2021 recap: taste of attacking time.
For the 2021 season, I committed to doing my first full season in some local time attack events in addition to the regular HPDE track days. Time Attack , also called Time Trials, are a form of motorsports where you compete for the best lap time. The two series that had my interest were 86cup and TRD Series .
86Cup is a single make time attack series for the FRS/86/BRZ chassis. What I really enjoy about this series is that it allows you to easily assess where you are as a driver. You can directly compare your lap times to others in the same car with similar mod levels, and many times even the same tire. I frequently use 86cup as a benchmark when I was first starting out. TRD Series on the other hand is a time attack series for all vehicles made by Toyota (Scion, and Lexus included). Both series use a points system to class the cars.
I decided I was going to keep things simple (and cheap), and enter in the 86Cup ‘Stock’ class while at the same time compete in the Enthusiast Class in TRD Series. I knew I was leaving points on the table for TRD Series because the enthusiast class allowed light modifications such as one-way coilovers and sway bars, however I wanted to see how competitive I could be with essentially a stock car, with some decent tires.
Up the hill to turn 12 at Streets of Willow CCW.
86Cup: The first event of the year kicked off at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA. This is not a track I frequent, and would be the first time on GT Radial SX2 tires (basically the spec tire for the series). Utilizing the roval configuration, this is a high speed track with NASCAR oval at turns 1 and 2, and heavy brake zones through out. After only one session, I had an abnormal noise which ended up being failed sway bar bushings. This ended my day early since I didn’t want to risk it on the big oval. I got P5 for the day with a best of 2:07.
The second round took place at a track that has become essentially my home track - Streets of Willow Springs International Raceway. This event was really the first time I got to push the SX2 tires a bit more. I ended up with a 1:30.8, good enough for P2. I was able to nearly match my previous best time, but in a much slower tire. So I was quite happy with my progress. I understood now why some coaches recommend driving on “slower” tires first. They allow you to approach the limit but at lower speeds (safer). The idea is to spend as much time at the limit as you can. Once you are comfortable living there with one type of tire, you’re more likely to be comfortable living there with a stickier tire. This was a nice light bulb moment for me. More on this later (when I went back to a stickier tire).
Round 3 was also at Willow Springs again, however this time we were at the big track - Big Willow - “The fastest road in the west”. This track has a high average speed, and one of the most intimidating fast corners at T8 to T9. Only having been there one other time, I didn’t have much seat time at this track. Best I could muster for the day was a 1:42.3, good enough for P2, but still over a second adrift from the first place time of that day. I really want to concentrate more on this track in the future as I quite enjoyed it.
Round 3 of 86Cup at Big Willow, February 2021.
I did not do another 86Cup event until Round 10 in late October because of scheduling conflicts, however I switched lanes and decided I was going to commit to TRD Series. It better matched my schedule, and had less rounds than 86Cup (6 rounds vs 12 rounds), making it easier to commit and plan for.
Read the recap of my season doing TRD Series in my next post.
Fast In, Fast Out. Have fun guys.