TMP Race Report
07-15-14, 08:13 AM
#1
Rotary Freak
Thread Starter
TMP Race Report
Guys, this race report is focused on my Cougar as that was the car I was driving, but needless to say, the old Pig RX7 finished second overall in the first race on slicks, in the rain and was running in 4th overall in the third race when the driver Derek Ross, pulled in to the pits as he had some very bad fuel surge. It was coughing out huge flame plumes under load in the first race and was awesome running as it could stay with the GT Camaros and Vettes in a straight line.
Here is the race report;
What a day. That's all I can say, what a day......
Good news, both cars are still alive and were able to drive on to the trailers. I think that the easiest way to handle what went on is too describe the events race by race. When I arrived at the track a bleary eyed Mark Clyde was already awake and getting his car ready to go. He had spent the previous night at the track and had slept in the back of his Expedition and had to survive an AC/DC cover band. Poor dude. Anyways we rolled our car off the trailer and fired it up. Crap, a leaky fuel fitting on the end of the fuel rail where the fuel line from the cell joined on to the fuel rail was leaking. It seems that the head was spinning and allowing fuel to leak out. And then it started raining ...... hard just as they called the cars to the mock grid. I was standing there trying to figure out a Rube Goldberg way to cobble something together while Mark went out on track for his first race ever, on slicks, in the rain and they had bumped him up to about the 4th row for some reason. They came around to get the green flag and everyone was scrabbling for grip and spinning tires and every6thing, they went 4 wide into Turn 1 and there was a bunch of slithering around and I saw Mark get shuffled to the middle of the turn and then WHAM he got pounded by a Trans Am Camaro as it spun trying to get the power down. Punched in the passenger side rear quarter from the wheel well all the way up to and including the edge of the drivers door and pillar. He circulated a couple of more laps and then came in. He was not a happy camper at all.
The crew got ready and started banging out the rear quarter as it really was just cosmetic, but the major concern was that the car had no 3rd gear. I am not saying that it had a bad synchro, it had no 3rd gear at all. Mark was having to buzz it up to 8,000 in second and then jump to 4th. Add one more issue for him to deal with.
By this time I had cobbled my fuel rail together and had something that worked and they were calling for the 2nd race. The track was wet and lightening was flashing in the distance, but we went ahead. I started from the pit lane as I was getting dressed as the cars formed the grid and scrambled to get it together. The flag dropped and I started and had caught up to the grid by corner 2. I passed 2 cars in the first lap. Another car in the second lap, a few cars spun, I noticed Mark had come out on the track late, but he was in the race. I got in to this fun battle with a GT3 Camaro and we went at it tooth and nail for a few laps and I drove around him in one of the tighter corners and put down 300 horses of the Duratec style and out powered him to the next corner. The Pig was handling great and I was just starting to get used to the car as it had been 3 years since I had even driven it. The track was starting to dry out and there were dry patches around so I had to search for grip, but the car was working well. A ton over sprung for the track as I was pogoing around in most of the corners, but liveable. I pulled out a huge lead on the Camaro and was going after 2nd place when my brake peddle went soft. When I say soft, I mean to the floor and little improvement with pumping. I knew that my 4 year old brake fluid was garbage so decided to pull off and bleed the brakes before the next race, but everything else on the car was working great. We bled the brakes and got ready for the 3rd race.
I will give you the third race tonight as I have to go unload everything before it rains and trust me, the third race was a doozy for both Mark and myself.
Sooooo......... the third race. Remember that we were also running the RX7 for my co driver, Derek Ross, from my old Pro Factory Driver days and he had finished second in the first race in the car. We needed to get 3 cars running and for this race we were all ready to rock and roll. Mark had to deal with the missing third gear, a really funky rear brake caliper and pad interface and just being a rookie going in to his first dry race ever with its higher speeds. I had bled my brakes again and removed some air bubbles, but the fluid was very dark and I knew that I really needed to bleed the whole system. I looked at the sky and decided to leave the rain rears on the car as I thought it might rain and the RX7 was ready to rock and roll as usual.
We set up on the mock grid which was formed basically in the positions you arrived at the grid in. I was in about 7th spot, Derek in my RX7 was in about 4th and Mark in about 12th. I was idling the car on the mock grid and noticed my water temps were climbing, so I turned on the electric fan and nope, not working......crap. We got the 1 minute warning, so I fired it up and waited. The water temps rose to about 230 just as we pulled away and the warning light came on. So I decided to clean the tires easily, running the car in 3rd gear at low rpm, keep the speed up and not overload the engine until airflow would cool it down. About 3/4's of the lap later the water dropped to about 210, oil to about 200 and it stayed there like a rock for the rest of the race.
