The weather was about as good as could be asked for, for a hot July 1-2 weekend this year. I had been dreading a very hot and sticky weekend, not because of how uncomfortable I would be, but because of the heat on the car. Turbos work better with cool air, brakes dissipate heat better, and the radiator is more efficient. Fortunately, it was not very humid and was in the low 70Fs.
The track was re-surfaced since the last time I had been on it, so all of the little reference marks and cracks that one learns were gone. The first sessions were generally refresher to get used to the track again, and to learn the changes from last time.
There were two other MR2s at the track, a white '91 turbo from Ohio, and an emerald NA. The white MR2 was in my same run group. This was his first session at Road America, but he had run at Mid Ohio before. Whether because it was his first time at Road America, the Yokohama RS tires he had on, or just that he didn't push as much, I had little trouble in catching or driving away from him.
Things were smooth all day, but I did notice that much of the time, I was not getting full boost from the turbo. The boost gage went up just nearly to the last mark on the dial, but normally if I'm standing on the gas, it buries itself off the top. The final session was cur short due to a flagging error, but otherwise it was a fine day (apart from the nagging boost problem).
It was not nearly as well for one father and son who had come out, though. The son was driving and suffered a very bad mental lapse. He passed a slower car after the kink, going along Kettle Bottoms. For whatever reason, perhaps he was upset about being held up (although that was the first passing zone to pass the other car), or what, he stood on the gas and was on the right side of the track coming up to turn 12 (Canada Corner). Suddenly, he realized that he was at the turn, and decided to yank the wheel to try to make the turn. Well, he didn't. Due to heavy braking at the apex and trying to get the car to turn, it went off sideways with the back end coming around. It slid through the gravel trap, over two tire walls, over the armco, and hit a tree outside of the race course, coming down on the roof. Thankfully, the driver and instructor only suffered minor cuts from the broken glass. The car was totaled, though. Although a lot of this accident was caused by several major mistakes by the driver, it is still a very sobering reminder of what can happen when even minor things go wrong.
Sunday continued the good weather, although it was a little warmer. Near the end of the first session, I overcooked corner five and had to give up the corner and exit on the access road. Apparently, the brake fluid had boiled a little, since I had started braking at the usual brake marker (just a tick after 2). The brakes weren't totally gone, but were a little spongy, so I finished the session cautiously. After the session ended, I bled the brakes and they weren't a problem for the rest of the day.
On the second session, I was running with a 944 turbo. He was behind me at the start of the session, and slowly closed in. After a couple of laps, he was close enough for me to let him pass. Then, we continued to run together for several clean laps without any other traffic. It was interesting to see where each car was faster. We seemed nearly even on the straightaways, but he was faster on some corners and I was faster on others.
After the second session, I headed out of the track to fill up, since I was down below 1/2 tank. During the third session, my boost problem seemed to be gone! I had filled up at a UNOCAL 76 near the hotel both mornings, and re-filled at a Mobil nearer to the track. The UNOCAL had one of those pumps with a single nozzle, and I trust them even less now. I suspect that I wasn't really getting the proper grade of gas out of the pump. When this caused some knock, the computer was retarding the advance and bleeding the boost control. I haven't had any problem with the boost since, so all I can conclude was that I had some bad gas. I'll never stop at that UNOCAL station again!
Anyhow, now with full boost, during the third session, I came upon the 944 again, only this time I caught and passed him. We were still pretty closely matched, though, and we had a couple of clear laps together again.
Since most of the people I came with were in the same run group that I was in, I didn't have any lap times at the track. I was able to get some times off of the in-car camera, though. It turns out that most of the laps were just over three minutes, and the fastest was 3:00.37. Last year I was at 2:58.65, so I was a little faster then. I don't know that it's fair to blame it on bad gas, or brakes, or what. The new pavement seemed to be faster, and the people I was with both were turning laps faster than last year. Oh well, next year!
Here's a couple of pictures from this year. This is between turns 3 and 4 with the 944 ahead of me. This is a closer shot of my car around turn 4, which is really just a bend in the straightaway.
marcus hall '94 MR2T - Solar Yellow!
