鈥淲e managed to get the Civic back together after the crash and made the last two races of the year!聽

鈥淎fter a mid-season crash at a wet Donington Park, the Semprini Racing Civic underwent an unscheduled rebuild!聽

鈥淛oining up with the Club Racing UK team for the famous Birkett Relay, the EBC SR-11/Bluestuff-equipped Civic made its return to action on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit.聽

鈥淧ressed into action for two stints rather than the planned one due to an issue with another car in the team, Jeremy quickly got himself and the car back up to speed and posted a best lap time two seconds quicker than when they had raced at the circuit earlier in the season.”

鈥淭he final race of the season was in the Trackday Trophy at Brands Hatch and was a unique experience as qualifying had to take place behind the safety car because of fog. This meant grid positions were drawn out of a cup with Jeremy drawing P30 out of the 34 cars!聽

鈥淐ome race time and the fog had lifted but the rain had started. A very busy start at the Brands Hatch Indy circuit from P30 saw Jeremy stay out of trouble and then set about some overtaking鈥� and some more overtaking!

鈥淚n tricky wet conditions, Jeremy relied on the excellent feel from the 91传媒 setup and made up an incredible 25 places to finish 5th overall and 4th in class at the flag. In fact, Jeremy made up more places than any other driver!

鈥淥n to 2026 now and plans are already taking shape for another season with the Civic.”

鈥淎 mixed first聽half of the season!

鈥淪emprini Racing鈥檚 EBC-equipped Honda Civic has had a busy and mixed start to the season. Electrical gremlins in pre-season testing meant the first round of the BRSCC Supersport聽Endurance Cup was missed, with the season starting instead with the MSV Trackday聽Trophy at Silverstone.

鈥淭his season, the Civic is once again with the tried-and-tested combination of EBC SR-11 front pads and Bluestuff聽rear, giving that great combination of stopping power and pedal feel.

鈥淪olid mid-class pace at Silverstone, but importantly, reliability from the first race with a new engine wiring loom gave the team a huge relief.

鈥淣ext up was the delayed return to the Supersport聽grid at Oulton Park, a great track and firm favourite of both Jeremy and Phil. Tricky, changeable wet/dry conditions saw the pair again solidly mid-class without taking undue risks. The feel from the SR-11/Bluestuff聽combo meant braking in the changeable conditions was predictable and the drivers could concentrate on finding grip on the damp track. Despite a last lap clutch failure, the Civic was classified as a finisher and we breathed a sigh of relief, only to have the recovery truck pull the front of the car off and damage the oil cooler, meaning a bigger repair job than hoped for!

鈥淲ith clutch and oil cooler replaced and the car put back together, it was off to Snetterton 鈥� a circuit the Civic has performed well at historically. Qualifying was tricky with both drivers unhappy with the feel from the car and unable to match times from previous visits. We started the race a bit further back than hoped for and after 20 minutes alternator failure ended our race early. We subsequently found a leaky shock absorber to explain the poor handling. Surely our luck had to change soon!

鈥淥nwards to Brands Hatch and back to the Trackday聽Trophy on the iconic Grand Prix circuit. Jeremy is driving these races solo this year as Phil shares another Civic with his sons in this series. Putting in competitive lap times in an extremely close top Class B, Jeremy improved on his previous visits to the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit and was comfortable in the car, now complete with new shock absorber and alternator plus some other setup changes. A fresh set of each of the SR-11 and Bluestuff pads completed the car prep.

鈥淎 poor start by Jeremy saw him drop a couple of places and settle in to a battle in the middle of the class B pack. A safety car just as the pit window opened where Jeremy decided to stay out and gain a lap over those ahead who pitted backfired when the Safety Car picked up Jeremy as the leader and slowed him right down. Pitting next time around, the circuit went green as the Civic was stationary, compounding the loss in time!

鈥淣ow in 18^th,聽Jeremy set about overtaking anything in his path, leaning on the EBC brakes as never before to overtake a total of 10 cars 鈥� including three in once corner 鈥� and finish in 8th聽overall, 7th聽in class, with a new personal best lap time. The car felt great and performed well 鈥� the driver could do better!鈥�

鈥淏ack to the BRSCC and Donington聽Park, where Phil re-joined Jeremy for a double-header Clubsport聽45-minute race we used as a test for the main event, the 2-hour SuperSport race on Sunday.

