MrLizard Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 (edited) TLM 350z Race day ran and supported by Abbey Motorsport... Once upon a time a long time ago, (friday) in fact we went testing at Donington in preparation for the race which was today. I still had some time to find on the track but with no time to do any more practice I decided to listen to Marks advice and try and use the bits which were easy to mend, I also downloaded NFS Shift 2 and hammered around that in an Rx8 to try and get my lines spot on! Not quite iRacing but still useful... The day started and the Radison hotel which I must say was lovely aside from the fact that there was 2 large windows into the bathroom from the bedroom, not a problem just a bit odd... Arrived at the track at 7am and we setup about as far away from the pits as you could get, but then when your supporting the GT Cup racing Ferrari's and lambo's you have to expect a walk.. Qualifying went well, Mark and I decided that as he was quicker if would make sense for me to warm the car up and do 10 minutes of qually and let Mark do the larger portion, hopefully replicating his 1.22 from Friday. Started well, the car felt great if not potentially with a little too much pressure in the tyres. The weather was cold and windy but importantly the rain was holding off. Came into the pits this time taking notice of the pit board and gave Mark the car, we are informed the transponder isn't working .. Mark starts putting in quicker and quicker times though, putting the car in p1 temporarily and we ended up p4. The organisers for some reason seemed to think we were trying to pull the wool over their eyes and although there was only 1.5 hours to turn the car around for the race we were forced to dyno the car, fair enough if they arnt happy but they held the car for about an hour doing multiple runs on an already hot car, there was then some confusion (as it wasn't running over bhp) and so it looked like they would weigh it as well... Got the car back to the truck, Jamie and Mark(other) started to fill up with petrol and we are immediately told to go line up for the race!!! Im starting the race so I go to parc ferme and they hold us with the engine running for about 25 minutes, not the organisers fault but still frustrating. The Race I decide to launch the car by dumping the clutch at about 2.5/2.7 k rpm, lights out and were off, the car leaps off the line and I immediately pull to the inside of the track to stop the quicker cars from going up the inside of me, with no green flag though its tricky as the tyres and the brakes are cold, somehow ive managed to get into 2nd place! The important bits: I lose all speed out of coppice defending and drop back to 4th Making a move on the yellow Porsche I lock all the brakes up, he takes the apex anyway and we hit, Manage to get past one of the tegs infront of me Focus under blue flags cuts me up and loses the back end as I have no where to go! Somehow ive managed to start knocking in laps of 1.22... :s Change driver 30 minutes in Mark immediately starts lapping in the 22's and even manages to slide in a couple of 21's Teg brake checks Mark and loses the place Just as yellows turn to green Mark puts a move on the yellow Porsche and takes the position Mark is consistently quick and is catching the Seat(Supacopa s2000) in 2nd Last lap - seat runs out of petrol, tries to push mark off the track, mark goes off the track keeps his foot in and takes 2nd... Epic race with a cracking car, loads of fun The organisers force us to dyno the car post race as well... bit annoyed about that tbh but it proved that we are at 170bhp per ton not the 200bhp we should be at, so we can make more power... change in ECU lost us a little power as Mark needs to redo some of the cam control Great Weekend made possible by Abbey Motorsport Thanks to our sponsors Rev Marketing - www.revmarketing.co.uk Abbey Motorsport - www.abbeymotorsport.co.uk Edited April 29, 2013 by MrLizard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MITZ@CougarStore Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 Excellent write up, Steve... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Mcgoo Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 Good stuff ....God, I'd love to get into racing........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarmac@TarmacSportz Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 That's awesome, sounds like a great weekend ! Congrats Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humpy Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 Sounds like a great weekend and the car did you proud Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmanji Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 Interesting read, makes you want to have ago at a track day, what track would you recommend near London as a first, also would a standard 350z with regular brembos be unsuitable, what track pads would you use, and would the discs hold up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will370z Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 Nice little write and a great day. Bet you had a smile on your face today after that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrLizard Posted April 29, 2013 Author Share Posted April 29, 2013 Interesting read, makes you want to have ago at a track day, what track would you recommend near London as a first, also would a standard 350z with regular brembos be unsuitable, what track pads would you use, and would the discs hold up. Near London the obvious one is Brandshatch, it is quite technical for a small track but it will give you loads of room to learn and the onsite instructors are great and can give good advice to people just starting out, standard 350z is a decent car to start to learn in though the suspension lets it down a little, the brakes will be fine for a few laps but to stay out longer and brake potentially a little later then swapping to steel brake lines and getting some good fluid and pads in would be a good idea. Don't let that put you off though, first time just take the car as is and make sure you don't over do it for your own concentration or the cars ability (ie boiling fluids)... Of course abbeymotorsport (also near London) will be able to set your car up and give you some more advice if you need, Brands is their local pm me if you want any more advice 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrLizard Posted April 29, 2013 Author Share Posted April 29, 2013 Nice little write and a great day. Bet you had a smile on your face today after that as the Churchill dog would say oooooooooooooooooooooooooh yes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzo88 Posted April 29, 2013 Share Posted April 29, 2013 Excellent stuff, would have really like to come over and watch. Donnington isn't too far away. The most I've ever raced are Go-Karts :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT4 Zed Posted April 29, 2013 Share Posted April 29, 2013 Excellent report Steve and well done Mark I wish I was there and driving this beast. Need to look at seeing you guys in action soon. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M13KYF Posted April 29, 2013 Share Posted April 29, 2013 brilliant stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wizard Posted April 29, 2013 Share Posted April 29, 2013 Great. Why is it whenever I see Steve, he's always in full overalls?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrLizard Posted April 29, 2013 Author Share Posted April 29, 2013 I was born with a red race suit m8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark@Abbey m/s Posted April 29, 2013 Share Posted April 29, 2013 Few pictures from Friday test session; car looks pretty good, front bumper is now a slightly different shape thou. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser Posted April 29, 2013 Share Posted April 29, 2013 great write up again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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