Hectic day. Qualified P2 for the SU race with a 1:59. Schedule was changing all day, our race group was announced 30m behind schedule. Confusion caused us to be late to grid. So no result there. Sonny finished 3rd in TTU.

Really weird to see all these really powerful high dollar cars fly up the front straight then Sonny pulling out and passing them. Essence flat easy and 6th. Will have to look at the data but we think we were hitting about 160 on the back straight. The rear spring rate fixed the balance. It's beautifully balanced and surprisingly easy to drive. Requires full attention at all times because you are ust going so bloody fast.

Because the one Makeup Session for utcc was also rained out I didn't even bother going on track. No chances of improving my time so I finished 13th with the time set in the wet.

Looks like I will be able to sign up for TT on Sunday and finally get some laps in the dry which I'm really looking forward to.

More pics.
Unloading and assembly.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...951bb37bef.jpg

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...c175f9618d.jpg
Sonny did some farming in Friday practice.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...efed127a7c.jpg
Later, I went off and bent up the spltter. Ryan and John repaired it to 100% function. Wing lost both end plates, nutserts ripped out. Center brackets for second element torn off. I repaired it with some 6' threaaded rods, JB weld, memory foam and super glue.
​​​​​​https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...b87924a645.jpg

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...9eff8164dd.jpg

Sonny sitting in SU quality grid after we got the car back together

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...b1db9d7471.jpg

Can't wait to see the videos, you guys show em who's boss!

It was so awesome to see you guys run this weekend. I never thought I'd be able to check out your cars in person. Sucks the weather was so miserable, but it looks like you guys made the best of it all things considered. Ryan looked like he was hauling pretty good again by Sunday afternoon!

I'm entirely to tired and hung over to edit the rest of the pics tonight but there is some good ones. GN and nice meeting you guys!https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...2a68cf28b1.jpg

Sitting in ATL waiting for connecting flight

Final results

​​Supermiata-949 Racing Bullet
UTCC, 13th with a lap on a wet track up against cars that got dry laps
Sat TTU, Sonny 3rd
Sat SU, Sonny 6th. Late to grid:(
Sun TTU Sonny 2nd 1:57.683, Emilio 3rd 1:58.470
Sun SU, Sonny 3rd

​​​Goodwin Racing- Blackbird Fabworx Hypermiata
UTCC, no official time recorded due to timing issues with track. Many racers had transponder issues despite testing fine at tech.
Sun HPDE3 Ryan ripped a 1:58.9 on a borrowed 4" S1 Splitter and the second element missing from the wing. Lower drag and downforce than the fancy carbon splitter that was on it to start.

After we saw how fast Ryan went with the low drag setup, we removed the huge end plates from Bullets splitter trimmed the wing much lower and dropped about 2s.

I ended up only getting a few laps in full dry in full dry conditions and I did it on old tires to save the freshies for Sonny's race. We were all worn out by late Sunday and I didn't have anything left in me to go out in the last session Sunday when the track got a we bit faster. Car had a 1:55 in it but we ran out of fire by then. Truly torrential rain Friday. Rain then 80* heat and humidity Saturday. 94* heat, sun and 90% humidity Sunday. Wrenching, repairing and rebuilding cars virtually nonstop since we unloaded. All of us were operating on very have little sleep for days in a row. Me, Sonny, John and Manny averaged something like 5hrs a night for about 8 days including the event. We're cooked.

We had a blast though. Amazing track. We will be back next year. Some great video coming.

And here's the first "teaser video." Saturday late grid safety car restart.

Due to schedule confusion, several drivers (including myself) missed pregrid and the start of the Thunder group race. Missed opportunity for Super Unlimited podium, but still fun to drive through most of the backmarkers and amazing to drive at VIR with Bullet, our highly modified SuperMiata (UTCC/GTA SLB trim).

That thing a BEAST! Nice meeting you guys!

What in the hell was the story on that Challenger around 7:30 mark? o_O

The closing pace on stock Miatas makes me giggle :party:

at the 7:40 mark are the apartments we stayed at when NAMCO came to town.

omg those mustangs are annoying! I love the pass at 1:30

I'm pretty sure that's a tube frame stock car making more than 2x the power of 949's car.

sequential shifting sure looks easy.. My 6 speed take 4x's as long and its never a sure thing.

Yes on the tube frame and just over 2x at 850whp. Watching it rocket up the front straight was eye opening.

I only really asked about it not to take away from Sonny's drive, but because with how quickly Sonny was moving through the field, to get gapped like that was gnarly. My bhole puckered a few times watching Sonny split some Mustangs.

No joke, that thing was like a rubber band car!

Also, for anyone watching without knowledge on the trans in this car the shifting sure looks funny :P

Great job to the whole crew this weekend, great representation of the Miata world in the the TT scene as always

Tube Frame car is either a SCCA GT-1 or "new" Spec TransAm class car.

