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So, as with all NASA TT events, the times from this first "Warm Up" session on the first day only count towards our grid positions for the first "official" TT session, session 1. We checked air pressures hot and they were WAY higher than I thought they'd get up to, so we bled off 8-10 psi from each tire, from hot. We had an 11:10 am TT meeting where we did roll calls and listened to Greg give us the latest session DQs for spins, offs, weights or dyno (which were not printed on the individual session time sheets, strangely enough). Someone in the group also asked "what is a 4 off here", as there are some rather WIDE curbs at Miller - in some places more than 25 feet of paved but painted curbing. The biggest section of track in question was the "Attitudes", Turns 8/9/10, which are S-curves in rapid succession that also fall down a hill. Apparently this section was a bit controversial, and some race groups were seeing a handful of drivers really pounding over the curbs, some catching 4 wheels in the air and short cutting Turn 9 altogether (just going straight over the curbs/gravel and leaving the track). After some discussion it was ruled that the white painted line was to be considered the edge of the track and as long as 2 wheels were still "touching the paint", that was allowed. Tons of latitude but no more "cutting a corner". If we were 4 wheels over the paint it would be a "4 off" and a session DQ.
Above photos by Brian Smyer
I was staying off the curbing in almost all corners, as the bumps were making the already very loose car even more twitchy. Like the picture above, where my car is already sideways after just touching two outside wheels on the paint, is what would happen. So I stayed off the curbs on almost every lap. I tried to take a bit more on the last day, with some negative consequences (video of that in a lower section). Other drivers were a lot more liberal with their curbing, though. And it likely helped their times - I just couldn't see jumping them like that and doing the "4 wheels in the air" thing. I would have ripped the splitter off and done all sorts of damage to our car. In the AI circles I heard one driver admit that cutting Turn 9 was worth a full second on his lap times, and there were a few of those guys really getting a lot of time using the curbs. Amy was there and if I would have broken the car on the curbing she would have KILLED me!
Just watched my TT session 1 video, which began on Thursday at 2 pm, and it was 20 degrees hotter than the TT Warm Up. At least this time we were gridded better, but I still had to deal with several passes, and the car was SUPER loose in the first 2 laps. I was finally figuring out where to shift, what gear to be in for each corner, pushing some still-early braking points, and just beginning to get a feel for where I was and where the apexes should be. I took a good number of laps in this session and dropped down to a 2:09.039, with my fastest lap on Lap 1. I spent the rest of the session trying different lines, braking points, etc. In Session 1 Ken Smith really picked up the pace and moved into the lead with a 2:05.099, with Mayfield right on his tail at a 2:05.753 time. Steve Nagel found a lot of time and dropped to a 2:07.284 and 3rd place in his white E36 M3 with aero and a claimed 310 whp, nearly 2 seconds quicker than my times.
The third and final TT session for Thrusday was TT session 2, we started at about 5:30 pm (about 30 minutes behind schedule) and ambient temps were up to 94 °F when we started. It was so delayed and so hot that attendance was pretty sparse by the time we finally got released from grid. After 2 false starts for this session we finally heard the reason for problem - Mark Baer had a pretty bad crash in his GTS BMW going into The Tooele Turn, T11, and they had to air flight him to the hospital for observation, tow the car in, and do some quick repairs to the armco.
Smith (left) and Mayfield (right) traded the TT3 lead all week, but nobody else could seem to catch them
As I recalled after watching my video of this session, I was still pretty lost on 2nd half of the track after Turn 7, where I was confusing Turn 11 with Turn 13, and I still couldn't get the entry speeds up into Turn 7 (Witchcraft) or my line right into Turns 8/9/10. Really struggling to grasp this track layout, and there was a lot of gravel on the track from people going off and on at various corners. In my video I noted that the car was using about 5 gallons per session, and I was seeing "155 mph" on the speedo (probably more like 150mph) as I was braking into Turn 1. The car was still a loose mess at speed, and Amy and I were running out of things to change (tire pressures, wing angle, and some other things). I nearly looped the car going into Turn 3 on my 2nd hot lap, so took a cool-down lap and then another hot lap on the now well worn R6s. Just touching one of these monster curbs was setting the car into bump-steer convulsions. My best lap was again my 1st lap out, and nearly matched my previous session at a 2:09.054. Mayfield slowed down to a 2:05.574 and Ken Smith was in the 2:05.927 range, with Nagel slowing down to a 2:10.5. The higher ambient temps were hurting everyone and I was 4.5 seconds back from the class leader, not making up any ground.
My outlook was pretty bleak that night, but we had our lone good meal in Tooele (The Brewhouse) with Doug and Stuart Maxcy of Maxcyspeed. I drank away my sorrows and dreamed all night about turns like Witchcraft and the Attitudes, that were straight up kicking my ass.
Day 2 - Friday
After some dismal driving on Thursday I had planned on doing some work early Friday morning to the car and going out on the R6s again in the first session with some set-up improvements. Then Ryan and Brandon missed their very early flight, so it was just me and Amy again, and with too much to fix we skipped the first TT session of the day. During that time we replaced a leaking caliper bleed screw, dialed in 2 degrees more angle of attack on the rear wing, re-tightened the splitter mounting screws (several had loosened up), reset air pressures, and went out in session 2. Turns out we neglected to add enough fuel, so I was worried about fuel starvation. The left side tires were more abused than the right, which surprised me as there are more left hand turns than rights... but a lot of the high speed turns are right handers, and those tore up the appropriate side.
Left: Grey wheels = old R6s. Right: The fastest AI car was a World Challenge Boss 302R, which ran a 2:07.860 in the final race
At this point we had been weighed twice. 3791 lbs was the lightest and as high as 3836 lbs with a lot of fuel. Brakes looked good - the Carbotechs were wearing very well for the abuse I was throwing at them. I have never braked this car this hard, from these speeds, this many times in a row. Some say our upgraded GT500 14" rear brakes "are worthless" compared to the stock 11.5" rear discs, but I disagree strongly. This car was the heaviest in the TT3 class, had one of the highest terminal speeds into Turn 1, yet I could brake as late or later than anyone else. In some cases I was braking nearly 100 feet later than some TT2 and TT3 cars. The brakes just flat worked, flawlessly, all week.
Just watched my TT session 4 video and I was pushing hard yet only managed another 1/2 second gain, down to a best of 2:08.537. Heavy cross winds made for major buffeting in the car on the higher speed sections, and the high ambient heat (2 pm, high 90s again) baked the track, overheated tires, and made for generally slower lap times. Only five TT3 cars went out this time, with Mayfield and Smith skipping the session entirely. Nagel went out in the white E36 and put in a best of 2:08.324, which was over a second slower than his best time from the first official TT session on Thursday. I was within 2 tenths of Nagel, everyone was slower, but I had found another half second, so that was at least a little encouraging. The R6s felt really awful and the car was still very loose at speed, and once the tires got hot after my 1st lap it was loose everywhere. I pounded out 5 laps (3 hot laps + 2 cool downs), well after almost everyone else had come in, and saw another 2:08.8 lap in the closing lap, but my first lap was again my fastest.
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