2011 NASA Champs HPD HC Race Report from Croiset Racing
10-03-2011, 10:33 PM
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2011 NASA Champs HPD HC Race Report from Croiset Racing
Here is a condensed version of our trip to the 2011 NASA Championships!
Croiset Racing’s heartbreak and triumphs at the 2011 NASA Championships
The Croiset Racing team would field 2 CRX’s for the HPD Honda Challenge NASA Championships. Jeremy Croiset would pilot the ASR CRX while Manny Coats would field the Iron Clover CRX. Preparation for the event came right down to the wire and both cars were finished the day they were loaded into the trailer to leave for the long drive to the famed Mid Ohio Sports Car Course.
The team arrived at Mid Ohio very early to prepare for the event and get everything setup. We still had a few minor things to finish up on the cars and the drive takes 3 solid days, so it was a good idea to arrive with plenty of time to spare. We arrived, unloaded, and got everything setup in the HPD Honda Challenge Paddock area, then chilled and waited out the rainy weather that was in the area.
Weds testing rolled around, and wouldn’t you know it, it was raining still. My teammate Manny coats wanted to get some track time, so we prepped his car for rain and sent him out. I on the other hand elected to sit out the wet testing to make sure the ASR CRX wouldn’t be hurt during the days action.
Thurs morning – Both Croiset Racing cars are ready for the track, but the rain has again greeted us for the day. We miss practice because we couldn’t get our rain tires mounted in time, so we must wait for qualy instead. We elect to use the setup we tested on Manny’s car for both Croiset Racing CRX’s and head out for Qualy on our fresh Hoosier H20 Rain tires now mounted up. The session is miserable raining very hard. I get 1 lap before the windshield begins to fog up so bad, that I end up having to come in early at the end of lap 3 cutting the session short because I just can’t see. Luckily, my lap time is good enough to put the ASR CRX on the 3rd row of the grid for the start of the first qualy race later that day! Manny qualifies right behind me in the 7th spot. I’m happy with our starting spots being that I’d only had 3 laps total around the circuit in the last 3 years.
Thurs Qualy Race – It rains off and on all day making it difficult to decide which route to go for the race, dry or wet setup. We decide to wait it out and make a final decision 25 minutes before the race. DRY is the decision, and we switch everything over in 10 minutes, and head out to grid. The race goes very well for me and I’m able to get a great start, go from 6th to 2nd before turn 1, and focus on keeping pressure on Jonathan Baker who’s now leading. I follow Baker for another lap, decide where I’ll make my pass, and set it up as we go over madness. I make the pass stick around the outside of turn 9 and then the track goes full course caution for an S2000 that has hit the front straight wall. Ends up taking them just 2 laps to remove the car and we end up having 1 green flag lap at the end to decide the finishing order. I bring the ASR CRX home in the 1st position in H2 while Manny has a bobble on the restart and looses a few places finishing in 8th.
Fri Morning – We use the practice session to make a few setup changes which move both cars in the right direction and set us up for the Fri qualy session.
Fri Qualy – The session is dry and we end up putting both Croiset Racing CRX’s on the front row for the Fri Qualy race. I end up qualifying a cool 1.4 seconds clear of the field because I take advantage of the only good lap in the session before an accident exiting T1 makes quick lap times impossible.
Fri Qualy Race – Again we luck out with a dry start for the session and go for the dry setup. Cars are working great and ready for the race. I had made another small setup change to my car for qualy that worked well, and we applied the change to both cars for the Fri qualy race. Manny got a great start off the lights, but I’m still able to squeeze up his inside for T1 and take away the first position before T2. I then focus on running consistent quick laps and stretch the gap on Manny who is battling Erik Olson pretty hard for 2nd place. In the end, both Croiset Racing CRX’s finish 1-2 with the ASR CRX taking up the top spot.
