The Traqmate Kit

As promised in my previous post, here are some photos of the Traqmate Data Logger. I haven't got the installed photos handy right now but here is what it looks like when it arrives.

This is the pizza style box it comes in. Quite nice presentation I think.

And this is what's hiding inside! The Display Unit, Sensor Unit and a few other necessities.

New TraqMate Datalogger!

It's almost March! My first session since November's race last year will be at Tsukuba TC1000 on Sunday - March 1st. Can't wait to get back on the track.

Since I've been gone, I've been busy saving money and well decided to splurge out and get a data logger. After looking around for quite a while I decided to go with TraqMate. Some cool features are:

• High GPS sampling rate (up to 40Hz). Higher sampling means more accurate info me thinks. This is pretty high compared cheaper offerings.
• Extendability - Programmable Analog/Digital inputs for recording stuff like water temp, rpms, brake lights, ABS or anything else you care to tap a wire into.
• Integrated Video - Can view video directly with data analysis. This is great as you can see why you were slow/fast etc directly with the sector data!
• Video Creation - Save certain laps etc as video along with a virtual display for speed, g-forces etc. I do like my videos so this is a great function for me.
• Small Footprint - separate display unit takes up less front window space than a performance box for example.
• Easy to Use - I tried a friends last year and it was really easy to use. I also tried the Performance box but Traqmate wins hands down.

Anyway, I'm rather excited about my new purchase and getting some data at TC1000 this weekend. I've also got a chase cam on lend so will compare that to my usual video recorder.

Oh yeah, in case you are interested, I might as well point you in the direction of TraqMate Japan. The website is TraqMate Japan. If you get tempted, please mention that you heard about it from Tweety and you might get a discount! The website is still under construction so if you can read English you might get more info from the main website in the US.

Anyway, I'll try and take some photos later and will be sure to post some video from Sunday.

Party Race 08/11/16

The last Party Race of the year took place on Sunday. I competed in the Emblem 1 hour endurance race with a fantastic co-driver who goes by the name Kanepee. Kanepee-san wrote up a nice race report in Japanese on his blog.

Kanepee-san's first taste of Tweety was about two weeks ago when I picked him up after work and let him drive home. The next time he sat in the car was on Saturday when he drove it around Tsukuba at speed for the first time. On a light fuel load, he managed to get a 1'10.2 which beats my best time so far around Tsukuba! You are awesome Kanepee! I drove the second session after putting some more fuel in but could only get a 1'10.6. Turns out we'd only about 1.5mm of pad left on the left side pads so the brakes were a little hard to use.

After swapping the pads and washing the car, we were ready for Sunday's battle.

Sunday morning was wet but the rain fall had actually stopped by the time it came to qualification. It was very slippery and I the car was moving around a lot even when I wasn't making too many mistakes or being overly harsh. 80R saw a couple of cars spin and I can understand that as I went sideways there more than once. It was hard to string a lap together and I was pretty satisfied when I got a best of 1'18.2 on my last lap. It was only enough to get me 14th on the grid out of 17 cars though. I'm not quite sure how anyone pulled a 1'15 in those conditions. I guess I need to work on my wet lines to find more traction or something.

The race start was Le Mons style except that the driver got to belt up and wait in the car while the second driver waited across the track for the sprint to the driver. Kanepee-san outperformed my wildest hopes as he dashed towards me, touched my raised right hand which I dropped to the key to start the car and I was off. A great start too as I passed 3 cars before the first corner and grabbed the inside line. I got a 4th car down into the 1st hairpin and did my best to maintain control of my still cold tires.

As the laps rolled by 2 cars were all over me, but I was determined to not let them pass down my inside, as anyone I could delay (without blocking) might mean a better position later on. If they got along side me on the straight I'd do my best to out brake them but I'd hold my lines. I was pretty relaxed but then on the exit of the 2nd hairpin, I missed 3rd and by the time I'd grabbed it, I'd lost 1 position as one guy easily passed me with the loss of speed. The other guy was right on my ass now too. I put up a pretty good fight for another two laps or so and then I found myself on the exit of the 1st corner in 3rd gear with no torque instead of 2nd. Flustered I grabbed 2nd as the guy went past on my outside. Drat. Momentary loss of concentration I guess due to the added confusion of talking to the pits on the phone at the same time. Well that was 2 quick and harsh lessons learned. When I looked at the video later, I basically seem to just drop from 4th to 3rd and didn't even go for 2nd.

