Words from Andrew Leach:
Well April 25th and 26th 2009 was an interesting weekend at Thunderhill normal direction. I ran in Time Trials C class for the 3rd time this session. Winding up 3rd place on Saturday and Sunday to 1st place veteran Bob Blackwood who is a 25 year veteran to racing and with NASA and won Nationals last year.
When I got there on Saturday and pulled the car out of the trailer, the rear toe link had come loose and my rear driver’s side toe was completely out of my specifications. Luckily with my Wicked Tuning rear toe links from Blacktrax, the adjustment was easy. I adjusted it by eye and took it for a spin in the pits area and it seemed to be dead on.
Started the first session with front tire pressure at 30psi and rear at 29psi; ended up running a 2:11.6 with the rear end not holding on tight enough. Dropped tire pressure to 28psi front and 27 psi rear. Ran a 2:07.8 and the car held tight in late braking and exiting corners but still a little unstable at the entrance to turns 1, 2, and 5. 3rd session was run the same way but half way through the session the power steering blew the high pressure hose and my front brake pads broke off from their backing. I down-shifted my way in and installed new pads. Thank God that the rotors didn’t get messed up. I also removed the power steering belt and put silicon on the leaking hose to stop any extra leak.
Ran 4th session with no power steering and tire pressures at 27psi front and 26psi rear, when measured cold. Came in with a best lap time of 2:07.002.
Sunday started off at 45 degrees out and with no power steering and tire pressures at 28/27 front and rear. Ran a best of 2:05.967. Came in after 1st session and my alternator bracket had broken. I rigged up a tie-down strap to ratchet tight the belt by wrapping the tie down around the radiator support bracket and hooked onto the front toe hook. Continued to run this same way the 2nd and 3rd sessions. Came in after 3rd session and noticed the power steering line was still leaking so I called it a day.
When I got there on Saturday and pulled the car out of the trailer, the rear toe link had come loose and my rear driver’s side toe was completely out of my specifications. Luckily with my Wicked Tuning rear toe links from Blacktrax, the adjustment was easy. I adjusted it by eye and took it for a spin in the pits area and it seemed to be dead on.
Started the first session with front tire pressure at 30psi and rear at 29psi; ended up running a 2:11.6 with the rear end not holding on tight enough. Dropped tire pressure to 28psi front and 27 psi rear. Ran a 2:07.8 and the car held tight in late braking and exiting corners but still a little unstable at the entrance to turns 1, 2, and 5. 3rd session was run the same way but half way through the session the power steering blew the high pressure hose and my front brake pads broke off from their backing. I down-shifted my way in and installed new pads. Thank God that the rotors didn’t get messed up. I also removed the power steering belt and put silicon on the leaking hose to stop any extra leak.
Ran 4th session with no power steering and tire pressures at 27psi front and 26psi rear, when measured cold. Came in with a best lap time of 2:07.002.
Sunday started off at 45 degrees out and with no power steering and tire pressures at 28/27 front and rear. Ran a best of 2:05.967. Came in after 1st session and my alternator bracket had broken. I rigged up a tie-down strap to ratchet tight the belt by wrapping the tie down around the radiator support bracket and hooked onto the front toe hook. Continued to run this same way the 2nd and 3rd sessions. Came in after 3rd session and noticed the power steering line was still leaking so I called it a day.