I looked and Mark had dropped back and was last in line. Smart move and it showed that he was thinking. Derek was weaving and spiking the brakes up ahead of me and I could see he was ready to rock, so we came around on the second pace lap, got the green and we all wailed on it. The Cougar rocked!!! I charged up the inside and before we had even got to the first turn I had passed 2 cars and I slid it wide a bit looking for room on the run down to turn 2. The cars ahead started to spread out wide, so I moved left again and had a clear shot and passed another car and was right behind a Vette going in to turn 2 just as he did the mother of all lock ups going into the corner. His car darted left and left me now where to go, so I moved left again got on to the dirty part of the track and hit the brakes as he went sliding off the track at about 50 mph. I tried to turn in, but my tires were dirty or wet or maybe there was something on the track, but it wouldn't happen so I just drove off the track at about a 45 degree angle. Bounded across the grass for about 2 hours, ripped my whole splitter off, had the grid pass me by and pulled back on to the track DFL.
I was blooded at this point, so I just went for it. Caught up to a Camaro and hammered past him. Then a BMW Z4 and out braked him and then nailed the throttle and was easily able to pull him to the next corner, then I was gone. The car was really hooking, the cobbled together gearbox was working fantastically well so I stopped thinking about it. The car loved the tight twists, but every time I tried to lean on the rear tires, they would start to bounce and the car would oversteer. Not good, so I softened the rear bar up as much as I could, changed the brake bias to more front and went after the next car in line. It was a Super Late Model Lumina converted to a roadrace car and we had a good battle for about 2 laps, but every time I got along side him through the corners, he would swerve at me and run me off the track. When we hit the straight he would just pull out a couple of car lengths and I couldn't catch him by Turns 1 or 2. I was having a few issues with how rough the track was and my car was bouncing off the ground coming on to the front straight and in the fastest corner Turn 1.
I was wondering what I was going to do to get by this guy and we were in a group of about 4 cars including a Vette, Camaro and Tube frame Lumina when we came charging up to lap a group of cars coming in to Turn 2. I noticed that mark was in the group and as we all entered the braking zone for 2, Mark's car spun around under braking with the rears locked. Then all H3LL broke loose. Everyone was scrambling around him and going left and right and as he swung around to face me, I had one of those moments where I could look right into his car and helmet and see his eyes. They were as big as silver dollars and luckily for me Mark locked up his brakes and gave me room to pass him on the inside.
This broke up the group some, so I decided to lay back until the competition yellow at the 10 minute mark. As soon as I lifted a bit my brake pedal started going soft again and I was pumping it up a bit to slow down for turns 1 and 2. The yellow flaf came out and we all bunched up again and idled around for a lap or two, then the green went again and we all took off. I passed the Camaro again and went after that freakin' Lumina, soft brakes and all. I had just caught up to the car when I noticed that my temp gauge spiked at 250 and then went to nothing oh oh. I lifted and then idled back to the pits as I watched guys pass me back and pulled off. The car was running well and when I shut it off, there was no gurgling from being overheated, so I couldn't understand what happened. I got out and watched Mark finish the race. He was coming to grips with driving the car in second and 4th and was picking up speed. He just worked on improving his pace and situational awareness and after another 3 laps finshed the race and got his first checkered flag.
Marks car was battered and bruised but running. Mine was fine, but missing the front spoiler and the wire to the temp gauge ....... grrrrrr. Derek had an issue with fuel surge and had pulled in.
All in all a fun day and to make things better the track owner felt bad about the weather and invited us all back on August 10th for free. Whoo Hoooooo 2 race days for $90. Awesome.
Now I just need to bleed the brakes fully, fix that wire, check the cooling system fully and get the fan working again. Oh yeah, build a new front splitter using the old bits as a guide. Mark has to bang out the dent fully and put in a new gearbox, one that has 3rd gear. Personally, I am delighted with the way the Cougar ran as it was good enough for an easy 3rd place overall, it handled great and I was finally learning how to drive it correctly.
I can't wait.
Now, Derek can't make it back for August, so I have this RX7 sitting here ready to rock and a free entry. Hmmmmm...........
Also, there is definitely room and desire for more cars for the August 10th date. That gives everyone with a race capable car time to get ready. It was tons of fun and that track is fine to race on. Very tight in places, but I found that we could go wheel to wheel everywhere but the little s bend section before the left hander. Get your beasts ready and come out and join us.
Eric
Here is the race report;
What a day. That's all I can say, what a day......
