2009 Grassroots Ultimate Track Car Challenge with the Nemesis

[Ron Earp]

Courtesy of RCR and Fran Hall, Jeff Young and I were allowed to drive the RCR Nemesis at the 2009 Grassroots Motorsports Hankook Ultimate Track Car Challenge (UTTC) held yesterday at VIR. The UTTC is an invitation only event and there was some interesting machinery there for 2009: a Daytona Prototype at 500 rwhp, various blown/turbo Corvettes with over 700+ rwhp, 400+ rwhp RX7s, Ariel Atoms, a few Vipers, a 74 IMSA Hemi Challenger with over 700+ hp that was really, really, fast, a Noble, racing Porsches and other SCCA/NASA race cars. This is the third year running for the UTTC at VIR and it is proven to be a popular event with around 80 cars accepted.<o:p></o:p>
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The UTTC is a time trial event. The car with the fastest laptime wins. The cars are let out on track in groups and you basically have open lapping and run for the best time. The Nemesis was to compete in a “Shop Junior Varsity Class” which placed it head to head with a bunch of smaller displacement cars and race cars. The “bogey” for the class had 350 hp, weighed 1325 lbs, and ran through the quarter at 9.01 @ 151 mph, a FRC-K20 if I recall the name correctly. Yikes.<o:p></o:p>
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Anyhow, Jeff and I got to the track early Friday morning to have a look at the Nemesis. The car appeared to be well constructed and as the first of its type was in a very finished state. Powder coated tubular steel frame, four pot Wilwoods all around, large aluminum uprights, 1” steel long A-arms, 5/8” rod ends, lots of billet aluminum parts, and formed plastic body panels. Looked safe and overbuilt – two attributes which I like to see in a car that I’m getting ready to drive for the first time. This car has a stock Suzuki Hayabusa engine making maybe 150 rwhp so we were feeling maybe a bit under-armed but the driver can make a difference, or at least we hope we could.<o:p></o:p>
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The cockpit is perfect. You sit low in the car with a nice view just over the nose. The steering wheel and gauges fall to hand and the pedals are adjustable by pulling up a spring loaded retainer and catch and then sliding the entire pedal assembly fore or aft. Billet sequential shifter just behind the wheel. Good seat and full harness. Adding to the driver accoutrements we installed our Traqmate GPS data acquisition system along with our HD video camera.<o:p></o:p>
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Having a new car at a new track is not without trials and tribulations though. I drew for the first session out but ran into problems with the clutch slipping and I didn’t get any lap times. Back to the pits where Fran and his crew man went to work on the clutch and solved the problem. Arrive and drive – I highly recommend it! <o:p></o:p>
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Jeff was up for the second session and on his first flying lap turned a 2:16 – faster than he’s ever driven VIR. At 20 minutes in length the UTTC sessions are a bit short and it doesn’t give a driver a lot of time to get familiar with a new car. Over the next few laps Jeff worked his time down to a 2:13.xx before the session was called. Upon debrief he felt the car was extremely neutral with only a slight power-on over steer. Braking performance was excellent and the car could be trail braked into the corner fairly deeply if the driver wished. Steering was very direct but much tighter and faster than our own race cars. Power was good – not overwhelming but more than adequate. Of course he wanted more power. Shifting was not quite up to snuff. But, Jeff did well and put the car on the pole for the Group 2 cars, fastest time of the group!<o:p></o:p>
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<o:p></o:p><o:p></o:p><o:p></o:p> Even though we had the pole in comparison to the competition we were in second place. Due to car counts and other factors our competition, the other Shop JV cars, were running in Group 1 and the fastest one which I mentioned above had turned a 2:11.xx. So we knew what our bogey was doing and knew where we had to be.<o:p></o:p>
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I got to drive for the third session of the day and had a blast! I’ve never driven a motorcycle engine car nor a car this light. The steering was instantaneous, just think it and it goes in that direction. Brakes were phenomenal. I was braking at the 2/1.5 marker on the front straight and past the turn in arrow, below the 1, on the back straight with no drama. The car was able to carry a lot of speed through the corners in relation to what I’ve experienced before at VIR, generally around 10 mph faster in the sweepers while the sharp turns, like T4, only 3-5 mph higher. The suspension was fantastic and did a great job of keeping the car composed with g load of around 1.3-1.35 sustained.<o:p></o:p>
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But, this was my first time in the car and I was nowhere near the limits of what the Nemesis could do. My first and last session was not without issues though. For the first four laps I couldn’t get the car to downshift and had to drive in sixth gear only which resulted in less than spectacular lap times, 2:22s – bleh. But with no gears you do what you can. At the end of the session I managed to get the car downshifting, although roughly, and the last two laps I was able to shift resulting in a 2:16. Much fun, but I was not able to work up to a “race pace” as the car was not cooperating.<o:p></o:p>
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Besides, even if it had cooperated and we'd gotten a good time it wouldn't have counted. See, I accidentally passed a car under yellow, something I've not done in four years of SCCA racing. Feel bad about it. One of the supercharged Corvettes that was running when I was out had sucked part of the intake tract through the blower and into the engine. It had a side exit exhaust and ended up blowing pieces of the intake all over the infield of the track which started fires and caused yellows to be out. There was a fire in T2 when I passed the track manager in a hopped up Ford Falcon while the course was under yellow but I didn't see the yellow. There was a big fire up in T10 that required a truck/extinguisher to put out. So, some teams had much bigger problems than we did.<o:p></o:p>
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We returned to the pits and Fran worked on the clutch slave to exorcise the mechanical demons. Not a fault of the car, just the moto engine. Jeff took a nap (anyone smell anything?) and I helped out with some odds and ends in the pits. <o:p></o:p>
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Jeff had the final session of the day and our competition had not fared any better this go around with another 2:11.xx. Jeff had to knock two seconds off the car for the win and he felt that it was a reachable goal.<o:p></o:p>
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Last session out Jeff took the wheel and made a run for the win. Watching the car from the upper deck on the snack bar I thought he was going slower than he did on his first session. There was a fair amount of traffic and he simply looked slower to me. However, that wasn’t the case, that slow look was very smooth and composed. Jeff was able to click off some pretty fast times, 2:13, 2:12, and a 2:11.xx. Here is a vid of one of the clean laps following a 3rd Gen RX7 track car which is clocking around 480 rwhp and is very quick.