鈥淎nother solid mid-class outing in wet conditions on Saturday set us up well for Sunday鈥� or so we thought! Going out first in qualifying on Sunday, Jeremy set out for an early push lap while the track was quiet, unaware a helpful Mini had dropped coolant at the top of the circuit at the fast right hander at Coppice. Full of confidence, Jeremy turned into the corner fully committed to have the car go straight on and into the gravel trap, beached! The lovely marshalls hooked us up to a telehandler and dragged the Civic out so Jeremy could put in another lap to get the requisite three before handing over to Phil. As we鈥檇 received 鈥榤echanical assistance鈥� to get out of the gravel trap, none of our subsequent lap times counted, so we were plum last on the grid!

鈥淣ot to be deterred, Phil took the start and had overtaken five cars before the first corner as he set off to make up places. During his hour-long stint, Phill got us up to an incredible 2nd聽in class by the time of the change-over. Keeping it consistent and battling fading tyres and diminishing fuel, Jeremy had a good battle for position with the fast Mazda MX-5 in our class and brought the Civic home in 2nd聽for our first podium and trophy of the season! Finally a good result where car and drivers had combined well,

鈥淥ur travels took us to Croft circuit next – the first time Jeremy had been to the new layout, having last raced there on the rallycross circuit over 20 years ago! A fresh pair of SR-11 front pads and it was into a free practice session to iron out any issues and do a bit of set up work followed by a good qualifying in P2 in class behind the all-conquering Audi TT that is dominating this class, but in front of the MX-5 we are battling with.

鈥淛eremy took the start and actually overtook the Audi into turn 1, but was soon back down to 2nd as the rocket ship Audi took off and joined the battle with the cars in the classes above. Keeping an eye on the Mazda鈥檚 pit board, Jeremy could see the gap increasing as he pulled away and settled into a nice rhythm. The Civic then threw its latest curveball by losing 3rd gear as Jeremy came out of the complex towards the final hairpin after 20 minutes. Despite this – and a couple of excursions – he managed to maintain 2nd in class and hand over to Phil with a very useful buffer. Phil duly maintained and then extended the gap before a late safety car which – this time – played into our hands and increased the gap to the Mazda. We crossed the line for another P2 and another trophy, plus a front left tyre down to the cords!”

鈥淏ack to Donington and back with MSV for the double header weekend of Trackday Trophy and Trackday Championship. For the first time this season, Jeremy was entered in the TDC and duly strapped on a set of the control Toyo R888R tyres for the wet/very wet qualifying session. Driving on these tyres in the wet for the first time, the Civic Jeremy kept his head and didn鈥檛 push things too hard, to come in mid-grid.聽

鈥淭he race started even wetter and after a reasonable start, Jeremy was battling in a group of cars when one – another MX-5 – spun in front and into the path of an evasive-action taking Jeremy who had nowhere to go, slamming into the spinning Mazda and sustaining considerable damage to the front left of the car.聽

鈥淚t鈥檒l take some time to repair the Civic, but the aim is to be back out this season, at the very least for the season-ending Birkett Relay, but hopefully for a couple more events before that.

鈥淏ig thanks to 91传媒 for the support again this season – we may not get through as many sets of pads as we鈥檇 have liked to due to our enforced absence for a while, but the SR-11//Bluestuff combo has been one thing we haven鈥檛 had to worry about in this challenging season!鈥�

鈥淎fter starting the season in the GTC category, H茅ctor Hern谩ndez and Borja Hormigos are switching to the BMW M4 GT4 (G82), returning to the GT4 Bronze category with the support of the Autoworks Motorsport team and sponsorship from 91传媒 Spain.聽

鈥淎fter finishing last season, team’s goal was to change car so that they could continue competing in GT4 Bronze, the category in which they achieved third place in the three championships that make up the Iberian Supercars Endurance. Initially, this was not possible, and the team participated in the first two rounds of the championship in the GTC category, but after the Jarama race, an unexpected change of direction allowed them to switch to a more modern and advanced vehicle, which also allowed them to return to the GT4 Bronze category.”

鈥淭he BMW M4 GT4 (G82) is the latest version of the competition model from BMW Motorsport and, compared to its predecessor, with which Hern谩ndez-Hormigos have competed for the last two seasons, incorporates major advances in electronics, traction control management, and ABS.鈥�

“Taking this step has been a huge effort for the team, but we are very excited about the new car. With the livery, we wanted to pay tribute to our F82, the results of 2024, and our first year in GT4 Bronze. We now have a lot of work to do on the track and in the pits, but we will take advantage of the remaining races this season to prepare for 2026, where we hope to fight for the category,” commented H茅ctor and Borja.

