2011 Nissan Sport race schedule

[dmuramoto]

Not a lot of time to do an extended race schedule this year, but here are my plans for the year:

-April 30- May 1- High Plains Raceway (HPR) in Colorado- T2 350Z
-May 28-29 Pike Peak Intl Raceway- T2 350Z
-June 18-19 Sandia Raceway in New Mexico- T2 350Z
-July 2-3 HPR- GT3 350Z
-August 6-7 Miller Motorsports Park in Utah- T2 or GT3 350Z
-Sept 3-4 HPR- T2 350Z
-Sept 18-25 SCCA Runoffs Road America in Wisconsin- T2 or GT3 350Z
-Nov 5-6 American Road Race of Champions - Road Atlanta in GA- T2 or GT3 350Z

[dmuramoto]

First race at High Plains Raceway is complete. Scored first place points for both races, set a new lap record and lots of fun both days. Here's a video of the start:

http://youtu.be/TWnrY29sB6Y

[dmuramoto]

Rock the Peak (race #2) report:

Pikes Peak International Raceway (PPIR) hosted the opening Double Rational (Dbl National and Regional) races over Memorial Day weekend. This year, SCCA elected to use the 1.3-mile 9 turn roval course and here's my accounting of how to have fun. Saturday started early since I elected to tow down (about 90 miles) rather than stay another night. By the time I got registered and unloaded from the rig, I just missed my first practice session. With SCCA races, there's always a practice (time to tweak), qualifying and race. This weekend, I went with Goodyear's RS DOT R race tire and had to use the qualifying session to heat cycle them and put them away for Sunday's race. Same setup as I used for HPR. For the race, I was gridded next to three BMW Z4 M-coupes, while an ex-factory Solstice GXP was on pole. One word on this: this turbo car with factory development was untouchable at PPIR. He won T2 both days. At the start, I managed to get to the inside and pass one of the Z4s going into T1 and hold the position. But it rapidly became clear my car was an oversteering monster and better set up for drifting than racing. Try as I might, I couldn't pull away from my Z4 opponent and we played a nice game of cat-and-mouse for several laps. Eventually, he made an inside move and made the pass stick out of T2 and began pulling away. But that lasted until a few laps from the end when I saw the Beamer parked in the infield. But my biggest "moment" was when I left my braking just a hair too late coming off the banking and the Z slid over a orange cone marking the boundry of the track. Stupid! I knocked a few cosmetic pieces off, but the car ran strongly to the finish. Third place was better than I deserved.

Sunday, I was expecting rain, but it never came. After locating a few of the plastic grille pieces I knocked off and signing the chrome Nissan emblem from the nose that a Emerrgency Services worker had picked up when I hit that cone, my big plan was to adjust the rear sway bar. SCCA rules allow us to use the 350Evo 5-way adjustable bar and a slight adjustment would do the trick. Or not. I found the 14 mm nut just spun as I cranked on it with a wrench and socket. Stripped? Even having a friend put pressure on the inside of the nut wouldn't get it to engage and I had no other cutting or grinding tools to use. But I wasn't the only one wrenching. The BMW team, which had just come back from running those M-coupes at the World Challenge race at Miller Motorsports Park had swapped out the clutch in their car and all three were flying in practice. While none of us could get within range of the turbo Solstice, they improved by a full second, while I also got faster with the now-cured Goodyears. At the start, I got aggresive from the third row and again slotted into third going down the backstraight. A strong and steady north wind really helped top end going that direction, but had the wierd affect of robbing us of much cooling on that day. I noticed water temps were climbing, but couldn't afford to back off because I had a BMW up my tailpipes! We raced hard for several laps, until he surprised me by making a low move going into T1. I had the choice of going door-to-door through a 95-97 MPH turn (on the outside) or tucking in. I went for the latter and now I was so close I could read the small lettering on that Z4. I was also acutely aware of being quicker on the infeld section, but my tail would swing out as turned onto the front straight and I'd have to ease back a hair to get it under control before going WOT. The BMW began easing ahead and pretty soon I noticed engine temps were nearing criticial as I gave chase. I dropped max revs by 200, than 500 and got the temps to drop as well so I could make the finish. The battle also it took out the BMW again, as he was later parked on the outside of T3. So the Nissan Sport 350Z finished third once again on a hot and windy afternoon.

[RED_DET]

Keep up the good work, David...

[dmuramoto]

Thanks! But do you mean my work behind the wheel or just breaking BMWs?

[dmuramoto]

The next race for the Nissan Sport Project T2 350Z is down south in New Mexico. Scheduled for the Sandia Speedway, this short 1.1-mile roval course features a tri-apex turn and part of the banked oval as unique features. I would classify Sandia as a hard circuit for brakes, as there are several second and third-gear chutes connected by tight 180 degree turns. Lots of hard acceleration followed by hard braking. With the heat near the summer solstice, it's sure to be a challenging event for both car and driver.

[Ace2cool]

Try and stay cool, David! Sounds like it's gonna be a fun track for sure though!

[dmuramoto]

The news for the New Mexico race is not encouraging. With five days to go before the entry deadline, only 26 cars are officially entered. Unless things turn around in a hurry, there may not be a race...

[dmuramoto]

Race at Sandia is ON! They got in a bunch of entries at the last minute, including a factory-built Ford Mustang FR500R racecar, so I'll definitely have my hands full.

