The Mk VII (this year's winner, new build for 2019) - I burned the midnight oil on this car this year. We were a bit behind our preferred development schedule and I wasn't completely happy with how it was shaking down. Tues-Weds this week, I completely rebuilt the front end, trued and balanced the wheels, realigned everything, plus performed some other magic. After being burned last year making last minute changes, I gathered the team for one more session and made some passes. All the work paid off in smoothness and quietness, but it wasn't until the testing data started coming back in that I had any confidence that the new car was any faster than last year's- it showed we were making passes which were consistently
just slightly faster than last year (~1-2 mph). I hadn't completely mentally committed to driving the new car (but knew I needed to) so I was glad when the data started playing out.
The Mk VII staging for its first heat of the day:
On race day, qualifying went reasonably well, until it didn't...
First pass was a respectable 72.3 seconds, with the car handling exceptionally well. I was worried about it being able to handle the lateral g's (we have recorded >1g laterally) and I was really wanting to push hard this year. Seeing as I hadn't even broken into the 71's, I tried to carry more speed on my second pass. As a result, I took a tighter line onto the finish straight and had a massive moment bucking over a manhole cover/asphalt patch. I went lock to lock saving it and quite honestly am not sure exactly how I did... but I did, and I also managed to still pull down a 72.8 second pass.
But wait, it's not over yet... Qualy pass 3 will never be forgotten. There is another one of those manhole covers just past the turn in to the "Learning Curve" (big tight right-hand decreasing radius sweeper near the bottom of the course). Yes, I knew about it and I'm not sure how it happened, but I set up wide, like I should, but didn't turn in quickly enough, and at least one wheel ran over the cover and completely upset the car. The tail started coming left around the front and I went full opposite lock, steering into it with all I had. I was able to save it enough to only drag the right front through the inside (right side) gutter and get re-launched across the track to the left, with the tail end actually coming around on the right side, leaving me pointed back uphill but still rolling downhill- just facing backward at this point (~.2m from the finish line).
Everyone scoffs at rules, right? I give every effort to comply with them as when/if I win, I don't want it to be because we cheated or did something sneaky. We built the cars in total compliance with the very reasonable rules. Well, part of the rules of this event includes we need functional horns and mirrors. In the moment, this actually left me an option: turn the car around with a 934-point u-turn, or use my fully functional mirrors to simply coast backwards the last stretch to the finish. Guess what I did? That's right, brought it home in reverse, using 3" convex mirrors. I really hope footage surfaces on facebook or youtube. I'd love to see it!
Also, I still won the heat!
It wasn't without cost though. I had plowed a pylon in the gutter mid-spin and crushed the right side axle airfoil and knocked the right wheel pant out of alignment as well. Thankfully we time in hand to repair it with a teardown and reconstruction in the pits before the finals started.
So we qualified 1-2-3 and swept the prelim's and semi's. Now it's the payoff round!
Staging for the final round:
I lined up on the inside lane, Andreas in the middle, and Alyssa on the outside. We all got off to decent starts but I think Alyssa and I had a small edge over Andreas. I slipped marginally ahead into the first left hand corner, only putting about half a car length on Alyssa. Moving into the right corner, she clawed back the distance and put me about even with her cockpit. As we moved into the next left hand sweeper and picked up speed, I was able to close that distance back up and as we continued to gain speed, I was able to slowly walk away from her down the main straight. After my prior experience, I was able to appropriately manage my line through the big corner and finish straight to cross the line first, with fast time of the day- 71.9 seconds. Alyssa held on to second with a time of 76.6 seconds, and Andreas pulled a 79.0 second pass. Turns out when Alyssa and I closed up, we pinched Andreas a bit and he tapped his brakes.
The finish:
The podium:
I'll have more pics to post in time, I had little time to take them myself and they are only now just trickling in over the internet.
What a fleet: