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Our second 2010 S2K Challenge event was held on February 20, 2010 at "Big Willow" at the Willow Springs International Raceway (WSIR). The threat of rain may have scared away potential participants, but a strong contingent of S2K driver showed up regardless.
Note: The professional photographer did not show up so thanks to Sharon Tsay for the pictures!
Weather: High of 57F and a low of 43F; near perfect ambient temperatures for record lap times. It did rain the night before, but the track was dry by the time the first practice session started. The wind did kick up in the afternoon, up to 26mph gusts which slightly worsened track conditions.
Speedventures ran a dedicated S2K Challenge Time Trial Session at the end of the day. Cars were gridded based on qualifying times during the day. Lap times were considerably faster than the last WSIR event in 2009, a function of cooler temperatures and driver seat time experience. A quick recap of the separate classes:
Stock Class
Our resident Stock Class newcomer, Kaho Hui consistently improved his lap times during the day and clocked in a very respectable 1:42.8 during the Time Trial. Our resident professional driver in his stock S2000 (DQ'ed during the Time Trial because he was doing donuts in the dirt near Turn 9) clocked in a blistering 1:35.5 during a practice session which is a new record at WSIR for a stock S2000 (previously held by himself).
Street Class
Coming in at 3rd place was Fil Craciun, his first podium finish EVER at a podium finish. When his name was called out to receive a prize plaque, it took him a while to stand up because he didn’t know what to do with himself. Placing second was Ben Rigaud, who looked like he just won the lottery when receiving his prize. Our first place finisher, in the first session of the day, crashed into a barrier out of Turn 8/9. After his makeshift pit crew duct-taped and zip-tied his car back together, he rebounded back and clocked in an expressive 1:34.7.
Modified Class
The story of the day was Modified Class: 0.7 seconds is what separated the top FIVE finishers!!! The level of competition is quite incredible; the cars are similarly setup and it’s become almost a spec class where driver skill is the primary variable that separates the pack. Si Tang, who won every WSIR event last year, was finally dethroned by dark horse, Kangwoo Kang, who came in with an amazing 1:32.0! Michael Tsay and Jim Tway (rhymes…) came in just 0.2 and 0.5 seconds behind Kangwoo, respectively, for 2nd and 3rd place.
Here are our updated class standings after our first two events:
Also, the S2K Challenge tshirts are FINALLY here so please PM me for instructions on how to get one! All “profits” will be reinvested into overhead costs associated with running the Series.
And lastly, thank you again to Joel Perez and Cobblestone Realty as always for providing our prize plaques! I am still working on sponsors and I should have an announcement regarding that by next month. Cheers everyone!
Crazy day for me. I got to the track super early because I was picking up brake pads from Emilio. The brake job for some reason took a lot longer than usual, and I barely made it on track for the first session (in retrospect, I should have taken my time and just missed the session). I hurriedly put on my helmet and gloves, and went out. The car felt fantastic.
The cool weather and the headerback exhaust made the car reach speeds I'd never seen before (120+ mph). The non-stagger was working really well, as well, with the slightest bit of steady state oversteer, which works really well at WSIR because it sets you up for a good exit. On my third warmup lap, I did a 1:35.8! I decided to go for it, on the next lap, to see if I could break into the 1:34's my first session out. That way, I could set a goal of 1:33's for the Time Trial (I tend to drive just a little faster during the Time Trials).
Unfortunately, on the entry of Turn 9, the car suddenly lost rear traction, oversteered, went wide and dipped my rear left tire into the dirt. This caused a huge slide that no amount of opposite lock could fix, and I was launched off the racetrack at 100+ mph. I hurled backwards, hit some haystacks that slowed me down a little, spun me around, then I hit a dirt berm that stopped me just short of the retaining wall! I thought that maybe my car might be totaled, but after some inspection, all I could find was:
1) Bumper was ripped off
2) Mud guard and undertray ripped off
3) Alignment was now wacky--felt like some toe out and loss of negative camber in front right tire (the car felt darty, but would now understeer when turning left).
