A Sledgehammer vs A Scalple
10-17-05, 03:22 PM
#1
Rotary Freak
Thread Starter
A Sledgehammer vs A Scalple
In my ongoing effort to let you guys in on the inside of racing, I thought I would give you an update on the life of a nomadic driver. You know the type, go anywhere for the right drive. I will mostly talk about my driving stints, however you guys should note the great rain drive on slicks by Tim Brown. It was special to watch.
This past Saturday I had the pleasure of running the Brown Bros. Cobra R in the Cascades Club 8 Hour Enduro in Portland. We were running in the P1 Class (for all out GT Cars). Other cars in this class included some fast Porsche 996's, a Porsche GT3 RS, 2 Panoz Esperente's, a turbo 944, a nice BP 13b FC (some Mazda content) a couple of other more stock FC's, a pair of tube chassis Turbo Fiero's, a couple of GT 280Z's, etc..., there was also a P2 Class dominated by BMW's and a P3 class with Miata's, an FB and a bunch of Civics and Golfs. There were 44 cars in all.
I had not driven this car in this spec before. We had boosted the HP by about 50, added new Crawford Carbon Rear wings, some new splitters, a new G-Force gearbox and finally some good lights. On Saturday morning the owner of the car went out and bedded in some brakes in the first session. We had to change from the front splitter and adjust the belts before I could get in. I got to go out after Tim had set a baseline in the 1:15's. I had to "giv' er" right from the start with the whole crew and other drivers watching. No Warm-Up or test day, just get in and go. I had to figure out the new box, what gears to use and what the car wanted me to do. On my 8th lap I was in the 16's and starting to get used to the speed.
Tim Brown started the race in 42nd place after an old style run across the track jump in, belt up and start the car and go. We were, ahem...., a little slow to get Tim belted in. Tim put the hammer down and was picking off about 6 cars a lap. After 15 minutes he was up to 4th and eating away at the leaders by about a second a lap. At the 40 minute mark he was in second, at the first hour mark he was in first with a fastest lap of 1:14.31. It was pretty special to watch the car slam down the straight. Tim came in for fuel and a driver change as he was not feeling well at this point and our second driver, Tony Morris JR took over at very short notice.
We had to change the driver's front tire as it was down to the cords and sent Tony out with a clean window, full of gas and a new tire. Tony continued our ways, however with the early stop we had dropped down a few places to the Porsches, who could go about 2 hours on a tank of fuel. Tony stretched the run as long as he could and got to just after the 3 and a half hour mark with only on stop for another tire and fuel.
I went to Tim and asked him if he could drive again and if he could would he be able to get us to the 5 hour mark as I was limited to a single 3 hour run. He said yes and jumped back into the car. He got right down to 1:15's right away and reeled out a bunch of 15's and 16's as he brought the car back into contention from about 8th overall. Now comes the special part, it started to rain pretty hard. All the cars started to come into the pits to change to rains. Tim decided to try staying out on slicks. Michael Schumacher might have to give up the title of Rainmiester. Tim ran for about an hour in the rain and on slicks and was still pulling over 150 mph on the straights. As the car flew past the spray coming off the rear wing was pluming up to almost 20 feet. Really cool.
Tim came in just after the 5 hour mark, after a pretty special drive. We were up to 5th place and it was my turn. We decided to stay on slicks and keep going as the rain had stopped and we hoped that the track would dry out and the rain stay away. As I pulled out of the pits, the whole car shuddered from trying to grab traction in the rain. In the first corner the car just plowed on as I tried to carry some speed into it. Here I was in a car that I had only driven for 9 laps, trying to go really, really fast in the wet on slicks. You become hyper sensative to every bit of grip. Started pushing harder and harder as the track dried. You will have to wait for the next installment as I have to go now.
This past Saturday I had the pleasure of running the Brown Bros. Cobra R in the Cascades Club 8 Hour Enduro in Portland. We were running in the P1 Class (for all out GT Cars). Other cars in this class included some fast Porsche 996's, a Porsche GT3 RS, 2 Panoz Esperente's, a turbo 944, a nice BP 13b FC (some Mazda content) a couple of other more stock FC's, a pair of tube chassis Turbo Fiero's, a couple of GT 280Z's, etc..., there was also a P2 Class dominated by BMW's and a P3 class with Miata's, an FB and a bunch of Civics and Golfs. There were 44 cars in all.
