- Going to the Track
- 1st Leg
- 2nd Leg
- 3rd Leg
- 4th Leg
- Conclusion and Next Steps
Going to the Track
A bit before 7a.m. the tow truck arrived. The car was quickly loaded and we headed to a gas station.
Estoril's circuit has the following disposition:
The 1st Leg
I setup RaceChrono Pro on my mobile phone to save video while registering data. As I approached the entrance to the track (for those without a box), I noticed that I placed the phone on the stand in a way that covered the camera lens! Had no time to change that so I just took the phone out and placed it in my jacket's pocket.As I do my first lap, I'm laughing and cheering inside my helmet. My car works! Four and a half years and it works! It has many quirks I'll need to fix, but it goes, it accelerates quickly and it brakes without drifting to a side! I was really happy! As I was doing the last corner before the main straight, I pressed the throttle a bit too early, the inside was still wet and the car started to slide. I turned the wheel, it shifted into going sideways on his other side. Put my foot on the brakes, the car spun and I ended up trapped in the sand. Yellow flags and a pick-up had to pull me back into the track. Lost a lap there. Nice way to start!
The rest of the 20 minutes went without issues. I was afraid to push the car too much, let everyone that approached pass me and just tried to understand the car, the gearbox and see if I noticed any problems. Did four laps, to a total of 21Km. The best time was 3m58s66.
When I left the track and was parking behind the boxes I saw a friend that also assembled an Aries and parked next to him. He was with another friend on a BMW M3. My friend's car was being used as a warehouse for tools and gas so I fetched my stuff from the box and left it there.
The 2nd Leg
Between legs spent some time looking for any bolts that needed tightening on the wheels, suspension and transmission. Amazingly, it was all perfect! I never expected it to be so resistant to the 1st track day. Also, looking under the car showed no spills of any type! Placed the mobile phone on the stand correctly and was ready to return to the track and have fun. I was talking with my friends when I look back to the car and the mobile phone was not there. I can't believe it (thinking I had been robbed). But no... Spent thousands on a kit car and saved on a chinese stand for the phone that fell with the phone's weight... The stand broke, the phone was well. Forgot about that and made my peace with the fact that this track day would have no inside footage.On the straight it felt I could not shift into 6th gear because the engine sounded like asking for another gear but I found none. The Digidash is incorrectly configured because it displayed up to 20.000rpm when the engine's limit is around 11.500rpm... And it would erratically display some gear numbers that were not real and would even change just by braking or accelerating hard. The speed readings were almost equal to the GPS from the phone. I need to address the Digidash config...
The 2nd leg ended up being great. Had a bit more confidence and accelerated more. Made 5 laps to a total of 25Km. The best lap took 3m27s25. Had lunch, got photos taken with the car and didn't touch it in preparation for the 3rd leg. The only things that were not good were the main beam switch that fell off, some bolts from the tunnel panel and the headlights that were coming a bit lose. The car also had lots of sand, gravel and rubber on the floor, thrown by passing cars.
The 3rd Leg
Faster, more fun, more concern on trajectories. Still worried with other cars and always getting out of the way. I could not compete with them. Specially on the straight. Besides the issue with the gear, I also felt the car shake and my helmet seemed to want to jump and take my head with it.
On the parking, I tightened a couple of bolts on the tunnel, one of the bolts that hold the gear stick and had my friend help me fill in one front tire that was losing pressure.
The 4th Leg
This last leg went as the previous ones, without any major issues and me adapting to the car. Lost oil pressure and temperature readings due to the earth wire disconnecting from where it attached to the chassis.
Made another 5 laps to a total of 26Km with the best lap clocked at 3m11s86. The day ended with the car looking dirty but great!
Conclusion and Next Steps
The car made 100Km, spent around 14L of fuel. The top speed was 150Km/h on the main straight and the best lap was 3m11s86. As a comparison, a Citroen Saxo from the Saxo Cup practicing there made 2m20s and my friend, with a similar car on track tires, had his best lap clocked at 2m05s. I still have a long way to go!Next steps are to take the car to a garage to align the wheels. Configure the Digidash properly. Re-tighten bolts. Get a good spring for the throttle peddle. Buy a proper action camera to attach to the roll bar. Get new gloves (mine were too hard, besides feeling odd to hold the wheel, had my knuckles all scratched and bleeding).
I don't have much time! Next track day is on the 28th March!
EDIT: The best picture taken:
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