Driver Log: FV Project - Road America
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Sitting in the airport lounge here in Toronto, I just got surprised with an e-mailed video from the boys at SR Racing. They have worked tirelessly all week to perform a last-minute transaxle change to give me the necessary long box for Road America, allowing us to focus on a good finish instead of just a shakedown, as it would have been with the short box. Without a long box at Road America, which offers a better gear ratio, I would have been topped out halfway up the straight-away. This new gearbox will allow me to race hard all weekend long.With the work completed, the car went on the chassis dyno today and was the focus of my surprise – a 30-second look at the first pull. The engine sounds good and the car looks great. Big thanks to the Schings and crew at SR for the motor and their excitement for the program and to Ed Womer for all the late nights putting together his newest EV-3.
We land later tonight in Milwaukee – my wife Kimberley is coming with me this weekend and will be manning the digital camera – and we’ll be at the track early tomorrow. Once SR Racing arrives, I’ll be introduced to our project car for the first time and will go to work doing the final prep. We’ll need to cut the steering shaft and mount the quick release for the steering wheel, apply the vinyl graphics and set up the beadseat.
I’ll be back with another update tomorrow evening.
Saturday, August 26, 2006
After spending Friday in the paddock staging area, laying in the seat and mounting the steering wheel to fit my arm length, we put FV project car on-track earlier today for the combined practice and qualifying session. Heavy fog covered Road America this morning, following by a hard rain shower, leaving us with a delayed session that was completed on a wet track with slick tires. I used the session to get comfortable in the Womer, feeling out the pedal set-up and the seating position. I’m much more laid back in the car, and it’s taking a little getting used-to, but I’m getting there. The motor feels good and the track is very fun to drive. I’ll need to get brave in a couple corners first to find the limits.
I qualified mid-way through the Formula Vee group, just seven cars on the entry list (with a couple June Sprints frontrunners, however), but that would go down the tubes when I weighed in two pounds light at the scales. It was the first time across the scales with the new car and the SKI Motorsports-supplied carbon Kevlar bodywork has more than made up for my 200 lb. frame. I wasn’t bothered at all and more than happily took my place at the tail of the grid for the race, which took place early in the afternoon.
After adjusting the pedals, we rolled to the false grid to run the first race of the FCM project car. I was a little fidgety in the car, wanting to get on with it. I was hot, getting claustrophobic and needed to get some breeze running through my helmet. Once we finally got going, I settled down and was ready to get to it.At the green, I held back a little and looked well up in the order for any carnage. When nothing developed, I went around the outside of a fellow Vee in turn one to get rolling. I passed another car heading into turn five (I'm braking very deep in the car) and then decided to chill out and check out the track in the dry. I spent a couple laps getting comfortable before passing Kevin Willmorth (our graphics supplier for the project), settling in for a race-long fight for fifth with Kevin. We had a spirited battle, going back and forth, and I eventually took the position and fifth in the final tally. The air breather fell off midway through the race and I lost a little top end, but I was thrilled to finish safely after a fun battle with a clean competitor.
Post-race, I feel good. The car is strong and I feel comfortable, only needing to push the limits in a couple corners to gain big time. I’m still not carrying enough speed through one and I’m not flat in the Carousel. I’m looking for a second or two in morning practice and will set my afternoon goals then. Kevin slipped over after the race to lay down the remainder of the car’s graphics…and it looks amazing. I’ll get some shots up in the Photo Gallery tomorrow or Monday.
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Four sessions, four checkered flags…mission accomplished. Heading into this weekend, I was focused on getting maximum track time to get used to the project car and we continued the trend of bringing the car back to the paddock in one piece. The morning practice session felt good as I focused on a couple specific corners, trying to increase speed in both turn one and the Carousel. I bumped up 200 rpm in turn one, but needed more and pushed harder in the sweeping right hand Carousel but still wasn’t able to take it flat all the way around. Just not comfortable enough yet. It would happen later.
In the end, I’m thrilled. I ran every lap of every session and I love the Womer. I’ll work on getting more comfortable in the cockpit in my next outing, but this was a great start to my FV career.
