BB's First "Real" Day On-Track!

Last year, we had fun at Mid-Ohio race track but it was lead-follow.  Which means you follow an instructor at the pace of the slowest car.  Fun but didn't stretch BB's legs!

This year I made the open lapping group, for better or worse.  Here's a glimpse of some people in my group:

The cars in the background are largely 500+hp Corvettes and Porsche's.  Hmmm.  This should be interesting.  We had 4 more cars on track than a Formula 1 race and most of them lapped me in each 20 minute session.  However, I was not slowest!  I actually closed on Mustang's twice during corners.  But the near 1000hp was too much on the straights.  Still very fun!

Imagine one thousand horses running at you in a stampede.  That power is today available in a car with a warranty that runs on pump (not racing) gas.  However you feel about progress, you have to admire humans exchanging ideas.  Holy Shit!

So, I am proud:

• I built this car from scratch (neglecting the many British and Japanese engineers that provided the foundation that this could ever happen)!
• BB did a full hour of alternating full throttle and full brake and got me home (with a stop for a victory beer at Wadsworth Brewing!).  I must have done something right!
• I got good data.  And Claude (I know there are different opinions about AI.  I strongly feel that humans and AI will partner to make the world (and maybe even the Universe a better place)) thinks "he" can make good use of it to recommend improvements.  (As I've previously said, engineers are allowed to use nested parentheses!) In spite of the set backs, this is the legacy of innovation!
• Roughly a dozen people stopped by in the paddock to say they loved the car (BB!) and had once owned one.  I was by far the most unique car there.
• Avert your eyes, Mom, but I regularly got to 107mph on the back straight!  I thought I would get to 120mph from my sim racing practice but I have some things to figure out there.  That is likely the fastest BB has ever gone!  That was fun!

And, I am ashamed:

• I am 21 seconds faster than this with the best car model of BB I can manage in Assetto Corsa (a very accurate racing simulator).  What am I missing IRL?
• I think I need to punch the brake and throttle more aggressively.  This is similar to the feedback my team gives me as a manager at work.  Also, I just fed my data to Claude AI and it said I was coasting for 62 seconds each lap!  Just as there is no crying in baseball, there is no coasting in racing!  It's full throttle or full brake.  Hmmm.

In any case, here is a video of 2:05.5 lap.  I'll find those seconds one day!  Claude and I are going to overlay my simulator data with my IRL data and figure out the gaps.  More on that later.  At this point, we just celebrate the few days like this that God grants to Ohio and keep on having #funwithcars!