Dadson Racing: 2010 Revival

[Grandad]

Hi All

 

Whittie's continuing to have fun with his 2+2 370Z and taking it right up to the BMWs and Porkers.

 

Long live adjustable coil overs on the daily.

 

 

I'll be there for Xmas, can't wait.

 

 

Cheers

Grandad

[Grandad]

Hi All

 

Only 12 more sleeps and Whittie's Mum and I are off to see our new Grand Daughter for the first time in the Land of Milk, Honey and way too many Guns.

 

Whittie has advised that Winter will be cold and I should bring my gloves but he didn't specify which ones.

 

Maybe I'll just take both.

 

 

Cheers

Grandad

[Grandad]

Hi All

 

I've been thinking about the 30 hour commute I have coming up in two sleeps time and am starting to pack, Whittie told me today that they had snow for the first time in ten years which made me think I should probably pack an extra pair of boots just in case they're needed

.

 

 

 

 

Cheers

Grandad

[Enzo]

Hey Grandad,

                      Your supposed to be going for your Grand child.

They don't look like snow boots to me. Or the special Sparco snow gloves.

Have a great time.

Regards

David

[Grandad]

Hi David and All

 

Yes Ashlin is the reason we're going but I want to be prepared just in case Santa slips something tricky into my stocking.

 

Here she is.

 

I can't believe we're giving up Perth summer for this but it would be neat to have some for Xmas.

 

Isn't it crazy, only a couple of months ago they were dealing with a meter of rain.

 

 

Cheers

Grandad

[Grandad]

Hi Y'All

 

Well we're here, we survived the monster 30 hour commute and fortunately we snagged an upgrade to premium economy for the worst part being Sydney to Dallas we had larger seats and a bit of extra leg room which was nice, it didn't make the flight any shorter but it was a bit smoother and more comfortable.

 

It's been wonderful seeing Ashlin for the first time as you can imagine she is currently the center of our universe.

 

I'm glad I packed my boots and gloves, turns out Santa did have something planned for me because as soon as I recovered from jet lag I was presented with a self assessment scrutiny form for Whittie's car to sign off so I figured I was in for an auto cross event which would be pretty cool.

 

In preparation for the event Whittie wanted to check the wheel alignment so we set the car up on Whitties' custom built ramps and checked the camber and toe which were exactly where he wanted them so we gave the girl a tub, cleaned up the competition wheels and I stuck a little something I brought from home on the rear quarter windows.

 

 

With that done it was time to pack the car and head off to our overnight accommodation for the event the next day.

 

We set off for destination unknown and as if I needed proof that everything is bigger in Texas we stopped at not only the biggest car wash in the world but with 100 pumps, the biggest petrol station.

 

 

We drove off into the dark heading for destination unknown when suddenly.......Whoohoo we've been here before!!

 

Now I'm really pleased I packed my boots and gloves, we got through registration then headed to our hotel and picked up a few beers on the way, in line with the bigger in Texas theme we found a sensational dark beer called Maximus that rated a tasty 72 on the bitterness scale and a massive 8.2% alc/vol so needless to say with a drivers meeting at 7am it didn't take many to reach lights out.

 

 

TBC

Cheers Y'All

Grandad

[Whittie]

I won't spoil the rest of the thread, but I think Grandad had fun...

[Grandad]

Hi Y'All

 

Thanks Whittie you are clearly a master of understatement!

 

I had a sneaking suspicion that Santa had something in store for me but I wasn't expecting a track day at COTA, Whittie and I walked it in reverse following the F1 race three years ago but I never dreamed I'd get to drive it.

 

With the driver briefing at 7am we wanted to get to the track and unpack before it so set our alarms for 5am, unsurprisingly not withstanding Maximus' best efforts to ensure I slept soundly, my alarm was not required. 

 

We were the first to arrive in our garage so were able to choose the prime position to store our gear then set about changing wheels before heading off to the drivers briefing.

 

For insurance purposes the event was an un-timed driver training day, there were four groups from novice to race and because I don't have any US driving history I was placed in novice which meant I had a trainer (passenger) every outing, I would have 5x20min sessions so 1hour 40min total track time.