Good news, both cars are still alive and were able to drive on to the trailers. I think that the easiest way to handle what went on is too describe the events race by race. When I arrived at the track a bleary eyed Mark Clyde was already awake and getting his car ready to go. He had spent the previous night at the track and had slept in the back of his Expedition and had to survive an AC/DC cover band. Poor dude. Anyways we rolled our car off the trailer and fired it up. Crap, a leaky fuel fitting on the end of the fuel rail where the fuel line from the cell joined on to the fuel rail was leaking. It seems that the head was spinning and allowing fuel to leak out. And then it started raining ...... hard just as they called the cars to the mock grid. I was standing there trying to figure out a Rube Goldberg way to cobble something together while Mark went out on track for his first race ever, on slicks, in the rain and they had bumped him up to about the 4th row for some reason. They came around to get the green flag and everyone was scrabbling for grip and spinning tires and every6thing, they went 4 wide into Turn 1 and there was a bunch of slithering around and I saw Mark get shuffled to the middle of the turn and then WHAM he got pounded by a Trans Am Camaro as it spun trying to get the power down. Punched in the passenger side rear quarter from the wheel well all the way up to and including the edge of the drivers door and pillar. He circulated a couple of more laps and then came in. He was not a happy camper at all.
The crew got ready and started banging out the rear quarter as it really was just cosmetic, but the major concern was that the car had no 3rd gear. I am not saying that it had a bad synchro, it had no 3rd gear at all. Mark was having to buzz it up to 8,000 in second and then jump to 4th. Add one more issue for him to deal with.
By this time I had cobbled my fuel rail together and had something that worked and they were calling for the 2nd race. The track was wet and lightening was flashing in the distance, but we went ahead. I started from the pit lane as I was getting dressed as the cars formed the grid and scrambled to get it together. The flag dropped and I started and had caught up to the grid by corner 2. I passed 2 cars in the first lap. Another car in the second lap, a few cars spun, I noticed Mark had come out on the track late, but he was in the race. I got in to this fun battle with a GT3 Camaro and we went at it tooth and nail for a few laps and I drove around him in one of the tighter corners and put down 300 horses of the Duratec style and out powered him to the next corner. The Pig was handling great and I was just starting to get used to the car as it had been 3 years since I had even driven it. The track was starting to dry out and there were dry patches around so I had to search for grip, but the car was working well. A ton over sprung for the track as I was pogoing around in most of the corners, but liveable. I pulled out a huge lead on the Camaro and was going after 2nd place when my brake peddle went soft. When I say soft, I mean to the floor and little improvement with pumping. I knew that my 4 year old brake fluid was garbage so decided to pull off and bleed the brakes before the next race, but everything else on the car was working great. We bled the brakes and got ready for the 3rd race.
I will give you the third race tonight as I have to go unload everything before it rains and trust me, the third race was a doozy for both Mark and myself.
Sooooo......... the third race. Remember that we were also running the RX7 for my co driver, Derek Ross, from my old Pro Factory Driver days and he had finished second in the first race in the car. We needed to get 3 cars running and for this race we were all ready to rock and roll. Mark had to deal with the missing third gear, a really funky rear brake caliper and pad interface and just being a rookie going in to his first dry race ever with its higher speeds. I had bled my brakes again and removed some air bubbles, but the fluid was very dark and I knew that I really needed to bleed the whole system. I looked at the sky and decided to leave the rain rears on the car as I thought it might rain and the RX7 was ready to rock and roll as usual.
We set up on the mock grid which was formed basically in the positions you arrived at the grid in. I was in about 7th spot, Derek in my RX7 was in about 4th and Mark in about 12th. I was idling the car on the mock grid and noticed my water temps were climbing, so I turned on the electric fan and nope, not working......crap. We got the 1 minute warning, so I fired it up and waited. The water temps rose to about 230 just as we pulled away and the warning light came on. So I decided to clean the tires easily, running the car in 3rd gear at low rpm, keep the speed up and not overload the engine until airflow would cool it down. About 3/4's of the lap later the water dropped to about 210, oil to about 200 and it stayed there like a rock for the rest of the race.
