July 2019
21Jul
New rubber
Not to miss out on any more points opportunities, I've ordered another set of Ultrasofts, which will go on the black rims, so I'll have a set for qualifying and for the run offs.I'm working with the championship coordinator, to bring live timings to the internet. The results page will be hosted on my website, at the following URL: https://results.zetecinside.com
I'm confident the system will work, I've been testing it over the past week, with no major issues. As times are entered in to the scoring spreadsheet on-event, the spreadsheet renders the worksheet in to html, and I'm using wput.exe to push the file over FTP to my site. Ireland will be the first time the system is used.
13Jul
Lydden Sprint
I really enjoyed my day at Lydden. The weather was dull and overcast in the morning, and it stayed cloudy most of the day, but that meant the temperatures were manageable (for July in England), and I could focus on my driving. On the first practice run, I launched the car quite hard, allowing the increased boost pressure to shoot the car up to the first corner, but as 2nd gear engaged the car tried turning right just as the camber changed, so that was a little bit of a wake up call. For the rest of the day I launched, then pulled 2nd early, and paid the first corner a little more respect. My first practice run was a slow 73s run. Not the best of starts as that was 3s off my PB.The first timed run was a lot faster, with the front wing still at the steeper angle, I added a little rear wing angle too, and on the Ultrasofts with the TC at 1%, I managed to not only break my PB, but I also broke the class record set by Goulding in 2018. Thats better. The 2nd timed run, I again set a new PB and broke the record, but Pete went 6/10ths quicker, making up for his DNF on the first run due to a mistake leading to a spin. And he'd been at Lydden the month before for some cheeky practice too. I'd done enough to qualify 7th for the run offs, with Pete one place ahead (a familiar theme this year).
For the run offs, I drained the tank, worked out the fuel consumption, and filled it with 10 litres of 102. It was a track where I knew fuel surge was an issue, and I wasnt taking any chances. The car used 1.3l for the two lap format, or about 5mpg, and with 10l in the tank, I'd have enough for three goes in case of a rerun. I lined up, tried my best, and again, beat the class record and set another new PB with a 68.06s. That was a good improvement over my 2018 PB of 70.25. I was still 7th, and drove back to the trailer to park the car in front of the cooling fan I'd taken with me, which was blowing cold air over the intercooler to bring its temperature down. 10 mins later and I'm back on the start line for the 2nd run off, and again, I tried harder, but the traction control was complaining, with the engine being strangled coming out of the corners. I only had it at 3% but the rear tyres were not gripping at all, so I wrestled the car around the track, and went quicker surprisingly, with a 67.95, which sadly was only good enough for 9th! I know right, the level of competition is increasing so much now, that four of us were on 67s, two on 66, with Matt Hillam on 65s in the Dallara, John Graham on 64s in the Gould, and Colin Calder the outright winner on a 62s.
Goulding and Miles both bolted brand new sets of Ultrasoft rubber on for the run offs, and they were both on the same 67s as me, but obviously the new rubber was worth the few tenths that they both beat me by. Speaking with Matt Hillam, he said that the SBD car noticed a drop off in performance after 60 starts, and when I put my results in to my spreadsheet, low and behold my rears have now done almost 60 starts. So I've had to order a new set too, and we'll see at Knockhill if they're any better. Thats not until September, so I've plenty of time to make a few more modifications to the car in that time too. So yes, very pleased with the weekend, I scored 7 points, and hold on to my 3rd place overall. Thats a good end to my birthday week.
08Jul
Lydden targets
The target time for Lydden, is 66 seconds, which is 4s quicker than I went in 2018. But with the Pirelli tyres, and working launch control I reckon there's at least 0.5s a corner per lap, which should be easy to do if the weather holds out. The forecast for much of the country is wet this weekend, so I'll take the wet tyres just in case.07Jul
More boost
I've increased the boost target (manifold pressure) during the launch phase, to give the car a bit more urgency as it accelerates. The LC is working so well, keeping the wheelspin under control, that it's time to increase the boost during launch to see if I can further reduce the 64ft time. The Manifold Pressure Target table raises the boost pressure as the car reaches vehicleSpeed breakpoints, and I've been quite conservative, so now I can increase the targets and we'll see at Lydden if it helps. Ultimately, with launch control, its the amount of power being produced by the engine that limits acceleration. So more boost = more power, therefore the car should accelerate more quickly, and the wheelspin will still be managed by the ECU.
06Jul
