Finally! MR-03 First Drive!!!

What a blast! Last night I finally got to test my car for the first time. The results were VERY promising.

First of all I want to put the scenario in perspective. Last night was our first race at our new place in Houston, Jacob Feinstein and I ran mod an went at it as usual. This was also my second time to race since the KO GP in March so I am a bit rusty and as you all know Jacob just came back from Barcelona where he won 2 more PNWCs.

The racing was close between Jacob and I. First qualifier went to Jacob by about a lap. My 03 was pushing a bit and needed to rotate a little bit quicker. I switched my front tires for the second qualifier and BAM! The car was ballistic. I was able to catch Jacob and pull away at will even with quite a few mistakes I was able to re-set the TQ position by a couple of tenths over Jacob's time. I also set the fastest lap of the night in the process.

In the third qualifier I tried changing over to the new PN Spur just to compare it to ours. The car lost it's ability to rotate as hard as it started pushing badly on exit. Surprisingly, it pushed on entry as well, even though it was supposed to give more steering. I think that the flywheel effect is what allowed the car to have more turn it with our much lighter spur gears (the car just slows down quicker). I was not quite a fast in consequence, being about 1 tenth slower on average. The PN Spur will probably come in handy for those of you that want your car to push a little bit more than usual on exit. It makes the car a little mellower on throttle as well, as it does not spool up as quickly as the Reflex Spur, having a little bit less punch. Grip was also coming up on the track and Jacob's 96mm 02 was starting to get much quicker as well.

For the main, I should have changed my rear tires. My Radials were about to go bald and I gambled not to replace them thinking that the grip would be enough to where I would not need the tread for much longer. BIG MISTAKE. I also went back to the Reflex Spur and put faster batteries (750's)and the car became just a bit too loose. I really had to battle with it the whole time and I was not able to give chase to Jacob who's car was getting quicker. He ended up setting fast lap in the main with a 6.92 to my previous fast lap of 7.02. He was running the WTF2, 96mm G-10 plates and SSG's with a 350Z body. I was on 98mm, with PN #4 plate, green front springs, 98-102 mount and GTR2008 body. I built Jacob's car with 4+years of knowledge on MR-02 development. The MR-03 I am just starting to learn. I found several things after I got home where I can improve the car, just by being observant, with the addition of a couple of key changes, the car will be very tough to beat.

Next week I will come back a little more prepared and as the car gets more crisp, my driving will also become better with more track time. Overall though I give the MR-03 an A+ on a first time drive. It was right on pace, super responsive to set-up changes and very, very fast.