Looks like fun, but man that was slopping and none heads up driving by a bunch of folks. That Camaro thinking he cleared Miata!?! Not sure what he was thinking :D

P.S With some seat time it seems there is atleast 3 secs out there just in familirization alone for you Emilio :)

At least 2, maybe 3s with more seat and setup time with the car we brought..
I got 3 hot laps with the original full aero on old tires. Went 3.2s faster on the same tires next session with the end plates removed (2:01.7 vs 1:58.4) on my 5th dry lap ever. The goal that session was to make sure balance wasn't ruined for Sonny's race right afterwards. So I only did two hot and brought it in early so we could top off fuel, swap tires and get him up to grid in time. That When I hopped out I told him the car had another 2s in it easy, maybe 3. And that was in the hottest part of the day. Sonny's 1:57.7 (with some traffic) was on perfect new A7's in the cooler morning session. That I got within 1s on old tires when it was 20° hotter clearly pointed to a 1:54 or 1:55 in the morning had we tried the low drag aero then.

What an epic shot. Worth quoting the image:

The car on Sunday:

https://photos.smugmug.com/2018-Even...MG_9489-XL.jpg

I just landed in CA this morning and back at work. Thankfully Emilio did some updates through the weekend, it was such a whirlwind I didn't get a chance to do any of that. The 949 Racing never give up spirit was in full force, and I owe every one of those guys. Both cars in the wall Friday, and both cars back up and running and running FAST later in the weekend. We were wrenching, cutting, duct taping, jury rigging, etc. non-stop for three days. 100% worth it. I begged my way in to HPDE to run the car Sunday for some dry laps, and bruised and battered the car was still really, really quick. Officially the two fastest Miatas to ever run VIR, and 949 took podiums in both TTU and SU.

Certainly not how I would have liked the weekend to go but we turned it around and ended up with some pretty awesome results to hang our hats on, plus a ton of great data and lessons learned. Lots of pics to come.

As much as I like your sig panel shot, I like this one better. Does Hyper have it's own fb pagewhynot?

Here some pics, check em.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1J9...xCGgk4z6yURw43

That's a great idea (the FB page) since my personal FB page is just for keeping tabs with friends/family.

For those following along here, the UTCC results are essentially meaningless this year unfortunately. WE know because we went out in group B session 2 and witnessed a completely dry race line all the way around the track on our out lap, which means group A got a couple damn near dry laps. Then it poured. So essentially the UTCC results are top half of the results are whomever was in group A and got the lucky session, and the bottom half is everyone in group B. That Bullet made it to the top half while stuck in group B is a testament to the car and driver.

Many thanks! Some great shots in there.

Someone posted this shot of Ryan's car on the back straight in the rain. I recognize the teeth.

:bowrofl: Cats for you

Great event, despite the conditions early on. Glad it cleared up and you guys got some dry sessions! Great meeting everybody there, it was a good time!

Pics from the weekend.

Pre-carnage, in all its glory:

https://photos.smugmug.com/2018-Even...MG_9415-XL.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/2018-Even...MG_9412-XL.jpg

I was pretty heartbroken abut the contact with the wall. The number of hours lost, the cost, the impact on the weekend. I was down for a while.

https://photos.smugmug.com/2018-Even...MG_9418-XL.jpg

But that was not how the weekend was going to end. Everyone sprang into action to help get the car into running for again. Adapting 949's backup S1 splitter to the car. Since none of the factory structure exists in the nose, we had to make crude brackets and cables on the spot:

https://photos.smugmug.com/2018-Even..._9419-XL-L.jpg

Exhaust was nestled within the damaged skirt, tip conveniently resting on the titanium shield, so we left it this way:

https://photos.smugmug.com/2018-Even...MG_9494-XL.jpg

Hammered and bent things as much as possible, then lots of zip ties and duct tape to hold everything together. The FR got toed out from the hit so Sonny did an on-the-spot toe correction. Aside from the wheel not pointing straight, it actually felt pretty good.

https://photos.smugmug.com/2018-Even...MG_9422-XL.jpg

About an hour before trying to go back out, we discovered the power steering rack had cracked, unfixable track-side. We scavenged a couple other AN lines from the PS system to create a loop from the pump out back up to the reservoir IN so the pump was just recirculating its own fluid so that it wouldn't burn itself up (belt routing needs the PS pulley to be present). Duct taped over the open fittings on the rack and just let it be an open air depowered rack. Feedback was actually decent.

Montage by Sonny, going out for the Saturday UTCC session in the pouring rain (again). Feeling triumphant just to drive the car:

https://photos.smugmug.com/2018-Even...MG_9466-X2.jpg

About the time we almost had Hyper patched up, Emilio brought Bullet back in from wall contact. Splitter was pretzeled pretty good and the endplate had ripped out of the wing.