I looked and Mark had dropped back and was last in line. Smart move and it showed that he was thinking. Derek was weaving and spiking the brakes up ahead of me and I could see he was ready to rock, so we came around on the second pace lap, got the green and we all wailed on it. The Cougar rocked!!! I charged up the inside and before we had even got to the first turn I had passed 2 cars and I slid it wide a bit looking for room on the run down to turn 2. The cars ahead started to spread out wide, so I moved left again and had a clear shot and passed another car and was right behind a Vette going in to turn 2 just as he did the mother of all lock ups going into the corner. His car darted left and left me now where to go, so I moved left again got on to the dirty part of the track and hit the brakes as he went sliding off the track at about 50 mph. I tried to turn in, but my tires were dirty or wet or maybe there was something on the track, but it wouldn't happen so I just drove off the track at about a 45 degree angle. Bounded across the grass for about 2 hours, ripped my whole splitter off, had the grid pass me by and pulled back on to the track DFL.
I was blooded at this point, so I just went for it. Caught up to a Camaro and hammered past him. Then a BMW Z4 and out braked him and then nailed the throttle and was easily able to pull him to the next corner, then I was gone. The car was really hooking, the cobbled together gearbox was working fantastically well so I stopped thinking about it. The car loved the tight twists, but every time I tried to lean on the rear tires, they would start to bounce and the car would oversteer. Not good, so I softened the rear bar up as much as I could, changed the brake bias to more front and went after the next car in line. It was a Super Late Model Lumina converted to a roadrace car and we had a good battle for about 2 laps, but every time I got along side him through the corners, he would swerve at me and run me off the track. When we hit the straight he would just pull out a couple of car lengths and I couldn't catch him by Turns 1 or 2. I was having a few issues with how rough the track was and my car was bouncing off the ground coming on to the front straight and in the fastest corner Turn 1.
I was wondering what I was going to do to get by this guy and we were in a group of about 4 cars including a Vette, Camaro and Tube frame Lumina when we came charging up to lap a group of cars coming in to Turn 2. I noticed that mark was in the group and as we all entered the braking zone for 2, Mark's car spun around under braking with the rears locked. Then all H3LL broke loose. Everyone was scrambling around him and going left and right and as he swung around to face me, I had one of those moments where I could look right into his car and helmet and see his eyes. They were as big as silver dollars and luckily for me Mark locked up his brakes and gave me room to pass him on the inside.
This broke up the group some, so I decided to lay back until the competition yellow at the 10 minute mark. As soon as I lifted a bit my brake pedal started going soft again and I was pumping it up a bit to slow down for turns 1 and 2. The yellow flaf came out and we all bunched up again and idled around for a lap or two, then the green went again and we all took off. I passed the Camaro again and went after that freakin' Lumina, soft brakes and all. I had just caught up to the car when I noticed that my temp gauge spiked at 250 and then went to nothing oh oh. I lifted and then idled back to the pits as I watched guys pass me back and pulled off. The car was running well and when I shut it off, there was no gurgling from being overheated, so I couldn't understand what happened. I got out and watched Mark finish the race. He was coming to grips with driving the car in second and 4th and was picking up speed. He just worked on improving his pace and situational awareness and after another 3 laps finshed the race and got his first checkered flag.
Marks car was battered and bruised but running. Mine was fine, but missing the front spoiler and the wire to the temp gauge ....... grrrrrr. Derek had an issue with fuel surge and had pulled in.
All in all a fun day and to make things better the track owner felt bad about the weather and invited us all back on August 10th for free. Whoo Hoooooo 2 race days for $90. Awesome.
Now I just need to bleed the brakes fully, fix that wire, check the cooling system fully and get the fan working again. Oh yeah, build a new front splitter using the old bits as a guide. Mark has to bang out the dent fully and put in a new gearbox, one that has 3rd gear. Personally, I am delighted with the way the Cougar ran as it was good enough for an easy 3rd place overall, it handled great and I was finally learning how to drive it correctly.
I can't wait.
Now, Derek can't make it back for August, so I have this RX7 sitting here ready to rock and a free entry. Hmmmmm...........
Also, there is definitely room and desire for more cars for the August 10th date. That gives everyone with a race capable car time to get ready. It was tons of fun and that track is fine to race on. Very tight in places, but I found that we could go wheel to wheel everywhere but the little s bend section before the left hander. Get your beasts ready and come out and join us.
Eric
07-16-14, 07:26 AM
#2
Rotary Freak
Thread Starter
C'mon, 112 views and nobody commenting? I throw out 2 things..... my RX7 with a free entry and no driver and a challenge for you guys to get your cars ready to come out as well. It was a ton of fun, really relaxed and a great middle ground between lapping/Time Attack and real racing. Just a word of caution, TMP is really hard on vehicle temps. The short straights, slow speeds at higher RPM's, combined with sitting on some other car's bumper and not getting proper airflow to your rads, means that your cooling system has to be in top notch condition. Also, BLEED YOUR BRAKES. Hardest track I have raced on yet on brakes. Even worse than the Toronto Indy circuit or Trois Rivieres.
