Guran's NA6 "Little Reddy"

[Guran]

I just realised that by dropping my EC PB into the 2:00s, I've now graduated to the "Blue" group for both Wakefield Park (1:12-1:16) and Eastern Creek (1:55-2:01). Until now, I've always run in the "White" group (>1:16 and >2:01). In practice, this has meant that I've had to deal with other drivers who were up to 30s per lap slower , which was a right pain sometimes. Now I'll be at the tail of my group but will be sharing the track with drivers who're much more closely paced.

[Hammer]

Congratulations Bryan. You're definately getting to know "Little Reddy" intimately well.

[Charlie Brown]

Well done Bryan, fantastic time in a 1600.

As for moving into the Blue group and being down the back, no way unless you purposely line up as one of the last ones out. As you know the Supersprints are really a free for all as to when you start.

You may be able to use starting in the Blue group to your advantage. If you time it right and arrive at the last turn onto the main straight with a faster car in front, you may be able to get a tow down the straight which would mean your 6 metre deficit would be wiped out and maybe the magic 2:00.00 would go. Have a think about who to line up behind on the dummy grid and then stick to them during the warm up lap.

[Guran]

Thanks for the tip Phil. On my PB lap (lap 2 of the last run), I was chasing down a Polo GTI (blue group) and I got nice and close by turn 12 for a tow down the main straight. It gave me an extra 4km/hr at the end of the straight. Unfortunately, I threw away 0.2s at turn 2 by running too deep. Without that mistake I might have cracked the Class 1A record.

Last night I finally got around to installing the new Circuit Tools software for my PerformanceBox. Wow, what a massive improvement it is over the old Performance Tools software. It automatically detects the circuit identity, imports the circuit map and splits, and is much easier to use after that point. It automatically flags your best lap and displays the time difference (delta-t) compared with every split of every lap. You can also graph the delta-t as a function of distance, and see exactly where you've gained/lost time on a particular sector. It is truly awesome stuff. Should keep me busy for the next week!

[evil_weevil]

Bryan,
What I was doing was making sure I was one of the last cars out in Blue- but after thinking what Phil wrote..I shouldnt have haha
while I had a free track for all my sessions a few weeks back - using a faster car to "tow" down the straight would be a good help and I certainly need it too lol

I need one of those performance box thingies!

[Guran]

Yeh i reckon what you really need is to get behind a car that is a little slower in terms of lap times but is quicker in a straight line. Something like a Civic, Celica or Polo GTI. That way you can get on their tail by turn 12 and then get a tow down the straight. Otherwise, if they're too quick, you've got a hard time getting close enough for the tow.

[Charlie Brown]

Makes it real interesting when you pull out of the slip stream and go under them in Turn 1

[Guran]

With a wet and windy club trackday on the cards at Wakefield Park tomorrow, I got home late and decided I should bleed the brakelines after dinner. Got a bit carried away on the rear right and proceeded to suck air into the lines. &@#%! What should have been a five minute job took another half hour of pedal pumping. All I can say is that it's moments like these that prove the value of keeping a couple bottles of brake fluid in the garage.

[Hellmun]

I've checked a fair few weather reports...everything says sunny

[Guran]

Hooray! My broadband account has started a new month and I have bandwidth again. Time for some videos.

29th August 2010

NSW Supersprint Round 8 - Eastern Creek

Another awesome day at Eastern Creek Supersprints. The weather was kind with a chilly start of 5C at 7am when the gates opened, rising to 12C for the first runs, and peaking at 19C by lunch. I ran with my soft-top up and used Bridgestone RE55S semi-slicks.

