The only change to the car since the last time I went out was a set of better brake pads, and some additional front castor from the adjustable arms, so I figured my times would probably be similar to previous times out. Given the gap between track days though, I wasn't hoping for a lot - just consistency.
First session out, the track was still a little damp, and there were a lot of offs, including myself. I spent the first two sessions getting back into the swing of things, and pushed myself a bit more later in the day when the surface was warmer and I was feeling more comfortable. By the end of the day my best was a 1:14.2 so after a year off, I got within about 1 second of my PB. I was reasonably happy with that.
The main difference between past days was that I didn't have the confidence in the car to attack the turn one kink as I have done before. I was braking before the kink, which was costing me time into turn two. Something to try and improve next time.
The Potenza RE001 tyres are also now around 14,000k's old, and have done four track days. I noticed a lot of understeer from the fronts once they got hot. I think after so many heat cycles and hard driving, their best days are probably behind them. In reality, that probably had a lot to do with my time too.
On the whole, it was a really enjoyable day. I got six sessions on track, with very few interruptions. There was only one red flag, and the traffic was totally fine. I probably did more laps than I’ve ever done at a track day - around 50 in total I think. The only down side was that in the final session of the day, the car developed a misfire under full throttle. I cut the session short to avoid any further problems, but the car was fine to drive home. The problem was later diagnosed as a shagged coilpack.
Now that I’ve got the bug again, I can't wait to get to another event. It definitely won't be another full year before the next time out.
No comments:
Post a Comment