PIARC Sprints - Phillip Island

It was a track day of firsts:

• First time back at PI since 2016.
• First PI track day on the new Shockworks suspension, which kept the car well composed and predicatable. It feels like there's less body roll with the new suspension and there's better turn-in having moved back to the stock front sway bar.
• First PI track day on the Kumho V70A medium compound, which are not as sticky as the Hankook Z221 softs that I'm used to. However, the tyres fared well with just a bit of camber wear on the front right and on the outer edges of both front tyres. The PI track surface is punishing.
• First PI track day using the 370Z front brakes with Winmax W7 pads. Both pads and rotors held up well, I should probably brake harder.

Session 1: Practice - not timed

Session 2: 2:15.7832 1:56.3906 5:44.7736 2:05.9579 1:55.8379

Session 3: 2:14.2489 1:55.6335 1:54.5699 1:54.0216 1:55.2802

Session 4: 2:09.3660 1:54.4307 1:56.5406 1:55.5997 1:55.4846

Session 5: 2:14.66 1:55.57 2:01.21 1:56.40*

*From RaceChrono as times for this session were not uploaded to Natsoft.

Source: http://racing.natsoft.com.au/results/

Best lap at Phillip Island in the Z at the weekend - 1m54.0s
PB lap - 1m51.7s (April 2014)

Comparing the PB lap from 2014 to the best lap from this track day, we see that corner speeds were generally lower than the PB lap. This is most likely due to braking too early or too much and the Kumho's being not as sticky as the Hankooks.

Lighter line: 1:51.76

Video of the best lap of the day:

Looking forward to more PI track days in 2021.

PIARC Sprints - Phillip Island

Rainy day, only managed a 1:53.13 during the dry session in the middle of the day. Still almost two seconds off my PB.

[Video] PB Lap at Phillip Island 05-Apr-2014

Thanks to JimJim for the use of his camera and adding the telemetry.

[Photos] Phillip Island 05-Apr-2014

AROCA Sprints - Phillip Island

Almost one year since I was last at Phillip Island, I was back determined to have a proper run without the hindrance of rain as was the case last year. Luckily, the rain held off and it turned out to be a sunny, mildly cool day.

The only thing different in the car set up from last year were the tyres. This time the front were new Hankook Z221 soft 265/35R18 and the rear were Hankook Z221 soft 285/30R18, which had done three track days.

With the weather being favourable, I was able to get the feel for the track again and drive with much more confidence compared to last year's wet conditions. By session 2, I had already bettered my personal best (set back in September 2012). Session 3 was just before 1pm and it saw the biggest gain - almost three seconds faster than my personal best. By session 4 the track was already cooling down and I could no longer push as hard. Session 5 was just for fun and practice as the group was combined with some slower cars and there was too much traffic on the track.

Session 1: Practice - Not timed

Session 2: 2:12.7648 1:54.9371 1:54.4560 1:55.3011 1:55.2154 1:56.5899 1:57.9512 1:54.2569

Session 3: 2:12.9146 1:54.2369 1:55.8751 1:53.1393 1:57.7032 1:52.8028 1:51.7633 1:52.4508

Session 4: 2:15.5999 1:58.2297 1:58.1459 1:56.9567 1:53.6962 1:53.3893 1:54.8491 1:55.9287

Session 5: 2:14.1687 9:16.3568 2:13.4531 1:58.7033 5:22.7493 2:04.7040 1:59.3946 1:56.3093

Source: http://racing.natsoft.com.au/results/

Looking at the speed graph and comparing the new and old PB laps, we see that in my new best lap I:

• slowed down too much at turn 2
• didn't complete turn 4 (Honda) as nicely as previously.
• was faster through turns 8 and 9.
• lifted off at turn 12

Looking at the sector times for the best lap, we also see that each individual sector time was not the fastest out of all times for that sector. The theoretical best is also a massive 4.8 seconds quicker than my PB, which is promising because now I know there's so much more left in the car's abilities.

A very big thanks must go to JimJim who gave his time to help me work on the car and also attending the sprint as a driver.

