EXE Crew Track Day - Winton

Weather:
Hot, ambient temperature ~35 degrees Celsius.

Hot tyre pressures:

34 PSI front and rear, targeting 32 PSI.

Suspension settings:
8/12 front, 5/12 rear

Tyres:

Kumho V70A

Lap times:

S1: 1:52.8120 1:51.1150 1:40.2070 1:40.6830 1:40.2600 1:40.0280

S2: 2:00.0540 1:41.9630 1:40.3280 1:40.9150 2:05.4000 1:40.6060

S3: 1:49.4750 1:40.6430 1:40.6380

S4: 1:51.6790 1:42.1620 1:40.4390 1:53.1840 1:41.1850

Video of the best lap:

Nugget Nationals - Winton Motor Raceway

Weather:
High of 20 degrees Celcius, sunny

Hot tyres pressures:

33 PSI front and rear, targeting 32 PSI

Suspension settings:

6/12 front, 6/12 rear

Difference in car setup:
New Shockworks suspension
Kumho V70A tyres

Lap times:

S1: 1:55.3330 1:43.3430 1:43.2830 1:40.9890 1:41.2260 1:40.6760
S2: 1:49.8400 1:40.2380 1:40.4920 1:41.1290 1:43.4690
S3: 1:46.9280 1:41.2160 1:40.8540 1:40.0040 1:39.2770 1:40.1440 1:40.5300 S4: 1:49.6610 1:40.3910 1:41.1060 1:40.0860
S5: 1:52.4510 1:40.6580 1:41.1990 1:42.0110 2:08.3180 1:46.6130

Comparison with PB lap (1:36.29, lighter line):

Hi and lo speeds:

Video of the best lap:

Exe Track Weekend - Winton Motor Raceway

Weather:
Saturday - high of ? degrees Celcius
Sunday - high of 16 degrees Celcius

Tyres:

Hankook Z214 (final time I used these tyres)

Lap times:
SaturdayS1: 2:22.1090 2:01.8120
S2: 1:56.4850 1:38.9480 1:37.4140 1:38.1540 1:38.4280 1:37.7430 1:37.9450 S3: 1:46.9850 1:39.1160 1:41.5810 1:41.4080 1:38.4730 1:38.9870 1:38.2280 1:37.2860 S4: 1:44.5000 1:37.6140 1:40.0690 1:59.0480

Sunday
S1: 2:07.2560 1:40.1420 1:39.2340 1:38.8600 1:36.8980 1:37.2390
S2: 1:51.8720 1:39.9790 1:38.3590 1:37.8890 1:36.8840 1:37.1480
S3: 1:55.4610 1:38.9630 1:37.9270 1:37.9340 1:37.7710

Nugget Nationals - Winton Motor Raceway

Weather:
High of 18 degrees Celcius

Tyres:
Hankook Z214

Difference in car setup:

New Tomei Expreme Ti exhaust

Z1 Motorsports rear subframe bushing collars

Lap times:
S1: 2:03.5900 1:40.8940 1:39.8170 1:38.1150 1:37.5290 1:41.7370
S2: 1:46.7620 1:40.5690 1:39.9110 1:37.8440 1:37.5060
S3: 1:46.9400 1:40.7990 1:53.8850 1:48.7730 1:37.9270
S4: 1:56.4850 1:39.2600 1:37.5200 1:38.8240 1:38.2690
S5: 1:57.1890 1:38.3240 1:37.5960 1:36.9580 1:37.9890 1:37.1460

Exe Crew Track Weekend - Winton Motor Raceway

Weather:
Saturday - high of 17 degrees Celcius
Sunday - high of 18 degrees Celcius

Hot tyres pressures:
33 PSI front and rear, targeting 32 PSI

Difference in car setup:
Roll center adjustment kit installed at the rear.
Hankook Z214 tyres

Lap times:
Saturday
S1: 1:54.9350 2:04.1640 (timing stopped working in the final laps)
S2: 1:52.0490 1:40.3820 1:37.3310 1:41.3080 1:37.0410 1:48.4670 S3: 1:52.9280 1:37.0820 1:38.6980 1:37.8290 1:38.8720
S4: 1:48.6180 1:37.6510 1:36.8790 1:37.1360 1:36.9160