I had not driven this car in this spec before. We had boosted the HP by about 50, added new Crawford Carbon Rear wings, some new splitters, a new G-Force gearbox and finally some good lights. On Saturday morning the owner of the car went out and bedded in some brakes in the first session. We had to change from the front splitter and adjust the belts before I could get in. I got to go out after Tim had set a baseline in the 1:15's. I had to "giv' er" right from the start with the whole crew and other drivers watching. No Warm-Up or test day, just get in and go. I had to figure out the new box, what gears to use and what the car wanted me to do. On my 8th lap I was in the 16's and starting to get used to the speed.
Tim Brown started the race in 42nd place after an old style run across the track jump in, belt up and start the car and go. We were, ahem...., a little slow to get Tim belted in. Tim put the hammer down and was picking off about 6 cars a lap. After 15 minutes he was up to 4th and eating away at the leaders by about a second a lap. At the 40 minute mark he was in second, at the first hour mark he was in first with a fastest lap of 1:14.31. It was pretty special to watch the car slam down the straight. Tim came in for fuel and a driver change as he was not feeling well at this point and our second driver, Tony Morris JR took over at very short notice.
We had to change the driver's front tire as it was down to the cords and sent Tony out with a clean window, full of gas and a new tire. Tony continued our ways, however with the early stop we had dropped down a few places to the Porsches, who could go about 2 hours on a tank of fuel. Tony stretched the run as long as he could and got to just after the 3 and a half hour mark with only on stop for another tire and fuel.
I went to Tim and asked him if he could drive again and if he could would he be able to get us to the 5 hour mark as I was limited to a single 3 hour run. He said yes and jumped back into the car. He got right down to 1:15's right away and reeled out a bunch of 15's and 16's as he brought the car back into contention from about 8th overall. Now comes the special part, it started to rain pretty hard. All the cars started to come into the pits to change to rains. Tim decided to try staying out on slicks. Michael Schumacher might have to give up the title of Rainmiester. Tim ran for about an hour in the rain and on slicks and was still pulling over 150 mph on the straights. As the car flew past the spray coming off the rear wing was pluming up to almost 20 feet. Really cool.
Tim came in just after the 5 hour mark, after a pretty special drive. We were up to 5th place and it was my turn. We decided to stay on slicks and keep going as the rain had stopped and we hoped that the track would dry out and the rain stay away. As I pulled out of the pits, the whole car shuddered from trying to grab traction in the rain. In the first corner the car just plowed on as I tried to carry some speed into it. Here I was in a car that I had only driven for 9 laps, trying to go really, really fast in the wet on slicks. You become hyper sensative to every bit of grip. Started pushing harder and harder as the track dried. You will have to wait for the next installment as I have to go now.
10-17-05, 09:21 PM
#3
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Yah you better be writing that next chapter right now lol. and be posting it by tomorrow morning so I can drink my coffee and read this instead of the newspaper. 
10-17-05, 10:26 PM
#5
Rotary Freak
Thread Starter
Sorry guys, I actually have a real job and a real life and sometimes they get in the way. Anyways back to the story.
So by this time the rain had stopped and a less damp line had appeared. The line was drier in the areas where the cars were working harder such as the braking zones going into Turn 1 and Turn 7, as well as the acceleration zones coming out of Turn 5 (I think). I really had to ***** foot the car coming on to the front straight as it would snap sideways under any acceleration. It would even float out sideways going into 5th (at 140) if I wasn't pointed dead straight. So after a number of near death experiences, I decided to become the exact type of driver I hate when I am racing my RX7. I would ***** through the corners and pull the trigger on the straights.
