"Mr. Toad" at Laguna Seca (November 2020)"Mr. Toad" at Laguna Seca (November 2020)
 Stuffed on Thanksgiving, but not a turkey |
 Basking in Black Friday's morning sun with new friends |
 Tech ok and purple (2nd of 4) run group |
 Otter and me, ready to roll |
 Ben drove this wicked-fast GT4 Shelby |
 A Polaris Slingshot tricycle |
 Funky Shelby lights |
 This 2017 Shelby Mustang GT350 awaited a ride home after it blew an oil filter and oiled the track |
Late afternoon sun, then moonrise over the paddock |
I had what seemed like a good temporary patch in the form of modest brake updates, possibly aided by relatively cool ambient air temperatures, but once again brakes proved to be my nemesis.
My best lap ended up being lap 7 of the morning's second and last session, a lap time of 1:55.953 which fell over 0.1 second short of my best lap time in August. Two laps later, I set a new personal record of 109.7 mph in Turn 1 but braked a bit harder and went through Turn 2 at only 41.7 mph versus 43.4 mph in my fastest lap.
Beyond that there was considerable inconsistency between the two laps, far more than I'd like, but with the brake issues messing up times I didn't study the differences in detail.
 Best lap of the day |
 109.7 mph in Turn 1! |
My winter plans include a Big Brake Kit (BBK), with cooling ducts replacing the factory-installed fog lights, but in advance of that I thought some minor upgrades in the form of upgraded front brake pads (from G-LOC R12 to R16—the photograph at right compares a new R16 pad to a badly worn R12 pad) and higher-temperature brake fluid (from Motul RBF 600 to 660) might be a barely adequate stopgap for one last day at Laguna Seca.
It seemed like a good plan but whilst checking tire pressures after the first session I heard a familiar plink and looked over to see a wheel weight on the ground (see red highlight in photograph below) that had melted off the right front wheel, similar to what happened in August. Even that one session, with an ambient temperature of 60°F, generated enough tire and brake heat to increase front tire pressure by 10-11 PSI.
Then, during the second session I started to feel brake fade from boiled brake fluid, despite Motul RBF 660 being rated to a minimum of 328 C (622°F).
The third and last session of the morning ended up being cancelled after a guy parked near me lost the oil filter on his 2017 Shelby Mustang GT350, oiling the track and destroying his engine.
Tires again took a beating. The photographs below are of the rear tires a few days later. The left one looks particularly nasty though much of the ugly appears to be other peoples' rubber (OPR) picked up on the track.
Coming soon ...
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Copyright © 2020-2021 Karl L. Swartz. All rights reserved. |
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