by Andrie Hartanto, and bottom part by Kenji

First session out, the tire rubbed everywhere.  Went back to the pit, we decided to raise the car up in small increment.  After a few more adjustment, we found out that with the new ride height, the maximum camber we can run in the front is -2.8 degree.  It is now near the end of the day and I'm very weary of raising it more in fear that we won't have enough camber to keep us planted on the ground.  The tire still rub on hard corners like T5.  But so far it hasn't affected the handling badly.  The car now sits more than 1" taller than previously ran with the 205 tires.  Personally it looks hideous and don't handle as well.  But we have to settle for this.

We swapped the brakes to new ones as the old one wouldn't last us the weekend.  The day has ended, and we would have to wait for tomorrow to bed the brakes.

Saturday

Morning Practice,

I went out cautiously.  I'm trying to bed the brakes and shake down the car.  Other than rubbing issue on T5, overall the car felt good.  After a few laps I started to push hard to see where I stand.  My best time for the session was  a dissapointing 2:06.152.  Slower by about 1 second with my old car (EG). 

I got to talked to Brandon Krause and he told me he was turning 2:05s!  One of the contributing factor is weight.  He was able to cut about 150 lbs off the car from his almost 400 lbs overweight tank.  In addition, he said he still leave some on the table.  I'm not sure if he is playing the mind game, and I know I also still have some left, but he sure got me worried. 

Kenji was having a pretty bad day.  He was struggling with the car and the track.  He hasn't been to this track for a while and trying to get re-familiarize. 

Qualifying,

We made some minor changes for the qualifying to try to get better.  On the track, I was stuck behind traffic for a couple of laps and finally got some clear laps.  I managed to cut my time to 2:03.495.  This is more than 1 sec faster than my old best.  I'm pretty happy, but the comment Brandon made about some speed left still made me worry.  Anxiously we checked his time, and he got down to 2:04.260.  Not enought to beat my time!  :)

Kenji still struggling and ended up with a distant 2:09.

Race,

For this weekend race we are doing standing start.  The fact I never did drag racing definitely put me at a disadvatage.  I planned to start on second gear to reduce the possibility of burning the rubber.  The plan didn't work out as I still spun the tires badly and Brandon got a good launch.  He pulled 2 car length in front but didn't shut the door going into T1.  So I dived in and go into T1 side by side.  I managed to save get my position back coming out of T1.  Brandon put up a good fight and kept me on my toes.  I drove a flawless race and no mistake, managed to keep Brandon behind me the whole time.  1st win since what seemed to be a long time ago.

Kenji's bad day continue as he blew his engine down the front straight.  We have to regroup and decide what we will do with his car soon.

Sunday

Morning practice,

I went out late and got stuck in traffic most of the time.  Seemed like everyone else also posting pretty slow time.  I think it is mostly due to traffic since this group is combined with another race group.  Neil Vanni joined us for this race, but we lost 2 other competitors because of mechanical.

Since Neil is here and he is known to be fast when his car is sorted out.  And Brandon is playing his mind game telling me that he has more time to cut, I decided to made more subtle change to my car and set it at the limit. 

Qualifying,

I got into the track about 6 cars behind Brandon's Prelude and 2 cars behind Neil's Civic.  I quickly passed people trying to get behind Brandon to get a good qualifying.  I stayed behind him for 3 laps and try to draft behind him.   At the end of the 3rd lap I got a great tow and managed to get down to 2:02.869.  The draft also helped me to pass him and get a clear lap and managed to get it even further down to 2:02. 829.  The next lap I dropped to 2:03 and 2:04 so I decided to pit in.

Checking the times, I saw I grabbed the pole by a comfortable 1 second.  But only 1/100th of a second seperating Brandon and Neil.

Race,

To ensure I don't get a wheel spin, I programmed my K-pro launch controll.  This is a guessing process since none of us had tried it before.  I set the launch control at 3300rpm and plan to start on second gear again.

