| Racing
Project GTI
Roebling
Road Raceway
Bloomingdale, GA
12-15 February
Sports Car Club of America
Driver Licensing School
Two
schools were necessary first steps toward renewing my long-expired racing
license so I took advantage of Buccaneer Region SCCA's double school,
outside of Savannah, Georgia.
This
event provided 6+ hours of track time and I had the opportunity to work
with a great instructor. The weather varied from sunny and dry, through
damp, to soaking downpours, providing a perfect opportunity to get comfortable
behind the wheel of a racing car again in changing conditions.
The
car performed flawlessly, though proved to be somewhat slow on a dry track.
While this was mostly the fault of the driver, it was partially a product
of the limitations of the Showroom Stock preparation rules and the low-budget
compromises made during preparation.
Highlight
- Posting the second-fasted time of 46 cars running a very wet practice
session. |
Scott Giles
Photo |
Virginia
International Raceway
Alton, VA
20 March
Sports Car Club of America
Carolina
Cup Pro Series Road Race
Following a layoff
of almost 15 years, my return to competitive driving took place on a
sunny early spring day at the amazing VIR circuit. At 3.27 miles in
length, this track ranks among the best in the nation and it was a pleasure
to take on the chore of learning this beautiful circuit.
The day finished
with a 45-minute race in which I started 75th of 76 starters - the product
of a very rusty driver peddling one of the slowest cars in the race,
on an unfamiliar and daunting track. I finished 65th overall - taking
advantage of the bad luck of others - and three laps down on the winner,
as the only Showroom Stock C car entered.
Highlight -
Being complimented by several drivers of faster cars for being "easy
to get by" and "not messing up their race." You take
what you can get, sometimes.
|
Shoot to Thrill
Photo |
| |
I was invited to
serve as an instructor for the high performance driving school co-hosted
by the Tarheel Sports Car and Triangle Z Clubs, running the south course
at VIR. This was a great opportunity to get some time in the car at
a low pressure event, while coaching two other drivers in the skills
required for driving on the racetrack.
My students were
great - friendly, hard working, predictable, and interested in improving
their skills - and, while the weather was chilly and on-again, off-again
rainy, the event was a success. Once again, Project GTI proved to be
most comfortable in the wet sessions, able to hold its own against some
higher powered sports cars when conditions got soggy.
Highlight -
Concentrated practice on VIR's difficult Oak Tree corner, which should
translate into decreased lap times on this wonderful track.
|
Virginia
International Raceway
Alton, VA
7-9 May
Sports Car Club of America
South Atlantic
Road Racing Championship Road Race
This SARRC double
regional event marks the debut of PhilsTireService.com
as a promotional partner of Project GTI. Phil's Tire Service will be
working with the team to prepare for and run the Charge of the Headlight
Brigade 13-hour endurance race on October - a grueling test of
the Toyo racing rubber that Phil's distributes.
Hot sunny weather
made for sunburned necks and lots of empty water bottles but Project
GTI was again reliable - if still not quick enough to run with the rest
of the SSC entries in either of the weekend's races. An oil leak resulted
in a slipping clutch in Saturday's event but created less of a problem
on Sunday after a liberal dousing with cleaning solvent.
Highlight -
Almost four seconds of improvement in lap times over my first visit
to the VIR full-course layout.
Breaking News
- The Project GTI driving line-up is set for the Charge
of the Headlight Brigade 13-hour enduro. Updates to follow.
K.
Knestis Photo
|
Shoot to Thrill
Photo |
Blue
Ridge Sports Car Hillclimb
Laurel Springs, NC
15-16 May
Sports Car Club of America
SEDiv Solo I
My first visit to
the Blue Ridge Hillclimb was great - as much fun as I have grown to
expect hillclimbs to be. The people were nice, the BBQ tasty, the road
fun, and the atmosphere relaxed. The weather and scenery just miles
form the Blue Ridge Parkway were both great, too until a storm rolled
in and shortened the second day of competition.
I got nine passes
on the course, averaging just under 50 mph on the almost-1-mile-long
course on my fastest run. The deficiencies of the stock gearing really
stand out on a road like this. Some really tight corners and the fact
that a hillclimb is, well, uphill makes the gap between 2nd and 3rd
gears seem really huge.
The graphics of
new promotional partner Bildon
Motorsport were evident on the front fenders of the GTI for the
first time this weekend. Bildon is collaborating with Team GTI with
technical support and as a supplier of both original equipment and racing
parts for the ITB update.
