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All posts for the month July, 2012

Formula Drift Seattle!

Posted by tygrracing on July 31, 2012
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Formula Drift Seattle is always the biggest event of the year for the PNW. We wait all year for it and camp at the speedway Wednesday through Sunday.

This year was a little different from years past because it was my first time driving the car all year. This both added stress and took some away because I wasn’t sure how the new setup was going to feel, but at the same time I could just drive and have fun because so far this year I have no championship points.

Thursday was the first practice day for the Pro-Am drivers. We set out to get a good feel for the car and the track because when Formula D comes to town barriers are added to both protect the media guys and keep the drivers on top of their game.  Our practice went well, and within a few laps I was feeling good in the car again and ready for Friday qualifying.

Friday showed what us Washington drivers are used to, insane amounts of rain in the morning. So much rain that our morning practice actually got cancelled. By the time our qualifying rolled around at 6pm, the track was dry. Because we got no practice Formula Drift officials let us each take two practice runs before our two qualifying runs. It wasn’t an ideal situation but under the circumstances it was more than fair.

My two practice runs went well and got me reacquainted with the track. My first qualifying run wasn’t so good. I dropped tires off course coming off the bank and got a very low score of 38. I wasn’t too worried about it because I knew I had a second run and was confident I would score well enough to qualify at least mid-pack.

When I was next in line for run #2, I did a small burn out to get some heat back in the tires and then pulled up to the line. Right before I was about the get the green light track officials started yelling and giving me the “shut it down” signal. I shut the car off and coasted down to a grassy part of the track, only to find out my motor had pushed a soft plug out of the block, and all of the water had drained from the motor in about 30 seconds.  Just like that qualifying run #2 was out the window and now I had to rely on a very underwhelming 38-point run to get me into the main event on Saturday.

Immediately after qualifying was a drivers meeting to announce who made it and where they placed. I left the car with my crew and headed over to the meeting, knowing we could have the car fixed overnight and be good for Saturday as long as I qualified.  At the meeting the judges announced the scores, and unfortunately for us we missed making the field by a single point.

I sat through the entire meeting then made my way back to the pits to break the unfortunate news to my crew, who actually had the car fixed and ready to go by the time I got back just incase we made it.

While we obviously were hoping for a much better outcome, we still had a lot of fun and enjoyed watching both the pro and pro-am cars run the main competition on Saturday. This whole season has been incredibly full of struggles, but sometimes that’s part of the game and we are already looking ahead to next season.

Evergreen Drift Round 3

Posted by tygrracing on July 6, 2012
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After a long wait, we had the car ready and were excited to attend the third round of the Evergreen Drift Pro-Am championship after missing the first two due to a major mechanical failure that resulted in needing a whole new motor.

When we got to the track, we unloaded and went through the normal preseason tech inspection because we hadn’t yet done so. The car passed with no issue and I used the time before the drivers meeting to walk around the pits and see all of the people I had been missing during my time away from the track. Drifting really is like a big family, and it was nice to finally be back among the people I’m used to seeing almost every weekend.

After the drivers meeting, I suited up and took the car out to the back section of the track to warm everything up and just get reacquainted with the car because I haven’t driven it as much as I normally do, and with all the changes things were bound to feel slightly different.

I did a few pulls, a couple doughnuts and a burnout to scuff in some new tires. I was very happy with how to car felt, and decided to go back to my pit and wait for practice to start.

When I pulled into my pit space, we noticed the car was smoking very badly from the exhaust. I immediately shut the car down and we inspected things to try and figure out the problem. A slight amount of oil was coming out of the valve cover breather due to an improperly routed catch can. With the can rerouted we started the car again, and the smoke was still there.  Finally we realized that during my little warm up our turbo had let go and oil was making its way past the seals into the exhaust, causing all of our smoke. We had been suspect of our turbo for some time, but the smoke was never bad enough to warrant a replacement until now.

Monday morning we disassembled the old turbo and confirmed what we already knew. The housing was covered and oil and everything was a mess. Instead of a rebuild, we wanted to go with a whole new turbo setup in the hopes of finding better spool time with the same amount of total power.

 

We ended up choosing a Bullseye Power S252 turbo complete with the Batmowheel upgrade. On paper this turbo will spool faster then our old setup, and make the same or more top end power.

With the turbo installed, I called down to John Reed and setup another dyno appointment to dial in our newest setup. Our appointment is June 12th, and right after that we head to Formula Drift Seattle to compete in the Evergreen Drift Pro-Am round 4 that is held alongside FD.

With any luck, everything will finally come together and ill be able to put on a good show for the crowd, and all my partners that will be in attendance at Formula Drift.