On 2024-09-02 06:04, Tom Elam wrote:
> On 8/30/2024 12:51 PM, Alan wrote:
>> On 2024-08-30 05:25, Tom Elam wrote:
>>> On 8/17/2024 6:13 PM, Alan wrote:
>>>> On 2024-08-17 13:12, Tom Elam wrote:
>>>>> On 8/13/2024 4:40 PM, Alan wrote:
>>>>>> On 2024-08-12 10:16, Alan wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Well, it was great to get back on track.
>>>>>> I said there'd be a follow up post and here it is!
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Sunday morning dawned (very, very thankfully) under cooler
>>>>>> temperatures, cloudy skies and even a very small amount of rain.
>>>>>> The high for the day was forecast to be down from too high to
>>>>>> something that was at least bearable. That having been said, it
>>>>>> still ended up a day where hydration was key. I think I drank
>>>>>> 2-2.5 litres of water.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I arrive at the track at about 8am with very little to do, and as
>>>>>> we were going to be the first group out for warm-up, and as it was
>>>>>> going to be a track just damp enough to need rain tires, but which
>>>>>> would dry out quickly enough that you'd then destroy your rain
>>>>>> tires...
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ...I just decided to give the warm-up a pass. I'd learned all I
>>>>>> needed to learn about the track (where the new bumps were, where
>>>>>> the organizers had added penalty cones for track limits
>>>>>> violations, etc), and about the car (I need to add some rear brake
>>>>>> bias.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> So I thought I'd have nothing more to do than to add a little
>>>>>> nitrogen to my tires (American Racers tend to leak a
>>>>>> little—especially the highly cantilevered rear tires, and so need
>>>>>> refilling at least once when the day begins), give the brake bias
>>>>>> knob a couple of turns to "more rear", and unpack for the day.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> But then I noticed a 6" diameter puddle of oil right below the Van
>>>>>> Diemen's combined bell-housing/oil tank/oil overflow tank. What's
>>>>>> more from the colour and odor, it could be gearbox oil.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I was all set to start looking at the bottom of the car for any
>>>>>> indication of where the oil was coming from when my shared
>>>>>> crewman, Tom, noticed the faint trail of oil from the sight glass
>>>>>> of the overflow tank. Since I started running the car in 2018, I'd
>>>>>> never seen any indication that the overflow tank was full, but it
>>>>>> certainly was now (after we'd changed the engine oil and as all
>>>>>> racers do: added enough to make sure that some would end up in the
>>>>>> overflow tank).
>>>>>>
>>>>>> No problem! (Are we sensing a theme, here? 😉). I'll just find a
>>>>>> catch pan (my own having been accidentally left at the shop, take
>>>>>> out the small drain plug, and seal it all back up!
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Only no one had one close handy either. But Erle had what appeared
>>>>>> to be an aluminum tray for baked goods (muffins or maybe cinnamon
>>>>>> buns) that might do the job. It was certainly short enough to fit
>>>>>> beneath the drain hole with the car only up on short stands.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I took out the drain plug, and out came the oil, and... ...that
>>>>>> catch tank was pretty big. I started to get concerned that we
>>>>>> might be overflowing the available vessel, but...
>>>>>>
>>>>>> No problem!
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ...the flow started to slow as it got higher and higher in the
>>>>>> tray, and I thought I was in the clear...
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ...when it became apparent that there was a hole in the tray a
>>>>>> little more than half way up. And now I had a 3 feet in diameter
>>>>>> puddle of oil in my paddock space. Lots of oil absorbents later,
>>>>>> it was gone.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Let's get to the racing.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> First race of the day, as the day before, the grid was set from
>>>>>> the fastest laps done in the race before that. Warm-up was just
>>>>>> that; not a qualifying session. So the FC was on pole and I was
>>>>>> gridded next to him. This time, when the flag dropped, Chris had
>>>>>> clearly learned a lot from watching me drive (his best lap this
>>>>>> race was nearly 2 seconds faster than his best from Saturday), and
>>>>>> there was no way I was going to be able to keep pace with him. And
>>>>>> John, in the Mallock sports racer with a 2 litre tuned Vauxhall
>>>>>> engine was going to be my fight, and it ended up being a fair
>>>>>> fight. He could pull away for a while, but only by using his
>>>>>> brakes to the point where they'd overheat and he'd have to
>>>>>> moderate his pace.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> So the finish was: 1. Chris in the FC; 2. John in the sports racer
>>>>>> 37 seconds back; 3. me in the Van Diemen less than a second behind
>>>>>> John.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Still a pretty good result for running on 2 year old tires.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The next race (race 5 of the event) at the egging-on of my crew, I
>>>>>> pulled the restrictor to see if it might be possible to run with
