Notta GP

[DarrenM]

This is why I had to miss the FNF Nurb race. Went to QLD to compete in the Notta GP at Lakeside. It's a sort of endurance regularity (min lap time 70 seconds though many went under) for teams of 4-6 drivers, but there's no prize for winner etc to keep it informal and not too competitive.

https://qldraceways.com.au/competition/notta-grand-prix

https://www.flickr.com/photos/marshdj/s ... 8149909544

We were on pace but got screwed over by having a different understanding of the pit rules. We thought all pit stops had to be min 7 mins. But near the end some regulars told us they thought only 2 stops had to be 7 mins. With 6 drivers, 10 stops so we all got a drive in the two 3 hour sessions, we lost a huge amount of time in the pits. Oh well, was still a huge amount of fun

We were car 88. Fastest lap time because one of our guys decided to just go for it at the end. 49 laps down on the leader though due to the time lost in pits.

Code: Select all

Pos Car  Competitor/Team                Driver                   Vehicle              Cap   CL   Laps   Fastest...Lap        Gap

1    88  Richard Morgan                 Richard Morgan           Lancer                           218   210 1:08.2547* 
2    21  Christopher Gunther            Christopher Gunther      Lancer                           254    12 1:08.4199  0:00.1652
3   159  John Emery                     John Emery               Falcon AU                        188    25 1:08.4874  0:00.2327
4   318  Scott Macgregor                Scott Macgregor          318i                             246    89 1:09.0379  0:00.7832
5   225  Scott Clavan                   Scott Clavan             Megane                           155   134 1:09.0973  0:00.8426
6   101  Wayne Crookes                  Wayne Crookes            Lancer VR-X                      177     9 1:09.3273  0:01.0726
7    96  Jason Bragg                    Jason Bragg              Focus                            211   202 1:09.3944  0:01.1397
8    61  Adrian Knox                    Adrian Knox              Falcon                           251   145 1:09.4993  0:01.2446
9    46  Jason Bragg                    Jason Bragg              Focus                            190   137 1:09.8860  0:01.6313
10   63  Chris Thompson                 Chris Thompson           Barina                           257   104 1:09.9514  0:01.6967
11  175  Jason Haren                    Jason Haren              Excel X3                         203   165 1:09.9886  0:01.7339
12  164  Noel Otto                      Noel Otto                Excel                            267    92 1:10.0014  0:01.7467
13   75  Ashley Kersey                  Ashley Kersey            Magna                            175   104 1:10.0065  0:01.7518
14   99  Edward Akarki                  Edward Akarki            Nissan NX                        202   117 1:10.0266  0:01.7719
15   23  Chris Collins                  Chris Collins            Assent                           188     5 1:10.1938  0:01.9391
16    9  Daniel Harding                 Daniel Harding           Starlet                           83    81 1:10.2496  0:01.9949
17   36  Dale Hariex                    Dale Hariex              Toyota Seca                      158    90 1:10.2909  0:02.0362
18   71  David Perkins                  David Perkins            Focus                            198   134 1:10.5439  0:02.2892
19  191  Adam Middleton                 Adam Middleton           Excel                            229    98 1:10.6287  0:02.3740
20  707  Lachlan Gardner                Lachlan Gardner          Excel                            228   124 1:10.7756  0:02.5209
21  399  Budda McCarthy                 Budda McCarthy           Civic                            156   129 1:12.8829  0:04.6282
22  969  David Sturgess                 David Sturgess           Mirage                           228   117 1:13.2964  0:05.0417
23    1  Jason Cassells                 Jason Cassells           Mirage                           208   112 1:14.1835  0:05.9288
24   31  Campbell Smith                 Campbell Smith           VT Commodore                      12     9 1:15.1108  0:06.8561

Fastest Lap Av.Speed Is 127kph

[Sarsippius]

That's cool, how did the car hold up? That seems to be a big consideration for putting regular cars in events like this, a lot of prep and then the cars still trying to rattle themselves apart.

[DarrenM]

We boiled the power steering fluid early on but it was fine after that and no other issues. We just need to sort out some guard rubbing because the wheels are over sized and the springs are on the soft side for circuit work. The other lancers were rolling a lot less through the corners.

[pixelboy]

Rules seem pretty clear on the 7min pit stop thing. Maybe not policed well?

Sounds awesome Darren.. Id love to do something like this one day.

Stan, should we buy a yellow Nissan Exa and head to Eastern Creek?

