Facing your fears.

They say you should face your fears so it was very natural for me to suggest that I take a night time stint in this years 12 hour race at Ebisu to see how I would get on. I was feeling rather confident as the weather was perfect with zero rain or fog forecast.

Rod arrived in full of excitement and told me how great it was on the new tires and how he'd just set a new fastest time in the car. Obviously it was fantastic out there. Belted up and waiting for the last of the fuel to be added, I felt ready for the 45 minutes of darkness ahead to bring the car home. A knock on the car and wave and I was off, racing down the pit lane and out into the first corner.

Around the first, down the hill to the S-curve but I couldn't see where it started. I knew it was there somewhere so kept up some speed and turned in. Out the exit of the S-curve and top of 3rd down the hill into the right hander at the end of the hill. Damn - I couldn't see anything, the lights were on, but I could only see part of the road ahead. Not really far enough ahead that is to be hitting around 130kmph into the next bend. I could see the spot light ahead but not where it was shining on the apex. I braked way too late and just barely made it around the corner... Wow. it will take time for my eyes to adjust I thought. It can't really be this dark can it?

Up the hill into the inside hairpin which I also couldn't see, around that and down again through the right kink before the last corner. Darkness... Were my lights really on? Why couldn't I see anything? I expected a lot more light than this. The second lap, was just as bad. Top that with the onset of cars that seemed to be driving way too fast up behind me? How could they possibly see enough to go that fast?

Lap after lap, I had no clue where to brake, I tried counting seconds at full acceleration, looking for where someone had locked brakes on the road, following other cars as much as I could... All I could think of was how well I knew the circuit and yet how little I could see. It shocked me and brought up images of awe at those who race around the ring in the 24 races they have over there. How well can they possibly know the ring and how do they avoid those faster cars who must bully their way by, lights ablaze... Back to the immediate reality, how was anyone else able to drive fast at night like this?

Doubts crept in. I thought about coming in for a driver change, but then again the car behind us, was perhaps only 10 laps or so a-drift and coming in might mean losing a place if the next person wasn't dressed in his gear. The radio had stopped working after all, so I had no way to tell anyone to be ready. No - I guess I would just have to do this, even if I did it slowly... Just bring the car home.

As time went on, I tried to get better and better but I still couldn't drive anywhere near what I can do when I can actually see what is ahead. It was like going into a ghost house where they have dark rooms and all you can do is follow a rope or the wall until suddenly you find another wall and then feel around for the next path. I thought the HIDs would make it easier for me, but I guess I need even more light than they provide for me to function.

At 8:59 on the in-car clock I rounded the last corner and headed up the finish straight staring at the flag tower looking for the checkered flag. Nothing. Next lap too. Then another lap and another... Hard to believe but I guess the race didn't start on-time so they extended the finish to match for a perfect 12 hours.

I ended up doing about an hour that final stint. It was one of the most demanding hours I've ever done in a car. I can't say I learned how to drive in the dark but I did survive it so I am proud at least of that.

I'm rather disappointed in my lack of vision at night. I knew it was bad but am thinking that perhaps as a result of my LASIK operation earlier this year, it is worse than it used to be. It's good to know though.

Would I volunteer again for a night stint? Mad as I am, I'd probably answer yes as I'd like to see if my vision improves next year. Somehow though, I think I would be more effective during a day stint or even in the rain. It was another educational racing weekend!

Read more about our weekend over on our TGR blog.

Ebisu 12 hour Endurance Race

Leaving tomorrow morning to head up to Fukushima to take part in a 12 hour endurance race around Ebisu East course. To this effect, we bought and have since been preparing a car for the job. Have a look over at The TGR Blog for more details and perhaps some live updates on how we are doing. The race is being held this Saturday from 9am to 9pm! 12 hours sure does sound long when you lay it out time wise!

My good friends over at TraqMate Japan have also sponsored our effort and provided a Traqmate system along with video to go with it. Should be fun to look over the different drivers. Thank you Traqmate!

