[Eric_K]

This Saturday is the 33rd running of the Cascade Enduro in Portland. This will be the car's 5th go in the race but this time it is 12 hours instead of 8. We have finished 2nd overall the last 2 years so maybe the extra four hours will help us move up one more spot. The problem is, as usual, there are a bunch of cars faster than the 968 entered. We will be in the P1 class for cars 2.5 to 3.5 liters. There is a 350z, a euro motored e36 M3, an ex-Koni Challenge 996, a tube frame turbo Fiero and 2 RX7s entered in the class. There are also several big V8's and sports racers entered in the race. 31 cars in 5 classes total.



We will have 4 drivers and run 3 hour driving stints. The race starts at 9:45am and ends at 9:45 pm and begins with an old-school style LeMans start. You know where all the drivers have to run to the cars and jump in. It is the only race I know of that does this still. I will get the last stint, in the dark.



The car has been put back together after its little run in. See http://www.968forums.com/index.php?showtopic=6418

Friday will be its first laps since the incident so hopefully there are no surprises.



It will take lots of luck, but I'm hoping for a clean run and good finish.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[mike]

Glad to hear you got the car back together in time for the race Eric. Hopefully, the extra 4 hours of racing combined with the Porsche reliability will even things out against the faster cars. Good luck to you..

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Eric_K]

Thanks to you Mike.



The car is now wearing its 2nd black bumper cover from Mike's old car. Hopefully this one will live longer.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[pmcrespo]

Outstanding Eric. Best of luck to you and the team. I can bet you have prepared meticulously for the race so with a little luck and the extra 4 hours, you"ll get 'em this year.



Have fun, be safe, and GOOD LUCK!

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Renalicious]

Damn, so wish I could make it there, but alas <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/sad.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> Best of luck to you and your crew Eric! Hopefully you can snatch 1st this time, or at least give everyone a run for their money <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Eric_K]

We survived, we finished (barely) and captured 2nd in class and 7th overall. It was a long, hard but successful weekend and I’m tired!



We lost 20 minutes when a bolt left the shift linkage (above the transaxle) in the 7th hour. That was the biggest issue of the day. We got beat by our old yellow M3 nemisis, but managed to stay in front of the 3rd place 996. We did 483 laps in 12 hours.



I'll write more and post some pics later.



   

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Renalicious]

Awesome! Congrats on the race Eric, and great picture as well <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> Looking forward to hearing about the race, and some more pictures and videos. Sucks about the M3, but good news about the 996! Do you think there was any chance of grabbing 1st in class if it wasn't for that shifter problem?

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Eric_K]

Here is a quick writeup of the event:



The weekend got off to a shaky start. With the car being crashed its last time out and no test laps since, I was anxious to see if the car was indeed ready. Practice started at 1 on Friday. We were setup and ready to roll. I took the car out and on the first lap, the glass on the drivers side mirror fell out! I was hoping that wasn’t an omen of things to come. The car turned out to be a handful. It was very unsettled and darty. It didn’t like changing directions and had a mind of its own under braking. I was a bit stumped on what to do with it. I thought it was best to get the other drivers some seat time until I could come up with a plan. I sent them out and told them to be careful. I figured we could put some toe in to help stability, adjust the shocks to reduce forward weight transfer and put the race rotors and pads on. After the 2nd practice session we brought the car in for the raft of changes. While removing the old front rotors, Emmett noticed a lot of play in the front hub. Crap, the front bearings were way loose. A smoking gun! They were newly installed and obviously weren’t completely seated when I adjusted them. With the bearings re-adjusted, new brakes, shock changes and the same alignment, I went out to bed the brakes and see if we had indeed found something. We had! There was a huge improvement in braking and stability. We used the last session to get the drivers one more shot at the improved car and to scrub the race tires in.



