December club track day

[Dan]

That sucks... I looked up that recent weather history page before swapping tyres.. there was no rain until 3 and then wow...

Even on full tread these tyres have only 2-3mm tread depth... tried the fingernail test after I put them on...lol... I think the track will be softer than the tyres...

I think tomorrow will be a day for VERY careful driving, eh Bryan Shedden?) ;)

I was at the Circuit Club day today, they predicted more rain than they are predicting for tomorrow on the detailed BOM Forecast (http://www.bom.gov.au/places/nsw/goulbu ... t/detailed). I rolled the dice, took R Specs and we had a day with nothing more than a very light sprinkle until 2:30 or so.

Fingers crossed tomorrow is the same, it did bucket down tonight though.

[zossy1]

I live 40 mins North of Goulburn, has been piddling down all afternoon, still coming down hard now...

[Dan]

I live 40 mins North of Goulburn, has been piddling down all afternoon, still coming down hard now...

I'm in Goulburn and it's not raining right now, though it was before.

All that matters is what happens tomorrow at Wakefield. Rain or shine, fun will be had

[mx5002]

Good weather.... Good day

Didn't Crack a pb but had a fun day nonetheless! Nice to meet a few new peeps too

[Hellmun]

Well I didn't crack a PB either but I did manage to crack my front rotors.

[mx5002]

Wow!
I was wondering why i saw you packing up early.

[Apu]

As suspected, it was a laughable experience with brand new tyres. The fronts wore in pretty quickly (Integra...FWD) and gained grip quickly enough.

Unfortunately the same couldn't be said of the rear tyres. Braking was an exercise in lane changing and not long after, a fairly spectacular spin.

And the Exocet had it's first run on the track!

[zossy1]

Great day - well run and lots of track time.

Tried a few new things with the blue rocket and went... well... slower. Track wasn't great either, though it did speed up as the day went on. Still finished up at least a second a lap slower than I was hoping for.

Thanks to the club, and all the organisers and officials for a great day

[badface]

wasn't expecting much from today since there was a high chance of rain foretasted and I also tore my acromioclavicular ligament in my shoulder about 2 weeks ago so I didn't think I would last very long. I came down with nothing but my crappy worn out Zetum Sport street tyres which were salvaged from one of my old swift gti's back when I was that kind of person.
BUT! I had a ball of a day hanging at the back of group one. I hope I didn't hold anyone up too much, I sacrificed more lap times than not letting Todd, Matilda and Richard lap me after what felt like half a lap somehow! I was surprised with the lateral grip of the street tyres compared to the Nitto Nt01's I usually run but was completely incapable of getting any power down out of the corners.
I threw together a quick video tonight. The more chaotic moments in the car all crammed into one laps worth of video, keeping it short and sweet as usual.
Big thanks to everyone who helped organise and conduct such a busy day so flawlessly.

[Dan]

^ Nice video Baden, looked like you had a tough time on those tyres! Was good meeting you yesterday too.

Another great day, well run and organised by the club especially with the amount of people there. Like most I didn’t end up with a PB, ending up with a 1:12.679 on my data-logger and about the same on the club’s timing but I had a great time.

Looking forward to doing it all again in February!

[mazmad]

Chris I wouldn't be too hung up on times yesterday, this time of year the track temps with the air temp and intensity of the sun (previous weekend I recorded track temp of 56 degrees on 28 degree day) are not good for engines or grip. Which makes Matildas time so remarkable, and in Nick's car.

[hamx5ter]

All that matters is what happens tomorrow at Wakefield. Rain or shine, fun will be had

And fun was had indeed! Fantastic effort by the club to have kept things running so flawlessly given the massive turnout.

Had a fabulous day, and the v700s were well worth swapping into. Still scrubbed away but not as bad as before and quite happy with my times given the big break.

Interesting how terrible the hand eye co-ordination had become in the lost years but it improved enough that I didn't often bounce off the ripple strips and managed to finish on 13.31, not a pb, but decent enough and keen to get back on the track.

Need to solve the mystery of the missing 5th gear.. shifted fine on the road, so it can't be the synchros... maybe Mark's suggestion of updated mounts... oh well...

Shame I didn't see thar Fiesta do the 1:07 on the grid sheet, but the 86/brz crowd did well...

Great day and thanks to everyone at the Club for a great effort..

[Guran]

Thanks for all the positive feedback. The club officials very much appreciate hearing they've done a good job. Please share your feedback with competition@mx5.com.au.

The minute of engine noise for Russell Battisson was a wonderful tribute. Well done to Mike for organising this.

Must admit that I was amazed to get six runs after starting the day with 93 registered drivers. There were a few no-shows, but it was still a very full field. Great work by Joe on the dummy grid and Chris on the PA, who both kept the day flowing smoothly as the groups consolidated in the afternoon. Also, well done to all drivers for managing to avoid lost time for the recovery vehicle. I don't recall seeing any such stoppages.

What was the general thought on having 14 cars per group? We normally run up to 12 cars per group. It didn't make any difference to me, but I was positioned in the middle of my group. Did the group leaders have any issues with catching slow cars at the tail?

[manga_blue]

Yes, another really well managed day by all the crew.

14 to a group was no problem at all. In my own run group 2 for most of the day I had absolutely no issues. I had my last run in run group 1 and had the pleasure of being overtaken by Matilda on the last lap. It was an Arthur Dent moment. I was just moving up to pass an NC up the hill when she blatted past - so fast she seemed from another planet.

[Luke]

I was running in group 3 starting 2nd. Times are pretty close in groups 2, 3 and 4.
By the end I could just see the last guy in my group a couple hundred metres in front, never overtook him, I think the 1st guy did once or twice. So it works for me.