Next event on the schedule was another trip back to Mid Ohio once again. This time it was a crossover event between the Midwest Region and also the Great Lakes Region. This was the last event before Nationals which would take place at Mid Ohio just a few weeks later. Car counts were huge and most groups were sold out.
The trip to Ohio was a long drive as always, but went well and we were excited about getting on track one last time at this track to see what the best time could be ran would be. Still undecided about whether to attend nationals or not, this was going to be the event to see how closely we could come to the leaders. The class leaders at this cross over event would most likely be the top contendors at nationals.
We arrived at the track and got things situated for the weekend. We then decided to go grab some dinner and check into the motel. After dinner we noticed a puddle of antifreeze under the truck out in the parking lot when we went to leave the restaurant. After a short inspection of things it was found that the water pump on the truck was shot and just about to come apart at the bearing. This is what spins the main cooling fan and would be catasrtophic if the fan let loose. We instantly headed to a parts store and bought the necessary parts to do a water pump change at the track the following day. Hopefully we could limp it along until that time.
On Saturday our first session was at 8:00am. The track was still a bit cool, but completely dry and ready to go. We mounted up a brand new set of Hoosier A's and hit the track. In the first warmup session I ran a 1:37.2 which was a bit slow, but not bad given that I was giving the car and driver a chance to get back in the groove before pushing hard at this track. This placed me 11th on grid which was a respectable position.
Second session out the air was still fairly cool and the track was in excellent shape. This was the chance to really prove what the car was capable of doing. In the third lap of the session I clicked off a 1:34.3 which was a good start for the weekend. It took some pushing to get this time, but there was definately more time to gain in the car with some suspension adjustment. Near the end of the session the car lost power and would not gain boost pressure...something was wrong! Hopefully it was just a line or coupler that had blown off.
After spending a good amount of time looking over the car it was found that the wastegate arm had come loose and therefore the wategate was fully wide open and would not allow boost to buid. It was all leaking out the exhaust. Unfortunately this is a sealed unit where the arm attaches and there is no way of fixing. By the time we found the problem it was early afternoon and too late to drive a couple hours to get another one. The weather called for rain on Sunday and our weekend was shot after only 2 sessions.
Sure enough, Sunday turned out to be a rainy start to the day. After sleeping in a bit and getting a nice breaskfast we headed back to the track to pack up and head home. It was a discouraging weekend and unfortunately we didn't get to prove what the best possible time the car could run at this track would be.
Over the next week it was decided to not attend Nationals due to several reasons, but the main one being that we just didn't feel prepared enough to do so. In hind sight we probably would have faired OK based on the times that were put down at nationals. Most likely we would have secured somehere around a 4th or 5th place spot. Nationals will be held at Mid Ohio one more year in 2012. Maybe next year.....
No comments:
Post a Comment