Sunday
S1: 1:53.5210 1:38.7470 1:36.7540 1:37.0360 1:38.4880 1:37.1890
S2: 1:59.1220 1:38.3390 1:38.9800 1:36.8390 1:37.0700
S3: 1:55.8710 1:38.2150 1:37.1890 1:36.5130 1:36.2750 1:36.5300 1:37.3950
S4: 3:00.1120 1:42.7680 1:37.4170 1:37.0640 1:55.0640 1:37.2040
S5: 1:54.2210 1:38.3540 1:37.5990 1:37.3670 1:37.6890 2:13.2600

Comparison with previous PB:

High and low speeds:

Video of the new PB lap - 1:36.28

Nugget Nationals - Winton Motor Raceway

Weather:
Raining in the morning, dry in the afternoon. High of 21 degrees Celcius.

Lap times:
S1: 2:26.8780 2:15.8860 2:26.5740
S2: 2:18.2820 2:16.2960 2:10.2980 2:08.5390 2:05.3150 2:04.3660 S3: 3:30.3310 1:53.2170 1:46.7400 1:43.6000 1:42.8330 1:41.0430
S4: 1:49.1030 1:39.7000 1:38.3910 1:38.5300 1:38.8740

Sessions 3 and 4 were dry, but didn't get close to my PB time for Winton.

Exe Crew Track Day - Winton Motor Raceway

Weather:

Low of 3 degrees Celcius overnight and a high of 23 degrees Celcius.

Hot tyre pressures:31 PSI front and rear

Difference in car setup:
Roll center adjustment kit installed in the front.

Lap times:
S1: 6:46.6710 1:50.3250 1:41.5760 1:40.9400 1:38.6660 1:41.3360
S2: 1:52.0660 1:38.6620 1:36.9120 1:37.3890 1:37.3620 1:57.0130 1:37.6820
S3: Skipped session
S4: 1:50.9240 1:37.8800 1:37.4430 1:46.6800 1:38.9540 1:47.0320 1:36.8580
S5: 1:47.5310 1:37.4470 1:37.2480 1:37.6380 1:44.3360 1:37.9020

Comparison with previous PB:

High and low speeds:

1:37.31 

1:36.85

Video of second best lap of the day (because I forgot to turn the camera on in the session with the best lap).

Nugget Nationals - Winton Motor Raceway

Photo by Steur Imagery

Weather:
Low of 6 degrees Celcius overnight and a high of 16 degrees Celcius.

Hot tyre pressures:
First session - 38 PSI front and rear
Second and third session - 37 PSI front, 36 PSI rear
Fourth and fifth session - 32 PSI front and rear
Front tyres had done 5 track days prior and rear tyres had done 6 track days.

Differences in driving:
Brake jab before second hairpin (turn 5)

Lap times:
S1: 2:00.6590 1:44.3650 1:40.0490 1:38.6860 1:37.7180
S2: 1:54.9180 1:46.1500 1:38.6120 1:40.9030 1:38.5320 1:38.5830
S4: 1:56.1880 1:41.2720 1:39.9770 1:39.5340 1:38.3630
S5: 1:50.3940 1:39.0650 1:39.0430 1:37.9650 1:37.3190
S6: 1:51.6430 1:38.0340 1:38.8410 1:38.1740 1:37.6930 1:38.3260 1:38.3640

Didn't drive the Z in session 3 because Kam let me drive his awesome GT3!

Comparison with previous PB:

Hitting higher top speeds on straight bits and through turn 3.

High and low speeds:

Video of my new PB lap:

Nugget Nationals - Winton Motor Raceway

26th March 2017

Ambient temperature: ~30° C

Tyres
265/35R18 Z221 soft compound front (used on 3 track days prior).

295/30R18 Z221 soft compound rear (used on 4 track days prior).

Brakes
Trying Project Mu RC09 front brake pads.
Project Mu HC+ rear brake pads.
Dixcel DAV slotted front discs.

DBA4000 slotted rear discs.

Track
New surface showing signs of wear with a couple of corners having large patches of new asphalt.

