Guran's NA6 "Little Reddy"

[manga_blue]

Swapsies are a great idea. There's a bit of a size discrepancy between us though. My seat is bolted to the floor pretty close up. I drove Nathan's at Winton a couple of months ago, or actually totally failed to drive it. His seat is set right back - I couldn't get enough reach to heel/toe or even depress brake or clutch pedals properly. Ended up spinning every second corner. Really embarrassing.

[Guran]

Phil, it sounds like you could have done with a loan of Dann's famous pink cushion! I had to use it with his fixed seat for the driver training back in September. A "fully sik" driving position was required to reach the pedals!

I'm in for swapsies. Not a fan of SOTS though. Would prefer the next club trackday on 4th Dec. All we'd need to do is modify the numbers on each car with a bit of tape, slot into whatever group the car belongs to, and notify Zan, Mike & grid marshalls of what we're doing - shouldn't be a drama (I'll check with Mike at this Wednesday night's committee meeting). We could plan to do this in the last couple of runs for the day. Let's discuss on 4th Dec morning and work out a plan.

Both Mark's and my seats are on sliders, so there's no problem accommodating shorter or taller drivers. I drove his car at Marulan earlier this year, and I didn't even need much adjustment to the harness. I don't expect to have a reach problem in your car Phil - but Mark's a different story!

[Hellmun]

My car is dual-entered for the 4th so that may not be the best time for my car. One of my mates from work is going to have a go. He's a long time petrol head who beat me last time we go-karted so should give class 6 hell

Even if we cant' swap you can still take it for a run one day Phil. Feedback is always good and so far most people have had fun in it. So far I've generally been told the brakes are awesome, the powers low but it has a crapload of mechanical grip.

[Guran]

After locking in a 1:16.89 lap in my first run on 23rd October club trackday, I spent the rest of day "exploring grip levels" . Enjoy!

[PaulF]

Don't think we're not onto you Bryan. Set in a decent time then spend the rest of the day kicking dirt onto the track for everybody else.

[manga_blue]

Great, Bryan. You put this out straight after I offer you a drive in my car.

[Guran]

You're onto me guys.

YouTube doesn't seem to like it when you use music with the videos, so here's another version without it.

[Guran]

Been very busy lately and haven't had time for updates ...

26th October 2011 - MX-5 Club of NSW AGM

This was my second AGM with the club, and I was there to be awarded trophies for First Place in Class 1 for the 2010/11 Competition Year, and for winning the regularity on 5th December 2010. What I totally did not expect was to receive the President's Award for Extraordinary Service. I was shocked, surprised and delighted to be recognised for this prestigious award. Thanks Glenn!

Receiving the perpetual trophy from Glenn Thomas, President of the MX-5 Club of NSW

PA171648 by Guran5, on Flickr

My latest trophy haul

IMG_2536 by Guran5, on Flickr

[russ mx5]

CONGRATULATIONS!! Well done Mate! never ceases to AMAZE!! me ..the generosity with your time you give the club and members of same THANK YOU

[Guran]

12th/13th November 2011

Eastern Creek Supersprint Round 9 / Australian Supersprint Championship

The final round of the NSW Supersprints at Eastern Creek also doubled as the Australian Supersprint Championship. We were in for a treat with a two-day event and the rain stayed away despite the forecast of afternoon showers both days. It was bloody hot though, starting at 20C by 9am and peaking at 29C on Saturday, 27C on Sunday. Doesn't sound too bad, but when you're sitting in a hot car waiting for the next run, it's bloody uncomfortable.

The event was open to a maximum of 150 drivers, but ARDC must have been disappointed to attract only 100 in total, many of whom only showed up for one day - there were around 90 drivers each day. We had 6 runs of 3 laps on Saturday, but a disappointing 5 runs on Sunday despite an early start as cars did not need scrutineering again. We had to finish early to get the presentation done. I was pleased to see my friend Avril enter in her MINI Cooper S. We started doing trackdays together back in 2005 when I had my Cooper S, and she still regularly competes in the BMW Supersprints. Avril was running in Class 2C and had tough competition from a group of BMW 3 Series.

Day 1

Run 1 started after a delay to clean up an oil spill in turn 1. Needless to say, it took me a while to build confidence through there. So I eased into the day with a 2:00.510. Had fun chasing down a kermit green Focus RS (Class 3D) and caught him on the last lap ... 224kW versus 85kW! He was consistently 2 seconds quicker than me for the rest of the day though.

