Well, 2020 was a bit of a weird year. So what’s the best way to forget about it? Look forward to an awesome and packed 2021 racing and driving calendar.
We are in the business of making smiles and lifetime memories and one of the main ways we do this is by helping people get onto a track. We can help you with the car set up and care, as well as trying to improve the performance of both you and the vehicle.
We want to announce and extend an open invite for those that are interested that we are here to help. Our team has a calendar of events planned with room for additional support for each weekend as needed! Our current SCCA, ICSCC (Conference) and Global Time Attack events are listed below. If there are any race weekends you would like some crew and coaching support for, please feel free to contact us via e-mail, phone or messenger! Let us help you be your best on track!
Give us an E-mail or call to discuss options! raceronrails@gmail.com – (206)475-1114
2021 Race and Track Schedule:
January 15 – 17: Auto Club Speedway SCCA Majors Tour – Fontana, CA
February 5 – 7: Circuit of the Americas SCCA Majors Tour – Austin, TX
February 19 – 21: Buttonwillow SCCA Majors/Hoosier Super Tour – Buttonwillow, CA
March 19 – 20: Thunderhill Raceway SCCA Majors Tour – Willows, CA
April 2 – 4: The Ridge Motorsports Park Global Time Attack – Shelton, WA
April 30 – May 2: Portland International Raceway Cascade Sports Car Club – Portland, OR
May 14 – 16: Pacific Raceways IRDC Tribute to the Volunteers – Kent, WA
May 28 – 30: Pacific Raceways SCCA Majors Tour – Kent, WA
June 4 – 6: Spokane County Raceway Park ICSCC – Spokane, WA
Jun 18 – 20: Portland International Raceway Cascade Sports Car Club – Portland, OR
July 16 – 18: Pacific Raceways IRDC Summer Classic – Kent, Washington
July 23 – 25: The Ridge Motorsports Park Global Time Attack – Shelton, WA
August 13 – 15: Portland International Raceway Cascade Sports Car Club Dash for Kids – Portland, OR
August 27-29: The Ridge Motorsports Park IRDC – Shelton, WA
September 28 – October 3: Indianapolis Motor Speedway SCCA Runoffs – Indianapolis, IN
October 16: Portland International Raceway 8 Hour Endurance Race – Portland, OR (tentative)
November 12 – 14: Buttonwillow Global Time Attack Final – Buttonwillow, CA
December 4 – 5: Circuit of the Americas World Racing League – Austin, TX
The staple of what we do is provide service to the racing community. One of the primary aspects of that is to be at the track, to help you with the car set up and care, as well as trying to improve the performance of both you and the vehicle. We want to announce and extend an open invite for those that are interested that we are here to help. Our team has a calendar of events planned with room for additional support for each weekend as needed! Our current ICSCC Conference as well as intended NASA NorCal events and SOVERN events will be listed below. If there are any race weekends you would like some crew and coaching support for, please feel free to contact us via e-mail, phone or messenger! Let us help you be your best on track!
Give us an E-mail or call to discuss options! raceronrails@gmail.com – (206)475-1114
ICSCC Conference
Event Schedule:
April 19-21 (Fri-Sun) – Mission Race Way Park –
British Columbia
May 3-5 (Fri-Sun) – Portland International
Raceway – Portland, Oregon
May 10-12 (Fri-Sun) – Pacific Raceways – Kent,
Washington
May 31-Jun 2 (Fri-Sun) – Spokane County Raceway
Park – Spokane, Washington
Jun 14-16 (Fri-Sun) – Portland International
Raceway – Portland, Oregon
July 19-21 (Fri-Sun) – Pacific Raceways – Kent,
Washington
Aug 16-18 (Fri-Sun) Portland International
Raceway – Portland, Oregon
Aug 23-25 (Fri-Sun) – The Ridge Motorsports Park
– Shelton, Washington
SOVERN:
June 7-9 (Fri-Sun) – Spokane County Raceway Park
– Spokane, Washington
July 5-7 (Fri-Sun) – Pacific Raceways – Kent,
Washington
July 26-28 (Fri-Sun) – Portland International
Raceway – Portland, Oregon
Sep 7-9 (Fri-Sun) – Portland International
Raceway – Portland, Oregon
Sep 27-29 (Fri-Sun) – Pacific Raceways – Kent,
Washington
October 5-6 (Sat-Sun) – Maryhill Hill Climb –
Mary Hill, Washington
NASA NorCal:
Mar 15-17 (Fri-Sun) – Sonoma Raceway – Sonoma,
California
Aug 2-4 (Fri-Sun) – Thunderhill Raceway –
Willows, California
Welcome to The Ridge! The Ridge is the newest track in the Pacific Northwest that is generally available to the public (Vancouver Island Motorsports Park opened recently but is a private track).
We’ve also broken the track down into 6 segments, each segment is defined right before the major major braking/slowing down zones.
Braking a track down into sections, makes it easier for people ‘consume’ it and prioritize where to get focus.
Before you read on, watch this complete lap from a dry race in September of 2017. Read the article and the re-watch the video.
Segment 1: The Uphill
This segment starts at s/f and goes all the way up to the first major braking zone (not including braking for T2) entering the Carousel. The first thing here is that this segment is a 76ft climb in elevation. The equivalent of an 8 story building. Yeah. So every single loss of mph as you make your way up the hill, will be penalized with a multiplier as you go uphill – keeping the momentum going is a top priority.
Momentum is important – check! Turn 1 – get ready for a trouser check. Turn 1, in some cars, can be taken flat, without lifting. This is similar to T1 at Spokane but the distance between T1 apex and turn-in for T2 is not as long, so in cars that are faster than a Spec Miata, experiment with caution. Personally, the most I’ve ever been able to get away with is a ~4/10 braking effort – just a tad more than a brush of the brakes, go back to tad of maintenance throttle and then back on the brakes, about the same amount for the downshift to 4th gear and then going back up the hill.
As you get the car past the apex of T2, it’s really important to get close to the curb of T3 but don’t take too big of a bite off of it, as it will send your car back to track-left, which is not the ideal line for the remainder of the complex. Once you get to full-throttle, you absolutely cannot lift. After T3, stay track-right, to setup a wide arch into T5 and then release the car to driver’s-right. This whole time between T3 through T5, when you’re pinned to full throttle, you will feel the back end wanting to step out. That’s ok – simple counter steering corrections (small ones), while staying flat, will take care of them.
After this, it’s smooth sailing to The Carousel – find a straight line to follow, that will set you up on track-right, for T6 (The Carousel), which is a long, flat left-hand sweeper.
Segment 2: The Carousel
This segment is just one corner. Why? It’s long and hard to get right. This corner can be taken many ways but here is one that has proven well in racing and qualifying conditions. Set yourself up track right but not necessarily right on the edge of the track. Brake a little later than feels comfortable with a solid 6-7/10 effort and after the initial bite, start trailing off and turning into the corner, like if you were trying to double-apex the corner.
The backend may start to come out as you turn-in so get ready to catch the backend with some maintenance throttle. Try to keep the car tucked in tight to the inside edge of the corner and if it washes out a little mid-corner, that’s ok and that just means you can back on throttle even more aggressively for corner-exit, because you don’t need as much steering input.
Don’t mind what looks like me driving off the course, that’s just a natural occurrence of margin of error of GPS signals and the stitching together of satellite images for maps.
About 35-40% through the corner, you want to be on-throttle and free here on out, you don’t lift. Start your ascension to full-throttle and as you feel the backend come out, pause the throttle application and give it a steering correction but DO NOT LIFT! For me, there is a single, tall tree out in the horizon of this corner and the instant I see that tree, I go full-throttle, no matter where I am.
From here, let the car release all the way to track-right, the very edge if needed. A lot of people don’t get out here because they want to setup far left for the next segment and that’s a trade-off you can decide to make.
Segment 3: The Thumb
This is one of the trickiest parts of the track. It combines a big compression and low-speed traction event at 8a and 8b but also a super hard, decreasing radius turn at T11 (aka The Thumb).