It was a monster buzz to slam past the modded RX7's, 328 Bimmers, Miatas, etc... at 50 mph faster than them on the front straight, wind it up to 6,000 rpm in 5th (about 150 mph or 270 kmh for our younger readers) then have the old sphincter clench as I tried to get the anchors out enough to slow down for Turn 1. I could imagine the angry curses from the smaller cars as I would then slither around the next few turns until I could blast up the next straight. Now don't misunderstand me, this technique while not sophisticated was enough to keep us in 5th place on slicks when everyone else was on wets. I even started to drop the times down into the mid 1;20's as the corners got drier and drier. My times were almost the same as the PP13B Lola Sports racer that was on wets.
Anyways just as I started to get used to these conditions I had to come in for more fuel. The crew did an outstanding job, 2 NASCAR dump cans into the car in under 15 seconds and I was out again. Now with the extra weight from the fuel the car was better balanced and I could dial in some more rear brake bias. They also gave me 2 turns of right rear weight jacking to give me more rear end grip onto the front straight and into turn 1. This really helped and soon I was back blasting around the track like it was almost dry, but to pass people I had to go off line into the wet. Now this wouldn't be a problem usually, however not only was it wet offline and damp on line in places, but my closing speds on some of the P3 Civics, Rabbits, FB's, Miata's, etc... was approaching 50 -60 mph going into Turn 1 as I was now picking up 6th and going up to around 5500 rpm. More than a few times I would be closing on a group of cars like I was on the 401 and they were on a side street, when 1 car would yank out of line and try a deep braking pass into turn 1. This got me hammering the brakes with both feet as I didn't think Tim would want a Miata hood ornament and more than a few lock ups that would fill the interior with smoke like a John Force burnout.
Now one of the really fun parts. By this time it was dark, I mean after sunset dark. I was playing a real version of the old Night Driver video game slaloming between other cars on the back straight at 130 - 140 mph, whenI drove own deep into the Turn 7 braking area. I hit the brakes and started my turn in and the car didn't slow down or turn. At 140 I just had time to grab for 4th (for some engine braking) when I got launched over the outside FIA curbing at the entrance to turn 8. I was up in the air for a count of 2 (the marshals came over later and told me I was at least 3 feet in the air), hit the ground once like Bo and Duke Luke bounced into the air for a second time for a count of 1 and landed back on the track pointed in the right direction for turn 9. I radioed to the pits to get someone out to the wall to see if I ripped the splitter off and straightend the car up for the front straight. All of a suddn I realized why I went off, the passenger side front tire had gone flat on the back straight and the centrifigul (?) force had kept the tire up until I needed it. I limped around for a full lap (crossing my fingers that nobody would plow me up the back and crawled into the pits. The crew refueled the car, taped the nose back on and lifted the car up to put the jack underneath it
to change the fronts. Total time for slow lap and pit service was 6 minutes and 30 seconds
The new Goodyears, replacing the by now 4 hour old Pirelli's, transformed the car. I could flat out fly and the car was incredibly tossable. I caught up to the lead pack after running a string of 1:17's at night and in the dark. I was bounding over the apex curbing, carrying 6th gear to the pavement change into turn 1 (6,000 in 6th translates into 175+ mph), trail braking into 1 and 7 and hustling the car through the slow stuff. With 1 hour left to go I was in a nose to tail pack with the 3rd place Turbo 944, the 4th place Lola Sports racer and another 993 that had been delayed earlier in the race and was a number of laps down but still really fast. All 4 of us were no more than 5 car lengths apart as we used the slower cars like picks to gain or setup a pass. I caught the 944 under braking for turn 1. Trailed into th first apex with the back end coming around. Had to punch the throttle to get rearward weight transfer to stop the spin and pulled out a couple of car lengths but had to punch the brakes to stop from clobbering the sports racer. The 944 tried to dive around the outside of me in turn 3 but hit the wet and slid off the track. Woo Hoo 1 down 2 to go. tried for 3 laps to use my greater speed to get by the Sports racer but each time I would get by him he could outbrake me into the next corner. Finally he slowed on the front straight and moved off line and I thundered by. Some cheering in my helmet at that point. Into the top 3 again.