>>>>>> the FC and beat the Mallock. It wasn't—possible to run with the
>>>>>> FC; he still had about a 12% horsepower advantage as well as
>>>>>> downforce and Hoosier tires. The Mallock had problems and so
>>>>>> didn't factor.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> What WAS cool, though, is that there was an original Lotus 41
>>>>>> Formula 2 car from the late 1960s that was being driven by Doug
>>>>>> (not that Doug; another Doug) who normally drove a Dodge Viper. It
>>>>>> had much more rubber than mine and while the engine was a 1.6
>>>>>> litre mill, it was a Cosworth FVA engine with WAY more horsepower
>>>>>> than any Formula F; Ford or Honda.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The Cosworth FVA was a "proof of concept" engine designed to show
>>>>>> Ford what Cosworth could do before they built the famous
>>>>>> Ford-Cosworth DFV. It makes something on the order of 200-225hp.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The only saving grace was that this was Doug's first time running
>>>>>> the car—his first time in any open wheel racer, so it was taking
>>>>>> him a while to come to grips with it. This led to us having a
>>>>>> super-fun dice with him leading off the start, me passing him for
>>>>>> 2nd place, then him passing me again as he got better and better
>>>>>> in the car. Our regular on-track photographer, Brent Martin...
>>>>>>
>>>>>> (shameless plug: martinsactionphotography.smugmug.com)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ...was at turn 3 and he must have got dozens of shots of the two
>>>>>> cars, separate by at least 30 years, going through nose to tail.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> In the end, Doug got the better of the battle, but it was so much
>>>>>> fun to be a part of (and I wasn't bright enough to have had my
>>>>>> GoPro mounted for the race!), and we finished:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 1. FC; 2. Lotus 41 F2; 3. Me VD RF98-2 FF only 1.2 seconds behind
>>>>>> Doug.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> And for the last race... ...well... ...I was already gassed. It
>>>>>> might not have been as hot as Saturday, but it was hot enough.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I simply decided to relax, and ease off to play with Erle Archer
>>>>>> in his 1979 Tiga. I left the restrictor pulled, but I played games
>>>>>> with myself by going through corners in one gear too high, or not
>>>>>> using all the throttle down the straight...
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ...and in the end...
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ...because this was the race for which you get a plaque as the
>>>>>> "Abbotsford Trophy" winner in FF...
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ...I backed off coming off turn 9 to let a legal FF take the
>>>>>> checkered flag.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> As the race played out, Erle was leading as we started the final
>>>>>> lap, but he left the door too wide open to pass up entering turn
>>>>>> 2, and I felt I needed to get past him once more for the fun of
>>>>>> it. Then I left the door open in turn 3, and he didn't pass.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> So I did the only thing that seemed right.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> All-in-all, a great weekend of racing just for fun; no points. We
>>>>>> saw some people and cars that don't normally come out, including
>>>>>> Ross Bentley...
>>>>>>
>>>>>> (shameless plug: speedsecrets.com)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ...an alumnus of racing with the SCCBC who went on to drive
>>>>>> (occasionally) in IndyCar, and who has become a highly
>>>>>> sought-after driving coach.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Now, there are three weekends left in the season, and I hope to
>>>>>> make all three. I think I can win all 9 of the races, but I
>>>>>> suspect that with the points lower (because there will probably be
>>>>>> fewer FF drivers out), I don't think that I can win the club
>>>>>> championship.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Still, there are some folks who didn't make it out to the
>>>>>> "Historics" that I'd still like to see on the track.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Cheers!
>>>>>
>>>>> So to sum up, absent Floer, McKay and others, Alan Baker can beat
>>>>> the few FF back-runners left that he has regularly beaten easily in
>>>>> the past.
>>>>
>>>> LOL!
>>>>
>>>> And stay with a Formula 2 car with close to double the horsepower.
>>>>
>>>> And beat an FC car with:
>>>>
>>>> More than 20% more horsepower.
>>>>
>>>> Stickier tires
>>>>
>>>> Downforce.
>>>>
>>>> All while on two year old tires.
>>>>
>>>> :-)
>>>
>>> Doug and Alan likely could have too.
>>
>> Yup.
>>
>> So?
>
> As you have pointed out in the past lots of details affect race results.
> What is the Mission Raceway record for these theoretically faster cars?

There isn't one.

But a Formula 2 car of that era:

Weighs no more than my car.

Has a little less than 50% more horsepower (that's WITH the restrictor
pulled; 135 vs 200)

And has FAR wider tires.

So it should be winning on acceleration and top speed even if the tires
provided no more grip for higher mid-corner speed.

But you've never let your lack of understanding about a situation
prevent you from spouting off, have you?

:-)