Yep, Steve, they are back, baby, and with a vengeance (and thanks, Andy!)
Unfortunately, having been gone from work for several days, I'm a bit behind, but the gist is that the B13 Nissan has a very good chance of success in ITA. My experience this past weekend was very mixed, but extremely promising.
I had a test day Thursday at NHIS, and I was an on- and off-track instructor Friday and Saturday for the SCCA school (plus doing tech, beer, and steak, in that order. Busy!) Sunday was the one-day Regional, with a 10-minute prac/qual, 15-minute qual, and the 20-lap race. I was pole position after the first session, but keep in mind I'd had three days of track time and everyone else was green. Unfortunately, in the second session I bumped a curb on the first lap and pooched the front alignment, so I parked it for the session; I was gridded for the race third behind Richie Hunter in an Integra, Jeremy Sheppard in a 240SX, and two (or more!) Integras right behind me, including Rick Benazic in last year's ARRC winning Acura.
The start was totally awesome. I tucked up under the pole car and watched the starter like a hawk. Matt was on the headset giving me rolling flag calls ("hold, hold, hold, GO, GO, GO, GO!!!) and when that starter moved, so did I. By the time we hit T1 the #33 NX2000 was leading the pack by a car length or more (I hit that start SO PERFECT that several folks accused me - politely of course - of jumping the start. No way, baby, and I got the video to prove it!)
For the first four (or so?) laps I led the field through the course, with the NX showing its torque out of the corners and the Acuras rolling me in at the end of the straights. I think they were better through the corners but I had to run a very defensive line to keep them behind me, giving them a speed advantage. At one point I thought Richie and Rick might start tussling, giving me the opportunity to pull away, but that didn't happen.
Right around L3 I noted my oil and water temps were increasing very quickly. By L4 there was a noticeable softness in the engine and the car wasn't revving as well. Rick got me with a beautiful pass in T9: I had run defensively to hold him back then used my torque advantage up the hill; when I saw him lay back into 6 I knew right then I'd lost 9. Once he'd passed I couldn't keep up and Matt told me to lower my shift points 400 RPM; didn't help, the temps were over 230 by then. By L6 it was obvious I was in trouble so I laid down to finish the race.
During L11 it seemed I'd never make it up the hill and by the time I got to the front straight there was smoke and vibration; I shut it off down the front straight and coasted to a stop before T3 where I watched the rest of the race. Rick Benazic won with a comfortable lead and with Richie (I believe) quickly on trail.
We haven't even begun looking into it, but I suspect it was a combination of too much ignition timing and not enough octane; I bet we holed a piston. We're running a new experimental ECU based on dyno tests on 93 octane. I'm guessing that while it may work for short runs (it worked great for the test and school days), it doesn't work for extended 7000+ RPM runs. Fortunately, I shut the lump down before it tossed any major parts so the engine should be rebuildable.
Regardless, I AM PSYCHED!!! I proved the potential is there, now all we have to do is implement it.
Lots of folks came by to ask what happened and offer condolensces and congrats. One funny thing, someone came by (I'm sorry, I don't remember who) and commented how well such a "new car" is doing. Matt and I had to laugh; yeah, it may be a "new ITA car" but you can't imagine the development we've done over the last three years...all for fun, eh? - GA
