California Festival of Speed
04-09-2013, 02:17 AM
#1
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
California Festival of Speed
Did my first time trial at the California Festival of Speed this past weekend. So here’s a longish write up on the weekend activities and the awesome support provided by the GMG team.
Thursday
Picked up the car from GMG after the SQS shifter installation (more on that later) and headed out to Fontana for a weekend of fun. The check in process went smoothly, and since I had the car pre-tech’d didn’t have to wait in line – hats off to the PCA & POC for having things so organized. Located my garage space and got situated for the upcoming 3 day event. Shared a space with an awesome driver and his car along with the GMG crew supporting him and the other cars in the GMG spaces.
Friday
Show up at the track got things situated warmed up the car, checked CL torques (paranoid me…) and headed off to the drivers meeting. Met up with my instructor and coordinated our times. It’s never a good thing when your name gets called after the meeting – issues with my tech inspection form. Got that sorted out and headed back to the garage area. I really had no set goals for timing but was more focused on learning the track and driving techniques. I guess in the back of my mind I did want at a minimum break the 2:00 mark but for some reason it wasn’t all that important. First time out we focused on the track, braking zones, turn-in’s, line, etc did this at a reasonable pace gave some point bye’s and received some all in all everyone seemed to be cooperating really well. This was my first event with open passing on the speedway portion of the track, and wow is that section of the track fast. I’ve been lucky with instructors and again I was paired up with someone that knew his stuff and in my opinion knows how to instruct. The shifter… holy crap what a change going from the H-pattern to the sequential. This was a whole new experience both positive and negative – you have to unlearn everything and focus on clutch and shift timing in a whole new way. What’s really cool is no more worries about that 5th to 2nd blown shift. By the end of the day I had the timing down and thanks to some coaching from my garage buddy who had the same shifter in his RS and from James and Allen at GMG it was starting to become second nature but still not perfect… By the last session of the day again thanks to some great coaching I break the 2:00 mark, cool, but still have a bunch to learn. Coming off the track when trying to shift into 2nd the shifter feels loose and is not changing gears at all, was able to limp into the garage. Looked things over and couldn’t find the issue. Panic text to Allen at GMG about the issue, he responds immediately and said he’ll have someone out first thing in the morning to look the car over.
Saturday
Arrive at the track and get things ready staying positive that the shifter issue is a minor one… GMG tech arrives and immediately dives into troubleshooting the problem. Turns out that the cable ball socket end had popped off the control unit on the transmission. Tech makes the repair in no time – my weekend is saved. The day’s sessions were again used to focus on technique and I also experienced my first spin and 4 wheels off - new respect for the car… Brought the car into the black flag station and things checked out so back onto the track. Discussed the spin at length with my instructor and made the necessary corrections once we were back on the track. The third session of the day I was allowed to go solo – time to put on my big boy pants… By this time the R6’s were about used up and I was greeted with another beautifully executed 360 but this time stayed on the track and was well out of the way of oncoming traffic. Re-entered the session and finished out without any further issues. Once back at the garage I made preparations to change out tires. I only have one set of track rims so it was a mad dash to the Hoosier trailer for the change out. Again the GMG tech’s jumped right in and helped out – I didn’t even ask for help. Throughout the day they supported all the various cars that were in or around the GMG garage section making everyone’s day(s) that much more enjoyable. After the tire change it’s time for the last session of the day and it goes off without a hitch, time for some food and a beer… The last event of the day is the 1 hour enduro. My garage buddy’s Stella Artois/GMG cup car takes the win and that equates to some cold Stellas afterwards!
Sunday
I get informed by my instructor that I’m now on my own for the rest of Sunday’s sessions, not signed off but told to have at it. Throughout the weekend you get a good sense of where you should stage based on comfort levels, times, and instructors input. This time out I decided to stage more towards the faster cars to hopefully avoid the train of endless passing. This strategy pays off and I’m rewarded with no one bunching up in front or in the rear and was able to make some clean runs during the 30-minute session. Again focusing on my instructors’ inputs from the previous days I’m rewarded with a 1:55, at first I’m thinking that the SoloDL is in error but excited nonetheless. The official timing confirms the 1:55. That last session I can say it’s the most comfortable I’ve been in the car to date. The shifting with the SQS was so smooth and the addition of the auto-blipper made my endless size 16 heal-toe problems disappear, everything was working as expected and beyond expectations, no more 5th to 2nd anxiety. The final session is cut short with a spin as I went into a turn too deep and hit the marbles; car is now in limp mode, as I probably didn’t get the clutch in in time so it’s off to the garage to end the weekend. My 1st and only good lap gives me a 1:57 as my final time. Needless to say I’m super stoked, had an absolute blast at the event, learned a ton and still have a ton more to learn, met some of the nicest people, and was supported by one top notch company – GMG.
I highly recommend the event and am looking forward to next year’s event and hope to see more GT3’s and RS’s out in the future. Anyway if you get to the end of this thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the photos.
Thursday
Picked up the car from GMG after the SQS shifter installation (more on that later) and headed out to Fontana for a weekend of fun. The check in process went smoothly, and since I had the car pre-tech’d didn’t have to wait in line – hats off to the PCA & POC for having things so organized. Located my garage space and got situated for the upcoming 3 day event. Shared a space with an awesome driver and his car along with the GMG crew supporting him and the other cars in the GMG spaces.