This now sets the grid for the main HPD Honda Challenge race on Sun where the ASR CRX of Jeremy Croiset will start from pole and the Iron Clover CRX of Manny Coats will start from 6th place.
Sat Evening – There are 2 open sessions we elect to use for testing last minute changes to the cars. We’ve been trying to find the right balance with the cars and we end up making some additional changes, going out, making more changes, then going out again and finally settle on a setup both Manny and myself are happy starting the main race with.
Sun morning – It’s the big day. Both cars are as ready as they can be, fresh Hoosiers slapped on both cars, tire pressures perfect, rolling out on grid! It will be a standing start for one of the most exciting races of the event. I get a great start and rocket into T1 with the lead with Erik Olsen right on my tail. He must of gotten a demon start! He is able to draft me down the back straight, but not quite pull out for the pass. I hold the lead into madness where my car is very strong, and I start to stretch the gap on him. By the end of lap one, I know we’ve made the perfect settings to the car because the car is simply fantastic to drive. Manny meanwhile was able to get a good start, moving up to 4th, and start working to get by Colin Botha. I continue to stretch the gap until I know I’ve got at least 5+ sec on second place, then I go into cruise mode to try saving the car. Its just lap 5, but I’m trying to think about conserving the car because it’s a long 45min race. Manny on the other hand is battling hard with Botha trying to take over the 3rd spot. Lap 8 rolls around and I’ve not extended my lead to about 8+ seconds all the while in cruise mode when the unthinkable happens. Going down the back straight while accelerating in 4th gear, something lets go in the driveline and I loose all forward acceleration! I immediately radio into my crew "The car just broke, I can’t fricken believe it"…. I coast all the way into thunder valley, wait for the tow truck, and get pulled into impound. 2nd year in a row, something breaks while leading the main HPD Honda Challenge National Championship race! Just couldn’t believe it…. Meanwhile, Manny has heard my trouble on the radio, but is still focused on his race. He’s now gotten by Botha for what is now 2nd place and he’s working on Erik Olsen. I’ve already hopped on the crew radio in the pits, giving him important track information for the rest of the race that I’m now picking up from the SpeedcastTV broadcast live at the track. Manny has now worked past Olsen and is starting to stretch his lead. Checkered flag flies, and Manny comes home in 1st for Croiset Racing in the Iron Clover CRX.
You thought that was it, but it’s not! We’ve still got more racing to do! Both Manny and myself are entered in the Performance Touring C class which races just 3 short hours from now. We need to get Manny’s car through tech, and prepped for the PTC race. My car goes straight to our pits, up on jack stands, where we try determining what happened and if we can fix it. We quickly figure out that we’ve lost the clutch and by this time (getting Manny's car cleared through tech), we don’t have enough time left to get the clutch changed and back out for the PTC race! So, the ASR CRX is parked and we focus on Manny’s efforts. He ends up having a great race and bring it home in 2nd place!
What a fantastic week of racing it was. NASA put on a superb event running everything like clockwork (as always). HPD had fantastic hospitality all week long for the Honda Challenge competitors. What a lot of fun and tons of memories to take back! Sure would have been nice to finish 1-2 (almost), but it just wasn’t meant to be! There is always next year right? HPD Honda Challenge really is the best amateur racing series in the nation IMO.
I’ve got to thank my sponsors for helping me get to and through the event! We nearly pulled off the 1-2.
ASR
www.ASRparts.com - for helping to field the car at the event. Without the support of these folks, I wouldn’t have made the event.
BisiMoto Engineering
www.bisimoto.com
Hasport
www.hasport.com
AEM Electronics
www.AEMelectronics.com
Look for an upcoming topic on some new gadgets I put to use at the event from AEM! Thank you again AEM.
Sparco USA
www.sparcousa.com
Fastbrakes
www.fastbrakes.com
Mfactory
www.teammfactory.com
GoPro
www.GoPro.com
GearX
www.specialprojects.com
And of course
Hoosier Racing Tire. They were the Spec Tire of the HPD Honda Challenge class at the NASA Championships and a strong supporter of the class. Thanks again for all the support to the class at the event!