As you come out of The Carousel, it’s ok to stay driver’s left and then draw a straight line as you go downhill at 8a. Stay on throttle until right before you feel the ground fall away, lift and synchronize the compression event with your braking. When you do this right, you don’t need to brake as hard because the compression event gives more bite to front-end. Downshift (if you have to), wait for the car to rotate a tick and then get back to maintenance throttle. You want to get on full throttle here as quickly as you can but the sliding plus the acceleration means that it will be really easy to get on-power over-steer, so be aggressive but careful with your throttle application. After you get to full throttle, it’s a full throttle ride all the way up the hill, which is another 36 foot climb (almost a 4 story building). Every mph you unnecessarily drop or every split second of having to lift from throttle, will make you pay dearly at the top of the hill.
Where you brake for the thumb will be determined by the car and how fast you’re going. In a PRO3 car, the engine is spinning at 6,500RPM and ~103mph and we wait to come off throttle just before the curbing on the left and are well into the brakes at those curbs.
You don’t need to track all the way to driver’s right to setup for the thumb, about mid-track is fine in most cars. Next, is one of the hardest corners to get right – find the late apex and make it your job to hit that curbing with your LF tires. Getting on those tires, in 3rd gear (in many cars, 2nd gear in Spec Miatas), means you can get on the throttle hard and have plenty of room on the exit of the corner. Be ready for the car to wash out and go on the exit curbing and maybe even drop a rear tire on the exit of the corner but that’s ok – DO NOT LIFT!
Segment 4 & 5: The Ridge Straight
I’ve broken this segment into two segments because it contains two corners, which are taken very differently and I wanted to leave the last segment being the last corners before the front straight away.
First is the very deceiving Turn 12 right-hander. It’s deceiving because you can actually car a good amount of speed here and the corner opens up quite a bit on the exit, which means there is a plenty of room for corrections if you maybe got on-throttle too early.
The trick here is to get to the apex and be on full-throttle at the apex. There is a bump or bulge right at the apex, which will feel like it kicks your car away as you hit but get to full-throttle, stay in it and ride it out. You’ll almost for sure have the car sliding a little just past exit – a simple steering correction will get it back under you and you can keep going. Then start making your way over to track-right, to setup for the Ridge complex.
As you approach the corner, you’ll see that the ground starts falling away in the middle of the braking zone – YIKES!!! This means you have to have your heavy braking done before the ground starts falling away. Looking at the data, the drop-off is a 7 foot decline in elevation over a 150 foot distance. 150 feet when you’re travelling at 75mph, goes by pretty fast, so this is a split second decision.
As you approach turn-in for the corner, stay on the brakes ever so slightly, so that when you turn in full, the noise is loaded up and will help rotate the car. It’s ok to bite off a little bit of the curb but don’t get over zealous.
Give it some throttle as soon as you get past the corner, turn for the right hander and stick to track-right as much as you can. If at all possible, stay off the brakes but you might need to brush the brakes to help the front-end bite.
Segment 6: The Front Straight
The lap is almost over! You’re barreling down the Ridge Complex, a nearly 80 foot drop and you need to decide what to do for the last corner before the main straight away. There are couple school’s of thought:
Geometrical fastest line: Swing out wide, carrying more speed because you have a wider arc, a single late apex at Turn 15 and then pin the throttle down until start/finish.
Shortest distance line: Stay a little closer to the inside, use the banking in the corner, travel less distance and hit the apex of Turn 15 at the same spot.
This really depends on what kind of car you have and the track conditions on the outside of Turn 15. In race weekends, that wide line isn’t used much, so there ends up being a lot of marbles out there. Great for the rain but not for the dry.
At least in a PRO3 car, we have more grip than power, so as is with many of the other corners, the less distance we have to travel, the better so Option 2 is what you’ll see in the data.
Now, I can totally see an argument even for a PRO3 car to setup for a single flying lap to go super wide, throwing away the lap time for that current lap and setting up for a higher top speed going into Turn 1 or even setting up a competitor for a pass at the end of the straight.
You’ll see in the data that I’m on throttle about mid-corner and full-throttle at about 3/4 of the way of the corner. After that, it’s about finding the straightest line possible through Turn 16 and the least amount of steering input all the way down the front straight away.
Conclusion: The Ridge is awesome. Go drive it!
The Ridge is really a fun track. Newer and well take cared of pavement and plenty of run off room in most corners. You can get in trouble and it makes you pay but most of the time, it’s dirt and rocks on your car to go along with a bruised ego.
The facilities are constantly improving and with a motocross and a kart track that is a mini version of the big track, there’s few places that can compare. The downside is that it is located about 30 minutes northwest of Olympia, WA and Shelton has limited hotels but coming out in an RV or camping, is an absolute blast. Best of all, there are no drag races so every evening, you can do a complete track walk.
In a couple weekends, we’re headed back to Portland International Raceways and the first time I’ll get to drive the track for more than one session (in real life) this year and since I was on the Speed Secrets Podcast, earlier in the spring. I got some live coaching from Ross Bentley and have been excited to implement the tips I heard. Check out the podcast episode here and subscribe – it’s an awesome podcast with a wide variety of guests and every time, I learn a ton.
So let’s take a lap around the track and go through each sector as defined by the sectors on Track Attack. Below we’ll be using illustrations from real data from a pair of front-running “spec” racing class cars: my PRO3 and Will Schrader’s Spec Miata. Both are considered low-power momentum cars but there is enough power and weight difference you’ll see different things happening.
If you are a Spec Miata or PRO3 driver in the Pacific Northwest (or have similar cars), you can request to join the respective teams on Track Attack and get access to the session data that we’re using in these examples. (Link to PRO3 data share team and Northwest Spec Miata Tour)
We’ve broken up PIR w/chicane into 4 sectors. Each sector is a combination of corners and are split halfway through a ‘straight away’.
Elevation change: None
PIR is like the Lime Rock Park of the west coast. In the chicane configuration, there are 7 right hand turns, compared to 2.5 left hand turns. But unlike Lime Rock, the elevation change is near zero. Check out this video where the data overlay shows the elevation change – there is just under 10 feet of total elevation change.
No real elevation change but there are still some tricks on banking that the track holds.
Segment 1: The festival chicane
The first segment starts at the start/finish line, of which the speed that is carried before the first braking zone is determined heavily by the exit out of T12 on the previous lap and if you might have caught a draft down the front straight.
Braking for T1 will depend on the car and whether its a qualifying lap or a race lap. In a PRO3 car and a qualifying lap, you can hit the brakes hard right after passing the 400 board and what ends up being right before the 300 marker. Note, this is hard to replicate lap after lap. After hitting the brakes hard, start coming off of them and you should already be looking for the apex of T1. It’s a good practice to put the right-side tires on the FIA curbing at the apex of T1 and even dropping a tire inside of the curbing isn’t bad but puts more stress on the suspension components.
Think about this: When are you releasing the brakes as you enter the corner for T1? Play around with that.
You’ll want to take a line where you can hit T2 with a late apex. Why? There’s a decent straight-away from full-throttle at the exit of T2, all the way until T4. Focus on doing what you can to get to full-throttle as soon as you possibly can coming out of T2. Usually when I see data of someone really moving through this segment, it is all about the minimum speed they carry through T1 and how quickly they can get to full-throttle out of T2. Clearly, there is a trade-off here but that’s the trick – finding the right balance and compromise for you and your car.
Also, the steering input for the change in direction to turn for T2 is relatively abrupt and hard. Remember, slow speed –> fast hands, fast speed –> slow hands.
Comparing the lines of two front-running cars: Blue is a PRO3 car and Yellow is a Spec Miata. What differences do you see?
Segment 2: No rest – Attack!
Segment 2 includes T4 – T6 and is one of the areas that separates good from great laps. It can be easy to coast through this segment, but when you’re looking for the maximum lap time, you need to attack!
Same two cars: Yellow (Spec Miata) and Blue (PRO3). There is a 250-400lbs weight difference depending on the Spec Miata. Why do you think each car may be taking different lines?
