RaceEnergy 2011 Regular Season Report

Well we have come to the end of the regular season as of last weekend, and we have successfully qualified both cars for the Runoffs. I am not completely clear on the points standings, but I think we have repeated as division champions in both GTL and GT3.

Our season started with a double regional weekend in April in Portland that was to be an extended test weekend for both cars. Scott Hargrove who had won a scholarship with the Skip Barber Racing School for their Summer Series was going to drive the GTL car that weekend while I focused on the GT3 car. We had booked test time for both cars, but it poured all day, and we postponed the test days till later in the season. In the very first practice session, a number of studs and nuts that hold the airbox to the Fuel Injection throttle bodies backed out into the box, and at least one got ingested by the engine. Scott was done for the weekend and the GTL car for even longer.  We made some good progress with the GT3 car, figuring out and fixing the programming mistake that caused the engine to shut off at the Runoffs.

Our first National Race was also at Portland in early May. We were still waiting for an engine for the GTL car, so we only took the GT3 car. Our mechanic Morgan who had been with the team for the past 3 years moved on to a new position. I advertised on Craig’s List for a new mechanic and found an excellent candidate – Dan Watt, and this would be his first race weekend. In testing, I made a mistake entering the last corner and spun the car into the tire barriers, tearing the front bodywork off the car and damaging the right front suspension. Dan and my coach/team manager Gord Bentley worked till 11pm to replace the damaged parts and patch the bodywork back together. A grand total of 3 cars started the National race with only me in GT3, so naturally I won. It was a real tragedy for the Oregon Region of SCCA.

The next event was the double header at Seattle on the Presidents Day long weekend at the end of May. We had a new engine for the GTL car, so both cars went. In qualifying for the first race, the plug fell off the crankshaft position sensor on the GTL car right at the beginning, so we didn’t get a lap time and would start the race from the back. The GT3 car kept getting black flagged for too high a sound reading – surprising since we had already done a number of races with no problems. It turns out that the track is counter clockwise and the sound meter was on the same side of the car as the exhaust. We fought all weekend to get the sound under control. In qualifying we had extended the exhaust, turned it back and added a SuperTrapp muffler, completely choking the engine. We lost 40mph on the front straight. We added more baffles to the SuperTrapp for the race and got most of our speed back. We also noted the location of the sound meter on the front straight, and I lifted there every lap for the rest of the weekend.

In the race for the GTL car, we were so fast that I was on the leader Lans Stout’s tail by turn 1, and passed him on lap 2. We were turning laps 2 seconds under the track record when something broke on the car and I spun into the gravel in turn 1. When I drove back on the track, it was clear there was a major problem with lots of smoke so I pulled off and waited for the race to end. It turns out we broke the case of the gearbox, which in turn caused 5^th gear to come apart. Initially we were classified as a DNF, but after review by the stewards, they decided we had gone far enough to be a finisher – whew!!

In the race for the GT3 car, we again started from the back. I passed all the non-GT3 and was next on the track after 2^nd place Dave Humphrey in his Nissan, but I couldn’t close the gap and finished 3^rd.

That evening I returned to Vancouver and picked up a stock gearbox we had in storage and drove back to Seattle by midnight. We skipped practice and qualifying for the GTL car and worked all day to update the gearbox so it would work in the car, and were ready to go for the race, again starting from the back. The stock gearbox slowed us down by 2 seconds a lap, but by mid race I was on Lans’ tail again and we raced nose to tail swapping spots right to the checkered flag. Lans beat me by a couple of feet but it was a very good battle lasting nearly half the race.

In GT3 we qualified much better and split the Nissans of Collin Jackson and Dave Humphrey. Dave got the jump on me at the start. I got back by a few laps later under braking for turn 3, but when I lifted to control the sound at the end of the front straight, he went right back by. We stayed in that order for the rest of the race, and all 3 GT3 cars were on the same straightaway at the checkered flag.

Last weekend was our final 2 races of the regular season for each car. The GTL car had to finish both races to qualify for the Runoffs, and the GT3 car had to finish only one. This weekend there were a total of 6 GT3 cars, so the racing was going to be good. In qualifying for the first race, the GTL car broke a front upright on the 2^nd lap, and we were stranded on track. Got towed back to our paddock and the guys went to work to replace both uprights. In the race, we started from the back in the middle of all the spec Miata’s. It was like being surrounded by hornets. On the second lap, some smoke started, so I pitted. The guys found a loose fitting on the gearbox, tightened it and I went back out, right in the middle of the leaders. I was running them down to unlap myself when the throttle linkage broke. I idled back to pit lane. The crew tried to fix the linkage in pit lane but couldn’t and I idled down pit lane at the checkered flag to complete an extra lap. Just enough to qualify as a finish – Whew again!!

On Sunday, we put in only 3 laps in qualifying, and it was good enough for 3^rd on the grid. The T2 Nissan 350z on the pole started the race very slow and I was completely out of my power band with the stock gearbox. I got swarmed at the start and fell back to 9^th by the end of the first lap. Then I got my pace and slowly picked of all the cars ahead of me one by one and with about 5 laps to go was in the overall lead – which I held to the checkered flag. It felt really good to cross the line first overall.

We qualified 3^rd in GT3 for the first race right behind Collin Jackson and Gary Bockman. At the start, I got blocked and both David Rugh and Dave Humphrey got past me. Hard as I tried, I couldn’t get back by either of them and came home in 5^th. Overnight we made some changes to the car and I was a full second faster in qualifying for Sunday, starting 2^nd behind Collin Jackson. Gary Bockman retired after qualifying with major engine problems. In the race the same Viper blocked me again and again David Rugh and Dave Humphrey got by me. I caught and passed David Rugh, and was on Dave Humphrey’s tail when he pitted to change a tire. Drove hard and came home in 2^nd place, 8 seconds behind Collin Jackson – 2 time national champion!

We have 9 weeks to prepare for the runoffs. We are going to freshen the engine for the GT3 car, but otherwise it will run as is.

The GTL car will have a new transmission that has a lot of new custom pieces to take stress of the cast case, making it much stronger and more reliable. We will have a brand new engine that incorporates all the engineering improvements we have been working on for the past couple of years including our own rocker arms and camshaft. I think that when the ‘Who Will Win’ article comes out in Sportscar, you will find us prominently mentioned for GTL at least. I believe we have a good chance to podium in GT3, and an even better chance to win in GTL.