Hi Tom and everyone,
I'd be glad to share my GT-day experience, and what an experience it was...
I have pulley & tune set up. I did 15 runs in total (Tom inspired me last year as he kept doing the loop, grid to run, grid to run..)!! I started the day with only 20miles on the tank full of 100 octane race gas, and by the time I finished my 12th run, I had to go out to refill with the normal 91 octane, as there was no gas facility at the Mojave airport. So, 12 runs used up ~16 gallon.... talk about gas mileage.....
So, my first run of the day, being rusty, nervous, and believe it or not because I missed the driver’s meet the night before because I went to Willow Spring to get me go-fast 100 octane juice, so during this first run, I lost sight of where the finishline was and lifted off the throttle a little early and got a 195.5mph for my first run. I thought to myself, not bad for being the first run in a year and lifted early. So 4.5mph to reach my goal of 200mph and have all day to do it, things are looking good. However, I committed a few mental and eye/hand coordination errors thru out the day, some due to trying/thinking too much, and some just being careless, more of this later....
Second run, I glued my eyes on the speedometer, instead of the tachometer....first mental mistake, as I should have known better.... At the go, because my eyes were glued to the speedometer, I hang on too long at the rev limiter from 1st to 2nd gear and wasted valuable couple of second there and ended with a 192.8mph...
Third run, I was thinking ok, ok, concentrate and don’t freaking stare at the speedometer, Ed!! So, the flag dropped, I went...1st to second at 7k rpm, great! 7K rpm came up in a flash, get ready to shift to 3rd...... I shifted, but the acceleration, even I was still accelerating but felt less eager....., felt different... I shifted from 2nd to 5th!!! #$%^%$...........(now you know I was really really excited and perhaps trying a bit too hard...), so I just left the gear in 5th for the remainder of the run and got a 190.6mph (come to think about, the GT’s torque band is quite freaking incredibly flexible from 2nd to 5th and still achieved 190.6mph, with just a pulley & tune!)
........Then, came the 10th run, in the 2nd half of this very very good run, I was at mid 180s, all in a sudden I saw the lip of my bonnet moved a little..... then, within a second the bonnet proceeded to lift up between 1 and 2 feet (mind you, by now, all the body panel gaps in the front of the car are already taped up.......)!! I spent a few fractions of a second to think, now what, this is such a good run up until this point, should I keep my right foot on the floor or lift and abandon this great run. For what felt like an eternity, I wised up and lifted..... and ended with a 180.3mph. Man, that run might have been the one that got away..... everything went according to plan on the launch, the line and the shifting... What happened was that with the racing gloves on, my fingers couldn't feel much of anything (that’s why I don’t wear gloves on trackdays....), so when I turned the blade-key to start the engine, I accidentally also pushed the unlock button for the bonnet (so, for those of you with the blade-key, please be careful).... I tell you, that was the most scary thing I had EVER encountered in my life, at 180+mph and it lifted for more than a foot....
All day, I was running in the mid to high 190s...... 195.7; 196.0; 197.7; 196.2; 198.3......... with my best run of the day being 198.7mph!!!
SOOOO close, yet so far!! Can I simply write a check and buy that 1.3mph?????? I had a truly fun day, even I came up ever so slightly short of my goal of the day. A chance to catch up and spend time with old friends (Tom, and now Summer; Terry & Monica; Kendall & Ryan; Clinton; Joe-congrats on your 200.4, and to meet new faces (Hilo Dave & grandson; Rick with the GTX- I'm glad you got the bonnet unlocked; Special Ed; Jack.......) and the encouragement and assistance I rec'd from Tom, Terry and everyone were priceless!!! It is truly the type of event in which it doesn’t matter what you drive and how fast/slow you do, just simply an event everyone there has a common passion, which is cars and doesn’t matter what cars. Great day and great bunch of people, especially the GT-people!!
Aside from the above, I was really impressed with the battles between the Lambo LP-670SV, the new 458s and the new Porsche Turbo S (pkd). They were going at it all day, blow by blow and each time one edged out a fraction of a mph, the other came thru to match it or very close to it...... All day, the lambo, ferrari and porsche turbo S were running between 188.x to 191.x. Soooo closely matched! When the 458 did a 190.x, the LP670SV and the Porsche would come back with a run that matched or came very very close to the same speed +/- a fraction.... it was fun to watch. Then, came the last run group of the day, the LP670SV (my friend Ginger) pulled out a miracle run of 195.2mph (while running 191-ish most of the day) game over because the track is shutting down, hence, no more come back from the 458 or the Turbo S..... That was fun to watch, and such friendly competition.
Same goes to the TT GT competition. Right off the bet, Tom smoked a 221.x first thing in the morning, then, followed up with a higher speed by Terry, then the other "Heritage" did a 232mph and it held for quite awhile as the top speed of the day, then, Monica did a 231!!!, and finally, Terry put the foot down, literally, enough is enough, a all glorious 238.6!! Great event and better group of participants, as each time a new speed or a personal goal is achieved, the cheering is real.....
What would have made it a perfect day for me was if I got 1.3mph faster....; nonetheless, it was a great, great day! Thank you again, Tom and Summer for putting this event together!! As Kumar stated at the other Mojave thread, I really hope there will be another one of these GT-day private event next year because I will definitely give it another crack at 200mph, or more....
Kendall.....hahahaha. Every little bit helps, maybe I should start my diet now to lose a couple of pounds, it would have gotten me there, right?
I can't wait to read other participants' experience!
Good times, good times.
Ed