V8 Utes 2012 same series different team

[GSRman]

*subscribed

[Nafe]

And when you're not drunk Glenno?

[Glenno]

And when you're not drunk Glenno?

Is there anything else to do in Launceston?

So a typical round, most race meetings are 4 days of work, some are 5 (eg Clipsal, Bathurst). I contract to a 5 car team for race weekends primarily as a data analyst and car controller although I help out anywhere so things can get fairly busy at times resulting in me spannering cars ect.

Prior to the round:
A few phone calls clarifying things from the previous round or discussing setup changes ect for the next round.
Sometimes a day or two at the teams workshop to help finish cars, align/scale cars or load the truck. The amount of work between rounds is dependant on the time between rounds, the amount of damage and outside suppliers (V8 Utes has contracted suppliers) getting us the parts in time.

Day 1 (Setup)

Fly in with the team on an early flight then jump in minibus/ hire cars and get to the track (anywhre from 15 minutes to 3 hours driving). Arrive at the track and unload the cars from both trucks, unload the equipment and setup the pit garage. Everyone gets started on the cars doing final checkovers, tyres go and get fitted, cars get fueled and any small jobs get done (sometimes parts are delivered at the track). I check all the electronics gear, in car camera, radio check, data logging sensors working ect, put the dorians (timing transmitter) and radios on charge. Then I go for a track walk and take the drivers if they are around, I also get the GPS co ordinates of the start finish line and the sector lines.

Day 2

Practice session one and two and depending on the program sometimes qualifying. Arrive in the morning, team breakfast and team meeting with all crew and drivers. Check cars and set tyre pressures then half an hour before our session we put th radios on and get the drivers in the car. Cars get called up and car controllers walk to the dummy grid to stand with their car and assist the driver in getting his helmet, hans device, radio all on and adjusting the mirrors. Once the cars roll out the gate I walk up to out allocated pit bay and watch the timing screen, track and on track footage provided by channel 7. During the practices you feed the driver information depending on what they like to know about, generally their lap times, the current fastest lap time along with who has it, which sectors they are doing well in and which sectors they need to work on. At some point past half way in the session you will bring them into pit lane, check the tyre pressures and bleed them down to your target pressure, while the crew is doing that you have a chat with the driver discussing what the car is doing well and what it isn't, depending on the circuit and how good the tv coverage is you can suggest alternate lines to try on some corners ect. Once the pressures are done you send the driver out again and keep feeding him the same information along with the remaining time in the session. During the session you keep notes of anything the driver has said or track events that have affected him. You are also monitoring the race control channel for any important information.

Once the session is over cars go straight back to your pit bay while the drivers are travelling back you talk to them on the radio and get their initial impressions of the car. Once the cars get back you send the driver off to get out of their suit have a drink and write down what the car is doing at various points on the track. I download the data out of the 5 cars and the crew starts prepping for the next session, I dissapear into the truck and first thing check the engine performance data of all five cars, checking for over revs, excessive temps, an engine down on power or any other nasties. Time is of the essence here if an engine change or major repair needs to happen we need to know now. The drivers and car controllers all have a quick discussion and view key points of data so the crew can get started on any changes needed. I then sit with the driver and car controller for each car and analyse the session, show them where they can improve, what they are doing well and what other drivers who are faster are doing, the car controller sits in and helps in the discussion with the driver from their session notes.

The cars go out again for practice two and the same procedure is repeated.

Day 3

Cars are ready for qualifying, car controllers and drivers have a meeting and discuss qualifying strategy. The cars go out as per the practice session procedure. What happens next is dependant upon everythign thats going on, the aim is to get out on track in a gap which may mean waiting in pit lane before feeding the car out on track. The aim here is the fastest time in the minimum number of laps achieving that is tricky, you are contanstly feeding the driver information.

Procedure after is the same as after practice, with the exception of the cars being held in Parc Ferme for inspection.

