Guran's NA6 "Little Reddy"

[broady]

Phwoar nice Bryan!

Got any video?

[Guran]

Yep lots of it. I'll post on YouTube later this week. Going to Wakefield again tomorrow for the club trackday. With Adrenalins fitted this time so times will be back in the 18s again I expect. Hoping for some 17s if I'm lucky. I wanna reclaim the Class 1 record off Hammer!

[hamx5ter]

crap.... that's an awesome time Bryan... you sure you don''t have a turbo somewhere in there? Congrats.

[Hammer]

Awesome work Bryan. That's nearly two seconds quicker on street tyres!

Have you had a chance to analysed your PB lap yet?

[evil_weevil]

congrats!!!!!!
that is uber awesome!!!

[Guran]

1:17.00 at Wakefield today on Bridgestone Adrenalins. That improves my street tyre PB (was 1:17.72) and reclaims the Class 1 club record. The competitive banter with Hammer was great fun today! I was very lucky that Jenny & Cobie had a few spare forms too because it turns out that I forgot to send in my entry form!

It was an excellent day for some very fast times. Hellmun shocked everyone, not least himself (cracked rotors, bald tyres), with a new PB of 1:09.68, which is not only a new Class 5 record but is quicker than the Class 6 Turbo/SC record! Phil Ashton broke into the 10s (1:10.83). Hammer shaved his PB to 1:17.63. Roger Palfreyman (standard NC) improved broke into the 16s for the first time with a 1:16.23. Glenn Thomas (standard NB) improved his PB to 1:16.04, is only a whisker off the Class 2 record. Just to mention a few notable highlights.

And yesterday, Tony Williams set a incredible new Class 4 modified NA record of 1.13.061 at the Supersprints (also a Class 2A Supersprint record). Tony's been driving brilliantly this year: 1:13.724 on 2nd May, 1:13.611 on 5th June, and now a huge step to 1:13.061 to smash Slammer's old record of 1:13.57 which has stood since 2004. Not a bad effort for Tony's first year of Supersprints!

[Hammer]

Congratulations Bryan.

I knew it wouldn't take long before the Class 1 record time gets broken again. 1:17 flat is a great time for a stock NA on street tyres. And I agree, having that friendly competition during the day added an extra dimention to the fun.

All in all it was a great day.

[evil_weevil]

wow, all these PB's makes me go something something!!

[Guran]

20th June 2010

NSW Supersprint Round 6 - Wakefield Park

Run 1: I started at the tail of this run behind Tony Chan's Celica and then got stuck behind a Commodore by the fishhook on the first lap. The guy had too much power for me to get past on the straights and was all over the place in the corners so I was too scared to try passing him. I thought of backing off to clear some room but the lead cars were fast approaching so it wasn't worth it. I let Tony Williams' modified NA6 past at turn 10 of the third lap, and then had a good view of Tony passing the Commodore on the inside of turn 5. Brave move mate! Since I'd been passed by the leader, I only got three laps and 1:18.379 was the best I managed behind the Commodore.

Run 2: I started behind a pair of quick Civics this time and had a nice clear run. Was still warming the tyres on the first lap (1:17.480). Second lap was pretty smooth, but still getting heat into the tyres (1:16.199). Third lap started very well with a 24.8s split in the first sector (best of the day), which was three tenths quicker than the previous lap. Then I drifted wide onto the dirt after turn 4 and had a spin at turn 5 (1:25.989). My final lap was fairly smooth except for a tentative effort in turns 4 and 5, but good enough to sneak past my Class 1A record (1:16.176) with a 1:16.167.

Run 3: Started behind a pair of old Minis and enjoyed another clear run with no traffic. First lap was 1:17.374 while getting heat into the tyres. Second lap started with running wide of the turn 2 apex, but was smooth after that and improved the Class 1A record again to 1:16.053. The third lap was a tenth quicker up to the second split (43.7s) but then I lost a little time on turn 9 and finished with a 1:16.079. The marshalls then forgot how to count to four and waved an early end to our run. In any case, I caught a few slower cars soon afterwards so my fourth lap would have been slower.

Run 4: The marshalls put a slow Hyundai Excel and first gen Celica in front of me for this run, and it took me two laps to get past them both (1:20.870 and 1:20.182). Third lap was finally clear of traffic but I couldn't improve my PB and finished with a 1:16.317. And again, the marshalls stopped the run after only three laps. I kept pushing all the way to the MX-5 Club finish line and was on target for a 1:15.6 lap until I lost four tenths at the fishhook, and did an unofficial "club" lap of 1:16.0.

