MG On Track! BlueOsprey, Season 2
06-06-2011, 07:29 AM
#71
Former Moderator
I could not make out the pickup line either. Glad you guys liked the video.
My normal practice is to delete all video files on the memory card once I have transferred them to the computer. How I wish I'd done that right after the last drive.
I would have loved to get some onboard footage of you out on track. oh! well I'll be sure to buy a larger memory card for next time.
My normal practice is to delete all video files on the memory card once I have transferred them to the computer. How I wish I'd done that right after the last drive.
I would have loved to get some onboard footage of you out on track. oh! well I'll be sure to buy a larger memory card for next time.
06-10-2011, 07:29 AM
#75
Thread Starter
Duking it out with #23!
Glad to see we were so far apart. He was mostly next to me in my blind spot and I had no idea where he was. So I was trying to keep to my side of the track.
I think this is coming out of turn 4 onto the No Name Straight. He is on the classic racing line. I'm out there in the no man's land. That's probably why my left front tire looks ready to collapse.
06-20-2011, 06:03 AM
#77
Thread Starter
I received the C.A.R.T schedule for Thursday. It looks like about 3 hours of track time, not counting the time trials. It looks like they will separate the groups, unlike last year at Pocono when we ran together virtually all day.
I may be able to extend the race season into November! That may make up for all of the cancellations I have suffered! It looks like I may be able to participate at the Heacock Classic Gold Cup races (whatever they are) at VIR, November, 4-6. Two crew members included in the price. Anyone interested?
I may be able to extend the race season into November! That may make up for all of the cancellations I have suffered! It looks like I may be able to participate at the Heacock Classic Gold Cup races (whatever they are) at VIR, November, 4-6. Two crew members included in the price. Anyone interested?
06-24-2011, 07:13 PM
#78
Thread Starter
Dive at Lime Rock! June 23. C.A.R.T.
Required special equipment: aqua-lung, wet suit and bilge pump for self bailing the car. A top, a windshield and wipers would have also been handy! So would wider tires with less aspect ratio.
Fifty-seven cars registered, split into two groups. I’m not sure how many cars were actually running, but my guess is that after the first crashes, there were no more than 15 cars on the track at any one time. Within the first three runs, three cars had spun out and hit the wall – all sustaining damage. Throughout the day there were other spins that did not end so badly.
I had the oldest car and was pretty slow. But the car was a crowd favorite** – especially since I was the only idiot driving with an open cockpit.
** NBC news actually used a few clips of the car (at 0.19 & 1.00) in a segment on Liam Dwyer, a C.A.R.T. member who was grieviously wounded in Afganistan a few weeks ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtHxhtSN-dk
For my first run, I went out a little late. My immediate impression was that I had very squirrelly tires. It was raining and the track was really wet, and I thought it was more a question of my tires being cold. Since the rest of the pack was moving fast, I decided to come off the track and go out with the novice group where I could warm up under a little less pressure.
I did develop a better grip when the tires were warm, but driving was dicey the whole day. I did so much hydroplaning at the end of the main straight, that I actually moved over to the center of the track trying to find a rain line. The grip was marginally better, but I still had many instances of the tires locking up and me having to release brake pressure to make the turn. Many faster cars were lifting as early as the start / finish line and applying brakes way before brake board #6. I tried to go as deep as #5, but if I went any deeper, I had big trouble.
Despite my racing school in the rain and my attempts to rim shot the track to find a rain line, I never really found a comfortable line. Sometimes I felt like I had understeer, where I could feel the front tires sliding as I attempted to turn. Sometimes I had oversteer. Even accelerating onto the straights I had to be very careful to gently squeeze the throttle so as not to spin. Once, when downshifting at Big Bend (Turn One), I popped the clutch too suddenly. That slowed the rear wheels down so they felt locked up. While this might have normally resulted in a complete spin, because it was so wet, the rear tires just slid across the pavement and I simply drifted around the corner.
On one of the sessions it was raining hard and my visor and glasses were so fogged up that I had to come in. Of course, before coming in I wasn’t moving all that fast; and you would think that the cars passing me were 18 wheelers given the amount of spray they kicked up. I went back out, but my vision was so impaired that I came off the track a second time. Fortunately, I found some Rain-X in my box that I rubbed onto the inside of my glasses and the visor, and my vision was much improved.
In the afternoon, they ran the time trials. It poured and poured and I delayed and stalled going out to the false grid where the cars were lining up. No sense filling the tub up with water and getting soaked in the process (although I was already pretty wet.) Finally when I saw that only 4 cars were left on the grid, I went out. Just as it was my turn, the deluge abated a bit. So I had the best conditions of all of the time trialers. Still a very wet track – but not the flood that they had to contend with. I ran a 1:31.8 and 1.31.9 – essentially 13 seconds off what I had been running two weeks prior.
