PCV Sandown Four Hour Regularity
So PCV decided to run their own Four Hour Regularity event last weekend. Teams of four tackled Sandown Raceway trying circulate as close as possible to their pre-determined lap times. Chris in a GT3, Dennis & Adam in glorious sounding 928s and me in my GT3 made up team #18, 'Jive Torque'. Dennis was also able to recruit Paul, an experienced Team Manager and John, his capable pit lane assistant. They kept us well informed all day with relative lap performance which was indicated on a pit board. Excellent work, but trying to find 'our' board while under full power on the main straight, avoiding other competitors and keeping an eye out for the start/finish flag marshals was a bit of an added challenge!
The day dawned threatening but the 90 minute practice session was dry and the entire day was clear. With each of our target times set, we did a little bit of standing around waiting for the first group to grid up and head out. I was the lead car for us, so to the dummy grid I went, was duly waved away a little before midday to do two formation laps behind the Safety Car before the event officially kicked off at 12PM. See, I told you it was like real racing!
I can certainly see what 'red mist' means for racing drivers. The first half a dozen laps were a bit of a haze as the tyres warmed up and I was chasing down the cars in front. Except that I was not supposed to be chasing anyone, but circulating as close as possible to my target lap times. When I settled down, 'it' happened again.
Sad, very sad... (Photo by NikoFoto - 2010)
Braking for the Dandenong
Road corner at the end of the back straight, I went
to down change to fourth, and thought I missed the
gear. So I tried it again (now running out of road)
and still nothing just the gear lever feeling like it
was stirring porridge, not connected to anything. And
the 'kitty litter' and tyre wall were now looming
large. With no drive to push me around I had to try
to balance the brakes and steering to get me through
the corner. Once done, I just coasted to a graceful
halt. Not only disappointing for me, but the lost
laps while I was being picked up and towed back
killed our chances for a decent finish in the event
AND while I was being picked up, the Safety Car was
out spoiling the other drivers fun as well. Apologies
to all.
I knew what the problem was as it happened to me late
last year at Calder. Once again the gear linkage
cables became disconnected from the gearbox under
load / stress. It was a five minute temporary fix
with cable ties to get me running again. Thanks to
Dean from NinePlus Motorsports for stepping in to
assist. Great job. So I was able to get out for my
second session in the afternoon but I must admit to
not brimming over with confidence every time I
reached for the gear lever! I now have the car booked
in for the fitment of a pair of GT3 Porsche CupCar
gearbox linkage cables (ex Germany) which will fix
this problem once and for all and also improve the
feel of the gear change, which I thought was pretty
good anyway. While it is 'on the hoist' a quick
suspension check will also occur and adjust the
settings so the car is corner weighted and balanced
front to back, side to side. If it is OK now, fine,
if not, it should drive better than ever after the
balancing. Only wish I could drive better...
And to cap off a miserable car day, I got a decent
stone chip right in my line of vision on my first lap
out. Oh well...
In the final wash up, "Jive Torque' finished 18th out
of 21 teams. Not a stellar result but mechanical
disasters notwithstanding, we all enjoyed the day and
especially the camaraderie of the our team
environment. The structure and organisation of the
day was superb and a real credit to all involved.
Especially impressive considering this was the first
time the club had run such an event. Provisional
class results can be found here.
Roll on Bathurst!