Guran's NA6 "Little Reddy"

[Jeo]

I got my one yesterday

[Guran]

My first supersprint with CSCA went very well yesterday. They had a huge field of 113 drivers and all were given the opportunity to do 5 runs of 4 laps each - including a 20 minute lunch break. The Jaguar Drivers Club put on a great show. Scrutineering was processed remarkably quickly and thoroughly. Paperwork & Dorians were managed from the scrutineering office rather than the timing tower, which worked very well. The driver's briefing was high quality. And the day ran very smoothly and efficiently.

The Jag guys managed the North Circuit much differently to NSWRRC. Each run started with 14 cars, and we were sent out from the access road on the back straight just before the final sequence of turns. This maximised the timed lap efficiency but meant we only had those three corners to warm-up before starting the first lap (very careful on lap 1). At the end of the run, we were flagged in at turn 4, saving half a lap of cool-down time. Very efficient use of the track! Maybe slightly smaller gaps between pairs (it was 10 seconds), and a fifth lap would have made better use of the time?

About the only criticism is that they decided to allow people to exit early at turn 4 during hot laps rather than requiring an early exit via the main straight (the sensible place to do it). There were a few close calls as a result, when drivers coming over the hill and about to negotiate turn 4, discovered they had a very slow car blocking them as it swung wide to exit the track.

There was a fascinating mix of cars on display. Apart from the usual collection of Evos, WRXs, Clubmans, Commodores and MX-5s, there was a great assortment of modern and old cars from Lotus, Triumph, Austin Healey, Morgan, MG, Sunbeam, and Jaguar. I enjoyed chatting and matching my times against a group of six RS Clios - some were stock, most modified, and I beat all but two of them (I think - final Natsoft results are not up yet). Sadly, one of the most gorgeous cars on display - a Jag D-Type replica - punted the wall exiting turn 5 . The driver was unhurt but hearing him wail after he saw the damage was heart-wrenching (I saw the crash happen while waiting to start my run).

My five runs were a bit of a mixed bag. I did a fairly comfortable 1:21.5876 on the second run and couldn't improve further. My final hot lap of each subsequent run was compromised by 1) having a spin on the final turn, 2) missing the final gear change (foot slipped off the clutch), 3) brake lock-up into turn 2, and 4) negotiating slow traffic (nearly ended in the boot of a Jaguar Mark 2 on turn 1 at 160-odd km/hr!!!). A sub-1:21 lap is definitely on my agenda. But first I'll need to replace my shagged R-specs which are almost slicks on the outer half, and now badly flat-spotted too. Interestingly, my stock NA6 was comfortably in the top half of the 113 driver field, which says a lot about the cars and drivers at CSCA events - not quite as serious as the State Supersprints.

What do I think of the North Circuit? Not much really. Turn 1 is a hoot as always, Turn 2 is tedious, Turn 3 is flat in 3rd and not all that interesting (at my speed), Turn 4 & 5 is a bit challenging and potentially a bit of fun once it becomes more familiar, Turn 6 (old turn 10) is flat in 4th and not all that interesting (at my speed) apart from having to lift a bit earlier for braking, and Turns 7 & 8 are OK (no different to before). It's definitely not as much fun as the original circuit, where turns 4 and 5 were great to slide, and off-camber turn 8 around corporate hill was a thrill too. Biggest criticism is that there are very few braking areas and lots of time on straights, which makes it difficult to get heat into the tyres. There's one big stop for turn 2, a light dab for turn 4, a medium stop for turn 7, and that's it. I was struggling to get more than 50°C into my RE55s (especially the passenger side), which didn't inspire confidence in grip. This is definitely a track suited to high power/weight cars. So I don't think I'll be all that excited about North Circuit events when they come up.

Video will come soon, once I have time to edit it and upload to YouTube.

Oh, and nice to meet and chat briefly with Andrew (Villa?) who dropped in to say hello.

[PaulF]

Sadly, one of the most gorgeous cars on display - a Jag D-Type replica - punted the wall exiting turn 5 . The driver was unhurt but hearing him wail after he saw the damage was heart-wrenching (I saw the crash happen while waiting to start my run).

Ouch. How bad was the damage?

[Guran]

Mostly cosmetic damage on the D-type. The front and rear fiberglass panels were both totalled and the driver side door dinged a bit. One of the steering rods snapped so the steering was locked. The light framework supporting the rear panels was mangled but easily replaceable. The chassis and drivetrain looked straight and undamaged, so that was good news.

