weekend report from NASA-SE at Road Atlanta

kbrew8991 · 03-17-2008, 04:05 PM

Friday:
spent the day bouncing between driving my friend's SpecE30 race car and the classroom for Competition School, where you learn how to really race and get licensed to do so. Rained pretty much all day, so it was interesting doing the various driving drills (side by side, passing, etc) in the rain in an unfamiliar car

passed with flying colors, and got to drive about 40 mins in the car at the end of the 3hr enduro (can owner did the first part of the race) in still wet but starting to dry conditions. Had the best lap between the two of us (though I had better track conditions the car had more fuel starvation issues) at a 1:53.664

Saturday:
Sat was very very interesting, much worse weather than Fri (more rain, and tornado warnings that stopped on-track action 3 separate times to allow workers to take cover). Ran some whopping 2:00+ laps it was so wet, couldn't get any cornering grip/speed and was forced to rely on what little horsepower the stock 5SFE makes to get down the straightaways since I was carrying in some places as much as 30mph less. Best time of the day was a mere 2:01.049 in the last session that was slightly dryer, but still had to take funky lines to avoid puddles, especially in the middle of the treacherous turn 12. My friend had the car tied up for racing that day, so I was unable to get in my first real race. I did win TTF, and was 22 of 34 overall, I guess rain is somewhat of an equalizer afterall

Sunday:
Sunday was sunny, dry, and just the right temperature. Ran much better (1:52.585) in the MR2 in Time Trials, my personal best time in the car by a few tenths which won by 0.219 in TTF. Also managed to get the car for the SpecE30 race which was very very interesting.

The race was my first time in the car in the dry, and started with a standing start on the front stretch (done just like they start F1 races).

pure rookies have to start in the back by rule, so I was lined up 21st out of 21 cars in the class. I took it easy on the launch and run to T1 to make sure I had room to avoid any mishaps, and really started racing after T1. Coming up to T5 there was a spin just on the other side that cleared as I was coming through, the yellow flag that was displayed was dropped meaning it is now ok to resume passing... but alot of drivers ahead of me were still checked up and going through single file, so I jumped on that opportunity and snagged a couple spots before T6. I also managed to make a couple passes on lap 1 through T12 for a grand total of 5-6 spots gained very cleanly on the very first lap, very first start, taking it easy until after T1, and the very first time in the car in the dry. Further worked up the field through the race and finished 9th

best lap was a 1:49.910, a bit off the pace of the front runners due to a bit of setup time and couple of tiny car prep details

kbrew8991 · 03-18-2008, 12:50 AM

here is a video from the guy who started ~8th or so, pretty damn good job of dodging that spinning car

NASA-RA SpecE30 First Lap Mar 16 2008

Gairloch · 03-18-2008, 03:40 AM

Sounds like an amazing weekend, Ken! You going to be getting more seat time in that spec E30?

Sylvan · 03-18-2008, 04:34 AM

Sounds like a lot of fun! Are the spec E30s fairly inexpensive to build?

Gairloch · 03-18-2008, 04:54 AM

As far as race cars go they are one of the more accessible options. I bet it's about the same as a spec miata if not a little less.

Sylvan · 03-18-2008, 09:57 AM

Yea I remember reading an article about the spec E30 in an old issue of GRM. I think they picked up the car for a couple of grand and then stripped it out. Looked like fun.

kbrew8991 · 03-18-2008, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sylvan

Sounds like a lot of fun! Are the spec E30s fairly inexpensive to build?

my friend Rob is building them after work and such, sells them for around $8500 or so... might cost you $9k-$10l to buy one with a few more small competitive tweaks, transponder, etc

the biggest cost is the cage, if you can DIY that, you can build it for a pretty low cost

I'll still be doing Time Trials in the MR2, and we'll see how often I can get into one of his cars for races

