WMD at CMP
02-12-2007, 09:28 PM
#1
Le Mans Master
Thread Starter
WMD at CMP
Just back from the Winter Meltdown (WMD) at CMP on Feb 10-11 with NASA-SE. Quick highlights - Falcon went racing, Cass took pictures, MazdaratiRob went dirt tracking - often, Toby left his car at home, L98Terror hit the south like Sherman marching to the sea, the RX8 crowd was there in force, Chris unleashed his Cobra American Iron car on the unsuspecting, Beerkat ran his '01 ZO6 on track for the first time, AtomicZO6 brought his nearly new '07 ZO6 out to play for the first time, I met people who admit to being Citadel Alumni - under cross examination that is, Jake took lessons from Rob on off pavement maneuvers in T4 and so did I (also in T4)....
But first I want to mention "track support". Jody has his world famous pit babes, Beerkat brings Patches, AtomicZO6 brought his significant other, TimZO6 brings his - when he has a car that runs, there are lady drivers who brought their significant others to crew for them and yet my spouse points out I have male children so she does not have to "go to car events". I must be doing something wrong here. But I am happy to say she is very supportive as long as she does not have to go.
We spent almost all of our time prior to this event getting a '92 Mustang (a former Car Craft Project car) ready for Pete to drive so we did not spend much time prepping our cars for the event. Basically did a pre-event tech, brake bleed and tire swap on the ZO6 and loaded it on the trailer. We ended up leaving the FRC at home since it was still wearing the tired brakes from Sebring and I was already towing two cars to the track.
Check in was, once again, almost painless - Julie does a great job. Tech took quite a while to accomplish - but we got through that on Friday night also for the Mustang and the ZO6. Did I mention it was a cold and sunny event? Other than the Michigan guys threatening to wear shorts the rest of us looked like the Michelin man walking around the paddock or getting into the cars. Of course, there are some who say we look like the Michelin man in July also.
The race groups and TT were surprising full for such an early event. It made for some impressive fields when the WMD events were held on Sat and Sun. As a matter of fact getting a clean lap in the TT group was pretty darn challenging. Somebody really needs to teach responsible breeding behavior to the Spec E30 cars - they are multiplying like rabbits and are having a darn good time doing it.
The HPDE groups actually flowed very well with no massive trains and very good manners. There was a real problem on Sat afternoon with instructors not showing up for students track time. I pinch instructed for two of them on Sat afternoon. The schedule did get messed up by a massive oil down of the track.
I spent almost all of my time either in a passenger seat, working on the ZO6, or working on the '92 Mustang. The Mustang had a terrible miss in the 2000-3000 rpm range and with 4.10 gears it was a handful to drive on the track. It also had a weak starter that made things interesting. Scott was a great technical aid in troubleshooting the Mustang.
Pete did a great job for his first time at CMP and in the car. He spent his effort on learning the track, being smooth with the car and getting his "rhythm" with a new car. Driving a car with a hard miss, with a drag racing cam that made no power below 4000 RPM (pulled like crazy from 5500-6500 though!) and 4.10 gears makes being smooth very important. AtomicZO6 had the benefit of dual instruction by Jake and I. He was doing a great job driving an awful lot of car. He will be ready for solo very, very soon I think. Of course he has to go to sea for a few months every so often to support his habits. Jake cleared Beerkat solo quite quickly and Kim went through a new set of front brake pads just a little bit faster.
Time Trial was a real blast. L98Terror came down from the frigid north and put us in the dust with FTD on Sat and a 1:48.6 in TTA on Sun with his 03 ZO6. It was great to run with him and hang out in the paddock. It was really nice to have another EB ZO6 to blame stuff on also! TTA was a large field on Sat - it even included two new Viper convertibles. Sat had Ken in 1st, a FFR in 2nd, a Viper in 3rd and us in 4th. L98Terror had us by a couple of seconds (1:50x) but the 2-5 were pretty close in the 1:52x range). After some track familiarity and some suggested techniques in the kink Ken clicked off a 1:48x on Sunday. Matthew Ball (Sti) also knocked out some 1:48x (and FT of the weekend plus track record in TTS) - the 2 Vipers also touched on 1:48x with stickered R compounds (now classed as TTS) on Sunday. Team England nailed down third place in TTA with a 1:52x. The TT times had high traffic density and some drivers did not like to let the faster cars through in a timely manner (but the vast majority were great about it!).
We had car stability problems all weekend. It was really loose under braking and even "walked" on the straights by Sunday. I went through a three sets of tires to see if that solved the problem. Other than cording two more tires I saw no effect. I thought it was rear brakes (I had no spares with me - it is a long sad story) and all the C5 guys went through their stuff to see what they had on hand. In the end L98Terror gave me his spare set - but I did not need them and he hauled them back to Michigan. When I get back from Washington State this Thursday I will have to unload the car and get under it to see what is loose. I suspect bushings at this time.
In the end I saw lots of great cars, hung out with great folks, had great students, spent time with great friends and did not bend the car.
Now I have to get ready for Roebling on the 23rd, CMP on 3 Mar and Road Atlanta on 17-18 Mar....
But first I want to mention "track support". Jody has his world famous pit babes, Beerkat brings Patches, AtomicZO6 brought his significant other, TimZO6 brings his - when he has a car that runs, there are lady drivers who brought their significant others to crew for them and yet my spouse points out I have male children so she does not have to "go to car events". I must be doing something wrong here. But I am happy to say she is very supportive as long as she does not have to go.
