First race

[MY Racing 221]

As some of you would know, I’ve just competed in my first ever race meeting. This was round 1 of the “Mini Racing Australia” series – where I was part of the “Combined Sedans” grid. The format of the day was:

Practice – 15 mins

Qualifying – 15 mins

Race 1 – 5 laps

Race 2 – 5 laps

Race 3 (trophy race) – 8 laps

Race 4 – 5 laps



After taking things relatively easy for practice and qualifying, I was very happy to be placed 3rd on the grid for race 1.



I was obviously a little nervous as the lights went out for race 1, but surprisingly, everything became 2nd nature once the race started. I made a pretty good start, and was going to have a look down the inside of a sports sedan Commodore in P1, but a very fast starting EH Holden on slicks was already inside me, which forced me to the outside.



When everything washed up, I managed to get past the EH, and keep the pressure on 2nd and 3rd position for the 5 laps, finishing a very happy 4th.



Race 2 went similarly, and I finished about 1 second behind 2nd and 3rd who here having a great battle, while I sat back, watched and learned.



By far the most enjoyable, and satisfying race, was the trophy race. Starting 4th on the grid, I found myself in 6th half way through the first lap as the car bogged down in 3rd (when I probably should have been in 2nd). Not too concerned, I managed to pass the EH around the top of the circuit on about lap 3, then spent the next 4 laps pressuring a series IV Mazda RX7 turbo. He had too much pace on the straights, but I was all over him around the top of the track. Finally he made an error at the fish hook (after we had been side by side through turn 3, 4, 5) and I took 4th. The Commodore sports sedan ran out of fuel, and I inherited 3rd pos, finishing only 1 sec behind 2nd!



It was greatly satisfying to pass a couple of cars that were faster in a straight line and then pull away from them, and keep the pressure on the leaders.



Race 4 was washed out due to a (much needed in Goulburn) thunderstorm.



My next race meeting will take place on Feb 25 at Eastern Creek in Sydney. Anyone who is interested in coming out to spectate, or to assist as pit crew is more than welcome.



If you would like to be able to see my calendar for the year, please let me know, and I will enable you to view my google calendar (a great tool BTW!).



Some pics from the event: http://www.flickr.com/photos/myracing

Video of race 3:

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If you, or anyone you know, would be interested in becoming more involved in MY Racing in 2007, please let me know. There are opportunities available for all kinds of support.



Thanks for reading, and thanks for your support!

[Hethro87]

Hi Mate :D

Glad to hear that things went well, no crashes and you and your car had fun and got home in one peice!

If im not working on that day i would be more than happy to come over and support you. Will PM closer to the date!

Hethro :)

[SSUte01]

Wow, that's an awesome effort, sounds as though you're prety handy in the driver's seat. Most importantly you are not taking it too seriously and evidently having a blast.

Well done on such a good outlook to it all and congrats on such impressive results. Keep up the good cog swapping

Luke :)

[MY Racing 221]

Cheers, thanks Hethro!

[35R]

cool video, thanks for sharing.

Out of interest how much camber are you now running?

Love the tussle with the RX7 btw

and love the VH too

[MY Racing 221]

Wow, that's an awesome effort, sounds as though you're prety handy in the driver's seat. Most importantly you are not taking it too seriously and evidently having a blast.

Luke :)

Thanks Luke, not sure how handy - but definitely trying not to take myself or racing too seriously. I'm out there to have fun. There is always going to be someone who is faster, so no point thinking I'm going to be called up to 'supertaxis' anytime soon!

As long as I'm having fun (and by goodness... its FUN!!) - then I'll be happy!

[MY Racing 221]

cool video, thanks for sharing.

Out of interest how much camber are you now running?

Love the tussle with the RX7 btw

and love the VH too

Not sure how much neg camber on the front yet - have only had the car a little while, and haven't had a chance to get the alignment gear on it yet - I suspect its about 4.5deg neg.

That fight with the RX7 was awesome. He had me in a straight line, but I was about 1.5 sec quicker overall. Thought I had him once at the right hander out of the fish hook, only to pinch it a little bit trying to cross under him and get some BIG oversteer. Can't really see on the vid - all you see is me dropping back quickly.

Was quite happy to end up pressuring him into a mistake! :whip:

The VH was awesome. A little slow off the line, but easily 2 sec a lap faster than anything else. Boggles the mind a little bit why he was fuelling himself so tight that he ran out of gas in the Trophy race! :headbang: I guess there is a lesson learned there! I started the day with a full (60 litre) tank - and still had about 30 left at the end of the day.

[BOMI]

Nice work mate :thumbs:

I embeded your Youtube vid in the forum, just type [ youtube][/youtube] Put the video id that looks like this 86Y9BN09uFR6F or similar in between ] and [

(I put a space between the first [ and youtube, so you could see what to write. Does that make sense LOL So it should look like this [ youtube]GJK57FMN054[/youtube]


Is there a website for it for the series?

If im in Sydney when its on Ill be there for sure.

Troy :)

[lautray]

Great vid. Nice driving. You could see how much the RX-7 was holding you up toward the end... EH was pretty close just before RX-7 went off.

What were your lap times like? After watching vid, I feel like hitting Wakefield too.

[MY Racing 221]

Bomi - thanks for that. Wasn't sure whether you guys liked it embedded or just as a link. Will know for next time.

That series is the Motor Racing Australia (also known as Mini Racing Australia) series. 3 rounds, all at Wakefield. Next one is at the end of June. http://www.motorracingaustralia.com.au/

I'm also competing in a few other 'multiclub' events, such as the one at EC on 25th Feb.

