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Thunderhill 2010/10/18 (CFRA race)

Qualifying lap:

fastest lap


Race (3p):

Race video


Changes from Sears 2010/05/29 (TMR and Niello Ferrari/Maserati) and handling analysis:
- 1 click less low speed compression damping, so settings were 3/3/2 front and rear
- took the car to Roger Kraus for an alignment: so it's -3.1F, -3R, with 0 toe in front and <1/8" in back.  The previous alignment contained quite a bit of front toe-in and the caster on the right front is way off.  Waiting to fix that until I move some weight around and corner balance the car.
- Overall the car felt very good except for 2 issues:
- The rear seemed a bit too eager to come around in T14 and out of T3 into T4.  I think for Sears in November I'm going to dial in a bit more rear toe-in.
- The steering assist was inconsistent!  This has been a problem all along and I think one factor is ABS engagement.  It started out fine and was consistent for the warm up lap but then after an ABS moment the amount of steering assist dropped a lot (so the effort required went up).  Add this to the to-do list...
- High speed corners felt great: just a touch of understeer to give me confidence to go faster.
- I still have trouble in T1 finding the best point and steering angle to use for turn-in but that's a driver problem not a car problem.
- I finally built up to not braking for T8 but I was still lifting and coasting for a bit too long.  Next time I'm there I want to breath the throttle just a bit before T8 and cruise through at 100mph.  That should easily knock 0.25-0.5s off my time.  2:02s are coming!
- Also, I need to try 3rd over T5 - I'm bogging a little coming down the hill but it does allow me to go flat there and concentrate on setting up for a good T6, which is a crucial corner.
- T10: I think I'm over slowing here.
- T14: I know there's a way to brake and turn here such that I get through every time at 55mph.  Will take more practice.

Qualifying:
- Took 1.5 laps to get some free space but then I had plenty of clear track.  Through a combination of a good trip through T1, T2, and over the top of T9, I was able to knock my best time down to a 2:03.55.  A 100mph run through T8 would have netted a 2:03 flat.  
- Unfortunately, as you'll note in the video above, I missed my shift to 5th at lap's end and then let off before start finish so the AMB timing system didn't register that lap as my best.  Argh.  So my best ended up as a 2:04.2 which placed me in 8th - same spot I would have been with a 2:03.5.  In fact, 7th place was a 2:01.x.

Race:
- Put the car in 2nd gear for the start and that only gave me a few hundred revs which was sub optimal and contributed to Kirk in the 911 getting by.  Had I started in 3rd I might have had a shot to get past the vettes initially but they surely would have re-passed me quickly within a couple laps.
- I re-took 7th from Kirk in T6 on lap 2 and just started to get into a rhythm of 2'04s.  I was pulling away from the pack behind and probably would have finished in middle of nowhere.
- However, John Trefethen was immediately behind me and tearing up through the field after having started last (his quali time was a 1'59.x).
- Lap 4 I spun over the top of 9 (7:55 into the video above) and that ended my race.  If you look closely you can see the base of a orange pylon rolling away across the track and narrowly missing the John's M3 behind me.  The pylon itself was the cause of a loud noise toward the end of the spin and ripped away my bumper cover on the right side.  Minimal damage.
- I caught the initial slide pretty well but then waited much too long to return the wheel straight.