 

There was an amazing range of vehicles entered from an early model MX5 through to prototype and a V10 F1 car and everything in between, American muscle was of course well represented and there were lots of GT3 cars as well.

 

 

It's amazing how much money people throw at their motorsport here considering that this was a training meet with no racing there were a lot of toy haulers, B doubles motor homes and RVs.

 

 

The garage we shared had a range of vehicles typical of the meet there was a gorgeous can-am LOLA with just the best race no on it, there were Porches, Mustangs and an immaculate Ferrari driven by a Mexican guy who had his family in tow, it turned out not to be his car it belongs to a mate who entered the event then couldn't attend so said here take the car and have some fun.

 

 

I was in the last group to go on track and shortly before I was due to go out a guy came up looking for me introduced himself and said he was my instructor for the day. I've had people in the car before so my expectation wasn't high, so I was a bit surprised when he handed me an ear piece and mike and wanted to know my driving history and experience, I was soon to learn that he's an accomplished racer with 1600 plus laps of COTA under his belt, he runs his own race race team and is a distributor of prototype race cars, with that I decided to take the guy seriously.

 

He asked what I wanted to achieve from the day so I explained that I'm on the opposite side of the world from home, at a circuit I've never driven in a car I've never driven that has all the controls on the wrong side so my goal for the day is to have fun, go fast and hand the car back to Whittie in one piece.  With that said we were ready to enter the circuit so I said I wanted to go out at the rear end of the group because my first lap would be purely a slow sighting lap, with that said we entered the circuit.

 

 

The first lap was at about half pace so I could have a good look at the track and get a feel for lines and the car, the next couple of laps I progressively picked the pace up a bit.  Every time I put my helmet on I seem to have a little man in there telling me to be cautious, beware the red mist, brake early, don't over do it, but this time I had a little man in my ear saying well done, your lines are good, break later, use all the track, let the car run out, turn in here, stay out wide, well done.....Wow, I'm liking this little man in my ear.  It appeared that many of the group I was in started braking for turn one at the 150 meter mark and so did I until the little man in my ear convinced me to leave it later, when we returned to the garage at the end of the run Whittie said he thought his car had brake failure when the lights didn't come on at the 150 mark and was surprised to hear that 100 is still too early.

 

Third time out the trainer again asked what I wanted to achieve from the day, this time I said I know how to go fast in a straight line so I don't need to practice that, I want to be smooth and clean through the corners and improve my braking and if I can achieve that the lap times will be there, with that he said ok your lines are good so now let's work on your feet, I won't go into it but I learned more in that session than most of the other driver training I've done combined, suddenly a 2+2 370Z piloted by a retiree was hustling cars it shouldn't get close to.

 

The weather forecast for the day was for rain in the afternoon and it set in after my third run so Whittie and I changed back to street tyres in preparation, shortly before our event the trainer dropped into our garage to inform me that he was not getting into the car on race tyres and was surprised to hear that we had already changed them, he inspected them and agreed they were up to the conditions so I was good for a round in the wet. 

 

As we sat in pit lane he said, with rain nothing much has changed, the speed will be a little less and stopping distance a little more but the principal is the same so off we went and once again, I took it quietly and said I had no experience of the car on these tyres in the wet so would build up speed slowly until I found the limit, at one time through the sweeper he mentioned that the tyres felt to have good grip and I said I think I'm near the limit when right on cue the back stepped out, I said there it is, nicely held was the reply, I now knew my limit of adhesion so tested it for the rest of he session, once more a great learning experience.

 

The final session was once again wet however this time the trainer arrived eager to impart wet weather driving technique so we went out first into pit lane but as we were let go the heavens opened, with that I said we were once again on an observation lap and if there's any standing water I'm going in, there wasn't any standing water as this track is built for wet weather but there were streams crossing and visibility was seriously limited, I came back in and returned the car to Whittie in tact.

 

The trainers parting comment was that I made a good call, staying out was all risk for no reward.

