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David Muramoto
Senior Editor
Nissan Sport Magazine
(303) 752-9777

 

I have the same pictures everyone else has so nothing really to post. Want to say thanks to David and Gary for a great and safe day. No accidents, no bumps, no nothing! Not bad for open passing! Like everyone else, id gladly share the whole track with everyone! I will note, it was very kind of gary to wave me on by when we both know he just wanted to play cat and mouse with me. I got nothing on those R compounds! It was great to race with everyone as well as share a wonderful meal after! Thanks to Robert for letting me crash at his place before the race as well as use of tools and garage time for preping the car. Next up, im looking for that red car that everyone keeps talking about, id love to keep up one lap with that thing!

 

Same here! I found myself disecting every turn last night while laying in bed. I can't believe I'm still thinking about it.

 

Trying to figure where you went wrong? I know I was carring too much speed after passing you.

 

LOl, I knew what went wrong those two times I went off the track. I was just wondering how I can get more speed in T2 - T4. I also realized why you guys like T5 so much. That is a fun turn!

I was also thinking about the braking point for T1 and when I should downshift into 3rd. I took T1 at about 60-70 mph, then I realized that on one pass I went in really hot at 78 mph but I still made the turn. (thats when I realized that good racing seats will help me stay put) So it now it makes me think, could I take T1 in 4th in my car...etc...

 

You could do that, but I would rather have the torque from 3rd to help accelerate out of the turn. I'm sure Dave, Gary and others have their own thoughts on this.

My problem with Turn 1 is braking hard and down-shifting from 5th to 3rd. I don't know if I should be touching 4th on the way down or not (I haven't) and gong straight to third is a monster heel-toe blip!

Joel

 

I like going into T1 at around 75 in fourth and pushing on the gas about half way through so by the time im at the exit ive already got the power of fourth to wrap things up, then about the middle of T2 ill downshift to 3rd as the power rolls down. I then stay in 3rd all the way till T7 downshifting to 2, im back in 3rd until the backstraight where ill get into fourth briefly, back down to 3rd to get around through T10 and then start climbing gears again on the straight. Hope that helps some... (Keep in mind mods and rubber on the road, i dont have R compound, but i do have a lot more rubber than stock on the ground.)

 

Heh, I touch 5th on the back straight....

Of course, that might be why I went off the track on turn 9 once!

 

Joel, Thanks for the thoughts. I'm no racer by any means but what I like was going from 5th to 3rd. I found that this also helps slow the car down which means that I don't have to step on the brake as hard once I downshift. If this is a big no no then Ooops.

I figured you guys might be taking T1 faster than me due to your car's setup. To me, when I hit 70mph I feel like if the car is about to spin and crash. Maybe it's just my lack of skills.

You guys take T10 in 3rd? I've been taking it in 2nd.

All this talk is making me want to go back so bad!

 

I have a slightly wider tire than stock (8.5" Front and 9" Rear), and Brembos. Other than that, we should be a fair match. I'm not sure what speed I was hitting at T1, but I do know I was going faster than previously (I'm assuming the tires had a lot to do with that). You'll make improvements each time you go out there, I know I always do.

Yeah I do take T10 in 3rd and barely touch the brakes as I enter the turn to settle the back end. Then it's easy on the throttle in a sweeping arc or as close as you can get to a straight line. You're in trouble if you get on the gas while you're still committed to the turn. If your screen name is Dkmura, you probably do a "confidence lift" and 4 wheel drift over the mis-matched pavement.

All this talk makes me think we should do more ride-alongs. Maybe we could make it an exercise so that we can see what each other is doing around the track and share observations and critiques.

Joel

 

You guys were getting into 5th??? I honestly don't recall ever getting into 5th gear.

 

I got my turns mixed. I meant it was T9 that I'm in 2nd. I do hit T10 in 3rd but you bring up a good point about not gasing it. T10 was really scary to me simply because of the payments. My back end feels like its about to spin out every time. I think it was you that told me not to gas it during the turn. I tried it on our last session and it made a big difference.

 

Good discussion here. From reading all these comments it sounds like some critical thinking is still going on about Pueblo Motorsports Park. That's great! I'll throw my $0.02 in and mention that T10 is a critical turn for making up time at Pueblo. Get a good launch out of it and you'll see higher speeds all the way down the front straight. Typically, as Jgray says LOL, I'd set the car up for a nice, easy arc by using a small confidence lift just before turn-in. Much easier to do on R-compound tires, but the real key is to maintain one turn of the wheel and SQUEEZE the power on.

The Z does bump and skip over the launch pad surface and as you GRADUALLY increase your speed from lap-to-lap, you'll notice how much of a four-wheel drift to compensate for. Using the last few orange cones as an apex allowed me to get WOT through the second half of the turn. I tried it in both third and fourth gears and third was definitely a bit faster with the car pulling harder. On a fast lap, I was able to catch 5th gear just beyond the timing lights and noticed terminal velocity to be around 120-124 MPH.

Two final points: don't try this until you've had a lot of practice at PMP and gradually increase your speed (as mentioned in the syllabus) until you get comfortable with it.

 

I was hitting 125 at the end of the front straight, but that was due to power, not speed coming out of T10. As others had mentioned, I was really leary of T10 for two reasons, the first being the uneven pavement, and the second being that wall there! I took T10 easier than others turns because I knew that if I went off the track on T10, I was screwed, whereas the other turns, it wasn't that big of a deal to go off track. And honestly, when (not if) I go back to PMP, it will still be the turn that I take the easiest, compared to the other turns.

 

Its taken me several track days to feel comfy there. Ive only had some mild uneasyness once or twice but now im pretty much behind david with the hitting the gas and then doing a confidence lift into the corner and then getting back on it easy as i go through. Also making sure to really hug the inside and hitting those last couple cones for the apex really helps. How i came up right behind you Dave. I started when i first started at PMI braking into that corner, now i try to stay on the gas as much as i safely can while still being easy on the corner since that pavement is still pretty creepy. The key is to get your turning done earlier so that when you hit those pavements your pretty much moving in a straightish line. You wont be straight till after the turn, but the less your pushing on the tires through that corner the easier it will feel! Just my .02 cents

 

Thats a great point. I didn't think about that. So to get a much of a straight line as possible, when do you start your turning and how far out to the left is your apex? I would think that to get a straight line, you would go far left as you are entering T10 but I saw many ppl come closer to the right making a large smooth arc than a sharp arc and setting up a straight line.

Am I making any sense?

 

Well its sort of visually hard to see. I cut in about the same spot, but i make the turn so that im in just a little later and coming right as late as possible so that im apexing right at the tower and rolling onto the straight. Id be glad to take you for some laps next time were out to show you! Sort of hard to describe!

 

Yeah, it is hard to describe unless someone can post pics of that turn, hint...hint.....

I'll definately do a ride with you next time.