Factory Five Racing and NASA are teaming up to provide the Factory Five
Challenge Series, a spec cobra class. I went down to Laguna Seca to do
the sound testing and see what they needed to do to make the car pass the
strict noise limitations there. It turned out to be a lot of fun, and I
had a chance to drive this famous track in my new Cobra! I'm currently
planning to attend the first race in August 2000 at Virginia International
Raceway.
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The day started cool and foggy. I didn't get any pictures of the initial
testing. Au took some pictures of my car on the track. First I drove a
couple of laps, trying to get maximum sound past the sound test building.
There is a little hole in the fence that they aim a shotgun mike through
and measure cars as they go by. The limit is 92db, but it is weighted to
read the higher frequencies more. There is also a 25 car limit on the track.
The Champ cars are limited to 3 on the track during testing. |
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This is the result of Au trying a different line through the Corkscrew.
He decided to nail it after the first apex. It took him wide and he made
the double mistake of trying to turn in too much and lifting suddenly.
Result: a nice spin which took him into the dirt and ended up facing the
wrong way. Here he points to the nice dirt marks on his tires and looks
thanksful. |
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Lots of discussion about the Cobra. First with the sound testing and
later about the Factory Five Challenge Series.
It was a bit exciting going out in the race groups because they are
not at all shy about passing you anywhere and everywhere. Fortunately I
had enough experience not to pinch that Porsche as he dove in between me
and the apex in the Corkscrew.
I used to be the car that lost ground on the straight and made it up
in the corners; we used to make fun of the powerful cars that would drag
down the straights and tip-toe through the corners. Well *I* am that car
now! The weight distribution feels great, but the rear suspension moves
around a lot which is unnerving ("twitchy as hell" is the way
barry Hartzel described it), and the feel for what the car wants to do
is complicated, unlike the Probe or M3 where you quickly get the feel for
the car. It's a Vintage thing I kept telling myself!
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Here was what they rigged up for the test. In the future they will
use a straight piece of pipe. They hammered the diffuser/insert into the
pipe, then used a set screw to hold the pipe in my exhaust. It left a little
hole I need to get welded up. The insert was too small to fit in my pipe. |
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Billy on the grid. Truly a wild man, he signed up for three groups
in the same day... 12 sessions or 4 hours of track time. I told him to
take it easy on the Porsches. They soon learned to Fear the Probe. |
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Unfortunately he sucked the homemade filter element into his VAF, which
left him with a sick car and dead at Turn 5. Later we pulled off the intake
and retrieved the filter. Good as new! Billy! Get a K&N! |
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This the little sound shack. Billy is limping by in the background,
preceded by the barely visible tow truck. |
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I snapped this pic at about 140 mph going into turn 1. No, actually
there was a disabled car so we were waiting on the grid. :)
Brakes were the main problem, followed closely by the pedal arrangement
not allowing heel-toe downshifts and the 1960's style seats forcing you
to hang on for dear life. So I took it easy. If I used the brakes hard
for two corners in a row the pedal would go away, so I nursed it along
and kept them as cool as I could. It was fun to let some super Corvette
by on the front straight, then as he accelerates past nudge the throttle
and instantly gain on him. This baby FLYS.
I drove until I thought I might not have any brakes to get home, or
maybe end up with a Pro-7 car embedded in my trunk.
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Beautiful scenery. What is better than a walk in the California hills
accompanied by 400hp race trucks at 120mph? |
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This RSR car is headed for a two wheel date with the dirt. The next
lap he was about 5 feet from the rumble strip. Yeah, Turn 6 scares us all. |
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The famous "Corkscrew". Lots and lots of tires in the tire
wall as powerful cars are really moving by the top of the hill. |
All in all it was a good day. Jerry made me feel very appreciated and
is obviously very excited about the upcoming series. It was fun to drive
Laguna, the only major track in the area I had not driven on yet. The car
ran perfectly. I knew about the issues with the pedals, brakes and seat,
but there wasn't time to deal with those issues before the test, and besides
I believe in making zero changes to the car in the week before a track
event.