 

We packed up and drove home through two and a half tortuous hours of driving rain.

 

The gopro was going for most sessions and Whittie has edited a couple of vids, we bought the "Hero Pack" of pics of the car but they won't be here for a few days so we'll post them when they arrive.

 

 

Pics to follow.

 

 

Cheers

Grandad

Edited December 20, 2017 by Grandad

[andyk_79]

Between your grandchild and that track day - wow what an amazing experience!

[260DET]

That Infiniti is a 2+2 370Z? Anyway, well done, must have been a hell of a day.

[Whittie]

That Infiniti is a 2+2 370Z? 

 

Yep. It's the same engine and chassis as the 370z (like the G35 is the same as the 350z) with an extended wheelbase and luxury interior. The sedan is also based on the same mechanical chassis but with different roof and obviously 4 doors. the Infiniti's are not as well related as say the 260z and 260z 2+2 which share most interior and exterior pieces, but mechanically it's identical to the 370. All the branding on the parts is Nissan and it's sold as a Nissan in Japan (as a Skyline 370GT) it just gets an Infiniti badge for the USA. In fact, all the engine, brake and suspension components I have installed on the car are designed for the 370z and they're a direct bolt in.

 

The Infiniti deviates from the nissan more from the 2014 model year Q50 (sedan) and 2016 model year Q60 (coupe) with the introduction of the turbo engines and a significant facelift, although some parts such as the brakes are still shared, I'm sure other pieces are too but I've not crawled under one to be able to find out.

[Grandad]

Hi andyk_79

 

You are absolutely right, seeing our grandchild for the first time and trying to work out who she resembles most is a fabulous new experience, the motor sport is an added bonus.

 

Hi Y'All

 

Back at home I play Cams official when I can so when the opportunity to view the race office at Cota came up we were in, after all it is a $350mil facility.

 

I was surprised to find the office at ground level at the start of pit lane, I had pictured it being at the top of the building with expansive track vista allowing officials to catch all the action but what we found instead was a wall of monitors covering all the track with everything recorded so that when the inevitable occurs it's all caught on video.

 

 

The motor sport theme is continuing, yesterday we went to a local indoor cart center but after two ten minute races I was done, the carts were so bad my glasses got shaken down to the end of my nose inside the helmet but the track was good and our times were respectable.

 

Today we went to an out door track that opened about a year ago, it's on the out skirts of Houston 100ks from Whittie's home, we got there on ring road three in about an hour, if you think three ring roads means the city is getting big spare a thought for Beijing, it has six.

 

We arrived at the track just after its 3.00pm opening so were on the track virtually immediately, when we came in at the end of our run the operators were buzzing saying this guy's just run in the 44's first time out, that doesn't happen here, turned out the lap record is high 41's.

 

Next time out there was a cart we couldn't catch, turned out to be a school kid who's just taken out rookie of the year plus a national championship and was about a third of our weight, on his next run he posted a low 42 sec run that was just a whisker off the lap record, a future Ricciardo possibly.  

 

On our final run the track was a little more populated which presented overtaking opportunities which were fun, My new little man inside my helmet was sensational and for the first time in ever I beat Whittie in a cart and got fastest time for the race...... Whoohoo! (does happy dance)

 

Whittie pipped me on the day but I'm happy, the last time I was faster than Whittie was an event at Wanneroo where we shared my Supra and I didn't tell him I was running high boost 

 

 

 

Cheers

Grandad

[Grandad]

Hi Y'All

 

The pics have arrived, some are quite good and are a great way to remember an absolutely sensational day for which I must thank Whittie.

 

Dry runs

 

Wet Run no1

 

Wet run no2.

The heavens opened as I left the pits so one lap was enough, I was sitting on the wrong side of someone else's car occasionally searching for he gear stick with my left hand so I quickly decided that staying out in driving rain was not on, I was tempted to stay out to see if it eased but as it turned out it didn't so I'm happy with my decision.  As I pulled in the trainer said "good call staying out was all risk with no reward".

