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build diary August 20, 2006: The Flyin' Miata Open House is over. Two years ago at the Open House, a driver named John Hunter with a turbo Miata set the fastest time of the day, 2.3 seconds ahead of anyone else and three seconds ahead of the Seven. It was a heck of a performance. He missed last year, but he was back this year and there had been a certain amount of smack talk. The difference? Two years of work on my part. Since we'd decided to run the track backwards, I didn't really have much of a home field advantage. My 10 laps or so in the reverse direction weren't much when I was up against a good autocross competitor. The first time out, I couldn't get the back of the car to stick. It was walking all over the place under power. Very exciting for the photographers, but not a fast way around. I pulled a 1:04.260, John came in at 1:05.542. The karters say the track is 1 second slower in this direction. The next session, John dropped a second and came in at 1:04.511. Thankfully, I managed almost the same improvement and clocked 1:03.516. That's only 2 tenths off my record in the normal direction, so maybe it's not any slower after all. I did have a bit of a secret weapon, though. There was a lineup of people waiting for rides, so I was out with other groups with a passenger fairly often. The handling of the car is quite different with a passenger as you might expect, but it did let me spend a bit more time playing with the line in a couple of corners - particularly the fun off camber, decreasing radius, downhill "straight" with the heavy braking zone at the end. It's a real gut check every time. After one passenger ride, I decided my tires were making too much noise. This is usually a sign of low pressure on these tires, so I checked them out. Their hot temperatures were similar to what I usually set cold! Now, this is a fairly fundamental piece of setup and not something I should have been neglecting. The car has been so bulletproof recently that I haven't even bothered to check them for some time. I stuffed another 7 psi or so into the tires to see what would happen, and went out with the clocks running. Much better. Session three caused a certain amount of excitement, as I came in with a 1:03.002. The timer came out to let me know in person - so close to a 1:02! And also a new track record regardless of direction. I'd been experiencing fuel starvation when pulling out of hard left turns so that was hurting me somewhat. John pulled off another half second, dropping to 1:04.095. There wasn't any secret to our very friendly contest either, with everyone in the pits checking times when we came in. In the next session with a full tank of gas, a poor setup on the entrance to the critical back section of the track was leading to much oversteer and a loss of entry speed. The times got about a half second slower. While running with passengers, I once pulled out on the track in front of a 270 hp Miata that was halfway down the straight. The Seven was able to squirt away quickly enough that he didn't get slowed down. In fact, he was able to take a second off his time because he was motivated to give chase! A couple of other memorable moments occurred when I ran up behind one of my friends. First Don in his S2000 got drafted around the track, then later I latched on to the same WRX I'd been harassing a few weeks back. I was on a cool-down lap, he was on one of his flying timed laps - but that didn't stop me from taking a good look at his back bumper for most of a lap. It's fun running on the track with these guys, as they enjoy this sort of thing as much as I do and we trust each other enough to do it. Back to the competition. On the final session of the day - at least, the final session when I was running solo - I concentrated on my entry to the back. I came in slower and was very careful to keep the back end planted on acceleration. My reward? 1:02.471. A new track record and one that floored everyone including myself. The car (and the driver) isn't perfect and there's more room left, but it was enough to make John cry uncle. He ended with a 1:03.713, a spectacular time when you consider the next-fastest car was again over two seconds behind. It was a very fun race. The next morning, I was sore from all the driving. That's a good sore. entry 1283 of 1439 |