T4 is somewhat of a false apex – you don’t absolutely have to hit the curbing but the benefits of staying closer to the curbing is that you travel less distance and you have more room to catch the car, if and when the car is upset by the bumps. When you brake depends on your car but generally speaking, with the chicane, you can go pretty deep into the braking zone and brake pretty lightly relative to braking for T1.
Think about: As in segment 1, when are you coming off the brakes as you enter T4?
As you dive into the T4, the rear of the car may start sliding, which is a good thing! Use maintenance throttle to settle it down and slowly start going to full throttle or modulating accordingly. How much throttle you can give it will depend on the speed you carried through mid-corner and how well the rear-left suspension components are absorbing the bumps. There is a lot of load on that rear-left, all the way through the exit of T5. Is your suspension bottoming out?
As you approach T5, you’ll have to either breathe off the throttle to get the car to rotate or give it some very slight braking. Get turned in and hit that curbing for T5. Then give it as much throttle as it will take and let the car release to the driver’s left as you approach T6.
T6 has different schools of thought. One school says sacrifice the corner and run the shortest distance possible. The other says that you should hit the corner with a wide entry and get an amazing run towards T7, where you don’t flare out as much on the exit of T6. I’ve seen data from both approaches and it’s really a toss-up. Find what works best for you and your car.
Just remember that the outside of T6 is off-camber and usually has a ton of marbles. You don’t want to be caught on the outside of T6 almost ever (save for rain) it will be slow and you will get passed.
Going fast through segment 2 should feel like you are on the ragged edge, having to catch the car slightly throughout the entire complex. This is no time to rest – attack!
Segment 3: The banana straight!
In my opinion, this is the second most important segment of the track. T7 leads onto the longest “straight” on the lap, so getting onto full throttle, without backing out is the most important thing here.
Where you determine your braking point will heavily depend on your car but the goal should always be to be at or near full throttle right at the apex of T7.
Can you see the ever so slight differences between the PRO3 (blue) and the Spec Miata (yellow)?
Think about: Where are your eyes when you are on the brakes for T7? Get them on the apex as soon as you possibly can.
Use one fluid motion to get the steering input for the corner and when you are pointed at the apex, commit and get to full throttle as quickly as you can. In all of my fastest laps, I have a healthy two tires on the T7 curbing and will have a slight slide on the exit, of which a quick steering correction will get it to stop and doesn’t require a lift. Over slide on the exit or have to lift after apex and you are dead in the water.
Segment 4: Brown trousers
In my opinion, this is the most important complex of the lap. It is the scariest and thus, even among good drivers, there is more variance in segment times than in any other segment.
The entry into T10 is the most important and it is much less about how late you can brake and more about how well balanced the car can be, as you carry a higher amount of speed through the corners.
Think about this: Will a car that is stood up on its nose because the driver braked super late, turn better than a car that is balanced front to back because the driver braked maybe a little earlier and lighter?
Some drivers can pull off (in a PRO3 car) braking at the 200 marker and keep the car balanced and others brake at the 300 and it works just as fine. Figure out what works for you and your car.
Make it your job to always, and I mean always put tires on the drivers-left curbing of T10. Then make as a straight of a line as you can to brake in a straight-line for T12. This means that you might miss the curbing on T11. That’s ok!
Brake in a straight line for T12, focus on when you’re going to release braking for T12 and get just like T7, get your eyes to the apex of T12 as quickly as you can. Turn in with a single, smooth movement and just nibble or have a full tire on the curbing of T12. This is slightly less important but if you do this, you’ll know for sure that you’ll have enough track on the exit and avoid hitting the tire walls for the drag strip (of which I’ve hit) or along the main wall.
As Ross suggested during the podcast, the goal is to get to full-throttle as quickly as possible. If you find yourself near the apex of T12 and at 50-75% full-throttle, just give it the beans! Go all the way and know that it might slide a little on the exit but you usually don’t need to lift to stop the sliding – a quick steering wheel correction will be plenty.
After that, it’s smooth sailing to start/finish. Release the car and have the lightest hands on the steering wheel as possible. Any steering input while at full-throttle is friction and friction means going slower.
Other things to consider
People say that Portland doesn’t use up brakes and tires and that’s sort of true but when you’re pushing, everything makes a difference. Using the curbs is really important but also has led to pad knock-back for several drivers, which isn’t fun.
Track temperature makes a huge difference on available grip and can swing 20-40 degrees from the morning to the late afternoon. That could make a difference of up to a second on lap times or more.
Track records are made on <100F surface temps, <80F air temperature, fresh tires, qualifying weight, a draft and putting it all together on the first 2-3 laps of a session.
That’s it! Let us know what you think about the guide and feel free to comment and share any of your tips and tricks for PIR. Do you do different things? If so, share it and tell us why.
I’ve been to Imola before. 2 years ago, we were in Italy for a hackathon week with my teammates on Track Attack, who are based out of the Friuli region, in the northeast area of Italy. My wife, 1-year old son and I spent a week in a tiny medieval town centrally located to Pisa and Firenze (Florence). One day, we took a day trip to Autodromo de Enzo I Dino Ferrari, also known as Imola.
Visiting Imola in 2015 during a Lamborghini private event and 100F+ temps.
Lamborghini was holding a private test event, but we were still allowed in, because technically, Imola is a city park. We walked the grounds, from the outside and inside the track. My favorite Top Gear episode of all time is the Imola episode, where the crew tries to match the lap time of the Stig’s Italian cousin. I drove Imola for the fist time in the Formula 1 car simulator at the Imola museum. I drove the track for 30+ hours in a Mercedes AMG GT3 on iRacing, to prepare. We did a track walk on Wednesday evening before the Thursday free practice.
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It still scared the shit out of me.
Thursday, May 24th, 2018: Optional free practice
We signed up for the optional free practice. 2 sessions. 90-minutes each. 4 drivers. We decided to give each driver 20 minutes at each session. Seth would go out first and get a sense for the car and lay down some reference data for us to chase. And he did just that; a 2:06.XXX and not a single clean lap.
When I played football in high school, I was always scared, and I didn’t suck. Especially in the games. One of the coaches could sense it in me and other players, so he said once “half the battle is showing up. Just show up to compete and your training will take over.”
That is why I raised my hand and asked to go second. It was surreal, overwhelming and humbling. I’ve read articles from other first time and regular pro drivers, who have said that in these pro series, the time on track for getting up to speed is limited and regularly interrupted by incidents. To be honest, I shrugged those stories off and thought, “could it really be much worse than a competitive club racing weekend?” Yes. That is exactly how it is.
Not a single driver had a clean 20 minutes. None of us had a single lap where we weren’t being overtaken by at least a few cars.
This was our new reality and pretty much everything we articulated to explain our pace was an excuse. Dan Rogers, came up to speed the fastest outside of Seth, having a ton more experience (a 2:10.XXX best lap), then me (2:12.XX) and then Rob (2:16.XXX).
We reviewed data to look for places and ways to get up to speed but it was obvious. We were driving tentatively, over-slowing on pretty much every corner in general and especially when being overtaken, which was almost every corner.
A common site throughout the weekend. Drive, debrief, data and repeat. Photo credit: Petr Frýba
All my racing has been multi-class racing, with rarely being in the fastest car on track but this is a whole other level. The closing speeds and acceleration of pretty much every other car was insane, especially the GT3 cars. The message from Seth was clear, though he tried to be gentle with us – time to drop excuses and drive. Yes, the other cars are faster, but we have to figure it out and at least mid-corner speed, we could hang with almost all the cars; Seth had already proved it. I was driving almost dangerously slow.
When it was time for the second session, it was the same, I got three (3) complete laps over a ~25 minute period. But I was determined to drive confidently and hard. A couple of 2:10.XXX on the last two laps and on the third lap, where I came into the pits due to another Code 60, I had a 2:09.XXX going, backed up by a rolling best lap of 2:09.269.
Dan would get down to a 2:08.XXX and Rob got down to a 2:10.XXX – we were all progressing! Seth would not drive the second session, to give us more seat time but he would qualify the next morning and start the race.
By the end of the day, we had no real idea how we stacked up against the competition. We only knew that we were improving at a good pace and that the 131 car had a stacked lineup of drivers, with one of them being the reigning European BMW Cup champion. He had been driving a specific M235i Racing car for close to two years and he was/is good.
