https://vimeo.com/81436196

The day started windy and rainy. The 1:30 minute drive to the track was 1:15 minutes in heavy rain. Got to the track and where are my track tires? Oh crap, in transit. Paid, got my transponder and went through inspection with my street tires. Then it started sprinkling. But it stopped after a short while. Whew! The great thing was the temperature. High 70's. Can you imagine? Tires arrived 15 minutes before the drivers meeting. Just make it sweating like a dog. The first heat was damp but not too bad. Standing wetness in a couple of braking zones was the only real problem ….. and the concrete lanes for the drag strip. Ice when wet. I took it easy, did some sliding to measure the available grip and went for it. I managed a 126.xx in the first heat. Second heat it had warmed up a bit. I put the transmission in the Evotech tune and wasted a couple of laps trying to time the shifts. With the tune the limit is raised to 6500 rpm's but it's full manual. I kept hitting the limiter or shifting too early. I had to hit the shifter around 5500 rpm or pay the limiter penalty. The shifts felt slower than stock. Flipped the switch and ran my fastest lap on the 3rd. lap of the second heat which is in the video. Unfortunately traffic slowed the final 2 laps. Third heat was a private competition with another car. And the temperature reached 85º. He started behind me, each lap was faster then the previous then the red flag came out. Rats! After the red flag he did a 360º spin trying to keep up. VICTORY! He's the owner of the shop that aligns my car and is FAST. So I feel real good. Unfortunately, I only managed 2nd in my category. Blasted cooler temps helped the turbos more than the S/C's. I had my car on the dyno and that 400 rpm additional is 20 hp to the wheels. I'll see what can be done with the transmission tune. Something isn't kosher. The shifting was abysmal.

Les

 

Always exciting to watch your videos Les. Great driving line, and I can imagine the rain made it a nail-biter. I particularly like the camera mounted outside.

It is currently snowing and 19 degrees in Dayton!

 

Thanks MJ. Dampness doesn't make a lot of difference but wet is wild. I overcooked the corner on the first lap of the video not wanting to hit the brakes while in the water. I waited too long, oops. I still haven't found the limits with the Hoosiers hot. I've got to man up and go for it. Hard to do after sliding around the first laps when cold. My post it note in the car needs a brain reboot reminder for lap 3.

Les