Results of first race with PCA Potomac Region

Sprint Race 1

Finsihed the race in 4th but set the fastest race lap of 1:25.9.
http://www.mylaps.com/results/showrun.jsp?id=1719251&perclass=1

Sprint Race 2

Started 1st, was passed at the start of the race and made contact with the first place car early on which required me to return to the pits after contact (per PCA racing rules).  Officially a DNF
http://www.mylaps.com/results/showrun.jsp?id=1719252&perclass=1

Sprint Race 3

The highlight of the weekend; I started last and worked my way past 15 cars all the way up to 2nd and lost two places on the last lap finishing 4th.  Set the 2nd fastest time of the weekend with a 1:25.8.
 http://www.mylaps.com/results/showrun.jsp?id=1719253&perclass=1


So now a long winter break, need to replace the left fender and make a few more improvements to the car.  I still have the stock rear sway bar which will get replaced as well as a few more things.

Best part of the weekend is that I ended up being the 2nd fastest Spec Boxster with a 1:25.8.  That gives me something to work towards improving upon.

Now to find a sponsor.....  :)

First Race: Porsche Club Potomac Region Club Race, Summit Point

Had a great weekend at my rookie PCA race at Summit Point Raceway.  I was joined by my crew; Brad Roberts from California and Virginia local Matthew Yip.  Their experience and patience helped me to be ready to run each time and to listen to my rants about what I thought the car was doing and what really needed to be done.  Brad was able to take my input and make pretty effective changes that I was able to immediately take advantage of each practice or qualifying session.  Over the course of the entire weekend we made a lot changes on the car to dial it in making it progressively quicker, also actually learning the car (2nd time ever driving it) and learning to dial back the driver. A lot of self reflection afterword about what I could have done differently.

Paul Alexandre

I  had the opportunity to meet a good bunch of fellow Spec Boxster drivers from NJ, MA, CT, etc.  We had some great runs together in the practice sessions and during the races.

Progressed through the day making changes on the car, progressively going faster each session.  Put on my race tires for what would be qualifying and only managed to go .1 seconds faster than I did on street tires.  Hmmm?  This proved to be a temporary hold up as things improved further the rest of the weekend

Sprint Race 1, I started in 4th got all the way up to 2nd place. Had a nice gentlemanly battle going with Charlie Boyer #28 who was in 2nd, I got ahead of him and then coming into T1 I got behind Hunt and Charlie took advantage and slid up the inside ahead of me. I then settled in and was holding 3rd the rest of the race. Then a momentary distraction inside the car caused me to turn into T9 early causing a huge spin flat spotting both fronts with 2 laps to go. Came back onto the track in P4 and didn't find a clean opportunity to pass so I ended up finishing 4th. (I had flipped my visor up for some air and it crashed down right at the entry set for T9 both startling me and slightly changing the viewing angle) DOH!

Sprint Race 2 qualified 1st and lost the position right at the start due inexperience in timing the start of the race.   I waited about 2 laps exploring where I had more speed and challenge back for P1 going into T1 and the lead car and I made contact in T1. My crew and I spent a worrisome night expecting to be assigned partial fault and learned in the morning that I was cleared and fault was put onto the other driver. Just a dented fender and the front tire was cut, fixed those items and we were back in the game.

Sprint Race 3 was a particular highlight with a downfall at the end. Started 2nd from last with Scott Bresnahan due to the DNF in prior Race. Worked up through the field to P2 in Spec Boxster and held it the entire race. On the last lap I was the first car through debris in T5 and put 2 wheels off going into T6 letting two Spec Boxsters past me. Finished 4th.

As for the Enduro.... sorry everyone about the massive smoke screen I caused from T3 to T4. My air-oil separator let go. I thought the motor let go and moved over into the grass but didn't seeing any fluids as I rolled down the hill to T5 into the midfield so I returned to the pits and packed it up.

A lot of fun, a lot of work, lots of ups, lots of downs. Looking forward to honing my craft and being dialed in as a driver and consistent lap after lap.

Preparing for 1st race

The list of things that need to be finished keeps growing and new surprises keep popping up.

I had a chance to test the car out at the SCCA PDX held on Sunday, September 26th.  (Thank you Matt for the tracktime).  I ran the car for the first time at Summit Point and used street tires to practice and ran without anti-sway bars.

The goal for the day was to do a full sweep of the shock settings and also put a few heat cycles into the car. The first session was with the shocks set full hard.  Car felt fairly responsive but had terminal understeer from turn in to track out.

The second session was with the shocks set at full soft.  The car was much more responsive and a lot of the understeer was gone but it still had understeer from apex to track out.

After the second session, two surprises awaited me.  The drivers side brand new wheel liner was torn out and hanging under the car completely destroyed.  There was also a water leak somewhere under the car and fairly significant.  I parked the car on top of the trailer and got to work removing the undertrays to discover a good sized hole shooting water from one of the hard water lines running down the center of the car.  Got some rescue tape from the OG Racing track store and was ready to try again.

