Exe Crew Track Day - Winton Motor Raceway

It's Exe Crew track day time again at Winton, another chance to attempt to break into the 1:3x zone. The last time I came close with a 1:40.7. This time the GorillaZ and I was back armed with the Nismo LSD and Hankook Z221 soft semi slicks (265 front, 285 rear). The weather was kind, with temperatures around 16 degrees Celcius accompanied by sunny skies all day.

Session 1
Went out with a passenger and pushed to about 80% to break in the new tyres. I ran the tyres from 35 PSI cold, resulting in a hot pressure of around 42 PSI. I lowered the pressure to 35 PSI hot, ready for the next session.
2:09.5810 1:47.1640 1:44.5800 1:43.8690 1:45.0900 1:42.6920 1:43.4420 1:43.0740

Session 2
First solo session and it was promising, finishing with a new PB and so close to the 30's.
1:52.6250 1:42.1340 1:42.9420 1:42.7170 1:40.6860 1:40.0670

Session 3
Another solo session and finally cracked the 1:3x barrier!
1:46.3080 1:40.0770 1:40.0530 1:39.9840 1:39.7610 1:51.5070

Session 4
A passenger session again.
1:56.0560 1:41.7650 1:41.3740 1:40.7610 1:46.9860

Session 5
Back to a solo session and I gave it one last try to better my PB and I did it on the final lap.
1:57.2670 1:40.9930 1:39.7720 1:40.4660 1:40.1820 1:39.5530 *NEW PB*

I decided not to go out in the final session as I was getting tired. What I found from looking at the lap times was that the new tyres produced a progressively better lap time during the session up until the fourth or fifth lap, at which point they would start sliding and going slower.

Looking at the speed comparison between the previous and new PB laps, we see that:

• turns 1, 3, 8, 9 and 10 were faster.
• the new tyres allowed for later braking at turns 4, 8 and 10.
• I managed a vMax of 173 kph on the main straight, up from around 165 previously.
• I can go faster before turns 1, 4, 6 and 7, this is backed up by the fact that my theoretical PB is 1:38.1.

Overall, I'm very happy with the result but know that there is so much more time in the new found grip and can't wait to get back to Winton. A big thanks to Exe Crew for running such a fine track day.

Here are a few photos by Ben Johnson, thanks Ben!

Also thanks to Andy Szeto for these great shots!