Lisa Devlin's Racing Diary

First Race at the "New" Laguna Seca

by Lisa Devlin

My first race was March 30-31, at Laguna Seca. First things first. I really like the new configuration of Laguna Seca, except for Turn 11 which sucks and not because I got hit there (more on that later). The exit of Turn 9 really hasn't shortened, there just isn't time to grab a light snack before the entrance of Turn 10 like there used to be. You still have room to drift out of 9, then you need to immediately get over to set up for 10.

When I first went through, I was going kind of slow into 9 because I didn't think I'd have the room at the exit. By the end of the practice session, I was going pretty much full throttle through 9 and was taching about 7K (remember this is a Mazda) before braking for 10.

Turn 11 just sucks. There's no exit room, but there's also no wall. Many people tried to use the dirt as the exit, but dirt just doesn't have the grip that pavement has. Some people never really figured this out and continued to use the dirt as an exit, which is how I got hit... but more on that later.

After having no luck finding a truck and trailer to rent for the weekend, we decided to drive to the track early - really early - Saturday am. The car is still street legal (unfortunately) and my practice session wasn't until 9am so it wasn't that bad. I figured that if anything happened we could still rent a one-way truck and trailer and get the car home Sunday or Monday. (If anyone knows of a truck and trailer for sale.... ) We managed to get very lucky and found a spot right alongside the front fence, behind the hot pits, with three other RX7's from San Diego Region SCCA.

Now at school, the car had only been safety prepped. Roll cage and harness, with used tires and a bent strut causing +1 1/4 camber (this is bad) on the left. For this race, all I had done was to replace the strut and put on the coilover kit. So here I am, now with -1/4 camber (better, not great) and really stiff springs in the front and stock mush in the back. Being unable to find two more Yokohama used tires (I'm not putting new rubber on until I get the camber fixed), or four used Toyos, I ended up running with two Yok's in the front and two Toyos in the back I still have the stock cat and I had just gotten the Mazda comp catalog explaining about Grose valves for the carb. Basically, I'm just looking to get to drive at Laguna and get one of my races signed off.

They told me the car would be a bit twitchy.

My first practice lap convinced me that "a bit twitchy" was an understatement. The car would go into the turn understeering and suddenly oversteer. I hoped it was just cold tires. No way. I tried everything. I started by driving exactly right - that didn't work so I tried driving wrong. I'd lift or brake in the middle of a turn, I'd lift and floor it in the middle of a turn. Nothing. I tried throttle steering, but that's when I discovered that the first thing you do to a Mazda that will be driven on the track is to splurge the $7 for the Grose valves. It just wouldn't steer and road racing is just no fun without steering.

A tire check revealed cords in the front right from the oversteer and FIFTY pounds of pressure in the rear! This could be a problem. We put the spare Yokohama on the front, decreased the pressure in the rear and Don played with the camber to try and get more negative.

With the rest of the day to play, I went and worked Timing & Scoring and Don worked the grid. There are benefits to working at one of these things. Besides being a lot of fun, and getting out of the sun I'm learning how timing and scoring (a very important part of racing) works. Plus I got time cards for my qualifying and race sessions. OK enough of a plug for volunteering to work at an SCCA event.

Qualifying was first thing on Sunday. Sunday was hot and the track was slow. I tried to get clear track for qualifying, but I don't think it would matter. The car was handling much better and I actually felt comfortable driving it. The carb still needs to be fixed, but everything else felt OK, not great, OK. I ended up qualifying 33/34. At least I wasn't last. After qualifying everyone was pulled into impound and weighed. A tedious process, but my car came in with 73 pounds to spare.

During the check of the car, Don noticed some oil on the brake backing plate. Nope, no braking problems. Taking everything apart revealed a blown rear axle seal. Fortunately Larry Oka had an extra. Seal fixed, diff filled, brakes bled with 1 1/2 hours to spare.

The race was during the hottest part of the day. I was looking forward to the adrenaline rush at the green flag, but by the time I got around 11 onto the straight, the green flag had been out for a while. So I started racing with the car next to me (34/34). I got him on the green flag (I had the inside line), but he went inside me at Turn 2. I got stuck behind him for about six laps.

It was actually pretty close, I would catch him in the corners just close enough that he'd take the line. I finally took him at Turn 5. I was braking a little later in all the turns and finally had enough room behind him that I went through Turn 4 flat out which pushed me past him (barely) on the straight and I outbraked and took the line from him going into Turn 5. I kept expecting him to catch up so we could play some more, but I never saw him again.

After that was when the leaders started to catch up and the mayhem began. The #s 1, 2, and 3 CRXs came up and tried to push me off the track. Wasn't happening. It seemed like they were getting close enough that I could have reached through the window net with my fingers and opened their door.

Then came the Turn 11 incident. I was finally getting some kind of line through Turn 11, when this idiot in front of me in a red 510 went really wide and into the dirt. I saw him heading back on track right where I was. Too bad, it was my line and since there was a car next to me, I couldn't go anywhere anyway. He came back onto the track into my right rear quarter panel. I heard it more that felt it and the only damage was a wrinkle in the right rear quarter panel and some red paint on my tire - oh, and the rear axle seal leaks again. When I went to impound after the race, no one had even reported it.

While in impound I spoke to the chief Scrutineer and explained the situation with my car. My goal is to build the car to spec for the NASA Pro-7 class. SCCAs RX7 class is based on NASA's Pro-7 class, but without prize money. The NASA rules state that the required modifications are to be made in order to be eligible for NASA Pro-7 prize money. So bottom line is can I move my car into the SCCA RX7 class (no prize money) or do I have to keep it in ITA until I've made enough modifications to move it down? Even a Pro-7 completely modified car couldn't compete in ITA. Bottom line is that, yes, I can move my car into the RX7 class which will be done by the next race.

Speaking of which, my next race would be at Thunderhill May 18-19. This was my last race as a novice at which time I would receive my regional road race license. Oh yeah, my final position... No, I didn't forget. I ended up 31/34. Two cars broke. Next time I'll be in a class with fewer modified cars, which should make me a bit more competitive.

To send a letter to Lisa, email to devlin@thunval.com

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