varkwso

It had been way too long since a track day. There was plenty of time working on cars, riding in other peoples cars, and talking about cars but not near enough time actually driving a car on track. The three track day option at Roebling seemed about perfect last weekend to break this awful trend. The 99 Corvette FRC has had some "issues" since December and really needed a Functional Check Flight (FCF) to either see if it was healed or if a hard break would point out the problem. The professional staff at Aardvark Performance bled the brakes, teched the car and swapped on the best track tires currently on hand (8 heat cycle RA1s on ZO6 rims). The trailer was loaded with the car and some camping gear. No spare tires, no jack, no extra pads, no extra oil, no brake fluid were carried - the car was going to come home carrying its shield or on it. It was march or die time. The fact the two highly trained pit crew/co-drivers in the household were not able to make the event may have also been a factor.

It was a little overcast, windy and cool all three mornings but the weather overall was fantastic with the grip about the best seen at Roebling in a long time. Everyone out there was making great power and most were able to keep it on track. At least two engines expired over the weekend, both at T1, one was an ex-Geoff BMW M3 (but almost every car in the southeast is an ex-Geoff car) and a LS7 still under warranty. While the FRC was a little down on power (guessing at least 15-20HP) and intermittently made "engine" noises it ran great all three days. The Friday student was in a CTS-V. What a nice sleeper car and I cannot wait until the magic of depreciation makes it possible to have one in the stable. He was a quick learner and was able to pick up the basics quickly and we worked on some advanced skills needed (e.g., threshold braking and trail braking that big hoss) as appropriate. On Friday's last run they combined the remaining group with passing only on the straights. That was OK until they said they were putting the "fast cars" up front. Only problem was we were not up front, at which point the student was briefed on "trained professionals on a closed course", and not to try to duplicate this style of driving. I was able to pick off the GT3 RS exiting T2 onto the short straight and could have passed the Nissan GTR in almost any corner/brake zone in the back half. We had a blast chasing cars down and riding the bumper of the GTR, except exiting T7. where it was like JATO kicked in. The front straight at Roebling really plays to high horsepower but experience helps when it comes to slowing down at the end. Overall, Friday was a good day. Mike W came out in a convertible M6 - he brought a putty knife to a gunfight.

The check in and tech with Chin was painless as always due to the skills of Maria. Quite a few people carried over from the Friday event and many new ones showed up. It is always a eye opener to see a GT3 RS with sticker tires rolling onto the grid in the novice group. Most of the weekend with Chin involved riding with advanced students and giving checkrides. A large contingent of P-car guys came down from Chicago area, with their semi's and dealer mechanics, to play in the south. It was great to have all of them on track and a couple of the cars/drivers were wicked fast. Naturally, it had to be determined if any knew Short Throw and, low and behold, at least one of them was in his garage at Autobahn.

The Vette contingent was pretty light this time but the ones that showed carried the torch fairly well - when they could stay on track. Rob was working coilover tuning, Hazman discovered - as others have - old tires are not your friend even if it seems they have tread left, ZO6Cool drove a perfectly good car off track and Jayne still likes playing in the rough at T5. Fred, Graham and I kept it on track for all three days. Of course, at that point, the accusation was made of "sandbagging" but a quick impartial survey of all the passengers confirmed the 99 FRC was, in fact, driven all out. The Beast of Roebling did manage to come back on Saturday and make all of the unworthy bow down in the paddock. The statement was made they "eased up" so as not to "run away" from us mere mortals when they were in the lead - the Beast being gentle seems unlikely. The blue flag was furled when they realized the Corvette white/black and black/white train was running "clean" and having a great time. Jake insists the FRC was let down and the only reason the Beast was not tamed was because he was not there since "he and the FRC are one". Sounds like Marine propaganda to me.

The FCF, while fun, did not pinpoint the source of the engine noise though I am about convinced it may be another crack in the headers. The engine power is noticeably down so pulling some valve springs to see if they have been rev-ed one too many times is planned. Toyo RA1s are a very predictable tire and slide exceptionally well but they were trashed at the end of 15 heat cycles and were noticeably loose at 10 cycles. The slip angles they will maintain is pretty amazing though. The car, with a passenger, ran in the teens on Friday and consistent low 20's all weekend long so there is not too much wrong overall I am thinking.

