[jjaisli]

Track: NJMSP - Thunderbolt Circuit
Event: NASA NE; HPDE 2
Date: Oct 17/18, 2015
Car: 2013 Scion FR-S
Modifications: Dunlop ZII, 215/45, Hawk Street-Race Pads, Motul 600F brake fluid, Eibach sport springs, TRD Exhaust and Open Flash UEL header, Oil cooler

This was my second time at Thunderbolt. But last year I came down with the flu the night before and only ran two sessions before coming to the sad conclusion that I just shouldn't be out there at all. So this year was almost starting out completely green. And the conditions didn't help. It was in the high 30s on Friday night and while it did climb up into the high 40s on Saturday, the sun was playing behind the clouds all day and when it went in, the track temperature dropped and the grip just went away.

Indeed, I was having a terrible time on Saturday finding grip and getting the tires up to pressure. During the 3rd session the sun stayed behind the clouds and after getting held up a bit, I came off and was exasperated to find hot pressures of only about 32/33 PSI.

As such, my lines, and throttle application were over-cautious and I just had a terrible time trying to find a rhythm. Two steps forward, one step back sort of situation. And let's face it, the whole Octopus complex, everybody hates it--easy to lose time, hard to find any. I tried a number of different approaches and I just wasn't sure what was working. And the inconsistent grip level made it tough.

The video below is Day 2, session 1, once again with an instructor in the car. "Paul" was a huge help. What's more, while it was still bitterly cold, the sun was shinning brightly and consistently and as the session wore on, I was surprised and happy to find that I had more grip than I seemed to have in any of my Saturday sessions. As such, as this session wore on, my confidence began to grow and I started digging a bit deeper.

The following session was better still with a FL about 2 seconds faster and 3 laps strung together within 1/2 a second. Naturally, my GoPro ran out of power in the staging area and while I was screwing around with the GoPro App, Harry's Lap Timer froze on me. LOL Talk about timing. It recorded telemetry but no video. So the smoothest, fastest and most consistent laps I ran all weekend weren't recorded. But I think the video below is a good example of how quality coaching and improving conditions can really change a weekend around for the better!

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsHiB5ZAClw"]NASA Thunderbolt HPDE2 Session: Scion FR-S with Instructor... - YouTube[/ame]

You can watch from the beginning but I suggest you start at the 4:45 min mark (first lap after the double yellows went away).

My FL of the weekend was a 1:40.5. I'm guessing if the temperatures weren't stuck in the high 40s I would have gotten below 1:40. And the stock sized tires and 7 inch rims crippled me in the Octopus where I really suffered with understeer. That will change next year.