Even though things have been crazy with all of the R&D work we have been doing lately, time has been found to install a few new items on the GT-R and head off to the track!! The special thing about this particular outing is that it was ONLY for GT-Rs! Entry was limited to twelve cars and we were lucky enough to make our way into the group.
I would at this point like to mention that we have been working super hard on getting our own ZCG harness bar made and installed in our GT-R. This track-day is the first time it has seen battle and it worked perfectly. Our design is much simpler than the competition’s bar (as seen in the AXIS Wheels GT-R) but there will be more on that later on in this post and a follow-up post with pictures tomorrow.
Our day began with Rob, Fred, and myself meeting at the shop in San Jose at 4:30am. Not much sleep last night. We packed up our previously prepared “track-day kit” (tools, jack, spare wheels etc.) and headed on our way to Buttonwillow Raceway. We got to the track at 7:45 and met with the group for a few minutes before the drivers meeting. Since everyone in the group knew each other, thanks to the small GT-R community, the track rules were fairly easy going and allowed for a ton of freedom.
The plan was to have six cars go out in half hour sessions but as soon as the cars were warmed up they were all out on track. With such a small group though no one seemed to notice because we would be running track configuration 13 clockwise which has a length of almost 3 miles. Nice.
Throughout the day cars would pull in and out of the pits as they pleased. There seemed to be multiple driver, wheel, and camera equipment changes in a few camps besides our own. It was good to see owners and drivers out and experimenting with the cars. We personally went through three or four drivers throughout the day and went as far as inviting a professional out for the day to see what our car was capable of in some truly gifted hands.
As you can see from the early photos of the day we were running our one-off set of HRE wheels but tire rubbing issues (due to limited available tire sizes) sidelined the new Nittos we acquired a week earlier. So after two sessions we were back on the the stock wheels with the OEM Bridgestone run flats. These tires held up all day in full beat-down sessions without issue. It’s amazing how professional drivers know how to take care of tires (anyone remember that scene from “Days of Thunder” with Bobby D?)
We managed a best time of 2:02 on the stock wheels and run-flat tires, quite the accomplishment.
Update: We went through the lap timer this morning and found a 2:00 lap which took place in one of the very last sessions of the day. How crazy is this car going to be when we get some real rubber?!
Keep reading for the entire event report and more photos.