Classic Skylines Australia Track Day - Winton Raceway

My aim for this track day was to keep doing what I was doing before and use RaceChrono data logging to see where I could improve. Due to the poorly run day, I only managed two sessions. I think that if we had the opportunity for more sessions, I could have performed on the fly analysis of the data and evolve my driving style with each successive session.

Practice Session
Due to the traffic in this session, I did not get one clear lap. Therefore, I am discounting the times for the session.

Session 1
The track still felt slippery despite being mid afternoon, and the track had not been swept enough like it would have had there been morning sessions. I also felt that the tyres were not getting enough heat into them either. I only managed to get with half a second of my PB of 1:43.600.

1:54.5000
1:45.0000
1:49.0200
1:45.0300
1:46.1700
1:44.0600

Session 2
This session felt much better, the track surface was grippier and the tyres felt like they reached optimal temperature within a couple of laps. However, I still only managed to come within 0.15 seconds of my PB.

1:57.4700
1:46.4000
1:43.9700
1:43.7500 *BEST LAP BUT NO PB
1:44.6700
1:45.3600

Below is a map of the track with speeds at each corner:

My speed vs distance graph with numbers on graph corresponding to corner numbers in the track map above:

Silas' speed vs distance graph for comparison:

After comparing my speed graph to his, Silas suggested that I'm braking too late on some corners. In particular:

- Turn 1: ~80kph (me) vs ~60kph (Silas)
- Turns 4, 5 & 6: I should take turn 5 slower in order to take turn 6 faster and get a faster exit on to the straight before turn 7.
- Turns 7, 8 & 9: I have corner speeds approximately 10kph less than Silas on each corner so I'm either braking too much or braking too late and then suddenly needing to apply more brakes than required.

Therefore, I must remember the slow in, fast out rule for rear wheel drive cars and try harder to get faster exit speeds on to longer straights.

Full results:
http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?26/07/2008.WIN

AutoSports Track Day - Wakefield Park

The weather on the day was perfect - cool, dry and sunny. This made the trip up to NSW well worth it. This was my second time at Wakefield and I was keen to try out the newly resurfaced track for the first time and also set a new PB seeing as I had more experience under my belt.

Congratulations to AutoSports for running a smooth and well structured track day.

Setup
Tyres: Yokohama A048 235/40/18 all around
Brake pads: Project Mu Type HC+ front, OEM Ferodo rear
Brake fluid: Motul RBF600
Camber: -2.5 degrees front, -1.5 degrees rear
Toe: Neutral front, 1.5mm toe in rear
Remainder: Stock

Analysis
Session 1
As I didn't have enough time before session 1 to change to my semi slicks, I decided to try out my street tyres (OEM RE040). This is something I absolutely do not regret doing and it was serendipitous that I did. It proved to be a very valuable experience as I finally saw the difference between street tyres and semi slicks. I now have an idea of the limits of street tyres and I definitely have much more practice to do to extract more out of them.

1:24.0380
1:20.4640
1:30.8980
1:16.9460 *STREET TYRE PB
1:18.9410

Session 2
My first session with semi slicks saw me beat my previous PB (1:15.8). I had a renewed appreciation of the benefits of semis, it's always good to get that kind of refresher. I had too much confidence in the semis though and tried to get on the throttle too early after the "dog leg" corner and spun into a shallow pool of mud.

1:24.6020
1:18.5940
1:13.3090
1:42.9990

Session 3
No success in getting a better time here - I was still figuring out my braking point before the "dog leg" corner and when to power out. I got on the gas too early again resulting in another spin.

1:15.1540
1:17.1440
1:19.9390
1:15.6680
1:13.9580
2:04.3090

Session 4
No spinning this time, but I was still not there yet. So after this session, I compared my RaceChrono logs with Silas' and he pointed out where I could go faster. I needed to brake after the "Kink", not brake when going uphill and try not to coast.

1:19.2920
1:15.2560
1:16.0580
1:15.6570
1:14.0530
1:15.2070
1:13.8170

Session 5
With Silas' tips in mind, I set out again and tried for a faster time, and it worked! Thank you again Silas for your help. I know there are still many places where I can improve and having a look again at the logs on my phone, I have spotted some things already. I can't wait to gather more data at Winton this Saturday to compare.

1:13.4100
1:12.5700 *SEMI-SLICK PB
1:13.3820
1:41.9940
1:13.3200
1:17.2250
1:16.2440

Session 6
This session saw me get stuck behind a Lotus Elise whose driver was a little stubborn to say the least. He was slower around corners than me, but his car out accelerated mine on the straight and he wouldn't let me pass. Therefore, a disappointing session without any clean laps.

1:15.1680
1:18.5450
1:18.0900
1:17.1710
1:18.8520
1:19.8200
1:18.0960

Full results
http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?19/07/2008.WAKE

Observations
- Left hand side tyres bubbling much more than right hand side.
- Wakefield's new track surface is more slippery than Winton.
- Wakefield's corners are faster than Winton as they are more sweeping.
- Track drivers in NSW (in general) are a very different breed to those in Victoria. The etiquette seems different - they seem unwilling to let you pass even if they are slowing you down. They also seem to think that it's a race rather than a track day where your only competitors are yourself and the clock.

