It is an old EMRA ST1 '86 Mazda RX-7 Turbo. It isn't pretty in any way, but it sure moves nicely around the turns at Lime Rock. I like to think the poor paintwork and body damage adds to its character. I may fix it. I may not. It is very stiff, yet comfortable to drive hard. It is nuetral which helps to make it easy to drive. Without question it is a momentum car as it has very little power compared to the GT3.

I drove the car for the 1st time Thursday (4/10/08) at Lime Rock Park with SCDA. I hadn't even got it out of 1st gear prior to getting it on track. Because of that, I started on a very old and abused set of Hoosier H6's. I was expecting to lockup the brakes to find the limits and get comfortable with the car. My expectations were true. I locked up 3 times in the left hander, but did not flat spot the tires. I also had many troubles with the motor stumbling. It had trouble throughout the entire rpm range. I later realized the engine was not warm enough to work properly. I used that first session just to get familiar with the car. Even a stock Miata was quicker than me.

I continued on the used and abused Hoosiers for the 2nd session. Before the session started I warmed the motor to 185 before going out and drove harder. This kept the temps up, but it still stumbled a bit. I also fixed the angle of the lap timer and found my best lap was a 1.07.0. This isn't really all that fast, but I was pleased considering the car is new to me, the motor has a miss, and the tires are stones.

I changed to a new set of Toyo R888 (unshaved) for the 3rd session. I had no lockups in session 2 so I felt comfortable I would not ruin a set of tires right away. I immediately noticed a difference with the fresh rubber. It was certainly stickier and faster than the old Hoosiers, but the large tread blocks made the car squirm. Since this is a track only car, I should have had them shaved. The car would be quicker that way. It really doesn't matter though, I need to learn my race/driving craft so the speed isn't really all that important. Car control, comfort, and experience is what I really need now. The lap timer didn't work. Someone knocked it off the wall. I need to buy a tri-pod.

Session 4 was by far my best although it wasn't without issue. The motor started to clear itself and only stumbled in 4th below 5000 RPM. I was shifting a lot more this session and an issue developed with the clutch. With more shifting, my heel/toe downshifts were improving too. I only missed 1 at the approach to big bend. That created an interesting sideways moment. It was easy to catch. To my surprise, it felt like a video game. My 997 GT3 doesn't feel that way. The lap timer was working this session and my best was a 1:05.3. It felt good picking off cars with 400+ hp with my 200 hp ugly duckling. It all made sense when I caught and passed a 997 GT3.

Bottom line, I was able to turn 65.3 around LRP in lieu of motor and clutch issues. I had a fantastic time driving around the track with my buddies. I learned a lot about the car and what a real race car should feel like. I'll work out the kinks and get on track again in a few weeks. The clutch slave needs to be bled/replaced and the TPS probably needs to be replaced. With the 2 issues solved I would easily be into the 64's.

I'll have to tighten the belts a bit to get to 61's where I need to be to be competitive in top 5 in NASA and SCCA club racing. The guys running SCCA ITS with normally aspirated motors are making more power than my untuned turbo motor.

My plan is to get seat time and experience at a number of tracks this year and then go racing in NASA ST2 next year.