Lap times
Session 1 - 2:04.5120 1:42.0910 1:42.2800 1:41.3400 1:41.4600 1:40.8840
Session 2 - 4:06.9050 1:59.6550 1:41.0660 1:39.4780 1:39.5750
Session 3 - 1:55.9490 1:42.1710 1:41.2490 1:43.7240 1:40.4950 1:42.2600 1:39.9900
Session 4 - 2:03.3790 1:43.2130 1:42.6440 1:39.9400 1:40.7600
Session 5 - 1:52.0040 1:39.9450 1:39.0690 1:43.1740 1:39.6530
Session 6 - 1:52.7020 1:40.5110 1:41.0020 1:41.0260

AROCA Sprints - Winton Raceway

I haven't driven the Winton Club (Short) Circuit for more than 7 years, so I was keen to see how different the car and me are now combined with the new track surface.

Session 1 was not timed as it was a practice session and we were driving to around 80% capacity. However RaceChrono showed that I clocked a 1:10.8 which was already 2.5 seconds faster than my previous best time.

In session 2, I was able to start pushing and I finished with a 1:08.5 - 4.8 seconds faster than my previous best.
1:18.4065 1:11.6445 1:11.2580 1:09.1216 1:09.7839 1:08.5055 1:10.7413 1:08.8626 1:12.1030

There was no further improvement in sessions 3 and 4, but I still managed to dip into the 1:08's.1:20.2357 1:10.2046 1:09.5703 1:09.7438 1:10.3324 1:08.9062 1:09.9414 1:13.0515 1:09.6468
1:21.8112 1:11.1080 1:11.4054 1:09.0989 1:10.8316 1:08.7809 1:11.6312 1:10.2478

It's interesting to note that I can still go a fair bit faster through sector 4 of the lap (turns 7, 8 and 9), with RaceChrono showing a theoretical best of 1:07.2.

A speed comparison shows big gains throughout every part of the lap, especially the sweeper at turn 3.

Video of 1:08.5 lap:

Some pics courtesy of Ying:

Exe Crew Track Weekend - Winton Motor Raceway

14th May 2016

Tyre comparison
16 Nov 2013 - 265/35R18 Z221 soft compound front and rear

14 Nov 2016 - 265/35R18 Z221 soft compound front (new), 295/30R18 Z221 soft compound rear

Brakes

Trying Dixcel Type Z front brake pads.

Fresh Dixcel DAV slotted front discs.

New Project Mu HC+ rear brake pads.

Track

Winton has been newly resurfaced = smoother and more consistent surface.

Lap times

Session 1 - 2:02.6410 1:45.4600 1:42.9950 1:47.4640 1:41.1600

Session 2 - 1:49.1760 1:41.1580 1:41.1690 1:39.2920 1:38.7010 1:42.2110

Session 3 - 1:48.4500 1:38.7350 1:40.0760 1:40.1030 1:39.0870 1:39.3330

Session 4 - 1:45.3140 1:40.7000 1:40.1980 1:38.8280 1:39.3290 1:38.9540 1:40.2110

Comparison of my speed graph to the previous personal best lap way back in 2013. It appears that the new track surface has aided in speed gains throughout pretty much every corner. However, there is more to gain through more aggressive driving (after I have compared my best lap video with other Z drivers).

Video of the 1:38.70 lap.

Exe Crew Track Weekend - Winton Motor Raceway

13th September 2015

Tyres
16 Nov 2013 - 265/35R18 soft compound front and rear
13 Sep 2015 - 285/30R18 soft compound front, 295/30R18 soft compound rear

Lap Times

Session 1 - 2:03.6250 1:46.5164 1:41.8287 1:41.2527 1:41.0750 1:40.7558 

Session 2 - 1:52.5244 1:40.2061 1:39.7192 1:39.8056 1:39.3367 1:39.9099 1:40.4675 

Session 3 - 1:51.7730 1:41.4177 5:05.6592 1:49.0832 1:40.6979 1:39.5129 1:39.8428 1:40.2188

Session 4 - 1:54.4926 1:40.3771 1:48.3954

For some reason my final session wasn't recorded. I matched my personal best time from almost 2 years ago. The wider tyres appear to help with corner speeds significantly. I just need to keep working on top speeds on the long sections. However, it was good to see some consistent sub-1:40 laps, which was not something I managed to do 2 years ago.

A corner speed comparison reveals higher speeds on most corners.

16 Nov 2013

13 Sep 2015

Video of the 1:39.34 lap.

Nugget Nationals Track Day - Winton

21st March 2015

I've been busy the last couple of months, so only getting around to posting this.

