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Club
Racing | SJ_SCCA
| Pete's
Photos and Videos | VIRVirginia International Raceway - W2W in an MR2 Article by: Peter Doane (Article in AtSpeed, SJ's newsletter) Photos by: Jim Sykes - Jim's photo album
 I elected to spend what little there was of my time between these 2 events prepping the racecar. The motor home went into the shop for some "professional" maintenance and repairs prior to the long drive down to VIR. When we went to check out how old the coach batteries were, (prior to ordering new ones) we found quite a storehouse of squirrel nuts in the battery box. The trip to VIR was pleasantly uneventful and the weather (as it turned out to be all weekend) was gorgeous.
Thursday 6 May: There were five practice sessions scheduled for the day. Other than being grouped with the very large and fast cars (Trans Ams, Corvettes, Porsches, BMWs, and even a Grand Am prototype) that almost required more attention to my mirrors than the track, things went very well. Because the brake pads had been used for 3 races before this, I started to get nervous about them lasting the entire test day and a double race weekend. I checked out the store at the track, but didn't expect to find what I needed because they sometimes carry more gifts/apparel than parts. Amazingly though, they not only carried the brand of race pads I use, but had the right version for my car. I skipped the 4th session to change out the pads, but found so much material still left that I decided to wait until after the qualifying sessions on Fri to do it.
Friday 7 May: The first qualifying session in the morning was for the Saturday race. My class (ITA) was grouped with the faster ITS cars and a region-specific class called IT-7 for RX-7s only. To make things even more complex, the local series (SARRC) cars were listed separately from the/our visiting series (MARRS) because points would be awarded according to your finish within your series. Everyone got an "M" or "S" sticker that went on the back of your for easy identification. They clocked my best lap time as a 2:26.4. My records indicated that was 0.4 sec faster than my best lap time from the last/only other time I had driven here before in the fall of 2000. That put in me in 26th place overall (a total of 47 cars were listed), and 7th out of the MARRS ITA cars. There was only one SARRC ITA car that was faster and four IT-7s ahead of me. The tires were starting to get a little heat cycled/worn out (I even spun once) so Dawn's watch only clocked a best PM time (for the Sun race) at a 2:28, but apparently my transponder quit after only 2 laps. Timing and Scoring wasn't using any back-up system, so they gridded me almost dead last according to the 2:38 lap time they did get. I changed the front brake pads (planning to use the short Sat morning qualifying session to bed them in) and did another quick nut and bolt check. Two of the recently dismounted 14 X 6 tires and a brand new pair of rear tires were mounted onto the first set of 14 X 7 rims (replacing the now worn out tires). I planned to run the second set of 14 X 7s for the rest of the weekend. There was nothing apparently wrong with the transponder that had screwed up my Sun starting position so badly, so all I did was tape down the wire in the hope that if it didn't jiggle so much, the connection would remain constant.
 While I certainly don't mind sharing the track with ITS cars, I do mind being so far back at the start. I had a really good start timed, but then thought I saw the starter waving something that looked like the checkered flag and backed off a bit in confusion. By the time I did see the waving green flag and got back on the gas, I had already lost enoug momentum to give up 2 positions in the run to Corner #1. I did manage to keep my friend Jerry (in an MARRS ITA RX-7) behind me. All of a sudden (coming out of the first corner) the white 2nd generation ITS RX-7 just ahead braked hard very suddenly and a BMW appeared out of the confusion pointed the wrong way and was stopped dead. I slammed on my brakes and steered for the middle ground and somehow got thru without even so much as a scrape down the side of my car. http://www.thunderpawracing.com/pdoane/May04clip4.WMV I still don't know how. The downside was that Jerry got a run on me and went by going into Corner #3. A green IT-7 also got by me and took Jerry into the fourth corner/Left Hook. During the next/second lap, I tried taking Jerry down the inside into the first corner. After running side-by-side for a bit he pulled ahead again. We both sailed by a car pulling back onto the track just before Oak Tree corner (that leads onto the very long back straight). That gave me a little bit of a run on Jerry coming out of Oak Tree, but the momentum "stalled" when I pulled out of his slipstream to pass. We both passed an ITS RX-7 on the back straight. A MARRS ITA Honda Civic Si got a run on me down the front straight at the start of Lap 3, but I took the inside at corner 1 (feinting a pass on Jerry) and held the Honda off. The Honda and two ITS cars sailed by me on the back straight later that same lap. Another ITS car went by me on the front straight at the start of Lap 4. Once all the ITS cars got by all of us slower cars, it was Jerry/the Honda/Me/red&white RX-7 running all in a row. The Honda took Jerry into Corner #4/Left Hook and that slowed him down enough for me to get a run thru the Climbing Esses, but I couldn't get by because I caught him too soon coming out of Corner 10/South Bend and backed off. The red&white RX-7 drafted by me, and then Jerry, down the back straight and I used that disruption to tuck inside Jerry at the top of Roller Coaster/Corner #14. We were side-by-side all the way thru until Jerry tucked in