鈥淎head of the first race in Valencia this weekend, the action on the track will begin with free practice sessions scheduled for Saturday starting at 9:00 a.m. In the afternoon, the two qualifying sessions that will determine the starting grid are scheduled for 3:30 p.m. (Q1) and 3:50 p.m. (Q2). Finally, the main event will take place on Sunday with two races. The first will start at 11:05 a.m., while the second will start at 4:05 p.m. All the action of the Iberian Supercars can be followed live on DAZN Spain and via streaming on the Supercars Endurance YouTube channel.鈥�

鈥淲e took part in two main series this season 鈥� the BRSCC Supersport Endurance Championship in class 鈥楥lubman-A鈥�, and the MSV Trackday Trophy in class B. We also had outings in the MSV Trackday Championship at Cadwell, which was abandoned to fog and Navarra in Spain where we podiumed (3rd in class), as well as a single round of the BRSCC Clubsport Trophy at Donington where we came 4th in class.鈥�

BRSCC SuperSport Endurance Championship

• Rounds participated in: 5
• The first round of the season at Silverstone saw us qualify 5th in class, but feeling there was a lot more speed to come as we got to grips with the unfamiliar Silverstone International circuit. Unfortunately, the Civic had other ideas and cut out on the green flag lap to the grid and was classified as a DNF.
• The next round was at Snetterton, a circuit we have gone well at in the past. Sure enough, both Phil and Jeremy set their fastest ever laps around the 300 layout, despite having to take some unusual lines around Coram and at the end of the Bentley Straight to avoid oil spillages. Finishing 2nd in class, just 40 seconds behind the class winner was a great result and kick started our class challenge. The big braking zones into the Wilson hairpin, the Brundle/Nelson chicane and the final Murrays tight left-hander are real tests for the car and where strong braking but a good pedal feel to avoid locking up is essential. Our 91传媒 Racing SR-11 (front) and Bluestuff (rear) brake pad combo are perfect for this and help us keep our tyres intact through a long two-hour endurance race. Jeremy set his fastest lap in the last 10 minutes of the race, proving the benefit of a great braking setup.
• At Croft Phil drove solo for the full two hours and had his work cut out, having never been to Croft before, and facing rainy conditions. The SR-11 front pads proved their worth here, giving excellent feel in the conditions allowing Phil to find his rhythm and bring the Civic home P3 in class.
• On to the Donington GP track for the next round where some suspiciously quick cars joined the class in the form of a TCR-esque Golf and a Lotus who were lapping a full 5-6 seconds a lap quicker than the Civic. Qualifying 4th in class, Phil and Jeremy were able to improve in the race to come home with another class podium in P3. This despite the loss of 3rd gear mid-way through the race! This meant leaning even harder on the EBC brake pads without the help of third gear to slow us down into the Fogarty Esses or the Melbourne Hairpin.
• Our final round of this championship was at the Brands Hatch Indy circuit – a very busy place to be with 28 cars of varying lap times! Managing only 6th in a very congested qualifying session, Jeremy and Phil set about the race in hot temperatures aiming for consistency and reliability, something some other cars struggled with. It was enough to improve to P4 at the end and put us into P2 in class for the championship.
• We were unable to run the car in the season finale at the Silverstone National circuit due to our imminent departure to Spain for another series, so Phil and son James debuted their Civic in the guest class. Had they run in class they would have finished P3 but the points didn鈥檛 count towards our championship. Luckily some of our regular competitors also didn鈥檛 make this round so we finished the season in P2 in class, a result the team is delighted with.