[Guran]

CSCA Supersprint results are now up on Natsoft. My best lap didn't improve at the end and was recorded as 1:21.5876. There were 9 MX-5s on the day and my time was bettered only by a father & daughter team in an SE (1:17.5335 & 1:18.9344), and a non-road-registered NA in Class 3AM (1:19.8830). I was in Class 2AM with 15 other cars (standard and modified road-registered under-2000cc post-1984 cars), and my direct competition included 5 MX-5s, 4 Clios, 2 Astras, a Civic SiR, Pulsar and Swift. I finished fourth, beaten by two of the Clios (1:19.2127, 1:20.9991) and the Civic SiR pipped me by 0.08s on his second-last run (1:21.5081). I also beat the two Clios in Class 3AM. Nice close competition! Compared against all the Marque cars, my time was smashed by the Exiges and Elises (of course), but bettered all but one of the under-2000cc cars (an Elan+2 in 1:21.4128). Pretty happy with that result, especially considering how wrecked my R-specs were.

[zero00]

Guran

Well done!! seat of the pants stuff on those tyres!! Love to see your times if 'little reddy' had all the mods for suspension sway bars etc!

I assume the engine is total stock? No extractors and no 'cold air'?

[Guran]

Thanks Roger. All the go-fast bits are totally stock with original NA headers, exhaust, intake, open diff, shocks, springs, bushes, etc. The engine has never been refurbished or had the head off it, as far as I know. Made 71rwkW on MX5 Mania's dyno a few years ago with tyres pumped up and 14° timing, which seems to be in the ballpark for stock NA6s in decent health (their dyno often gives higher numbers than other dynos). The only non-stock items are:

• Brown Davis rollbar
• Sparco Montecarlo Starter raceseat (must be 20 years old, like the car!)
• Sabelt 4-point Harness (new in Aug 2009)
• Bridgestone RE55s at Supersprints, Dunlop Star Specs at MX-5 Club track days
• Bonnet pins
• 1kg fire extinguisher
• Steering wheel (it came with an AutotecnicA wheel when I bought it)

I just drive it like I stole it.

[cooper1896]

Oh, and nice to meet and chat briefly with Andrew (Villa?) who dropped in to say hello.

Yours trully!

(Andrew Cooper).

mate of mine was taking a few photo's.
I will see if I can dig something out.

[Guran]

Oh, and nice to meet and chat briefly with Andrew (Villa?) who dropped in to say hello.

Yours trully!

(Andrew Cooper).

mate of mine was taking a few photo's.
I will see if I can dig something out.

Whoops . Sorry about the mistaken identity. Glad to see I remembered your real name correctly!

[Guran]

Flat spot much? This is the front-left and explains the aweful vibration I was getting in turn 2 and turn 8 at Eastern Creek North on Sunday. I knew I was due for a new set of R-specs, but this is just ridiculous!


IMG_4180 by Guran5, on Flickr

[bruce]

Nah, ridiculous is when you can see the metal belts (or the inside of the rim!)

[manga_blue]

Still a couple of days left on those at least. Just swap them to the back and do a couple of full throttle el drifto exits from the Fishhook and T10 to restore their roundness.

[hamx5ter]

Flat spot much? This is the front-left and explains the aweful vibration I was getting in turn 2 and turn 8 at Eastern Creek North on Sunday. I knew I was due for a new set of R-specs, but this is just ridiculous!

Hah! you can hardly talk about uneven wear on the V700s now ...

and yeah sure Bryan... do another drift around T10 ..

[Guran]

Oh you guys!

OK, it's YouTube time ...

First video shows my PB of 1:21.5876 on the second run, which I was unable to best in the remainder of the day. I wasn't happy with my approach to turn 4 (lost 0.5s in this sector), and was a bit conservative in turn 7, so there's plenty of room for improvement. Still I was happy with this time considering my old R-specs were overdue for replacement.


This next one is from my last run of the day. I spent most of the run trying to get past a Jaguar Mark 2 which was a second-a-lap slower but had better straight-line punch. So I spent most of the run being splattered by his oil spray. Finally, at the start of the last lap I got close enough to get past under brakes for turn 2, but had to deal with a rapid closing speed in turn 1 and then oversteer when the rear decided to step out ... at 170km/hr! Had a bit of a slide in turn 8 too. Despite all that, I was only 0.1s slower than my PB, so I reckon a high 1:20 is my target for next visit. Earlier in this run, I managed to badly flat-spot the front-left tyre with a big lock-up into turn 2. That explains the horrible noise and vibration in turns 2 and 8.

[CoffeeBoss]

The Jag Mk2 - the original British Bad Boy ?!

The WRX of the 60's by many accounts.

Sounds to me that EC North just leaves you wishing you had access to the full circuit? At least as far as MX-5 driving is concerned.