The bribe of a low country boil brought down my long suffering spouse for Saturday evening. The boil from Pooler Seafood is hard to beat. As always being able to run with Rob, Hazman, Jayne, ZO6cool, VMS4evr, Fred and the rest of my friends made the event worthwhile. Now the 24 Hours of Lemons at CMP is next. No rest for the car addict it seems.

mcar00

Nice write-up. Sounds like a great weekend!

05C6GAC

I agree great write up and it was a great weekend, can't wait for Seat times April event Easter Weekend at Roebling.

drivinhard

Sounds like I missed a good time. I had to pull out of this one at the last min.

Planning on being at CMP in May.

Next I'll be with Chin is early June at RA, will use the 1 day to get ready for the NASA TT there later in the month. This gives me April off to play some catch up and do a bunch of work, which I need to do.

0Randy@DRM

Nice writeup like always!!!

Randy

V8 Juice

Always a nice "wish I wuz there" write up; thanks for the mental run time. I pick up my car at Autobahn on April 18...counting the days.

rustyguns

very cool! i am jealous

rasrboy

Thanks for keeping us up to date Jeff! Nice lap times considering you were down on HP and the tires were wooped!

Did I read right, another LS7 popped?

Aaron

Z06cool

Good stuff Jeff. It was even more fun being there.... I paid the price though driving back Saturday night 5 hours and then going immediately to work for another 10 hours. But being the "track addict" that I am --- I'd do it again. It was great finally being able to get out all the pent up stress that I wanted to unleash at RA but couldn't with the rain...

Tell Jake I'm ready for the "faster" England...or at this point just a "fast" England will do...

varkwso

That is cold........ of course 3rd engine, LG brakes, coilovers, sticker tires - you have any tricks left

Let see how you do at Mid Ohio

Yep another fairly new LS7 popped!

Z06cool

You should be proud that a lowly student has risen up to surpass his instructor. Over the years, I bet that's fairly common..

Always save a couple tricks for you...

varkwso

One skirmish - with no beer mug at stake even - does not make a campaign. We can always switch cars - we know how that turns out, don't we

But I must admit you have picked up the pace

get to work so you have money for sticker tires, again, at our next meeting...

Z06cool

One skirmish? Uhh...must I refer back to the last time we were at Roebling? Same outcome... Same excuse also...

Hmm...and about switching cars and the turn-out. Usually I end up with corded tires, spent brakes, odd noises, and on occasion a toasted tranny (under warranty luckily...).

Good luck at Lemons...

varkwso

I have no memory of any such events. I seem to remember getting into cars with corded tires, toasted brakes, odd noises and slipping trannies and still turning better times (except in that paddle shifting, not turning, boost limiting "German engineering" family car)

Z06cool

I know that old age and memory loss can creep up on ya but that's the cool thing about using the CF as your personal diary -- it's always searchable. Does this refresh your memory....

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/auto...-roebling.html

varkwso

at least I remembered my battery charger

kwhiteside

Jeff,

I want to thank you for letting both the kid and I go with you for a couple spirited runs. Observing your DIFFERENT lines gave me the courage I needed to do more passing in the turns when I ran with the Blue group. So much to learn still. Kind of a "You know you don't know thing". I know it can be done, but I just can't do it yet. Rick was all over me a couple times as I started to whip with too much gas coming out of one of your tight line turns. Never lost it though, and can't wait till next time.

My kid Sam started referring to you as controlled chaos . Don't let your head swell too fast on that one, this is gonna hurt, he said Jayne was faster .

My clutch fluid was the murkiest Dot 3 crud you have ever seen and I'm pretty sure it was just boiling when we lost the pedal. I'm fairly confident some ATE 200 clear amber Dot4 will take care of the problem. A catch can and fillercap breather are on the way too. Thanks for all you help.

I want to think my instructor Rick for another great event and especially for noticing I corded my tires without even looking at the tires. Again, another I don't know how you knew that, and I was driving the thing. Sure enough, they were shot though. I can imagine what would have happened had we went out for another set and had that tire shred in a turn. You guys make these events great.

Ken . . .

Jason

You 2 sure do argue a lot over who is going to be the 2nd fastest vette in TT at CMP.

Z06cool

If second place scraps is all we can get, then yes we're going to fight for it if you're on track...

sperkins

I hate I missed it, but I think I'm just about ready to get back out on the track again - had to get my head screwed back on right (if that's even possible).

I'm off to Roebling April 4th with the Florida Crown PCA. If anyone needs an upcoming track fix, I think there are still spots open.