Team News

Mid-Ohio Bound!

Just a quick update. We are set for Mid-Ohio.

The car is in pretty good shape mechanically. Grand-Am now allows an 18 Gallon fuel capacity, so we have upgraded the fuel system to give us that extra gallon. Grand-Am is also now allowing the RX-8's to run a performance header to give us a little more power, but this was a late addition to the rules, and we haven't had a chance to implement that. So we may be a bit down on power compared to the other cars.

We race this weekend - expect an update to the website next week!

Next up is Lime Rock...

We didn't make it to the two West Coast races, Laguna Seca and Phoenix. Logistically, it was just goint to be too difficult for us to pull it off.

Right now the car is being prepared for the Lime Rock Park race, which is the end of May. Lime Rock is a relatively short track, only about 1.5 miles around.

Our ST cars will have our own race Saturday afternoon (normally we race with the GS cars on track at the same time) and right now it looks to be about 30-35 cars. That should help keep the number of cautions down to a reasonable number.

However Lime Rock presents its own challenges - there aren't a lot of places to pass without taking risks. The front straight going into turn 1 is the best opportunity, and if you can get a run coming down the diving turn leading onto it, then the RX-8 should be able to pass folks under braking going into Big Bend. But the rest of the track is pretty tight. The right / left esses are difficult places to pass - if you dive under someone going into the first ess, all they have to do is keep you on the outside going into the second one. The no-name straight is really pretty short and it winds a bit, so its easy to get blocked and its difficult to get enough run on somebody before the uphill turn at the end of it. Likewise the "back straight" is very short, but if you launch better coming up the uphill turn leading onto it, sometimes it's possible to get on the inside of cars going into West Bend. If you don't manage to do that, your next opportunity is to get on the inside of them coming down the "diving turn" - the downside is that two cars going side-by-side through this turn will almost certainly give up "exit speed" onto the front straight. So if a crafty driver behind you takes the turn better, he will pick off both of you on the front straightaway.

Also its been a rather rainy spring for them in the northeast. Expect a lot of cars to go off track, and get stuck in some of the boggy areas surrounding the pavement, particularly in the esses. And there are a few areas with little or no runoff. So it will be important to keep the car on track. And if it rains (like it has been for the past month), all bets are off!

It should be an interesting race. Stay tuned for an update.

Mark

Looks like the car...

Looks like the car didn't sustain any suspension or frame damage from my off-track excursion at VIR last weekend. Jon sent it off to an alignment shop to see if all the wheels were still lined up, and he said everything came back ok, only a minor adjustment was required to get the car back in alignment. Dodged a bullet on that.

Still lots of body work to do before VIR though... I'll keep you posted.

Mark

Update posted - VIR Test

A new story has been posted detailing our adventures testing the RX-8 at VIR and Roebling Road during the months of February, March and April. See the lastest at http://www.grandamadventure.com/ga_vir_test.html .

I don't want to spoil it, but it looks like we have a lot of work to do in the next week to get ready for the VIR Race.

Mark

Practice, Practice and more Practice

It turns out we didn't get much practice with the Tarheel Sports Car Club last weekend at VIR. Our RX-8 wasn't ready, but the ROAR guys brought up the #26 RX-8. It was 35 degrees, and poured rain from the start. Then the snow started heading in, so the driver's school was cancelled after the first on-track session! So I don't have any good material to post on that.

Danny and I are plotting how we can get more seat time in the RX-8 before the upcoming VIR race. Pro racers on the top teams are probably getting on track every week, so we need to do the same, or at least more than once per month. You can't compete with the Michael Jordans of the sport if you don't put in the time. Driving the car has to be second nature, and for us its not (just watch our video and you can see that!). Plus the car has to be sorted out some more. Not only do we have to solve this fuel problem, but we have many small improvements to make. Getting the car on track will allow us to test our fixes.

Before the VIR Grand Am race, we'll probably just do some "drivers ed" type events - we're not sure we want to risk the car in a club race (but we haven't ruled that out). There are dozens of opportunities for such events, as you can see from Coco Strayer's website, www.trackschedule.com .

Therefore the next event for us will be the BMWCCA drivers ed event at Roebling, the weekend of February 25/26 ( http://www.firstcoastbmw.org/ ). We expect to have the #63 car there.

If all goes well, I'll most likely post another story on the main site, www.GrandAmAdventure.com/ga_main.html

Thanks for reading,

Mark

Ranger Danny's observations about the Daytona Race

IT'S TIME I MADE A FEW STATEMENTS ABOUT OUR ADVENTURE.

The purpose of any quest for a championship or competitive challenge is not the end results of the winning or the championship itself, but the journey and the road you traveled, the friends and enemies you make and kill. And most important the lessons learned.

