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Eight cars was huge fun! And in hindsight I really wish I would have been able to move my family’s schedules around to get out with you guys at that PCA event instead of the NASA event the next weekend. It was another big turnout with PCA, but with the NASA event everyone stayed home so I was the only SPB driver. That “race” felt as much like a time trial as anything.
I had a lot of fun at the turn of this month though as I ran the NASA 6 hour enduro myself! I just went for it, signed up solo without trackside support. Got a new set of tires and had the shop go over the car thoroughly, and that was that. It went pretty well!
I had the dark film removed from the headlights before the event as part of the basic prep. This enduro runs from 6pm to midnight and it gets quite dark as it gets late, so I wanted at least stock 1997 Boxster headlights although I suspected that might not be enough. It worked fine for a while, but when darkness fell with lots of rain I retired - at around 920pm I ran just over a curb (all four wheels off, but onto tarmac fortunately) because I couldn’t see a visual cue in time and my response was delayed. That was unacceptable to me so it was time to call it a night. I pitted off and loaded up the car with a big smile on my face - what a great time! Throughout the event we experienced quite a bit of light to medium rain on and off, and the field was stopped for about 45 minutes in a downpour after lightning struck the ground very close to the track. It struck about five minutes after I had exited so my exit was accidentally well timed! Waiting in the rain for such a long delay wouldn’t have been enjoyable. (The poor open cockpit drivers!)
In terms of driving I felt the whole time I was leaving a lot of time on the table (and I was), but whenever I would push the car harder to prove that to myself I would slide. So I decided maybe it wasn’t an absurd amount to leave as safety margin with the conditions… and in the end I was told many of my lap times were better than a lot of the older BMWs that went down the straights faster than me, so I felt like my pace was just fine in the end. Most importantly, I had a great time, learned, and had no incidents.
Well, when I say no incidents, I did tear the cup splitter back from the nose of the car and I had to remove it at a pit stop. I had my first real spin (180 degrees) in the car with all the rain, and a few days after the event I found a little fluid on the trailer floor so I need to see what that’s about and resolve it. The spin must have been because I forgot to raise the spoiler 😂. (Not!) But no racing incidents, no significant failures, and everything is in good shape overall.
For this event I short shifted at around 6000-6400 RPM (by ear so not exact) essentially the entire time. I wanted to make sure the car stayed cool and survived as I usually only do shorter 20 minute sprints. The car stayed quite cool and I probably could have been a bit more aggressive - maybe that was unwarranted - but I was happy with the decision. I hadn’t obtained trackside support and I’m still quite new to this so I felt playing it a bit safe was warranted.
When I pitted to refuel I just gently shouted and asked a friend that happened to be within earshot to help me by holding the fire extinguisher while I refueled. It certainly wasn’t a fast pit stop but that didn’t matter - I was happy to climb out, stand, and stretch for a moment!
Overall I had a great time and I’m looking forward to the remaining events this year.
I purchased photos from our local photographers - here are a few of them compressed a bit for web viewing. One of these days I’ll have to choose and print a few for the office.
Well, overall the car has been working flawlessly
for quite some time - just gas tires and go - and I’ve been enjoying local club racing with NASA. I’ve finally started to catch up to the front of the pack locally. I was registered and set up for the recent PCA race here at UMC but I missed it as fallout from a last minute family health issue. Pity; I was quite excited to go.
Unfortunately, the following weekend with NASA, I discovered I had overheated my narrow front tires while already oversteering, exiting a hairpin too quickly - so I ended up sliding into a near spin and losing a lot of speed on the racing line. Unfortunately, the car behind me was close, and this put the driver in a very difficult position. He tried to avoid but ended up hitting my car on the nose. Both of us were perfectly fine with regard to medical/health, and we reviewed the footage and both apologized to one another for our role in the incident. It was regrettable but in the moment it was hard to avoid without the benefit of foresight/hindsight.
I’m not sure yet if the Boxster can be repaired economically. The other car seemed to have caught the metal front bumper and bent the forward frame (see the sheared headlight). A quick visual review doesn’t identify damage from the shock tower areas back, but a detailed inspection would be needed to know where things are at. Right now I’m just getting damaged parts removed. Once the front end is all the way apart I’ll get some estimates and see if the chassis can be salvaged with a new front clip or if this chassis is done.
C’est la vie.
Regardless of what happens next, up to now I’ve had a ton of fun in this car, I’ve stayed safe, I worked my way through HPDE and earned my race license, and while I didn’t get as fast as I wanted, I got up to a respectable race pace in the car given my limited yearly track time. It’s been a great experience.
Sorry to see this, but glad you are ok. Take it to a good body shop and see if it can be pulled straight. Doesn't need to be perfect since its a race car.
