In 2009 I started on my quest to advance from SCCA’s Solo II onto NASA’s Time Trial program. I had been autocrossing seriously since ‘06, and after claiming the Nothern New Jersey regions A-Stock championshop in ‘07 and ‘08, I wanted to build upon what I had learned. After a year full of track days, a brief date with a tirewall, many weeks of sourcing replacement parts, upgrades, a visit to the tuner, and a painfully long winter, the car and I was finally ready.
Not only was this event my first TT event for ‘10, but it was also my first track event for the year. So I considered it a shakedown for the car, but more importantly a shakedown for myself. The first morning of a weekend event is usually pretty hectic. A frantic search to find empty spots in the pits, unpack the tools, tires, jack stands, and all loose items from the car (I can never believe how much crap fits into an Evo!). Slap on the brand new BFGoodrich g-Force R1s (from Tirerack) and the Hawk HT-10 race compound pads (from KNS Brakes), run through the self-tech, and finally hand over everything to registration.
With just the instructor group having been on track before us, we grid up and head out on to the cold track in a slow train. I have never drive on the BFG R1s until now, so with the pressures set to 35 psi cold I started to try and get a feel for them. Our venue for the weekend was the Lightning circuit at NJMP. Between the two, I would say that Thunderbolt is my choice, but Lightning isn’t too bad and certainly has a few tricky corners that take a while to master. By the second corner I realize that the car is very soft – damn it! I had forgotten to set the rebound on the Ohlins. Deja vu – I made the same mistake on my previous track day as well. That’s another thing to add to the list of crap to do in the morning. Anyway I decide not to obsess over it and focus on the upcoming corners – a sweeping right hander that leads into a left. As I transition into the left hander my rear steps out, but my attempt to counter steer and feed in the gas were futile. I did the standard practice of putting both feet in and watched in embarrassment as the corner workers started waving their yellow flags. As I headed back towards the pits I found the car to be yet again a handful on the next left-hand corner. Hmmm… As I headed for the pits noticed my engine oil light on the dashboard, so I threw the car into neutral and let it coast towards the course worker waiting for me at the hot pit. Before the car came to a halt the engine stalled – I knew immediately what had happened!
A few years ago at an autocross I mowed down a cone, and in retaliation it struck my oil filter so hard that it bent the filter and thus compromised the seal between the filter and the housing resulting in an oil leak. An OEM filter may have avoided the situation, but I was using a Purolator filter at the time which is narrower but taller. With the oil spewing from near the passenger side front wheel, every left turn I made caused oil to splash towards the path of the right side wheels, thus making it over steer like a bitch.
Back at the hot pits, as the course worker checked for any signs of damage or loose wheels, I ducked underneath the car and saw the problem – my brand new AMS oil cooler had a gaping whole on its side. That was the least of my concerns; I had just potentially ceased my engine, and cooked the turbo. Is that a perfect start to the season or what?!
More details and videos later…
2010/04/18 NASA-NE TT at NJMP Lightning – Fastest Lap from Charith Perera on Vimeo
2010/04/18 NASA-NE TT at NJMP Lightning – Jake’s Spin from Charith Perera on Vimeo.