Day 2 was a little rough. Getting up at 6:30am after the flights and going to sleep at 12:30am made for an interesting day. The track is very close to our Holiday Club hotel but for some reason we just had a hard time finding it. After getting yelled at by others cars and going down 1 lane streets and trying to turn around, we were plenty upset early in the morning. Then the phone gps started working better and we finally saw the track. I parked in a nearby gas station and we walked in to the track to learn the layout of the land. After 30 or so minutes of meet and greet I moved the car back to the track park area. Driving anywhere is like an adventure because the cars are so small you just throw it in everywhere and the other drivers are not afraid. Throw in a few bikes and mopeds here and there and boom it’s pretty risky.
Once we settled into the track area everything calmed down for us. We handed out some tires and everything smoothed out a touch. Both Ryan and John got out on the track after a delayed start and felt out the conditions. The stucco surface has very good grip but I’ve seen more traction on prepped dirt so it’s still coming around. Tire wear is high and will be a factor but it’s a factor in almost all 60 minute races.
We are experimenting with different tires and compounds but we will have many days to go. Most drivers seem to be increasing diff oils and maybe up 5wt on shock oil. One harder spring and closed cell inserts are standard here as opposed to Argentina where some drivers including the champ ran the older molded style inserts.
So far the track conditions are stable and no holes are forming on the track. Lap times seem fairly consistent from day to evening which is important at this stage. At this point the faster guys appear to be David Ronnefaulk, Lee Martin, Ty Tessman and Ryan Maifield. As I mentioned before, it’s very early to tell and so much can change. The track isn’t producing as many traction rolls as I thought giving drivers very good stability and confidence. The sections with stone tiles are somewhat loose giving a feeling of letting go from the grip. It pushed under brakes and loose coming out. The drivers adapted quickly to those changes and appear to like the surface changes. The one section kicking everyone’s butt is the double coming on the straight. The section just before is a bowl turn which gives you the feeling you can straight line that section but most just run into the grass almost right away. It takes 2-3 runs to change the driving line to compensate. There is a bump just after the carpet downside that plays havoc while turning and accelerating coming on the straight. Tricky part of the track to say the least.
Ryan and John finished off the day well learning some things and getting faster. I believe Ryan ended the day with a 38.0 lap time which puts him into the elite group. He has some things he wants to change to the electrical to get more braking power and if he solves that he will bust into the 37’s by tomorrow.
That’s all for now, stay tuned
