I also recently gave Little Reddy a six monthly service with fresh engine oil / filter and brake fluid flush. I was under time pressure and a bit rusty with the oil change, since MX5 Mania did the last one, so here's a couple of free tips for newbies (or forgetful oldies like me):
1) Before you close the bonnet, make sure the oil filler cap is screwed on! Luckily I had only dríven to the servo for fuel, and after smelling oil on the way, lifted the bonnet to discover the cap was missing. I had forgotten to put it back on after checking the dipstick . Luckily I found the cap was wedged beside the coils. The splattered oil made a bit of a mess!
2) Make sure the sump plug is screwed in and tightened before filling with fresh oil! I remembered to screw in the sump plug, no problem (learnt that lesson a long time ago!). But this time I forgot to tighten the bugger. So next morning, there was a small puddle of oil on the garage floor.
Standard 2006 NC - YouTube WP 1:11.89 | SMP-S 1:05.90 GP 1:54.93 N 1:18.09 L 2:22.49 | PW 1:02.52 PI 2:00.55 | W-S 1:12.44 W-L 1:43.36 | SR 1:33.25
The Mini Car Club ran this round and there were only 64 entries, which promised lots of tracktime. The day was cold and overcast, but with no rain forecast (4C low, 11C high). The track was so cold that most struggled to get heat and grip into their tyres, so the field thinned out considerably by the mid afternoon. There was no chance I was quitting early, and I was thrilled to get eight runs of four laps, so that's 32 laps total! Most of the MX-5s were assigned to the slowest White group, which was great because it meant we could sort ourselves into a sensible running order.
I followed behind Glenn Thomas's standard NB8B for the first run, setting a time of 1:16.636 on the lap 3 before I closed in on him. Glenn was laughing himself silly watching Little Reddy in his mirrors, and we had a synchronised detour onto the dirt at turn 5 as a result. It was a really fun start to the day!
Run 2 started behind Peter Browning's modified NA6, but that only lasted until turn 2 on lap 1 when I ran wide and did a bit of rallycross. Cold tyres = no grip! I followed behind Keith Monaghan's standard NB8B for the rest of the run, improving my time to 1:16.247 before I closed in on his tail and ran out of clear track.
Run 3 required an overtake on Anthony Crott's standard NB at the end of the first lap, but then I had clear track and improved my time further to 1:15.942 on the third lap. Could I beat my 1:15.851 PB today???
Run 4 involved another pass of Anthony's NB leading onto the straight for the start of lap 3, which remarkably ended with 1:16.032. On the last lap, I tried taking turn 3 flat throttle but once again it placed me too far right and with too much speed. Had a BIG slide and just saved it from going around . Anthony enjoyed the view following behind me!
Run 5 was nothing memorable, except for the sound of a V8 Cobra passing me on the main straight. Fwoorrr!!! Lap 4 was 1:16.223 which was no improvement.
Run 6 began with a big lock-up on cold tyres at turn 2 of the second lap. I could see Glenn Thomas a couple seconds ahead of me and concentrated on chasing him down. I did a 1:16.600 on lap 3 and then riding the ripple strips on turns 2 and 8, finished with a 1:15.702! New PB, new Class 1A record! Thank you Glenn!
Run 7 started with even more promise. I did a 1:15.938 on the second lap, which included having to lift off at turn 10 when I saw a Commodore rejoining the track near the armorguard. Unfortunately the rest of the run was ruined when I caught up with an Integra that had spun and ran out of clear track.
Run 8 was "last of the day" and once again I followed Peter Browning's modified NA6. My third lap was 1:15.950 which included a big slide through turn 5 and running wide onto the dirt exiting turn 10. Without the 0.5s lost on turn 5, the lap was on target for 1:15.5. Next time! My final lap finished early with a spectacular spin on turn 2.
All over. Another really successful day. My time of 1:15.702 was a new PB, and beat my old Class 1A record for NSW Supersprints. There were another five class records broken on the day (1D, 2A, 3D, SVB, SVC), attesting to the excellent (but tricky) conditions.
I finished the day 3rd in Type 1 behind Saba Hanania's C63 AMG (1:13.484) and Stewart Temesvary's NC (1:14.077), and ahead of eight other drivers. I was also first in Class 1A ahead of John Mansell's Pulsar (1:17.302). Fastest MX-5 was Patrick Bramston's "Casper" turbo NA with a stunning 1:08.611. Ralph Thompson also set a new PB with a 1:12.222.