03-17-2008, 04:05 PM	#1 (permalink)
kbrew8991 gimme some turns Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 1,685 Thanks: 76 Thanked 82 Times in 70 Posts My Google Map iTrader Rating: (5/100% )	weekend report from NASA-SE at Road Atlanta Friday: spent the day bouncing between driving my friend's SpecE30 race car and the classroom for Competition School, where you learn how to really race and get licensed to do so. Rained pretty much all day, so it was interesting doing the various driving drills (side by side, passing, etc) in the rain in an unfamiliar car passed with flying colors, and got to drive about 40 mins in the car at the end of the 3hr enduro (can owner did the first part of the race) in still wet but starting to dry conditions. Had the best lap between the two of us (though I had better track conditions the car had more fuel starvation issues) at a 1:53.664 Saturday: Sat was very very interesting, much worse weather than Fri (more rain, and tornado warnings that stopped on-track action 3 separate times to allow workers to take cover). Ran some whopping 2:00+ laps it was so wet, couldn't get any cornering grip/speed and was forced to rely on what little horsepower the stock 5SFE makes to get down the straightaways since I was carrying in some places as much as 30mph less. Best time of the day was a mere 2:01.049 in the last session that was slightly dryer, but still had to take funky lines to avoid puddles, especially in the middle of the treacherous turn 12. My friend had the car tied up for racing that day, so I was unable to get in my first real race. I did win TTF, and was 22 of 34 overall, I guess rain is somewhat of an equalizer afterall Sunday: Sunday was sunny, dry, and just the right temperature. Ran much better (1:52.585) in the MR2 in Time Trials, my personal best time in the car by a few tenths which won by 0.219 in TTF. Also managed to get the car for the SpecE30 race which was very very interesting. The race was my first time in the car in the dry, and started with a standing start on the front stretch (done just like they start F1 races). pure rookies have to start in the back by rule, so I was lined up 21st out of 21 cars in the class. I took it easy on the launch and run to T1 to make sure I had room to avoid any mishaps, and really started racing after T1. Coming up to T5 there was a spin just on the other side that cleared as I was coming through, the yellow flag that was displayed was dropped meaning it is now ok to resume passing... but alot of drivers ahead of me were still checked up and going through single file, so I jumped on that opportunity and snagged a couple spots before T6. I also managed to make a couple passes on lap 1 through T12 for a grand total of 5-6 spots gained very cleanly on the very first lap, very first start, taking it easy until after T1, and the very first time in the car in the dry. Further worked up the field through the race and finished 9th best lap was a 1:49.910, a bit off the pace of the front runners due to a bit of setup time and couple of tiny car prep details Last edited by kbrew8991; 03-17-2008 at 06:26 PM..

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03-18-2008, 03:40 AM	#3 (permalink)
Gairloch Dreaming of apexes Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Minneapolis, MN Posts: 5,313 Thanks: 139 Thanked 296 Times in 264 Posts Blog Entries: 4 My Google Map iTrader Rating: (7/100% )	Sounds like an amazing weekend, Ken! You going to be getting more seat time in that spec E30?

03-18-2008, 04:34 AM	#4 (permalink)
Sylvan Bad Dude Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 878 Thanks: 22 Thanked 38 Times in 34 Posts My Google Map iTrader Rating: (10/100% )	Sounds like a lot of fun! Are the spec E30s fairly inexpensive to build?

03-18-2008, 04:54 AM	#5 (permalink)
Gairloch Dreaming of apexes Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Minneapolis, MN Posts: 5,313 Thanks: 139 Thanked 296 Times in 264 Posts Blog Entries: 4 My Google Map iTrader Rating: (7/100% )	As far as race cars go they are one of the more accessible options. I bet it's about the same as a spec miata if not a little less.

03-18-2008, 09:57 AM	#6 (permalink)
Sylvan Bad Dude Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 878 Thanks: 22 Thanked 38 Times in 34 Posts My Google Map iTrader Rating: (10/100% )	Yea I remember reading an article about the spec E30 in an old issue of GRM. I think they picked up the car for a couple of grand and then stripped it out. Looked like fun.