While perhaps not as exciting to the reader, the 370Z was drama free and reliable the entire weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This allowed me to continue to focus on improving as a driver and getting more comfortable in the car. Having other experienced and talented drivers as part of the team is also an enormous benefit as I can always pick their brains on what areas I should focus on improving or suggestions on a faster racing line.
The weekend started as the others have, arriving to yet another track I've never driven and spending the first session or two just trying to figure out where the course goes. The Las Vegas Motorsport Park track we were on was quite different from the last track I drove in New Jersey. The lush green run off areas and flowing lines of sight had been replaced with desert tans and browns, everywhere blurring the line between what was track and what was gravel. One portion of the track, that was actually one of the higher speed sections, had gravel run off that concluded with an industrial park. Only a chain link fence served as the last ditch attempt to keep you from becoming someone's lobby ornament should you choose to do something silly in that corner. Fortunately, the gravel trap proved to be very effective at stopping cars, as a few people found out first hand. Thankfully, I was not one of them.
Overall the LVMS course proved to be enjoyable for me. I cannot wax and wane about how technical it was because, let’s face it, I'm a complete novice. Every track thus far has been technical and challenging for me. However, this was the first weekend that I actually felt some degree of enjoyment, or perhaps a better word is calmness, while on track. I felt less like I was trying to catch up to what the car was doing, and more on placing the car at its limits and feeling comfortable knowing how it would react. Having a predictable car to drive is a great way to build driver confidence, and the AST coilovers and Whiteline/Robispec front sway bar has contributed enormously to doing just that. Power delivery was also consistent and extremely smooth all weekend long as the AccessPORT Stage 2 maps continue to be evaluated and refined before their eventual public release. And while I'm enjoying the added power and torque out of corners, the stock rear LSD is not sharing in the same enthusiasm. It's continuing to struggle to evenly distribute drive to the rear wheels out of corners. Perhaps that'll be something we look to address for the future, though most room for improvement on track is still in the driver.
On Sunday, the day of the actual Time Attack, I was able to further drop my times during practice. The previous afternoon I had reviewed video with Brian Lock, comparing it to some laps he took in the car the same day, to help me see where I might gain some time. I also discussed some additional improvements with Billy Brooks, who has been lending his years of driving and setup expertise. The net sum was knocking a couple of seconds off my prior times down into the 1:59.x range. By the time the actual competition rounds started, track temps had climbed a bit and in my first session, I was a bit sloppy. I was sliding through a few sections more than before, not able to drive off the corners as aggressively as in the morning, and so on. Basically, I felt like I was over-driving the car, which in part was likely true but ultimately I wasn't able to repeat my best times from morning practice.
For the second and final session of the day, the wind had picked up and track temperatures dropped. I went out again trying to consciously not over-drive the car and staying as smooth as possible with my inputs. In practice I'd learned that while I was completely comfortable sliding the car around and making exciting on-board video, my times were slower when I did so. Smooth and clean was proving to be faster, so I focused on just hitting my lines, braking points and not being too aggressive with throttle out of corners. Lap by lap I was able to drive down my lap times and ended up with a 2:00.9 result; a full second off my time from earlier in the day, but enough to secure a 3rd place finish and my first podium.