After Round 5, NSWRRC (589) have retained the lead of the club championship. The MX-5 Club of NSW (559) are second, and ARDC (524) third. We had only 13 MX-5 Club members running, and it showed in the pointscore again. The next round is at Wakefield Park on 30th July, and will be run by NSWRRC. They're gouging us on entry fees ($205 with Dorian!), and it'll be interesting to see how the event is supported after their poor effort in Round 1.
In the days following this round, I played around with my PBox data. My optimal laptime was 1:15.05 so I can't help but wonder if a high 1:14 might be possible in a standard NA6 on the right day?! Time will tell.
Standard 2006 NC - YouTube WP 1:11.89 | SMP-S 1:05.90 GP 1:54.93 N 1:18.09 L 2:22.49 | PW 1:02.52 PI 2:00.55 | W-S 1:12.44 W-L 1:43.36 | SR 1:33.25
Just noticed my post count recently passed 2000 and that I've graduated to "Speed Racer" ! Only took me two and a half years to get there, averaging 2.3 posts per day. And I've never posted in the ONE WORD Association Thread either.
Standard 2006 NC - YouTube WP 1:11.89 | SMP-S 1:05.90 GP 1:54.93 N 1:18.09 L 2:22.49 | PW 1:02.52 PI 2:00.55 | W-S 1:12.44 W-L 1:43.36 | SR 1:33.25
Without a doubt, the club trackdays are my most favourite dates of the year. The last one was on 9th May which seemed like a lifetime ago. I was flying to Fiji for a holiday on Thursday 7th July, so this would leave me with some excellent memories for the flight. After returning from our 7-night stay on Waya Island at Octopus Resort, I then had to assemble the next issue of Club Torque magazine, and only now have I finally found some spare time to prepare this post!
We had a nice cold day, not too much wind, and passing clouds with the odd bit of sunshine (no rain!), so we were all expecting some fast times. Unfortunately, the conditions were not quite as good as they could have been, so there was only one class record set: Patrick Bramston in Class 9. However, there were plenty of PBs by nearly all except for the more experienced drivers. A record number of 80 drivers attended the day, and even with a short break for lunch and a 4pm finish, I had time for six runs of five laps each! No complaints here about the amount of tracktime on offer.
There were 14 first timers and I had two students for driver training again: Hayden Tilley (Hjt) in his modified NA6, and Alon Cohen (alon5) in his modified NB8A. Hayden showed great promise with a best lap of 1:21.43, and Alon was very impressive with a 1:16.59. There were several visitors too, the highlight being an Aston Martin V8 Vantage!
The quickest outright on the day was Patrick Bramston (Class 9 Turbo NA6 on slicks) with a 1:07.03, followed very closely by visitor Robert O'Young (Nissan S14A) with 1:07.04, and Val Stewart with 1:08.15 in her RX7 (Class 9 / Group 2B). The next two quickest MX-5s were Mark Hellmund with 1:10.14 (Class 6 NB8B), and Craig Gartlacher with 1:11.00 (Class 7 NA6 turbo).
I was running on RE001 Adrenalins as usual practice for the club trackdays. In the cold conditions, they didn't offer much grip, but it was a lot of fun sliding around. It was great to have my nearest rival Allan Cruz back again, and we duked it out all day with Allan following immediately behind me in the same group. Our battle panned out like this ...
Run 1: Allan 1:17.64, Me 1:17.89 - Hammer had me by 0.25s Run 2: Allan 1:17.48, Me 1:17.86 - Both improved slightly, now the gap was 0.38s Run 3: Allan 1:18.01, Me 1:17.61 - I pegged it back to 0.13s difference After the lunch break, I decided to adjust my approach to turn 5, lifting the throttle sooner and avoiding any big slides Run 4: Allan 1:17.43, Me 1:17.16 - Both improved but now I had a 0.27s lead Run 5: Allan 1:17.77, Me 1:17.20 - No improvement Run 6: Allan packed up, Me 1:17.17 - I had a VERY consistent run but didn't improve
So after that epic battle, I won Class 1 this round and also the 2010/11 season pointscore - although Allan did the fastest lap in Class 1 with 1:17.10. My 1:17.16 lap on Run 4 was actually only 1:17.46 according to my PerformanceBox (I mucked up the last turn), but I did a 1:17.19 on the lap before it. Run 6 was officially recorded as 1:17.81, 1:17.19, 1:17.17 and 1:17.22 ... very consistent, and the third lap was actually 1:17.16 on the PerformanceBox. On each of those laps in the teens, I lost a few tenths here and there, so I feel that a high 1:16 is not too far away.