YouTube - UTCC 2009 Nemesis Jeff Lap



The camera is mounted high on the car so it does not give the driver's perspective and makes the drive look violent. It isn't like that at all. I think at the 2:25 mark you can see one of the nose mounted GRM stickers fly off and it is readable, good camera.

Coming back into the pits Jeff gave the thumbs up. Would a 2:11 be enough for the win? Would we clinch it on our first attempt at the UTTC?<o:p></o:p>
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Yes, a 2:11 was enough for the win – but not our win, we missed it by 0.6 seconds!!!! Jeff turned a high 2:11 and was just 0.6s off as the bogey turned a slightly quicker 2:11. Just missed the win for the 2009 UTTC, drat!!! So close but no cookie. Jeff drove well though and with more time we would have had it.<o:p></o:p>
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But we still felt the effort was good – the car was new to us, we did not have time for any alignment changes, shock tuning, etc. – the car was just run “out of the box” and ran well. After some discussion we think the Nemesis capable of around 2:05 with driver familiarity and spending some time on setup. Still, a car capable of this sort of performance with so little development means there is a whole lot left on the table. We’ve provided feedback to RCR about the car and feel the package is extremely complete and competent, no changes are needed to the car as far as hardware goes – just drivers and setup.<o:p></o:p>
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The Traqmate data was very interesting. The car corners with a high lateral G-load as you’d expect with such a good suspension and large tire foot print. Peak g loads would occur in T1, Oak Tree, and at the end of the back straight and would reach around 1.5 on turn in, leveling to around 1.3 or so sustained. The uphill esses would see 1g lateral at 113 mph – now that will get your attention and is a lot of fun!

Top speeds are not as high as we expected. The car only reached 122 mph at the end of the straights but was still capable of turning 2:11. Both Jeff and I have SCCA ITS cars that return much higher top speeds but of course can't carry the speed like the Nemesis can. VIR rewards power so going as fast as we did means the car was doing really well in the handling sections of the track and carrying good speed. Add more horsepower for more fun but it isn't necessary, it is good as is.

I’d like to thank Fran for inviting us to drive the Nemesis in the Grassroots Motorsports 2009 UTTC competition. I thoroughly enjoyed driving the car and am looking forward to doing it again. Soon.<o:p></o:p>
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[Neal]

Great writeup. Looks like a blast. Jeff is clearly a brave man on and off the track!

[Jeff Young]

Yes, many thanks to Fran for allowing us to run the car. Really wish I could have pulled out the win for him. I dropped my lap times nearly every lap, and only got a total of 10 in the car in 2 sessions. The Diasio that won Shop JV ran 11s pretty consistently, and was not getting any quicker. Another session and I think the win is ours.

For those considering the Nemesis, I have to say I am VERY impressed with it and that's before considering the price. I used to own a Lotus Exige, which was pretty much useless on the street anyway, and the Nemesis is a far better track vehicle.

