It's rare that I am ready to roll right at the beginning of the track season and it's also quite rare that there are even any opportunities to hit the track before May, but somehow, it all worked out this year. ICAR decided to begin the season of evening lapping on April 23rd, and I really wanted to attend, since my Civic has been sitting in the driveway, pretty much ready to go, for about a month.
The forecast was calling for rain at some point in the evening but I hoped I could get in some laps on a dry track. I loaded up the car and headed north in the early afternoon, stopping at Perry Performance to pick up some new axles and some oil for the M3. I arrived at the track a bit after 4:30 pm and prepared the car (unload my junk, drop tire pressures, add a drop of oil, install the camera and external GPS unit, place the harnesses). The 5:00 pm session was for the beginner group, but the second session was to be intermediate (advanced drivers can run in intermediate too). Carl dropped by and we chatted a bit. He asked what I had done to the Civic over the winter, to which I answered "absolutely nothing". Still, I saw no reason why the car should not be reliable. I just hoped the tires still had some grip left in them.
There were not that many cars, fewer than 10 in my group. I headed out behind an Audi TT-RS and there was a vintage Corvette behind me. As I headed, I was taking it easy. My best lap last year was a 1:14.7, so I was hoping to be in the 1:16's at some point. The car felt fine, although I went into the chicane too fast on my first lap, and understeered badly. I was slowly building speed and it took me until lap 9 to go under 1:18. My best lap was my 10th one, a 1:16.91. I never caught the TT, and I think the only car that caught me was a Cayman GT-4. I was mostly alone out there. I knew I was not driving in an optimal way and that there was clearly time to be gained. As I came in at the end of the session, Carl came by and told me I should go straight out again in the advanced group. I had already unbuckled my harness and shut off my camera and timing app, but I realized he was right, so I got ready again and headed straight back out.
I was pretty much alone out there. Still, it was nice not to have to warm up the tires again. The car felt good, I felt I could lean on it more and more. I was in the 1:15's after 3 laps and in all, I managed 4 laps in the 1:15's out of 12. It was still not clear to me whether I should be downshifting to 3rd gear for the chicane. Also, for some reason I was tapping the brakes after the chicane, before the fast right-hander, when I was only lifting last year. Still, I was doing well in some sectors, with a new personal best top speed of 136 km/h before the chicane. I was also flat on the gas in 4th through the little left-hand kink before the first hairpin. I realized that if I set the steering wheel at the correct angle, it's very easy to get hard on the gas through that little corner. Although there were not really any other cars to chase, it was a solid session. I could tell I was a little rusty, but I was only 0.8 seconds off my best time from last year. I think that if I drive well, I should be able to go quicker. I don't know why I didn't stick around for more sessions... maybe because it really looked like it was going to rain. Anyway, I think that next time, I will try to take a look at the data between sessions to see if there are any areas where I am not quite up to my usual speed.
I know I sound like a broken record, but when I drive the Civic back home on the road, usually stopping to run an errand or get a snack, I'm astounded that it's still just a car, and despite being quite quick on track, it can still be driven around on the street like a normal car. I know it's modified, but there are no fancy parts on the car... the coilovers are the ones that came with the car, and they are not anywhere near "high end" components. The tires were bought used for 50$ each. The one expensive item was the roll bar, but it's a safety item and is really well made (and custom-made). The engine was a bit complicated to install, but it would cost less than 1500 $ to replace. All in all, I am still really happy with the Civic as a budget track car that is not slow.
Here is a video including my best lap of the evening:
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