[dmuramoto]

It's Sunday after the races and I'm writing this from my hotel room in Alburquerque, NM. The 2011 Western Sprints were a success, with three regional wins and a new track record set. The eight-turn, 1.3-mile Sandia Motor Speedway course is deceptively difficult. No long straights and several linked turns with double apexes that have to be done with precision and a feathery touch on both brake and throttle. As a roval (a road course that uses part of a paved oval as the circuit), it has several places to pass, but there's also danger with little-to-no runoff area. Several shunts left some pretty mangled cars, but the Nissan Sport 350Z came out without a scratch.

Back to the start, the tow up from Colorado went pretty well. Raton Pass was open, but we saw some extensive fire damage as we went over. The rest of the journey was just hot, but we made it to the track by 6 pm. My friend Jerry Oleson would drive the ITA 200SX in the race, whicle I raced the 350Z in T2. We unloaded, registered and got checked into our rooms back at the hotel.

Saturday dawned slightly overcast, which kept the early heat down. Practice was uneventful, but I found my used tires were already beginning to go off. R-compounds have a slow decline, if properly heat-cycled initially. The ones I brought for this race were already on their tenth or eleventh cycle. I turned my fastest lap of the weekend on the second lap of qualifying and came within .25 of a second in getting under a minute. The first race I finished fourth overall, behind a GT2 Porsche, ITE Ford FR500R and Panoz tubeframe racer.

For the second race, the officials inverted the first ten qualifiers, so I started way back and passed five cars on the opening lap as we made our way towards the front. More importantly, I avoided any contact as I picked off cars without touching them. It's part of the joy of door-to-door racing: skill, judgement and even some luck! Finished fourth overall again, with the Z screaming down the pit straight according to most observers. I found myself covered in sweat and dust after the two races, but went to the SCCA dinner that was catered by Sadie's New Mexican restaurant. Best track dinner around before I headed back to the hotel and some well-deserved rest.

On Sunday, two F Production cars used new slicks, and showed their value by vaulting past my Z, still on the same well-used R-compound tires. I even resorted to using three front wheels and one rear (with 285-30-18s mounted), because they were the best ones left. I once again qualified fifth and finished fourth overall after passing the Mustang FR500R (whose tires were worse that mine) about 20 laps in. Speaking of tires, my one disappointment was I only reset the T2 lap record by a half a second in the first race, and I got progressively slower as the traction dropped off. My qualifying times (which don't count towards lap records) on the first day were over a second and a half faster! Monday I head to Austin, TX to get my VQ35HR retuned by the wizards at UpRev. Who knows? Maybe someday I'll get back to Sandia with fresh(er) tires...

[dmuramoto]

The next event on the race schedule is a SCCA Super Tour on July 2-3 Dbl Nat at High Plains Raceway. BF Goodrich tires are promoting a super series of National races throughout the country, and next weekend is the last stop in this series and the only one in Colorado.

http://www.scca.org/newsarticle.aspx?hub=1&news=4113

The Nissan Sport 350Z is back and is entered for both races. The time spent at UpRev was well-spent, with an additional 25 ponies found grazing in the HR pasture. While I still won't match the turbo cars for thrust, it should make me more competitive. As for the races, there'll be victory laps for all the winners, along with podium celebrations for the top three finishers while the cars sit in impound after the races. It promises to be a fun time.

[dmuramoto]

Not such a rosy report for the Freedom Sprints. The opening National race on Saturday started sunny, but the weather turned cloudy just before our race went off, which was a blessing. Qualified and finished third, which sounds pretty boring, but I had a World Challenge spec VW on my tail for most of the second half of the race. One mistake and I'd fall into grip of the snarling pack behind. But that didn't happen and I earned a solid finish.

Sunday's race was a different story. With BF Goodrich sponsoring the SCCA Super Tour, I switched from my used sets of Goodyear RS and found an immediate improvement with the R1 model. Once they came in, the grip immediately allowed me to carry more speed through several turns. My best time of 1:04.875 allowed me to qualify second on the outside row. At the start, I was outmanuvered in an aggressive start and was headed for the first turn three abreast. The odd guy out in these situations is ususlly the guy on the outside, so I braked early so as not to get hung out at the exit. This threw me back into the pack fighting for position.

Within a few laps, I noticed water temps climbing, so I tried short shifting 200 RPM early. But the hot temps continued to accelerate and the VQ35HR went into limp mode just after T7. Crap. Not allowing anything over 1500 RPM may be good enough to get your Nissan back to the dealership, but won't get you around HPR's hills. I ended up having to park the Z and get towed in. After starting so well, the day ended up sucking big time...

Doesn't appear to be any engine damage, but I'll have to check it out carefully. I'll also be weighing ALL my options to gain better coolong before my next race.

[dmuramoto]

No engine damage was found after a full assessment. After looking at the options available, Project 350Z T2 got a host of cooling upgrades. I can't discuss them in too much detail here, as they'll be in the next issue of Nissan Sport. With getting issue #19 done and out the door, I barely had time to finish prepping the Z for the next race at Miller Motorsports Park (MMP) in Utah.

The tow from my home in Denver is almost 550 miles and I arrived at MMP ready to go. MMP is a multi-use motorsports facility and on the same weekend our SCCA double Regional/National was held, there was also a motorcycle race on the east course and a full karting event taking place simeltaneously. MMP is also a track with good restrooms and even decent showers, so I stayed at the track all weekend and camped out near the beautiful Utah skies. We raced on the fast and flowing west course and let's just say I had my share of driving challenges over the weekend. And before I let any more of my upcoming story out of the bag, let's just say I had two second place finishes to move back into the top three of my division.