[pixelboy]

Actually, we should should do an official ARSE entry for one of these: https://24lemons.com.au

[StanDaam]

Stan, should we buy a yellow Nissan Exa and head to Eastern Creek?

Dat look mighty schweeet!!
My mate at work has just bought an MX5 and did his first race/track day at SMP a week or so back. He loved it and we had a laugh watching his Go Pro footage in the edit suite.

[wobblysauce]

Darren, Love the work done. Would be interested in the data you got from your race.

Rules are clear on the Pit times... 7 mins or longer.

Little math ... Fastest lap of 70sec(best lap time) X 50mins(Max driver stint)= 42.857 total laps a stint. Any faster than that you will remove a lap from the total. So aim for 42laps per tank, will need less for any slowdowns/Safety car.
Track length 2.411 km (1.498 mi) x 42.857 total laps = 101.2kms@42laps or 103.7kms@43laps.
Distance and Track time, 2411m x 70s = 34.4m/s or 124km/h avg.

I am sure most cars could do that on a tank of fuel, slower you go the fewer laps per stint vs the 7min pit stops and the 6laps penalty for it.

[DarrenM]

One of the guys put this together. First tab is analysis of all the cars. 2nd is comparing phone app lap times vs official times from natsoft.

[wobblysauce]

Darren, Interesting... Not bad at all, will you be doing it again?


Also, I forgot about In/out lap going to be more than the target lap time.

Oh, nice with the rough numbers I was close to the data, just changing the track length to your avg 2365m lap gets in within 1km/h of your avg speed.

Track length 2365m x 42.857 total laps = 99.3kms@42laps or 101.6kms@43laps.
Distance and Track time, 2365m x 70s = 33.78m/s or 121.6km/h avg.

[DarrenM]

Not sure if we'll do that event again. The 11 hour drive to tow the car up there for 1 day on track was a bit of a slog. If we can't find enough around Sydney to scratch the itch it might get another look in though.

[pixelboy]

Let us know if you do anything at SMP and I'll try to come and watch!

[GT VIRUS]

Be aware the costs of Lemons are a fair bit higher due to the fact it's actual racing, so you are looking at $5000 for the full car with rollcage/seat, and about $1000 each for the nomex body bags and helmet

[pixelboy]

Yeah I had estimated we'd need a 10k budget. 5 x $2k. That might be optimistic?

[DarrenM]

Our car was $2600 with the roll cage etc already done. We fit an exhaust for Lakeside due to the noise restrictions and one of the guys changed the suspension to be adjustable. The only other costs have been pads, fluids, tyres etc. With 8 of us in the group it hasn't been too bad. So far my share has cost me $1350 for the car, maint/fix costs, eastern creek track day and notta which was 750 each for 6 of us including travel and accom.

Lemons is supposed to be < $1000 total for the car, with roll cage and safety gear not counted. So $5k is probably at the upper end of what you'd want to spend. From what we could see it would have been $1500-2k to get a roll cage fitted to a car and you'd want the brakes done as well. Ideally you'd look to do multiple events to get value out of it. Track days, Marulan cheap car challenge etc. Our engine capacity is too high for Marulan unfortunately.

Lemons will be a fair bit more expensive than Notta because the per driver entry fee is a lot higher and you need more gear. Notta was $1k for the car and $30 per driver. Lemons is $650 for the car and $863 per driver for the full 24H event. You need a Cams 2S license which which was $135 + a car club membership (I joined ARDC for $90). Then helmet, 2 layer race suit which I guess you could share, but need at least 2. Think the cheapest race suit I found was $650. Extra brake pads, tyres, several tanks worth of fuel etc.

So I guess allow up to $5k for the car. Then 1.0-2.5k per driver depending on how much gear they've already got and how much they're willing to share sweaty nomex underwear. Plus car transport, accommodation, fuel, tyres etc.

One of the other lancers at Notta did lemons last year and one takeaway for them was that big car = dumb. The guys in falcons etc were going through massive amounts of fuel etc and weren't any faster. Something small, reliable and common (for cheap, readily available parts) seems the way to go. Lots of Pulsars and Corolla's in the field.

I guess you'd want 1 person in charge to organize. At least one mechanically minded person to prepare the car and up to 8 or so total to share the costs. Or just have a few share in the car then bring in arses from interstate etc for the races where needed. Some might not want to sink money into a car if they only get to drive it once a year or less.

[pixelboy]

Interesting, thanks Darren, great info and insight.

I might start another thread to discuss. It's definitely on my bucket list but may take a few years to pull it off.

[wobblysauce]

That sums it up well Darren.