The car owner came on the radio at that point and told me to slow back down as we were too far behind the 2nd place car in P1 and he wanted me to conserve the drivers front Goodyear which up to this point had yet to last more than 70 minutes and I had already been on them for 50 minutes and I had 30 to go. So I just stroked the car to the finish, if you can call blasting down the straights at over 165 mph stroking. With 5 minutes left in the race and catching the sports racer for a second time a full course yellow came out and i trundled around behind the Viper pace car till the chequered flag.
We ended up 3rd in P1, 4th overall. The reason why the Sports racer slowed up was that he knew he was 2 laps up on me for 3rd overall and we finshed 5 laps bak from 1st place or about 7 and a bit minutes. If that tire hadn't have gone down ????????
Anyways a decent result, set the second fastest race lap only 1 tenth slower than the sports racer and faster than all other cars, had 2 more pit stops than the winning Porsche and had to serve an iffy stop and go penalty. With a bit more luck and some planned improvements we should be able to take the fight back to them a little better next year. And again my race hangover has me pondering a switch to V8 power for my RX7.
No I won't do it, well I don't plan to........
So by this time the rain had stopped and a less damp line had appeared. The line was drier in the areas where the cars were working harder such as the braking zones going into Turn 1 and Turn 7, as well as the acceleration zones coming out of Turn 5 (I think). I really had to ***** foot the car coming on to the front straight as it would snap sideways under any acceleration. It would even float out sideways going into 5th (at 140) if I wasn't pointed dead straight. So after a number of near death experiences, I decided to become the exact type of driver I hate when I am racing my RX7. I would ***** through the corners and pull the trigger on the straights.
It was a monster buzz to slam past the modded RX7's, 328 Bimmers, Miatas, etc... at 50 mph faster than them on the front straight, wind it up to 6,000 rpm in 5th (about 150 mph or 270 kmh for our younger readers) then have the old sphincter clench as I tried to get the anchors out enough to slow down for Turn 1. I could imagine the angry curses from the smaller cars as I would then slither around the next few turns until I could blast up the next straight. Now don't misunderstand me, this technique while not sophisticated was enough to keep us in 5th place on slicks when everyone else was on wets. I even started to drop the times down into the mid 1;20's as the corners got drier and drier. My times were almost the same as the PP13B Lola Sports racer that was on wets.
Anyways just as I started to get used to these conditions I had to come in for more fuel. The crew did an outstanding job, 2 NASCAR dump cans into the car in under 15 seconds and I was out again. Now with the extra weight from the fuel the car was better balanced and I could dial in some more rear brake bias. They also gave me 2 turns of right rear weight jacking to give me more rear end grip onto the front straight and into turn 1. This really helped and soon I was back blasting around the track like it was almost dry, but to pass people I had to go off line into the wet. Now this wouldn't be a problem usually, however not only was it wet offline and damp on line in places, but my closing speds on some of the P3 Civics, Rabbits, FB's, Miata's, etc... was approaching 50 -60 mph going into Turn 1 as I was now picking up 6th and going up to around 5500 rpm. More than a few times I would be closing on a group of cars like I was on the 401 and they were on a side street, when 1 car would yank out of line and try a deep braking pass into turn 1. This got me hammering the brakes with both feet as I didn't think Tim would want a Miata hood ornament and more than a few lock ups that would fill the interior with smoke like a John Force burnout.