Party Race 2009/7/26

Bringing up the rear... paddy last... Arguably my worst result in a race so far. Result yes, but I'd argue that it was one of my better performances. It's really hard to pass at Tsukuba so a race really comes down to the following formula for the most part... Do well in the Qualification, get a good start, stay clear of first corner trouble while being aggressive enough to keep or grab places, same again on the 1st hairpin and it will all be sorted out by the last corner on the first lap. If you made it that far, don't miss a gear on the back straight, don't yield the inside line on any corner and you are practically home and dry baring other errors around Tsukuba.

My day went wrong at qualification. I qualified 14th out of 15 with a time of 1'11.7 where as pole was won with a 1'10.4. Looking at the video, its easy enough to blame by driving. I lose most of my time currently on the 1st hairpin. After the first 2 laps, I un-stabilize somehow on entry into this corner each time, and waste time and corner controlling over-steer on entry, only then to suffer under-steer mid-late corner and hold on too much steering to the end result of exit over-steer. Its all quite subtle but its slow and I have to figure it out to go faster. If you don't exit the first hairpin at the right speed, it effects entry into Dunlop which effects the exit and the missed acceleration all the way to the top of third before the 2nd hairpin. I lose time elsewhere too but that is the biggest section right now that I need to work on and it all goes back to how I take the last part of the S curve before the first hairpin perhaps.

In the race, I got a decent start but made the classic mistake of braking too early (in the usual spot but not going at usual speed) and ended up on the outside of 2 other cars on the first corner. I tried my best to keep my position but the other cars were coming out wide and I had to back off to save my paint. Into the first hairpin in last place, I noticed it was looking pretty slow on the inside so I went out and around only to see a car spinning out along the grass on the outside a tad close to my line but I kept on the gas anyway and made up 1 place plus the car that spun out. 13th then.



The back straight saw more excitement as the car in 11th missed 3rd gear and the car ahead of me got through on the last corner but I wasn't up for it. I got along the outside of him then in the first corner again but it nearly cost me my 13th place as the car behind got up my inside where he stayed until the 1st hairpin again where I had the best line and back he went again.



I tried up the outside of the 2nd hairpin, drafting on the back straight but I couldn't make it passed. As the laps went on, the tires got less and less grip and more gaps started to show as the cars in front missed their braking points under pressure. The car two cars ahead was particularly slow around the first hairpin and I was thinking about how to capitalize on it for a few laps. Lap 8, saw the leader of the race spin out on the last corner and I'd improved to 12th place.

Finally on lap 10, I decided to take a peek up the outside of the first hairpin just to see what the grip was like but my car just went from under me. I guess it was something to do with riding half on the bank and half off and going a little too fast without the aid of the bank to aid cornering. Anyway, I lost the back, countered and then countered more before sticking both feet as a lost cause and then sticking it in reverse as fast as possible to get out of the way of the back markers who would all be on the inside (and I was stopped mid-to-outside).

Once safe, I set off in pursuit and to try and set a faster lap and see if I could find out what the hell I was doing wrong. At least I think I managed to remember what I was doing on Dunlop and curb some of the entry over-steer into the first hairpin.

Coming off the circuit after 15 full on laps always feels amazing though. Juergen - my good mate - took some photos of me and remarked that I looked like a man who had just won the race by my smile and not someone who had come in bringing up the rear.



Its the car I think. It's just too much fun to drive. It challenges you everywhere to wring the most from it and squeeze out every last bit of performance from both you and the car. You can't do that in many cars these days. It's a super car :-)



So thanks to Mazda for giving us this great car, Brains for the race, D-Technique for all their help and being such a great team, Yoshida-san for his help and support on the day and Juergen for his fantastic photos. Congrats to all the winners, I am very jealous and I'll be back to claim my part of the glory again soon!

Next party race is September 5th!