Did first shakedown and setup session in the new car, this week, I learned a lot.
First lesson, I have amazing support! Courtney came out, Steve was there, Philip was completely awesome, the TPWS team is incredible. And… I totally made the right decision, the car is bananas! I had almost instant confidence, it drove, and felt just like my Cayman R, but on steroids, still can’t get the stupid grin off my face!
Second lesson, I still love driving in the rain! It was wet out there, not torrential downpours but a light drizzle, the track (Harris Hill Raceway) was slippery, with some standing water, and I did not have a set of wet/rain tires for the car, I was on scrubs. I had a ridiculously good time working on car control with the slicks, on a wet track, in a new car with no setup! Over the course of the day the conditions got better, the sun peaked out, we got some wind, and by the afternoon the track was relatively dry. I was able to put down a consistent 1:24, with a hot lap of 1:23, so not too shabby. I had TPWS, and Winding Road at the track with me, they were both great, TPWS did a phenomenal (as usual) job getting the car ready for the shakedown, and Winding Road helped dial in the suspension over the course of the day, to the point where the car handled telepathically.
The combination of TPWS, and Winding Road on track was really great, but off track led me to my Third lesson, which I will have to cover in a separate post.
Fourth lesson, always shake the car down, and always give yourself time to get everything repaired properly, as my dad taught me “prior planning prevents, piss poor performance” (he likes alliteration), or stated differently “Luck favors the prepared”. On the last session of the day, we uncovered a leak in the engine bay, likely an axle seal, and had some issues with leaking around the electric steering pump, hopefully its just the reservoir, and not the pump. So… Goal Accomplished better to find this stuff ahead of race, then at the race!
I am going to run the car again at the MVP event for one day next weekend, so we can do the final setup before the race March 2nd-4th. I completed the last bit of my license requirements this week as well, and have everything I need for orientation, and rookie race school. So, it’s time to send out the invite to family, and friends, so they can join me at my first official PCA club race! I plan to run both of the sprints, and the enduro, wish me luck!
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