Back on the horse - race report 0001

As you may remember from my post in late April, I wrecked my “new” race car on its first outing while instructing at a driving school at St-Eustache near Montreal (do a search for the word “bonehead” to find my posting about that story). As is often the case with these things, my project for the new car is behind schedule… it should have been up and running right now, but it doesn’t even have a cage and the engine is not in. My good friend Rob had offered for me to drive his race car while he was in the UK for work all year, but I didn’t feel comfortable borrowing someone else’s car after having a wreck in my own.

I haven’t got much track time this year, except as an instructor every Monday evening for the local lapping club (Trac Lapping Club), a sort of HPDE “club”. I had done a few shakedown laps in Rob’s car and a few semi-hot laps in a friend’s ITR, and that was about it aside from a few students’ cars.

There was a non-championship event this weekend at St-Eustache in conjunction with the Echo Cup, so I suggested to Rob that he should run the race since he was coming to town this weekend anyway. He suggested we share the car and I thought that this would be a good idea. I was less nervous about borrowing the car with him around. Also, I remember that he only paid 100$ for it (the tub, that is). He would run in Touring (sort of like Speed Touring for amateurs) and I would run in GTU (kind of like SPU). We bought some used RA1’s for me to use, while Rob would use his Hankook K104’s for touring (spec tire).

When we arrived at the track, there was not a single GTU or Touring car in sight, just the 18 Echos. We knew that when others showed up, if they did, they would not run us in two separate run groups for lack of cars. We went straight to the organizers to suggest they run two mixed 30-minute races instead of separate touring and GTU. It turned out to be a useful suggestion: not a single other Touring car showed up! (Sidenote: the head of the Quebec Auto Federation sent an email to all drivers last week stating that in the past, drivers were sanctioned for running in non-championship events but that this year, they had nothing to worry about… I think some guys literally read only half the e-mail and stayed away today to avoid sanctions!).

Anyway, by the time the first session rolled around, there were 8 cars: our 93 Civic hatch with ITR engine, a 92 Integra with GSR power, two 91 CRX’s, one Si and the other B16a, a semi tube-frame CRX with B16, an ex Grand-Am cup 94 Prelude, a widebody Rabbit and a Nascar type Dodge. Our car was conservatively tuned and is still street driven. All the windows are made of glass and it still has a radio. The engine is bone stock and the suspension is Koni + Neuspeed Race springs. I figured we would fit in somewhere between the fast and slow CRX’s, behind the Prelude (running slicks) and maybe the quick Integra.

We decided Rob would go first in practice and racing since it was his car. He went out and had a decent session, running so-so lap times until he got caught by the Integra, which managed to intimidate him into going over a second faster per lap. He came in with a smile on his face and satisfied with the session. We speculated that I would be a tad faster because I’ve spent more time on this track this year.

I went out in the second practice session and was under the impression that I was going quite fast. I was pushing pretty hard everywhere except in the curve where I totaled my car in April, where I was taking it easy. Whereas Rob didn’t look like he was pushing it, I felt I was near the lomit in many corners. However, I came in to find out I had been running 0.4 seconds off Rob’s times. I was a little disappointed as I thought I was quick and Rob had a feeling there was another second out there when he was driving. Was I overdriving the car? I wasn’t super smooth, but I thought this car had the power to compensate if you could get on the gas early… Some spectators came by to remark that they were mpressed with my speed in the esses, but maybe they interpreted drifting as speed. One consolation, I'm always telling my students to do their braking for the esses as close to the wall as they dare, and these guys told me they heard a little "tick" as I grazed the wall with the passenger side mirror (I hadn't noticed, but there is a tiny scratch there now).

Rob was to run the 10-lap qualifying race next. Hw showed up first so they started him in first. The Nascar passed everyone then wiped out. The Prelude cruised to victory. Rob had a good race and beat all three CRX’s. His fast lap was a high 1:02, 0.8 seconds than his previous best.

Twenty minutes later, Rob started his 20-minute race. He had a race-long battle with the Integra and they swapped positions 3 times with Rob coming out on top, 3rd overall behind the Nascar and Integra. It was a nice race to watch, even with only 7 cars (the Rabbit broke early in the day).

I was jazzed about starting 3rd, but intimidated to be starting in front of the fast CRX and Integra. I knew they were a little slower than Rob and a little faster than me. We then found out that we would be starting in reverse order, that some Echos would be joining the race (at the back) and that the race would only be 15 minutes long. I was a little pissed, as our 30-minute races had become 20 minutes and now mine was shortened to 15. Anyway, I started behind all three CRX’s and the Integra, beside the Prelude and with the Nascar behind me. When the green dropped, I got passed by the Prelude and Nascar. I was briefly last if one doesn’t count the Echos. I passed two of the CRX’s, both in the braking zone at the end of the straight. I was slowly losing ground on the Integra and the red CRX I had passed on the first lap was gaining on me. I knew I was slower than Rob had been as he had passed that same Integra and CRX. The red CRX caught me and was pressuring me for 3 or 4 laps when he made his move. I could have closed the door, but he had pulled up almost alongside me and I figured I’d follow him and get a chance to re-pass him if I was really faster. Also, he’s a racing buddy as we shared my car back in 2002 at my first enduro. If indeed I wasn’t faster, there was no point in trying to block him for 10 more laps. He gradually pulled away and I realized that he was also clearly faster than me. A couple of laps later I botched my braking for the chicane and lost even more ground. It looked like I would coast to the finish in this position. I was trying to figure out why I wasn’t that fast. I guess I was overdriving the car. I know I wasn’t brakngI had it a little sideways in the esses almost every lap, added to the fact I was still a little gun-shy in the dogleg where I crashed this spring. On the last lap, the tube-frame CRX wiped out and I passed him. I ended up fifth out of seven cars (fourth of six in my class) and two spots worse than Rob had in the same field. When we checked the lap times, I was 0.8 seconds off Rob’s best and 0.7 seconds off the red CRX’s times.

All in all, it was a successful day in that it was uneventful. I wasn’t having flashbacks to the day of the wreck. I got a good dose of reality: I can’t just show up and drive any Honda fast the first time (some can, the friend in the red CRX was driving it for the first time because his car is not ready either). I also learned that instructing all these weeks has not made me a better or faster racer. I found out that my friend Rob, who is rusty, is faster than I am when I’m rusty. My fast lap was only one tenth faster than my personal best with my old 125 hp Civic, which shows I was not “on the ball”. I realize that even after hundreds of laps on a track, you may still have a lot to learn (or even re-learn). I guess it’s better to find out you’re not as fast as you thought you were in time to do something about it. I definitely plan to get some instructions from the local hotshoes when my car is ready. After spending all this money to build two cars in this same year, you can imagine that I don’t want the driver to be the weakest link.

So to summarize: good day, not a lot of track time, I wasn’t that fast or that nervous, I’m not faster than Rob in his own car, I have to re-learn how to be fast, and Rob is cool for lending me his ride to get back in the saddle and back on the horse.

 

Here are some pics of the day:


Rob in our car with the field waiting behind him.


The Integra.


The quick Prelude


The B16 CRX


The CRX Si


The Nascar


The tube-framed CRX


Rob behind the wheel. Notice the little scratch on the rearview mirror from a light brush against the wall under braking.


Getting ready to finally start my own race.

 

Thanks for sharing... Great write up!

 

good to see you back racing

 

Thanks. Even though it wasn't a stellar performance, it feels good to be back.

 

Nice write up, and nice of Rob to lend you his car.