Code 60: Your new best friend or mortal enemy
Instead of full course yellows, Creventic has “Code 60’s”. Purple flags come out, with a big circled 60 in the center. When the Code 60 comes out, all cars a required to slow down, in a smooth deceleration to no more than 60 Kmph. It’s intended to get cars down to a safe speed so whatever caused the incident can be cleaned up and maintain the gaps between the cars.
See it. Remember it. Respect it. You’ll see it a lot.
In the race, if a Purple 60 comes out and you are near the pits, it gives you an opportunity to swap drivers, change tires and/or fuel up while losing the least amount of track position. The other side of the blade though is that if you are past the pit exit, it will take up to 4 minutes to make it back to the pit entrance and in that timeframe, the issue might be cleaned up.
Cars do not bunch up for the restart, it’s a simple call for green flags when the Code 60 goes away. There are random radar guns around the track to check for speeding and they also look at your lap time for a complete lap of a code 60. If it is faster than a 4:55, you are penalized. We ended up serving a 12 second penalty one time during the race.
Friday, May 25th, 2018: Practice, qualifying and race part 1 (4 hours)
The next morning, we all went out and made improvements. I got down to a 2:08.643 in my only complete lap and then a code 60, with a 2:07.XXX on the board. Rob got down to a 2:09.XXX and Dan to a 2:06.XXX.
Next Seth went out to qualify and though we had strict orders to stay off the yellow curbing on all corners, so we could make sure the car survived the 12 hours, the restraints were off for Seth and he went hog wild! He got down to a 2:02.719, putting is in P2 for the race.
The race started off crazy but mostly clean! Seth was able to get a good start and stay in P2. He was in the car for just over 1 hour and 40 minutes and then a Code 60 came out and it was my turn. Being the driver on-deck, there were several false starts, where it was almost time to go but then not.
I got in the car, refueled and then got going. Generally, I was able to get up to my speed quickly, steadily improving lap times and topping out at consistent 2:07.xxx’s regardless of traffic. When I was at the fuel station, I was told on the radio to have my windows up, but that requirement was only during re-fueling, at the refueling station (we couldn’t refuel at our pit spot). I interpreted the message as “have them up at all times”, which meant I wasn’t feeding fresh air to the air-conditioned helmet blower. Somewhere after the 1 hour and 15-minute mark, the heat really started to get to me; everything was hot. Like a heat I’ve only experienced once before when my cool suit didn’t work in a PRO3 car and 100F weather. I figured I’d get the call at any minute to pit but no call and no Code 60. What would end up being about 90 minutes into the stint, I started shaking and getting cold shivers. I radioed in that I probably only had 10 or so more laps in me.
To be honest, I had no idea what was radioed back but it was not “ok, pit next lap”. I kept driving, trying to remain focused, keep a semblance of a pace and not crash. Finally, the call came in to pit. I thought it was because they realized that I was in bad shape, but it was because I was minutes away from going over the 2-hour at a time driving limit.
Driver change! Photo credit: Petr Frýba
I come in to the pits, stumble out of the car, Rob goes in and I start looking for any source of hydration. About five minutes after being out of the car, I do a heart rate check on my Apple Watch and… 136BPM. Holy crap. And I am still on fire and can’t seem to drink enough water or the special Italian “Gatorade”. A few minutes later, back in the trailer changing, I get the news that Rob is in the beach after an incident with a GT3 car. With only ~4 minutes left in the first 4 hours, the workers do not pull us out of the beach and we can’t get it back to the pits for inspection and repairs. The first 4 hours come to an end we are down 3 laps from the lead.
The end of our day 1 with less than 5 minutes to go.
An hour or so later, we were able to look at the car, from afar while it sat in parc ferme (impound).
Our chariot in Parc Ferme – dirty and slightly broken
Luckily, the car is in the corner and the Sorg crew checks it out and determines we have some bent and broken suspension components. This eliminates the option to have Dan start the race with the car as is, shake off the rocks and get a sense for how the car runs.
We decided to take a 10-lap penalty, so we could make repairs before the race restarts Saturday morning. That night we had an excellent spaghetti dinner at the Villa we stayed at (was built in 1420 and owned at one point by Napoleon Bonaparte’s grandmother) and finalized the plan.
Dinner at Napoleon Bonaparte’s grandmother’s villa. Built in 1420 and furniture from the 1700’s…
We were P1 for a good chunk of part 1 of the race because of good luck with Code 60’s but our fastest pace was still slower than our main competition (#131). With the 10-lap penalty, all we could really do is put our heads down, put down clean laps, stay out of trouble and hope the endurance gods would punish the competition.
Saturday, May 26th, 2018: Race part 2 (8 hours)
Dan would start the race, put down solid laps, stay out of trouble and then hand over the car to Seth. Seth would go in and do the same, getting back as many laps as possible – hoping that Seth could match lap times with their fastest driver and we would be faster than the rest of their drivers.
Over the general race pace, that would end up being the case – we steadily clawed back laps from the 2nd place car but slowly we’d lose ground to the first place #131.
Dan Rogers (@epsdan) riding the curbs to get us some laps back. Photo credit: Petr Frýba
In the third stint, I went back in for what would end up being about 1 hour and 45-50 minutes, safely clear of the 2-hour driving limit. I was able to get up to speed even faster than Friday and in the second half of the stint, when the heat soak returned, and I realized the Camelback with a mix of water and Italian Gatorade was not connected to my helmet, something clicked. Something that Seth had been preaching to us for the past 24 hours (and will be reserved for another time). I trusted his advice and just did it, and the car didn’t go off into the dirt or in a wall – it held. The times started steadily falling, the 2:06’s started coming effortlessly, almost regardless of where traffic was interfering. And then, a 2:05.xxx! And then another 2:05 in the predictive lap timer but spoiled by traffic and another, spoiled by… me (I was getting greedy).
Traffic or not, need to make up time! Photo credit: Petr Frýba
I was ecstatic but drained and as I’ll write about in another post, I didn’t have the stamina to sustain 2:05’s. I had already started driving with the windows cracked and on the straight-aways, I’d put my hand out of the window to funnel outside air in and help cool me down. The time went by much faster this stint and before I knew it, the call was in to pit. There was a Code 60 for a badly damaged car which would take 10-15 minutes to clear up, so though the Code 60 came out right after I had passed the pit entrance, I was able to circle back around and pit, under the Code 60 and Dan was able to get back in the car and on track before the green flag flew.
Dan had a great second stint, consistently hitting 2:07’s and staying out of trouble. We had clawed back more laps and with Seth going in for the closing stint, it would be close. Enough green flag running or advantageous Code 60’s is what we needed. Seth came out with a full head of steam and immediately started putting down 2:03’s and 2:04’s – getting back 8-12 seconds per lap to P2. With an hour left in the race, the cars started falling like flies. One car after another, breaking down on track or barely limping back to the pits for a repair but no Code 60. Finally, with about 15 minutes left in the race, one of the leading GT3 cars, a beautiful matte-red Mercedes AMG GT pulled to the side of the track with a collapsed front wheel. Even though it pulled off in a decently safe area, the Code 60 came out, leaving only a few minutes to finish the race and with that, our chances of P2 washed away.
One of the overall race contenders, broken down with less than 15 minutes to go in the race.
After 8 hours, we had clawed back a full 10 laps and were only 20 seconds away from P2. Another few laps of green flag running… but that’s racing!
Seth Thomas (@racerseththomas) bringing it home in P3 Photo credit: Petr Frýba
Podium finish to top off a great weekend
Despite not being able to claw back P2, we still made it on the podium and it was also my first experience actually standing on a podium, let alone the same podium and podium room that mega stars of racing have been in and stood on. Overall it was a great experience and looking forward to the next race, which we’re targeting the 24 hour race at Circuit of the Americas in November or possibly Barcelona in September.
Before we get into the actual on-track action and the race, let’s talk about the car we drove for the 12 hours of Imola.