Run 5: Started the final run at the front of the grid behind Phil Munnings' modified NA8. With a perfectly clear road ahead, I focussed on warming the tyres for the first two laps (1:17.129 and 1:17.109). Then everything came together beautifully on my third lap and I crossed the line at 1:15.851. We were given a fourth lap (yah!) but I muffed it on turn 2 and finished the day with a 1:16.854.

Video of my 1:15.851 lap


My new PB of 1:15.851 is my first ever visit into the 15s, quicker than I ever managed in my MINI Cooper S (1:16.0). Not bad for an 18 year old naturally aspirated 1.6L. I finished 4th in class 1B behind Paul Bower XR4 (1:14.197), Tony Chan Celica (1:14.334), Stewart Temesvary NC (1:14.497), but ahead of Ian Vickers NB8A (1:16.243). And I reset the Class 1A record for NSW Supersprints too. Very happy with that considering I only had 17 laps all day.

After six rounds, the MX-5 Club is still leading the club championship on 671 points, followed by NSWRRC on 600, and ARDC on 497. I'm currently in equal second in Type 1 and Class 1B pointscores, although will drop down the order once the "drop round" kicks in.

[Guran]

21st June 2010

MX-5 Club NSW track day - Wakefield Park

After the Supersprint on Sunday, I returned home to spend time with the family, swap the semi-slicks for Adrenalins, and get a good night's sleep. I had only four hours sleep on the Saturday night because I stayed up to watch the Australia v Ghana match at midnight, and was knackered after the Supersprint. I caught up to Hellmun on the drive to Goulburn on Monday morning and we drove to the track in convoy with 4C showing on the Goulburn Soldiers Club sign. Yep, that's cold enough. And it didn't get above 15C for the rest of the day, with lots of overhead cloud cover. As at the Supersprint yesterday, I was running today with the softtop up and left the hardtop at home in the garage.

After prepping Little Reddy for scrutineering, I got a shock because it turns out that I had forgotten to send in my entry form ! Thankfully, Cobie and Jenny had some spare forms and all was sorted. Mike slotted me into the group 2 on the basis of my efforts on semi-slicks, not realising that I was running on street tyres. I just made sure I started at the back of the group so I didn't hold up anyone.

Run 1: Lined up behind Matt Guyder's modified NA8 and had a good clear run. I gradually built up speed with 1:19.11, 1:18.08 and then a new "street tyre" PB of 1:17.33. That's four tenths quicker already! Then I tried a bit too hard on the last lap, ran wide onto the dirt exiting turn 2, tried to drive out but spun across the track, ending up facing the wrong way on the in-field. So the fourth lap was 1:32.85. Good start to the day though!

Run 2: The start of this run was delayed while Cameron Macarthur's broken SE was towed in . Followed Matt again, and had a fairly consistent run. Had a yellow flag at turn 2 on the first lap (1:17.95), as Peter Stephen's NB8B had spun off to the left. Second lap was entertaining with a big drift on turn 10, and then ran wide at turn 2 but kept it in a straight line and crossed for a 1:17.89. Third lap was more of the same but spent even more time in the dirt after turn 2 (1:18.61). Fourth lap was much less adventurous and finished with a 1:17.74.

Run 3: Another delayed start after the light system developed a fault so we ran under regular flags. First lap was very messy (1:19.64), but things picked up with a 1:17.82 and 1:17.76, losing time drifting through turn 10. Fourth lap was messy again, taking too much kerb on turn 2 (1:18.25). We were given a fifth lap, and I finished with a 1:17.82. I had Andy Trapnell's NC hot on my tail for most of this run. He did a 1:16.70 PB on lap three which is an awesome effort for a first timer! If Andy joins the club and returns for more trackdays, I'm sure he'll give Roger Palfreyman some stiff competition in Class 3.

Run 4: First lap was a flyer and I had another new PB of 1:17.21. Second lap started with a huge oversteer on turn 10, so I eased up on the straight to let Andy Trapnell's NC past (1:21.52). Followed Andy for the rest of the run getting some nice video of his NC skating through the corners. Clocked a 1:17.67 and 1:17.81 to finish the run.

Run 5: At the lunch break, I nominated a time of 1:17.80 for the regularity, but put myself right out of contention by turn 10 of the first lap when my foot slipped off the brake pedal while heal-toeing! That was a brown moment ! Luckily I stopped before the kitty litter, and got going again behind Andy's NC. That lap finished with 1:26.25 so with the regularity stuffed, I focussed on doing some quick laps. I ran wide onto the dirt after turn 2 (again!) but kept the boot in on the way back to the track and finished with a 1:17.34! My camera battery ran out at this point so there was no more video for the rest of the run. I was on target for a 1:17.0 on the third lap but had a wild slide at turn 5 and crossed in 1:18.61. Fourth lap was smoother and I shaved my PB further to 1:17.18. I was sliding around a bit more for the last two laps and had a 1:17.92 and 1:18.04.

