Climate Change at CMP
02-11-2009, 03:29 PM
#1
Le Mans Master
Thread Starter
Climate Change at CMP
It is now a certified fact there is a climate at racetracks and it does change with time. The impact of this change really depends on the state of the interface with the car. When there is a direct interface with the steering mechanism of a car, in motion, on a track the impact of climatic conditions are secondary. When the interface is through a wrench under the car the changes in climate is far, far more noticable factor. The way to deal with climate change is to maximize the time on track and minimize the time off of one.
In 4 days at Carolina Motorsports Park it went from well below freezing for extended periods to downright balmy for most of the day. It is amazing what the impact of a light breeze is under both conditions. Other then cold tires the track conditions were about ideal. Dry track, lots of solar radiation on the track surface and cold air made for a good time on track. Waiting for the tires to come to temp did take a bit of patience.
Cro Pro Racing was there with their FR500S to work on car and driver setup getting ready for the 2009 Mustang Challenge. Ford engineering did an outstanding job on these cars since the capability of the car is amazing. It handles and brakes like a car 500 pounds lighter. The AIM data gathering system is not user friendly but its capability sure was appreciated. The data graphs never lie but they sure do want to make the driver wish they did. The 4 days of testing and tuning, in wildly divergent climate conditions, seemed to really help the driver out. Getting a little seattime in the car sure did mitigate the cold for me.
The 2009 NASA-SE Time Trial had a great first event with almost thirty TTers taking the grid for the weekend. The grid had a Lexus and two FR500S Mustangs in addtion to the usual suspects. Team England was noticably absent from the TT sessions due to top end noise in the Corvette keeping it in the garage at home. It may be just some loose rockers or broken valve springs. Corvettes were still well represented by Jason and Mike keeping the fast cars fast. With the 2009 TT rule changes several cars ended up migrating classes. All TTers need to run the numbers with their current configuration to double check their points.Several of the 2008 TT crowd are now 2009 wheel to wheel players. Patrick did super size his weekend to run TTS in order to beat Mike. Though I had never seen Patrick spin his Porsche till this weekend. He more then made up for it in three days at CMP. ZO6cool did manage to survive his first weekend of Time Trial, in his VW. He let me drive it, silly man, and I must admit it is a lot like a mini bike - lots of fun if your buddies do not see you on it. It was loaded up with mechanical ills - not related to my drive I am sure.
Jake had his baptism of fire in wheel to wheel competition running our 1988 Mustang Camaro Mustang Challenge (CMC). He ran both races clean with no contact and finished 3rd on both days. He did spin once and was unable to start the car due to heat soaking the starter - but a push start behind the wall got him back on the track. He even finished ahead of Falcon on Sunday. The overheating issues and gas tank pressurization will need to be addressed by Road Atlanta. The NASA-SE CMC guys were great. They went out of their way to race with Jake and to help us in the pits with the car. A great season start. Dr. Wike finished his provisional races and is now looking to get his son up to speed for NASA racing. Of course getting a RX7 up to speed is a relative thing.
We were all blessed with the presence of Patches for a far to brief period of time this last weekend. It was nice to see her driver also. Luckily for us Sylvia was there for some of the weekend also. Fast cars and women - life cannot get any better.
Road Atlanta is just around the corner...I sure hope I have a car for that one...
In 4 days at Carolina Motorsports Park it went from well below freezing for extended periods to downright balmy for most of the day. It is amazing what the impact of a light breeze is under both conditions. Other then cold tires the track conditions were about ideal. Dry track, lots of solar radiation on the track surface and cold air made for a good time on track. Waiting for the tires to come to temp did take a bit of patience.
Cro Pro Racing was there with their FR500S to work on car and driver setup getting ready for the 2009 Mustang Challenge. Ford engineering did an outstanding job on these cars since the capability of the car is amazing. It handles and brakes like a car 500 pounds lighter. The AIM data gathering system is not user friendly but its capability sure was appreciated. The data graphs never lie but they sure do want to make the driver wish they did. The 4 days of testing and tuning, in wildly divergent climate conditions, seemed to really help the driver out. Getting a little seattime in the car sure did mitigate the cold for me.
The 2009 NASA-SE Time Trial had a great first event with almost thirty TTers taking the grid for the weekend. The grid had a Lexus and two FR500S Mustangs in addtion to the usual suspects. Team England was noticably absent from the TT sessions due to top end noise in the Corvette keeping it in the garage at home. It may be just some loose rockers or broken valve springs. Corvettes were still well represented by Jason and Mike keeping the fast cars fast. With the 2009 TT rule changes several cars ended up migrating classes. All TTers need to run the numbers with their current configuration to double check their points.Several of the 2008 TT crowd are now 2009 wheel to wheel players. Patrick did super size his weekend to run TTS in order to beat Mike. Though I had never seen Patrick spin his Porsche till this weekend. He more then made up for it in three days at CMP. ZO6cool did manage to survive his first weekend of Time Trial, in his VW. He let me drive it, silly man, and I must admit it is a lot like a mini bike - lots of fun if your buddies do not see you on it. It was loaded up with mechanical ills - not related to my drive I am sure.
Jake had his baptism of fire in wheel to wheel competition running our 1988 Mustang Camaro Mustang Challenge (CMC). He ran both races clean with no contact and finished 3rd on both days. He did spin once and was unable to start the car due to heat soaking the starter - but a push start behind the wall got him back on the track. He even finished ahead of Falcon on Sunday. The overheating issues and gas tank pressurization will need to be addressed by Road Atlanta. The NASA-SE CMC guys were great. They went out of their way to race with Jake and to help us in the pits with the car. A great season start. Dr. Wike finished his provisional races and is now looking to get his son up to speed for NASA racing. Of course getting a RX7 up to speed is a relative thing.
We were all blessed with the presence of Patches for a far to brief period of time this last weekend. It was nice to see her driver also. Luckily for us Sylvia was there for some of the weekend also. Fast cars and women - life cannot get any better.
Road Atlanta is just around the corner...I sure hope I have a car for that one...
02-12-2009, 07:39 PM
#3
Le Mans Master
Thread Starter
02-13-2009, 04:58 PM
#5
Le Mans Master
Thread Starter