Repairing the splitter, this pic is after removing everything from the splitter, placing it over an edge and while John stood on it I jumped up and down on the corner to flatten it back out as much as possible:

https://photos.smugmug.com/2018-Even...MG_9437-XL.jpg

Re-mounting the splitter, bending supports back to straight-ish,etc:

https://photos.smugmug.com/2018-Even...MG_9439-XL.jpg

We used whatever we had to reinforce broken parts. Endplates were repurposed many times over. This one supported the back edge of Bullet's splitter on the subframe (Sonny's pic):

https://photos.smugmug.com/2018-Even...494656_n-L.jpg
Strategy coaching for the race:

https://photos.smugmug.com/2018-Even...MG_9450-XL.jpg

Bullet back in fighting shape for Sunday's Thunder Race. Serious company:

https://photos.smugmug.com/2018-Even...MG_9484-XL.jpg

Crushing it:



With the straight pair of small endpaltes on Bullet, we needed to put the bent pair of small endplates on Hyper that had been on Bullet. Emilio hammering one straight, after scraping JB weld off of it (it had served as a mixing tray for JB weld a couple hours prior)

https://photos.smugmug.com/2018-Even...MG_9467-XL.jpg

Same all-thread treatment to my wing to get endplates back on it:

https://photos.smugmug.com/2018-Even...MG_9468-XL.jpg

Speeds on Sunday in the dry pulled the splitter out of the mounts and it was dragging on the track:

https://photos.smugmug.com/2018-Even...MG_9470-XL.jpg

More endplates sacrificed to reinforce the splitter. Then we added more cables and duct tape.

https://photos.smugmug.com/2018-Even...MG_9472-XL.jpg

The splitter held. The car went fast. Success.

https://photos.smugmug.com/2018-Even...MG_9489-XL.jpg

I couldn't run in TT because I don't yet have my NASA license. Sunday they squeezed me in to HPDE3, for which I was thankful - I was just happy to get to do some dry laps at VIR.

Session 3 I got a couple traffic-free laps and ran a 1:58.9

Looking at TT results for Sunday:
https://racehero.io/events/nasa-ma-vir-hyperfest-and-grm-utcc-2018/results
If I had ran TT I would have taken 3rd overall for the entire day, behind only two TTU cars (Dan Raver in the LS7 Superlight and Sonny in Bullet). Faster than every entry in TT1, TT2, etc.

Never say die.

Awesome job guys, you should all be proud. :bowdown:

Here was the last moment of the splitter. Pic suckshttps://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...79ac9bab63.jpg
I was a mile away.

2:03 and 2:02 laps in traffic, just getting the feel of the track. Taking it really easy around traffic and waiting for point-bys. Not pushing the braking zones much. Next session went 1:58 but GoPro didn't get it.

135mph peak through the esses, at the second apex.

Still plenty of time left to find, I can count the number of dry traffic-free laps I got on one hand, but it was just great to be moving around VIR with some pace and start to feel the flow of the track.

Poking through data tonight getting ready to put some videos together. Fun facts
Top speed in the wet was 146mph by me on Friday on the H2O's. Top speed overall was Sonny on his second fastest lap at 159.1mph in the dry Saturday morning. Oh so close to 160. Jeebus.

5th and 6th dry laps ever on VIR, me driving. Not quite dialed in to track yet. Data showed it wasn't making full boost, not sure why. Dipping to 9psi around 6800 then ramping to 15-17psi above 7200. On the dyno it made 23-25psi from 3800-7800. I could see and feel in driving, never figured it out. Symptom came and went.
Hit same top speed in full wet conditions on Friday. Guessing the rad and intercooler being wet the whole time upped power quite a bit. More investigating on the boost leak required.
245 A7's with something like 10 cycles on them. Pulled the end plates off the splitter and trimmed the wing almost flat.
About 88° ambient during this lap. I think the car had a a 1:55 in it on fresh tires in the cooler morning session with this aero config. Maybe a 1:53 without the boost leak.

Massively glad we got a bit of sim time in. With the limited number of laps we had the opportunity to do, it was crucial to at least know which way the track went ;) VIR definitely has some great pucker up and send it sections that requires confidence in both the track and the car. Loved it. There was certainly more time in both cars just with some additional seat time.

High 1:55 possible, but with TPS signal problems affecting turbo boost inconsistently, a 1:57.683 was the best we could hope for that day, good enough for P2 of 11 entries.

Here's a good reference point of a normal SPM/949 n/a build. This will give those of you who are not familiar with the track an idea of how fast Bullet and Hypermiata are actually going. Keep in mind, Dan is only 0.6sec off the TTE record with this lap, so on the limit for sure(as always)