3) Exhaust was dinged up in several places
4) O2 simulator was ripped off
5) Scrapes and dings on the passenger door and quarter panel
Thanks to Fil, Mike, countless other S2Ki friends, some duct tape and zip ties, the car was running again, and in time to make the second session. I took it real slow, and it seemed the car was stable enough for me to start pushing again. Unfortunately, it seemed that the track or my car slowed down quite a bit between the first and second session, and I was struggling to hit 1:35s.
During the third session, we convinced Charles Ng to drive Fil's Non-Stagger CR (basically a bone-stock CR with 255/255 Nitto NT05 tires). Since Fil is a smart racer and has a G2X, we were able to record Charles' driving around the track. Charles had Fil as a passenger during that session, but still managed to do a 1:35.3! Charles said that without passenger and a bit more practice, low 1:34's was doable, but was not sure if the car could hit 1:33's.
During lunch time, I saw that Charles had a huge advantage over me in the Omega. I was turning in too early into T3, and also setting up incorrectly for T5, which hurt my speeds on the back straight. I analyzed his line and tried my best the rest of the afternoon to adopt his line.
During the fifth session, the winds started to pick up big time. It was great when charging down the back straight, because we had tailwind, but that wind made the car super unstable when going 120-125mph in Turn 9 (I did one slight drift there), and super unstable in Turn 9, which made the car really floppy against the wind. Then the car was really slow down the front straight fighting the headwind. This really ruined my confidence because the wind was inconsistent, and I didn't know at what moment the wind could pick up and unsettle the car. The best I could do that time was one 1:36, and mostly 1:38's.
During the Time Attack, there were some gridding issues, and Alex Peng ran out of gas! Since we're not allowed to pass, there was a 4-car train behind Alex. We entered Turn 8 and 9, being paced by Alex. I saw in my rear view mirror, Charles charging hard as hell, trying to catch up to us. I tried to exit and pit as soon as possible to get out of Charles' way. At that moment, there was a huge gust of wind, which sent Charles spinning out of Turn 9. He did a 720, popped the car into 2nd, and just kept driving...
We went out again, and this time, I took the first hot lap pretty mild. The wind seemed to be pretty calm now, so I pushed harder during the second hot lap. I ended up with a personal best of 1:34.6. I reached my goal of breaking into the 1:34's, but I think that if my car had better alignment, and my confidence hadn't been shattered by the epic spin off Turn 9 and the unpredictable wind, I might have gone a half second faster...
And here are the G2X Datalogger comparisons between my best lap of 1:34.6 during the Time Trial and Charles' best lap of 1:35.3 (with Fil and traffic) during the 3rd session.
Green: Nam Yoon
Red: Charles Ng
GPS MPH Plot
Left Bottom: Map Trace shows Charles doing a tank-slapper in T2
Right Bottom: Segment comparison shows Charles is still faster in T2!
Lateral G Plot
Left Bottom: Charles' segment comparisons shows his theoretical best as 1:34.7
Right Bottom: G/G Plot shows good symmetry and trail braking
Acceleration G Plot
Left Bottom: I tried my best to adopt Charles' line in the Omega
Right Bottom: Some basic data statistics
All in all, it was a great day, with some crazy fast times set by the Modified Class guys. Especially Kangwoo, who came out of nowhere! Fil, Ben and I were able to do a 1-2-3 sweep in Street Class, and we were all especially proud of that.
2010 S2K Challenge Series #2 - WSIR - 2/20/10
The level of competition is quite incredible; the cars are similarly setup and it’s become almost a spec class where driver skill is the primary variable that separates the pack. Si Tang, who won every WSIR event last year, was finally dethroned by dark horse, Kangwoo Kang, who came in with an amazing 1:32.0! Michael Tsay and Jim Tway (rhymes…) came in just 0.2 and 0.5 seconds behind Kangwoo, respectively, for 2nd and 3rd place.