I must also give a huge thanks to my sole crew member at this event. Felix Jimenez helped out on the entire trip and was such a massive help. The weekend would have been infinitely more difficult if not impossible without his help! Thanks again Felix.
One last thanks must be said to Robert Bawdon, my engine builder. You got the motor done in time and it made the perfect amount of power for the event! Thanks so much.
I'll be posting some video when I finally get it back from the production folks.
If you'd like to watch the HPD Honda Challenge race, it can be view in its entirety here. Fantastic race coverage.
http://www.speedcasttv.com/nasa/#/races/249
Here's something that can cost you a $4k win!
Croiset Racing’s heartbreak and triumphs at the 2011 NASA Championships
The Croiset Racing team would field 2 CRX’s for the HPD Honda Challenge NASA Championships. Jeremy Croiset would pilot the ASR CRX while Manny Coats would field the Iron Clover CRX. Preparation for the event came right down to the wire and both cars were finished the day they were loaded into the trailer to leave for the long drive to the famed Mid Ohio Sports Car Course.
The team arrived at Mid Ohio very early to prepare for the event and get everything setup. We still had a few minor things to finish up on the cars and the drive takes 3 solid days, so it was a good idea to arrive with plenty of time to spare. We arrived, unloaded, and got everything setup in the HPD Honda Challenge Paddock area, then chilled and waited out the rainy weather that was in the area.
Weds testing rolled around, and wouldn’t you know it, it was raining still. My teammate Manny coats wanted to get some track time, so we prepped his car for rain and sent him out. I on the other hand elected to sit out the wet testing to make sure the ASR CRX wouldn’t be hurt during the days action.
Thurs morning – Both Croiset Racing cars are ready for the track, but the rain has again greeted us for the day. We miss practice because we couldn’t get our rain tires mounted in time, so we must wait for qualy instead. We elect to use the setup we tested on Manny’s car for both Croiset Racing CRX’s and head out for Qualy on our fresh Hoosier H20 Rain tires now mounted up. The session is miserable raining very hard. I get 1 lap before the windshield begins to fog up so bad, that I end up having to come in early at the end of lap 3 cutting the session short because I just can’t see. Luckily, my lap time is good enough to put the ASR CRX on the 3rd row of the grid for the start of the first qualy race later that day! Manny qualifies right behind me in the 7th spot. I’m happy with our starting spots being that I’d only had 3 laps total around the circuit in the last 3 years.
Thurs Qualy Race – It rains off and on all day making it difficult to decide which route to go for the race, dry or wet setup. We decide to wait it out and make a final decision 25 minutes before the race. DRY is the decision, and we switch everything over in 10 minutes, and head out to grid. The race goes very well for me and I’m able to get a great start, go from 6th to 2nd before turn 1, and focus on keeping pressure on Jonathan Baker who’s now leading. I follow Baker for another lap, decide where I’ll make my pass, and set it up as we go over madness. I make the pass stick around the outside of turn 9 and then the track goes full course caution for an S2000 that has hit the front straight wall. Ends up taking them just 2 laps to remove the car and we end up having 1 green flag lap at the end to decide the finishing order. I bring the ASR CRX home in the 1st position in H2 while Manny has a bobble on the restart and looses a few places finishing in 8th.
Fri Morning – We use the practice session to make a few setup changes which move both cars in the right direction and set us up for the Fri qualy session.
Fri Qualy – The session is dry and we end up putting both Croiset Racing CRX’s on the front row for the Fri Qualy race. I end up qualifying a cool 1.4 seconds clear of the field because I take advantage of the only good lap in the session before an accident exiting T1 makes quick lap times impossible.