I went out for what was to be my third and final session only to discover that half way through that I was having trouble engaging 3rd gear.  I tried a few more laps at a reduced pace but getting into 3rd gear was hit or miss.   Hoping for the best, I put the car back on the trailer and finished up my instructing obligations for the day.

Fortunately the transmission was fine and the shifter cables had worked themselves loose on the back of the transmission.  The water lead actually turned out to be over 8 leaks on both hard water lines.  Apparently the aluminum lines had corroded from the inside out and needed to be replaced.  I found a replacement set and had them shipped overnight and installed them with Brad on Thursday just before leaving for the PCA Club Race.

We just made it to the track during a torrential downpour and was only a few minutes late for my mandatory Rookie Racer meeting.

Wow, I really should update this.  Only major activity has been Comp school and the 24 hours of Lemons.  Story coming soon.

NASA announces the new Porsche Boxster 986 Series

NASA announces the new Porsche Boxster 986 Series

February 24, 2010 6:51 AM — The National Auto Sport Association (NASA) is pleased to announce a new racing series for Porsche Boxster 986 chassis cars. NASA has secured the rights to the already successful Boxster Spec series created and managed by Bill Bodine, a long time Porsche racer from Southern California. Bodine will continue his involvement with the series as the National Director.
“We’re very excited to be working with Bill to take the Boxster Spec program to the next level”, said Ryan Flaherty, NASA’s National Chairman. “This is a great platform to work with and we hope to combine our national presence with Bill’s proven leadership to get more folks involved with the series”
Bill Bodine added that “NASA’s high quality nationwide events will not only provide our current Boxster Spec drivers with more and better racing opportunities, but will encourage those in the Midwest, East and South to jump onto the Boxster Spec party-wagon. This couldn’t be better timing for the growth and continued success of Boxster Spec Racing.”
More information on the Boxster Spec series can be found at www.boxsterspecracing.org.

Nifty in-car camera coming out soon

Came across the Re-Play XD by StableImaging.  Intro price at $189 looks very promising.  I hope to get my hands on one to give it a try.  It is a self contained Chapstick sized mini DVR that records DVD quality video onto a microSDHC Memory card. A little bird tells me that OG Racing will be carrying these as soon as they are released in mid February.

The 2010 NASA Mid Atlantic Schedule

Ok, here is the schedule for NASA.  I'll be running the Spec Boxster in GTS-2.  I hope to be ready for March 26th!

The plan is to do a few races in Porsche Club (PCA) against other Spec Boxster, but for that I will have to run on the Toyo R888 tire instead of the Hoosier R6.

Date	Track
Feb 19-20-21	VIRginia International Raceway (Full Course) HPDE 1-4, Sprint Races, Time Trials SuperComp School, Instructor Clinic, Test and Tune, Open Practice, Enduro Karting, CircuitCross
March 26-27-28	VIRginia International Raceway (Full Course) HPDE 1-4, Sprint Races, Time Trials SuperComp School, Instructor Clinic, Test and Tune, Open Practice
April 17-18	Summit Point Raceway (Main Course) HPDE 1-4, Sprint Races, Time Trials
June 19-20	HYPERFEST™ '10 Summit Point Raceway (Main Course) HPDE 1-4, Sprint Races, Time Trials
July 23-24-25	VIRginia International Raceway (Full Course) HPDE 1-4, Sprint Races, Time Trials SuperComp School, Instructor Clinic, Test and Tune, Open Practice,Grassroots Motorsports Ultimate Track Car Challenge
August 21-22	Summit Point Raceway (Main Course) HPDE 1-4, Sprint Races, Time Trials
October 8-9-10	OKTOBERFAST VIRginia International Raceway (Full Course) HPDE 1-4, Sprint Races, SuperComp School, Instructor Clinic, Test and Tune, Open Practice
November 6-7	Summit Point Raceway (Main Course) HPDE 1-4, Time Trials

Personal Safety Gear

Stopped by OG Racing to see Brian and to test fit a racing suit one more time.

I ended up going with a Sparco Sprint Suit, SFI 3.2A/5 rating.

Hopefully this will serve me well and hold up fairly well.

Gaining Headroom

One would think that building a race car you will fit in it pretty much the same as when it is a street car.

But no, it is not to be so simple.  It seems that unless you want the top of your helmet banging around on some of the safety cage tubes you need to seriously lower your seating position.  I am 5'9" tall and didn't think it would even be an issue for me.

Thankfully, Kent at PCW has run into this before and has a solution ready to go.  He unwelds the factory seat pan which is over 2 inches high and custom makes a new low profile seat pan.

 Before: Factory Seat Pan with stock seat sliders

Side profile of Factory Seat Pan, OEM sliders add considerable height as well

After: custom seat pan that lowers seat to the floor and provides multiple attachment points

 At the end it is good for an additional 3+ inches above your head

Finished Cage

Kent has been busy working on my Boxster over the holidays.
After a lot of measuring, cutting and welding....