Race day was bright and sunny. Bruce Trenery, the first driver, did the morning warmup without drama. The LeMans start was at 9:45. At the horn, I got Bruce belted in fairly quickly and we were the 7th car out. There was a lot of action for the first 30 minutes as cars sorted themselves out and several cars were called in for pit lane speed violations and being over the sound limit. At an hour and a half in Bruce reported he thought we were losing a rear wheel bearing. Since changing that is no simple matter, I told him to stay out until it gets worse. Thankfully, whatever he was experiencing seemed to stabilize and he returned to his pace. At 3 hours Bruce came in for a driver change and fuel. We jacked the car up and I shook the wheels looking for any play. It all felt good so we sent Mike on his way to do the next three hours. Mike appeared to have an uneventful run and got into a groove and ran off a string of consistent laps in the 1:23’s. He reported the car was hard to turn right and he was getting a vibration from the rear. I was sure the vibration was caused by the tire rotating on the wheel. I had noticed the valve stems had moved a few inches from the start of the race, throwing off the balance. At this point we were 2nd in class but the leading M3 had checked out and was a number of laps ahead of us. However, the 996 and Fiero had problems and were behind us but closing.



I was going to drive last, but Steve suggested we switch so I could use my familiarity with car to do some fast laps in the daylight and try to hold off the charging 996. I got in the car at the 6 hour mark, 3:45pm. I didn’t know what to expect of the car when I got in, but I was pleasantly surprised when it felt pretty good. I think I bettered our best lap time on my second flying lap. Portland is a rhythm track and if you can find it, you can effortlessly reel off fast lap after fast lap. I put together a string of 1:21’s and got down to a 20.7 as the fuel load lightened. The 996 was on the same lap but no longer closing in, then it went behind the wall.

As I was on my in-lap, for the mid stint re-fuel, things went sideways. I went to upshift to 4th on the back straight., but it wouldn’t go in gear. I tried to find a gear, any gear. I think I finally got it into 4th as I coasted the back straight. Had I blown the clutch? The clutch hydraulics? As I came around turn 12, I tried downshifting and the shifter went limp in my hand. Nothing. That is when I realized it was the linkage. I coasted down the pit lane, thru the gap in the wall and towards our paddock. I was met by a handful of guys who pushed me to our stall. We got the car and jack stands and eventually found the bolt holding the collar on the selection shaft had disappeared. Let me tell you, the linkage on top of the transaxle is an unpleasant place to work on a car that has been racing for 7.5 hours. I didn’t have the proper tapered bolt to go in there so we used a standard bolt and James cranked it down the best he could. It seemed to work, but how long would it last? We lost about 20 minutes and 15 laps for the fix. Luckily, other cars were having problems too so we did not lose a place in class. I took the car back out for another hour and a half. The linkage was hanging together.



By the time I brought the car in to hand it over to Steve it had been dark for about half an hour. I knew it was going to be tough for him. I at least had driven thru sunset and got used to the darkness slowly. He would be going out in the dark. The apex at turn 7 was very hard to see. You knew it was out in the darkness to your right. But your only hope of seeing it was if a car coming out of 6 would light it up or just pray you turned in at the right time.

The class leading M3 found Steve in the darkness and decided to use us for headlights. Steve wasn’t too happy about this at first but after leading the BMW around for over an hour, I think he got used to it. Steve was putting down laps in the 1:23 & 24’s, which was quite good for the conditions. As we entered the last 20 minutes, Steve reported the clutch was starting to slip and it was getting hard to shift. This is when we started to get nervous in the pits. If we lost the linkage again, we would probably be stranded on course and be done. By rule, the car has to cross the finish line under its own power or else it is a DNF. No matter how many laps you’ve done. Steve slowed down tying to be as easy as possible on the car. The BMW in tow also slowed down. It was kind of funny, no matter what we did they wouldn’t go by.