At this point most of the changes are done the car may be reset slightly from a quaifying setup to a race setup. The cars are called out in grid order, once again you walk up to the dummy grid and ensure everything is ok, have a short chat with the driver about any strategy. The cars roll out the gate and you remind them of all the basics, fans on, get heat into the brakes and tyres, as they roll up to their grid spot you call them up to the box, keep them updated on the time remaing before the commencment of the formation lap. The cars commence their formation lap and you remind them once again, fans on, heat into the brakes and tyres, call them up to their box again and kep your eye on the back of the grid for the grid set flag. One the grid is set its up to the driver the only thing you will tell them during a start is if there is a car stalled on the grid in front of them or an incident into turn one. Druing the race you generally don't communicate very much with the driver, except to tell him about incidents, safety cars, fluid on the track and track position occasionally. If they are battling with someone you may need to let them know there is someone sneaking in behind them that they have to watch, or if they are punted off ect you need to get them to calm down, keep a level head and keep going.

Post race is parc ferme then prep for the next race. I go through the engine performance data and then the driver data for any issues before going out to help with the cars.

Day 4

Race two and race three, parc ferme after race three can be lengthy as they sometimes want to check clutches or gerboxes. While the cars are in parc ferme we are loading the trucks and as soon as the cars get back I download the data and we load the cars into the truck. We have a chat with the drivers and note any issues with the cars which helps with ordering parts ect while the cars are in transit back to the workshop.

Then its drive to the airport, drink beer, fly home.

Post round

I go through the race three data, revise my notes and the other data from the weekend and send a short report to the team.

[Paul M]

wow, thats a decent amount of work and an intresting read. I wouldn't have guessed all that happens at all in the V8 utes.

[Glenno]

Off to Perth for round 3

In car of Ryall from Perth last year 6th to 1st in 2 laps.

[F|sh]

Shall see you there on saturday glenno. you there with the wilson brothers?

[dsturbed]

Whats the reseaon for the intake being like this on some of the fords ?

[F|sh]

some of the fords are running the 5L coyote others the 5.4L

[Budge]

Great read, thanks for putting that up

In general what would be the tweaks you make from a qualifying setup to a race setup? Is it mostly regarding tyre life re: alignment settings etc?

[F|sh]

check pressures and if need be do an alignment

[Glenno]

Ryal Harris 2nd outright for the weekend. Fish im with Big Gun Racing, Cam Wilson does race weekends with us. Reason for the intake is that an na coyote FG does not exist so the air box supplied by SS inductions is to suit the supercharged coyote or 5.4 FG which are side entry.

[Nathan Tinkler]

Fuckin awesome Glenno!

[F|sh]

i figured that. should of said gday as i sort of bugged the angry bulldog most of saturday and if i was there on my own would of suck some cans with you guys too.

Nice gut to mate and that syndrome of a down chick was hot!!!!

[Glenno]

[dsturbed]

Reason for the intake is that an na coyote FG does not exist so the air box supplied by SS inductions is to suit the supercharged coyote or 5.4 FG which are side entry.

So you have to run whats supplied , cant modify one yourself ? I see you had the worst pit pay in the whole paddock , next to the 700yr old toilet block .

[Nafe]

So you have to run whats supplied , cant modify one yourself ?

The category is tightly controlled that way.

[Glenno]

stubed pretty much everything is controlled, I think you might be getting confused with my old team ours are the first 5 cars here ( I do data on the 6th as well)

[Glenno]

Darwin this weekend.

Oh and this a couple of weeks after if anyone wants to wander along.

[Glenno]

Ryal Harris round winner Darwin V8 Utes with Big Gun Racing

[Nathan Tinkler]

Fuckin awesome Glenno! (You'd have to be loving it huh)

[Billzilla]

Well done!

[Glenno]

Ok so mid year and Ryal is second in the championship.

Off to morgan park to do a test day with Amber Anderson tomorrow she will be driving with us for the rest of the year.

http://www.speedcafe.com/2012/09/11/v8-supercars-safety-car-driver-to-make-v8-utes-start/


For those of you not familar with Amber

[Nathan Tinkler]

Nice!

[Glenno]

Ok so this weekend Homebush is our final round for the year.

Ryal is 15 points in the lead of the champioship and a very good chance to win it.

If any PFers are areound drop by the utes.

[gmh265]

Ok so this weekend Homebush is our final round for the year.

Ryal is 15 points in the lead of the champioship and a very good chance to win it.

If any PFers are areound drop by the utes.

I will come say hello if I get a chance, good luck for the weekend mate!

[Glenno]

Ryal Harris 2012 V8 Ute Champion.

FUCK YEAH !!!!!!

[Billzilla]

Well done!!

[StanM3]

Congrats!!

[Nathan Tinkler]

Good shit man.

[ahabthearab]