RF40 race debut 2nd test

[Ross Nicol]

It was a nice surprise to get a fine day for the 2nd test of the car.I set off to Calder Raceway on wednesday morning with mixed feelings of concern and hope all will be well. It was surprising to find so few racers testing on such a nice day.Mind you not bad company 2 lamborgini Diablos, Porsche 911 and GT3 and 2 formula fords. I decided to get right into it and went out with a partially wet track. I took it easy and did a best lap of 70 seconds, not bad considering this was the fastest time I'd ever set before in the 240z. In the 2nd and 3rd outing the track dried quite a bit and I was starting to get my eye in and lap times dropped to a consistent 68 secs. I will admit to a spin as I came into turn 1 a bit too hot trying to find a gear.Not a good thing to miss a gear right in font of an audience down the straight either.I did that twice and can confirm the shift light works well.Actually I have the rev limiter set at 5850 revs and the shift light at 6500 revs so I will have to hook up the laptop and place the rev limit at 6500. 5850 revs is annoyingly low.
Report
------
Boy like I reported after the wet 1st test at Winton this thing goes like a rocket.The acceleration is unbelievable.Come onto the straight in 2nd gear up to rev limit change to third rev drop to 4900 up to rev limit, change to 4th rev drop to 4950 accelerate back up to 5850 again and change to fifth and wow there is the big drop to 4000 revs and its unnerving now the roar of the motor has dropped so low in pitch, now I'm in the braking area for turn 1 lets try and get round.The sound inside the car is just wonderfull and outside they loved it too.Any body who hasn't got crossover pipes think again.I finished the day with a low 67 sec lap time and that is a respectable time and best of all I know there is plenty more in the car and myself. So the next outing is the race weekend at Sandown on the 19th and 20th of July and the Roaring Forties support
and travelling supporters will be there too. So any GT40 enthusiust who lives in Melbourne come on out and see my car up against a Daytona, Cobra, GT3 Porsche, MGB V8 etc.
Full race report after the meeting.
Regards Ross

[Mark Worthington]

Go, Ross, Go!

[JP]

Sounds like the real deal!!

Regards,

J.P [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[ChrisL]

Well done Ross. I'll be at Sandown, baring any major disasters.

Allowing for the fact that the car is still at the steep end of its development curve, were you able to compare your lap times to the other quick cars on the day?

[Bill Hara]

Congrats Ross

I'll be down to offer some support too! Can't wait to see you drive that thing in anger and kiss some ass!!

Bill.

[Pete.]

Onya Ross got any Pics? Is your race televised?

[pvan340]

I think, if I can remeber correctly, the races are sometimes shown on channel 10's RPM program, and Fox sports 1 or 2 shows them fairly regularly, but not untill a few weeks (months?) after the race. Its been a while since I was in Aust, so I don't know if the scheduals have changed or not......wait and see I guess!!

[Scott]

To Ross,
Will you be racing in the nations cup category against the ferrari's, lambo's and the dodge vipers. If you are then it is televised on channel 7 at 1200hrs every saturday, Queensland time and runs for 1hr.

[ChrisL]

Bill,
See you there,

[img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] But between me and you, I'd kinda prefer that Ross "kicks" some ass. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[Ross Nicol]

Hi Guys
Thanks for the encouragement.The Victorian motor Racing championship is a State level race series and is only given minimal television exposure on speedweek ch28 and In Pit Lane ch31.Im sure with Chris L around though there will be plenty of pics on this forum. I hope to get some in car video soon too, just have to fit camera mount.I spent 1/2 my day today at CAMS sorting out roll cage issues.However I now have my 2b log book and all paper work is in place for the weekend.I have had one hell of a year so far, fast tracked completion of GT40, CAMS licence C4 and medical issues, all while trying to run a business and have some home life.It is nice though to experience the thrill of driving the car you made yourself, something most of you guys have yet to do. Believe it or not the race meeting is 2 days away and I still have to fit- the window net, foot well covers, wiper blade,headlight covers,Data1 lap timer etc etc. I think I'll have a break next week.
Regards Ross

[Bill Hara]

My apologies Ross, I did mean "kick some ass", I'll leave the kisses at home. You can't blame me though, cause I do love GT40's!
Thanks for the correction Chris [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img].
By the way Chris, what time are you getting down there? Which gate? Sat? Sun?

Bill.

[ChrisL]

Ross,
I've lost count of the number of times that I've worked on that new go-fast part right up to the evening before the race. Your not alone mate.

Bill,
I'll be there from Saturday morning till late. I'll probably make my way in from the Springvale Road entrance. Unfortunately I have family contracts on Sunday, but I might make it back to the track for an hour or so in the afternoon.

[Scott]

Ross,
Been there done that. I remember in 1993 working on our race car for the Bathurst 1000. We worked on it for 2 and half days straight, 24 hours a day finishing it, living on pizzas and coke, taking it in turns getting 10 minutes sleep in a bean bag in the corner of the workshop evey 4 hours.
We then had to drive the 15 hours to Bathurst in time for fridays practise session. About half way thru the drive down I took over the driving position from the girlfriend after she slammed on the brakes and served suddenly to supposedly avoid a GREEN cow in the middle of the road that she saw. Amazing what things you see thru lack of sleep.
In the end thou, it was worth every second of the blood sweat and tears it took to complete the car.