Car was handling excellently though and I was quite happy with my driving. During the first stint I actually managed to nail a 1'10.9 line and that was with a full tank of gas. The car was slow on the straights though and I don't know but that might also be my chosen line through the 2nd hairpin or it could be just that some of the other cars are faster or have lighter fuel loads and drivers.

After 20 laps, the car was still great but it was time to come in and hand Tweety over to the very capable Kanepee-san. The pit stop involved an enforced speed limit in the pit lane of 40kmph and a completely stopped car for the duration of 1 minute. This kept things safe as it gave the drivers lots of time to change, belt up, do seat adjustments etc. We had fantastic team support in the pits with the guys from D-Technique helping out on stop watch and tire pressure duty. Kanepee-san took off a minute later to start his 20 lap stint.

It's funny but I didn't think about Tweety's well being for one second while in another drivers hands. I have complete faith in his skill so that was very relaxing. I only wanted to do our best and to get back out there myself for more laps. I took the time also to grab some fluids and relax before I'd head back out. 5 laps before Kanepee-san came in I focused myself again by kitting up and preparing for action. Kanepee-san pitted coming in from 5th place.

Getting back in the car again was easy. Kanepee-san reported back that the brake feeling was bad so I was wondering how bad exactly as the minute was up and I shot out of the pit lane in front of another car. Brakes were very squishy which made them hard to read and meant that I had to brake earlier than usual and hope for the best each time. The guy behind me got by 2 laps later on the entrance to the last corner. Drat. 1 lap later, a car spun on the exit of turn 1 as I exited but I was able to maintain speed and hop down the outside without much thought. I managed to keep the white car in my sights for the remainder of the race but he was always pulling away from me.

We finished the race in 10th position but 1 car was demoted because one of the drivers did too many laps and we were promoted to a very well deserved 9th place, 5 places up from our 14th place start. At the end I was hyper and would have loved to gone on for another hour or so. I learned a lot for having so many clear laps and so many faster cars around me. I can't wait for more :-)

The other D-Technique team - Kato-san and Izumi-san drove a great race in car #123 and finished a spectacular 3rd place. Well done guys! You did a great job. RTE Team Ranman also did a great job to finish in 6th place. Well done to you too. Major thanks to all the guys at D-Technique for their support and guidance and to my awesome co-driver Kanepee for being such a hero in Tweety.

The Race Results are finally up also so be sure to check them out also.

Preview of 1 hour Endurance Race

Sunday is nearly on us. This Sunday is the last Party Race in the series for this year and finishes with a 1 hour endurance race. Poor Tweety! Fortunately, I am not allowed to race the hour alone and must race with either 1 or 2 other drivers as my partners. I was hoping to have the opportunity to race with 2 of my local heros but as fate would have it, one of the guys can't make it this time round. I do get to race with the other guy though and he is very good!!! I'll announce after the race who he is :-)

My partner will get to drive Tweety around the Tsukuba for the first time this Saturday to practice for Sunday. I'm very excited as it's practically the first time I've handed her over to someone else on their own for a session and I'm also looking forward to seeing some speedy times set while trying to save what's left of the tires for Sunday :-O

If you have time, come see us race on Sunday. Qualification is at 11:20 and the race starts at 15:20. I've a feeling the Sun is going to be quite low and bright on the last corner...

Tsukuba Weekend Attacks

I had two days of 2 x 30 minute sessions at TC2000 this weekend. Saturday, my goal was to rotate the front right/left tires to spread some wear on to the lightly used front right tire. This proved to be very exciting as the car under-steered drastically on corner entry. Other places it was hyper-sensitive like the start/middle of the 80R and the final turn where I had a rather large over-steer moment. So while I did well to get a 1'11.08 it was a little insane to try perhaps. Still - nothing like testing your reflexes. Rotated the tires back to their proper sides Saturday evening. I put the times down to trying hard to brake properly and hit the apexes.