My first run was a complete write-off as the marshalls took an age to release all the cars, I got stuck behind a very slow Commodore on the warm-up lap, and then lapped by the leader. So I only got two laps under the best conditions of the day. Was just a tad annoyed about that. The second run had traffic on the first two laps, and after getting past, I thought I'd experiment with taking turn 4 in 4th gear so I could carry more speed. I ran very wide on exit, so not a good idea and I'll stick with 3rd in future. After lunch, I came within a whisker of matching my PB on the 2nd lap of the third run (2:01.472). On my fourth run, I was following Stewart Temesvary's NB a tried an earlier turn-in on turn 8. I clipped the ripple strip which kicked the car to the right and then I ran off the road into the kitty litter. Thankfully I stopped before the hairpin and didn't break anything. The best I could manage on this run was 2:02.285. Fifth run and with Peter Price's Class 3B NA hot on my heals, I did a new PB of 2:01.090. On the final run of the day, I was chasing down a Polo GTI and a pair of modified Civics, and got a nice slipstream behind the Polo down the straight to clock a new PB of 2:00.734.

So my official new PB at Eastern Creek is now 2:00.734.

That was a mere 0.13s off the Class 1A record, and means that I graduate to the Blue group next time at EC.

Natsoft Results

I finished the day 4th in Type 1 / Class 1B, behind Paul Bower's XR4 (1:56.779), Tony Chan's Celica (1:57.785), Stewart Temesvary's NB (1:59.950 on bald R-specs!). Fastest MX-5, as usual, was Mark Hellmund with a 1:53.567.

That's it for me at the 2010 Supersprint Championship since I can't make it to the last round at Wakefield Park. I will finished in 4th place in Type 1 and Class 1B. The MX-5 Club of NSW is still leading the club championship on 878 points, followed by NSWRRC on 789 and ARDC on 619.

My new PB of 2:00.734


The bloopers reel

[Guran]

5th September 2010

MX-5 Club of NSW track day - Wakefield Park

It was wet, very windy and cold yesterday, but it was still a LOT of fun for the 64 entrants (53 MX-5s) who braved the conditions! Goulburn had a lot of rain over the week, and the sodden ground meant that there were several rivers flowing across the track, which dried out to different degrees during the day. Turn 2 was a 2nd gear corner for nearly everyone because the river across the apex never quite dried up enough to take it hard. There was lots of drifting action! I found I was entering it with a little oversteer, understeer would set in as soon as I hit the water, then it'd swap back to oversteer as soon as the tyres gripped. Exciting stuff!

Generally the track was about two seconds off the PB pace for most people. That was due mainly to the river at turn 2, but also turn 9 was creating problems: the strong wind meant that few could get through there flat throttle (even on R-specs), whereas it is usually no problem. And the back straight was also into a strong headwind. The turn 10 apex was wet all day too.

Remarkably, some people still managed PBs . Luke Kovacic did a 1:15.74 in his modified SE (down from 1:17.53 in Dec 2009); and Ralph Thompson did a 1:16.80 in his modified NC (down from 1:16.97 on the "perfect day" in June 2010!). A great effort in the conditions!

The quickest MX-5 on the day was Mark Hellmund (as usual) with a 1:12.61, which is almost three seconds off his PB. That time was bettered only by a visitor in a 200SX (1:10.47). Next quickest MX-5s were Patrick Bramston in a supercharged NA6 (1:14.00), Donovan Battison in "Turbo Boy" (1:14.28), Russell Battison in a turbo NA8 (1:14.67), Rob Erskine in a turbo NA8 (1:14.70), and Tony Williams in a modified NA6 (1:14.89).

Hammer and I had a ding-dong battle in Class 1 with the lead swapping between us several times throughout the day:

Run 1 was not timed although I did a 1:23.6 according to my PerformanceBox
Run 2: me 1:20.77, Allan 1:20.27 ... Allan led by 0.50s
Run 3: me 1:20.16, Allan 1:20.54 ... I led by 0.11s
Run 4: me 1:20.25, Allan 1:19.93 ... Allan led by 0.23s
Run 5: me 1:19.80, Allan 1:19.75 ... Allan led by 0.05s
Run 6: me 1:19.19, Allan 1:19.26 ... I led by 0.07s
Run 7: me 1:18.94, Allan 1:19.14 ... I led by 0.20s

First blood for 2010/11 goes to Little Reddy! Thanks Allan, it was great fun!

Thank you very much to the club officials who soldiered on in the freezing and blustery weather. Your efforts are truly appreciated!

Ron Tito's turbo NB8A after his gardening expedition


The bloopers reel

[gobsmax]

Nice one Bryan, loved the "blooper" reel...what was on the grass on turn 8 at the end of the clip?

