Pictures from Winton 29th Mar 2009

Thanks to Anja and Kam for these pictures.

The dirty yellow GT40 replica that wouldn't let me overtake despite lapping slower than me.

Cooling down...

MSCA Sprints - Winton Raceway

This was my first time back on the long track since August last year. The difference this time in the car setup were the wider 255 Dunlop D02G's/D03G's.

Session 1
Stuck behind a joker in a replica (see mini tirade below) for the whole session except the last lap.

1:55.0493
1:45.6639
1:44.4470
1:47.2294
1:45.2227
1:47.1645
1:48.3223
1:47.6157
1:43.2376 NEW PB

Session 2
Stuck behind the same joker again for the first half of this session.

1:58.5116
1:48.6985
1:48.1893
1:48.0338
1:49.9640
1:46.2030
1:45.1426
1:44.7330

Session 3
Stuck behind a blue 240Z for most of this session until it spun in front of me, then I had a couple of clean runs.

1:58.0883
1:46.9556
1:46.1456
1:45.1950
1:47.1899
1:45.2663

One thing I noticed when I compared the speed vs distance graph of my best lap below to one for a 1:43.7 lap from July 2008 was that I now brake earlier at most corners. This resulted in getting on the throttle earlier and top speed on straights were up.

Full results:
http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?29/03/2009.WINO.Q1.I

Now for my mini tirade...

A good day overall, track time was adequate. However, here are some things that bugged me:
- Inconsistent scrutineering and double standards being applied.
- Generally unfriendly/testosterone-charged egotistical atmosphere.
- Poor track etiquette by certain drivers.

To elaborate on the poor track etiquette, I was affected particularly by the guy driving the yellow GT40 replica. I have seen him before at the past MSCA Sandown track day and I had the utmost respect for him to take such a nice car on the track. That all changed today after the display of utter contempt for the rules. Put simply, his car is faster than mine in a straight line, but I am faster than him while cornering. I was basically stuck behind him for the whole first session because he wouldn't let me overtake despite being blue flagged on every lap! To make matters worse, he did it again in the second session causing Kam and I to be caught up following his slow arse. There were other drivers causing similar havoc, but I'll let the others who were affected comment on them.

Fairlady Meeting @ Fuji Speedway

I just saw this awesome photo by Alexi on Nori Yaro.  Just jaw-dropping!  Click on the image for a larger version.

Thanks Alexi for letting me post it here.

Power steering fluid overflow mess prevention

The last few track days at Winton, I have noticed that my power steering fluid boils and overflows out of the bottle. It then dripped down lower in the engine bay causing a mess. To remedy this, Jally gave me one of her unused wrist bands and we now have mess prevention. Thanks Jally.

Nice 350GT

Spotted this 350GT today. I'm not a fan of the wheels, but overall the car looks good.

350Z Gearbox

I found these cutaway images of the 350Z 6-speed manual gearbox. Pretty cool.

The Quest For More Grip

Got some R33 GT-R wheels for track use.

Wheels: R33 GT-R 17" x 9" +30
Tyres: Dunlop DZ02G & DZ03G 255/40R17

I can't wait to try these out at the end of this month at Winton.

Melbourne Motorshow 2009

My photos from the Melbourne Motorshow 2009.

Melbourne Motorshow 2009

Test Fit: Advan RGII

Big thanks to Mugsee for letting try his wheels on my car!

Wheels: Advan RGII 17" x 9.5" +24
Tyres: Advan Neova AD07 255/40R17