Uncle's Club is a separate organization. There's no affiliation with Playday on Track. No Prestigio coverage. They run very aggressive sessions, two groups no matter how many cars turn up (common to see 25-30 cars on track at once), passing three wide into turn 1, all that fun stuff.

Paul is brave/crazy.

 

That makes the choice to go with regularity trials a no brainer. With a min time of 1.28 I can run front of pack without having to watch my mirrors too much. Nothing newer than 1998 in that group.

 

It looks like there is 1 playday session between now and end of year per month excluding Sept. Thats not too bad. Id suggest the group will need to consider more private/playday track hire days in 2014 in order to secure additional full days. It seems economically viable as we have proven with the NITT. Just takes some grunt work. More time at Taupo would be good (its a great track IMHO). Also Puke for adrenaline....

 

Mmmmm. Sobering. Not sure when ski season ends but probably avoid that route on a Sunday then! Ron is very good as lead car using V1 + jammer and to the best of my knowledge and experience has never been ticketed on these runs. Always good to have a lead car!

 

Macca, you may not be aware but change is afoot for playdays as well. Too much demand so they are looking at morning and afternoon groups. They put a spin on it but you can bet it won't be revenue neutral. This is why I'm keen to branch out and try the regularly trials. Plenty of fill in dates to RSG days.

 

Hi Mate. Thanks for the plug spec. Appreciate you help and will definitely call on your expertise in Taupo. To keep it simple bay be worth just taking the wire from the cigarette lighter adapter and running it to a 5A fuse in the nearby fuse box like where the power for the Trackit is obviously run from. Other idea is to hack the power lines going to the plug that feeds the track it. I don't need the track it often but would like to easy plug it all back up when needed. Have a look at picture and diagram below and let me know your thoughts on which is easier. The top of the Track it has two aux connectors one for GPS antennae and one for GPRS antennae (obviously not needed for PB)....

What do you reckon? Maybe the best halfway house is to build a new power lead with the right size plug to feed the PB so not to destroy the Cig lead adpator? If so where could I find one of these? Jaycar? DSE?

 

Interesting!

If this is indeed true it will probably drive the need for RSG to organise its own private track days in 2014 with more urgency. I dont think most of us would be happy with a half day at the track once or twice a month. Its alot of organisation for maybe 4 sessions max....

Regularity trials aren't the perfect answer especially for those wishing to go as fast as they can and test their lines and braking points....

 

If you have a nearby fusebox then best idea is to make a new lead with bare wires (terminated as required) at fuse end and PB plug at other end. I can do this all for you if you like, I have a local Jaycar and can get the PB plug along with whatever length of wire you need and then we can wire it up to the fusebox on thurs night/fri morn. I've got insulated crimp connectors etc.

 

Hi Matt. That would be perfect if you could. Happy to fix you up for this of course. In the picture below you will see the red rectangle is the fusebox cover and the yellow circle is where the PB will be mounted. Id say 2m would be plenty enough but actually 1.5m would probably be fine.

I shouldn't think it would be too difficult to take a feed. I assume we use a feed that is live with ignition on only. I think the Trackit has constant supply.

As a PB owner you may know, but in this configuration will the PB automatically start/create a new session when it receives power from the ignition or is necessary to pop the bonnet and hit a button or something first?

Ive attached below the TrackIt install documentation that may answer any other questions...

 

Not brave or crazy............just stupid............it is the wild west, that's why I enjoy it.........!

Mind you, I met Phil there, not sure what his excuse is?

The cars are much closer together so more overtaking options. I find circulating with no one to chase a bit boring.

You guys are starting an arms race with faster cars and I'm being left behind (sob-sob). John's even removing passenger seats to go faster now. In 12 months he'll have a GT3..........

 

True............there is always "Uncles" for those with big kahuna's (or no marbles)

I don't actually mind the idea of half days. 4 x 20min secessions is quite punishing on car and driver, and you get to go have lunch at Steve's or Chris's apartment and be home at around 2pm. I find I've had enough by around 3pm and often miss the last run of the day..........

I would like the days to start earlier, say get there at 7.30 with first run at 8.30 (instead of 9.30 - call it 10AM)

20mins is quite punishing, I reckon thats about 15 laps for me and 18 for Matt. Almost a mini enduro and you will experience the tires going off if driving recklessly, so will add another skill of saving tires (and brakes).

 

I suspect the group has a mix of people who enjoy closer driving/overtaking and others who want to hot lap. Where I'm at now I want to hot lap, so I find being "held off" a bit frustrating as I just want to run against myself/the clock and don't have the confidence or necessarily trust in the other party to push for a pass. I think part of that is how comfortable each person is with the car and track and how much driver/car improvement is left before reaching consistent lap times where's it's likely to become boring. As I get closer the limits of the car and feel more comfortable with it I think I'll go back to enjoying a bit more of a chase; I was enjoying that back when I was in the 964. I did enjoy the chase at the PCNZ Sprints in the GT3, but it was restricted to 1-3 other cars with similar speeds and wasn't as aggressive as Uncle's.

I think a few people were surprised by some aggressive passes by the quicker/more experienced people on Saturday. The driver might be more than capable of making those passes, but if the other party isn't expecting or aware/experienced enough to be watching their gaps they're likely to get a nasty surprise when someone appears up the inside of them.

You must still be in the top 5 or so of times? You get around (the track) very quickly! It might be fun to put together a RSG leaderboard for each driver/car/track.

18 laps is a bit generous, quite sure neither my driving nor the car is up to 1:06s!

I like the idea of 20 minute sessions (and also open pitlanes, when they're available), but I'm not sure about running half days as the shorter total time means there's less chance of catching a good weather run if the day starts or turns bad. Maybe not a factor for summer sessions, but certainly for winter. The same applies to starting early; over winter in particular the first session or two is already too cold for R compound tyres.

 

Macca - the PB (with good batt, not sure about dead batt) starts up in the last mode it was in. Of course in the frunk you'll need an external gps aerial for the box as well. PB uses very little power so maybe parallel it to however the other box is wired, keeps the gps honest too - but we can wire up to anything really. Depending on how easy the wiring is in the factory fusebox we'll have to have a looksee. I'll make up a 1.5m with plug anyway and we'll see how we can do it.

 

Fair comments Matt. I think the car and I max out at mid 1.19 on a good day, I have gone from 1.30's two years ago, and developed the car as much as reasonable without major brake, engine and weight mod's. I now enjoy learning to overtake or taking different lines into and out of coners to get better speed than the next guy.

I'm quite keen to learn to develop my skills at Puke and Taupo. I reckon an RSG goal should be 4-5 secessions at Puke next year. RSG need to develop a 'strategic plan', well at least an annual plan.

 

Who is the contact for the SOLO's?