We couldn't have asked for better weather, and although in the high 30's when we rolled into the pits before dawn, it warmed up quick and the high for the day was ~70*F.
We've always enjoyed running with the Porsche Club, and although they can be a little anal about some stuff, they run a good event. My wife runs in the DE2 group and I run in DE3 or 4 depending on the schedule so we can avoid back to back sessions. This time I was in DE3, and it was a big group, but it only turned out to be a problem in one session. I had been to Podium Club in November running CCW, but this was my first time running CW. IMHO the track flows better CW, and isn't quite as hard on the brakes as you come onto the straights from a slower turn and end them with faster turns. I also really like tracks where straights lead into fast, technical turns.
First things first: I swapped my brake pads back to R10/R8 and I'm happy with my brakes again. The R12/R10 combo just had zero feel and no bite. Maybe I just wasn't getting enough heat in them...?? Anyway, the R10/8 combo has great bite, great feel, easy modulation and no fade. Running this track CW is not as punishing on the brakes as CCW, but I had no issues so I'm sticking with R10/8 for now. One of these days I'll give G-Loc a call and see what they have to say about these two pad combos...
I started the day on Kumho V730s. The first session was pretty slidey with temps starting out in the low 50s. Best lap was a 1:47.5, which I considered a good start, with my goal being mid - 45s. Traffic wasn't bad, but there were several spins, and a bunch of dirt got strewn on the track in the esses. It became apparent pretty quickly that there were 3-4 of us that had considerably more pace than the rest of the group... me and 3 Caymans, 2 of them GT4s. The P cars had more on the straights, but I had the advantage in the corners. I also found out my Sim practice had my gearing expectations way off... I was going through most corners a gear higher than I had on the Sim. Sim practice is a good thing, but it's not always perfect.
Second session, the track was warming up, and once traffic sorted itself out I started working on making time. Everything was coming together and I came off with a best lap at 1:46.02... at least I thought I did. I was checking 'best lap' on my dash, and not downloading data between sessions. Apparently I didn't look after my last 'hot' lap, because I discovered I had run a 1:45.61 after I downloaded data at home. Still, I was happy with the :46 at the time, and the car was running great.
I swapped to Toyo RRs for the third session. I figured they should be good for a bit more than the V730s. Unfortunately, everything went to hell in the third session... traffic.
I noted above that PCA can be a bit anal... one of those things is point-bys are required to pass in every group. It's not a problem, 'till you get 'that guy'. I got stuck behind a GT4 coming out of the grid, and he was 3-4 seconds slower, but of course faster on the straight. He would pull on the straight, and then I'd be on his bumper for the next corner.... shiny happy person would not point me by...
End of the back straight...
Top of the Esses...
I kept thinking of this...
After a few laps, we had a gap behind us, so I gave him almost the full length of the straight to try to get a lap without catching him. But we caught slow traffic, and it was a conga line from there so I pulled off. Best for the session was a 1:48. Normally I would pull through the hot pit in this situation, but they way they were set up, you had to come off track, go all they way back into grid, and then back out... no straight through hot pit, so I'd lose at least 2-3 minutes of the session. Fortunately, D-bag put his car on the trailer after that session...
I managed to grid up to be first out for the final session... and never saw anyone in my mirrors. Only had to pass one car, the NB in the video above, and he was courteous. The RRs definitely felt better, and inspired more confidence in several places on track. Came in with a best of 1:45.1... should have been ~ 44.8, but I screwed up the end of the esses. I pushed my braking point a little too far at the end of the straight on the next lap and ended up running off to avoid a spin and decided that was enough for the day.
All in all, a very good day. I'm happy with the results, and got some good data to compare the V730 and RRs. I really think I could have hit .44s if I'd had some clear laps in the 3rd session and that's a bit irritating, but what can you do?
Data download coming...
