- 1,202
My third attempt to win the New York 200 in an Elan saw me arrive with the Elan in an almost maximum state of tune. Every modification available was bolted on to the car, with the exception of Giggle Gas and a slippy diff.
The entry specs therefore looked like this:
Car: Lotus Elan S1
Power: 208BHP
Weight: 581kg
Mileage: 1940.
Before starting the event I took the car out on a practise run to set the gearing, and found that the car was struggling a little in the tight sections with so much power and no LSD. To solve this, I lowered and stiffend the front and rear suspension to get a bit more body control during the sudden changes of direction this course requires. I stiffened the front slightly more than the rear. I then loosened off the rear antiroll bar and dropped 3rd gear slightly so that most of the corners were taken comfortably in third rather than singing in second. The latter two changes helped reduce the amount of inside rear wheelspin I was experiencing, allowing me to get more drive away from the apex, and the former changes made the steering more accurate, particularly on opposite lock, where the car's soft suspension had made it a little bouncy at this venue with 200bhp.
The competition was:
1) Corvette Z06
2) Viper GTS
3) TVR T350C
4) Motorsport Elise
5) Viper SRT10
6) Lotus Elan S1 (me)
The first sign that I may have overcompensated for the lack of race winning power came when I was offered only 181 a-spec points. As the race developed, this proved to be the case. Although the Elan was the slowest car down the straights, it was by far the quickest through the twisty section. By the end of lap 1 I had moved up into third behind the 'Vette and TVR, and by the end of lap 3 I was in the lead and pulling away. I pitted on lap 20, 22 seconds ahead of the Corvette, and took the lead again on lap 25 as the Z06 struggled to lap the Elise. After the American car pitted, my lead was 37 seconds, and the race was as good as won. By lap 40 my lead was over a minute, and I was starting to fool around. I spun on the 270 degree corner while showing off, but the race was won and I walked away with the gold cup and a rather pleasant shade of blue paint covering a child eating monster of a prize car.
Unsatisfied, I fiddled with the Elan to try and make more of a race out of this. I found that by avoiding an oil change, and then removing the racing chip and installing the standard exhaust, I would be starting the race with 181bhp. The Elan was also ready for another chassis refresh (mileage now nearly 2200), but I avoided that too, to keep the challenge high before moving on to Laguna Seca.
Same opposition again, but this time with 200 a-spec points, and this time things were far more serious. Here's the lap by lap account:
Lap 1: Smoothed into 4th place in the twisty section, ahead of the Elise and Viper GTS.
Lap 2: Caught and passed the Viper SRT 10 to take third.
Lap 3: Struggled past the TVR for 2nd. I lost the position again on the straight bit, but got it back and made it stick in the twisty bit. I was now 4.5 seconds behind the leading Corvette.
Lap 9: After 5 laps of serious chasing, I get close enough to have a go at the Corvette. The challenge is successful and I take the lead.
Lap 12: I never quite manage to get away from the Corvette. For each of the laps since I passed him he's been close enough at the end of the second, shorter straight, to have a passing attempt and I've had to take a defensive line. On lap 12 he makes it past and makes it stick.
Now the chase is truly on. What follows is an epic battle in which the lead swaps a number of times with neither myself nor the Corvette being able to make a break. There's some panel bashing, some brave lunges, and lots of really, really close racing, but it never ends in tears and we trade punches all the way to lap 25.
Lap 24: The long duel has taken its toll on my tyres and my right rear is looking particularly orange, making the Elan a bit of a handful on left-handers, particularly the long 270 degree corner. Despite this I manage to squeeze past the Corvette without crashing and I still have the lead at the end of lap 25 when the Z06 pits. I stay out for another lap and struggle on the worn tyres, since pitting on lap 26 will put me on a 2 stop race.
Lap 27: After my pitstop, in which I did not take on fuel, I find myself with a 5 second advantage in the lead. Must thank the pit crew. I am worried about tyre wear so I relax my pace a little. Despite this my lead increases to 14 seconds before the Corvette picks up the challenge and pulls it back to 4.5 at the start of lap 50.
Lap 50: Corvette takes his second pitstop. If the muppet pits on lap 75 like he did last race, he will hand me the win. I also gained a lot of time in the last round of pitstops, so I make a decision to fuel to the brim. I will need to put some fuel in anyway, and fuelling to the top should make my pitstop a bit longer and make more of a race out of this last stint.
Lap 54: I make my second pitstop. I had a 40 second lead on pit entry and rejoin the race 10 seconds ahead of the 'Vette. The long pitstop ploy did not work.
Lap 76: The 'vette gave up the fight after my second stop, and dropped back in an apparent effort to avoid making a third pitstop. If this was his intent then he was succesful, as he did not pit on lap 75. I win by 32 seconds.
Final standings:
1st Lotus Elan 2 hours 19 mins 19 seconds fastest lap 1:47.149
2nd Corvete Z06
3rd Viper SRT10
4th TVR T350C
5th Viper GTS
6th Motorsport Elise
Although it was relatively easy going after the first stop, this was a very satisfying way for the Elan to say goodbye to the streets of New York before it moves on to Laguna Seca, where a set of slicks and a brand new field of contenders stand between it and another gold cup.