Well, it appears this yellow chassis has run its final lap. I can’t do body work myself, and the repair estimates from local shops are in the ballpark of $15-20k. That’s about what I’d spend to buy another street Boxster, gut and cage it, and transfer over the Spec parts. With a new street car I’d also pick up a spare engine and more. So for me it’s not economically viable to repair this yellow chassis.
Pity, but I had a lot of fun and good memories.
Still needing to think hard before deciding my next step. It wouldn’t be hard to simply build another SPB using mine as a parts donor. The only thing that gives me pause is that I’ve always wanted to eventually race prototypes. I already need to move to a new chassis, so it’s a good time to evaluate a change of platform.
Well, it appears this yellow chassis has run its final lap. I can’t do body work myself, and the repair estimates from local shops are in the ballpark of $15-20k. That’s about what I’d spend to buy another street Boxster, gut and cage it, and transfer over the Spec parts. With a new street car I’d also pick up a spare engine and more. So for me it’s not economically viable to repair this yellow chassis.
Pity, but I had a lot of fun and good memories.
Still needing to think hard before deciding my next step. It wouldn’t be hard to simply build another SPB using mine as a parts donor. The only thing that gives me pause is that I’ve always wanted to eventually race prototypes. I already need to move to a new chassis, so it’s a good time to evaluate a change of platform.
FWIW there are a couple good looking SPBs for sale around here at the moment.
I talked a lot with my wife and did a lot of thinking. I ended up deciding to change platforms and move to a prototype. More time with the Boxster platform would have been good for me from a driver development perspective, but not enough that I felt it would be worth essentially building another Spec Boxster just for that purpose and then selling it in a few years to move to a prototype. I’ll just make the jump a bit early. Late apexes and all that for a while.
Since the Boxster is now sitting by the side of the house, I couldn’t leave it alone. I swapped to the other ECU after the immobilizer was again unhappy and the car started right away. That made me happy. I removed the headlights, front fenders, the broken radiators, and then I cut off most of the bent portion of the front trunk using a 9” die grinder. Removing the broken bits makes it a lot easier to see what I’m dealing with.
It looks repairable, but obviously not as Spec due to the cut up front chassis. I’m now trying to decide if I want to get it up and running again as a more generic race car before selling it on or if I should just leave it and let it become a Spec Boxster parts donor. It has a lot of nice Spec parts, yet it would be nice to see it racing again. It has a nice cage and could do well in NASA ST4, endurance races, or something along those lines. Getting the suspension (LCA mount points mostly) straight and braced up as needed and then making a tube nose structure that can take new radiators and a fiberglass front end might not be too much work….
As far as the move to a prototype, I bought an Elan DP02 out of Florida. I received the car today and am very excited! I need to add a seat and new harnesses. I also want to give it fresh fluids, a full inspection, and a new wrap as this one has seen better days. It should be a lot of fun!
Do you think you are ready for that level of car? How were you doing in the Spec Boxster? How many have you run?
Ready for the car?
I’ll be slow in it for a while, so in the sense of speed and talent no, but I have the discipline to play it very safe and gradually build my pace up, so as far as safety, yes. I’ll run in TT and test days at first to get myself familiar with this new platform before moving over into the race group. I’ll initially ignore the downforce. Once I start to feel the car talking to me when I’m over and underdriving it at low speeds, I’ll gradually increase the pace in corners until I can feel it’s starting to slip the right amount. I want to be steering with the throttle. Unused downforce is concerning for developing bad habits and just being slow in general, but it’s certainly not a safety issue to leave a bit too much performance on the table.
The more beginner-friendly alternative I was considering is the spec trim NASA NP01. Really nice car for club racing. I was interested, but when you get right down to it, this is a rather similar car that’s cheaper to buy, ~300 lbs lighter, and it has the same basic motor in a higher state of tune. If I were able to travel around the country to chase the larger fields it would have been more appealing to have a spec car. But I can’t, so I picked the car that I thought I would enjoy driving the most.
How was I doing in the SPB?
I was still getting up to speed racing the Spec Boxster. I was finally starting to catch the pace of one of the fast guys here. He took pole in the last local PCA club race (for SPB) and I was only slightly off his pace on the last NASA race. My best laps were getting within a second of his best that day, but I was inconsistent while he was solid. So basically I was not quite as good as I wanted to be yet, and getting there was a goal for 2022-23. Like I said, this platform change is earlier than I wanted it to be.
How many have I run?
If I remember right 8 NASA sprint races, 3.5 hours of a six hour enduro with a healthy dose of rain, and two 90 minute enduro practice sessions. Not a lot yet. TT and HPDE before that. I need to get out there and practice more, but I would if I could.
NP01 and DP02 similar? Not really. The first can do 1:35's at Laguna Seca while the latter can do 1:22's. I don't know if you have driven Laguna Seca....but those are massively different times. Spec Boxtser? It can do 1:42's. Modern 911 Cup Car? 1:27's or so.
08-10-2021, 08:01 PM