Run 2 included a big slide on turn 9 which might previously have ended in tears with the old grass runoff, but the new track surfacing allowed me to easily stop before the tyre wall. Lap 3 was looking really good up to the last two turns, but my foot slipped off the clutch for the change to 4th gear on the straight, and I dropped a few tenths. However, I surprised myself with a lap of 1:59.835. So much for unfavourable conditions!

Run 3 was compromised by displaying of yellow & red flag for turn 2 throughout the run. Not sure why because there didn't seem to be any problem with the surface. So I had a 2:00.413 on that run.

Run 4 went smoothly at first, and I did a 1:59.873 on lap 2. The last lap got a bit skatey and I made a mess of turn 7. Had a nice view of the Focus RS in my mirrors this time.

Run 5 had a bit of overtaking traffic, and was entertaining to watch the vintage yellow GTS Monaro (Class 4D) in front of me. He'd blast away on the straights and then I'd catch up again in the corners. He proved to be a nuisance for the Boxster S and Austin Healey Sprite that tried to get past, by repeatedly blocking their overtaking move. I improved my time to 1:59.741 on the last lap with Mike Hicks breathing down my neck in his NB. Five tenths quicker than the Monaro!

Run 6 was snuck in at the end of the day, when many were already packing up. On the second lap, I improved my time a bit more to 1:59.584 with a Vmax down the straight of 174.6km/hr. After that my tyres cried enough and it got very skatey from turn 4 onwards.

That was the end of Day 1. I was thrilled with a best lap of 1:59.584 on a hot day. It was only three tenths slower than my PB which was achieved in August's much better conditions.

My friend Snapper put me up for the night at his place just down the road at Colyton. Having only a 10 minute drive "home" was a massive novelty for me! We met up with a few more friends (including Avril) and had a chicken schnitzel at the Colyton Hotel. I wasn't much fun afterwards though - falling asleep on the lounge by 9pm!

Day 2

Had a great nights sleep and enjoyed the luxury of a sleep-in (relatively speaking), and cooked my host some scrambled eggs and toast for breakie, before heading off for the track. The cars did not require scrutineering again, so we had a relaxed start to the day.

Run 1 was a steady warm-up. I went out right at the end of the group, and then got stuck behind a pair of dawdlers on the warm-up lap, so I got passed by the leading C63 AMG before I even started the first lap, and then by an FPV Ute before the end of the first lap. My third lap was a 2:00.966 - just warming the brakes and tyres.

Run 2 was a ripper. On the second lap, my PBox timer indicated I was actually beating my PB lap right up to the last turn. But then I was forced to take a tighter line onto the main straight in order to avoid Alex Slack's MR2 that was rejoining the track after an off. I still crossed the line in 1:59.293! That was a mere four thousandths of a second slower than my PB. Had I not shed a couple tenths on that last turn, it would have been a new Class 1A record. Bugger. My last lap got a bit slidey in turns 5 and 9, so that was it.

Run 3 was a write-off because a BMW ran wide on turn 1 and parked in the kitty litter. So the supercritical turn 1 was yellow flagged for the entire run. I had a best lap of 2:01.172, but enjoyed chasing Avril's MINI and watching flames shooting from the exhaust. So much for road-registered!

Run 4 was spent following Avril's MINI again. Our lap times were very close all weekend. This time I let her pull ahead a little during the first lap, and concentrated on chasing her down after that. The third lap was a beauty - 1:59.412 - could have been a couple tenths better as I had a bit too much slide in turn 5.

Run 5 was looking good on the second lap - until I carried a little too much trail brake into turn 7, didn't quite catch the oversteer, and flicked onto the grass off to the right. Rejoined the track OK, but then our run (the last for the day) was checkered one lap early - and it was only 3:30ish. So that was it for the weekend.

The reason for the early finish was that CAMS had to do the trophy presentation. I won Class 1A, but that wasn't difficult as I was the only entry! No trophy for me. However, Stewart Temesvary won Class 1B in his NC, with a time of 1:57.430, ahead of four other MX-5s (NBs). Elliot Caras won Type 2 in his Honda S2000 with a 1:46.355. Robert Kolimackovski won Type 3 in his VL Commodore with a 1:44.771. Stuart Inwood won Type 4 in his AU Falcon V8 Supercar with 1:35.994. Jason Wright won Type SV in his WRX STi with a 1:36.209. And - no surprise - Andre Tan blitzed Type 5 and the Outright trophy, in his Radical Supersport with a 1:30.048, despite blowing up the gearbox after completing only two laps! Andre was a massive six seconds quicker than his nearest "rival".

