TC2000 08/04/22 - video

Here is footage from the 5th session of the day. Track was open so was able to attack and learn as much as I could. The RE11 tires do very well. I still have a lot of work to do on most of the corners but now that I'm getting used to the car again, I should be able to concentrate more on my lines and driving technique. Anyway, here are a couple of laps... Enjoy!

TC2000 08/04/22

Had a great first day on the track at Tsukuba. The first session was a little intense. The tires were cold and the car felt very different to how my RX-8 used to feel. It felt light and torquey. It took a while to brave up to this and to learn what kind of grip the RE11 tires were generating. All the time being passed left right and center by the rest of the pack. I got a best of 1'13.332 on the last lap (lap 15) of the first session. Hmmm. long way to go!

Before the second session I got a ride with a pro in a Mazda supplied car. This was amazing and gave me a good feeling for how the car really worked. So back into my car again and out for the second session. Not many passed me this time and I got a best lap of 1'12.254. Big improvement but I was under-steering on important corners so lots more time in there.

I had 3 more sessions with D-Technique after that and as the petrol load got less and I got used to the car, I got a best of 1'11.740 in the first session, a 1'11.639 in the 2nd and my best time in the final session - a 1'10.897 - errrm right before getting fuel cut and deciding to head back to the pits.

Including all sessions, top 5 times for the record were:
1. 1'10.897 - 28.961 29.274 12.662 - 146.124 km/h
2. 1'11.028 - 29.089 29.175 12.764 - 147.059 km/h
3. 1'11.437 - 29.074 29.686 12.677 - 146.124 km/h
4. 1'11.639 - 29.011 29.629 12.999 - 146.223 km/h
5. 1'11.703 - 29.228 29.621 12.854 - 147.259 km/h

Looking at the best sectors, that's a virtual time of: 1'10.658. (I got a 28.821 on the first sector on a different lap). Hmmm. A 1'10 will hopefully become a more common occurrence once I sort the car out and wear down the tires a little bit more.

I'll try get some video footage up sometime soon.

Cockpit Camera

I got a Xacti to record the goings on in the cabin as it works with an SD card and is quite light. Oh it also works with a Mac which was another plus for it. My last camera only saved ASF files which were not very Mac friendly.

Only problem was that since the camera is mounted so far forward in the roadster that the angle wasn't wide enough. Unfortunately for me, the Xacti I bought didn't support any lens attachments! Yikes! After a bit of looking about on the net, I found a .45mm magnetic lens that would suck to the camera. This also had its drawbacks though as the magnet was not strong enough to withstand a little shake or two. No way to use it for driving. Hmmm.

Seeing as this was my only usage for the camera, I decided to take a drastic measure and attach the lens to the camera with silicon seal. The silicon has nice flex in it so that it shouldn't break under the rattles of driving unlike perhaps super glue. I'll probably add another layer of silicon around the edges once I see what its like in the car. That was the advice at least of the Feather King :-)

Anyway, here are the results so far.

The cockpit view:


Xacti side view:


Xacti from a different angle:

Tsukuba License

Since I needed to insure myself for at least 9million yen for the upcoming race, I decided to get a Tsukuba circuit license which provides this cover. It was the same price (36,000 yen) as just buying insurance from the Party Race organized one but this one lasts all year and gives me cheap track time too. Well worth it me thinks.

So my one and only practice day at TC2000 is coming up on the 22nd in two days time. Quite excited by that. I'm wondering what kind of time I can achieve. Previously I was thinking I should be able to get a 1'10 at least. Now, I'm kind of left wondering. The main issue I have with the car is braking. I can't seem to brake consistently into a corner where I need to toe and heel unless I'm stomping on the brakes. The effect is weight transfer back and forth leading to unstable entry meaning I slow down too much. This is just impressions from running at Fuji last time where I found the amount of weight transfer to the front uncanny compared to my RX-8. The RX-8 of course was equiped with an after-market suspension which was easier to control under braking. In effect, I think I'll be happy enough with a 1'12 if I can get that the first day out and be really happy with anything faster.

Anyway, this is a good thing in a way as controlling it will make me a better driver. The RX-8 was a little to easy in this respect perhaps. So looking forward to getting back on the track again and seeing what this baby can do. Go 73!

Number 73

Received my Party Race number in the post yesterday. Its number 73. Go 73!!!

Meet Tweety

I finally got my yellow TCR-2000 last week. It had 5km on the clock. I've since driven it 1800km. I changed all the oil at 1070km after the initial break in period.

The TCR-2000 is a car built by the good people at D-Technique. Its name comes from the Tsukuba Circuit 2000 course which it is tuned towards. It's based on a standard NR-A model roadster which is only available here in Japan.

I hope to take part in the Mazda Party Races this year of which there are 4 races. I don't expect to win but I do expect to have lots of fun trying. The first race is on May 5th.

I previously drove a Mazda RX-8 which I had called Roxy. I guess you could say that I like Yellow cars :-)