The entry specs therefore looked like this:
Car: Lotus Elan S1
Power: 208BHP
Weight: 581kg
Mileage: 1940.
Before starting the event I took the car out on a practise run to set the gearing, and found that the car was struggling a little in the tight sections with so much power and no LSD. To solve this, I lowered and stiffend the front and rear suspension to get a bit more body control during the sudden changes of direction this course requires. I stiffened the front slightly more than the rear. I then loosened off the rear antiroll bar and dropped 3rd gear slightly so that most of the corners were taken comfortably in third rather than singing in second. The latter two changes helped reduce the amount of inside rear wheelspin I was experiencing, allowing me to get more drive away from the apex, and the former changes made the steering more accurate, particularly on opposite lock, where the car's soft suspension had made it a little bouncy at this venue with 200bhp.
The competition was:
1) Corvette Z06
2) Viper GTS
3) TVR T350C
4) Motorsport Elise
5) Viper SRT10
6) Lotus Elan S1 (me)
The first sign that I may have overcompensated for the lack of race winning power came when I was offered only 181 a-spec points. As the race developed, this proved to be the case. Although the Elan was the slowest car down the straights, it was by far the quickest through the twisty section. By the end of lap 1 I had moved up into third behind the 'Vette and TVR, and by the end of lap 3 I was in the lead and pulling away. I pitted on lap 20, 22 seconds ahead of the Corvette, and took the lead again on lap 25 as the Z06 struggled to lap the Elise. After the American car pitted, my lead was 37 seconds, and the race was as good as won. By lap 40 my lead was over a minute, and I was starting to fool around. I spun on the 270 degree corner while showing off, but the race was won and I walked away with the gold cup and a rather pleasant shade of blue paint covering a child eating monster of a prize car.
Unsatisfied, I fiddled with the Elan to try and make more of a race out of this. I found that by avoiding an oil change, and then removing the racing chip and installing the standard exhaust, I would be starting the race with 181bhp. The Elan was also ready for another chassis refresh (mileage now nearly 2200), but I avoided that too, to keep the challenge high before moving on to Laguna Seca.
Same opposition again, but this time with 200 a-spec points, and this time things were far more serious. Here's the lap by lap account:
Lap 1: Smoothed into 4th place in the twisty section, ahead of the Elise and Viper GTS.
Lap 2: Caught and passed the Viper SRT 10 to take third.
Lap 3: Struggled past the TVR for 2nd. I lost the position again on the straight bit, but got it back and made it stick in the twisty bit. I was now 4.5 seconds behind the leading Corvette.
Lap 9: After 5 laps of serious chasing, I get close enough to have a go at the Corvette. The challenge is successful and I take the lead.
Lap 12: I never quite manage to get away from the Corvette. For each of the laps since I passed him he's been close enough at the end of the second, shorter straight, to have a passing attempt and I've had to take a defensive line. On lap 12 he makes it past and makes it stick.
Now the chase is truly on. What follows is an epic battle in which the lead swaps a number of times with neither myself nor the Corvette being able to make a break. There's some panel bashing, some brave lunges, and lots of really, really close racing, but it never ends in tears and we trade punches all the way to lap 25.
Lap 24: The long duel has taken its toll on my tyres and my right rear is looking particularly orange, making the Elan a bit of a handful on left-handers, particularly the long 270 degree corner. Despite this I manage to squeeze past the Corvette without crashing and I still have the lead at the end of lap 25 when the Z06 pits. I stay out for another lap and struggle on the worn tyres, since pitting on lap 26 will put me on a 2 stop race.
Lap 27: After my pitstop, in which I did not take on fuel, I find myself with a 5 second advantage in the lead. Must thank the pit crew. I am worried about tyre wear so I relax my pace a little. Despite this my lead increases to 14 seconds before the Corvette picks up the challenge and pulls it back to 4.5 at the start of lap 50.
Lap 50: Corvette takes his second pitstop. If the muppet pits on lap 75 like he did last race, he will hand me the win. I also gained a lot of time in the last round of pitstops, so I make a decision to fuel to the brim. I will need to put some fuel in anyway, and fuelling to the top should make my pitstop a bit longer and make more of a race out of this last stint.
Lap 54: I make my second pitstop. I had a 40 second lead on pit entry and rejoin the race 10 seconds ahead of the 'Vette. The long pitstop ploy did not work.
Lap 76: The 'vette gave up the fight after my second stop, and dropped back in an apparent effort to avoid making a third pitstop. If this was his intent then he was succesful, as he did not pit on lap 75. I win by 32 seconds.
Final standings:
1st Lotus Elan 2 hours 19 mins 19 seconds fastest lap 1:47.149
2nd Corvete Z06
3rd Viper SRT10
4th TVR T350C
5th Viper GTS
6th Motorsport Elise
Although it was relatively easy going after the first stop, this was a very satisfying way for the Elan to say goodbye to the streets of New York before it moves on to Laguna Seca, where a set of slicks and a brand new field of contenders stand between it and another gold cup.