Main series for the year though is the Improved Production series. Much more competitive and some super quick cars - www.ipransw.com.au

I also have a calendar in google calendars - which I can make available to people who are interested in what I'm up to. PM me your email address for access.

Lautray - that EH was really quick. Made demon starts as well! Race lap times were consistently in the 1:12s. With a bit more work on the 'nut loose behind the wheel' and some new front rubber (not the 3 year old stuff on there now!) I'm hoping that low 11s or high 10s are common.

[lautray]

What's the Corona rev to? Sounded quite busy. And on one occasion in the vid, a bit of limiter action too.

[MY Racing 221]

Hehe, you're sharp aren't you?!:up2sum:

Yeah, she revs to 8200 (limiter). Normally change at 8000, however at that point where I hit the limiter, I realised that the car that had caused the yellow flag was actually the 2nd placed car, so was trying pretty hard to put some pressure on him for the last lap! :whip:

And its pretty loud inside! My wife gave me some ear plugs - with good reason! (And no - not only so I wouldn't have to listen to her!!) :flame:

[Brockfan05]

Sounds like you had a blast Dave. I'm jealous of you severely!! :D I was at Winton recently on the sidelines watching and that was hard to take I can tell you. Just about to watch the vid....

[MY Racing 221]

Sure did Scott. Did I mention how much fun it was?!!

Anyone who has ever thought about getting into motorsport, I have for you 2 words... DO IT!

[Brockfan05]

Mate that was some nice driving!! Very impressed. I bet your grin went from ear to ear :D I wish I could get into motorsport, I love it, but got too many important commitments. Hey Dave, if you are at Wakefield for a race sometime around June/ July, I might come up and cheer you on!

[MY Racing 221]

At the moment, my next Wakefield event is on the 24th June. So if you like, lock that in. PM me your email address (again) and I'll add you to my 'supporter email' group.

And mate, the grin hasn't left my face since Saturday! I'm still buzzing!

[Hazza]

Well done mate. Who would have thought a corona doing those times. Good stuff. Having had the taste of a few track days at Wakefield I have caught the bug too. A couple of mates and I are looking around for a cheap old race car for this exact purpose. Alot easier throwing around something like that than our daily drivers. Not to mention the roll cage, Mrs would kill me. :whip:

Didn't know about this category, now I do. Hopefully can join you out there sometime soon. Good luck for future events.

PS - What is the race weight of your car? You weren't losing much to the RX in a straight line, what kind of power you putting down?

[Brockfan05]

Sounds like a "tentative" plan as I was hoping to be up that way around then. If you need someone to check your tyre pressures, I'll find someone to be your man hehehe :lmao:

[MY Racing 221]

Hazza - yeah, getting a dedicated race car is the way to go for sure. What sort of thing are you looking for? Might be able to help you out. Either way, check out www.my105.com.au for some race cars.

Race weight is about 1100kg - ish with me inc. Putting out approx 175hp at the wheels from 2 litres.

If I had a $ for every comment I had received about having a fast Corona, I'd have my racing budget for the next 12 months. Not complaining though, I love having something different that makes people raise their eyebrows!

[RedVYIISS]

good to watch, looks like you had a ball.

[Hazza]

My ideal race car (since I am V8 Holden born and bred) would be a V8 Torana or older Commodore. But our budget is very limited to around 1500 each (4500) for initial purpose and hoping to find something for that money already logbooked (6 point cage, kill switch, compliant seat, suspension done, fuel cell etc). We may be waiting some time but will be worth it :headbang:

I have been looking on my105 for 12 months or so, but they are serious race cars on there. Mostly fair bit more than what we are after.

WOW 175 horses to the rears would be around 175 kilowatts at the fly!! That's serious grunt from 2 litres. Dont even know if a 308 would make that much!!!

Hazza - yeah, getting a dedicated race car is the way to go for sure. What sort of thing are you looking for? Might be able to help you out. Either way, check out www.my105.com.au for some race cars.

Race weight is about 1100kg - ish with me inc. Putting out approx 175hp at the wheels from 2 litres.

[MY Racing 221]

Yeah, its good to stick to what you know and love. I'll keep my eyes open for you. Every now and again things come up through the Improved production guys.

[Hazza]

Well we got our car!!

Its a LX Torana 308, Muncie 4 speed, mini spool diff, heavy duty shocks/springs/swaybars, volvo? 4 spot fronts calipers/rotors, commodore rear calipers/rotors.

Will put some pics up soon. In the meantime I am looking for an electronic version of a workshop manual for LH/LX V8 Torana. Anyone have any leads?

[MY Racing 221]

Outstanding, that's great.

Get some pics up!

Does it have a cage? CAMS log booked?

[Hazza]

Yep full cage and was logbooked when he stopped racing it 18 months ago. I assume the logbook would be expired now but should be good to pass logbook inspection when we take it in. We want to clean it up a bit first, since it has been sitting around for a while, we want to do all fluids, pads, and possibly change the rear springs to something a little higher as its going to scrub the way it is. Came in under budget too!! Now hopefully nothing breaks on its maiden voyage!!!

Will post some pics and more info in a new thread soon.

[MY Racing 221]

Sounds great. Log books generally don't 'expire' the same way registration does. You will need to get it 'target scrutineered' before competing in most race meetings. This system isn't yet operating at supersprint level though, which is a good place to start. Do you actually have the log book?

[Hazza]

No we didnt bother with the log book as we thought it expired and was useless. From memory he was going to post it if he found it, but I take it he didn't. We had a vehicle inspection done on it and the guy was also a CAMS scrutineer and said it will pass a current logbook inspection no problem with the additional of a proper kill switch (not battery isolation switch like it has now) and a couple other minor things.

Now to find a workshop manual.