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Well, here's an unexpected update: with the Titan and trailer all packed up for the tow to HPR tomorrow, a winter storm has moved in! Yes, that's what you get here in Colorado--sun, wind, rain and snow--all in springtime. Some weather forecasts have us getting 8-12" of wet, heavy snow on Friday for the drive down to the track!
Ah well, I choose to live in this beautiful state and accept the crazy weather at this time of year. People don't realize it, but April is our second snowiest month (usually at the beginning, not at the end), so the skiing and riding is actually pretty good RIGHT NOW. And while it might be a bit dicey, let's keep an optimistic outlook: the snow will melt and I say bolt on those rains and drop the green flag!
Perhaps predictably, this race was cancelled shortly after I got on the highway. The snow got heavier, and officials made the decision to delay the race until next weekend.
Our opening SCCA race was this weekend and what a wild one it was! First race the Z ran well, but holy cow were there a lot of $$$ fast cars in other classes to contend with. Factory built racecars like the Porsche 911 GT3, and BMW M235iR were seen up close (until they pulled away) and were my biggest competition even though they were in other classes. We also ran the HPR short course, which was all of eight turns and just over a mile long. Not enough corner workers came out to support this rescheduled event. The second race was more eventful, as for the first time, I failed to completely latch my window net mechanism. After three laps, it came down in a fast corner and fell into my lap! Not much to do--once it was called in by a corner crew, I'd get black flagged anyway--I elected to make a quick pitstop and get it back into place. Falling to last place in the race, the Z worked it's way back up though the ranks before the checkered flag fell. Later on, it rained and hailed in the afternoon and made a mess of one of the formula car races.
So we got off to a somewhat auspicious start to the 2016 season with two finishes. But other problems remain: ECM and ABS codes were popping up, there's a leak somewhere in the CSC and (judging from tire wear) my wheel alignment is out. Lots of work to do before making the long tow to St. Louis this next weekend. The SCCA Majors race is on a fast roval within view of the famous arches, followed by another SCCA Majors at Pueblo Motorsports Park on Memorial Day weekend means May is a very busy month!
Quick update from the Circuit of St. Louis (formerly Gateway International): the Titan is heading back to Colorado filled with Majors checkered flags and first place trophies. The bad news is the single inlet magnaflow muffler was pushed so far to the right by the banked turns, it melted the rear bumper! Ran over some track debris that badly damaged one of my sideskirts, so the Z will need some work before the next race.
Nut behind the wheel is pretty tired and still over 700 miles before we get home. Ah- the glamour of racing!
Well, here's the latest from grin city: the last SCCA Majors race at Pueblo Motorsports Park is finished and resulted in two second place finishes for the Memorial Day weekend. I wish I could say it was on pure speed, but in this case, it was due to durability. I also raced in the Rocky Mountain Divisional races, which meant I had to go through impound (making sure I was over 3,450# on the scales) and back to my pit, where I refueled the Z, changed all four tires and got back to the grid in time to make another race! Happy to say I won both RMD races, but I was one tired puppy at the end of the day!
Here's a shot from the pits this past weekend- sorry I didn't have time to shoot any more, but I was kinda busy this time out!
Well, here's the latest from grin city: the last SCCA Majors race at Pueblo Motorsports Park is finished and resulted in two second place finishes for the Memorial Day weekend. I wish I could say it was on pure speed, but in this case, it was due to durability. I also raced in the Rocky Mountain Divisional races, which meant I had to go through impound (making sure I was over 3,450# on the scales) and back to my pit, where I refueled the Z, changed all four tires and got back to the grid in time to make another race! Happy to say I won both RMD races, but I was one tired puppy at the end of the day!
Here's a shot from the pits this past weekend- sorry I didn't have time to shoot any more, but I was kinda busy this time out!
I don't have a lot of people that I call one of my heroes ('cept for Ayrton Senna) but Dave, you do me proud.
Congrats on the wins! (And 2nds!!) Get some rest now! That's all so totally awesome!
Thanks for the comments, everyone. Believe it or not, the season is at about the halfway point and after checking the points, things are tight. In the SCCA Majors series, there are only one point separations in the Mid-States T3 standings between three drivers and I'm (barely) in second. For the Rocky Mountain Division SCCA standings, I need another two finishes to clinch the '16 T3 title for the year, before I drop ALL THE BALLAST and go after the T1 title.
The next race is going to be a rough one: 40 mm inlet restrictors and 245-40-18 tires (down from 275s) are mandatory for the Z.
Tell those SCCA *****, "Don't tell me what to do with my tires."
Ah, they'll just tell me to take my act to T2, where I can use 285-30-18s and race against Corvette C6s and mustang Boss 302s. Or, T1 where the C7, Ferrari F360 and F430 Ferrari Cup cars go up against various 911s, R8s and other supercar competition.