Now one of the really fun parts. By this time it was dark, I mean after sunset dark. I was playing a real version of the old Night Driver video game slaloming between other cars on the back straight at 130 - 140 mph, whenI drove own deep into the Turn 7 braking area. I hit the brakes and started my turn in and the car didn't slow down or turn. At 140 I just had time to grab for 4th (for some engine braking) when I got launched over the outside FIA curbing at the entrance to turn 8. I was up in the air for a count of 2 (the marshals came over later and told me I was at least 3 feet in the air), hit the ground once like Bo and Duke Luke bounced into the air for a second time for a count of 1 and landed back on the track pointed in the right direction for turn 9. I radioed to the pits to get someone out to the wall to see if I ripped the splitter off and straightend the car up for the front straight. All of a suddn I realized why I went off, the passenger side front tire had gone flat on the back straight and the centrifigul (?) force had kept the tire up until I needed it. I limped around for a full lap (crossing my fingers that nobody would plow me up the back and crawled into the pits. The crew refueled the car, taped the nose back on and lifted the car up to put the jack underneath it
to change the fronts. Total time for slow lap and pit service was 6 minutes and 30 seconds
The new Goodyears, replacing the by now 4 hour old Pirelli's, transformed the car. I could flat out fly and the car was incredibly tossable. I caught up to the lead pack after running a string of 1:17's at night and in the dark. I was bounding over the apex curbing, carrying 6th gear to the pavement change into turn 1 (6,000 in 6th translates into 175+ mph), trail braking into 1 and 7 and hustling the car through the slow stuff. With 1 hour left to go I was in a nose to tail pack with the 3rd place Turbo 944, the 4th place Lola Sports racer and another 993 that had been delayed earlier in the race and was a number of laps down but still really fast. All 4 of us were no more than 5 car lengths apart as we used the slower cars like picks to gain or setup a pass. I caught the 944 under braking for turn 1. Trailed into th first apex with the back end coming around. Had to punch the throttle to get rearward weight transfer to stop the spin and pulled out a couple of car lengths but had to punch the brakes to stop from clobbering the sports racer. The 944 tried to dive around the outside of me in turn 3 but hit the wet and slid off the track. Woo Hoo 1 down 2 to go. tried for 3 laps to use my greater speed to get by the Sports racer but each time I would get by him he could outbrake me into the next corner. Finally he slowed on the front straight and moved off line and I thundered by. Some cheering in my helmet at that point. Into the top 3 again.
The car owner came on the radio at that point and told me to slow back down as we were too far behind the 2nd place car in P1 and he wanted me to conserve the drivers front Goodyear which up to this point had yet to last more than 70 minutes and I had already been on them for 50 minutes and I had 30 to go. So I just stroked the car to the finish, if you can call blasting down the straights at over 165 mph stroking. With 5 minutes left in the race and catching the sports racer for a second time a full course yellow came out and i trundled around behind the Viper pace car till the chequered flag.
We ended up 3rd in P1, 4th overall. The reason why the Sports racer slowed up was that he knew he was 2 laps up on me for 3rd overall and we finshed 5 laps bak from 1st place or about 7 and a bit minutes. If that tire hadn't have gone down ????????
Anyways a decent result, set the second fastest race lap only 1 tenth slower than the sports racer and faster than all other cars, had 2 more pit stops than the winning Porsche and had to serve an iffy stop and go penalty. With a bit more luck and some planned improvements we should be able to take the fight back to them a little better next year. And again my race hangover has me pondering a switch to V8 power for my RX7.
No I won't do it, well I don't plan to........
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10-18-05, 11:35 AM
#8
Rotary Freak
Thread Starter
A Slight Correction
Just did the gear splits and my max mph was overstated. Pulling almost 6,000 in 6th translates to 168 mph, not 175. Still seemed fast to me at night, in the damp.
11-24-05, 06:32 PM
#9
Rotary Freak
Thread Starter
Magazine Articles
Just a quick update. Go to Chapters from today. The latest issue (January 2006) of Mustang Enthusiasts has the Cobra R as the cover car and a decent article inside. The next issue of Inside Track (December/ January 2005/2006) has another good article on the car as it ran in the 8-Hour Race in Portland.
Tim constantly understates the HP to prevent too much comparison. Last official run was 535 rwhp, with the engine detuned to last 8 Hours. It is a real bullet and rumour has it we may be upgrading the engine for next year. First race will be Seattle in March.
Tim constantly understates the HP to prevent too much comparison. Last official run was 535 rwhp, with the engine detuned to last 8 Hours. It is a real bullet and rumour has it we may be upgrading the engine for next year. First race will be Seattle in March.
11-25-05, 12:33 AM
#10
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23Racer... you're obviously an avid racer, and are lucky enough to get A MILLION TIMES more track time than i've dreamt of, so I would like to take out some karts, and see how we do. I'm sure I can become a better driver because of it, and until I can afford a track car, it will satisfy the hunger.