The Funny Shit & Other Stuff
18th July 2008
I get to Silas' place at 11:55am with the intention of quickly loading my semis into the back of Jally's car and leaving soon after noon. That was everyone's plan. When I got there, Shaun says to me "Silas just woke up... and he still needs to change to his street rims". I look at Shaun in dismay and knew that it was going to a long long long day. We ended up leaving Melbourne just after 5pm and arrived at Wakefield at 1:30am.

On the drive up to Wakefield, I also witnessed the scary trailer drifting caused by bumps in the road as Shaun struggled to contain the beast known as Doris the Cressida.

19th July 2008
Our plan was to leave the villa by 7am to go and get petrol. Shaun woke up at 7:15 and walks out of his room and asks me how much time he has to get ready. I say to him "negative 15 minutes", the expression on his face was one of drowsiness, confusion, indifference and amusement.

20th July 2008
The drive back to Melbourne was epic. About two hours into the journey, we appeared to cross between the "not raining" zone and the "raining" zone. The rain just started and it rained all the way back to Melbourne. It even washed the mud off my car from when I spun on the track. The scary part was when it was so heavy that we couldn't see more than a car length ahead of us. This was compounded by trucks passing us with massive amounts of water spraying from their tyres on to our windscreens. Visibility was then reduced to zero momentarily.

Exe Crew Track Day - Winton Raceway

This was another track day packed with new experiences. First of all, I was trying out my OEM 18" rims with Yokohama A048s. Secondly, this was my first time driving on a wet track. Thirdly, I wanted to try some different lines and braking to see the differences from last time.



Session 1
A drizzle was starting and the track was becoming slightly damp. I was apprehensive about going out and drove very cautiously. I was also getting used to the new tyres and the extra weight of the 18" rims. I felt like I had to brake earlier and that the A048s were less grippy than the RE55s.
1:59.8600
1:49.6400
1:48.6700
1:46.1000
1:46.0900
1:50.8300
1:47.3800



Session 2
The rain was coming down steadily now and the track was soaked. I took it extra slow and braked much earlier than usual. Feathering the throttle around corners helped maintain the grip. On some corners, I turned to aggressively and the tail of the car flicked out slightly, but the lower speeds allowed me to recover safely. After getting home last night, I read some advice from DavidM and was glad that I did something right.
DavidM wrote:
"Most important thing is to brake early and smoothly, and also slow the car down for corners more than you need to, and then pick up speed through the corners and you'll be fine.
If it's wet, and it's a new experience for you, then it'll be a good learning experience as rain/wet rewards smoothness."
2:13.4200
2:10.4800
2:01.2400
2:03.1800
1:59.1900
1:56.2700 *WET PB
1:57.4900



Session 3
The track started drying up in this session but it was still quite damp. I tried pushing a little bit more, but it felt unsafe. The day appeared to not be going well for me. The weather seemed like it was taunting us with patches of rain and then allowing the track to dry up partially only to begin raining again. After this session, I was just hoping that the rain would hold off and let the track keep drying. As the group E cars went on for their third session, it looked promising and my hopes were raised.
2:08.7200
1:52.3400
1:51.6700
1:50.8300
1:51.3600
1:49.8800
1:48.0700



Session 4
The track had dried up nicely and I figured that this was my one and only chance to attempt anything remotely close to a PB. After a few laps of trying a higher corner speed through the double apex sweeper and later braking on the main straight, rejoice! 1:43.6 - 0.2 faster than previously. A very marginal difference, but I was happy that I matched it again.
1:55.4200
1:44.7600
1:44.7000
1:44.5400
1:44.4100
1:43.6000 *NEW PB
1:58.0700



Session 5
I took Jally out for a leisurely drive. Hope you enjoyed it.
2:03.9900
1:47.3300
1:45.4200
1:50.4500
1:47.4600
1:47.3500
1:47.6300



Full results:
http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?09/06/2008.WIN

Track Day Preparation

25th May 2008
Changed engine oil.

1st June 2008
Brake bleeding part 1 - Bled the brakes and added some fresh Motul RBF600 with the help of Shaun. On the drive home that night, the "bite" point of the brake pedal felt lower than it was prior to bleeding. I thought that was strange as we used a one way bleeding hose. After discussing with Shaun, we realised that at one point, the brake fluid reservoir had become empty and some air may have entered the top of the master cylinder. Thanks Shaun for all your help. I monitored the brake pedal feeling throughout the week and the bite point seemed to become a little higher. I don't know for sure whether this was a placebo effect or not.



7th June 2008
Brake bleeding part 2 - Just to be on the safe side, I bled the brakes again with the aid of Sheepo's foot. Thanks Sheepo. All calipers were fine except for the front right which had a couple of bubbles.
Also chucked on a set of fresh (slightly used) Yokohama A048's - 235/40/18 all around.