All the crews gathered on the wall to watch the final couple of laps. We suggested to Steve to just put it in a single gear and cruise around. He didn’t and kept his pace up. I could not relax until I saw him coming for the checkered. We finished. We did it! At the end of the cool down lap he had to downshift to slow and wait for his turn to enter the pit lane. He couldn’t get it back in gear! The race hadn’t ended a moment too soon. He did finally get it to engage and got it back to the pit stall but the car had enough for the day.



We did 483 laps or around 920 miles. Second in class behind the M3. The overall race winner was a super fast sports racer.



The car has now done 52 hours of enduros, 60+ sprint races and countless practice and qualifying sessions without a single issue from the engine. These are some well built cars!

The start

   

   

sguy on the fire bottle!

   

   

A very fast 944

   

ex-GrandAM 996

   

   

   

The overall winner and P1 winner

   

   

   

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[mike]

Nice writeup Eric. Glad to hear your car and team made the full 12 hours. Having been to the 12 Hours of Sebring many times (as a spectator), I know that there are lots tense moments and difficulties to overcome and there are lots of professional teams out there that don't make it to the end. Just finishing a race of that duration is huge after overcoming the difficulties you had with the shift linkage, front bearings, etc. and you have all my respect. Congratulations.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Renalicious]

Hey Eric, any chance we'll get to see any video from the race? <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[SILVY968]

[quote name='Eric_K' post='62503' date='Oct 31 2008, 03:44 PM']Here is a quick writeup of the event:



The weekend got off to a shaky start. With the car being crashed its last time out and no test laps since, I was anxious to see if the car was indeed ready. Practice started at 1 on Friday. We were setup and ready to roll. I took the car out and on the first lap, the glass on the drivers side mirror fell out! I was hoping that wasn’t an omen of things to come. The car turned out to be a handful. It was very unsettled and darty. It didn’t like changing directions and had a mind of its own under braking. I was a bit stumped on what to do with it. I thought it was best to get the other drivers some seat time until I could come up with a plan. I sent them out and told them to be careful. I figured we could put some toe in to help stability, adjust the shocks to reduce forward weight transfer and put the race rotors and pads on. After the 2nd practice session we brought the car in for the raft of changes. While removing the old front rotors, Emmett noticed a lot of play in the front hub. Crap, the front bearings were way loose. A smoking gun! They were newly installed and obviously weren’t completely seated when I adjusted them. With the bearings re-adjusted, new brakes, shock changes and the same alignment, I went out to bed the brakes and see if we had indeed found something. We had! There was a huge improvement in braking and stability. We used the last session to get the drivers one more shot at the improved car and to scrub the race tires in.



Race day was bright and sunny. Bruce Trenery, the first driver, did the morning warmup without drama. The LeMans start was at 9:45. At the horn, I got Bruce belted in fairly quickly and we were the 7th car out. There was a lot of action for the first 30 minutes as cars sorted themselves out and several cars were called in for pit lane speed violations and being over the sound limit. At an hour and a half in Bruce reported he thought we were losing a rear wheel bearing. Since changing that is no simple matter, I told him to stay out until it gets worse. Thankfully, whatever he was experiencing seemed to stabilize and he returned to his pace. At 3 hours Bruce came in for a driver change and fuel. We jacked the car up and I shook the wheels looking for any play. It all felt good so we sent Mike on his way to do the next three hours. Mike appeared to have an uneventful run and got into a groove and ran off a string of consistent laps in the 1:23’s. He reported the car was hard to turn right and he was getting a vibration from the rear. I was sure the vibration was caused by the tire rotating on the wheel. I had noticed the valve stems had moved a few inches from the start of the race, throwing off the balance. At this point we were 2nd in class but the leading M3 had checked out and was a number of laps ahead of us. However, the 996 and Fiero had problems and were behind us but closing.



I was going to drive last, but Steve suggested we switch so I could use my familiarity with car to do some fast laps in the daylight and try to hold off the charging 996. I got in the car at the 6 hour mark, 3:45pm. I didn’t know what to expect of the car when I got in, but I was pleasantly surprised when it felt pretty good. I think I bettered our best lap time on my second flying lap. Portland is a rhythm track and if you can find it, you can effortlessly reel off fast lap after fast lap. I put together a string of 1:21’s and got down to a 20.7 as the fuel load lightened. The 996 was on the same lap but no longer closing in, then it went behind the wall.