Run 6: With a recharged camera, I joined group 3 for my last run, and followed Roger Palfreyman's NC at the front of the grid. Started well with a 1:17.54, but was sliding a bit too much in 10 and 2. Second lap was much better and I shocked myself with a new PB of 1:17.00. It could have been a few tenths quicker with a better run through 8. Lap three featured a huge oversteer slide on turn 5 (1:18.82), and lap four another oversteer slide on turn 2 (1:17.82).

Video of my 1:17.00 Class 1 record lap


There was a final run available at the end of the day but I was out of fuel so that was it for me. I was absolutely delighted and surprised that I managed a new "street tyre" PB of 1:17.00 which reclaimed the Class 1 club record from Hammer who also beat his old record (1:17.69) with a 1:17.63. I was really only expecting to run in the 18s today, but the perfect conditions and my recent wheel alignment tweak made a huge difference.

[Guran]

EIGHT new club records were set on Monday and another at the Supersprint on Sunday!

Class 1 Standard NA6 : Bryan Shedden 1:17.00 (me!)
Class 1 Standard NA8 : Allan Cruz 1:17.63
Class 2 Standard NB8B : Glenn Thomas 1:16.04
Class 4 Modified NA6 : Tony Williams 1:13.06 (Supersprint 20th June)
Class 5 Modified NA8 : Phil Munnings 1:13.89
Class 5 Modified NB8B : Mark Hellmund 1:09.68
Class 5 Modified NC : Phil Ashton 1:10.83
Class 7 Non-rego NA8 : Linda Moore 1:11.75
Class 7 Non-rego NB8A : David Raddatz 1:09.26

Conditions were just perfect and I'd be surprised if these records do not last a few years.

[Guran]

Here's a speed vs distance graph which helps show where I found room to improve last weekend.

1:15.85 new PB on semi-slicks 20th Jun 2010 (red line)
1:17.00 new PB on street tyres 21st Jun 2010 (blue line)
1:17.7 old PB on street tyres 15th Aug 2009 (green line), repeated on 19th Oct 2009

Comparing green and blue lines, I've found some more speed through turns 9, 3, 5 (especially) and 6. On the other hand, I'm now a bit slower through 10 and 2.

Comparing red and blue lines, semi-slicks are giving me 5-10km/hr more speed through 9, 4, 5, 6 and an extra 10m before hitting the brakes for 10, 2 and 8. Given that the benefits are mainly in the high speed corners, I should be able to find more pace through 2 and 3 as well. Something to experiment with next time . Interesting to see that the slow corners (10 and 8 ) don't seem to provide any significant benefit on the semi-slicks - none that I've been able to exploit anyway.

[zorak]

very nice telemetry - how did you collect the data?

interesting that you were fastest through T10 on your old street tyre PB, also there doesnt seem to be much in it @ T2 in terms of apex speed (after the braking zone shown by the vertical dotted line yes?). It thought thats where semi slicks would really help.

[Guran]

Data was logged with PerformanceBox. I agree that I should be quicker in turn 2 with semi-slicks, which is a point I made above . So 1:15.85 is merely the second step on my way to quicker times on semi-slicks! It's a matter of learning to get off the brakes sooner and turning in with more entry speed. Takes a lot of trust in the tyres which are changing in grip level during the 3 or 4 laps available each run. I've also been studying Hellmun's new PB video and he starts a lot wider and straighter before turning into 2. So there's an extra metre or two that I could use to further open up turn 2. I've tried that line before on street tyres but didn't like the rear skating around when braking with the car still unbalanced. I'll give it another try next time on semi-slicks.

[Hellmun]

It might actually be the rubber on the track. Most people don't take a wide line there so you get very little rubber embedded on the track compared to the normal inside line. The Semi's might be overcoming that with their extra grip whereas when you were on the street tyres it was more noticable and making the car skatey. I had an interesting discussion with David Raddatz about the line a few months ago. He brought up a valid point that by staying so wide your making the track longer but I think the extra speed you can pull up the hill makes up for it. One of these days I'll get a datalogger.... then test both. Another subtlety on T2 which is different is I'm not immediately going to full throttle, I held more entry speed and applied gradual throttle through the corner. Similarly with T3 you might notice the car is quieter than usual, I probaly went to %70 throttle as soon as the car turned in instead of %100 and I got further to the left of the track which gave me much more speed across the top of the hill. I think on %100 throttle I was scrubbing off too much speed and taking too much weight off the fronts. I changed the tyres today on the car and there's noticable more wear on the wheel well from bottoming out than usually so I think its generating more G force this way. Makes sense as with the partial throttle I'm probaly getting more weight on the Driver side wheels instead of the rear tyres. The rear Left would be lifting the front left pushing me wide.