 

 

Whittie got his car back straight and we finished the day with huge grins on our faces.

 

The rain continued as we packed the car and then for the next few hours as whittie drove home, Whittie definitely had the hardest drive of the day.

 

Here's my wet session which was the best fun, I wasn't hammering the car on the back straight because the event wasn't timed but still some ridiculously fast cars didn't get away.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJUUUPSnpTg&t=206s

 

 

Cheers

Grandad

Edited January 14, 2018 by Grandad

[Grandad]

Hi Y'All

 

We've had a great time here with Mr and Mrs Whttie and new born Ashlyn, we witnessed her first roll over which was pretty nice, the Whitties have lots more firsts in front of them as Ashlyn grows but for us we have one more sleep before the 30+ hour commute back to Perth.

 

We've had some interesting interactions with people here, one time we were all standing at a checkout talking quietly when the checkout lady said with a smile "Y'all in Texas now so Y'all got to say Y'all".

 

It's hard to believe that only a couple of months ago the city was flooded it's a bit spookey driving on freeways that were completely impassable and seeing normal looking houses that had all but the roof submerged, I read in the local rag that 715 houses and businesses were damaged in Whitties suburb alone and not all are repairable.

 

With any sitiation like this there are always people ready to make the most of others misfortune, this arrived in the mail just after we arrived.

 

 

On the way to Cota we passed some paddocks that were full of flood damaged cars and the Texas World Speedway has been temporarily closed and used for flood car storage, below is a drones eye view.

 

 

Whittie is on the urban fringe and there's a lot of new development happening nearby, with storm water drainage such an issue here much of the water has been directed into man made lakes to beautify the areas they have walking paths and the occasional warning sign.

 

 

Happy New Year Y'All

Grandad

Edited January 1, 2018 by Grandad

[Grandad]

Hi All

 

We're safely back in Perth have thawed out and are enjoying the Aussie summer.

 

The trip home was eventful and a bit stressful as I failed to note changed flight details from Houston to Dallas on my e-ticket, fortunately I had informed Whittie.

 

On the day of our departure we were taking things quietly thinking we had plenty of time and feeling a bit sad about leaving when Whittie twigged and raised the alarn that we were in fact running behind time, in a flash the truck was packed, baby and Mon kissed goodby and we were off to the airport, Whittie decided it would be a good idea to let Quaintass know we were behind time and might miss the flight so we called the "hotline" and sat on hold all the way to the airport, once eventually connected the operator was manifestly unhelpful stressing that there would be a US$500 per person no show fee paid before another ticket could be issued as it turned out there were no available seats on the next flight and the only other flight available on another carrier would get us to Dallas too late so Whittie checked google maps and decided we could get there in time by road so off we set on an unexpected three hour road trip.

 

Fortunately it was new years day so the traffic was light, the roads went from four lanes each way to three then two and back up again and the US speed limits are much higher than Aus, we stopped for fuel at about half way and the fuel stop had a giant size replica colt 45 hand gun at the driveway (only in America) I would love to have taken a pic of it but everything was packed away and time was of the essence.  Fortunately the traffic in Dallas was light so we made it to the airport with time to spare, we hugged Whittie and thanked him for getting us to our flight in time then waved him off on his return drive, at check in there was no mention of a no show fee, the lady realised that it was my birthday so seated us in our own row of four on the main flight and an over wing exit on the Sydney to Perth leg, with that out of the way we headed for the bar and some pre flight relaxation.

 

The flights were long and uncomfortable but we eventually arrived in Perth happy that all the stress and excitement of the travel was behind us or so we thought, at the baggage corousel I collected two of our three bags fairly quickly then waited and waited and waited for the third which didn't appear so we reported it to lost property, it was Whittie's mums bag and it contained almost as many goodies as her handbag does so her stress level was elivated once more and remained there untill the bag was delivered 24 hours later, the courier driver said there are about 100 bags miss placed every day.

 

All's well that ends well, we're back to skype chats and have some fabulous memories that will last forever.

 

 

Cheers

Grandad

Edited January 15, 2018 by Grandad