First tracknight in months!

So last Tuesday saw us finally back on track after 4 months of COVID lockdowns and what a night we had! A very very booked out night meant there was a lot of traffic but it was great to see so many familiar faces again. We shared a garage with Boz from Trackschool and had Julian from Prestige Tyre & Auto next door, as well as almost a dozen 86/BRZ’s up and down pit lane.

I’ve made quite a few changes to the car since the last time we were out on track, PARTICULARLY since the last time we were on SMSP GP circuit back in March but I'll be posting a full feature of how the car currently sits shortly. 

First session felt awesome. I unearthed some teething problems which I half expected like the front tyres hitting the guards after the Hardrace front LCA Install but the first full fat lap of the session actually ended up being the fastest of the night coming home with a 1:51.4 even with some mistakes at T5 and being about 10kmh on mid corner speed through T1. The E85 tune from PVS handed us about 10kmh down the straight, the reference lap set by our mate Tim Brook shows that the tune has actually given us 16kmh when the exit coming onto the straight is tidier.

So how does this compare to the first time we were out here? Well the car starts to feel pretty damn quick once you get up in the gears with the E85 tune. Other than that we’re on the same tyres but the suspension and brake package has changed a bit. We’re now on Ohlins DFV coilovers, hardrace front LCA and AP Racing brakes front and rear. You can read more about those changes here. What does that translate to? About 12kmh down the straight and a decent bit of pace between each corner. Unfortunately due to not being totally comfortable back in the car we’re not really reaping the rewards of the chassis updates just yet.

You’ll have to forgive me, I can’t find the data from my previous PB of a 1:53.4 so here is some heat from a more recent SMSP night on the extended circuit. You can see that even though I was driving poorly last week and the mid corner was fairly slow, the E85 tune gives us a little more power and torque to lean on so we’re still getting between corners. I can’t wait to get back out there and combine some better driving with the updates we’ve made to the car to dip into the 1:40’s!

I’ve got a couple of things to sort now before our first trip back out to Wakefield Park next weekend. Towards the end of the night I started getting a CEL for cylinder 4 coil pack, thankfully i’ve got some spares in the shed so i’ll swap that out. As you can maybe hear in the in-car videos i’ve got some pretty bad scrubbing in the front end. I thought it just the shoulder of the tyre hitting the outer guard (which it is) but after having a closer look it would appear the chassis rail was sitting on the tyre coming through T1. Some height adjustment is needed!

I’ll also do the usual checks leading into next weekend. Bleed the brakes, check all fluids and run a spanner over suspension components. Bloody hell i’m looking forward to getting back out to Wakefield and hopefully dropping into the 1:08’s. Fingers crossed.

Below is a new style of video I decided to try at the last track night. Over the lockdown I found myself watching a heap of videos of full trackday sessions whether that be just in the background whilst doing work or watching intently, hankering to get back on track so I thought i’d try one. I would love to hear your thoughts on this kind of video going forwards!