The Final Wash-up

I finished the season in first place for Class 1A, with Supersprint records at both Eastern Creek (1:59.288) and Wakefield Park (1:14.978). There were only two other irregular competitors in 1A, so it wasn't much of a challenge. I was also third in Type 1 - Stewart Temesvary beat me by a solitary point. His win at Round 8 by a paltry 0.03s made all the difference! Although to be fair, Stewart also missed a round.

In the other classes, Stewart Temesvary (NC & NB8A) won Class 1B, Keith Monaghan (NB8B) was second, and Glenn Thomas (NB8B) third. Tony Williams came third in Class 2A behind a pair of B16A Civics. In Class 2B, the competition was very tough and our best performers were Ralph Thompson (NC) fourth, and Steve Green (NB8A) fifth.

Sadly, the MX-5 Club of NSW just missed out on winning the Club Championship. We needed to make up a 36 point gap to NSWRRC at this last round of the season, but could only claw back 7 points. So congratulations to NSWRRC. The top five clubs were: New South Wales Road Racing Club (962), MX-5 Club of NSW (933), Australian Racing Drivers Club (807), Manly Warringah Sporting Car Club (436), and Clubman Drivers Club of NSW (406).

Natsoft Results

Videos to come soon ...

[DanZig]

Took me a few bus rides and some sneaky alt-tabbing at work but I made it through your thread!

Congratuations on your achivements! It's awesome to see someone focussing entirely on developing their skills rather than trying to pay for faster laps with mods.

Very insperational and I'll be sure to keep and eye on this thread.

Keep up the good work!

[Guran]

Thanks very much DanZig! It's rewarding to hear that your first post on the forum is a vote of thanks for my garage thread. BTW, I'm not paying for faster laps with mods, but I still pay. Trackday entry fees alone mount up to a few grand a year! But I reckon seat-time is more fun than skinning knuckles installing DIY mods.

Now that you've reached the end, you really ought to have a go with Ben Sale's white 1990 NA6, assuming you haven't already been tempted. It seems that Ben and I are vying for the title of "most verbose" garage threads!

[DanZig]

It's great seeing someone soo willing to share their experience. I wish I had opted for the "simple life" and spent more time on the road and track as opposed to the 100s of hours yelling and trying to understand where I went wrong. Three pretty highly modified cars and only a handful of events have shown me the errors of my way. Time to turn that around with the purchase of a nice stock mx!

I'll be sure to check it out! Gonna be another hard day trying to focus on work tomorrow I fell haha.

[Guran]

Finally, I have edited some videos from Eastern Creek last fortnight. You'll note from these that I've started cutting turn 11, to make use of a new piece of concrete that has been laid inside the ripple strip. I suspect I've mucked up my wheel alignment though!

My best lap on Day 1 - 1:59.5842 on my second-last lap of the day (apologies for the wonky camera placement)


My best lap on Day 2 - 1:59.2925 on the second run. This one was a mere 4.2 MILLISECONDS slower than my PB. That's equivalent to a 20cm gap at the finish line (where I'm doing 165km/hr).

[Guran]

27th November 2011

Canberra Chapter visit to Macquarie Pass

When I read about the Canberra Chapter of the MX-5 Club planning to do a run to Macquarie Pass, I jumped on the opportunity to help out with finding a lunch venue, rounding up some locals to meet the Canberrans, and showing the visitors around our "backyard". We aimed high to start with and booked a gourmet BBQ lunch at Ravensthorpe - my favourite restaurant in the Illawarra. That plan was canned when it became clear that we were not going to have the required minimum of 20 people - activate Plan B. Then our raison d'être, driving Macquarie Pass, was also cancelled when the police closed the road for the entire weekend (they were searching for clues about a missing drug dealer - they found some evidence too) - activate Plan C.

We met the Canberra mob at Robertson for a coffee at the Cheese Factory Cafe. Not a bad coffee either!


IMG_2661 by Guran5, on Flickr

IMG_2665 by Guran5, on Flickr

We detoured on Jamberoo Mountain Road to Jamberoo, then dashed up to Saddleback Mountain. Through an amazing coincidence in timing, we united with Regie's group, for a great group photo at the lookout.


IMG_2667 by Guran5, on Flickr

IMG_2669 by Guran5, on Flickr

From Saddleback Mtn, we descended to Jamberoo Rd via Long Brush Rd and Jerrara Rd, and turned towards Kiama and north to Shellharbour Village. After scouting the various takeaway and cafe options, we settled on a serve of fish & chips to be consumed on the grass overlooking the boat harbour.

After a week of wet and miserable weather, it was fantastic to get out into the crisp mountain air and enjoy lunch in the sun beside the sea. Sadly, I forgot to slip-slop and my arms got fried.

Click for more photos