[Guran]

It was the undertray of another car that had been left behind.

[Guran]

12th September 2010
MX5 Club of NSW - BreakFast Club - MX500 One Day Classic



I have only been a member of the MX-5 Club since February 2009, and joined primarily for the club's motorsport activities. I've only missed one club trackday since then, and have been a dedicated participant in the State Supersprints in 2010. I can confidently say that Mike Hicks, Zan Menzel and their helpers do a fantastic job organising these events, and their efforts are sincerely appreciated by all drivers. If you've never tried a club trackday, you really should. It's the best place to safely experience the superb handling of your MX-5. You will have a ball and improve your driving skills at the same time.

I get so much enjoyment from the club, that I felt it was time I put something back in. So I approached Michael Soulos with the idea of something a bit different for the BreakFast Club. These club runs suit those hardy souls who enjoy an early morning spirited drive, and the drives are normally finished by breakfast. This time around we wouldn't be back in town until late afternoon. Welcome to the MX500 One Day Classic - 500km of great driving roads.

My day dawned earlier than most since I left home in the Illawarra at 5:45am in order to arrive at our Richmond starting point by 7:30am. The weather was perfect for topless motoring, with only the odd cloud and a welcome chill in the air. A broad range of people turned up, with both genders well represented, from teenagers to grandparents with all stops in between. And everyone was there to enjoy an enthusiastic drive in the country.


Photo by gobsmax

After a sign-on and driver briefing, a conga line of 25 MX-5s (and an MR2!) departed at 8am over Bells Line of Road, across Darling Causeway, and then down the twisty descent of Victoria Pass. At the bottom, we stopped for an al alfresco breakfast at the Ambermere Rose Inn (6355 2266), a restored Cobb & Co staging post opened in 1845. Fiona and her staff were great hosts, and the grassed carpark was perfect for our group, which had swelled to 27 with a couple additions from Bathurst.


Photo by gorby


Photo by gobsmax

With the option of hot or cold buffet breakfast, our tanks were filled in preparation for the fun drive ahead. Our route detoured to Jenolan Caves, through the Grand Arch, and up the tight, twisty road to Oberon. At a quick regroup stop, we discovered that one MX-5 had broken down on the climb out of Jenolan. I thought that only happened to British roadsters?! A few people stopped to lend a hand and they were quickly on the go again. Such solidarity is typical of these drives.


Photo by Gorby

At Oberon, we joined Abercrombie Road which forms the central part of "The Tablelands Way". This road is now fully sealed (except for a very short section of council roadworks), and connects Oberon to Goulburn via quaint localities such as Norway, Black Springs, Porters Retreat, and Paling Yards. The surface is delightfully smooth (for the most part), and features countless sweeping corners with 65km/hr and 75km/hr advisory signs, that were disdainfully but safely treated by our MX 5s. It was pure driving nirvana!


Photo by r_muir86

Our next stop was in the historic town of Taralga (est.c.1840). We filled the dining room at the Taralga Hotel (4840 2007), and the kitchen did brilliantly to efficiently serve our horde with delicious country fair. As you can guess by now, nobody goes hungry on my drives!

After levering our bloated bodies from the pub, we departed for Goulburn for a refuelling stop and regrouped at the McDonalds. The drive home was sedately taken via the Hume Freeway, with most continuing on the motorways home, but some hardy souls opting for the delights of Macquarie Pass and the Royal National Park.


Photo by r_muir86


Photo by gobsmax

I thoroughly enjoyed being given the opportunity to lead a club run and I strongly recommend others get involved. You will receive plenty of help with organising the details, and it's easy to manage. Believe me, it is a rewarding site looking in your mirrors and seeing a string of MX-5s stretching for a kilometre or so behind you!

Lastly, thanks to Michael Soulos (Midori) for all his guidance and help with planning this run. I thought I knew a lot about doing these things, but definitely learnt some new tricks.



Visit the MX500 thread for more photos and discussion of this run.

[gorby]

Great write up, was my first run and definitely won't be my last. Thanks for organising it.