Due to the high number of entrants, there was no regularity event. Other class winners were: Class 2 (Std NB): Glenn Thomas 1:16.28 Class 3 (Std NC): Roger Palfreyman 1:16.52 Class 4 (Std NA/NB on R-specs): Ian Vickers 1:16.48 Class 5 (Mod NA6): Peter Browning 1:15.41 Class 6 (Mod NB,NC): Mark Hellmund 1:10.14 Class 7 (Turbo/SC): Craig Gartlacher 1:11.00 Class 8 (Racecars - R-specs): Dennis Brady 1:11.17 Class 9 (Racecars - slicks): Patrick Bramston 1:07.03 Class 10 (non-MX5): Nigel Bryan (PRB Clubman) 1:08.56 Class 11 (visitors): Robert O'Young (Silvia) 1:07.04
Some videos: Bloopers collection from the first three runs
Run 4 Lap 4 (1:17.29) and Lap 5 (1:17.16)
Run 6 Lap 2 (1:17.19 official, 1:17.16 PBox)
Standard 2006 NC - YouTube WP 1:11.89 | SMP-S 1:05.90 GP 1:54.93 N 1:18.09 L 2:22.49 | PW 1:02.52 PI 2:00.55 | W-S 1:12.44 W-L 1:43.36 | SR 1:33.25
Here's an interesting compilation of data I've just put together. The graph below shows my club trackday laptimes at Wakefield Park since I started in February 2009. I left out the wet trackdays on 21 Jun 2009 (1:20.81) and 5 Sep 2010 (1:18.94), and I didn't attend the other wet one on 14 Feb 2010. There is very clearly a seasonal effect on my laptimes, with my fastest times in June/July and my slowest in February. The parabolic curve fit suggests that the optimal time of year might be August/September. I'm hoping to test that theory at the next club trackday on 5th September ... I've already registered!
Standard 2006 NC - YouTube WP 1:11.89 | SMP-S 1:05.90 GP 1:54.93 N 1:18.09 L 2:22.49 | PW 1:02.52 PI 2:00.55 | W-S 1:12.44 W-L 1:43.36 | SR 1:33.25
I think you've developed a proposition and then just massaged a chart to support it. Dodgy method if you ask me. You could have just as easily produced a better trend by plotting times against phases of the moon or days since last sock change.
manga_blue wrote:I think you've developed a proposition and then just massaged a chart to support it. Dodgy method if you ask me. You could have just as easily produced a better trend by plotting times against phases of the moon or days since last sock change.
Hmm maybe you're onto something. Thanks for the ideas for further analysis!
All set for the Supersprint at Wakefield Park tomorrow. It'll be fascinating to see how few drivers turn up to sample NSWRRC's special brand of organisational skills. I've got the R-specs fitted, the forecast is for frost in the morning and 14C max. Sounds perfect for an improvement on 1:15.70! We'll see.
Standard 2006 NC - YouTube WP 1:11.89 | SMP-S 1:05.90 GP 1:54.93 N 1:18.09 L 2:22.49 | PW 1:02.52 PI 2:00.55 | W-S 1:12.44 W-L 1:43.36 | SR 1:33.25
New South Wales Road Racing Club (NSWRRC) are hosting this round of the NSW Supersprint Championship. Only ~50 drivers here today so we're getting five flying laps per run. And after two runs my PB is already smashed to 1:15.10!
Standard 2006 NC - YouTube WP 1:11.89 | SMP-S 1:05.90 GP 1:54.93 N 1:18.09 L 2:22.49 | PW 1:02.52 PI 2:00.55 | W-S 1:12.44 W-L 1:43.36 | SR 1:33.25
. Luckily I found the cap was wedged beside the coils. The splattered oil made a bit of a mess! 
. Anthony enjoyed the view following behind me! 
see you there teacher!
I've got the R-specs fitted, the forecast is for frost in the morning and 14C max. Sounds perfect for an improvement on 1:15.70! We'll see.
