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It
is getting closer to the time to do the horrible chore of disassembling
our 3 piece race rims, cleaning off the old silicon sealing bead
and reassembling and sealing the rims. Since each rim has 20 bolts,
this is not the job for today. Today our autocross tires are well
seated but leak a little through the rims.
The
long skinny lot at Hialeah Park does not offer much opportunity
for creativity to the course designer. Mixed slaloms down, mixed
slaloms back. The designer's biggest choice is whether to go down
the left side and back the right or visa-versa. Today it is the
former.
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Run
1 |
We
set air pressure and then drive the car to the grid. I launch
hard but am conservative down to the turn around. Coming back,
I am going quite fast through a slalom. I turn the car hard to
make a cone to the right but the back end starts to come around.
I try and catch it and spin the other way. 51.489 and one cone.
View
Run #1 Video (10.46 MB)
I
re-grid and the crew checks the data. Everything looks good except
the left rear tire comes in 8 psi lower than the other tires.
It either leaked out between our pits and the grid or our gauge
is misbehaving.
I
review the video and practice the run in my mind. The crew waits
to the last second to set the tire pressures.
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Run
2 |
I
am more aggressive everywhere but where I spun. I go easy there.
It is necessary to turn hard there but the car grips and I suspect
the lack of grip last lap was due to the low air pressure. My
time is a 41.365 but I tagged a cone somewhere.
View
Run #2 Video (8.51 MB)
Tire
pressures come in -all even at 40 psi.
We
run again after lunch.
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Run
3 |
I
have reviewed the video and feel I have a pretty good grasp of
where I can improve. I mainly need to carry more speed through
the early gates and brake less where I had my spin.
I
improve everywhere except for a minor mistake through the last
gate. I am too fast in and too slow out. My time is 40.649 but
again somewhere I tagged another cone.
View
Run #3 Video (9.63 MB)
Data
and tire pressures are good. I review the video before making
my last run.
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Run
4 |
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I
get the first third of the course right. There is a 12 MPH difference
between the first and last run top speed through this section. The
Imp hits 70 mph this time. Every where is a little faster but this
time I feel a bump through the last slalom. Curses! A 39.368 and
a cone.
View
Run #4 Video (9.38 MB)
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Sum
up
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With
a 2 second cone penalty, my best time is 41.368. No one else has
entered D Modified this race so we get an uncontested victory.
In
comparison to the rest of the entry, the Imp has made a big jump
in speed. We are now 25 fastest of the 130 cars running today.
The Kokam powered Electric Imp is finally beginning to turn the
times we knew it was capable of.
Much
of the speed seems to come from using tires designed for autocross.
I still drive the car at the limit of adhesion but that limit
is now much higher.
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Four
autocrosses this year.
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Four
victories.
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We
are two thirds of the way to a Championship.
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