Fri Qualy Race – Again we luck out with a dry start for the session and go for the dry setup. Cars are working great and ready for the race. I had made another small setup change to my car for qualy that worked well, and we applied the change to both cars for the Fri qualy race. Manny got a great start off the lights, but I’m still able to squeeze up his inside for T1 and take away the first position before T2. I then focus on running consistent quick laps and stretch the gap on Manny who is battling Erik Olson pretty hard for 2nd place. In the end, both Croiset Racing CRX’s finish 1-2 with the ASR CRX taking up the top spot.
This now sets the grid for the main HPD Honda Challenge race on Sun where the ASR CRX of Jeremy Croiset will start from pole and the Iron Clover CRX of Manny Coats will start from 6th place.
Sat Evening – There are 2 open sessions we elect to use for testing last minute changes to the cars. We’ve been trying to find the right balance with the cars and we end up making some additional changes, going out, making more changes, then going out again and finally settle on a setup both Manny and myself are happy starting the main race with.
Sun morning – It’s the big day. Both cars are as ready as they can be, fresh Hoosiers slapped on both cars, tire pressures perfect, rolling out on grid! It will be a standing start for one of the most exciting races of the event. I get a great start and rocket into T1 with the lead with Erik Olsen right on my tail. He must of gotten a demon start! He is able to draft me down the back straight, but not quite pull out for the pass. I hold the lead into madness where my car is very strong, and I start to stretch the gap on him. By the end of lap one, I know we’ve made the perfect settings to the car because the car is simply fantastic to drive. Manny meanwhile was able to get a good start, moving up to 4th, and start working to get by Colin Botha. I continue to stretch the gap until I know I’ve got at least 5+ sec on second place, then I go into cruise mode to try saving the car. Its just lap 5, but I’m trying to think about conserving the car because it’s a long 45min race. Manny on the other hand is battling hard with Botha trying to take over the 3rd spot. Lap 8 rolls around and I’ve not extended my lead to about 8+ seconds all the while in cruise mode when the unthinkable happens. Going down the back straight while accelerating in 4th gear, something lets go in the driveline and I loose all forward acceleration! I immediately radio into my crew "The car just broke, I can’t fricken believe it"…. I coast all the way into thunder valley, wait for the tow truck, and get pulled into impound. 2nd year in a row, something breaks while leading the main HPD Honda Challenge National Championship race! Just couldn’t believe it…. Meanwhile, Manny has heard my trouble on the radio, but is still focused on his race. He’s now gotten by Botha for what is now 2nd place and he’s working on Erik Olsen. I’ve already hopped on the crew radio in the pits, giving him important track information for the rest of the race that I’m now picking up from the SpeedcastTV broadcast live at the track. Manny has now worked past Olsen and is starting to stretch his lead. Checkered flag flies, and Manny comes home in 1st for Croiset Racing in the Iron Clover CRX.
You thought that was it, but it’s not! We’ve still got more racing to do! Both Manny and myself are entered in the Performance Touring C class which races just 3 short hours from now. We need to get Manny’s car through tech, and prepped for the PTC race. My car goes straight to our pits, up on jack stands, where we try determining what happened and if we can fix it. We quickly figure out that we’ve lost the clutch and by this time (getting Manny's car cleared through tech), we don’t have enough time left to get the clutch changed and back out for the PTC race! So, the ASR CRX is parked and we focus on Manny’s efforts. He ends up having a great race and bring it home in 2nd place!
What a fantastic week of racing it was. NASA put on a superb event running everything like clockwork (as always). HPD had fantastic hospitality all week long for the Honda Challenge competitors. What a lot of fun and tons of memories to take back! Sure would have been nice to finish 1-2 (almost), but it just wasn’t meant to be! There is always next year right? HPD Honda Challenge really is the best amateur racing series in the nation IMO.
I’ve got to thank my sponsors for helping me get to and through the event! We nearly pulled off the 1-2.
ASR
www.ASRparts.com - for helping to field the car at the event. Without the support of these folks, I wouldn’t have made the event.