Eric
Eric
07-16-14, 08:03 AM
#3
Ok ok! I'll take the plunge! I've never really had the pleasure to drive a rotary powered car much, especially on a track, an our integra race car still isn't quite ready, would you pick me? And if you're worried about skill, is there a way to "audition"? Cuz this would be like a dream come through for me! Also, your depiction of your previous race day there sounds like the perfect race day, because what's a race day without problems? lol. And still managing to race of course. If it is not possible, it is very understandable, just seems like one of those "once in a lifetime" chances (no pressure) 
.
.
07-16-14, 08:22 AM
#5
Rotary Freak
Thread Starter
I really scratched the bottom of the barrel for this fix. I ended up hacking the fuel rail off behind the support so that I could get a pipe diameter that I could fit a hose over. Stripped the overflow bottle of its double layered silicone hose, slid it over the end of the fuel rail and double hose clamped it. Then I cut a long necked air chuck into 3 pieces and used the middle piece of pipe to connect the hacked off braided line to the silicone line and double clamped both of those connections.
Looks monstrously ghetto, done by a drunken sailor at night, but it worked.
Now I have to pull off the UIM/LIM to replace the fuel rails, find a way of fixing the one connection so that I can return everything to normal. That will be the hardest thing I have to do before the next event.
And thanks for your application. We are accepting names and will announce the winner in about 2 weeks. I am looking for skill and desire and a good attitude.
Eric
Looks monstrously ghetto, done by a drunken sailor at night, but it worked.
Now I have to pull off the UIM/LIM to replace the fuel rails, find a way of fixing the one connection so that I can return everything to normal. That will be the hardest thing I have to do before the next event.
And thanks for your application. We are accepting names and will announce the winner in about 2 weeks. I am looking for skill and desire and a good attitude.
Eric
I wanna do SRTA or CSCS or lapping with it 
07-16-14, 01:55 PM
#7
Rotary Freak
Thread Starter
Ok ok! I'll take the plunge! I've never really had the pleasure to drive a rotary powered car much, especially on a track, an our integra race car still isn't quite ready, would you pick me? And if you're worried about skill, is there a way to "audition"? Cuz this would be like a dream come through for me! Also, your depiction of your previous race day there sounds like the perfect race day, because what's a race day without problems? lol. And still managing to race of course. If it is not possible, it is very understandable, just seems like one of those "once in a lifetime" chances (no pressure) .
.You don't need my car to go racing.
Eric
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07-16-14, 05:39 PM
#9
Rotary Freak
Thread Starter
Jason, a well driven PP would kick but there. The track is really abrasive so we found that older heat cycled tires were working better over the longer duration of the races. Just find some used RA1's and you will own this thing.
Eric
Eric
07-16-14, 07:50 PM
#10
Chances are the teg wouldn't be ready. Winter was rough & now we're super busy at the shop & I just haven't had time to finish up a bunch of stuff. Still need to tune her, among several other things such as windows, firewall(for fuel cell), alignment, so it's doubtful. Definitely trying to make it out to at the very least test & tune. Trust me if it was closer to being done I'd be more hopeful, and if it was possible I'd 100% be bringing her out, it's just not seeming likely. So PLEASE, still consider my application. On top of all of that, driving a rotary powered race car would have it's own level of dreaminess in my books.
07-22-14, 08:16 AM
#13
Spinning Dorito
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Eric, great report as usual. You have a gift for making me feel like I'm right there and living it along with you.
If I was a little closer and had a little more time, I'd be all over the entry you have. But, really need to get my stuff together and get my car sorted to get it out for some track time down here.
If I was a little closer and had a little more time, I'd be all over the entry you have. But, really need to get my stuff together and get my car sorted to get it out for some track time down here.
07-22-14, 03:59 PM
#14
Rotary Freak
Thread Starter
Eric, great report as usual. You have a gift for making me feel like I'm right there and living it along with you.
If I was a little closer and had a little more time, I'd be all over the entry you have. But, really need to get my stuff together and get my car sorted to get it out for some track time down here.
If I was a little closer and had a little more time, I'd be all over the entry you have. But, really need to get my stuff together and get my car sorted to get it out for some track time down here.
We should talk about the 3 hour in September. I am looking at running 2 cars so I need 5 more drivers.
Eric
07-22-14, 06:45 PM
#15
Spinning Dorito
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Now that is a generous, and tempting, proposition. If I can get my car out and get enough seat time over the next little bit to shake the rust off to the point where I don't feel like I'd be a liability, I'd be very interested.
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