Highlight -
Steady improvement in time over the two days and a fast time quicker
than several drivers in "faster" classes.
|
Blue
Ridge Sports Car Hillclimb Photos |
THSCC
Rallycross
Four Oaks, NC
22 May
Tarheel
Sports Car Club
Non-championship RallyCross Event
Despite 40+ events
as co-driver in a rally car in the 1990s, I'd never driven competitively
on dirt until I entered a RallyCross
with the Tarheel Sports Car Club. Rules for this event required
competitors to race on street tires, to preserve the dirt surface of
a course laid out in a field with cone gates. Each competitor's score
was the total time required to complete six 1-lap runs, plus a 2-second
penalty for any cone knocked down.
I ran on my full-tread
Toyos from PhilsTireService.com
(actually, my road racing rain tires) which proved to be surprisingly
effective in the silty soil. The GTI was in its stock configuration,
minus the unnecessary seats, and I vowed to apply a conservative strategy,
avoiding cone points while increasing speed over the course of the day.
Unfortunately, a
lost shift linkage nut stranded me at the start of my third run earning
me the "bogey" time of 60 seconds for that pass - on a course
that saw my best time in the mid-32-second range. The problem was easily
repaired but not before I had dropped to 15th of the 17 entrants in
the 2-liter class.
Highlight -
Sixth-fastest time in class in the final heat of the day, and no cone
penalties or missed gates.
|
Simon
Wright Photo
|
Virginia
International Raceway
Alton, VA
7 August
Sports Car Club of America
Carolina
Cup Pro Series Road Race
This is a story of
how pounds make a difference - both when the car loses them and when spring
rates gain them. The KONI
coilover struts and IT-spec springs (500 #/in front, 450 #/in rear)
were installed before this one-day regional, as was a large rear antiroll
bar. In addition, the car lost 125 pounds of interior and "ITB"
replaced "SCC" on the doors - and what a difference!
The rear tires are
now well and truly in the game, the car can be balanced in a slight oversteer
attitude, and it is faster. This CCPS race was not as well subscribed
as was the event in March so a 2nd of two ITB cars leaves nothing to brag
about in terms of results. Nonetheless, Project GTI performed flawlessly
and the first test of recent improvements means the event was a success.
Highlight - A
lap time improvement of just over 5 seconds and much more predictable
handling.
Disappointment
- Nobody visiting me in the paddock saying things like, "Dude - your
car looks like it's going to tip over!" |
Project GTI
sits lower and corners flatter on its new suspension |
| Carolina
Motorsports Park
Kershaw, SC
14-15 August
Sports Car Club of America
SARRC Double Regional Road Race
The South Atlantic
Road Racing Championship event at CMP was marked by threats of heavy weather
due to hurricane Charley but - unfortunately - rain was never really an
issue. We might have been in the ballpark with a slippery surface but
the interim "ITB-minus" spec of Project GTI leaves it struggling
a bit.
The two races did
however provide an opportunity to play with shock and front anti-roll
bar adjustments and to work on the most important component of a racing
car - the driver. This track offers a variety of types of corner from
fast bends to slow hairpins and it was a great chance to continue adjusting
to the new suspension and to work on my line.
Highlight - Two
really entertaining races (with cars not in my class, exactly like the
stewards tell you to avoid) that resulted in many passes in several different
places on the track. |
Clark Doggett Photo |
| Virginia
International Raceway Patriot Circuit
Alton, VA
11-12 September
Tarheel
Sports Car Club
High Performance Driving School
I enjoyed my last
outing as an instructor with THSCC but was worried about getting ill riding
with students on the short, twisty Patriot course at VIR, so did this
High Performance Driving Event and Time Trial as a "solo" participant.
The Patriot course
was new to almost everyone participating and it generally got good reviews,
despite the fact that it is just slightly more than one mile long. It
has a variety of corners including the deceptively fast Turn 1 - perhaps
one of the most exciting and potentially treacherous corners around.
The sessions went
great and Project GTI didn't miss a beat. We finished the Saturday TT
ahead of the only other ITB car by default - its clutch cable broke as
I was bringing the car to pregrid for the driver. Oops. The natural order
of things was restored on Sunday however, when we were almost exactly
3 seconds off of his fast lap.
Highlight - People
guessing that I was turning 55-second laps based on what they could see
in the Turn 1 to 4 complex, when I was actually turning 59's because of
the awful uphill turns they could NOT see. |
Jason Fedler
Photo
|
| Virginia
International Raceway
Alton, VA
23 October
North Carolina Region
Sports Car Club of America
Charge
of the Headlight Brigade 13-Hour Endurance Sports Car Race
The culmination of
an entire season of hard work and dedication by a lot of people, this
marathon event has to be considered an unqualified success for PhilsTireService.com
Team GTI.
Highlight - A
trouble free run to an ITB class victory (of six in class) and 28th overall,
out of more than 60 cars starting the event. That, and only the tiniest
dent and tire mark...
A full report and
new pictures are now available. |
K. Knestis Photo
|
| Last
updated 31 October 2004 |
Project
GTI is headquartered in Greensboro, NC |