Sunday, I didn't know what to expect but regarding the tires and if I would have similar excitement in the other direction. It was also drizzling rain but not really wet. So when I got a few 1'10s I was very happy with my driving. I actually had a half tank of gas at the end of the day also so I guess I can be faster if the car is lighter. Best lap time was a 1'10.564 which beats my previous best. Happy days! Looking at the best sectors, if they had all been on the same lap, I would have got a 1'10.3 so there is more speed there also. I feel a 1'09 is not all that far away.

Here are my top 5 times:
____________Sec 1__Sec 2__Sec 3__km/h
1. 1'10.564 28.838 29.181 12.547 144.869
2. 1'10.614 28.727 29.270 12.617 144.850
3. 1'10.666 28.766 29.270 12.630 145.337
4. 1'10.708 28.909 29.283 12.516 146.421
5. 1'10.911 28.964 29.326 12.621 144.212

I think I'm a little slow at the speed-trap. I noticed other NCs on the Result Sheet are getting 149.896 which is quite a big difference to me. Hmmmm. Guess I have to work on my 2nd hairpin exit still.

Karting at F1-Miyazawa Lake

Went to this tiny kart circuit in Saitama called Miyazawa Lake with some guys from my work. We signed up for an endurance race which was 7000 yen for 5 mins qualification and a 40 laps race.

The kart was capable of 60kmph. It was the fastest kart I've ever tried as the few times I've gone before I have been only doing about 20 to 30kmph. So this was quite cool.

Qualification turned out to be wet as we had a small shower. That was fantastic fun as it was next to impossible to drive around a corner without opposite lock. In a kart this turned into pure fun and I forgot about getting a fast lap so I ended up 3rd on the grid. Not that I would have gone faster anyway but sliding was huge fun.

We did a reverse grid at the race start which was also good. I spun out on the last corner the first two laps and got stuck in the corner on my second lap. Damn. Already 1 lap behind. When will I learn?! After that I just drove faster every lap. I had a lot of problems with the last corner though as I'd either drift it and lose speed or I'd go too slowly and lose speed. Funnily enough going slower lost less speed than drifting though. Interesting.

I was going rather well when I was passing a friend on the outside when he bumped me off the track. That hurt. Still have the bruises! Took 85seconds to complete that lap as I had to get out of the kart to get it back onto the track. Those things are quite heavy when you are trying to push them!

Finally lost the race and finished in 3rd place, 2 laps behind our perfect leader and 1.8s behind 2nd place. Just shows if you are consistent, you don't have to be fast sometimes to do well. One of the guys put up this cool web site of the results

So - why do I bring up karts... Well it dawned on me when I was driving them just how much they have to offer in terms of learning about the basics of being smooth and using your tires properly. It's so easy to think you are going fast when you are drifting around the last corner but then someone goes and passes you on the inside... Huh?! Yes that just happened. Makes you think more about what you are doing wrong.

The other nice thing about karts is they are small, speed is less than a car and you feel everything so you are really aware of what is going on. The kart had no diff for example, so when taking a wider line around a corner vs taking a narrow line kept the engine running better, it dawned on me that my inside tire was slowing the engine down. I always knew what a diff did in general but experiencing this made them really make sense.

Another thing you learn is brake bias. Brakes are only on the back so its hard to brake when you are turning. Even more so in the wet. Back just comes right around unless you have a fine touch. Amazing. Its useful for adjusting mid corner though if required.

I was only really figuring out all this towards the end of 40 laps. It was really worth going though and I'm going to try go again and perhaps apply some of what I learn to my circuit driving.

Time for new fluids

Last Sunday the 5th, I had my engine, diff and gear oil changed. I had 9072km on the car. Wow, I only got the car in April! I remember my first year with my RX-8 I drove it 4000km altogether that year. Can't quite believe how much I have driven it although I guess 9000km is nothing for most people outside of Japan.

I also picked up another spare set of MazdaSpeed brake pads. At the rate I go through those pads it always makes sense to keep another set around.