Friday
Show up at the track got things situated warmed up the car, checked CL torques (paranoid me…) and headed off to the drivers meeting. Met up with my instructor and coordinated our times. It’s never a good thing when your name gets called after the meeting – issues with my tech inspection form. Got that sorted out and headed back to the garage area. I really had no set goals for timing but was more focused on learning the track and driving techniques. I guess in the back of my mind I did want at a minimum break the 2:00 mark but for some reason it wasn’t all that important. First time out we focused on the track, braking zones, turn-in’s, line, etc did this at a reasonable pace gave some point bye’s and received some all in all everyone seemed to be cooperating really well. This was my first event with open passing on the speedway portion of the track, and wow is that section of the track fast. I’ve been lucky with instructors and again I was paired up with someone that knew his stuff and in my opinion knows how to instruct. The shifter… holy crap what a change going from the H-pattern to the sequential. This was a whole new experience both positive and negative – you have to unlearn everything and focus on clutch and shift timing in a whole new way. What’s really cool is no more worries about that 5th to 2nd blown shift. By the end of the day I had the timing down and thanks to some coaching from my garage buddy who had the same shifter in his RS and from James and Allen at GMG it was starting to become second nature but still not perfect… By the last session of the day again thanks to some great coaching I break the 2:00 mark, cool, but still have a bunch to learn. Coming off the track when trying to shift into 2nd the shifter feels loose and is not changing gears at all, was able to limp into the garage. Looked things over and couldn’t find the issue. Panic text to Allen at GMG about the issue, he responds immediately and said he’ll have someone out first thing in the morning to look the car over.
Saturday
Arrive at the track and get things ready staying positive that the shifter issue is a minor one… GMG tech arrives and immediately dives into troubleshooting the problem. Turns out that the cable ball socket end had popped off the control unit on the transmission. Tech makes the repair in no time – my weekend is saved. The day’s sessions were again used to focus on technique and I also experienced my first spin and 4 wheels off - new respect for the car… Brought the car into the black flag station and things checked out so back onto the track. Discussed the spin at length with my instructor and made the necessary corrections once we were back on the track. The third session of the day I was allowed to go solo – time to put on my big boy pants… By this time the R6’s were about used up and I was greeted with another beautifully executed 360 but this time stayed on the track and was well out of the way of oncoming traffic. Re-entered the session and finished out without any further issues. Once back at the garage I made preparations to change out tires. I only have one set of track rims so it was a mad dash to the Hoosier trailer for the change out. Again the GMG tech’s jumped right in and helped out – I didn’t even ask for help. Throughout the day they supported all the various cars that were in or around the GMG garage section making everyone’s day(s) that much more enjoyable. After the tire change it’s time for the last session of the day and it goes off without a hitch, time for some food and a beer… The last event of the day is the 1 hour enduro. My garage buddy’s Stella Artois/GMG cup car takes the win and that equates to some cold Stellas afterwards!
Sunday
I get informed by my instructor that I’m now on my own for the rest of Sunday’s sessions, not signed off but told to have at it. Throughout the weekend you get a good sense of where you should stage based on comfort levels, times, and instructors input. This time out I decided to stage more towards the faster cars to hopefully avoid the train of endless passing. This strategy pays off and I’m rewarded with no one bunching up in front or in the rear and was able to make some clean runs during the 30-minute session. Again focusing on my instructors’ inputs from the previous days I’m rewarded with a 1:55, at first I’m thinking that the SoloDL is in error but excited nonetheless. The official timing confirms the 1:55. That last session I can say it’s the most comfortable I’ve been in the car to date. The shifting with the SQS was so smooth and the addition of the auto-blipper made my endless size 16 heal-toe problems disappear, everything was working as expected and beyond expectations, no more 5th to 2nd anxiety. The final session is cut short with a spin as I went into a turn too deep and hit the marbles; car is now in limp mode, as I probably didn’t get the clutch in in time so it’s off to the garage to end the weekend. My 1st and only good lap gives me a 1:57 as my final time. Needless to say I’m super stoked, had an absolute blast at the event, learned a ton and still have a ton more to learn, met some of the nicest people, and was supported by one top notch company – GMG.
I highly recommend the event and am looking forward to next year’s event and hope to see more GT3’s and RS’s out in the future. Anyway if you get to the end of this thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the photos.
04-10-2013, 02:43 AM
#5
Rennlist Member
Your car OK- not sure why if just a spin that you couldn't get back up to speed???
SQS shifter, or something else?
Cool picks, car looks awesome dude! Hope to see it sometime!!
SQS shifter, or something else?
Cool picks, car looks awesome dude! Hope to see it sometime!!
04-10-2013, 03:38 AM
#6
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Being looked at now, we think it's something to do with the yaw sensor or I did some other damage... Shifter worked fine after the spin and cycled thru all the gears without issue, just no power mid range thru 2nd and 3rd. So I called it quits for the day. I'm hoping to make the GGR event at Buttonwillow at the end of May so should see you then.
04-10-2013, 03:40 AM
#7
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
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04-10-2013, 11:54 PM
#8
Rennlist Member
I had the same issue this weekend and there was Aton of debris off the race line so as soon as you are off line it seems like it takes 2 or 3 laps to get them back.