BisiMoto Engineering
www.bisimoto.com
Hasport
www.hasport.com
AEM Electronics
www.AEMelectronics.com
Look for an upcoming topic on some new gadgets I put to use at the event from AEM! Thank you again AEM.
Sparco USA
www.sparcousa.com
Fastbrakes
www.fastbrakes.com
Mfactory
www.teammfactory.com
GoPro
www.GoPro.com
GearX
www.specialprojects.com
And of course
Hoosier Racing Tire. They were the Spec Tire of the HPD Honda Challenge class at the NASA Championships and a strong supporter of the class. Thanks again for all the support to the class at the event!
I must also give a huge thanks to my sole crew member at this event. Felix Jimenez helped out on the entire trip and was such a massive help. The weekend would have been infinitely more difficult if not impossible without his help! Thanks again Felix.
One last thanks must be said to Robert Bawdon, my engine builder. You got the motor done in time and it made the perfect amount of power for the event! Thanks so much.
I'll be posting some video when I finally get it back from the production folks.
If you'd like to watch the HPD Honda Challenge race, it can be view in its entirety here. Fantastic race coverage.
http://www.speedcasttv.com/nasa/#/races/249
Here's something that can cost you a $4k win!
Last edited by prkiller; 10-03-2011 at 11:19 PM.
10-04-2011, 06:47 AM
#3
Re: 2011 NASA Champs HPD HC Race Report from Croiset Racing
Thanks for the write up Jeremy, its nice to read about all the competitors experiences. 
Sounded like an adventure to say the very least.
Looking forward to saturday at BW.
See you friday eve. Save a spot next to you for me!
I'm bringing some "buds" to celebrate Manny's win.
Sounded like an adventure to say the very least.
Looking forward to saturday at BW.
See you friday eve. Save a spot next to you for me!
I'm bringing some "buds" to celebrate Manny's win.
10-04-2011, 08:52 AM
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Re: 2011 NASA Champs HPD HC Race Report from Croiset Racing
Fri Qualy – The session is dry and we end up putting both Croiset Racing CRX’s on the front row for the Fri Qualy race. I end up qualifying a cool 1.4 seconds clear of the field because I take advantage of the only good lap in the session before an accident exiting T1 makes quick lap times impossible.
10-04-2011, 09:11 AM
#6
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Re: 2011 NASA Champs HPD HC Race Report from Croiset Racing
Even after blowing yet another engine (mis shift ftl) along with all the other problems I had while we were out there, I had fun. Can't wait to try again next year.
Last edited by Lo-Buck EF; 10-06-2011 at 04:09 AM.
10-04-2011, 03:21 PM
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Re: 2011 NASA Champs HPD HC Race Report from Croiset Racing
Thanks guys/gals!
Clutch will remain un-named. Didn't post it to call anything out. Just wanted to show what happened. It had 1 season of racing on it and I've now switched back to a sprung disc.
Jonathan, I was very sorry to see your mishap. Was looking forward to mixing it up with you again. I'll get the vid of you and I posted up soon. Look forward to racing with you again at next years event!
Glad you still had a great time Spenc! Next year will be even better....
Clutch will remain un-named. Didn't post it to call anything out. Just wanted to show what happened. It had 1 season of racing on it and I've now switched back to a sprung disc.
Jonathan, I was very sorry to see your mishap. Was looking forward to mixing it up with you again. I'll get the vid of you and I posted up soon. Look forward to racing with you again at next years event!
Glad you still had a great time Spenc! Next year will be even better....
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10-04-2011, 05:20 PM
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Re: 2011 NASA Champs HPD HC Race Report from Croiset Racing
Sorry to see that happen to you. Friday, I was watching you at the end of the back straight and you were carrying a ton of speed through the turns.
Thanks for all the hard work you put in making HC work the way it does. See ya next year...possibly in H2.
Thanks for all the hard work you put in making HC work the way it does. See ya next year...possibly in H2.
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