PIARC Sprints

It's been a while since the last track day but I finally made it back to Phillip Island for my first track day of the year. My company for the day were JimJim and Kam, thanks for the support guys.

The differences in the car's setup this time is as follows:
LSD: Factory viscous (previous) >>> Nismo 1.5 way (new)
Front tyres: Yokohama A050 medium 255/40R17 (previous) >>> Hankook Z221 soft 265/35R18 (new)
Front brake pads: Project Mu Type HC+ (previous) >>> Ferodo DS2500 (new)

The morning sessions were wet, quite wet. The weather forecast for the day was rain, easing in the evening. The rain wasn't particularly heavy, but it didn't look good for the rest of the day as it constantly fell in the morning. This led to very scary sessions, flying around the track with the wipers on; with other guys with bigger balls or no sense of life preservation (or both) flying past me on the straights and mid corner. This was confidence shattering and I was tentative getting on the throttle out of corners. I had a couple of separate close-call incidents including getting a little sideways at the kink at Hayshed and locking the brakes and pushing straight off the track going downhill into MG. Very luckily, I caught the car both times.

The morning sessions resulted in the following times and me tucked up in the fetal position in my camping chair in the pit garage.

2:52.6777 2:22.2164 2:18.7393
2:23.7090 2:25.2343 2:26.4003 
2:27.5631 2:19.1431 2:39.3178 

After lunch, the rain cleared and there were hints of blue sky coming through the clouds. Jim and Kam came in from their session saying the track was dry and it felt good again. They coaxed me out of my state of paralysis and urged me to go out on track again. I summoned up my courage and went out a few more times and managed to clock a 1:56 for the day, 2 seconds off my PB.

2:00.8560 2:01.7158 2:03.3368 
1:57.8846 1:56.6356 1:57.8540 
1:58.2481 1:59.6975 1:58.5290

Looking at the speed comparison between my 1:54.59 (green) and 1:56.64 (red) laps, I found that the main difference was on the straight and turn 1. I wasn't as fast as my PB lap because I only managed to reach 215 kph and was slower through turn 1, probably due to my confidence level not being the norm; leading to tentative throttle out of turn 12 and over braking for turn 1.

What's interesting is that my speeds for the rest of the track was actually faster with the 1:56 lap, as can be send below (1:56 on the right). Most noticeably, my top speed out of Stoner corner was faster and I slowed down less at Siberia and MG. Could this be attributed to the new track surface providing more grip? Or also the new tyres?

At the end of the day I was disappointed that I had lost some feeling for driving close to the limit at Phillip Island, but I was glad I was driving home in one piece. I'm now keen to get back there again. Thanks again to Jim and Kam for the company and support.

[Photos] Phillip Island 02-Sep-2012

Some photos courtesy of Street-Cover:
http://www.street-cover.com/2012/vic-piarc-sprints.html

Phillip Island Circuit Weekend

The weekend just passed (1st/2nd September 2012) was epic, it consisted of my first back to back track days. After initially only planning to attend the Sunday's sprint event at Phillip Island, I was persuaded by Ying to drive on the Saturday practice day. That decision was one of the best that I have made this year. Back to back track days afford you the opportunity to spend the time on the first day to really get to know the circuit again and experiment with what works for the best lap time, then really put it into practice on the second day.

Day 1 - Circuit familiarisation

Having not been to Phillip Island for about 9 months, it was time to attempt to put what I had learnt into practice. As there was no official timing on the Saturday, I will use the times recorded by RaceChrono.

My first session out, I managed to get a new best time of 1:57.7; I was on the right track (no pun intended). As the day went on, my best lap time progressively dropped as I kept trying to brake deeper into turn 1, maintain more speed through sweeping corners and hold the throttle as close to flat as possible through turns 8 and 12. After speaking with Adam, I also managed to hold the throttle flat through turn 3. At the end of the day, on the final lap of my final session, I clocked a new best time of 1:56.5. I had achieved the theoretical best (TB) time from the results of my previous outing to Phillip Island. However, my new TB was now 1:54.9! My new-found knowledge would have to wait until day 2 to be applied, but I was already happy with the 56.

