Estoril Experience Day 2017-02-12 - The 3rd Track Day

And there we went! Raining a lot when I left the garage waiting for the tow truck. Funny to see the rain evaporating when it touched the exhaust pipe. The trip to the track was uneventful, the credentials office almost empty and, after unloading, off I went for the briefing (without which I wouldn't be allowed on track). As we got to the track the rain stopped. And that was wonderful!

As before, had RaceChrono Pro running on the phone to capture speed and GPS positioning and the SJ4000 cam on my rollbar. At home I then copied the videos to the phone, tried to synch them with the data and produced the videos below.

1st leg - 9h00 to 9h20 a.m.
The track was very wet. I was very afraid of having an accident and even more of having someone crash into me. It was my first time driving a rear-wheel drive car on a wet surface. Drove very carefully and let everyone pass me. Very slow times. Did 4 laps, being the fastest 3:49:32 and getting to 133,8Km/h as top speed. Still had one trip outside the track and a small slide (fortunately was going slow).

Noticed that the electrical gremlins continue. So, I still can't see the gear I'm on, it jumps as crazy. Also, forgot to move the dash from miles to kilometers so was getting "odd" speed readings.

Don't watch the video, it's boring :)

Before 2nd leg went around with friends and gave a small drive to a young boy, son of one of them.

2nd leg - 11h30 to 11h50 a.m.
Track was getting dry, the weather continued to be good and I got a bit more confident. As that happens I accelerate more and notice that the car is not going over around 150km/h. Is starts to stutter and will not go further. This happens as it reaches higher revs, but not yet in the red. I think it happened on all gears but on the lower ones I would up-shift and "problem solved" but nothing I could do in 6th...

Anyway, still afraid, still letting everyone pass. Don't want to ruin anyone's fun and, specially, don't want anyone crashing on me! 5 laps with a best time of 3:12:73 and top speed of 151,7Km/h.

A bit after the 2nd leg my wife, kids and mother-in-law arrived to have lunch with me. After that I gave a drive to each one of the kids.

They staid to see my 3rd leg.

3rd leg - 14h20 to 14h40
Well... As I was about to start I noticed the SJ4000 battery was out of juice. Even with wi-fi turned off, the battery only lasts for 1h. So I left it charging from a USB powerbank and went on track without video. As the family was watching, I have a fly-by on the straight.

I did 3 laps before the session was red-flagged due to a car that got trapped and broke an upright on a sand trap. Best lap was 3:11:35 and max speed was 151,1Km/h.

4th leg - 16h50 to 17h10
Last leg and I felt a lot more confident. Maybe it was because if something broke I wouldn't lose other legs. Maybe it was because of what I had already driven. Although the car was stuck around 150km/h, I was happier.

5 laps with a best time of 2:55:40 and max speed of 155,2Km/h. Even on the best lap I got out of correct trajectory to let others pass.

Aftermatch
Got rain on the way home. Dried the car and disconnected the battery. I have work to do on it. Try to see about the electrical gremlins: besides the gears, my indicators are not working (but the emergency 4-blinking does!). The limit at 150Km/h may be because the fuel I used was bought in the UK in May 2015... Almost 2 years old! Probably also have the carbs a bit clogged with dirt. So I need to drain whatever is left of fuel on the tank (I added 10L of 95 octane fuel) and clean the carbs. I was told to use always 98 octane not only for performance but also because it doesn't decay, so no carbs issues... So, these two things are my objectives to achieve before the next track day. Specially the carbs cleaning.

Talking of next track day... Two days after the track day, on Tuesday, they opened up the enrolment for the next one, on the 8th April. I signed up on Friday for a full-day. They already had some half-day options full!

So... :) Objective:

Changes Done For IVA

I should have written this post earlier as now my memory became a bit fuzzy. But as a bullet list, here is what I can recall was done on the car to ensure it would pass IVA.

My mistakes:

• Tighten correctly the front hub bolts: the lower ones were not fully tight. Seems I may have been luck on the track;
• Fix a bad electrical connection that could explain why my battery was not charging properly;
• Fix the issue with the Digidash being unable to properly state the gear the engine was in: it was a bad earth;
• Tighten and tidy wiring inside the engine bay and on the rear;
• Make a proper aluminium cover for the hole I opened on the tunnel wall near the peddles.

Other Things:

• Fix the rear light that would not turn on (turns out it was a wire disconnected on the loom);
• Add an immobiliser (legal requirement);
• Add a rear light and a connection to the reverse-box to light it up when reverse is engaged (new legal requirement);
• Add the brake fluid reservoir lids with warning switches and wire them to the loom;
• Move horn from steering wheel to dash to not have wires on the driving column;
• Add labels to all indicators and knobs on the panel and put Digidash in "Road Mode";
• The vacuum pipes on the engine block and making the mixture poor when idle;
• Remove the driver seat's slider (to avoid issues with seat height against seat belts' hooking height):
• Tank tape on tunnel top and on the side near the exhaust, to hide the edges of the aluminium panels (on the tunnel is part of my "mods list" to make a "fake leather interior" that will cover this);
• Add gaiters to the reverse box and gear knobs;
• Remove the extinguisher and bracket from the top of the tunnel to avoid "projections";
• Scuff the airbox to make it rounder because of projections;
• Add covers to exposed bolts (specially on the front hubs and lights) because of projections;
• Add some height between chassis and lights to avoid the wheel arches bumping the lights;

All in all, I didn't make many mistakes. But I also did not have the car ready for IVA without going through Steve first...

Last Touches for the Track Day

Objective:

The last touches were done. Bought some gas on a jerrycan and filled the tank. Put back the "gopro" (actually SJ4000) fittings on the rollbar so that I can film this.

Then cut two arrows from pieces of paper and taped them on the car pointing to the tow hooks on the front and rear. It was a suggestion from the organisation that made all sense!

Finally, used my air pump to fill in the tires. I think the "correct" pressure, the one I used 2 years ago, was 1,7bar. I filled them all to that pressure and then left the battery to charge back.

On the non-technical side of things, I went around looking for track-day insurance. Last track day of 2016 there was a collision between 2 participants. I always think it will not happen to me as I don't fight overtakes, but you never know... Turns out there is an insurance company that resells from an English broker for sports teams and track days. Unfortunately this being the start of the sports seasons both here and in the UK has them overloaded with quotes. I'm waiting for a reply for over 3 weeks. Lets see if I can still get an insurance on time. Anyway, and on this topic, the guy explained that insurance covers only damages to the owner's car. Each one should have their own insurance: there are no "guilty parties" on a track and I'm not liable for damage to other cars (but I may be for damage to the track).
I've also scheduled the tow truck in advance. So, my first outing on the track is at 9h00, the tow picks me up at 7h00, enough time to get there (about one hour) and still watch the driver's briefing.

I just hope it doesn't rain. Forecast has been changing and the latest one says it will rain...