At the start,  I didn't spin the tires but the engine slightly bogged.   Brandon got a good launch again, but this time I managed to stay on his rear quarter panel.  He moved over trying to shut the door, but I managed to get inside and retain my position. 

Coming out of T2, I pushed the car a little too hard and dropped two wheels into the dirt.  Resulting me shot accross into the inside dirt.  Watched the whole field went by and rejoined at the very back.  I went slow for a few to ensure the car is allright and radioed in so my crew can visually check if there is anythign wrong with the car.  After getting assurance the car is ok, I started the chase.

Unfortunately, a couple of laps later, a car blew his engine right in front of me.  i couldn't get away in time and slid onto his spilled oil.  This time I got turned around and a little contact with another car who slid on the same oil.  It was only alight bump and we all continue on our way.  This put me further back.  After checking with my crew, we decided to just cruise to the finish and salvage any point we can get.

Overall, it wasn't a bad weekend, but it wasn't a great weekend either.  We get to score one win.  The small mistake I did coming out of T2 cost me the race.    

 

Kenji's notes: What a cruel bittersweet weekend

I called it early saturday morning that this weekend might not turn out so good, Chris and Charlie both heard me.  I was sharing the room with Chris on friday night and requested that we get a wake up call at 6:30... but instead, we get a banging on the door at around 6:45 which was Charlie just checking up on us.  Thanks Charlie!  I grab some of my stuff such as the video camera to take repack the Miata, but it turns out that I have a flat front left tire.  So now we have to move the stuff into the truck, I try to open the room door with my card key but it doesn't work. Retarded!  So I run to the lobby to get new keys.  I pile into Charlie's Integra and we get to the track by 8AM. 

I haven't been to Thunderhill in almost 2 years and the last few times I was there, it was in my old '87 MR2.  I think I used to run a 2:22 or something in that thing.  I went out for the practice session after checking up on the oil level and also tightening down the front control arm that appeared to have gotten loose again.  Good thing Chris checked that and tightened it up good.  First few laps I really take it easy as I just put on new rotors and am trying to scrub off the top layer of th metal. The brakes felt weird, on the 4th lap or so I almost flew off the track when the car pulled hard right on turn 10.  Luckily I caught it before the right tire fell off the track.  By the time I felt the brakes were so so, we had to come in.  I never really got into a groove... I think my best laptime was about 2:11.  Way below the pace of even some of the H4 cars.  I am still not sure if I'm getting the hang of this front wheel drive thing... all my experience has been in mid engined cars like the MR2 and NSX.  

I'm having issues with threshold braking in my car.   I also noticed and mentioned to the crew that the car feels a bit underpowered. Maybe its just in my head, Thunderhill has a lot more wider sweeping turns than that of Buttonwillow as well as the elevation changes.  During qualifying I didn't really improve that much, although I was trying a lot harder.  I was just missing a lot of the turn-in points and also using the wrong line in a lot of the corners.  I also only had driven the by-pass once or twice in the past.  I never really figured it out till this weekend when I followed Tom Lepper through it.  I kept a mental note for the race, but I still was going way too slow through that area.

This weekend was decided to do a standing start, I've never done one before... I was a bit excited but also a bit nervous about it.  I realized that my laptimes were not even close to the pace of the other H1 cars and more mingling with the H4 cars.  I didn't want to get in their way, but I also wanted to improve my racecraft... I decided to try hard, but stay out of the way of any H4 car on my ass.   As the time to grid up approached, I put on my HANS and helmet by our trailer and headed toward the grid.  It looked like many of the cars wree already gridded up but felt I still had time to do some last minute preparation.  I sat there tightening the harness and put on my gloves and waited for Chris or one my crew to show up... as I waited there, I saw the pit coordinator give the 2 minute signal... I started to panic as I still needed to have the  window net up as well turn on the camcorder and I was hoping to double check with Chris about if he had double checked the oil level as my car is burning oil at an abnormal rate.  Before I know it, which was WAY less than 2 minutes they are telling me to get out there on the track. 