BMW M235i Racing by Sorg Rennsport
The story goes that a prominent leader in BMW Motorsport was at the 24 Hours of The Nürburgring several years ago and noticed that in the sub-GT4 categories, there were several BMW’s competing but they were old (E30’s and E36’s) and took a ton of work to get them race ready and maintained, let alone competitive.
With Mazda having a full factory developed and globally homogulated Global MX-5 Cup Car, BMW decided to build their own solution. Since its launch in 2014, the BMW M235i Racing has seen steady uptake in the marketplace, with BMW Cup Racing series all over Europe, in endurance races like the Creventic 24 Hour Series, VLN and in professional touring classes all over the world, like the TC classes in Pirelli World Challenge. As an entry-level professional race car, its hard to beat the value despite the sticker price and driving experience, as we’ll cover below.
The VLN BMW M235i Racing Cup Series Photo Credit: VLN
We were originally supposed to drive this car below but in the prior 24 Hour of Nurburgring race, it was wrecked a couple times and was down for repairs. So Sorg prepared and brought out the “Orange Juice car” as my son named.
The car we were originally going to drive but was damaged at the Green Hell. Photo credit: Petr Frýba
The “Orange Juice Car” Photo credit: Petr Frýba
The basics
DIMENSIONS
Length: 4,454mm
Max. width: 1,862mm (without mirrors)
Height: 1,380mm
Wheel base: 2,690mm
Max. track width: 1,608mm
ENGINE / TRANSMISSION
Straight six-cylinder petrol engine
BMW M Performance TwinPower Turbo
Capacity: 2,979ccm
Output: 245kW (333bhp)
Torque: 450Nm
Racing exhaust with racing catalytic converters
Steering wheel with shift paddles and lights on the steering wheel (awesome!!)
BMW M Performance limited-slip differential
TANK Motorsport safety tank
SUSPENSION / STEERING
KW dampers
H&R suspension springs
Front: H&R anti-roll bar (2-way)
Rear: H&R anti-roll bar
BRAKES
Front: High-performance motorsport braking system –
Performance Friction (PFC); 4-pot fixed calliper
Rear: BMW M Performance 2-pot braking system
ABS / DSC / ASC
BMW Motorsport specific racing application
TYRES / WHEELS
18×10 inch alloy rims
265/60/18 tires – we ran Hankook full racing slicks though we’ve seen this car run on Pirelli’s, Dunlops and Michelin’s across the globe
SAFETY COMPONENTS
Cage with DMSB certificate and FIA approval
6-point racing harness from Schroth
Racing seat RECARO Pro Racer SPG (we had an OMP HTC-R carbon seat)
Exterior
The car is built a ‘body in white’ to make it super easy for a great wrap job. It is the 235i body with the body panels from the M2, which presumably provide a variety of aero benefits. Sorg has it outfitted with the optional rear wing, which is adjustable to aid in rear down-force.
Seth Thomas getting acquainted with the car. You can see the body in white and the full body wrap.
Bottom line, it looks awesome in just about every livery I’ve seen. A bit boxy compared to most sports car but expected for a BMW. The aero bits make it look aggressive and with the incredibly meaty 265-wide slicks, it looks beefy from every angle. You’ll notice that in most pictures, we ran with the windows up. It comes with the power windows still and fully functional. It wasn’t until the cockpit got really hot, that we’d crack a window to circulate air and feed cooler air into the helmet blower.
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Interior
This car is the standard for every production-based race car, even a club race car. Period. The interior was clean and tidy with the factory dash just about fully intact. The steering wheel had shift lights, programmed to keep us within the meaty part of the power band and the small LCD screen that read out the amount of fuel we’ve used since the last refill/reset, lap times, water and oil temperatures.
Straight factory look and yes, my eye line is only a couple inches higher than this…
The shifters were in perfect position to shift up and down without readjusting your hands. The OMP HTC-R carbon fiber seat was on sliders, to accommodate several driver heights, of which for us ranged from 5’6″ for me to just over 6′ for Seth Thomas. I normally don’t love sliders but these were solid and provided all of the range we needed.
Much of the interior is trimmed with carbon fiber goodness, which looks great and keeps everything looking clean and professional.
The car still comes with a racing oriented but still operating Driving Stability Control (DSC) of which we turned completely off. I personally didn’t drive with it on on, so I can’t speak directly to the differences but having it fully off was great and I felt like I could easily manage the amount of corner-exit sliding with throttle and steering input.
Sorg outfitted the car with Motorola digital radio system, which was a bit random in its performance throughout the weekend. Imola is a big track, with lots of elevation changes so we rarely had good audio quality at the farthest points from the paddock and saved most critical comms for the front-straight away.
In the center console, you can see the Motorola radio and that on/off switch is for the helmet blower.
This was also the fastest and loudest (though not super loud) car I’ve ever raced, along with racing amongst the fastest and loudest cars I’ve ever raced with (up to GT3 cars). I found that my super awesome Stilo helmet with the ear muffs were simply not enough, so I had an on-track vendor install the additional component so I can have molded ear plugs, in addition to the built-in noise cancelling ear muffs and that seemed to help quite a bit.
Sorg installed an air-conditioned helmet blower, versus the standard air blower I have in my PRO3 car. This thing worked great for the most part. It needs an air intake, then it cools the air before forcing it through the air tube. The issue I ran into was that in my first race stint of nearly 2 hours, I ran the whole time with the windows up. And even though we had the car’s fan circulating air into the cabin, everything got heat soaked and with 40 or so minutes left in my stint, I was heat soaked and the blower was pushing around hot air (which was still better than nothing).
One driver mentioned that the dash was a little tall and he didn’t love not being able to see the hood and thus not having as strong of a sense of where the car body limits were. This is true but for me, I’m used to sitting low and being short, so I never see the hood, so that didn’t bother me.
The cable management, cage design and installation is pristine, though it was interesting to see that the cage is actually a bolt-in cage, versus a welded in cage at the mounting points. I’m sure there is science and logic behind this but that took me by surprise.
Lastly, the car had a full AiM data logging system built in and capturing ECU channels. As usual, we lived and died by the predictive lap timing feature and during practices, we used the Apex Pro Driving Coach tool, where Seth set some baseline laps and then we focused on making the lights as green as possible in the corners.
How did it drive?
Before driving the car, Dan and Seth said that the M235i Racing would drive like a big PRO3 or Spec E46 car, of which are my only two reference points. And after the experience, they were mostly right.
With power steering, ABS and a paddle-shifting automatic transmission, it was the easiest car to race I’ve ever driven. What you do is still the same in terms of driving but it’s just easier. All inputs don’t require much of any force and the seat, seating position and Schroth belts are simply comfortable. For example, I have an Apple Watch and when I drive my PRO3 car (no ABS, power steering and a CAE shifter) I don’t need to ‘start a workout’ on my watch. The amount of work I am doing and vibrations automatically make the watch think I am working out and it logs a workout.
In the BMW M235i Racing? Not so much. After both my racing stints, of which both were nearly 2 hours, I was toast. Overheated, dehydrated, mentally and physically exhausted I looked at my watch and no workout detected. I had to manually have it check my heart rate about 5 minutes after getting out of the car and it was still at 134bpm.
Getting 3-wheel action is easy- peasy in this car! Photo credit: Petr Frýba
So yes, it was the hardest, most exhausting driving I’ve ever done but I might as well had been sitting in a beach chair.
This thing is fast.
With ~330whp and on full racing slicks, this car is easily the fastest car I’ve ever driven in a race. My perspective is a bit skewed because while we were hauling @$$, we were driving in the slowest class of the race. It literally felt like I was driving with an anchor dragging behind because of how stupid fast the TCR, GT4, GT3 and Porsche Cup cars were.
Still, this car is fast and when not over-driven, it is really easy to go fast. The key difference for me was to trust the higher than normal mid-corner speed the car could carry due to it’s more advanced suspension and big/meaty slicks. Seth and Dan mentioned that the Hankook’s were not the fastest slick available but are likely a great value because they tend to last at 90% of the peak grip for a good amount of time.
Bottom line is that this car could hang mid-corner with every car on-track except for the GT3 race cars and possibly the TCR cars. I could definitely feel the additional size and weight of the car transitioning weight from side to side, compared to a 2700 lbs PRO3 car but after a few laps, it felt normal.
Not a mistake – this car can hang with most any car mid-corner! Photo credit: Petr Frýba
Power-wise, it has gobs of torque but not an incredible top-end. Corner exit I could stay on the rears of several TCR cars but then they would slowly pull away, while just about every other car would leave us like if we were parked.
Braking was great and confidence inspiring. Braking for Turn 2 (the first chicane) and Turn 17 are full, 10 out of 10 braking zones. After building up my confidence, I found myself braking at around the 175 meter mark for the 1st chicane and the just before the 50 meter for the last chicane. HOLY CRAP! But the car would slow down, turn in and handle it, with no complaints.
Being a turbo car, there was a tiny bit of lag from throttle application to feeling the grunt. So it was even more critical to get to full throttle as soon as possible. For the most part, the LSD and the Hankook’s would take the full throttle corner after corner and lap after lap. I only got a bit more sideways than I’d want on corner exit a couple of times: once in turn 7 when I was testing the limits carrying speed through the corner and up the hill – simply too early on full throttle with too much steering input and a second time on the exit of the last chicane, when I got a bit more exit curb than the car could hold while try to get full throttle. I didn’t back out, just a simple steering correction as I still had a few inches before getting to the big turtle bumps that were there to eat up suspensions.
Final verdict: It could be the perfect race car for you and me at some point
At around $85k USD brand new, the BMW M235i Racing is seriously a great deal. For reference, to have someone build a top quality Spec E46 race car, it can cost upwards of $60k. $25k gets you a pretty much guaranteed quality and consistency, factory supported race car.
I’ve looked around and still not quite sure what they are going for used but I wouldn’t be surprised to see them available for $40-50k USD.
The driving experience is incredible and consumables are on the low end for a pro-level race car.
The issue for me is that I care most about competition. I want to race in big fields, with closer to spec cars and see how I stack up to the best competition around. And outside of Pirelli World Challenge, there isn’t a ton of these yet in the US and especially in the club racing ranks. If that were a different situation, I would seriously consider finding and racing a BMW M235i Racing.
I’ve heard and read that the BMW M235i Racing Cup is popular, with country and Europe-wide championships that are fielding 20+ cars at a time. If I lived in Europe, this would also be a strong option.
Until any of those things happen, I’ll have to settle for making my in-process, BMW Spec E-46 look and drive as close to this beauty as possible and racing with Sorg Rennsport 1-3 times a year. I can’t wait for the next time!
My first on-track experience was a 1-day High Performance Driving with Proformance Racing School at Pacific Raceways. It was a actually a birthday present for my wife. She had a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 9 and I had a 400whp 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI.
His and her’s AWD turbo beasts! I still miss that STI!
That day I learned that I had no clue what I was doing behind the wheel of a car from a ‘racing’ standpoint, especially one with that much power and in general the capabilities of the car. I also realized that learning to drive a car on-track with skill and being fast was going to take time, but I was up for the challenge.
Over the next 12 months, I did several track days and learned about the then, GRAND-AM Continental Tire Series where production-based race cars, like my Subaru, raced in the GS and ST classes. Further, here in the PNW, we had several drivers who had started out in local club racing and driven or were driving in series like that at the ‘professional’ level.
I have dreamt and continue to dream of owning and racing cars like this!
Since then, it’s been a goal of mine to at least once, drive in a professional racing series in a production-based sports car.
Getting the invitation
Over the past four years racing in primarily PRO3 class, I’ve met several former PRO3 drivers who have or still do drive professionally. One of which is Dan Rogers and through him, Seth Thomas, of which they have co-driven in multiple race cars and series over the years. In 2018, they decided to see about putting together a program to do at least a handful of the Creventic 24/12 Hour Endurance racing series, which has races in the most iconic circuits all over Europe and at Circuit of the Americas.
They reached out to several drivers who presumably have a minimum level of proven speed, ability to keep a car clean and ultimately, afford to take part in all or some of the races. When I first got the email, I almost brushed it off completely, assuming it would be way too expensive for me to afford but it turned out to be not too bad and in the grand scheme of this type of racing, a solid value. Coupling this with an extended family vacation and a couple of business meetings, taking part in the race went from a pipe dream to a bucket list reality.
12 Hours in a factory race car | BMW M235i Racing
The race will be a 12-hour race, split over two days. I’m not exactly sure why this is but having visited Imola a few years ago, I can imagine it being a noise ordinance issue as Imola is actually a city park, with residential buildings right on or next to the track property and park. I’ve also heard from organizing bodies that holding a race over-night is much more expensive than running during the day due to the required workers and lighting.
The BMW M235i Racing factory race car – raced in professional TC series all over the world.
The weapon of choice is a newest generation BMW M235i Racing 2-door coupe, built and sold directly by BMW motorsports as turn-key solution for the ‘entry levels’ of professional racing. I don’t know the exact class we’ll be racing in but the car is capable of pace just slightly slower than the new global TCR cars.
Sorg Rennsport’s BMW M235i Racing car in for a pit stop
It has a 3.0L, twin-turbo in-line 6-cylinder engine and a 6-speed automatic transmission, with paddle shifters. Dan Rogers, who has driven the car previously described it as essentially a bigger PRO3 or Spec E46 car, in terms of handling characteristics. This is music to my ears as it means, well balanced, plenty of brakes and enough power to have a great time but not so much that you could get into too much trouble. The car is owned and managed by the Sorg Rennsport Racing Team, out of Germany.
Learning the track
Having never driven Imola in-person, my main resort to learning the track was iRacing! My simulator is primarily setup for iRacing, so even though I realized a couple weeks ago that Imola and a close sibling to the M235i Racing was available on Assetto Corsa, I decided to do all my training on iRacing and using the Mercedes AMG GT3 race car. The AMG has a lot more power than what we’ll be driving but I figured it had similar characteristics from previous driving; rear-wheel drive, paddle shifters and more under-steering characteristics relative to something like a 911 GT3 or the Audio R8 GT3.
Over the past 4 months, I’ve logged over 1,000 laps and 30+ hours of seat time. I’ve also used Virtual Racing School’s data pack feature, to compare myself with one of their coaches with a reference lap time of 1:42.xxx. The data pack is from a different season where multiple updates to the car, tire model and track have been rolled out, so trying to replicate the lap time exactly isn’t possible but my goal was to get as close to it as I could. My personal best ended up being a 1:45.2xx but most importantly, the last few weeks I was able to jump in and start hammering away high 1:45’s and low 1:46’s, with relative ease and regardless of fuel load. In an endurance race, yes being fast is important but being consistent and keeping the car clean is even more important.
Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari – IMOLA!
So how well do I know the track? We’ll find out for sure but by just closing my eyes, I can recite…
Turn 1, full throttle and get ready to straighten the wheel and brake past the 200 marker for the first chicane.
Turns 2/3, make sure to hit the backside of turn 2, so that I can square off Turn 3 and get a healthy full-throttle run at apex. Stay off the big bumps on the curbs.
Turn 4, slight left hander of which the goal is to stay flat but might need to lift depending on the angle of entry and how well the right rear tire is holding.
Turns 5/6, similar chicane but there is more distance between the two turns. Similarly, hit the back side of 5, square off turn 5 and get a healthy full throttle run at apex and use the exit curbing as needed. Do not touch the big bumps on the inside of the corner, they will destroy your time and your car.
Turn 7, very slow left-hander that feels like a decreasing radius corner. Important to get the car turned and then back on throttle quick and somewhat aggressively.
Turn 9, very fast left-hand turn with a stab of the brakes and then quickly back on throttle – let the car nibble at the exit curbs but don’t get too greedy. It’s hard to stay full throttle with being too much on the curbs as the rear end tends to kick out.
Turns 11, 12, 13 – an interconnected, high-speed and critical sequence of turns. A brush of brakes to do a full ‘send it’ into turn 11 and making sure to hit the apex curb. A stab of throttle before 6 out of 10 brakes, downshift to 3rd gear and bite off a decent size of the apex curb for turn 12 and then full throttle as quickly as possible to go up the hill and Turn 13 ends up being more of the exit curbing of Turn 12 than anything else.