MSV Trackday Trophy

• Round 1 was at Donington Park and it was an EBC Civic lockout with the Semprini EP3 coming in 2nd behind the similar EBC Civic of Justin Roberts and Nicole Draught. Jeremy and Nicole had a great battle in the early stages of the race before different strategies came into play around the safety cars. At the end it was the Roberts/Drought Civic 1st over the line with the Semprini Civic in 2nd.
• The Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit was the venue for the next round, with Jeremy and Phil qualifying in P7 on a mega-competitive grid, just 1.1 seconds covering P1-P7. In the race the Civic was strangely off the pace resulting in a P6 finish, later attributed to the hot temperatures causing the engine management system to go into a more cautious mode. Post-race we made some changes to the air intake system and the problems didn鈥檛 return for the rest of the season.
• The next round at Lydden Hill was eventful with torrential rain giving way to sunshine. Qualifying in P2, once again behind the Roberts/Drought EBC Civic, It was Jeremy who set off after the fast starting Justin for the first stint. Trading lap times the gap remained tantalisingly close before the mid-race driver changes. It was apparent straight away when Phil started his stint that the abrasive Lydden surface had taken its toll and the front right tyre burst, leaving Phil to limp back to the pits. A hasty tyre change got the Civic back out on track before the end of the race to claim 2nd in class.
• On to Snetterton where an unfortunate misunderstanding with a backmarker resulted in an accident for Phil and a DNF for the Civic.
• The season moved on to our first overseas event at the superb Navarra Circuit in Northern Spain where we took part in both the TDT and TDC races. The Navarra track is another where a great braking balance is essential with a big braking zone following the flat out turn 1 into turns 2 and the very tight turn 3. Then at the end of the back straight is another big braking zone and into the new hairpin installed just before we arrived 鈥� we were the first series to take part on the new circuit layout. The final corner is also a tight one, coming off a fast left hander into a tight, slow right turn onto the main straight. Our SR-11/Bluestuff combo was superb again at getting the car slowed down and into the corners with great feel, avoiding lock ups and keeping the tyres on song.
• In the TDC, race we placed 3rd in class resulting in a podium appearance being presented with our trophy and bottle of local Rioja by circuit owner and ex-Formula 1 driver Jonathan Palmer.
• The TDT race was less successful as a power steering pipe popped off at the end of lap 2, dowsing the hot engine with fluid and resulting in a DNF.
• The final race of the year was back at Brands Hatch on the Indy circuit and was something a little different for us as we ran both the blue Civic and Phil and James in their White Civic. Uniquely Phil was to drive both cars in the race so our pitstops were dictated by this rather than a more normal strategy! Sure enough, an early safety car was too soon for us so we stayed out, at one point having a 1-2 in the race before making our stops for Phil to hop out of the Blue Civic and hand over to Jeremy while awaiting James to stop in the white car so he could jump in. Although out of position, Jeremy had a very entertaining battle with class C champion Waynes Cockerill鈥檚 Toyota Celica with a pass into Druids made possible by leaning very heavily on the EBC combo to take a gap that looks to be closing, avoiding a lock up and passing successfully. A very entertaining race but with no trophies this time!

“Plans for 2025 are underway 鈥� we are coming back to the BRSCC Supersport Championship to see if we can go one better and win our class next year鈥�”

鈥淭he Autoworks Motorsport team went from strength to strength at the Portuguese event, achieving a podium finish in the second race in the GT4 Bronze category of the Iberian Supercars Endurance, which took place this weekend at the Fernanda Pires da Silva race track in Estoril.

鈥淭he Iberian Supercars Endurance 2024 continued its season in Portugal, after the first two rounds in Spain, at the Aut贸dromo Fernanda Pires da Silva de Estoril, a track that H茅ctor and Borja know from last year, although not the variant with the chicane, which was the official one during the competitions of this third round. These two slow corners played havoc with the traction of their BMW M4 GT4 and therefore hurt their lap times.

鈥淔riday was entirely dedicated to free practice, while Saturday was all about official practice, with both Borja and H茅ctor failing to get their BMW M4 GT4 to the front of the grid, so they would have to come back in the race if they were to continue their run of podium finishes from Jerez and Jarama.”

鈥淚n the first race on Sunday, Borja started from sixth position and although he made a good start, a mistake put him back to his initial position, and after the pit stop it was impossible for Hector to get close to his rivals due to tyre degradation, but he kept the sixth position, and with it some valuable points for the championship.

鈥淭he second race was notable for a good start and first stint by H茅ctor, who left the car well positioned so that, after the pit stop, Borja took advantage to attack with everything he had and finish third in his category at the finish line.

“鈥橶e are very satisfied! Despite the fact that we were barely able to run in free practice due to several incidents on track, the team’s progress went from strength to strength throughout the weekend. On such a difficult track for our car and in front of many high-level rivals racing at home, achieving a third place in the GT4 Bronze category leaves us with a very good taste in our mouths鈥�, commented H茅ctor and Borja.