At this point I'm quite frustrated, annoyed, and worried about the race in general.   As I circled the track to get my tires warmed up, I was wondering if they will black flag me since I didn't have the net up... I was also worried that I might get hurt in case of an accident due to the net.  I really should have got off the track at this point, but instead I got up to the grid and parked on the straightaway for the standing start.  Initially, the plan was to overtake the 2 H4 cars on the start then let them pass if I can't keep the pace, but due to the events I decide to just trail them through turn 1 and 2.  On the start, I keep my plan, but some of the H4 cars behind me must have gotten a better start than the H4 cars in front of me and go wide with me through 1 and 2.  Then through turn 2 a H4 Del Sol gets beside me on the inside and passes me on the outside entering turn 3, I attempt to keep a close distance through 3 so that I can get a run on him later, but instead I tap him on the rear quarter panel and cause him to go spinning.  Man, I suck.  Its an off-camber turn, but I definitely have no excuse for any contact whatsoever. I was hugging the inside as I that was the only line I knew at the time and he had cut in from the middle and closed on me... I should have backed off.   Mega rookie mistake. 

As I continued the race my laptimes were all over the place, I couldn't really stay focused.  Exiting turn 15 I recall that the car may have been making some funy noises.  About 8 or 9 laps in, as I was going down the straightaway the car makes a loud grunt and the tach dies to 0RPM... shifter gets thrown out of gear.  I immediately get off line and slow down into the dirt behind the flag tower.   I'm done.   I sit there for a while and notice some smoke coming out of the engine bay, I grab my fire extinguisher and prepare for the worst.   As I sat there, I notice accross the way on turn 3 that the Del Sol I had hit earlier also was parked off line.  I saw the driver get out and run to the flag tower.   I guess his race is done as well, I prayed that it wasn't due to my earlier contact.  The race finishes and I get towed back into the paddock.   I immediaately walk over to the del sol camp to apologize, he was quite upset but understanding and gave me some tips for such situation in the future.  I felt like an ass... but luckily for me, the damage on his car was minor and the reason for his retirement was also an engine problem.  My weekend is finished.  Bummer.  We still haven't fully diagnosed the severity of what happened to my motor, but we guess it is a thrown rod. 

So since my weekend is done, I decide to drown my sorrows by driving up to Chico and having some alcohol.  Chris joins me and we drive up to Chico around 9PM.  We hit the jackpot, its the last weekend before the end of school and all the college kids are out partying.  Sometime in the mid-80s, Chico State was ranked by Playboy as the #1 party school in the country.  The little town definitely didn't dissappoint, the quality of the wildlife was great.  We first started out in the Normal St. Bar where we prepped our night with a tall Red Bull & Vodka, then we went over to "The Bear," the famous bar right next to the school.  We then went to Lasales and danced with a few girls we met to 80s music.  At the end of the night, we needed to sober up so we headed to the Taqueria... man, a huge line for all the smashed frat boys and girls.  One girl even demanded I give her $2.  Instead I tell her to come sit with us and I'll share my nachos.  She agreed and went to town on my nachos... crazy college chicks.

Sunday, Chris and I get up late and head to the track a little hung over, but the tacos definitely did their job.  I got a call from work regarding some problems with one of my applications and decide I can't fix it over the phone.  I leave the track before Andrie's race. Another bummer.  Oh well.

Anyway, I learned a lot this weekend... I always knew racing is tough business, but this weekend was very discouraging and embarassing... not to mention expensive.  I may have to rest a bit after this one, but I'LL BE BACK... hopefully even stronger than before. :)

Note from the following week:

Well, we took  the head off to see what we would find.  Definitely at least one rod is broken.  Most likely it was stress related fatigue as I miss shifted a couple times a few races back.  There was also a bullet looking object impacted into one of the pistons.   Also, we found the air intake filter to be completely jammed up with junk.  We never bothered to look at it carefully before the race.  We have the ram intake style scoop, but we never imagined the filter to look so bad.  Another item we need to keep an eye on before every race.   Its possible the motor wasn't getting nearly the air it needed.