Things you learned at the Test day

[savage217]

Welp some things I learned from the test day.

1) My nearly bald star spec street tires suck in the wet.
2) Trying to hang with people on Hoosier wets or full tread star specs, is not going to happen (usually)
3) Allowing Gordon to pass late in the rain is not a good idea
4) Greg was even more aggravated with his tires on his z06
5) The Lemon car is a blast and will be a contender this year!

[Grippy]

It wasn't THAT late, but late enough that I ran out of room to slow the car down enough for T1. We never left the pavement so no big deal.
Well at least my ride along got a good show and panaramic view of the entire track.

[betelgeuse]

Welp some things I learned from the test day.

4) Greg was even more aggravated with his tires on his z06

You got that right Nick
Your lemons car was turning laps as fast or faster than my car
I learned. Do not try to track a car in the rain with Bridgestone RE 760s. They suck.
I had all kinds of problems on the exits of turns 2b (4 wheel drift every lap), t3 all the way to thru t5, t7 (real bad), t10, t11 (was terrible) and 12.

I should have taken the BMW. I have proper rain tires for that.

Greg

[WillM]

Mark forwarded me a series of last-minute cancellations over the weekend, so I learned a bunch of new excuses to get out of driving in the rain!

I learned that Nick Efermow can get 300+ miles of seat time on a rainy day, two tanks of gas worth, and that he was still smiling when he, and he alone, took the checker!

I learned that there is 50' of missing tree line between T7 - T9, that the crow's nest is gone, that the racing surface (and line) have not changed, and that the new run-off area is NOT paved.

I learned that I don't like "FIA curbing" as installed at T4-T5.

I learned that Toyota MR-2s aren't great off-road vehicles, but are apparently better than most!

I learned new respect for the workers, especially the guy in the cherry picker above T8, who must have been soaking wet and freezing cold standing up there all day for us yesterday.

I learned that we are stuck with good 'ole Sam Webster for two more seasons.

I learned that there are plenty of COM-folk that love to push hard in the rain...and are good at it.

[TroyV]

I learned a few things.

1. Searching for grip that just isn't there can be a futile effort.......but it is still fun.

2. At 80 mph and above, my wipers pretty much give up and stay vertical.

3. No matter how many laps I have done at NHMS, I STILL feel like I'm getting it wrong.

[austaz]

1) My car doesn't quite fit between the tire stacks at turn 3
2) I need a defogging system for running i the rain
3) Lap times are directly related to the amount of window fog

[n1gzd]

It would have been more fun if I brought my car.
Rebecca

[dinoracer]

Toyo RA-1s at about 3/4 tread are good in the rain. Until compared to Hoosier H20s. Now I have another set of tires I need to buy

More spring is better, not bouncing off the stops on the transitions at 3 and 10 will certainly help lap times when it gets dry

ST-4 will not be a two man race this year

[6PAK72]

I learned that trying to do a complete rebuild on a Miata leaves you out for the spring:((((

So sorry to have missed the fun.

Gordy, it ain't real until its on YouTube!!

[savage217]

I didn't have my camera but it would have been pretty good to catch. I had a feeling it was going to happen so I let off a bit. I gave him a super late point by and he took it. He did keep it on track and everything was fine but I needed to bust his balls a bit for that one.

I think we all had some close calls. Mine came on my first outlap. Literally the car spun in the braking zone of the bowl and I was probabaly going slower than I did all day in the lemon car, which stopped and gripped twice as well. It was scary driving my car, literally felt like I was on ice everywhere (especially turn 11). Did you guys with Hoosier cheaters I mean wets, have any issues at all in that turn? It seemed like the guys on wets were glued to the track.

[wizzman]

I learned that...

1.) Hoosier H2.0s are the balls in the rain. Never felt so confident in the rain before.

2.) Bald RA-1s are not as awful on a wet surface as I expected but still 13-14 seconds slower than than the Hoosiers!

3.) Predictive lap timing is not only fun but quite helpful to see where you are both slower and faster.

4.) Towing > Miata clown car

Don't mind the crooked camera angle, annoying audio and washed out view out the windshield:

phpBB [video]

[TroyV]

Toyo RA-1s at about 3/4 tread are good in the rain. Until compared to Hoosier H20s. Now I have another set of tires I need to buy

More spring is better, not bouncing off the stops on the transitions at 3 and 10 will certainly help lap times when it gets dry

ST-4 will not be a two man race this year

I think ST4 WILL be a two man race this year...I just think it is going to be two different guys.

[WillM]

The least amount of grip was found what I consider T12, but some may call either T11-B or T12-A.

There wasn't any standing water, but there wasn't much grip either.

If there was standing water, I would have likely done a rim shot around that turn...it works.

With no standing water but not much grip, I took a relatively traditional line then feathered the throttle as the car danced from the apex to to the track-out and gained composure transitioning to the front straight.

The conditions were damp/wet, but without a lot of standing water. If you ran the 'dry' line and found that you or the car had problems in certain spots, and worked on those spots during the day, you've likely walked away with some new tricks for the next time trial, whether it be wet or dry.

There is a reason they say that the rain exposes all of our bad habits...

[iamrazor]

I learned that Nick Efermow can get 300+ miles of seat time on a rainy day, two tanks of gas worth, and that he was still smiling when he, and that silly pink thing, took the checker!

fixed that for ya

[WillM]

I learned that Nick Efermow can get 300+ miles of seat time on a rainy day, two tanks of gas worth, and that he was still smiling when he, and that silly pink thing, took the checker!

fixed that for ya

Absolutely right, how could I have forgotten?!