We spent almost all of our time prior to this event getting a '92 Mustang (a former Car Craft Project car) ready for Pete to drive so we did not spend much time prepping our cars for the event. Basically did a pre-event tech, brake bleed and tire swap on the ZO6 and loaded it on the trailer. We ended up leaving the FRC at home since it was still wearing the tired brakes from Sebring and I was already towing two cars to the track.
Check in was, once again, almost painless - Julie does a great job. Tech took quite a while to accomplish - but we got through that on Friday night also for the Mustang and the ZO6. Did I mention it was a cold and sunny event? Other than the Michigan guys threatening to wear shorts the rest of us looked like the Michelin man walking around the paddock or getting into the cars. Of course, there are some who say we look like the Michelin man in July also.
The race groups and TT were surprising full for such an early event. It made for some impressive fields when the WMD events were held on Sat and Sun. As a matter of fact getting a clean lap in the TT group was pretty darn challenging. Somebody really needs to teach responsible breeding behavior to the Spec E30 cars - they are multiplying like rabbits and are having a darn good time doing it.
The HPDE groups actually flowed very well with no massive trains and very good manners. There was a real problem on Sat afternoon with instructors not showing up for students track time. I pinch instructed for two of them on Sat afternoon. The schedule did get messed up by a massive oil down of the track.
I spent almost all of my time either in a passenger seat, working on the ZO6, or working on the '92 Mustang. The Mustang had a terrible miss in the 2000-3000 rpm range and with 4.10 gears it was a handful to drive on the track. It also had a weak starter that made things interesting. Scott was a great technical aid in troubleshooting the Mustang.
Pete did a great job for his first time at CMP and in the car. He spent his effort on learning the track, being smooth with the car and getting his "rhythm" with a new car. Driving a car with a hard miss, with a drag racing cam that made no power below 4000 RPM (pulled like crazy from 5500-6500 though!) and 4.10 gears makes being smooth very important. AtomicZO6 had the benefit of dual instruction by Jake and I. He was doing a great job driving an awful lot of car. He will be ready for solo very, very soon I think. Of course he has to go to sea for a few months every so often to support his habits. Jake cleared Beerkat solo quite quickly and Kim went through a new set of front brake pads just a little bit faster.
Time Trial was a real blast. L98Terror came down from the frigid north and put us in the dust with FTD on Sat and a 1:48.6 in TTA on Sun with his 03 ZO6. It was great to run with him and hang out in the paddock. It was really nice to have another EB ZO6 to blame stuff on also! TTA was a large field on Sat - it even included two new Viper convertibles. Sat had Ken in 1st, a FFR in 2nd, a Viper in 3rd and us in 4th. L98Terror had us by a couple of seconds (1:50x) but the 2-5 were pretty close in the 1:52x range). After some track familiarity and some suggested techniques in the kink Ken clicked off a 1:48x on Sunday. Matthew Ball (Sti) also knocked out some 1:48x (and FT of the weekend plus track record in TTS) - the 2 Vipers also touched on 1:48x with stickered R compounds (now classed as TTS) on Sunday. Team England nailed down third place in TTA with a 1:52x. The TT times had high traffic density and some drivers did not like to let the faster cars through in a timely manner (but the vast majority were great about it!).
We had car stability problems all weekend. It was really loose under braking and even "walked" on the straights by Sunday. I went through a three sets of tires to see if that solved the problem. Other than cording two more tires I saw no effect. I thought it was rear brakes (I had no spares with me - it is a long sad story) and all the C5 guys went through their stuff to see what they had on hand. In the end L98Terror gave me his spare set - but I did not need them and he hauled them back to Michigan. When I get back from Washington State this Thursday I will have to unload the car and get under it to see what is loose. I suspect bushings at this time.
In the end I saw lots of great cars, hung out with great folks, had great students, spent time with great friends and did not bend the car.
Now I have to get ready for Roebling on the 23rd, CMP on 3 Mar and Road Atlanta on 17-18 Mar....
Last edited by varkwso; 02-15-2007 at 07:39 PM.
02-13-2007, 12:19 AM
#2
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Member Since: May 1999
Location: Plymouth MI Formerly Milford, MA MI
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W. Detroit Events Coordinator
Cruise-In VI Veteran
Cruise-In VII Veteran
Cruise-In VII Autocross Champ
That about sumed it up, I'm glad I made the trip down for some fun & sun, tonight we're expecting 6-10 inches of snow 
Couple shots
Link to more Click it or miss it
Can't wait to go through all my video.
Couple shots
Link to more Click it or miss it
Can't wait to go through all my video.
02-13-2007, 05:49 PM
#8
Le Mans Master
Thread Starter
02-14-2007, 08:54 AM
#9
Race Director
A good time I am sure...........whats that saying, if the dirt ain't a flyin you ain't tryin
Julie keeps drooling at the hoosier tire tower in the garage.......July can't come soon enough
02-14-2007, 11:39 AM
#10
Le Mans Master
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02-15-2007, 07:41 PM
#12
Le Mans Master
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02-15-2007, 09:41 PM
#13
Racer
Member Since: Jan 2005
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New front springs and some other mild adjustments should have the car running close to end adjustments.
This was just a first weekend shakeout so can't wait to see what it can do with some adjustments from a baseline point.
This was just a first weekend shakeout so can't wait to see what it can do with some adjustments from a baseline point.
02-16-2007, 06:59 AM
#14
Le Mans Master
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