Race Car V4.0 - Ground up

[D_Eclipse9916]

V3- Back to the roots.  I enjoyed my time in SE46 but at the end of the day, I enjoyed tinkering, disliked the spec tire, and the fields were just as big back in GTS.  So right before my new-wife and I left on our Honeymoon, I went and traded my SE46 for a GTS3 car.

This GTS3 car started life in 2001 with TCKline helping to build the car with Seth Neiman of the soon-to-be Flying Lizard team.  Included was all the World Challenge specs, SCCA/BMWCCA/NASA logbooks, and import paperwork (no VIN so no title).

 I didn't have much time to prepare for the October VIR event, as we took a long Honeymoon.  The car had been run by the previous owner recently so I assumed it was ready to go.

Well it was...somewhat. First race and I got my first GTS3 win with it!  Unfortunately for the 2nd race the previous owner did not use nylock or lock washers for the ballast bricks.  Under braking a ballast brick got loose, hit the back of my seat, and then fell down and cut an ABS wire.  I went for a spin and was unaware what broke and pulled her in. This was only the start..


For the 2016, I made a lot of changes in the offseason that I found broken during the winter:
Replaced Wing Mount Setup
Replaced Trunk from cracking of previous wing setup
Rear Differential
Bled brakes thoroughly (was having a soft pedal that would go to floor without lots of pumping).
Rewired the car
New wider wheels
Repaired bodywork and Painted the car

I would miss the first Road Atlanta event for NASA-MA but was able to make the 2nd event with the fresh look.

2016
April Summit - Tire goes down in Sat race, retire early. Sunday DQed for contact in right rear.  Ouch! Discovered a blown right rear shock hose.  Sent out entire shock set and discovered front LEFT was completely blown with a cracked shock piston.

Hyperfest VIR - Saturday 1st, Sunday in lead when window net failed. Yes you heard that right, window net mounting failed and fell.  Black Flag on my car for safety...  I was not getting better luck with this car.

Summit June - 1st place Sat/Sunday and new track record

Dominion July - More tweaks, still can't get the brakes to work.  Replaced both master cylinders, and revised front aero.  This helped and I achieved 1st on Saturday (and track record) and then more bad luck.  The alternator died during the pace lap.  I started hearing feedback on the radio and once I realized what was happening I shut down every system. Including my electric power steering.  It was 100+ ambient and made it 11 laps before the car would go no more.  I rolled into the sand and it immediately shot up in temps in the cockpit.  Got Heat Exhaustion and had to be pulled out by ambulance.

VIR August - New Alternator and setup worked awesome.  New track record, and wins Saturday and Sunday



2016 NASA Championships at Watkins Glen - First time at the track and and dynoed on test day .  Car made 22rwhp more than home dyno.  Since I was at max ballast, there was nothing I could do.  I begged/pleaded with fellow ST drivers to move to the other dyno since a couple of others were having issues.  No luck and I hoped it was just a one-off dyno. Ran 1st qualifying race, won and was promptly DQed for being a whopping 5hp over (added as much ballast as I could legally for that race).
I switched classes to GTS4 for the 2nd qualifying race and moved from 18th to 2nd place with the fastest lap of the race.  I also signed up for ST2 last minute Saturday to join the Championship Race
GTS4 Race was 1st - I was informed ON grid I was DQed from GTS4 the previous race because a pass under yellow. This was after I asked if I got DQed during the meeting...and they said no...  I would start from 18th and once again pushed through the field.  After a couple laps I worked up to 2nd place, and then double yellow.  Restart and 3rd got past me on the start (I was down on power for GTS4 since I didnt have a programmable ECU), got past 2nd but 1st had gotten away.  I worked over the next 3 laps and was on his tail, only for the race to be called 15 minutes early!  1st Place was really quick so I am not 100% sure I could have gotten him, but I would have liked to have had 15 minutes to find out!
ST2 race I started last but off the start a Corvette bounced off the walls and I worked my way through traffic to 1st.  Being over 300lbs heavy for ST2, I got massacred on the restart but barely held on to 1st and worked my way up to a 8 second gap.  ANOTHER double yellow was thrown and we would get a Green/white/checker.  That means a restart with one lap to go.  The gap had been erased from the double yellows, so the Corvette was on my tail.  He chose a poor move and tried to outbrake me...while he was in the grass.  Obviously this didn't end well and sent us both spinning allowing the class to go by. Ouch! Rough race weekend, but 2x 2nd places, and a track record my first time at Watkins with a fastest lap of 1:57.6

October VIR - With no time to retune the car, I signed up for GTS4 at VIR. A hurricane monsoon came through and my Lexan fogged up completely in Saturday race.  Pulled in after one lap.  Sunday turned it around for the win and new track record

Dominion VIR - Again GTS4, and signed up for TT2 for time trials.  Took all 4 wins and 2 new track records.

Offseason meant going Standalone AEM infinity to be able to pull down horsepower without having to set up a time with a tuner, and a CSL airbox for a bit more power to get near the power limit in GTS4.

March VIR - Switched back to ST3 after a dyno in the morning.  Won and new track record till dyno compliance after the race.  Shot up 11rwhp from the morning.  It was fun DQing myself as I am a NASA GTS/ST director and instructed ST3 to dyno and had to DQ myself..  This dyno was aggravating me and I gave up to run GTS4. I could not take enough weight out or make enough power for GTS4 so no more messing around with the dyno.  I was BEYOND frustrated, 2 separate ECUs and I was still having issues with the car being up and down on the dyno.  Won GTS4 on Sunday.


Hyperfest VIR - I would run the UTCC challenge on Friday and won Fastest BMW and Fastest Real Door Slammer. My time wasn't particularly quick compared to times I had run at VIR (1:57.3 in March) but it was scorching hot out.  


Saturday Qualifying would end this car's career.  A rear trailing arm broke loose, shot the car up and tumbled at 100mph.  Car was finished.


Then the stripping began...



I took a bunch of months off to save up, spend some time with my new son, and acquire my new donor car!


V4.0.....