Monday Aug 19th Track Day at Wakefield

[chops]

looking forward to this, has been a long time since i was at Wakefield

[Apu]

How did everyone go today? I was thinking of all the fun I was missing during my drive to the airport

[Suspense]

How did everyone go today? I was thinking of all the fun I was missing during my drive to the airport

Facebook spectating suggests it was a cold and miserable day down there. Probably better than a day in the office though.

[cwto24]

How did everyone go today? I was thinking of all the fun I was missing during my drive to the airport

Facebook spectating suggests it was a cold and miserable day down there. Probably better than a day in the office though.

My first time and it was cold and windy with the occasional shower. I dont think anyone could really get any heat in their tyres. My last round (which was the last round of the day i believe) had just started contantly raining and people were sliding left right and centre and coming off the track.

[Apu]

Sounds similar to my first trip back to Wakefield in the MX5...nice and slippery!

How did the race cars / higher powered cars go?

[chops]

Glad I left when I did if the weather turned further south

I had a lot of fun and was happy with my results. First time at Wakefield in nearly 2 years and first time with this setup and all held together well and improved my best time by a decent amount

Good to see Mark's new setup working well and going quick straight away

[Apu]

Hellmun you mean? How did he go?

[chops]

Yep, He had done a 1.08.08 when I left I don't know if he went any quicker, pretty happy with my 1.09.06

[Apu]

Woah! What have you done to your car then chops?

I'm really keen to get out again - waiting for new bushes and going to lighten the car more!

[Hjt]

Great results for both Mark and Cameron by the looks of things.

I am sure both car have a tonne more potential. Imagine a crisp dry day with low ambient air temps.

[Apu]

Where are the results showing Hayden?

[david_syd_au]

Where are the results showing Hayden?

I don't think the results are posted online yet.

Keep an eye on the club website here http://nsw.mx5.com.au/motorsport/track-days/results

[Apu]

How did you go David?

[david_syd_au]

How did you go David?

You'll regret asking! :-)

The short version:

I had fun at the supersprint on Sunday, did a 1:12.89, but had a serious car issue towards the end of the day. My daughter drove the Monday track day, hated the rain, didn't beat her PB, but had fun.

The long version:

I did the supersprint on Sunday, while my daughter Rachel assisted as a flag marshal, and then she did the trackday on Monday, while I acted as pit crew for her, and did a couple of odd jobs to help with the event.

The Sunday was dry all day, cold and windy. Monday was colder, more wind, and intermittent brief showers.

The Sunday supersprint was run by the MX-5 Club of NSW, and as always was well organised and run, and lots of fun. The first couple of runs were very slippery, requiring about 3 laps to get enough temperature in my tyres to have a go, rather than the usual 1 lap.
I did my best time of 1:12.89 (improved from the 1:14.28 earlier in the year) in the 2nd run of the day, but couldn't improve after that. Much of that improvement is probably down to changed swaybars, and also the changed front bar and added rear wing.

Late in the day, I noticed a squeak from the front right when returning the the pit. Removing the front wheels showed the brakes pads were low, particularly on the front right, which was worn unevenly and down to about 1 mm. That probably wasn't the cause of the squeak, however I few wise heads advised changing the pads rather than risk them wearing to the backing and possibly damaging the disc, particularly as Rachel would be doing the track day on Monday.

Greg Bunn kindly lent me a set of pads (thanks Greg!) which I fitted, then did another run, starting gently, to bed in the pads. At the end of that run the noise had changed to a periodic scrapping sound, so thinking that maybe it was due to the new pads, I lined up almost immediately for a final run. At the completion of that run the noise had become constant, with serious clicking and grinding sounds. Jacking up the front of the car and tugging on the front right wheel showed alot of movement, and the diagnosis of a stuffed wheel bearing.

Looking back, there has been a rumbling sound, sometimes quite load, for the last 3 events, which I had put down to tyre noise due to uneven wear. Reviewing some videos from those events shows the noise was worst when turning left, gone when turning right, still there when going straight ahead, and gradually got worse over those events. In retrospect I should have investigated that noise further back then, and fixed the bearing before it become terminal.

Anyway, based on advice from a couple of people, I rang Peter Battisson from ACDC in Canberra, as he may have suitable parts, and he was expected on Monday for the track day. Peter very kindly found a new hub for an NB8A with ABS, and brought that to the track on Monday morning, along with some extra tools necessary to do the replacement.

A huge thanks to Peter for helping me out. He said it was no big deal, but I suspect he went to more trouble that he admits. Thanks Peter!.

I arrived at the track at 7am and started to remove the front right hub. Peter dropped by soon after with the parts and tools, and mostly importantly, some instructions for a me, the mechanical novice. He had to assist at scrutineering, so couldn't help do the work, but his advice was invaluable. Other than a difference in the location of the ABS ring between the old and new hubs, solved by removing the ABS ring from the old hub and adding it to the new hub, the job went well, with some timely help from Keith Bridgement, and the car was ready to go by the first run.

The car ran well all day, and we had no further problems, other than trying to stay warm and dry.

Thanks again the MX-5 Club for running 2 great events, and particularly to Peter Battisson for saving my bacon.

[Apu]

Always great to hear stories like these David - the spirit that its, not the issues you had! I don't think we see this level of camaraderie in some of the other clubs.