鈥淭he fourth round of the Iberian Supercars Endurance returns to Spain after the summer period on 28-29 September at Ricardo Tormo race track in Valencia.鈥�

鈥淎utoworks Motorsport team achieved two podiums in the GT4 Bronze category and an overall third position in the Supercars Endurance, which took place this weekend at Circuito del Jarama.

鈥淪upercars Endurance, south European championship, continued its season in Spain after the inaugural event at the 脕ngel Nieto de Jerez circuit. This time around, it was held alongside the Jarama Classic event, whose popularity is recognised by the fans and the large number of people who came to the circuit throughout the weekend.

鈥淔riday was entirely dedicated to free practice, while Saturday was all about official practice, with both Borja and H茅ctor finishing second on the grid in their BMW M4 GT4, with which they have barely done any pre-season testing.

鈥淚n the first race on Sunday, Borja started from sixth position and made a steady progression up to fourth

place, but after the pit stop Hector was unable to maintain his position due to tyre degradation from the high track temperatures that dominated Sunday’s race. However, the team’s efforts paid off, with a second place in class and valuable points for the championship.

鈥淭he second race was highlighted by a good start and first stint by H茅ctor, who left the car well positioned so that, after the stop, Borja took advantage of a safety car to recover the car and attack with all his strength to finish with the victory in his category and third in the overall classification.”

鈥溾�橶e are very happy! To get a victory and a second place in GT4 Bronze, as well as a third place overall after achieving the best comeback of the weekend is something we are very proud to do at our home track in front of our sponsors, family and friends. This result is the fruit of five years of hard work and we are very happy and excited鈥�, commented H茅ctor and Borja.

鈥淭he Iberian Supercars Endurance action will continue on 13-14 July in Portugal at the legendary Estoril circuit, which will once again share the stage with classic car competitions under the banner of the Estoril Summer Festival.鈥�

鈥淭he first round of the MSVT Trackday Championship at Donington Park resulted in an 91传媒 Racing 1-2, with Honda Civics from Motion Motorsport and Semprini Racing filling the top two places on the podium.

鈥淭he red Motion Motorsport car of Justin Roberts and Nicole Drought qualified on the second row, with the blue Semprini Racing machine of聽Jeremy聽Evans聽and Phil Hart on the 4^th听谤辞飞.

鈥淎t the start it was聽Evans聽in the Semprini car who got the jump and passed Drought into the first corner, tucking in behind a couple of BMWs, a couple of Porsches and a newer FN2 Civic of Paul McHugh.

鈥淔or the next six laps, Drought and聽Evans聽were nose-to-tail in an epic battle until聽Evans聽momentarily hesitated into Redgate as a backmarker appeared on the scene. That was all Drought needed and she slipped through to take the place.

鈥淎 couple of laps later, a safety car because of a Fiesta in the gravel at the final chicane saw the Motion Civic pit to hand over to Justin Roberts while聽Evans聽stayed out in the Semprini car.

鈥淎s the safety car period ran, the pits were a very busy place to be with the Semprini team electing to leave聽Jeremy聽out in clear air, taking the lead but still needing to make the mandatory two-minute stop.

鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 long before a different Fiesta also found the gravel in the same spot with the Semprini Team reacting quickly and opting for their pit stop in anticipation of another safety car 鈥� which duly came. A quieter pit lane meant an easier stop and Phil Hart left the pits in P2 having leapfrogged the Roberts car.

鈥淛ustin was on a charge and hunted down and passed the Semprini Civic 鈥� with the leading BMW suffering an engine failure, and other cars falling foul of pitlane penalties the final laps unfolded with the Motion Motorsport car of Roberts and Drought taking the win followed home by the Semprini Racing Civic of聽Evans聽and Hart in second place.鈥�

鈥淕oing into this track day, I was mostly looking to confirm that my DIY chassis-mounted wing yields an improvement in handling that will hopefully equate to better lap times than the last time I was at the track. The track weekend though was聽also聽a present to myself, as it took place the day after my 40^th birthday! That said… a few small tasks turned into a bunch of stuff… so much for keeping it simple and just sending it! Overall though, it was a success and I had really positive results from my modifications.鈥�

