Re: VT S1 LS1 track car
Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2014 8:44 pm
Took the VT out on Saturday for its third run and 2nd time at Phillip Island with perfect weather.
Got up early to give me time to pack the car and ready to hit the road and noticed the lhr tyre almost flat on the VF wagon...dammit!
I have a BBQ bottle fitted with an air line that I use to top up tyre pressures and ready to hit the road part 2.
Stepped over the trailer hitch with the bottle and my foot hit the brake lever and trying to balance my fall my right wrist hit the lever on the way down almost slicing
the wrist.....faaaark did it hurt!
Hit the road part 3.
Arrive at the island early and unload the VT and head off to scrutineering
Official comes over and lets me know next time unregistered modified cars cannot be started before 9AM (it was 8:15 at this moment)
Yet street reg with modified exhaust are able to drive to the shed? My Vt is practically standard and quiet compared to some registered skylines that turned up.
The lane to the shed has a slight downhill grade,so to them they are more worried about a little exhaust noise than a competitor actually being able to run themselves
over pushing your car to the scales if you miss the brake pedal as you jump in the car while you try and push a 1500kg car towards them
Get the car in and this same "official" ask me for my yellow sign in form and I said I haven't signed in yet as I wanted to get the scrutineering out of the way.
He said thanks for wasting his time and told me to push the car out of the shed and to the side and get my yellow form and come back.
Did that and he made me wait at the car till after 9AM before he bothered to send the other official to take my form and put a sticker on my car.
Luckily my group was 2nd last and after losing 45 mins,I had about 50 mins to check over it.... a bit relieved!
First session started out good and getting into when I came in too hot into southern loop on lap 3 and understeered at about 135kph off the track through the stones (more like rocks) sideways Geez the rocks make a mess of pretty rims and panels leaving pitt marks everywhere!
Got back on and continued on for the rest of the session listening to the orchestral sounds of loose rocks still leaving my car Had a good session with a similar time of 1:59.8 to the 1st time I was out in May.
There were 2 passenger sessions scheduled for lunchtime and at the end of the day. A mate and his mrs wanted to come along and said they'd be there at 11am.
They called out for the passengers to register as they called the session about an hour early and they weren't at the track yet! I rang them an they were about
20 mins away!!!!
I did a mad rush to install the passenger seat and harness and check pressures and fuel up as they were calling the cars to the grid,they finally turned up and I said run like hell and register and jump and strap in.
His mrs wanted to do the first session as she has never done anything like this and we made it to the grid with about a minute to spare.
She was so nervous and hyped up enough that I couldn't shut her up until I took off.
She thought it was going to be a casual cruise with a little speed added in....she was in for some fun
The session went even better with a best of 1:59.1 and a VERY happy female passenger who had a BALL!
Back to the pits and they called my group out for the next session.....I was rooted as the weather was warming up very quickly and no time to check things and sat it out.
Out for my 3rd session and had another good one with a best of 1:58.1....very happy with that.
Pull into the pits stuffed and ready for a rest and my mate tells me they have called for the 2nd passenger session to make their way to the grid.
FAAAAARK I was stinking hot and buggered and quickly fuelled up and strapped in my mate and grid up...again!
My mate wanted to do this as he bought a VX SS to do the same thing next year.
Out we go and all going good when on lap 3 coming onto pit straight I noticed the steering wheel spoke slightly lower to one side meanwhile speedo heading towards
215kph.
Luckily a HQ race car was running towards the middle of turn 1 and I scrubbed off some speed to about 160kph and came in under him and powered up towards southern loop when I went to turn left (135kph) the car suddenly understeered with the rhf tyre letting go with a shitload of vibration onto the grass and those nasty rocks again.
Day done and lucky it didn't let go at the end of the straight but a pain to load on the trailer with a dead tyre as I don't have a spare for it...yet.
Got up early to give me time to pack the car and ready to hit the road and noticed the lhr tyre almost flat on the VF wagon...dammit!
I have a BBQ bottle fitted with an air line that I use to top up tyre pressures and ready to hit the road part 2.
Stepped over the trailer hitch with the bottle and my foot hit the brake lever and trying to balance my fall my right wrist hit the lever on the way down almost slicing
the wrist.....faaaark did it hurt!
Hit the road part 3.
Arrive at the island early and unload the VT and head off to scrutineering
Official comes over and lets me know next time unregistered modified cars cannot be started before 9AM (it was 8:15 at this moment)
Yet street reg with modified exhaust are able to drive to the shed? My Vt is practically standard and quiet compared to some registered skylines that turned up.
The lane to the shed has a slight downhill grade,so to them they are more worried about a little exhaust noise than a competitor actually being able to run themselves
over pushing your car to the scales if you miss the brake pedal as you jump in the car while you try and push a 1500kg car towards them
Get the car in and this same "official" ask me for my yellow sign in form and I said I haven't signed in yet as I wanted to get the scrutineering out of the way.
He said thanks for wasting his time and told me to push the car out of the shed and to the side and get my yellow form and come back.
Did that and he made me wait at the car till after 9AM before he bothered to send the other official to take my form and put a sticker on my car.
Luckily my group was 2nd last and after losing 45 mins,I had about 50 mins to check over it.... a bit relieved!
First session started out good and getting into when I came in too hot into southern loop on lap 3 and understeered at about 135kph off the track through the stones (more like rocks) sideways Geez the rocks make a mess of pretty rims and panels leaving pitt marks everywhere!
Got back on and continued on for the rest of the session listening to the orchestral sounds of loose rocks still leaving my car Had a good session with a similar time of 1:59.8 to the 1st time I was out in May.
There were 2 passenger sessions scheduled for lunchtime and at the end of the day. A mate and his mrs wanted to come along and said they'd be there at 11am.
They called out for the passengers to register as they called the session about an hour early and they weren't at the track yet! I rang them an they were about
20 mins away!!!!
I did a mad rush to install the passenger seat and harness and check pressures and fuel up as they were calling the cars to the grid,they finally turned up and I said run like hell and register and jump and strap in.
His mrs wanted to do the first session as she has never done anything like this and we made it to the grid with about a minute to spare.
She was so nervous and hyped up enough that I couldn't shut her up until I took off.
She thought it was going to be a casual cruise with a little speed added in....she was in for some fun
The session went even better with a best of 1:59.1 and a VERY happy female passenger who had a BALL!
Back to the pits and they called my group out for the next session.....I was rooted as the weather was warming up very quickly and no time to check things and sat it out.
Out for my 3rd session and had another good one with a best of 1:58.1....very happy with that.
Pull into the pits stuffed and ready for a rest and my mate tells me they have called for the 2nd passenger session to make their way to the grid.
FAAAAARK I was stinking hot and buggered and quickly fuelled up and strapped in my mate and grid up...again!
My mate wanted to do this as he bought a VX SS to do the same thing next year.
Out we go and all going good when on lap 3 coming onto pit straight I noticed the steering wheel spoke slightly lower to one side meanwhile speedo heading towards
215kph.
Luckily a HQ race car was running towards the middle of turn 1 and I scrubbed off some speed to about 160kph and came in under him and powered up towards southern loop when I went to turn left (135kph) the car suddenly understeered with the rhf tyre letting go with a shitload of vibration onto the grass and those nasty rocks again.
Day done and lucky it didn't let go at the end of the straight but a pain to load on the trailer with a dead tyre as I don't have a spare for it...yet.