Prior to the start of this season, my wife and crew (Terry) and I talked about whether or not to run the F1600 Pro Series again or to run SCCA Majors weekends. There are positives and negatives to both but the main decision maker was whether or not the events were fun for both of us. I enjoyed being on track with only Formula F cars at the pro series races but I have to admit that the stress level was a few notches higher compared to SCCA weekends because of the schedules. There just wasn't a lot of time between some of the sessions and that can create quite a big problem for a small team like ours that doesn't have the manpower to get the car back on track in a short period -- especially if there is a problem. Conversely, the main issue that I have with running SCCA weekends is being on track with cars in other classes. That has definitely bitten me but the schedules are a little more relaxed and the stress level for Terry and I is down at these events so as a result so I consider the SCCA events to be more fun for us. This is just a hobby after all. I still love following the pro F1600, F2000, and Formula Atlantic series' and it is really impressive to see what some of those drivers can do -- especially the young kids in the F1600 series! If I win the lottery and I can have a pro team behind me then I would definitely be right there with them! I also think that the USA needs these series in order to help ensure that a US driver makes it to Formula 1 or even to get more Americans in the Indy Car series. There really is a lot of talented American drivers but it takes everything (especially a substantial amount of money) to get them to the ultimate pro ranks.
Anyway, the first race weekend for me this year was the SCCA Majors event at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) April 18-20, 2014. VIR was just repaved and it is at least 2 seconds a lap faster and probably the smoothest track I have ever driven on. Unfortunately Terry wasn't feeling well so she wasn't able to attend but I did have the help of a couple of younger racers, Chris and Luke. I have mentioned Chris before but Luke just got his SCCA regional license and he decided to make the 4.5 hour drive down from Northern Virginia and help out. Believe me, the help from Chris and Luke was very much appreciated! I also had John Block of Autoware (www.auto-ware.com) on standby throughout the weekend to analyze my data and give me set-up advice. I have really enjoy working with John and I think we have made great progress with the car set-ups and getting me to drive the car harder.
I've heard several drivers complain about not having the time to look at data during a race weekend. Frankly, it is a very valid complaint but John had provided a solution -- he does the analysis while you can focus on other things. You just have to email it to him and he will get back to you in an hour or so. Here is an example of just one of the benefits that I have experienced by using John's services. Before VIR but after a test at Summit Point John noticed that the right front shock histogram was looking very different from the rest so he had me check things out. It turns out that a bolt was binding in the upper rod end of the pushrod going from the lower A-arm to the rocker. The wheel would move the shock fine as long as there was enough force but the histogram showed that it wasn't moving properly over smaller bumps. This could obviously cause the car to handle differently so it was a great find and again shows the benefit of having data. John's pricing is very fair and I definitely encourage those with a data system but feel that they don't have time to analyze the data to utilize his services.
In addition to having John helping me out, James Kearney of Kearney Driver Development (www.kearneyKDD.com) was at the track working with some clients and he was kind enough to give me some segment times and other words of wisdom. Jim is a great driver's coach so those racers reading this should definitely consider using his coaching if they can!
For the SCCA Majors weekends, there are two qualifying sessions on Friday, a race on Saturday, and a race on Sunday. Your best time from the two qualifiers grids you for Saturday's race but your best time from the two qualifiers plus Saturday's race grids you for Sunday's race. As mentioned above, we also share the track with other classes and for this weekend we were sharing the track with Formula 500s and Formula Vees. I qualified 5th in my class for Saturday's race and there was no way any of us were going to go faster than our qualifying times in Saturday's race because it was raining Saturday morning. Here is a link to a video from VIR qualifying:
VIR Qual 2 4-18-14
We were scheduled to race in the morning and according to the forecasts it was going to rain all morning so Chris, Luke, and I put a rain set-up including rain tires on the car when we got to the track. But then it stopped raining an hour before our race. And when this happens there is a lot of second guessing as to whether or not rain tires are a right choice. I could see the track drying but I initially stuck to my decision to run on rain tires. Cars were already going up to the grid and Chris was buckling me in my car when I changed my mind. :) I figured that Chris and Luke would be able to change the tires in time so I asked them to put the slicks on. Chris and Luke did a great job and got the tires changed quickly -- THANKS Chris and Luke!! It turns out that we had more time than we thought because there was significant cleanup from the previous race group. But I was still the only Formula F on slicks and I knew it was a gamble and that I was either going to be the hero or the zero. On the pace lap I could tell that it was the right decision because I could see that there was a dry line and it still wasn't raining but unfortunately I lost the back end of the car going through a corner at the end of the first lap and ended up on the wet grass and mud. Unfortunately it took me forever to get going again. I was able to work my way back up to 6th place in my class so I guess I wasn't a total zero. :) Here is a link to a video showing the first part of the race.
VIR Race 1 4-19-14
The good news was that the car was just a little muddy and there wasn't much to do to prepare it for Sunday's race. I was again starting 5th and there was no guessing about the weather -- it was a nice dry day and track. A F500 decided to race me another Formula F in the beginning stages of the race and that broke us off of the leading Formula F cars pretty quickly. I also made a couple of little mistakes early on and that hurt my lap times. However, I got a couple of lucky breaks when the car in 4th place spun and then the car in 3rd place went off course avoiding an incident with a car in another class. That means that I was in 3rd place! But the previous 3rd place driver was Lewis Cooper (a National Champion) who has a very nice Spectrum Formula F and he was coming on strong. This was the first time I had to deal with lapped traffic and I was probably a little too conservative with my passing. Lew caught and passed me as we started the last lap and I finished 4th. Obviously I was a little disappointed that I didn't get on the podium but it was a fun race and I was really happy with the gains that I made during the weekend. And a 4th place finish, a 6th place finish, and being able to roll the car back in the trailer after the weekend ain't that bad! This video is the entire Sunday race so it is rather long!
VIR Race 2 4-20-14
Btw, the videos in this posting were created using a GoPro camera but the I was able to overlay the data using Race Render (racerender.com) software. This software is actually pretty neat. It is a little difficult to get the data to align with the video but once you do that you can include any data that you have collected on the video and you can present it in different formats. Hope you enjoy them!
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