For me, even on a dry track, the most intimidating corner is the corner into the Uphill since there is no place to run off if you slide. I think my ability to improve my speed through this corner is the key to my breaking into 1:18 territory.
Here is a sequence of pictures of me coming through West Bend onto the Downhill. It must not have been raining too hard, because you can’ t see any windshield wipers until the fourth shot.
Day after reflection makes me think I was trying to drive too wide to find the line.
I won a First Place plaque for having the fastest time in my Class. Of course, since I was the only car in my class, my biggest risk of missing out on this coveted award was if the car wouldn't start because of all the dampness under the hood.
I covered about 104 miles on track.
Required special equipment: aqua-lung, wet suit and bilge pump for self bailing the car. A top, a windshield and wipers would have also been handy! So would wider tires with less aspect ratio.
Fifty-seven cars registered, split into two groups. I’m not sure how many cars were actually running, but my guess is that after the first crashes, there were no more than 15 cars on the track at any one time. Within the first three runs, three cars had spun out and hit the wall – all sustaining damage. Throughout the day there were other spins that did not end so badly.
I had the oldest car and was pretty slow. But the car was a crowd favorite** – especially since I was the only idiot driving with an open cockpit.
** NBC news actually used a few clips of the car (at 0.19 & 1.00) in a segment on Liam Dwyer, a C.A.R.T. member who was grieviously wounded in Afganistan a few weeks ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtHxhtSN-dk
For my first run, I went out a little late. My immediate impression was that I had very squirrelly tires. It was raining and the track was really wet, and I thought it was more a question of my tires being cold. Since the rest of the pack was moving fast, I decided to come off the track and go out with the novice group where I could warm up under a little less pressure.
I did develop a better grip when the tires were warm, but driving was dicey the whole day. I did so much hydroplaning at the end of the main straight, that I actually moved over to the center of the track trying to find a rain line. The grip was marginally better, but I still had many instances of the tires locking up and me having to release brake pressure to make the turn. Many faster cars were lifting as early as the start / finish line and applying brakes way before brake board #6. I tried to go as deep as #5, but if I went any deeper, I had big trouble.
Despite my racing school in the rain and my attempts to rim shot the track to find a rain line, I never really found a comfortable line. Sometimes I felt like I had understeer, where I could feel the front tires sliding as I attempted to turn. Sometimes I had oversteer. Even accelerating onto the straights I had to be very careful to gently squeeze the throttle so as not to spin. Once, when downshifting at Big Bend (Turn One), I popped the clutch too suddenly. That slowed the rear wheels down so they felt locked up. While this might have normally resulted in a complete spin, because it was so wet, the rear tires just slid across the pavement and I simply drifted around the corner.
On one of the sessions it was raining hard and my visor and glasses were so fogged up that I had to come in. Of course, before coming in I wasn’t moving all that fast; and you would think that the cars passing me were 18 wheelers given the amount of spray they kicked up. I went back out, but my vision was so impaired that I came off the track a second time. Fortunately, I found some Rain-X in my box that I rubbed onto the inside of my glasses and the visor, and my vision was much improved.
In the afternoon, they ran the time trials. It poured and poured and I delayed and stalled going out to the false grid where the cars were lining up. No sense filling the tub up with water and getting soaked in the process (although I was already pretty wet.) Finally when I saw that only 4 cars were left on the grid, I went out. Just as it was my turn, the deluge abated a bit. So I had the best conditions of all of the time trialers. Still a very wet track – but not the flood that they had to contend with. I ran a 1:31.8 and 1.31.9 – essentially 13 seconds off what I had been running two weeks prior.
For me, even on a dry track, the most intimidating corner is the corner into the Uphill since there is no place to run off if you slide. I think my ability to improve my speed through this corner is the key to my breaking into 1:18 territory.
Here is a sequence of pictures of me coming through West Bend onto the Downhill. It must not have been raining too hard, because you can’ t see any windshield wipers until the fourth shot.
Day after reflection makes me think I was trying to drive too wide to find the line.
I won a First Place plaque for having the fastest time in my Class. Of course, since I was the only car in my class, my biggest risk of missing out on this coveted award was if the car wouldn't start because of all the dampness under the hood.
I covered about 104 miles on track.
07-21-2011, 11:44 AM
#80
Thread Starter
August 27. Pocono North with CART.
I better sign up. This falls on a Saturday and is likely to be sold out. Not too expensive. Do you want to come?
I may have to join NASA. I understand they allow stock S2000s at several venues. My opportunity to drive the MG for the rest of this year is pretty slim.
I better sign up. This falls on a Saturday and is likely to be sold out. Not too expensive. Do you want to come?
I may have to join NASA. I understand they allow stock S2000s at several venues. My opportunity to drive the MG for the rest of this year is pretty slim.