We had our first event in the Bluebird a week or so ago. The event was a 6 hour race, however it was a regularity style event which meant there was a minimum laptime to stick to. It's more for young drivers to get confidence behind the wheel but we were itching to get the bluebird out there so we entered. Plus 2 of the drivers on our team have no racing experience so it was good for them to get used to driving on track.
So first up we put Ben in the car. Ben has a lot of racing experience - was national Karting champion and placed second last year in the Australian Legends series - so he can definitely pedal a car. The minimum laptime for the event was a 1:12.0. Ben went out and within 3 laps had already posted a 1:10 laptime, so we cop a warning.
Anyway he comes in and Brent goes out. Now Brent has been driving fast cars for a while but not much track experience and he puts in some pretty consistent times of around the 1:14 mark. He comes in, and Sean goes out. The fastest car Sean has ever driven is a Landcruiser and the only time he's driven on track was our test day so it takes him a little longer to get up to speed, but he's improving consistently.
Now it's my turn in the car. I go out do a couple of laps to feel the car then I put down a reasonably fast lap - 1:08 something. Now we have our final warning for breaking laptime.
So anyway I come back in the we spend the next few hours trying to do it properly - Brent and Sean were improving trying to get to that 1:12, Ben and I were learning how to stick to a 1:12 - I was doing it by being off throttle from the exit of Eastern Loop all the way down to about 100m on to the main straight. Was quite frustrating and we both broke the laptime a fair few more times and because we'd already received our warnings, we were having to come in to pits and serve time penalties. There were a few other cars there always in the pits for the same reason - it was a fun event so the organisers were pretty cool and understanding about it, it wasn't a big deal and they were laughing as we kept coming in.
Anyway, during this time I was keeping an eye on the live timing and some of the cars were starting to realise they were out of the running too so were trying to just do fast laps. A few were getting close, but my time still stood, until a Focus went a tenth quicker. By now Ben and I were bored and the competitive nature between us was coming out. We sent Ben out to beat that guy, just go all out and take the penalty. So he goess out and does a 1:07.9. Comes in again, wasn't happy with the lap, serves penalty and gives it one more crack. 1:07.3. Now he's done, and we've comfortably got the fastest time again.
So Brent and Sean go out again for their final runs. Brent manages to drop below the laptime with a 1:10 so he has to serve a penalty, and Sean gets down to a 1:12 so we are thrilled with his progress.
Last 30 mins of the event and I want to beat Ben's time. So I strap in and do a few laps to build a large gap to the cars ahead. Drop the hammer, but turn 1 I mess up a little and when I cross the line it's a 1:07.6. So I come in and serve my last penalty. Now theres only 15mins left. I go out one last time. Build a gap, go for it, but catch up to traffic near the end. Slow down, make sure I don't break 1:12. Build the gap.
It's actually quite difficult as it's a small track, so slowing down from the cars in front, you end up getting passed so then there is another car in front of you. There were about 5 cars on track that were doing the same as me, trying to get that fastest laptime at the end of the day. Anway, it all worked out and on my final lap I managed to have a clear run and popped out a 1:07.0. Nearly got a 6, but was still happy as it was fastest outright of the day and there were some decent cars there - Subaru WRX, Honda Integra, Ford Focus, all quite well prepared and all trying to get laps below the minimum. Our Bluebird though had a 1-2s margin on all of them
Super impressed with the car, it felt great, didn't skip a beat and now we are really looking forward to a full 24h of Lemons race! I think we'll be strong.