WHAT I LEARNED FROM DAYTONA....I learn that I'm a lucky-sumbitch just to be able to be there. I learned that Mark is as driven as I am to excellence.... and I learned that the reason that we were not one of the front running cars in our class, is not the car ...not the crew... not the weather..the tires...no..the reason that we are not a front running car is the front running cars have better drivers driving them.

Look, I have been instructing for the BMW CCA and several other club and professional organizations since 1988; participated in my first driver school in 1982; have held every position, from chief instructor to instructor mentor,...wrote an instructor handbook, student handbook and deployed the use of, student driver log books. I have raced every type of car you can think of, too many to list here. I used to be at the track 42 weekends a year. I used to have the edge on getting to the edge and could dance gracefully on that edge. Well, I'm far from that edge now.

While given the opportunity to drive door to door with the leaders of the Sport Touring class late in the race I found that the car was up to the task. In the corners I could keep up and sometimes catch up; in the straights I could keep up and on some of the cars (not the Honda or Acura) catch up; but I fell behind inch by inch with mistake after little mistake. Bobble after little bobble, missed shift, early brake... I could go on but you get the drift. The front runners are front runners because they are very consistent smooth drivers. I can say without hesitation that I was far from consistent or smooth in that car. I think Turner or Salama or Tremblay could have climbed into the #63 and ran up front and maybe better than their own rides.

As painful to admit to my monster ego. I have a lot of work to do. It's me not the car that needs tweaking. If I was coaching another hot shoe want-to-be I would say "it's not the nuts and bolts on the car...it's the loose nut behind the wheel." I need many more laps in that car to get comfortable and yes consistent. I need to get consistent slow, to get consistent fast. Sound familiar!!!

The last thing I learned is that no matter who you are, and what you're driving, the car behind you will run you over to get the next spot. It is a blood sport. The carnage was overwhelming. This is not club racing. 98 cars took to the track 69 finished under power. (I included the #63 car in that.) And what would this be without a cliché. The more I learn, the more I know; I need to learn more. Say that three times fast.

Danny

ps (anyone calls me Danbo will get the @#$% kicked out of them)

Roar coming to VIR for testing

The Roar Racing team will be at VIR next weekend (Feb. 11-12) at the Tarheel Sports Car Club Driving School and Time Trial. Mark Vitacco, of THSCC, and Stacy King, of the Triangle Z Club, has put together one heck an event that allows both novices and experts to hone their track skills.

We'll probably have an RX-8 or two there for testing, and I plan to bring my ex-World Challenge Car along for the occasional thrill ride.

Daytona Race to air on Speed TV

The TV air date for the Daytona Race has been announced. Since we didn't finish up front, I don't know that we'll be seen too often, however I think you can expect the highlight of Danny getting clouted by the Porsche to make it, somewhere around lap 55.

SPEED TV Airdate: Saturday, 3/4/2006, 11:30 AM ET

Its a long time to the next race (April). Hopefully we'll get the car out for a practice or two to sort it out. If so, I'll write about it and post an update.

Daytona Race Report has been posted...

Daytona Race Report has been posted to http://www.grandamadventure.com/ga_main.html. Enjoy.

Mark

Race report coming soon...

During the race we had a mechanical failure - at this point we think it was an overheating fuel pump. It stranded me on the far side of the track, and this caused us to have essentially a 30 minute "pit stop". Danny took over with about 40 minutes to go, and brought the car to the checker. We have a lot to share, and some fantastic in-car video, so check back soon for the update.

Qualifying...

We qualified for Daytona about mid-pack of the ST field, which is pretty disappointing. The car's handling quickly deteriorated during the 15 minute session. When I pulled off track, it was determined that the right rear tire was flat, and that the left front was down about 14 llbs pressure compared to normal. I knew something was wrong with the car, but I stubbornly stayed out trying to get a good lap. Oh well - tomorrow we race!

Roebling Update posted

Roebling Update has been posted to http://www.grandamadventure.com/ga_main.html

We do expect to have Danny's transporter in the RV section of the infield during the 24 hour race. Stop by and share a cold one with us.

Testing at Roebling

Prior to the Daytona race, the team plans to test at Roebling Road Raceway, on Monday, January 23rd.

We'll be getting more seat time in the car, testing a slightly changed suspension setup, and practicing our pit stops.

Expect an update to the website with pictures and a brief story.

Car Update

I talked to Doc today. He said he took the car to the Dyno, and verified we were down on power during the Daytona test day. Due to the last minute engine swap, he never had a chance to tune the motor prior to bringing the car to Daytona for testing. With the car on the Dyno, Doc tuned the air/fuel ratio (the car had been running extremely rich), and swapped out the exhaust for a different one. In doing so, the motor gained almost 20hp and 10 ft/lbs of torque, as measured at the rear wheels. That will definitely help us at the Daytona race.

Website improvements

The website experienced some frustrating down time today, so I decided to move it to a new service provider. It looks the same, but it's MUCH faster now. The pages load quicker, and you should find that the videos that I post will now load fast and without hic-ups!