behind me at Corner #16. Jerry tried to retaliate down the front straight, but the racing line wanders left-right-left enough that I could time my moves to keep him behind me. Another friend (John in an RX-3) passed Jerry into the first corner. The next time around (Lap 6) he did the same to me. A purple CRX tried to tuck inside me going into the Climbing Esses, but I shut the door on him and took them well enough to pass John back coming out of Corner #10/South Bend. He just waited until the back straight and passed me back again though. The purple CRX tried to pass me on the outside of Corner #1 at the start of the next lap. When that didn't work, he switched to the other side later and made it stick/got by. I almost got him back when he tried to pass John going up the hill to Oak Tree. The rest of the race was uneventful, until Lap 9 when I came across a tailpipe lying right on the line over the last crest in the Climbing Esses. Being flat out in fourth gear as you crest a small hill doesn't leave time/traction to make any evasive maneuvers, so I just went over it. I backed off a bit into the next corner because I didn't know if I was leaking coolant onto my own tires or if one/several of my tires were quickly going flat. Jerry used that moment of hesitation to pass me. http://www.thunderpawracing.com/pdoane/May04clip5.WMV I finished 32nd overall and 12th in MARRS ITA.  Damage: The front air dam survived the impact with the exhaust pipe very well. I little tugging here and there on the lower left corner straightened it out just fine. My choice of aluminum for that item has proven to be very useful. Unfortunately the exhaust pipe I ran over (from a Miata, I found out later) grabbed the flange on the back end of my headers and bent it (and one of the bolts/springs clamping it to my exhaust pipe) severely. The flange was easily bent back into place and the bolt replaced. There was also some ticking in the exhaust note that told me the headers had a crack/leak somewhere. Turns out the headers had been bent/moved backwards from the impact. Instead of just being close to the starter, the one downpipe was touching it. I pulled the headers off, hoping to find a crack that could be welded, but only found a very slight bend in the thick uni-flange (one for all four cylinders) used to seal them to the head. Cylinder #3 was blowing by badly and #4 had a bit of a leak. Attempts to find some steel shim stock to close those two gaps were fruitless, but some folks spoke of having good results using high temp RTV/gasket material. Since the highest rated one was supposedly only good up to 650 degrees F, I was skeptical. With a lot of cleaning/degreasing and a series of tightening and RTV curing steps (that ended on Sun Morning) it did seal up. The question was whether it would survive the "heat" of battle in Sunday's race. When I went to torque all the wheels Sun morning, I found that one of the left front (the most heavily loaded corner at this track) studs had broken off. Of course that is the one corner that I don't have a spare spindle/hub/bearing assembly for and attempts to press the remains out with a C-clamp were fruitless. The folks next door were running an ITS BMW and an IT-7. They were very grateful when I pointed the BMW by on Fri and that lap earned him the pole for Sat's race (which he won). I had also lent them my welder to repair their friend's strut tube with, so they jumped in and showed me the "brute force" method of removing wheel studs in the field with a big hammer and aluminum punch. I was a bit fearful for the well being of the wheel bearing/ball joint/tie rod and memories of my previous hub axle failures danced in my head, but running with only 3 studs was more disconcerting. Inserting the new stud was accomplished with the "draw it in with wheel nuts and washers" method.
 http://www.thunderpawracing.com/pdoane/May04clip1.WMV Two ITS cars passed me over the next lap and a half. I caught up to the next car (a 240SX) in Corner #3 and dutifully followed it through the Climbing Esses. He hesitated a moment when we both passed an ailing ITS Integra, so I tried/failed to take him up the hill to Oak Tree. http://www.thunderpawracing.com/pdoane/May04clip2.WMV That gave an IT-7 the chance to pass me at the end of the back straight, but I got him back again into Turn #1 at the beginning of Lap 5. When the 240SX driver saw that he was holding me up through the Climbing Esses that same lap, he pointed me by into Oak Tree/Corner #12. On Lap 8, a yellow CRX passed me into the first turn. We both caught up to Jerry in the next couple of turns, but Jerry slowed/pointed us both by (later I learned that he had lost 3rd gear). Coming out of the first corner on the next lap, the CRX and I find a MARRS ITA Miata just scrambling back onto the track after an encounter with Jerry's son, AJ (in another RX-7). I passed the Miata. The CRX started dicing with AJ. The Miata passed me back in the second corner on the next lap/Lap 10/last lap (after running side-by-side thru Corner #1) and pulled ahead of me a bit. That gap was very useful in giving me time to decide which side to pass on when the Miata spun going into Turn 10/South Bend. The previously ailing ITS Integra used that moment of hesitation (and failure to grab a lower gear soon enough) on my part to pass me coming out of that corner. http://www.thunderpawracing.com/pdoane/May04clip3.WMV I finished 32nd overall (again) and 8th in MARRS ITA. Be sure to check out: Pete's Photos and Videos... You've Got To See the Videos! __________________________________________________________________ Club Racing | SJ_SCCA | Pete's Photos and Videos | VIR __________________________________________________________________ |
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