There's not much to say about this day as it ended for me after the first session. One of my brake pads had worn to the backing plate and I had no spares.

In that single session, I managed a 1:40.84 and here is the video of that lap.

[Video] Best Lap at Winton 12-Oct-2014

Sorry, the white balance on my camera wasn't adjusted properly. Thanks to JimJim for adding the telemetry.

Exe Crew Track Day - Winton Motor Raceway

12th October 2014

Yet another Exe Crew track day rolls around and we make our way back to Winton to attack those times. This time the car doesn't have a broken wheel bearing anymore but it did have some bits of road kill (fox or kangaroo?) under the car courtesy of the Hume Freeway.

Unfortunately, a combination of factors conspired against my attempt for a faster lap time...

Session 1

I had a short session because I didn't check my tyre pressures before starting, leading to my ABS malfunctioning. I locked up the tyres a couple of times and end the session early, lesson learnt.
2:04.2530 1:46.6890 2:14.0940

Session 2

Getting back into the groove of driving at Winton.

1:58.4920 1:45.7440 1:42.6360 1:42.3630 1:52.3290

Session 3

The temperatures (both ambient and track) were rising by this point.

1:53.3980 1:42.2200 1:41.3670 1:42.5950 1:43.1260 1:42.1100

Session 4

At this stage, it was really quite hot and I pushed hard, but obviously not hard enough. I would get my best time of the day here.

2:00.1560 1:41.6860 1:40.9280 1:40.6320 1:41.0570

Session 5

I decided this would be my last session and confirmed that I was tired and it was too hot.

1:49.6670 1:43.7320 1:41.0670 1:43.3590 1:41.2550

Looking at the speed comparison to my personal best lap, I would say that my slowness this time was due to me not pushing as hard as before, especially before turn 10. I can't say how much the heat contributed to this, but I can say that I definitely need to remember how to drive at Winton.

Left: 1:39.33   Right: 1:40.63

I also managed to kill my two front tyres when I locked up the brakes in the first session. #notmaxvalue

I'll get you next time Winton!

[Video] Best Lap at Winton 04-May-2014

Video of my best lap from the EXE-Crew track weekend, a little bit messy. Plus the camera needs to be mounted higher I think.

Exe Crew Track Weekend - 3rd/4th May 2014

The Exe Crew track weekend has become somewhat of an annual event at Winton Raceway. Our last one was in November last year and I was signed up again for the track weekend this month - two days of sprints!

Leading up to the weekend, I monitored the weather report and initially rain was forecast in the region for both days. It didn't look good but despite this, I had one goal for the weekend - to drive as hard as I can without destroying the front tyres through plow understeer. To me this meant that I had to focus on smoother entry into the low speed tight corners with a slow-in/fast-out approach.

Photo courtesy of Andy Szeto

Saturday
The day started off wet, the rain had stopped but the track was very damp. In the first session I forgot to turn off the stability control and the system did not like the combination of wet track, semi slicks and aggressively locking diff. The system decide to give up and my dash warning lights lit up indicating that I had not stability control and no ABS. I drove around cautiously and pushed to about 70-80% of how I normally drove. I clearly need more practice driving with no ABS as I locked up the brakes twice, flat spotting one of the front tyres. In the second session, there was a dry line forming but the track wasn't completely dry yet. Although, I turned off the stability control, the ABS malfunctioned again leading me to drive around tentatively. Fortunately in later sessions, the ABS behaved normally with stability control off and I was able to start pushing the car harder as the track dried up. I ended the day with a 1:41.6, still a whole two seconds away from my PB lap time. My front tyre management approach did work and I managed not to make the car understeer at the hairpins.

Lap times

Session 1 - 2:20.2440 1:55.0890 1:50.0080 1:53.4550 1:51.9970 1:58.2900
Session 2 - 2:07.2980 1:53.2420 1:49.2170 1:47.2280 1:44.9140 1:44.6280
Session 3 - 2:06.1380 1:52.1900 1:45.4130 1:45.1110 1:43.8290
Session 4 - 1:53.6270 1:42.7330 1:41.9970 1:45.0540 1:41.7000 1:41.6100
Session 5 - 1:59.9630 1:43.9200 1:42.6270 1:43.5950 1:42.2070 1:42.4310

During the day I also installed my harness using eye bolts obtained at the last minute. Thanks for the help and sourcing eye bolts, Jim.

