Mixed passing (black) group. It was my first time running with Speed Ventures, and because my Sonoma pace wasn't fast, I couldn't do open passing. Their mixed passing rules were interesting. No orange dot in the rear: open passing even in corners, but you have to get a point-by from those with an orange dot. Not sure if I'm a fan of this setup, but I suppose it's safer for those with less experience. I also wasn't sure if some drivers forgot they had the dot, weren't comfortable with letting people pass at some areas, they weren't checking their mirrors, or some combination of these. This track is demanding, so I get it.
First session basically didn't happen; two cars needed to get towed within the first 5 mins, so we did like 3 real-ish laps total. Our second session got combined with the point-by only group due to a driver running out of gas (please don't ever be THAT person), which resulted in like 50 cars being on track. The third session was the first real session for me since I was relearning how the track feels with the race seat and the setup adjustments, though I still went in early since my front left tire pressure was too high. The fourth session was a near disaster, and I skipped the last session.
I had a bad off going into turn 2, which would be my first spin at Sonoma (the car is fine at least). On the previous lap, I pushed my pace up that hill, and I had to really work stay in line. I really should have backed off after this, but I'm dumb. I then got frustrated from an orange dot car who didn't give a point-by at t10, which killed what would've been my best lap. I even kept telling myself to chill and just stay focused, but I clearly didn't. When we looked at my tires after, we found that I had shredded the insides of my rear tires. This was a bit of a concern going into the day since I was getting very uneven wear on my tires after 3 days. This was the technical reason why I spun since the rear just suddenly kicked out, but ultimately it was my decision to have such an aggressive alignment. My skill isn't at a high enough level to be playing around with this setup.
Setup notes: stiffened the dampers 1 click all around, which felt really good. The car is more responsive, and I wasn't feeling the car pushing at all. The only turn I can really test it would've been t10, but I didn't want to mess around with that turn, so I just kept overslowing it. I was getting understeer on the hairpins in session 3, so I was thinking that maybe the front was too stiff, but I adjusted my braking to really get the weight onto the nose, and that seemed to solve it. Brakes continued to feel really good and consistent with the brake lines. I might move up to CSG's racing compound next year, but I'll need to gauge how much noise I can tolerate on the street. The race seat has made this track even better; the best thing I've done to this car by a mile. Lastly, we'll reduce the camber. I might keep the front at 3.2 (or down to 3.1), but we'll definitely drop the rears to 2.3 or something; it just needs enough to clear the fender lining.
255/35-19 Bridgestone RE-71RS (4th day)
19x9.5 ET25 Apex VS-5RS
CSG Spec CP pads
CSG carbon weave brake lines
Ohlins R/T w/ Eibach springs (575/900)
Dinan front arm bushings
Megan racing rear control arms
Sparco Pro 2000 QRT
35:16 PB lap (1'58.53)
37:24 I should've backed off after this
39:21 disaster
48:17 tires
0:00 session 2
17:14 session 3
33:22 session 4
30 июл 2024