Modifications,聽Maintenance & Thoughts Before the Track Day

鈥淓verything seemed to hold up pretty good from the last track day, so there weren’t any critically outstanding issues. There’s a few standard items and then one stretch goal I may or may not get around to.鈥�

Swapped Out Spring Rates

鈥淪o, as part of upgrading aero on my car and discussing the handling with a variety of other folks out there, it became apparent I was running too low of a spring rate. I spoke with the folks over at聽聽again and they were able to order up some Eibach springs for me in the right size聽and in spring rates of 700 front, 750 rear. This should upgrade handling overall and help me keep a car with balanced handling to a potential hair of oversteer. We’ll see how I like the car driving with these new spring rates and I’ll report back on it all.鈥�

Testing Out EBC SR-11 Brake pads

鈥淲hile the聽Carbotech XP-10 brake pads聽treated me quite good at the track, lasting nine track days and providing excellent braking characteristics, the new EBC SR-11 brake pads are currently all the rage for performance AND durability. So, I grabbed a pair to test out. Per EBC recommendations, I聽scuffed up the current rotors significantly to help remove material from the old pads and to help the new pads bed in quicker. We’ll see how these hold up!鈥�

Added DIY Splitter Ramps to the 9LR Splitter & Confirmed Hardware

鈥淪o, you can read all about the聽聽over in my聽, but the short version is after researching various splitter ramp options ranging from $150-200… I decided to just make my own. We’ll see if they hold up at the track. The good news is they’re fairly reasonable to remove, but I’m fairly confident they should be able to do the trick. This should yield a modest bump in downforce on the front of the car, which may help with that bit of understeer I’ve been dealing with. It’s also worth mentioning I took the entire thing off to begin with as it felt a bit loose, but sure enough, it’s all as secure as can be!鈥�

MPI Wheel Bearing Concerns

鈥淚 had play going into the previous track day, but decided to risk it. The play didn’t change at all it would seem, but it is聽enough when moving the wheel聽there’s a bit of a 鈥榗lunk鈥�. I measured the distance out to be .026″ with a feeler gauge, so that may not be enough to worry about. I let the folks at MPI know I was having this issue and we’re still in communication about it. They understandably can’t see it themselves, so I took the measurement above and sent them a video of the clunking. They got back to me and are sending me two new front wheel bearings and will be taking these two back to take a look at. Hopefully the issue was just a fluke, and if not even more hopeful that they will continue to refine the product to be more robust.鈥�

Improved Airflow Throughout the Car

鈥淪o, what started as plan for a few small airflow improvements turned into a whole bunch of small modifications that were quickly adding up to a tonne of notes. I decided to write about all of my聽聽in its own article. The short version though is I focused on improving airflow to and through the radiator, along with diverting a little bit extra fresh air up to the cold air intake air filters.鈥�

Tires Swapped Out

鈥淪o, back on聽聽I picked up a nail through one of my tires that couldn’t really be properly fixed. I got a whole new set of four tires, chucked the one bad tire, and kept the other three around just in case. Well, turns out I needed them as my rear tires were positively roasted after my last track day. They perhaps had one, maybe two track days left in them… but given I had a set of tires around with 2-3 days left in them I figured I’d swap those two in and keep the other two around as spares just in case.鈥�

How The Track Day Actually Went

鈥淲ith all of the last few details buttoned up and a track full of tonnes of gear, we made the eight-hour drive down to Thunderhill. We stayed in the nearby town of Willows, CA, which has a nice little Airbnb/hotel聽that is decent enough to stay at.

鈥淪aturday was about the usual scene for a winter track day. Colder temperatures were present along with聽a constant breeze. Still though, not too bad overall.聽This particular group was a Shelby club, so it was loaded with a wide variety of mustangs. It was interesting to see how my 25-year-old Corvette stacked up against far newer cars. I’m glad to report back that it held up well, catching all the other Mustangs even with lots of aero in all of the turns. Unfortunately, the straights were the issue. More on that to be written on the post-event write-up.

鈥淥ne bummer for me going into the track day is that we were running the 鈥楥yclone鈥�, which was a bummer simply because I wanted to compare my times this weekend to the previous time here without the wing on the car.

鈥淭he refined aero聽and stiffer springs felt great聽and were far more confidence inspiring entering high speed turns. In mid-speed turns, the wing still helped a bunch, which combined with my willingness to rotate a car at 80mph being greater than 112mph balanced itself out nicely.

