MX-5 CLUB OF QLD - WILLOWBANK TRACK DAY - 14 SEPTEMBER 2015

Cal · Postby **Cal** » Mon Sep 14, 2015 10:25 am

Gary is running. What time is everyone getting there?

Vat · Postby **Vat** » Mon Sep 14, 2015 10:44 am

I'll probably get away a bit after 10 or so, so guessing around 11.

\checks clock
\\better get my arse into gear

Cal · Postby **Cal** » Mon Sep 14, 2015 10:57 am

Thanks

slug_dub · Postby **slug_dub** » Mon Sep 14, 2015 7:49 pm

Thanks to Adam and the QR staff for today... much fun!
A good improvement for me on last time out.
Had very good runs pretty much keeping pace with Craig and comparing times! Sportsman was fun too my late braking put me right on Jamal's tail round the corners :lol:

Hope the Potato Racing crew come next time.

Looking forward to Lakeside.

zero00 · Postby **zero00** » Mon Sep 14, 2015 8:54 pm

Many thanks to Comp Sec Adam for a great day!

Great also to see so many new faces and so many bettering their times whilst I go backwards at a great rate of knots!

Special thanks to QR Staff headed by Doug Chapple, his team Bob, Barb and the office staff - thanks for your hard work April, appreciated!

Keep up the great work 'Potato Racing', Kirk, Nate & Jamal, I had so much fun in group 4 with you guys along with 'Lead Foot Amber', Matty Redlocks [welded to my bumper!] Patrick and all the others - just awesome!

Also well done Andrew & Jason in the 'John French Motors' 86, glad you guys came along and seems you had a ball!

Looking forward to November back at Lakeside Park :wink:

Vat · Postby **Vat** » Mon Sep 14, 2015 9:38 pm

What a great day! Had a great time in Group 3 battling with Kim and slub_dub and we got lucky with pretty much clean runs the whole afternoon. Thanks again to the QR team and to Adam and the MX5CCQ for another example of a smoothly run, well planned event.

Good to see a lot of the regular crew out there (big effort from Roger after his stuff the last few months) and Danny's gorgeous black Automotive Plus ND making the new model's club competition debut.

First time out with the Teins and thought I might have found a bit more time than I did, especially on the sprint, but I did hear a few people comment that conditions seemed a bit greasy out there. I think going on overall times I went relatively better, but there are so many variables it's hard to tell. I think I went a little high on tyre pressures initially too - the IR heat gun really does help identify that. I imagine it being quite a bit warmer with stronger sun would have had an effect, too.

Car felt much better under braking and roll was significantly reduced, so the little fella's much more pleasant to drive near the limit.

Managed to eke out some PBs on all four formats, finding about 4 or 5 tenths on the Clubman (which confusingly, we started on today), Sprint and then some slightly more representative times on the Sportsman and National layouts before calling it a lap early when I saw the bonnet had popped...and arrived with the front left brake having a good old smoke (no flames, brakes had been pretty much the same they'd been all day).

Oh yeah, and this happened (sorry Kim!).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwDLCfAtQ3s

Red_Bullet · Postby **Red_Bullet** » Mon Sep 14, 2015 9:48 pm

Yep, another good day, thanks particularly to Adam for making this happen. And a round of thanks as ever to the QR crew.

Ross Ponting is doing some incredible times in a normally aspirated car, just like last time at Lakeside, really got it all together.....the B#^%^rd

Spent the day fiddling tuning to megasquirt, and getting used to the NT01's, Seems that the Nt01's require a different driving style to my old Dunlops, I had imagined they would have heaps more grip but it seems to be about learning to control the progressive slide. The old tyres would hang on then just snap away at the limit. Have to have plenty more seat time with these new semis to adapt. Funny thing was they seemed to understeer more in the faster corners...so much to learn.

Trackphotos · Postby **Trackphotos** » Mon Sep 14, 2015 9:56 pm

I see you're running with the roof up Craig. Worth some time around here ;)

Red_Bullet wrote:Ross Ponting is doing some incredible times in a normally aspirated car, just like last time at Lakeside, really got it all together.....the B#^%^rd

Just need to be prepared to bin it to go faster :p

Spent the day fiddling tuning to megasquirt, and getting used to the NT01's, Seems that the Nt01's require a different driving style to my old Dunlops, I had imagined they would have heaps more grip but it seems to be about learning to control the progressive slide. The old tyres would hang on then just snap away at the limit. Have to have plenty more seat time with these new semis to adapt. Funny thing was they seemed to understeer more in the faster corners...so much to learn.

The grip balance definitely changes when switching from something like RSRs to the NT01s. It's not that the front lets go sooner, it's more that the rear grips more. Moves the breakaway point to the front tyres instead. They are very gradual when they do go though, I'm constantly riding on the edge of the rears letting go through T1 and it's surprising how easy it is to control.

Vat · Postby **Vat** » Mon Sep 14, 2015 10:03 pm

Trackphotos wrote:I see you're running with the roof up Craig. Worth some time around here ;)

Lesson well learned from Lakeside, Ross - as I mentioned at the time I think it was worth 3-400 revs in 4th at the end of Lakeside's front 'straight', so given QR's straights it made sense it would be similarly worth time there.

Bit hot in there, though!

zero00 · Postby **zero00** » Mon Sep 14, 2015 10:10 pm

Vat wrote:
Trackphotos wrote:I see you're running with the roof up Craig. Worth some time around here ;)

Lesson well learned from Lakeside, Ross - as I mentioned at the time I think it was worth 3-400 revs in 4th at the end of Lakeside's front 'straight', so given QR's straights it made sense it would be similarly worth time there.

Bit hot in there, though!

Definately hot under a hardtop, I always think I'm faster with the roof off. I was 3rd outright on the Clubman! That's outright but from the WRONG end!

Vat · Postby **Vat** » Mon Sep 14, 2015 11:13 pm

Oh, and the Automotive Plus ND ran (I think Danny was running #1) 1:04.07 on the Sprint and 1:06.56 on the Clubman so if anyone was concerned about the potential pace of the new model, even in 1.5 guise, don't be.

Postby **orx626** » Mon Sep 14, 2015 11:53 pm

Vat wrote:Oh, and the Automotive Plus ND ran (I think Danny was running #1) 1:04.07 on the Sprint and 1:06.56 on the Clubman so if anyone was concerned about the potential pace of the new model, even in 1.5 guise, don't be.

zero00 · Postby **zero00** » Tue Sep 15, 2015 8:16 am

Great video Danny, thanks for the post - the car looks fantastic and handles excellent :wink:

Postby **orx626** » Tue Sep 15, 2015 1:09 pm

zero00 wrote:Great video Danny, thanks for the post - the car looks fantastic and handles excellent

Thanks Rog. I'm over the moon as to how it performed. :mrgreen:

The Club track days are always well run and plenty of fun!

Cheers,
Danny

CaptainNate · Postby **CaptainNate** » Tue Sep 15, 2015 3:26 pm

Awesome day out! Thanks to the club for organizing it. Smashed by PB's from 2 years ago, learnt a few more things.

Have a bit of R&D to do before the next QR - my NA6 was maxing at 135kph along the straight, seems like she should be able to go a bit quicker then that!!

Going out again has given me the motivational boost to do some driver weight loss as well....