Some happy snaps...

Ying's MX-5, my 350Z and Viv's WRX

The GorillaZ, like a pig in mud

Jim performing some checks on his Evo 9

Some seriously fast cars in my group, not including mine...

Day 2 - Phillip Island Auto Racing Club (PIARC) Sprints
After a fairly good night's sleep, it was Sunday and that meant getting down to business. With the track theory fresh in my head, I concentrated on smoothness and applying throttle as early as possible and as much as possible. Throughout the day, I was also able to brake even later into turn 1 and managed a new best VMax of 226 kph. However, what surprised me was that my lap times continued to drop in the first few sessions.

Session 1
2:19.3049 2:02.7255 1:58.7144 1:56.4295

Session 2

2:11.9757 1:57.2711 1:55.2569

Session 3

2:09.3462 1:54.5856 1:59.8484 1:58.1716

Session 4

2:09.8472 1:59.7867 1:59.8871 1:55.2578

Session 5

2:31.3992 1:57.2229 1:56.3514 1:58.4974

At the end of the day, I was very happy with my new personal best of 1:54.5, it was very unexpected. RaceChrono now says that my TB is 1:53.3, but I'll leave that analysis for another time. Now, here is a comparison of my previous PB speed graph (red) to the day 1 best (yellow) and the day 2 best (green).

The gains were made up of:

• Later braking into turn 1.
• Faster through pretty much every corner.
• Holding throttle flat through turn 3 and flatter through turns 8 and 12. 

And here's a comparison of my acceleration and deceleration around the track on day 1 (left) and day 2 (right). The more green the better.

Full results:

http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?02/09/2012.PHIL

Kam's and my 350Z, as well as Canh's and Henry's Evo 9s

An immaculate 997 GT3, good to see it being put through its paces

Tyres

The Hankook Z221s wear incredibly slowly. They are hard compound and maybe I'm not getting enough heat into them. After each session they were only slightly gooey. These have now done 7 track days and they still look like this.

The Yokohama A050s have been good value. These medium compounds have now done 9 track days and are at end of life. The right has been almost worn bald due to the mostly left turns at Phillip Island. The left now has noticeably more tread than the right, but it also approaching bald.

Brakes
The Dixcel DAV rotors held up very nicely over the 2 days. They must have stayed cool because there is no sign of warping. The rotor surface is also smooth to the touch with no deep score marks. The brake ducting must be working even though it's still not currently ideally set up.

I can't wait for the next Phillip Island event!

PI: Preparing for the next one

With an upcoming track day at Phillip Island on the horizon, I decided to have a look at the results of my first outing last year; and compare them to my theoretical best (TB) lap as calculated by RaceChrono.

So looking at the graph, the brighter yellow line is my TB - a 1:56.8 lap. Comparing it to my PB lap (1:58.2), I observed that:

• I can brake slightly later for turn 1.
• I can carry more speed into turn 2.
• I should maintain more speed through turns 7, 8 and 9.
• I should maintain constant acceleration through turn 12 without hesitating.

The goal for my next outing at PI will be a 1:56 lap or better, hopefully I get a spot in the track day and we get some good sunny weather.

State of the rubber

It looks like the Dunlop D03Gs (H1 compound) are well and truly end of life, the tread is now heavily uneven left and right. These have done 9 track days - 7 at Winton, 1 at Wakefield and 1 at Sandown.

The Hankook Z221s (C30 compound) appear to have had minimal wear after 5 track days - 2 at Winton, 2 at Sandown and 1 at Phillip Island.

Rear DBA rotor temperatures

The DBA rotors have three coloured stripes on the edge that change colour when they reach a certain temperature.

Temperature (degrees C)/Original colour/New colour:

• 458 / Green / White
• 550 / Orange / Yellow
• 630 / Red / White

Upon inspection of the rear rotors today, I found the following:

Left hand side - only the green stripe had turned white, orange and red unchanged.

Right hand side - green stripe had turned white, orange stripe had partially turned yellow and red was unchanged.