鈥淥ne big standout was the EBC SR-11 brake pads.聽They had way better initial bite and feel than the Carbotech XP-10s and held up to heat way better throughout the course of a day. It’s not entirely fair to compare these brake pads as the XP-10s are streetable, and in my opinion the SR-11s are not. Still though, what an improvement in being able to brake far better than ever! With that initial strong bite, I could also heel-toe/side-foot far easier. Overall, a big improvement to the car! I’ll be curious to see how they hold up!

鈥淓ngine temperatures were excellent as the DIY cooling mods clearly worked!聽I never exceeded 243聽degrees Fahrenheit all day when previously even with colder weather I’d push well into the high 250s. I also only pushed above 240 after many back-to-back all out laps, where as normal lapping, especially in traffic, stayed at 237.聽So, I’m pretty confident the engine cooling modifications must all be working, though since I did them all at once I can’t really point to any specific one as being superior to the other.

鈥淥n Saturday I put down a best time of 2:06.310. I felt pretty good about that, but knew I was leaving time on the table in a few places. It’s one of those things were small hesitations here or there can cost a good chunk of time. Brake just a few MPH more than necessary from 120 down, give up a tenth of a second. Don’t launch it into turn 3? There goes some time. Overly square up the Cyclone hill? Throw away another tenth.

鈥淪unday afternoon I really picked up some time on my laps though.聽I was chasing a far higher horsepower Mustang than mine and gaining on them every lap despite their near 33% higher power. Then, in a subsequent session I put down two back-to-back 2:05 laps, with my best being 2:05.036 per timing the lap from video. 10hz GPS Bluetooth Track Addicts has it at 2:05.307, so right around that time. I’m stoked though as聽I was able to drop a full second from Saturday. What was interesting was comparing daytime temperatures, wind, and when in my sessions my time dropped. Since Sunday was just a bit hotter and less windy in the AM, track temperatures were up a bit as were car temperatures. I saw a peak oil temperature of 243 degrees, which was a sure-fire indicator I was pushing faster lap times… but I also was starting to slide the car more as the tires got hot. Now normally, I’m told sliding is slow… but for me being able to rotate the car into a lot of the turns definitely helped me pick up time. While in some places it surely lost time as I’d understeer and push a bit wider than intended and have to saw the steering wheel to regain traction, but in other places I could pitch the car sideways a bit early while braking so when I entered the turn I’d already have the car rotated a bit. Not only was that fun, but apparently it was fast!

鈥淥ther minor observation聽from out there at the track day was that leaving turn 11 I was always faster if I stayed in 3rd versus 2nd. While I had way more acceleration out of the turn in 2nd, it was really easy to accidentally step the rear out more than intended, and the time lost making the shift was notable. Every single time I stayed in 3rd and pulled through that section I’d be shifting to 4th right at the exit cone for turn 13. If I grabbed second, I’d always be shifting to 4th afterwards.

鈥淎nother place I’d carry a lot more speed was going into turn 1 and just staying in 4th. If I downshifted to 3rd I’d have more drive into turn 2, but I had plenty of drive in 4th and the addition of a shift into that braking zone unsettled the car just that little bit extra and resulted in me shedding extra speed.

鈥淭o get a lot of faster I think I need to get better at looking at session data and being able to compare lap times when trying different lines or gear selections. For example I tried two variations of the Cyclone, and in those variations were also gear variation. I settled on a line a friend showed me and staying in 3rd gear as I’d hit turn 6 just as quick… but perhaps that was just a matter of perception, as a tenth of a second isn’t much of a difference at all!鈥�

Summary

鈥淚n a strange turn of events, my back straight speed was up 4mph on average. I feel confident saying it wasn’t because of my superior line choice either as I’d often be a bit off-line as I’d overcook that last turn. Perhaps it’s the extra aero hold through turns 10-13 meaning I hit the straight with a higher top speed? OR… perhaps it’s because I stopped grabbing 2nd and just went with third. Yeah… it’s probably that.

鈥�I can’t really ascertain massive gains here, and this is just looking at a single metric which is peak speed, not peak speed over time which equates to lap times. Some gains can also clearly be related to a change in technique (pulling 3rd vs going to 2nd when going through turn 12). Overall. I can’t say for certain the wing put me way ahead of the previous times, but overall it seems based on a few sample areas I was in general traveling faster with the new aero and brakes… so there’s a probable correlation.鈥�

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