NAMCO at VIR thread.
#23
I am so gald you and Lars came out. In the past we only had some crappy cell phone pictures of the race and it was been one of the most frustrating things. The only thing more frustrating is the top of a shock shearing off and not having a replacement.
I know we could have podiumed this race, if it weren't for the shock, but that is racing. Sometimes crap just happens that can't be reasonably predicted or prevented.
Good lord the E30's and E36's out there are fast though. I still can't get over how much more they have to offer over the miata in the straights and can keep up with them in the turns. An E30 with an M50 swap is a formidable car.
I know we could have podiumed this race, if it weren't for the shock, but that is racing. Sometimes crap just happens that can't be reasonably predicted or prevented.
Good lord the E30's and E36's out there are fast though. I still can't get over how much more they have to offer over the miata in the straights and can keep up with them in the turns. An E30 with an M50 swap is a formidable car.
#26
Tour de Franzia
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So, two days after the race I'm starting to feel like I'm happy I went, lol. That race was a real beating, but today I'm feeling fulfilled. I'm not exactly sure that 24-hour races are "fun".
#31
So pissed I could not make this is one way or another. We ran 2011 and 2012 at VIR 24 and had a blast but the new baby had put a halt on the build this spring. We will be back next year for sure. I really tried to make it down Saturday night but I spent 11.5 hours in traffic on a normal 5.5 hours drive from Harrisburg PA to home Virginia Bach and could not get myself to drive the 3.5 hours to VIR that day. Should have just 5 hour energyed it down there, looks like I missed some delicious meats.
Least I got to stay on top of the race online with live lap time, pretty cool stuff.
There is a two day Chumpcar event in December......hmmmmmm Anyone going to that?
Least I got to stay on top of the race online with live lap time, pretty cool stuff.
There is a two day Chumpcar event in December......hmmmmmm Anyone going to that?
#32
Looking closer to the final results and lap times, do you think a NA Miata will ever be competitive at VIR? I know we have the endurance part down and the reliability is also very good but can we compete with the like of BMW? My car stripped down make over 120whp and we had nothing on the faster cars in the pack. Admittedly we were faster than most but we did not have anything for the front runners.
If an E36 is a $500 car I bet a turbo miata could be to, thoughts?
If an E36 is a $500 car I bet a turbo miata could be to, thoughts?
#34
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The Texans refused to listen to me that it wasn't going to rain until late afternoon. I was adamate that if it did rain, it would be for 5-10 minutes, heavy, and then clear up fast. But the weather reports were not to be listened to in VA.
This is what happened around 4-5pm. 5-6 hours into the race. It didn't rain steady for an extended period of time until about 6-8pm.
So they went out with Star Specs instead of the Rivals and on endurance pads that none of the drivers liked. During the course of the event, the car went off a few times, they broke a wheel during contact, and eventually swapped out the pads/warped rotors. They made it to 5th at this point.
Also as a note, when it finally did rain, the star specs stunk big time and they were about to swap in Continential Exxtremecontacts for rain tires.
It wasn't until 12 hours into the race the rear shock broke and we dropped from 5th to 32nd, and then made it back up to 16th by the end of the event.
Had the shock not broke, I'd fully have expected a podium finish.
#36
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ok then.
I meant that with all due respect, honestly, it wasn't my call. I was actually trying to say, that even with a handicapped car, they continued to climb the ranks all the way to 5th place, which is amazing. Obviously running on the rivals and XP10s earlier in the event wouldn't have prevented the sheared shock.
I meant that with all due respect, honestly, it wasn't my call. I was actually trying to say, that even with a handicapped car, they continued to climb the ranks all the way to 5th place, which is amazing. Obviously running on the rivals and XP10s earlier in the event wouldn't have prevented the sheared shock.
#37
I have never seen a track with such hard braking zones. The endurance pads were not what I expected and I wish we had just started with the XP10s and dealt with possibly having to replace them mid race if they wore out.
There is only so much that we can realistically prevent and the shock snapping was not on that list. It is on the list now to go over before races, but next time it will be something else completely random. Had that not happened, then I fully expect that we would have been a top 5 finisher, but that's racing.
Our fastest laps were close enough to the leaders that consistent driving and good pit strategy could podium that race. There are some very fast cars out there, but our team is skilled enough to bridge most of those gaps.
There is only so much that we can realistically prevent and the shock snapping was not on that list. It is on the list now to go over before races, but next time it will be something else completely random. Had that not happened, then I fully expect that we would have been a top 5 finisher, but that's racing.
Our fastest laps were close enough to the leaders that consistent driving and good pit strategy could podium that race. There are some very fast cars out there, but our team is skilled enough to bridge most of those gaps.
#39
We ran starspecs and Xp-10 on front and Xp-8 on back with stock 1.8 brakes and cooling ducts, never have to replace pads in 24 hour race. The $17 NAPA rotors also made it through without a problem until 2011 VIR event that had 100+ temps and by 12 hours in it was like stepping on an epileptic every time we hit the brakes. Last year we spent some coin on performance rotors for front and they looked great after 24 hours.
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