With the last Mid-States Majors race coming up in a few weeks, it appears most Z racers are opting to reclass into T2, but that's a packed class with a difficult conversion. At least for the near future, I'll stick to T3 and continue planning for the High Plains race. The 40 mm restrictors are being built and I plan to dyno them--before and after--when they arrive. I'm still hoping to find some used 245-40-18 r-compound tires for use at this race, but so far, no luck. If not, I'll order a new set of BFGoodrich R1S tires for this July race. Finally, most of the ballast (both lead, steel and the spare tire) will have to removed from the Z and my standard race prep done in the coming weeks.
Spent the weekend making the conversion to the new specs in Touring 3 for my Z. I considered creating a new post about it, but didn't think people would want to read about (or see photos) how to make your Z SLOWER. The 40 mm inlet restrictors were sourced from a pro team and were beautifully made. Unfortunately, no dyno time was available, so factual data for the race is going to be difficult to come by. Still waiting for the 245-40-18 BFGoodrich R1S to arrive, but those should also reduce the grip available for another performance reduction. SCCA racing is kinda crazy, eh?
Disaster on Saturday, Redemption (kinda) on Sunday
The "Freedom Sprints" SCCA Majors race at High Plains Raceway was completed over the Fourth of July weekend. Saturday was a DISASTER as the Z would go into limp mode at various points around the 2.55-mile circuit. That meant checking the mirrors, pulling off-line and attempting to manually clear the codes before reentering. Of course, this screwed up my morning qualifying session and had me scrambling the rest of the day.
The key to understanding the issue was the two codes that continued to show up in my Cipher scans: P2101 and P1233. Both relate to malfunctions with the "electronic throttle control function" and are ones I've never encountered before on the HR. But it was the bullet I'd feared: a malfunction from the installation of the 40mm restrictor plates. After checking and rechecking the installation, and multiple "test runs", it was obvious this was not a problem that would be easily solved.
The key to this mystery was checking with Bob Schader, my loyal opposition (and defending T3 National Champ) who also had to run the restrictor plates. The ones on his HR were much thicker- closer to 3/8" and had been fabricated by his chassis and engine builder, Jesse Prather. It wasn't until Bob recalled what Jesse had told him that the light bulbs went off: in checking the plates, the sweep of the butterfly plates had been interfering with the restrictor plates. Seeing this, the fabricator carefully built spacers to fit over the plates and allow the throttle bodies to fully open.
Slapping your forehead in the paddock is never pleasant. We went back to my Z and checked the installation. With the intake tube pulled back, we used a screwdriver to confirm the hypotheses. Pushing the butterfly inward from the bottom, it only opened halfway before hitting the plate itself. Since all Z33's use a fly-by-wire throttle, the signal to WOT was being interrupted and the ECM would assume a problem had occurred. This likely resulted in triggering limp mode as a safety measure (Nobody wants a faulty TB sticking at WOT). But with no spares available and no way to access a machine shop to built a proper spacer before the afternoon race, I was left with either withdrawing or trying to limp the car to a finish. After some thought, I chose the latter.
We installed a padded throttle stop under the gas pedal and I'd have to limit how much input I gave to the pedal itself to prevent the butterfly from opening and striking the restrictor plate, but I chose to look at this as a driving challenge: could I drive the Z SLOWLY enough not to trigger limp mode? Despite some hopeful signs, this race was a disaster: starting from the rear and completing the pace lap, I was sloooowly accelerating onto the back straight when limp mode hit at only 4500 RPM! With no one to avoid, I pulled off line and desperately tried to clear the codes with the manual on-off method. It took three full cycles before I got it restarted and was lapped in the process--but worse yet and despite my best efforts to be easy and progressive on the gas--the Z continued to go into limp mode at various points around the circuit.
Eventually, I pulled off onto an escape road and was told by the race stewards (via the ES crew) to retire the car, rather than risk a huge shunt with the car being stuck in the wrong place on this hilly track. It was the first DNF the Z had suffered in several years and meant an end to any Majors title aspirations I had. Schader took the Mid-States T3 title that day, and I was left to ponder what would have happened if I'd found some dyno time or spent the money for a short track test. This was the price for being ill-prepared.
Despite being tired and sweat soaked from a bitterly contested DNF, I had to think about the following Majors race the next day. Should I just give up and pack up? What were my options? Not being able to fabricate the necessary spacer to compete in T3, I decided to just remove it completely and change classes. While I'd be badly outgunned in a full T1 field, at least I'd stay in the same run group and find out if the throttle bodies were damaged in this restrictor plate debacle. The positive news is without the restrictor plates, everything went back to normal and the Z was happily screaming down straights again. Using older tires and finding a significant exhaust leak were not ideal, but I still finished fourth in T1 after one Vette retired with a blown engine. I even made some passes after coming from the back. So, a bit of redemption from what I can only describe as a disasterous weekend racing the Z.
Sounds like a very frustrating weekend DK. I suppose I have all of this to look forward to someday when I can afford to get the car all set up for W2W racing. UHG!!
I saw Bob run at an NASA event last year and checked out his car. He looked awfully fast at PPIR.
04-28-2016, 08:06 PM
