If you see the DNF don't worry the car will get the afternoon sessions in
If you see the DNF don't worry the car will get the afternoon sessions in
A bad plan faithfully executed is still a bad plan. The tire wall was soft, so that was nice. Got the car back together for the afternoon and it ran well. Hoping to install new AC bits tomorrow to get that working before we head south.
In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :
AC isnt strictly necessary
It is If you're from Texas 
I put a car into a wall today. Not my car, and a soft squishy wall.
Gateway Motorsports Park is a roval. The Oval is big and smooth enough to run Indy cars. The infield is fairly sweeping and fast and a much different texture. The transition between the two is a little lumpy and very fast. Because One Lap is a short time trial you need to make some decisions in your head that you would otherwise make through trial and error as you learn a track during a weekend. Can I turn in off the oval without braking? Is the braking zone after the transition long enough to slow me? The answer to number one is yes with a fairly low speed on the straight of mabye a buck-ten and turn in was great. From there things hapoened VERY quickly. It doesn't take long for your mind to do the calculations necessary to conclude that there isn't enough pavement to get slowed enough to make your line. Now it's a rapid sorting of options. I usually choose proper straight braking and eating dirt. Trying to save a mistake like this means risking going off while turned hard over, spinning when you hit the grass, and handing all control to the gods of angular momentum. Those guys suck. But I don't have much dirt in front of me, just about 30 feet before a tire protected concrete wall. If I leave the track under straight braking I'm going to nose into those tires at whatever velocity I have left and that's going to suck as there is a lot of important and fragile stuff on the front of the car. Option number two is abandoning straight braking a bit early and trying to maybe lengthen my path through turning and trail braking. I'm probably going into the tires, but slower is absolutely better, and option two means less speed (probably) and maybe, just maybe, I've calculated this wrong and I can pull this off.
Things ended as I figured, the car scrubbed speed as the ribbon of pavement on my right narrowed to nothing. The wheels hit the grass and I turned from driver to passanger when the car spun into the tires. I think I hit the back corner first and then the front. The cabin filled with the soft down of dandelions as things came to rest and I waited on the safety trucks.
When it was safe to step out i surveyed the damage. The bumper cover was on with just one quick release fastener which I popped and set it off to the side. Tires all had air, wheels pointed the right direction, fluids all on the inside. With permission I hopped back in, fired it up and drive back to paddock where the track crew delivered my bumper cover. Inspection showed a bent and empty AC condenser, a rear quarter dent, a bent hood and nothing serious. We pulled the condenser, reattached the bumper cover and took it for a successful test drive.
Brian got 38th in the afternoon session, we picked up a condenser and refrigerant on the way out of town, and we'll try to get our cold back before we head down to Texas and Louisiana.
I made a bad decision about a high consequence corner and I got lucky. This will cost me some money, but not the week or a friendship. Tomorrow I'll buckle the harness again, tighten it down, and see if I can't do better.
Glad to hear you’re okay. I can’t even begin to imagine what it’s like to have that oh E36 M3 moment, especially in a car that you don’t own! Think it’s safe to say everyone here is happy there were no injuries. And the car is still in competition! Good luck with rest of the week and go get em!!
Definitely glad you guys are all ok! Cars can be replaced/repaired.
Also super glad you are pressing on!
Someone needs to buy a lotto ticket today.
Very glad everyone is OK.
Seth in session 1 at Hallett, Oklahoma
Thanks for the kind words everyone, it feels good to finish a session and get the checkers. Hallett is a great track.
We're on the road to Colorado and in great spirits. Brian finished 40th besting my 52nd this morning. I got my head in the game again, Brian beat Travis Pastrana by half a second and the AC is cold enough that we can't run it full blast even though it's 90 and sunny. Lots more driving to come.
Cold A/C, the car in 1 piece, heading to another racetrack. From all of us watching the live streams at work, You suck
Safe travels!
Crushingly slow at High Plains. Such a wonderful track and such a shame I sucked so badly. Hoping for redemption at Cresson.
It's good to have your confidence back on a day when you're at a familiar track. 26th on the 1.7 at Cresson is my best track finish ever at a One Lap. I'm happy.
higher than the CTS-V!??! so does this mean the civic is faster than the V?
It means Seth's faster in it than in the V as it was setup back then
I have some thoughts about faster and numbers and stuff. Today I ran a 4:37 on the 1.7 in the Civic. In 2015 I ran a 4:52 on the same course in the V. I think it was dry in 2015 but it was colder.
The best "maybe this is relavent" is the Mile High M3 guys who ran a 4:14 in 2015 and a 4:06 today.
So the short answer is I think I'm faster in the Civic now than I was in the V, but I also think I could be faster in the V now than I was then. I do know that the Civic has the same size tires that the V did at about 1200 lbs less. I miss the power, but I do enjoy the grip.
Good day. I was 39 this morning and Brian was 40 in the afternoon beating my time by two seconds. Another data point on lap times, we were here a month ago on last year's tires and Brian was eight seconds a lap faster today on the big tires. He was 2-3 seconds a lap faster than I was in the Accord and I certainly had to adjust to a car that was 10 seconds faster than my brain was used to. This track stuff is fun.
In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :
The TL ran ~8sec/lap behind Brian this afternoon. Theoretically, those raw numbers mean that the TL "is as fast as a 4cyl Traccord".
The declaration of which would probably blow up the internet. Then again, I'll freely admit that I'm using the TL's engine to overcome my lack of time here... and the risk cost of throwing the TL into elements blind.
TL needs more tire, more power and more alignment. We just need to find a way to get 275’s under her, a non annoying exhaust, intake and tuned and about 2 degrees of front camber. Then it’ll be perfect!
Bob the REAL oil guy. said:TL needs more tire, more power and more alignment. We just need to find a way to get 275’s under her, a non annoying exhaust, intake and tuned and about 2 degrees of front camber. Then it’ll be perfect!
I'm pretty sure you can say that about almost any car and it would be true for OLOA hahah!
Seth, how is the exhaust insert working out? quieting the car down significantly? or at least enough that you don't hate the car on transits? I'm considering if that might be easier than trying to package a pair of mufflers under my car while still keeping it relatively lightweight.
Woke up and drove over to NCM this morning. Spotted the Civic and I believe I saw the TL. I'm the fat kid waking around wearing the GRM hat and a blue shirt.
Great to meet Daylan and......spoolpigeon? My brain is having a hard time with words, names are a futile task. Great to meet even more GRM people either way.
31 in the autocross today. The car had another second in it if I wasn't a groggy hack. I was kind of bent at myself for that. My co-driver says I need to take that drive for self improvement and apply it to my track driving. He might be right.
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