In an unfortunate sequence of events, SCCA was told at the last minute that our event would be at the North track rather than the South track. They didn’t find out until I arrived on site, otherwise I would not have bothered driving up for it in the first place. Track conditions were poor, as it had rained significantly the morning of and was still drying off. On top of that, we had full capacity for the advanced group for South – exacerbating traffic on the North, which is 2/3rds the size. Many drivers had offs, including myself at a couple different points. The track still had a row of wet just after one apex, which resulted in a lot of cars going sideways. On top of that, in the 3rd session someone had leaked coolant out on the track at that apex, resulting in everyone needing to slow down for it.

Despite the major disappointment, I decided to try my best at the things that would apply to any track – rolling on throttle smoothly and being smoother with the steering wheel. I think this worked to a large degree. I didn’t go quite as fast as I would have liked, but the track conditions were not ideal. Fastest was a 1:13.04. If I had to guess, I could probably have run a 1:12 in the M3, and at least a 1:11 in the Evo.

Fastest lap:

All sessions:

Set Up:

• Stock, 93 octane
• M-mode off, Power off, Shocks on 2, TC off
• Brakes F: OEM & Ferodo DS2500s; Brakes R: OEM & Ferodo DS2500s
• Apex ARC8 in 18×9+30 & 18×10+25; 275/35-18 Bridgestone RE71Rs
• Alignment: -1.5/-1.6 F/R, 0 Toe F, +1/32nd R
• Various levels of fuel throughout track
• 35/35psi

Notes:

• Look up, look ahead
• Be more aggressive
• Smooth out throttle and braking – tip into them
• Smooth out steering
• Alignment corrected & tires were flipped prior to event. Some toe out in front that was 0’d out
• Can do a whole session on one tank
• 55 autox runs, 10 track sessions on tires

Tuning changes for next time:

• None

2019 Track Days: 5 (3 Evo, 2 M3)