After the successful test at Sanair last week, I expected smooth sailing at ICAR and I was not disappointed. I got the bracelet for my usual green group, and I headed a bit after 6pm for my first session. I was by far the slowest car out there and it was hard to get a clean lap at first. I had rode passenger with JS Labelle three weeks prior in his modified Civic of the same generation, and he had managed a 1:19 with me in the car. I hoped I could get close to that, maybe hit the 1:20's. The car felt good. After a couple of laps in the 1:24's, then some 1:23's, I hit the 1:22's for the last two laps, with a 1:22.18 as my best lap. It was not clear whether I should be in 2nd or 3rd gear for the long hairpin before the right-hander leading onto the front straight. In my best lap, I left it in 3rd, so I guess that's the way to go... when in doubt, use the higher gear, right? Also, I never got really comfortable in the chicane, and my minimum speed there (87 km/h) was 10 km/h slower than the best laps in my old car. My minimum speeds in most other corners were not too far off the old car, sometimes only 1 km/h slower. So there is time to shave off. I think my goal with this car should be a 1:20.
I switched to the yellow group, hoping to mix it up more with the traffic, but even the cars that looked like they would be slow (old Corolla, Mazda 2) were faster than me. Still, I was just glad to be out there doing laps. The 2001 Civic is not a horrible track car...mine only has coilovers and tires and it's quite fun. I was not jealous of the other cars, since I was finally in a reliable car that could click off a bunch of laps with no issues. The engine uses no oil whatsoever, the fuel economy is remarkable (I used half a tank in three sessions) and the car can run on 87-octane. The biggest issue now, and really the only modification I hope to make to the car, is the driver's seat. I think the over all track driving experience will be greatly improved with a race bucket seat. Maybe I'll find a cheap used one over the winter.
I went out for a third session in total darkness and I was 4 seconds slower per lap. I don't know the track well enough to go fast in the dark, and, driver excuse, my headlights are fairly useless in the darkest sessions. After my last session, I headed over to Yannick Lupien's place in Mascouche to pick up some more used tires from his SPC race Mini. He gave me 5 tires for 100$! If the black Civic is ready soon, there will be enough tires to run both cars at once.
I'm just happy that the car seems to be fully reliable. It makes me feel better about the big expense (relatively big, considering the cost of the car) of replacing the engine. I'll be heading to Tremblant to instruct this weekend. Last time I was there, I had the gold Civic and it overheated constantly. Hopefully I'll get in a few good sessions!
I made a short video of my best laps.
And here are some photos:
This mild-looking Corolla was way faster than me
Hoods up, everyone
Beautiful FD RX7, don't think it finished its session though.
Really nice GTR
ICAR's own 911 GT3 RS's, 992 and 991
These three German cars were parked in front of my spot
No comments:
Post a Comment