VS Motorsports sponsored TTS car - Gingerman Raceway
Aug 24, 2010, 07:17 PM
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VS Motorsports sponsored TTS car - Gingerman Raceway
This past weekend was the NASA Midwest event at Gingerman Raceway in South Haven, MI.
NASA was one of the first competition groups to run at the newly revised Gingerman Raceway. Over the winter/spring a new addition was added to the track which now allows it to be ran in two different configurations. The new configuration added a blind, off camber downhill corner and increased the length of the main straight.
Saturday
Saturday morning everyone woke up to heavy rain in the area. As a result the race officials decided we would run the old short course configuration for safety reasons. They did not want anyone running off the track in the new area that was still very soft and muddy.
By the time the first session rolled around the rain was lettting up some, but the track was still very wet and slick. I decided to skip the first session and go out in the second one since I did not have a good set of rain tires to use.
For the second session we put a set of half worn Nitto NT-01 on the car. The rain had stopped and the track was just starting to dry a bit on the racing line.
Knowing that the weather radar looked good for the rest of the day I took the second session very cautiously just to get a look at the track and remember the lines.
The remaining three sessions of the day were after lunch. The hour lunch break gave the track time to dry off and everyone was ready to give it full speed. The remainder of the day went well and I was able to pick up nearly 4 seconds from the third session through the fifth session. In the fifth session I ran a time of 1:33.9. I took second place in the class for the day.
Sunday
The weather Sunday morning was perfect and they desided things had dried up enough that they would allow us to run the longer track configuration. Everyone was excited to get out and try the new track. The Time Trial group was the first group out for the day at 8:00am. Everyone behaved and there were no cars off track through the new technical section of the track!
I was the 5th fastest car in the first session. Throughout the remainder of day I was able to continue to improve as I learned the new section of track and also pick up a little time throughout the rest of the course.
In the last session of the day I ran a 1:43.5 on the new track. In the last session Nathan (boomn29) got to lead the pack out on track and I was the third car in line. In the first lap I passed the TTR Vette that was in front of me. The Evo's ended up running the fastest times of the session.
Once again I had taken 2nd place in the class.
Final thoughts on the weekend:
The new section of track that was added was fun, but unfotunately does not seem to go along with the flow of the track that the original configuration has. I enjoyed running the new configuration, but my preference is still the shorter original one. I think that the Evo has a better chance of being more competitive on the short course against our larger displacement competitors than on the longer track. Either way it is still a great track that is fun to run. Just make sure you bring plenty of tires to this track, it eats them up like crazy!!
It was nice to get to meet EVOlutionary and see the success he was having in HPDE. He will be a serious contender once he makes the move up to Time Trials. He has a great looking car and has an aero package on the car that looks to be very functional. Seeing his car helped me with a few ideas for winter upgrades.
Next event for the NASA Time Trials group is Sept 11,12 at Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, IL.
Thanks to my sponsor VS Motorsports for their constant support and help this season. Big thanks to my father Ken who is the best pit crew anyone could have to keep me going all day long.
Attached are a few pics of the car from the event.
***VIDEO ADDED OF BOTH THE SHORT AND LONG COURSE***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG1JZOwjQ-A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qff3JuR9td4
NASA was one of the first competition groups to run at the newly revised Gingerman Raceway. Over the winter/spring a new addition was added to the track which now allows it to be ran in two different configurations. The new configuration added a blind, off camber downhill corner and increased the length of the main straight.
Saturday
Saturday morning everyone woke up to heavy rain in the area. As a result the race officials decided we would run the old short course configuration for safety reasons. They did not want anyone running off the track in the new area that was still very soft and muddy.
By the time the first session rolled around the rain was lettting up some, but the track was still very wet and slick. I decided to skip the first session and go out in the second one since I did not have a good set of rain tires to use.
For the second session we put a set of half worn Nitto NT-01 on the car. The rain had stopped and the track was just starting to dry a bit on the racing line.
Knowing that the weather radar looked good for the rest of the day I took the second session very cautiously just to get a look at the track and remember the lines.
The remaining three sessions of the day were after lunch. The hour lunch break gave the track time to dry off and everyone was ready to give it full speed. The remainder of the day went well and I was able to pick up nearly 4 seconds from the third session through the fifth session. In the fifth session I ran a time of 1:33.9. I took second place in the class for the day.
Sunday
The weather Sunday morning was perfect and they desided things had dried up enough that they would allow us to run the longer track configuration. Everyone was excited to get out and try the new track. The Time Trial group was the first group out for the day at 8:00am. Everyone behaved and there were no cars off track through the new technical section of the track!
I was the 5th fastest car in the first session. Throughout the remainder of day I was able to continue to improve as I learned the new section of track and also pick up a little time throughout the rest of the course.
In the last session of the day I ran a 1:43.5 on the new track. In the last session Nathan (boomn29) got to lead the pack out on track and I was the third car in line. In the first lap I passed the TTR Vette that was in front of me. The Evo's ended up running the fastest times of the session.
Once again I had taken 2nd place in the class.
Final thoughts on the weekend:
The new section of track that was added was fun, but unfotunately does not seem to go along with the flow of the track that the original configuration has. I enjoyed running the new configuration, but my preference is still the shorter original one. I think that the Evo has a better chance of being more competitive on the short course against our larger displacement competitors than on the longer track. Either way it is still a great track that is fun to run. Just make sure you bring plenty of tires to this track, it eats them up like crazy!!
It was nice to get to meet EVOlutionary and see the success he was having in HPDE. He will be a serious contender once he makes the move up to Time Trials. He has a great looking car and has an aero package on the car that looks to be very functional. Seeing his car helped me with a few ideas for winter upgrades.
Next event for the NASA Time Trials group is Sept 11,12 at Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, IL.
Thanks to my sponsor VS Motorsports for their constant support and help this season. Big thanks to my father Ken who is the best pit crew anyone could have to keep me going all day long.
Attached are a few pics of the car from the event.
***VIDEO ADDED OF BOTH THE SHORT AND LONG COURSE***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG1JZOwjQ-A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qff3JuR9td4
Last edited by racer145; Aug 28, 2010 at 08:11 PM.
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