So far these rotors have done one track day at Phillip Island and one at Sandown - both tracks are high speed and run anti-clockwise. Whether track direction causes more brake usage on one side is still a question I need to find an answer for.

[Photos] GorillaZ @ Phillip Island 11-Dec-2011

AROCA Sprints - Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit

JimJim, Eiji and I went to Phillip Island today for a track day run by Alfa Romeo Club.

All weather reports seemed to indicate that today would be horrible, with an 80% chance of rain and the entire day having continual showers. It certainly seemed to be the case on the way to Phillip Island and when we arrived, the skies were grey and the ground was soaked.

This was my first track day at PI and I wasn't looking forward to having to learn the lines and contend with a wet track simultaneously. Fortunately, the clouds started dispersing by 9am and patches of sun shone through intermittently. The driving conditions became perfect and although there was a brief period in the afternoon when it threatened to pour down, the grey clouds yet again cleared up.

So, on to the driving. As it was my first time at PI, I sought instruction from one of the regulars for the practice session. I was assigned Alister, who drives a 997 Carrera S. He was a great help, explaining the lines and what gear to be in for each corner.

Here is what I learnt from Alister.
Turn 1: Staying on the left, brake somewhere before the 200 and 100 metre signs, shift down to 4th gear. Take the middle apex and shoot out to the left side.
Turn 2: Stay on the left about a quarter of the track width from the left edge of the track. After the first apex, move out right about a third of the track width and then come back in for the second apex. On exit, take the car out to the right edge of the track. I short shift up to 5th gear before turn 3.
Turn 3: Come in from the right, apex and then exit by going a little wide to not lose speed. Then bring the car back to the left of the track in preparation for turn 4.
Turn 4: Down to 2nd gear, turn in and late apex, moving out to the left side of the track on exit and changing up to 3rd.
Turn 6: Stay about a quarter of the track width in from the right, a small application of brakes and staying in 3rd gear. Turn in and late apex, exiting the corner and taking the car to the right edge of the track.
Turn 7: Move to the left of the track, up to 4th gear and attempt to connect this corner to turn 8 with a straight line.
Turn 8: After exiting turn 8, following the curve to the right and prepare to brake a little for turn 9, staying roughly in the middle of the track.
Turn 9: From the middle, fly over the infamous Lukey Heights crest and move towards a late apex. Exit the corner about a third of the track width from the left.
Turn 10: Move back all the way to the left in preparation and brake hard before the 100 metre sign. Down to 2nd gear, turn in and late apex, exiting and ending up in the middle of the track.
Turn 11: Short shift to 3rd and take the corner with a middle apex. Exit the corner and get to the right, shift up to 4th.
Turn 12: Take a late apex and shoot out to the right side and keep the accelerator planted for the run down the straight. Shift up to 5th and move to the left side.

Practice
Still tentative and concentrating on Alister’s instructions and controlling the car.
2:41.8109
2:26.2627
2:14.3664
2:13.1719

Session 1
Still getting comfortable from corner to corner and figuring out stuff.
2:25.6636
2:08.5886
2:10.3037
2:08.9897
2:02.5526
2:03.3620

Session 2
Eiji and I missed the start of our session as we got lazy and thought other people would dawdle. It was still a good session - getting faster by chasing MX-5s and cracking the 2 minute barrier.
2:16.1865
2:01.4729
2:02.2764
1:59.4556

Session 3
Using the fast MX-5s in my group as a gauge, I chased them to achieve my PB for the day.
2:28.7191
2:02.4201
1:58.2519 PB
2:05.2761
1:59.0986
2:00.1296

Session 4
No PB, but I was happy to see I achieved another 1:58.
2:27.9527
2:00.0805
2:00.0482
1:58.4202
1:59.1131
2:16.8271

Overall, I’m very happy with the result. My initial goal was the break the 2 minute barrier and then to get as close as possible to Silas’ 350Z PI time of 1:56. RaceChrono says that my theoretical PB is 1:56.8, so it is very possible. Thank you JimJim and Eiji for the company and support, I’m looking forward to what’s in store next year.

Full results:
http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?11/12/2011.PHIL