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I like Blackhawk Farms, it just doesn't seem to like me. Once again I
show up expecting to have a great time only to be disappointed with brake
problems. I only managed to get one nearly full session in before I came
in due to the car smoking a little.
This event was once again sponsored by PCA Chicago Region.
The weather Gods smiled upon us on with sunny skies and temperatures in the
low 80's. Absolutely perfect.
My first, and only session in my car, I was just getting back the feel of the car and getting used to the additional power after the overhaul. I was surprised to find the car didn't feel THAT much faster than before. I don't know what my lap times were like since my receiver wasn't picking up the signal from the transmitter that was out there. Near the end of my session Jeremy caught up to me and signaled to go into the pits. I followed him in and he told me he saw smoke coming out of the back of the car upon braking so I took it straight back to the Midwest Eurosport trailer. Sure enough they found a small oil leak which they attempted to fix. While George was looking at it he noticed my front brakes were still smoking and commented that my pads are a little thin. That's where my problems started. After the car had cooled off I found I had plenty of time before my next session I decided to put on new pads. That's when I found that both outside pistons on both front calipers were stuck!!! No amount of force seemed to get them back in. I tried to unstick them by forcing them out a little more and that just made it worse. I ended up taking off the caliper I was working on and the guys at Midwest Eurosport helped me get it unstuck. I got the car back together and the brakes working but I wouldn't risk taking the car out in that condition. At least the brakes were solid enough to get me home. Fortunately Jason was kind enough to allow me to drive his 993 for my last session. Wow!! That 993 is amazing!! The first thing I noticed is that the 993 felt quite familiar to my '88 911 but it was quite obvious that everything about the car had been dramatically improved in those 9 years. The car had gobs of torque everywhere. Since I was driving someone else's car I only drove it at about 70% of what I thought were the limits. Even then I had to watch my use of the throttle in the sharper corners. The improved suspension was very comfortable yet the car stuck like glue. I didn't have the feeling that I needed to constantly be vigilant of the back end. It felt much more neutral almost as neutral and easy to drive as the Boxster. |
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) A rather lame picture of our cars. |
) Jeremy just stepped up to a trailer. He's my here. |
) The tech line went a little smoother than before due to new procedures. |
) Pete, our illustrious leader, going over the rules for the day. |
) Once again a nice turnout for a Wednesday. |
) The Eurosport trailer, where my car spent way too much of the day. |
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One thing about Blackhawk events is that more than the fair share of "exotic" cars show up. You don't really see them that often at Gingerman or even at Road America. This time we were graced with the presence of two 996 Twin-Turbos, a Lotus Esprit of some sort as well as a Ferrari 348. |
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) Here's the first 996tt parked at the Eurosport trailer. |
) Hey, you can actually see the motor in these cars. |
) There's a car that could benefit from some lowering. |
) It's an older car but still looks good. |
) And a good looking motor too. |
) Typical Ferrari interior. |
) Looks even better moving. |
) The Lotus definitely had the best looking paint job. |
) It even has a trunk! |
) I always loved the sleek lines of the Esprit. |
) Look how much lower it is than the 911 behind it. |
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Jason and Jeremy were competetive as always. Jeremy trailered his car for the first time and also switched to Hoosiers for the first time. He found that it's taking some getting used to and he only improved his best lap time by about 1 second. I'm pretty sure Jason improved at least a second as well. Jeremy was also sporting cool new ductwork on the front of his car. |
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) Jason going through turn 4. |
) Jeremy following a 951 through turn 4. |
) Jeremy about to pass Jason in turn 5. |
) Hitting the apex at turn 4. |
) And Jason in turn 5. |
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And finally a bunch of random pictures of cars at the event. I don't know all of these people so drop me a line and say hi if one of these cars is yours. |
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) I took most of the pictures in turn 4. |
) I've seen this 356 at several Blackhawk events now. |
) Kevin in his 930 slant nose. |
) I love this color scheme. |
) A nice 968. |
) Even a 911 Speedster! |
) I think this is Stephen in his Boxster. |
) I think this is Todd in his RS America. |
) Even an S2000. Someone needs to make a better sounding exhaust for these cars. |
) Some other 911. |
) And another one. |
) I'm pretty sure this is Kurt. |
) A really fast 996 cabriolet. |
) That's Michael's very fast 993 gaining on a 996 cab. |
) YA9 - Yet another 911. |
) Another shot of that fast 993. |
) A final shot of Jason trying to stay ahead of some very fast cars. |
) And I'll finish off with a shot of that 996 twin-turbo. |
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