Greetings all-
I drove my race car at Mid-Ohio last weekend. This was my second trip to
this track, and my first time to race there with a decent engine in the car.
Qualifying on Saturday went pretty well, despite the fact that I was never
able to get a really clean lap due to all the traffic. My first lap out on
the track was faster than I had ever raced at Mid-Ohio, and my best lap was
around 1:55.9, about 11 seconds faster than I went last year. I was gridded
2nd in GP for the race on Saturday afternoon. I felt like I still had some
speed left in the car, and I was only a couple of seconds behind the 1st
place MG Midget.
During the race, my carbs started acting up almost immediately. EGTs were
showing one carb, then another go cold after braking. It was hard to get the
speed to pick back up. I finished 2nd in class, with the 3rd place Civic
right on my bumper going into the last lap, but he spun out in turn one.
Before Sunday's qualifying, I verified that float levels were correct, fuel
pressure was good, and gave the carb suction chambers a good cleaning. The
track was damp, but drying. My tentative first lap turned out to be my best,
around 2:37, as it immediately started raining. As it turned out, that was
best in class. My first, class pole at Mid Ohio, on a wet track, and carbs
that still weren't working properly.
Before the race, I switched floats, re-checked float levels, and lowered my
idle rpm, which was too high in qualifying. Most of us were on the grid with
slicks before the race, and it just starts to sprinkle as we're going on the
track. There's a downpour in the keyhole turn, and cars are sliding off
everywhere. I finish the race, but I dropped to third position, and they
called the race early due to so many cars off the track. It was a mess, but
it gave me very valuable experience experimenting with the "wet line" around
Mid-Ohio.
In summary, it was a wet weekend. Somewhat frustrating, but encouraging at
times too. The new motor seems to have plenty of power, if I can just get
the carbs to work properly. They worked fine in qualifying, but something
happened between then and where the car sits today. After a little
investigation, I think the carbs were running a too lean, which was a little
counterintuitive, and I might need to go a heat range colder on my spark
plugs.
My top speed was around 106-109 mph, which is comparable to what the really
fast guys were running at the National Championships last year (106-118
mph). I need to save money for new tires, and I need a little more track
time to be really competitive.
The good news is that both races should give me first place points in the
Central Division Regional Champ series, as neither of the other drivers was
registered for the series. That should put me back in first place for the
series championship.
Happy Roadstering,
--
Chris Coker
69 1600 SPL311 <http://mywebpages.comcast.net/chriscoker/roadster.html>
66 1600 GP Race Car www.risensonracing.com
Royal Oak, MI www.risensonracing.com/oil.html
/// datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net mailing list
/// Archives at http://www.team.net/archive
|