Engine Rebuild/Turbo on track

Rapidly trying to get my engine together and stuffed back into the car for club race coming up September 30 - October 2. It's gonna be very close but so far things are going very well. I'm optimistic. Not too many surprises and most have been easily (and quickly) handled...so far. I owe most, if not all of this to my good friend and mechanic who knows these little motors, and this car specifically, better than most know their significant others...including myself.

Drove that 2011 911 Turbo with a PDK at the track last week. All I can say is "WOW!" That is one fast automobile. The PDK is amazing. Unbelieveably quick upshifting and downshifting - with engine blips done automatically for you on downshifts. Very stable. I did not drive the car without PSM(traction control) on, simply because that's the very first time I have driven a 911 turbo on a race track, and, it wasn't my car! Don't want to think about what happens if I put it in a wall or something. Final best lap time - 1:20.4 - fastest lap I have ever turned at Hallett and that was in the first session I was in the car. I also ran a 1:20.7 with student (250lb) in the passenger seat the next session. Might have been a 1:19...maybe. Anyhow, was great fun and I highly recommend it should anyone ever get the chance.

Woohoo! My ship came in..

After what seems like an eternity, I have finally received my apparently very rare crankshaft. My understanding is that it came with a shipment of just 49 other crankshafts, so there's really not too many. So get them while they're hot, if you need one. As it stands now I have about 2 weeks to have the motor put back together for upcoming Oktoberfast club race. It's gonna be close. Today, I am going to possibly have the rare privilege of instructing a driver with a 2011 911 turbo. Should be fun... and very fast.

Nothings easy...

I am currently frantically looking for a new crankshaft. Looking for a Porsche Type 4 crankshaft, 78mm stroke with 2-liter journals. Anyone who might have a line on one of these, please, please, please, let me know.

Engine failure update

Well, finally got the motor out and have ascertained the problem.
It appears that my crankshaft, in a motor with less than 500 miles on it, broke in half!

One half:

The other half:

TWS Best Session

Thought I would at least post my best session on TWS. Since I had not been there before, it's pretty obvious I still had a lot to learn about this track. Also was running street tires at this point as well. Just trying to use them up a little as they are already 2 or 3 years old.

I was very impressed with the performance on my GoPro HD Motorsports Camera. It's the in-car video to have right now.

Weekend bummer

Well, the weekend didn't really work out as well as I had hoped. But, that's racing. Sorry to just now be posting something too. I wanted to post while I was down there racing but I spent more time under the car then in it...not my favorite kind of driving event.

I only got 3 full sessions on track before my motor gave up and I ended up having to park the car for the weekend. Very disappointing. While I was on track though, I did show improvement in every session and learned quite a bit. TWS is a very fast track and as close as I have been to top end in my car before on track. And turn 1 can be quite exciting. Guess I will have to look forward to next year there.

In the meantime, it's back to the shop for the car. Still don't know exactly what happened but I imagine I am going to find out in the next few days.

I am going to shoot for having a car ready for the August race at High Plains Raceway. At least that's going to be the plan. We will just have to see how things go. More to come...

On my way...

Starting to get pretty excited about the race. Plan on leaving for TWS around 9 or 10 tomorrow morning. Have been studying the track quite a bit and feel like I know it a little. Hopefully the day of test & tune will pay off for the weekend.

For those of you who have an interest in high performance driving and are thinking about attending an event, I recommend/offer a CD-ROM that can help prepare you for just such an event. You'll learn about terminology, flags, vehicle dynamics and more. This CD can make your first event much more enjoyable, and productive event! After studying the CD, you should be able to arrive at the track with all the tools you'll need to start your high performance driving career.

Check it out at http://www.hpdguide.com

Two weeks out

Two weeks from the TWS race - car goes to Rennsport this week for a quick look over, a little maintenance and hopefully installing a mounting point or two in the car for the GoPro HD Hero camera. Drove it a couple of days ago and ran well, so should be in good shape I think.

Decided I probably needed to run the test and tune day, on March 17th, since I haven't been to the track before. Hopefully it will make me that much more prepared for the race weekend.

First race 2011

Getting ready for my first race of 2011. Getting my alignment issue resolved and prepping the car for the event and year. I am a little apprehensive about this race. It will be held at TWS (Texas World Speedway), a place I have never been and will be the first super speedway I will have driven. I am wondering how the 914 will do? Is the track too high speed for my low hp car? Will there be anyone I can race with? We'll see in about a month, March 18-20.

Winter Reading

Just finished reading The Art of Racing In The Rain by Garth Stein.
It's Sad, even very sad at times, and really isn't about racing. It's about life, and relationships, and adversity, and persistence and determination. Well worth the read, especially if you are a racer. Life it seems is a lot like racing. See for yourself - get it and read it. Your car goes where your eyes go.