As I was on my in-lap, for the mid stint re-fuel, things went sideways. I went to upshift to 4th on the back straight., but it wouldn’t go in gear. I tried to find a gear, any gear. I think I finally got it into 4th as I coasted the back straight. Had I blown the clutch? The clutch hydraulics? As I came around turn 12, I tried downshifting and the shifter went limp in my hand. Nothing. That is when I realized it was the linkage. I coasted down the pit lane, thru the gap in the wall and towards our paddock. I was met by a handful of guys who pushed me to our stall. We got the car and jack stands and eventually found the bolt holding the collar on the selection shaft had disappeared. Let me tell you, the linkage on top of the transaxle is an unpleasant place to work on a car that has been racing for 7.5 hours. I didn’t have the proper tapered bolt to go in there so we used a standard bolt and James cranked it down the best he could. It seemed to work, but how long would it last? We lost about 20 minutes and 15 laps for the fix. Luckily, other cars were having problems too so we did not lose a place in class. I took the car back out for another hour and a half. The linkage was hanging together.



By the time I brought the car in to hand it over to Steve it had been dark for about half an hour. I knew it was going to be tough for him. I at least had driven thru sunset and got used to the darkness slowly. He would be going out in the dark. The apex at turn 7 was very hard to see. You knew it was out in the darkness to your right. But your only hope of seeing it was if a car coming out of 6 would light it up or just pray you turned in at the right time.

The class leading M3 found Steve in the darkness and decided to use us for headlights. Steve wasn’t too happy about this at first but after leading the BMW around for over an hour, I think he got used to it. Steve was putting down laps in the 1:23 & 24’s, which was quite good for the conditions. As we entered the last 20 minutes, Steve reported the clutch was starting to slip and it was getting hard to shift. This is when we started to get nervous in the pits. If we lost the linkage again, we would probably be stranded on course and be done. By rule, the car has to cross the finish line under its own power or else it is a DNF. No matter how many laps you’ve done. Steve slowed down tying to be as easy as possible on the car. The BMW in tow also slowed down. It was kind of funny, no matter what we did they wouldn’t go by.

All the crews gathered on the wall to watch the final couple of laps. We suggested to Steve to just put it in a single gear and cruise around. He didn’t and kept his pace up. I could not relax until I saw him coming for the checkered. We finished. We did it! At the end of the cool down lap he had to downshift to slow and wait for his turn to enter the pit lane. He couldn’t get it back in gear! The race hadn’t ended a moment too soon. He did finally get it to engage and got it back to the pit stall but the car had enough for the day.



We did 483 laps or around 920 miles. Second in class behind the M3. The overall race winner was a super fast sports racer.



The car has now done 52 hours of enduros, 60+ sprint races and countless practice and qualifying sessions without a single issue from the engine. These are some well built cars!

The start





sguy on the fire bottle!





A very fast 944



ex-GrandAM 996







The overall winner and P1 winner





[/quote]



Eric,



Nice to see her back on the track. Like the 3 tone racing color scheme.

Brian

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Eric_K]

[quote name='Renalicious' post='63734' date='Dec 2 2008, 10:27 PM']Hey Eric, any chance we'll get to see any video from the race? <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />[/quote]

I've got the first couple hours on the low quality memory stick, then the camera decided to turn off and we didn't notice. Didn't have anybody shooting any external video so there is not a lot of exciting stuff to see.



[quote name='SILVY968' post='63736' date='Dec 2 2008, 11:16 PM']Nice to see her back on the track. Like the 3 tone racing color scheme.[/quote]

Just lucky Mike's spare bumper cover was black. It didn't stand out as the last minute fix that it was.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.