Ring trip planning

Lap Counter: 166.5

Its been a very busy last few weeks personally, but I wanted to get some new posts on the blog.

Today is about planning for a trip to the ring. My next trip will be in a few weeks.

First and foremost is car preparation. If you are bringing your personal car then here is a checklist.

1. Tire Condition. - I'm running on Michelin Pilot Sport Cups for dry and PS2's for rain. Weather forecasts are never reliable as its very unexpected at the ring. Lately I have been favoring running the PS2's all the time since they work decent in dry and wont try to kill you when its wet like the cups will. Looking forward to when the new Pilot Super Sports are available in sizes for the GT3 RS.

Here is the site I use for checking weather at the Nürburgring. Weather2 Nurburgring Circuit

2. Brake Condition - There is nothing more frustrating than going all the way out to the ring and running out of pads after your first lap....been there and done that. will not repeat. Lately, if the pads look to be about half-way done, I pull them out and measure them. If they are actually halfway done, I just put a new set in. I take an extra set with me as well just in case. Brake pads and of course rotor wear are only part of the equation however. When was the last time you changed your brake fluid? Brake fluid is hydroscopic. It absorbs water over time. water has oxygen in it. oxygen doesn't compress too well in a hydraulic system and this particular system is keeping you from becoming part of the scenery at very fast speeds. I recommend the highest temp fluid you can get your hands on. I'm big fan of Castrol SRF. Motul RBF600 and even ATE Super Blue will do better than oem fluid.

3. Data Acquisition - How do you know you are doing well if you have nothing to measure with? I invested in a RaceKeeper data acquisition system and it has really helped with refining my line, using the throttle evenly, and being smoother overall. I'll post video of a session using this amazing system. Worth every penny! For my system check, I make sure it all works and have my 32GB SD cards ready. The system can be configured to automatically turn on and start recording. Very little work on this item.

4. Gear - Even a tourist day, I still bring my helmet and HANS device. I also pack a pair of sunglasses, balaclava, and driving gloves. Good driving shoes are a must as well. I'm a Piloti fan myself for tourist days. They make heal-toe easy with the padded sole and its easier to walk in them versus thinner and narrower racing shoes.

5. Fluids and Tools - The ring is about 5 times larger than most tracks. Count on needing fluid for yourself and the car. Pack bottles of water to avoid being gouged in the local venues. Drink plenty of water as you can get dehydrated very quickly on the gauntlet run. Make sure to have at least 2 full bottles of oil for the car along with rags. The most important tool you will need every time is a good Tire pressure gauge. I prefer a 60psi range analogue gauge. keep it in the door pocket or glove box.

6. Cash - Cash is still king in Germany. The one gas station within 15km's of the track sometimes has their credit card machine go down. You don't want to make it out there and not have enough money on hand to complete a lap.

7. Maintenance Log - How do you keep track of all this stuff? Well how about a spreadsheet or even notes on your cell phone. Just make sure to keep track of date, mileage, and condition of the things you check. This makes it easy to know when you need to do something. In the end I always manage to work on something late the night before a trip. A good log just helps reduce the unknowns.

Thats it for today. I'll update this soon.

ADAC 24Hr Race - M3 #215 Photos

Lap Counter: 166.5

Its now the 2 week anniversary of our finish in the 24H race. Its been a very busy 2 weeks, but I must admit not an hour goes by when I'm thinking about that epic race.

I recently purchased a set of photos from Vividot, the official photographer for the ADAC 24 Hour race. I selected 7 of them to post here. They are all of our car, #215 throughout the race. I'm glad to say we have pictures from Start to crossing the finish line and I hope you enjoy them.




















Photo 1. This was taken on the first lap of the race on the GP track at Turn 1, Castrol-S. We qualified in P8 out of 13 cars. After the first 2 hours, we were as high as P4.



Photo 2. This was probably actually taken during a practice session 2 days before the race. I'm driving out of the pit into pitlane. My first drive in the 24H was at night. My first drive in the daytime, the car looked a little crunched up ;-) Still great photo.



Photo 3. Here I am driving on the GP track in the Schumacher-S. The 24H race was the first time I drove on this section of the GP track. After several laps of braking before entering I came to the realization that you don't have to actually hit the brakes at all for it. Its very fast and very fun piece of track!



Photo 4. A night of racing would not be complete without a glowing brake shot. This was taken late dusk on the first evening. I'm not sure what part of the track this was at. It was very hard for me to overcome the urge to turn off my high beams when approaching another car. I have my mom to thank for teaching me good manners.



Photo 5. This is probably the last photo of the car before her drastic accident and long recovery. This is me driving into the pits after completing what was the longest 6 laps of my life. after coming in and handing the car off to my teammate I remember thinking I wanted to go right back out and do it again! What a great way to spend a Saturday night!



Photo 6. Back in the light of day, I now call our car "Crusty". Crusty is doing a great job. She lost some subframe bolts, whacked into a barrier, whacked back into shape, broke her driveshaft, broke her suspension, but after all that drove straight and true. No overheating, no wandering, just plain fast and predictable like an M3 always is. just be easy putting her in 4th and she was like butter.




Photo 7. Crossing the finish. Here is our trusty crusty 215 crossing the finish line next to her sister car. Z4 finished in P2/13. We managed P8/13. Not bad. Yes we were down for over 8 hours, but we finished!



Thanks for viewing!

Good night, Jim