SSCC Supersprint: Eastern Creek, 14th February 2010

Another track day, another success!

As per usual, I was excited leading up to the day and slept poorly, but the reason this time was a little different. I had a new, faster car, and a new event format - more unknowns, more things to look forward to. To make me slightly more nervous, the rain had been bucketing down all week. When I woke on Sunday, it was heavily overcast with rain threatening yet again - not great news for the track day fan, but a different challenge.

I arrived at the track nice and early, but it hardly seemed like long enough. As I mentioned in a previous post, Supersprint events are slightly more serious than the days i've been attending over the last couple of years, so there's some extra rules and procedures to be aware of. I also had my car scrutineered prior to the event - marshals check that your car is in good working order, and that there are no loose objects or dangerous items. In the excitement of the buildup, I forgot to remove my spare wheel from the boot, so was politely asked to do so. Other than that, the car went through without a problem.

The driving itself was an absolute blast. Before the day, I had decided that I wouldn't push out of my comfort zone too much, but just familiarise myself with the new conditions and make sure the car came home intact. The wet weather only reinforced that decision, so on the damp surface, I took it fairly gently the whole day. I finished with a best of 1:58.1, which is a full 8 seconds slower than the previous owner's best time. Plenty of room for improvement there.

I was really pleased with the car's performance. The suspension is superior in every way to my old Silvia - it is eager to turn in, and is very stable mid corner. The brakes are strong and don't feel as if they will fade as easily. The engine combination is excellent, and the midrange torque gives you great acceleration out of the corners. As my confidence in the car grows, it's only going to be more fun, and hopefully faster too!

The camera setup was a success too, so i've posted some footage of the morning sessions:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s00aYkAndws

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nESBko_VPH4&feature=related

It's only four weeks until the next SSCC Supersprint, so I don't have to wait too long for my next fix. The event will be at Wakefield park, which I am reasonably comfortable with, having done a number of track days there. If the weather is fine, I might just find that bit of extra confidence to push this new car closer to it's full potential!

Preparation

In preparation for my first track day in the new Silvia (coincidentally also my first Supersprint), I've been kept busy with little bits and pieces both on and off the car. When I stopped and thought about it, I was impressed with what i've managed to get organised in the last month or so!

In order to compete in a Supersprint, you need to hold a CAMS (Confereration of Australian Motorsport) speed licence. You also need to have stickers on the car to tell officials where your battery and tow hooks are in the event of an accident. The organisers also expect that you have a secondary restraint on your bonnet (i.e something in addition to the latch), so i've sourced some bonnet pins to keep it nice and secure. The old owner already had a fire extinguisher mounted in the cabin, so check that one off the list.

Inside the car, i've decided to have proper harness mounting points welded into the parcel shelf. A harness not only provides additional safety over a lap sash seat belt, but also keeps you securely in place during cornering, meaning you can focus all your attention on driving rather than trying to brace yourself as you slide around in your seat. I'm really happy with the setup, should hold me perfectly (see pic).

On the car itself, i've had an oil temp sender installed to keep a close eye on those oil temperatures, and also purchased some new race tyres which should see me through 2010. I've chosen the Yokohama A048R (see pic) - it is the control tyre of the Improved Production Racing Series and the V8 brutes. It's not the grippiest semi slick on the market, but the price was right and it will be plenty adequate while I continue to learn.

And last but not least, my brother and I designed a simple little device to mount a video camera on the passenger side of the parcel shelf, so hopefully I will have some video to share of the first outing! We dismanted a tripod, and secured it to the child seat point using a lengthened bolt and a few washers. Very simple, very effective!

Until then, it's time to study a few more youtube clips of Eastern Creek, and get those lines in my head so the course seems like second nature. Can't wait for the 14th February!