I went back to Formula Kartways' last week, and in the cold ran a 32.69. Mike, one of the guys that has been working there sometime went out with me, and he was gaining between 8 and 12 kart lengths PER lap. He was blasting around, and he's the only person i've ever raced @ formula that consistently kept me at bay. Being that he has worked there for 2-3 years gives him a lot of practice, but I have to get better.
I know there is no real comparison in the weightshift aspects of a gokart vs a race car, but they can show me a few things that I need to know to set up the car faster in the turns.
Let me know if I can get you to come there once, seeing as you are in Oakville, I hope you are up to teach me a few things.
Daryl
I went back to Formula Kartways' last week, and in the cold ran a 32.69. Mike, one of the guys that has been working there sometime went out with me, and he was gaining between 8 and 12 kart lengths PER lap. He was blasting around, and he's the only person i've ever raced @ formula that consistently kept me at bay. Being that he has worked there for 2-3 years gives him a lot of practice, but I have to get better.
I know there is no real comparison in the weightshift aspects of a gokart vs a race car, but they can show me a few things that I need to know to set up the car faster in the turns.
Let me know if I can get you to come there once, seeing as you are in Oakville, I hope you are up to teach me a few things.
Daryl
11-25-05, 07:29 AM
#11
Rotary Freak
Thread Starter
OH YES THE FAST DRIVERS WHO WORK AT FORMULA KARTWAYS (Har Har)
Hotty, I am going to let you in on a secret. I really doubt that there was a tremendous difference in your driving, the difference is in the karts. There I said it and feel lighter. I used to race karts, over 15 years ago (!!!!!).
The class I used to race in was Formula A and National Class. I won the NTN Bearings National Class Championship way back in 1990 form guys that went on to race in Champcar, Formula Atlantic, etc.... , so I know a bit about it. At Formula Kartways the Karts are all 4-stroke karts with centrifugal clutches. The guys that work there understand that these karts have no acceleration and to run a fast lap it is really about maintaining momentum and not wasting time/distance with overly long corner entry lines and corner exit lines.
I expect that you were following him and he seemed to draw out a bit each corner, even if you were right on his line. First he has a cajillion laps around that track, knows how to maintain momentum and especially knows which karts have the best set up clutches and the loosest rev limiter. Also driver weight makes a HUUGE difference in that the lighter driver can scrub off more speed and the kart will accelerate back up to speed faster.
You really shouldn't care that he beat you as it really wasn't a fair fight. If you are really interested in going racing, my suggestion is to go out and buy a used 4 stroke Honda race kart ($1,500), beat wheels for a couple of years ($1000) then you will understand better that there is some technique, some kart and a ton of intangibles such as reaction time, racecraft and adaptability that differentiates drivers. Success usually relates to money spent.
The class I used to race in was Formula A and National Class. I won the NTN Bearings National Class Championship way back in 1990 form guys that went on to race in Champcar, Formula Atlantic, etc.... , so I know a bit about it. At Formula Kartways the Karts are all 4-stroke karts with centrifugal clutches. The guys that work there understand that these karts have no acceleration and to run a fast lap it is really about maintaining momentum and not wasting time/distance with overly long corner entry lines and corner exit lines.
I expect that you were following him and he seemed to draw out a bit each corner, even if you were right on his line. First he has a cajillion laps around that track, knows how to maintain momentum and especially knows which karts have the best set up clutches and the loosest rev limiter. Also driver weight makes a HUUGE difference in that the lighter driver can scrub off more speed and the kart will accelerate back up to speed faster.
You really shouldn't care that he beat you as it really wasn't a fair fight. If you are really interested in going racing, my suggestion is to go out and buy a used 4 stroke Honda race kart ($1,500), beat wheels for a couple of years ($1000) then you will understand better that there is some technique, some kart and a ton of intangibles such as reaction time, racecraft and adaptability that differentiates drivers. Success usually relates to money spent.
11-26-05, 12:50 AM
#12
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Your totally right and I understand that, but i still wanna race. Without money LAYING around, i'm not going to be buying a shifter kart, or anything like that.
anyways, its worth a thought.
anyways, its worth a thought.
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