haudy!
Just returned after a looong race weekend (I should probably say a week, since everything began on tuesday).
It was a 1000km endurance race.
Although our only target in this race was to reach the finish, we had a really intense pre-race preparation and the race itself was interesting, to put it mildly.
Passed the scrutineering no problems.
Had some wet free practices.
Qualified P20. once again had our fair share of gearbox problems. these fwd alfa gearboxes simply cannot handle 18" slicks being attacked by a ~310hp 3.0 V6.
So, changed the gearbox, and, as it is beginning to become a tradition, decided to sacrifice quick lap times in order to save the gearbox and just reach the finish.
The race started. Everything seemed to be great, except the goddamn box. The temperatures began climbing to 150+ degrees C. During the planned pitstop (driver change) we noticed that the gearbox oil cooler is exactly ambient temp - i.e. not working. We suspected a clogged filter on the piping to the oil pump - so we took it out and washed it.
Then, for a while, the temperature dropped to ~110-120 C, but after a few hours it climbed back to 150+ C. So we had to wash the filter again.
It is quite interesting to do it when everything you touch is at least 150 degrees C..
Both times the filter was full of metal chips from the gearbox.. So, our expectations of finishing the plummeted..
Anyway, the race moved on. We did not loose a lot of time during these stops, and 2 washing cycles, as it turned out later, were enough - the gearbox stayed within 120 C.
So, we marched on with "save the gearbox" mode turned on to maximum.
Then we got hit from behind - a beamer did not notice yellow caution flags and just drove into the back left wheel of the GT. Time to change a rod in the back suspension, bend back the wheel arch, cut off the broken bumper parts, etc..
Took us 12 minutes to do that. After this, the left rear shock was probably bent a little bit and the car was really jumpy in right hand corners.. Also, an "eyeball alignment" did not help either..
So we slowed down a bit and marched on..
After about 2 more hours, another beamer tried to overtake us aggressively and hit the GT in the exact same spot. It was completely uncalled for, he was quicker than us and could have easily overtaken us on the next straight. Anyways, another bent rod.. This time we did not have a spare one, so ~10 minutes of "hammer time", another "eyeball alignment"..
We managed to straighten the rod and let the car out. Two 1 hour stints were left..
At this point we were 2nd in class. But 2 hours was too long for the straightened rod. The track had two long and bumpy right hand corners and the left rear rod took a lot of pounding - it was bent again. Another unplanned pit stop with ~10 laps to go. We lost 2nd place, but the car was once again back on track. Last 2 laps the car drove sideways, leaving 4 tracks behind. But it crossed the finish line! Phew!
It was a hard race, but well worth it.
2 finished endurance races out of 2 this season - spirits are high!
The car suffered quite a bit of damage from every side possible - a lot of work before another 1000km race on the 1st of September in Riga, Latvia. But we will be there, no question about that!