not have made this possible without his help. Saturday I did not eat properly before the race and ran out of energy. When driving cars of this capability you have to prepare your body for high energy consumption. Mike knows this from racing bicycles. What you put in is what you get out of a machine. I ate well before the qualifying heat then did not replenish my tank before the race. You need a balance off food that will provide you energy at the beginning and also food that becomes usable later in the race. It gives you a incredible respect for the pro's who can sustain such a high level of performance in long endurance races.

 

You dont realize how priceless your health is until you get injured, or until you get older. When youre young your body can withstand a great deal of adversity without much care in return. When you get older you have to take care of yourself or else. Dave you are absolutely correct, ie being well rested, hydrated, and having the proper amount of nutrition for racing is critical. Just like your car, you can totally run out of gas before a race ends if the above factors are not addressed properly.

There are many vital factors that need to be fulfilled in order one can be successful in racing. Even then nothing is guaranteed. Doing HPDEs, or doing 1-2 hot laps in a time attack is one thing. Racing is on a totally different level. Pictures and in-car footage cant illustrate that. People will not understand this until they race themselves. Racing this year has given me a new level of respect for pros.

 

My laps . com Nasa Watkins Glen races 10 3/4 09

 

Thunder at the Glen,
This is a simplified summery of the weekend,

I just got home a bit after 4:00 Monday.

It has been a long couple of weeks getting this together, not to mention the half year of work and development to Dave's car to get to this point.

We arrived at the track about noon on Friday. Temps were in the mid 40s with light rain. We set up, registered, and teched the car. During tech was my first chance to get the car on the scales.

Well, being that one of my tasks was to get 200# out of a car that is already race prepped, and being that I added about 80# of underbody panels, I was a bit surprised to find the car weighed in at 2806 with low fuel. This is an over 230# reduction from last year. I know of over 30# more I can get quite easily if allowed to, so this is going to be an impressive feat.
Dave got out on the track and laid down a few laps on slicks then came in for a look-see.
There was a slight nuisance oil leak that we chose to deal with.
I had to run down to a parts store so it took awhile, but Dave was ready to get out for the last session. It was starting to rain hard. We swapped to rain tires and put him out to play.
The session went well, with Dave getting the first true feel of his new car. It was light steering, quick, and vibrates. On one lap the tail came around when exiting the heel of the boot -- it came around better part of 90°. Remembering my description of recovery with full lockers, open the throttle and the car will go where the front wheels are pointed, Dave did and it did.

Saturday dawned with much better than forecast weather. We had gotten a gulp of air during pre-event brake bleeding that now was becoming an issue. During the day we had help from other racers That I do not know whom they are, not to mention what cars they drove. None of us could get the bubble out of the ABS unit.
So it was for Dave to drive with a low pedal that ate into one's confidence. The car also had an imbalance in downforce. With the unfinished rear section of the undertray, the car had too much front downforce. This induced high-speed oversteer, which was quite unsettling when climbing through the esses. The back end was loose. He did a 2:09, qualifying for 11th on grid.
This time was a few seconds slower than last year. Not surprising when one can not commit to a corner.
It was agreed that with the weight reduction and running with last year’s logged horsepower, the car had to run in ST1, the 550+ HP class. During the race Dave performed quite well, though, climbing to 6th overall and 2nd in class. But the nervous car and pressures involved drove him to a stress-induced nausea 3 laps from the finish. Drats! He finished, but at a slower pace.

Saturday night after the BBQ from heaven of 400# of meat feeding around 500 people, we decided to make a few changes to the car setup. The big change was to move the aerodynamic center aft.
This was the ticket, and during Sunday qualifying Dave laid in a 2:05.6, still with a low brake pedal. This was good for a 5th grid position right behind the dominating leader of the ST2 class, Junior Depaula in an STI.
This gave Dave a major relief of pressure and a goal to drive for a win. It would be one thing if he were in ST2 for the day, but the hot ST1 car was a brand-new ZR6R Vette, 650 or so horses.

In the race, the first start was waved off but the second was great. Dave had the inside and got a jump on Junior and commanded the first lap. On the second lap Junior did a marvelous pass on the outside entering the bus stop, only to find the black flag waiting for him as the two came around the front straight.
This left Dave to follow the three fast boys, two Super unlimiteds and the ST1 leader, who promptly stuffed hard coming out of the boot bringing out a red flag.
Unfortunately, this led to the end of the race under a flag, not how a race should end. But it was the ST1 leader that stuffed, doing barely $50K damage to his Vette and handing the class win to Dave. The nice part of a class win is the two Hoosier tires one receives that are a $600 bonus for the day.

In summary, Dave, Michael, and I scrambled to get the car together for the weekend. The only repair was to replace two copper washers on an oil line (other than wishing we could have firmed up the brake pedal). We went there with most every part of the car altered or new, and Dave was able to settle in after not driving for a year to pressure the ST2 class leader and achieve a class win in ST1.

This is a nice step to the start of next season.

 

 

Wow, he dropped over 230lbs from last year? 2806 with low fuel? That is pretty good considering all the aero components you guys added.

 

It has a incredibly nimble feel. When I finally drove at full attack during the race I remember loosening my touch on the steering wheel going down the hill after the buss stop. When you can really drive at committed WOT entries it transforms and it is easier to hold the wheel lightly.

 

Watch @ 8:46, way off line then dropped 2 wheels.
http://racing.itfais.com/blog/?page_id=3&mid=58

 

That was some pretty poor driving in the Vette, Many mistakes in just a few laps.

 

Dave, the pics you posted on this page are really small.

 

Jrs. Sti in car video start of Sunday Thunder race http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mipH5cAT_XU