build diary

July 9, 2006: The Seven is a great track car, but it's not a good wet weather car.
With absolutely no weather protection, I certainly think twice about heading for the track when the weather is poor. After looking at the forecast, I prepared both the Seven and the Mini just in case. This morning, that proved to be a pretty good plan. The skies were nasty looking. I headed for the track with the Mini and about a half hour before we started, it started pouring. It was my first experience on the track with a front wheel drive, and I have to admit it was my first adventure on track in the wet. So it was a learning experience as you might imagine. You can read about the Mini adventures on its own web site. Given the constant precipitation, I didn't really regret bringing the car with a roof! Well, maybe a little as I watched my friends slide their rear-wheel-drive cars around.

After lunch, it looked as if the skies were clearing. The sun came out and it got truly hot. So I scooted home between run groups to grab a more orange car. It might only be a large kart track, but it's also only 10 minutes from my house! When I lined up for my first session, we'd decided to run the track backwards to give it a try. So no new lap records (much to the chagrin of a certain high-horsepower Evo 8 who had plans but never got within 3 seconds of my time) but a new challenge.

First off, the Seven shocked me after driving the Mini. That car is pretty quick, responsive and full of character. But it's nowhere near as aggressive as the Seven is. It's apparently been too long since I've had the chance to really stretch its legs. By the time I was going in to the second turn, I was starting to recalibrate myself for the acceleration, braking and grip of the orange car. Holy cow, it's a ferocious thing.

The track is huge fun in the opposite direction. The back "straight" is normally uphill and has a couple of little kinks in it. Going backwards, a faster entry and the assistance of gravity turns it into a very fast sweeper that keeps changing radius. It was all I could do to keep my foot flat to the floor until my braking point, and I don't know if I ever actually managed. There's one short straight section at the end which was just long enough for the Seven to brake hard and get slowed for the tight corner at the end, and the brakes were very reassuring and effective through here. I suspect it would be a lot less comfortable in a heavier car and I was taking full advantage of this ability. I had a hard time getting a clean lap going because the Seven was going drastically faster than everyone else, but I ended up with a 1:04.432 on my first fast lap. Technically that's a lap record because it's the first time cars have been timed this direction. Since the karts usually go a second slower in this direction, that puts my right on my usual pace. Nobody else broke 1:10. I hope we get to run the track this way more often. It's more entertaining and more challenging.

One of the most enjoyable parts of the day in the Seven was the last lap. My girlfriend Janel was driving her supercharged Miata out in front of me and I ran right up on her in the Seven. Now, usually I try to be nice to others on the track, but I was feeling mischievious. I locked on to her back bumper and hassled her for the whole lap. A year ago, she would have been flustered, distracted and nervous from having such a fast car so close behind her. Instead, she responded by driving harder and really working her car around the corners. When we pulled into the pits, we were both laughing. It's good to see her having fun on the track!

As soon as we were done that session, we threw everything in the cars and bolted - there was a massive rainstorm coming in across the desert. I made it into the garage just as the first drops started to fall. Phew.

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