Right out of the box, it stops and turns extremely well. No real development needed there at all, just shock and spring tuning for specific applications. The car brakes straight, has immense stopping power, locks the fronts just before the rears, can be trail braked, is very neutral mid corner (no nasty push) and has slight oversteer under power off (perfect for me).

I think with more time in the car and some work on the shift (the only thing that is still under development) I think the car could run a 2:05 at VIR.

Very impressed, and thanks again to Fran for the opportunity.

[Dave Lindemann]

Ron -

Great write-up! Thank you and Jeff for sharing your thoughts and experiences with the car. It looks like a lot of fun - very good video.

Dave L

[Pete K.]

Perfect track-day car!

[EGLITOM]

Congrats Fran, Jeff and Ron;

very impressive ! what a debut. Imagine more setup and training time. Wow.

THis thing is hot

TOM

[Dan]

nice video! what kind of camera were you using?

[Gage]

The car looks fantastic. Nice driving! Thanks for the track Vid.

[Ron Earp]

Originally Posted by foryorent

nice video! what kind of camera were you using?

One of these:

Flip Mino Camcorder - Mini Digital Camcorder | Flip Video

Works great, is convenient, but with the mount we had in the air stream it got too much vibration and wind noise. Great camera though with a one touch download to PC and upload to Youtube. Highly recommended for $200 at Best Buy right now, on sale.

I'll get more video and pictures up later in the week if anyone is interested as well as the Traqmate files that one member requested.

[Malcolm]

This car looks right up your street Ron, knowing your affinity to the Ariel Atom! Sounds like you guys had a fun day.

[Ron Earp]

Hey Malcolm,

I like the Atoms but I like the SL Roadster or Nemesis even more. I remember when we went to visit the Atom factory in England way back in like 2002 or 2003, lot of fun. The Atoms were expensive back then but somehow when they translated across the Atlantic they became even more so.

When are you coming back to drive VIR? Nemesis in the 13 hour?

[J. Salmon]

I tried crazy hard to get the day off and get down there, but it just wasn't going to happen. Thanks for the pics and writeup. I bet the car is really going to be a hoot!

[Malcolm]

Could a bike engine last that long? Now stop tempting me with VIR. I spent the budget on Spa this year! Typical that you get the Lola sorted now.....

[Ron Earp]

Originally Posted by Malcolm

Could a bike engine last that long? Now stop tempting me with VIR. I spent the budget on Spa this year! Typical that you get the Lola sorted now.....

I think so. Bikes have long raced in endurance races and if proper care and feeding is done I don't see why not. The Hayabusa motors are known to be long lived in stock form. I don't know enough to comment on 400hp form or anything like that. The car was a blast to drive and I think you'd have liked it.

Well, we're going to soldier on without you this year but you'll need to plan for 2010!

[Ron Earp]

Someone asked for the Traqmate data files and I've attached them to this post. I realize most folks don't have a Traqmate so I made a short video of what the Traqmate outputs. Shown is a small sampling of the data that the Traqmate can generate.

In this short movie I run the 260Z versus the Nemesis at VIR. Nemesis is at about 2:11xx and the 260Z is at 2:18xx. The Nemesis clearly runs away with the show with corner speed, braking, and acceleration to terminal V. However, the terminal Vs are not that much different and I imagine the Z is making substantionally more power than the Nemesis. I know the Z makes right at 168 rwhp when things are right and it weighs 2530 lbs with driver. So, I think this lends more credience to the fact the Nemesis could go a hell of a lot faster around VIR. We just weren't able to tap the full potential of that little car in the short time we were able to drive it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnrhAR4trIc

[Aric]

So the Grassroots issue is out! Great job on getting second in class - what happened to the FRC-K20 though? Not even a mention in the article....hmmmm....

Here's a link to the maker of that car's website BTW, which I've been following the development of for a year or two and was interested in seeing how it got along...:

fusion race cars

...and a video overview of the car:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS-T6...eature=related

[Ron Earp]

I just got some time to read the issue and saw the Grassroots Challenge article in there. The Nemesis is pictured with Jeff at the wheel, likely on the 2:11 lap judging by the light.

I think the Nemesis did very well and it was capable of faster times for sure, probably around a 2:05 or so. As far as the FRC-K20 I don't think that car was the faster of the two. It had a good deal more power, development, and track time - not to mention costs multiple factors of a Nemesis - and isn't any faster IMHO.

I think the Nemesis will be down at the Run and Gun in St. Louis. Being on the East side of St. Louis they may actually have to run and do some gunning to stay safe.... Good luck! Looking forward to seeing how it does there.