Aus Time Attack 2022
Aus Time Attack 2022 was certainly a bit of a frustrating event for me. I went into the event with a goal in mind and couldn’t quite achieve it. It was a good day of learning nonetheless.
With the recent news of court ruling for Wakefield Park I was worried it may be the last chance we get to have a run down there for a little while. With that I opted to move upto open class and try a faster tire for the first time - the Zestino 07S.
The very first issue of the day reered it’s head in the first session which was just how long it took to get the tyres to come upto operating temp. I was only able to run a 1:08.3 on the very last lap of the first session as the tyre started to feel like it came on after 5 laps. I suspect this may be a tyre designed for a heavier car, that combined with a very cool ambient and track temps meant it took a while to get the tyres to operating temperature.
As the tyres came up to temp it became apparent that an ABS issue I’ve had in the past on the 07RS didn’t just magically fix itself by putting the faster tyre on. We solved this by putting the old spare DS1.11’s back in - more on this soon.
Over the course of the day we worked with Tyler to make some chassis changes to best work around the tyre we were on to try and provide a car that was somewhat easier to drive at the limit. We definitely developed the chassis throughout the day with some awesome pace in sectors but I really struggled to string it all together.
Frustratingly the fastest time of the day was in the second session with the overly aggressive pad and before we worked out some chassis changes. This wasn’t because this is when the car was at it’s fastest, it’s because of the number one issue I had with the tyres which was feedback. There’s absolutely no denying the 07S is a fast tyre but I really struggled driving the tyre at it’s limit. As you can see by the video comparisons below the 07S and 07RS actually net the same laptime, however the car is much looser on the RS but I have the feedback and response from the tyre to be able to drive it like that.
The last session of the day resulted in me parking the #project86 up in the sandtrap at T2. Coming into the kink at 190kmh I went for the brakes at my normal marker but nobody was home. I’ve had a pedal go long before but to have zero resistance against the pedal was something i’ve never felt on the move before.
Low pads and rotors combined with far too much heat and the pistons punched through the backing plate of the pad and dislodged from the caliper, losing a whole lot of pressure in the braking system. Not at all a fault of the brakes, it was purely a fault of my own for pushing brakes with such low friction material left. Thankfully I was lucky enough to be garaged next to the V-Sport crew who got us back on the road to drive home. I took the brakes in for a complete overhaul last week so they’re good as new which is the greatest example of spending the money on locally serviceable components. - full story on that shortly!
Although the laptimes weren’t where we wanted them we stacked another 40 laps on the turbo setup proving just how reliable this little package is. The SME turbo kit itself has been absolutely faultless. I haven’t turned a spanner under the engine bay since it was fitted (except to empty the catchcan) which is a testament to the quality of the turbo kit and the high standard of workmanship by the PVS team. The car also hasn’t had a single fault with the driveline since the turbo kit was fitted thanks to the tune from Tyler at PVS.
Overall there’s alot we have taken away from the weekend. Thankfully we’ve scored a booking at a Trackschool Trackday to hopefully have another crack but more importantly it’ll also be the first run in our new project car - the i30N!
