Sooo..... Test day #1 for this year. About a month ahead of last year's timeline but still way behind where I want to be right now.
There were 5 of the 7 Scuderia cars on the hill. The original winner, the Mk I, last year's winner, the Mk V, one old build, the Mk III (looks like a mini sprint car), and two new builds, the Mk VI (a 3 seater) and the Mk VII (my ride this year; another streamliner).
The objective for the day was to get seat time in the new builds and get the new drivers for this year some seat time in the old builds. Seat time for me in the unfinished Mk VII was last on the list. Things went well on all fronts.
The Mk I was on the hill for fun. It's not entered this year but since we were going, why not make some runs... It was enjoyed effortlessly by those who ran it down, clearly benefiting from two seasons of testing and development.
The Mk I staging at the top of the run:
The Mk III is not a speed build per se, but its build was for entertainment and it's being run down the hill this year as part of a fundraiser for a local school. The bodywork was themed and painted by the school's third grade class and is adorable! It ran well all day, not setting any speed records, but made it down with no issues and just generally made passes.
Mk III glamour shot:
The Mk VI made ~8 passes, with only minor issues which were all addressed after each pass. It was logging some impressive speed numbers- despite its size, it would achieve the same speeds as the Mk I car, ~47 MPH. The questions for race day are how well will it accelerate due to its weight and how well will it be able to get that weight around the Learning Curve. We're still looking for a comparable piece of pavement to test that capability (can't run down the park road outside of the event).
Shutting down after a pass, Jenny behind the wheel and Jodi riding shotgun:
The Mk V is entered this year and will have two drivers sharing the duties. The day's objective was to get them comfortable with the car and its handling and braking. It was worth the effort as it's apparently a little intimidating to latch into and take down the hill. After a half height pass for each of them, they went to the top and started making full passes. By the end of the day they were both much more comfortable with the car and pulled a 51 MPH pass out of it. We will do a little seat work between now and the event but it's off to a good start for the new drivers.
Ready for load in:
I only got to make two full passes with the Mk VII, and didn't have a GPS for the first one. It is incredibly fast though- in the configuration you see here (nose cone, side panels and floor), I managed a 52.2 MPH pass. I truly look forward to what the canopy and full bodywork will do to that. It still needs wheel discs, aerofoils over the axle beam, and wheel pants as well, but I am extremely pleased with that number as a baseline!
The Mk VII after its 52.2 MPH pass:
The towback up the hill:
All in all it was an incredibly successful day and things bode well for the team going forward. It's time to get the Mk VII bodywork finished, get the Mk II front end re-build completed, and log some more test mileage for all this year's entries.
What a day though!