It is very easy to let the car run over the big exit curbing here but iRacing will punish you for track limits so make sure to only get a max of 2 tires over the white line.
Turns 14 and 15 make up the last chicane of the lap, that feels a lot like Portland International Raceways. Take a big chunk of the T14 curb, flick the car to the left and get to full throttle at or before the apex of T15. It’s ok and even sometimes the curbing of T15 helps rotate the car, let the car release to the exit curbing but only go 2 wheels off.
Turn 16, a full throttle bend in the road – create a straight line that helps you get to driver’s left to setup for a very tough T17.
T17, a very intimidating and high speed right-hand corner, where you are flat and right at shifting to top gear. Position the car for a late apex and be ready for 10 out of 10 braking effort, in a straight line and shifting from 6th to 3rd
Turns 18 and 19, the last set of real corners before the front straight away and start/finish. Important to get the curbs on both corners and T19 is the most important to get to and stay full throttle as quickly as possible. Just a brush of brakes is needed and use all of the exit curbs.
Turns 20 and 21 are essentially bends in the road. Take them full throttle and have as little steering input as possible. Steering input = friction = slowing the car down. Make down the straight away as quickly and frictionless as possible.
Generally speaking, I think I have 80% or so of the track down in my head and developed muscle memory so that when I get into the car, I can focus on driving the car and figuring out how to go fast, versus figuring out my way through the track.
Physical training
This is an endurance race, in Italy at the start of the summer. I’ve been in Italy around this time of the year in the past and it can get hot, really hot. I’ve been working on my cardiovascular endurance – 60+ minute runs and cycling sessions.
I’ll be honest that while I’m in decent shape, I’m nowhere near where I wanted to be. Life has gotten incredibly busy on all fronts and I’ve been lucky to get in 3 workouts per week and a few simulator sessions. To top it all off, this past weekend, I did a PRO3 race weekend and only did one run group. The driving felt great but, I improved my personal best lap time during the actual race but by Sunday afternoon, my lower back, on my left side was sore. I’ve only experienced this last year, when I was a couple months post a surgery and next to no working out.
No expectations
Overall, I am sitting on this airplane with next to zero expectations. There will be four total drivers, one of which I know will be faster than me (Seth). Dan will either be around the same pace or faster because he has a ton more experience in professional races and Rob, the third driver – I don’t know at all.
I will work at being as fast, safe and consistent as I can possibly be but overall, am going to focus on having fun and taking the experience all in.
On July 7th, 2017 I went in for what was supposed to be a minor surgery. I was diagnosed with a non-cancerous cyst, which is quite common except for it was located right on top of my tailbone (not on the tailbone but right next to it). This meant that I was regularly sitting on it, especially when I would slouch.
It had originally come up 3 or 4 years ago after 6 months of karting all the time. I thought it was just a result of all that trauma to my tailbone. It was an annoyance but never very painful until this past June, during the second Portland International Raceways weekend. After the first day of testing, I woke up sore all over my body and my cyst was really tender.
I ignored all the pain and discomfort and made it through the weekend but went to the doctor the following week. It turned out that my cyst had gotten so swollen, it was infected and those body aches, were my body fighting the infection.
Long story short, I needed surgery to have it completely removed. It is a straight-forward procedure and usually within a week, someone can go back to normal activities, but because of the location, the recovery was at least 2 weeks and possibly up to 2 months before feeling ‘normal’ again. Well for me, it ended up being the 2 months.
A week after the Pacific race, I was reading to my kiddo and his friend, but I was also laid up, trying to take the load off my incision.
The next couple of weeks were really tough. I don’t know how differently or faster things would have healed if I had not raced but I think it slowed things down. A checkup with the surgeon a couple weeks later showed everything looked good but she was surprised to hear that I was in so much pain.
I headed her advice and just tried to rest up, sprinkling in some yoga and days of more walking. 1.5 months after the surgery was the August 19-20 Dash for Kids race, back at Portland International Raceways.
Our setup at Portland International Raceways
= Sub-Par Performance
During the race weekend, we decided to hit the ‘reset’ button on our suspension setup, seeking coaching and advice from the 2016 PRO3 Champion, Olivier Henrichot (a future post on that experience). We made dramatic changes to the setup, where in the end, I was able to hit the same lap times as before, with less of an effort and more confidence in feedback from the car.
All good things except, I was beat. On Friday, we had 4 total on-track session and I awoke on Saturday AM, full-body sore. Saturday, was a typical day of practice, qualifying and the 1-hour race, of which this time, I was splitting seat time with Olivier. We won the race but I again felt beat, after a 30 minute stint.
The next morning, we only had qualifying in the AM and the main race in the afternoon; not a ton of physical workout time. I qualified P2 and was ready to go for the win during the race. But about 5 laps into the race, my lower back started hurting. Halfway through the race, it was throbbing and I was actively thinking about it during the front and back straightaways. Not a good.
Qualified P2 for the main PRO3 race on Sunday
Long story short, I did not perform anywhere near my full or regular potential and one big reason that I was just not physically fit enough. Here is the race video from the weekend, of which again, isn’t all bad and 1 year ago, I would have been thrilled to finish P3.
But How Did I Do So Well at Pacific?
I’m not entirely sure but I think that while I was in pain during the race, I still had more of my strength, stamina and was also on lots of Ibuprofen, which could have masked some of the pain. At Portland, I think my strength, stamina and reflexes were not at the same level. This variables resulted in a heavier mental toll and it started impacting me even worse.
At the end of the day, it’s not like I really sucked. I still finished on the podium, against a couple of strong drivers that I’ve battled with all year. Jeff McAffer, who overtook me for P2, had a really strong race, with the fastest lap of the race. Olivier and I also won the 1-Hour endurance race!
The main point is that to perform at or near peak levels, you need to be mentally and physically at your peak. I know there are drivers that aren’t into physical fitness and they are solid, if not incredible drivers. They have other strengths, such as functional fitness and years and years of experience. I don’t have more than a few years of racing experience, so I rely on physical fitness as a way to compete.
Moving Forward
For me personally, I am much healthier now and turning my training back up. It will be some time before I’m as physically as fit as before but that is the goal. And if in the future, I am injured, I am going to bite the bullet and rest/heal properly before trying to get back into the cockpit.
Looking out the pit-lane exit at Circut of the Americas
What: Track walks, why you like them, even if you don’t know it yet
If I knew then, What I know now: I would have studied harder on these when I was younger. I would be a better driver and team member overall, now as a result.
Walking the track before an event is a very important part of your race or track weekend. It spreads across all forms of motorsports, and any amount of wheels used. Getting your feet on the same ground you will be driving your car on will give you valuable perspective regarding placement or the vehicle, surface conditions, line options and so on. It is a great way to get the track layout in your head prior to getting into or on your machine. There are a couple of key things to pay attention to and try to do while on a track walk. I will try to outline some of them to help you get the most out of your next track walk. I will start with some of my experience from the first events I went to as a young lad in high school with my buddies.
A group of friends of mine in school were also into cars. We would set up a couple of days a year where we would all meet up the day before an auto cross event, hang out at one of the guys cabins, and then take all of our cars to the event the next day. Auto cross was a good introduction into motorsports as a driver for me. The first day I went to an event was with the Porsche Club (PNW Region). I had a little old VW Jetta that had some sticky tires on it. We got to the event, stood through the drivers meeting, then everyone set out and walked around the course that had been set up. A course walk at an auto cross is essential. The track will never be the same from event to event, so getting a feel for the layout is an important first step. Auto cross does not allow for a lot of set up and testing time, so getting the most out of your runs is key. I learned how valuable it was. I was able to pip my friend on our first time out, and he was driving a 911. There were more events after that, and as I grew to understand the track walk it made perfect sense to me.
Flash forward 15 years and now we are doing track walks every week we go to the track. I went out and rode a new Motocross track a few weeks back – I did not get a chance to walk it, but I took 4-5 laps at just above a walking pace just to feel the place out – 2 laps later I was ripping around just fine. We will often times end our first night at the track with a track walk. It is a great way to wind down after a work day, and also a good way to walk some miles if you did not get a chance to before! My first race back after a couple of years of just crew work, I ended up racing at the Ridge in Shelton. It is a place I had driven before, but it had been a while. We took the time the night before the race to walk the track, twice actually. It was great. I had one of the instructors at the track walking with us and they provided great insight to where to place the car due to seems in the blacktop in braking zones. Entry and exit lines were discussed. Gear selection (which can depend a lot on your equipment) was discussed. I felt a lot better after walking the track to just jump in the next day and go. Everything was fresh in my mind again.
Elevated view of the turn 17-18 complex at Circut of the Americas
Gama asked me to do a track walk with him this weekend at Pacific Raceways in Kent. We have a race this weekend in the Pro3 car and he will be the only driver for the team this weekend as Manu’s car had a mechanical issue we found during a post-race inspection (more on that later). I was quick to agree, as I have had many track days there, and 2 school days at that track, but had never actually walked a full lap in all of my years. I had been to points of the track, but not all of the way around on foot. We will be walking the track tonight and I am going to make notes, and take pictures to share our experience with the walk!
We try to track walk every weekend. it is good exercise, knowledge, and you will have a great feel for the layout the first time you are behind the wheel at speed. Be prepared for a walk, and be prepared for weather as well! Some tracks are large, and weather can be different from one side to the other. One of the other things that will help you a lot with our track walk, is walking with someone with lots of knowledge of that track for insight. Most racers are instructors also, so their points of view are sound usually! Just walking the track can gain you a lot, but having someone there to compare notes and tips with is very beneficial. Having someone that drives a similar vehicle is even better!
Discussing things between sessions during a race weekend – People will often come ask us about what to do, or what is going on – Almost always it is appreciated!
What: The nitty gritty of asking questions when at the race track
If I knew then, what I know now: I would spend a lot more time reading and less time relying on info from others
What do I do about…
Asking people questions or for advice at the track is a tricky subject to discuss. Things like prep, common sense and skill all come into play. What do I do about? That is a question that gets asked at the track more than anything else. What do I about [fill in the blank]….?
Asking questions at the track can be easy at first, and then more difficult as time goes on. People are often willing to help out those that are new, or are obviously a fish out of water. That tune changes over time. People in the racing community are expected to hold themselves to a higher standard. You are out there racing. It is a serious thing, and can have serious consequences.
You should well and know what you are doing out there! The ones that find trouble asking questions are those that do not make good notes for themselves, or that simply do not listen to the advice they are given. It can get you a long way, or it can very much get you nowhere.
Drives will often discuss the race with each other, compare notes, and talk out any issues or incidents that may have occurred. Often advice is asked for and provided
Don’t go fishing for what you want to hear
Getting help at the track can be tricky in itself. Knowing when and how to ask any questions is almost more important than what you are asking. A conversation I had last week with one of the other guys locally that runs some race car support on race weekends ended up with us comparing stories of things that people have said and done to us when we are at the track.
More often than not, the gripes we had were from people repeating the same questions, and expecting different answers, as well as asking the “pros” for advice on something, then asking all of the other “pros” until one of them says what you want to hear.
There are three types of people at the race track:
The ones that are there to win
The ones that are there for fun
The ones that are there to try to prove something.
Types 1 and 2 are easy to work with
The guys and gals that want to win will often have well thought out questions about stuff in advance. They are into improving, not bull shitting. The ones out there to have fun are also easy. They don’t expect much out of the weekend, and if they have a question, will generally be a softball question.
Type 3 on the other hand…
It is the ones that are out to prove something, wither to themselves, or someone else, that are the issue. They must like to or somehow almost always end up ruining it for the rest of us.
In the shop I work at, we have internal conversations regarding this issue as well. Often times people want to come with questions and problems, and rarely offer up a solution. In our shop, if someone has a question, we work hard to train and teach them to use all of the resources at hand before going to someone else regarding the question. The race track should be considered the same.
If you are about to go ask someone a question here are a few things to consider before you go.
Picking the right time to ask people for stuff is important.
Step 1: Have some background info about what you are asking.
If you are going to ask about tire pressures, be sure to know what you are currently running pre and post session. Otherwise there is not a reference point to compare.
Feel has a lot to do with the tuning of a car and each driver will often have a different idea of what feels good. We deal with this in our enduro car – getting the set up that everyone can work well with. If you are going to ask about brakes, know what you would want to change about the braking experience (force, feel, pedal modulation…) Having a plan once you have the answer, is crucial.
Step 2: Don’t go shopping for answers!
The second step is to not ask the same question to everyone in the paddock. If you are that un-sure of what is going on or how something is or should be. Then you are in over your head, and you need to take a step back to re-evaluate.
If you have an idea of what you are looking for as far as an answer, and nobody’s reply lines up with what you expect. Going around to ALL of the people in the paddock until you hear the answer you are looking for is incorrect, and the root of that is that you, yourself are expecting an incorrect situation to be proper, and if people don’t seem to think that is the case, then people will try to prove them wrong, often failing to do so.
This does not necessarily mean that crowd-sourcing solutions will always result in the proper answer but if after asking a few people, who are more knowledgeable and experienced than you and it is not what you’re expecting, it is probably time to re-visit those expectations.
Step 3: Take and actually implement the answers you gathered.
If you are asking everyone up and down the paddock about all of the different things about racing, the cars or machines you race, schedule, timing and all of that. You are doing it wrong. We are all adults and should be treated as such when we do events like this. Just think about how ridiculous you would feel if you showed up to try out for the Seahawks and you brought with you some basketball shoes, a baseball mitt, and your I-pod in its fancy arm band holder. You are not making that team.
Racing is similar. If you are showing up and asking questions right out of the truck. Your best bet would be to get back in the truck, head back home, and think about what you have done, what you want to do, and how better to be prepared for it. This is not to say that you need to know everything before heading out and trying racing, but this is a more complicated activity than just a pickup basketball game. It’s important to do some homework and find people who you can shadow and ‘learn the ropes’.
Not the best time to ask this guy about tire pressures he might recommend for your car.
Step 4: Respect people’s time and professionalism
I see a lot at the track, the weekend warriors going up to the bigger outfits and teams, and plain out bugging them about stuff. This is the biggest no-no I see at the track. If you need something from one of the big teams, you had better be willing to pay for it. The guys under the big tents, pay big dollars to have support when at the track. Going to the people that support racers that are paying to get free advice, is a bit of a slippery slope. It can cause high tensions since some people are paying to get the same info that you are seeking for free. The owner of the outfit may or may not be willing to help, but if you come and bring something to the table, then it is great start!
Conclusion: In the end, it’s pretty simple – take what you know, what you can and be sure to have reasonable questions, at reasonable times for people at the track.
If you don’t, you will find it ever increasingly difficult to find solid advice and answers. One of the main things we learned to love about team driver Gama, is that he will often have very prepared sets of questions dealing with specific items. We had a conversation last week about new wheels. He asked if he should get lighter weight wheels to try out.
We talked about the idea (mostly because we all liked it) and discussed the pros-cons of light wheels. The main issue being that often weight and strength will go hand in hand. Gama then spent the time to research each wheel option for size, and spacer needs. We ended up going with a new set of wheels to try. Each one will be saving 4 pounds per corner but potentially not be as strong of a wheel.
He has asked me questions like this for years, and each time, has proven than he knows what he is asking about, is willing to accept the answer, even if it is not what he was expecting, and will take appropriate action when needed. He is the type that wants to win!
Light eight, but not as strong. What is weight worth?!
Knowing little is not bad, but being a pain in the ass to everyone and not paying attention to people when you ask for advice is. Depending on why type of person you are, asking questions and getting info at the track should not be a big deal. Most participants are eager and enthusiastic, and will be willing helpers. Asking the big name guys will get you a long way with the correct approach. Remember that you should be having fun! Having people be grumpy or mad at you is not fun, don’t be that guy or gal!