Exercising too much restraint...

Sunday
The weather was much better on Sunday as it was completely dry from the beginning. There was a bit of sunshine too. I went straight out in session 1 and attacked, keeping the tyre management and corner entry in mind. I managed a 1:40.6 in the first session, which I was happy with for a start. Session 2 was red flagged and by the time session 3 rolled around it was past midday. 1:40.5 was the best I could do for the day and I felt the track was going off by session 4. There were at least two more sessions to go but I decided to call it quits as I was a little bit worried about the noise coming from the rear of the car while cornering to the right at high speed after the sweeper. I think the rear left wheel bearing has died so the car needs a bearing and hub refresh before the next event.

Lap times

Session 1 - 1:52.0950 1:41.0370 1:42.2750 1:43.9980 1:40.6060
Session 2 - 1:57.8720 1:43.2640 1:42.2120
Session 3 - 1:54.6040 1:43.0260 1:42.0500 1:42.4270 1:41.0060 1:40.5110
Session 4 - 1:57.5730 1:43.9760 1:40.7350 1:42.7050 1:41.7480 1:46.8330

A comparison of the best lap for the day versus my PB lap shows that I was of course slightly slower through most corners. However, it looks like trying to drive smoother resulted in getting on the throttle earlier out of turns 6 and 7.

Finally, thanks must go to Andy Szeto for these brilliant photos, and there are more in his photostream.

Exe Crew Track Weekend - Some more photos

A big thanks to Patrick Silveira for making the trip up to Winton to take these photos. More of Patrick's photos can be found here.

Exe Crew Track Weekend - Winton Motor Raceway

Another Winton track day (or track weekend in this case) rolls around and I join the Exe Crew in this double header. The Z was going into this event in the same state as previously. My intention was to dip into the 1:38.xx lap time range as this was my theoretical best from the previous outing. However, this was not to be, I ended the weekend having improved my PB by 0.2 of a second.

From the graph we can see my new PB in green and the previous PB in blue. The red line was the best time for Sunday the 17th November. The green graph shows that I found time by braking later into turns 1 and 7, and was overall faster through turns 2, 3 and 8. I was let down by my entry into turn 10 and that probably cost me the opportunity to get into the 38's.

Lap times

Saturday

A good start to the morning with a 40 lap. Track temperatures seemed quite good. After the session I lowered the tyre pressures to 32 PSI hot.

1:53.7140 1:43.5740 1:40.6820 1:42.5600 1:41.7830 1:41.3060

This session returned promising times.

1:49.4730 1:40.9400 1:40.1730 1:40.4870 1:40.4090

After looking over the times and speed graphs in the first couple of sessions, I focused on braking deeper on all long straights. This seemed to work and I gained a new PB.

1:49.3030 1:40.2650 1:39.6620 1:39.3360 1:39.8760

The track had heated up past optimal temperature and I called it a day after this session.

1:46.6950 1:40.2880 1:49.9330 1:40.3200 1:51.3460

Sunday
A good start to the morning with another 39 lap, but this would be the best time of the day.
2:13.7170 1:45.9830 1:42.0240 1:41.5790 1:42.1430 1:39.6800

Could not better my 1.39 from session one, suspected that the track temperature was already past optimal.

1:57.6310 1:41.9520 1:41.9350 1:45.1770 1:44.6760 1:40.3770

No improvement again this session and tyres overheated within 3 laps.

1:54.1300 1:41.7190 1:40.3750 1:56.0590 1:40.5340

Took Dan out for a ride this session, driving was a little sloppy and the front tyres had given up gripping.

1:50.2680 1:42.7770 1:42.5700 1:42.8480 

Went out for one last solo run and confirmed that the front tyres were now trash.
1:56.2090 1:48.6980 2:02.1370 1:42.3540 1:45.5350

Took Adam for a ride so he could give me some tips on driving in general.

1:47.9330 1:44.4420 1:43.0350 1:43.2080 1:46.2700 1:44.7360

Looking at the front tyres at the end of the day, I observed that the tread level is now down past the indicator. Time for a new pair. I ended the day knowing that there is so much time left to be gained with the car's current setup. I'm looking forward to trying again when I have new tyres.

To finish, here are a couple of photos from Andy Szeto, his photos are always very impressive.