I figured I’d pop up to the TSSCC event this weekend since I had nothing better to do, in order to make up for the kind-of-rained-out Chicago Region event at Route 66 last weekend. I like these events because they typically have less people, which allows for more runs, and a more laid-back atmosphere. I am, however, not a huge fan of the surface they run on at Lake County Fairgrounds. No matter, though! I was still able to claim 1st place in STX by about 3/4 of a second, so not a bad day!

Date: Sunday, September 04, 2016
SCCA Chapter: n/a (TSSCC is unaffiliated)
Location: Lake County Fairgrounds, Grayslake, IL
Weather: Clear, Dry, 70-75 degrees F
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Car: 2015 Subaru BRZ
Class: 345 STX
Wheels/Tires: 949 Racing 6UL (17×9)/Bridgestone Potenza RE-71R (245/40R17)
Brakes: Hawk 5.0
Suspension: KW V3 coilovers, Raceseng Cas/Cam plates, Velox LCAs
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Raw: 44.521 (1st of 9 in Class)
PAX: 37.219 (22nd of 103 Overall)
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An Unpredictable Surface

The reason why I dislike the Lake County Fairgrounds location is that the surface we compete on seems to be incredibly inconsistent. It doesn’t seem all that bad when you look at, or walk the course. However, once you get behind the wheel, you realize that your car wants to do different things in different spots. Oversteer… understeer… it’s hard to tell what’s going to happen. I suppose on the one hand it makes things more interesting, but it can also be frustrating when you’re trying to get one consistent, clean run. Part of the reason for this is the gravel. There is a lot of debris that builds up on this surface. Often times, if you’re trying to take a different line than everyone else, it means you’re taking the wrong line. Even if you want to try something different, though, you might not get very far because you’ll just wind up sliding around on all the gravel lying around. It forces you to follow everyone else or you’re screwed.

This was also my first time dealing with the experience of having that tar sealant stuff get stuck to my tire. I actually slowed down halfway through one of my runs because out of nowhere, the right front tire started vibrating violently, and making awful noises. I thought I’d gotten a flat tire, or something had come loose. It turned out to be a giant blob of that stuff that had decided to fuse to my tire. I’m not really sure how to get it off. I was told to just put the tires away and allow it to “dry.” Supposedly the tar stuff will harden a bit, and make it a bit easier to peel off, but it still looks like it’ll take some dirty fingernails, or a tool of some sort. I should probably take care of it before my next event, though.

Final Sweeper Woes

The final sweeper leading into the finish line was probably the most frustrating part of this event. While the BRZ was happy to hang its tail out along most of the course, this final turn was the complete opposite… but only the first half of it! I tried different methods of inducing a bit more rotation from the car when entering the corner. I tried keeping tighter to the cones. I tried coming in a bit wider. Nothing seemed to work. I even tried tossing the car into the turn to break the rear loose, but no matter what I did, I was greeted with understeer along the first half of the turn… followed by a bunch of oversteer halfway through. Just another example of how random this surface is! I spoke to some other folks running and I heard the same feedback from them: “this surface is annoyingly unpredictable.”

We actually got fun runs at the end of this event. One of the other drivers asked if she could ride along with me on one of those runs, and even with her added weight in the car (not that it was THAT much weight!), I managed to shave 3/10ths of a second off of my best time of the day. Figures! The clip below is my second fastest run (44.588). It’s only 7 hundredths of a second slower than my fastest run, but I picked this clip instead because it demonstrates the under/oversteer situation at the finish line (sideways finish!)