My second race (1st 2001 KWC race)
07 Nov 2006

The guy in the middle is the race director, the one on the left (Nuno Carvalho) was one of the two drivers that represented Portugal on the Euros in Greece and on the right Paulo Reis.

Another season of the Portuguese Kyosho World Cup started yesterday, 24/09/2000.
The next races will determine who is the team that will go to Dubai. The temperatures were on the range of 20º to 25º and the day can be described as perfect for racing.

My car was tuned with the best setup I could achieve. The only strange thing was the fact that I was using softer tires in the front. This seemed to puzzle everyone, because it was the exact opposite of everybody else.

This time 13 drivers showed up and the race was divided in 2 series. 3 qualifying rounds for each group and two finals. The schedule was very narrow with very little time in  between. Messing up a setup could lead to a bad position on the starting grid.

This race will serve as a lesson for two reasons:

1. Always check the belts (You will see why)
2. Don't let people change things in your car...

1st Qualify

My first qualify gave my best time of the 3 rounds - 27.70. The car was ok and my driving skills were acceptable. I made 10 laps with a very good rhythm and I was starting to feel that I could have a similar position on the final. Not so...

2nd Qualify

The 2nd qualify was terrible. After Ramiro Franco adjusted the ride height, the car started to behave very strangely. I had 40 tires on the back and 30 on the front and I had no steering at all. In fact the mistake was mine. The tire choice was wrong and I didn't knew it.

Talking to Ramiro again about the lack of steering (without telling him about the tire choice) he adjusted more front toe out, and we did it.

3rd Qualify

The third qualify was a real pain. The car was impossible to drive with that toe out adjustment. It would spin in 1st gear for no apparent reason. A qualify to forget.

I removed the toe out, and after checking the car on the track I concluded that I would use softer tires on the back (30) and harder on the front (40). This time I did a couple of laps before the front tires started to get off the rims. Here we go with cyano in the hand...

Paulo Inglês and his son. He was driving his dad's car and having fun. A future contestant fir sure.

After the end of the qualify I had the 5th time very close to the 4th. All the guys in front of me were running bigger pinions (I was using 1st - 15 and 2nd - 18) and the front runner was using (17/20). On second gear they were all using a smaller spur and this accounted for  a major difference in top speed on the long straight and on a smaller straight on the inside of the track. Because I had only the stock spurs and that pair of pinions there was no way I could go. The handling of the car was superb, but the lack of top speed wouldn't help.

The finals were two and mine was the second one. However we would have a little more traffic because one of the contestants for the 1st final lost his 2nd gear and the race director allowed him to enter the second final. I was the pit man of Paulo Inglês that represented our country on the Europeans in Greece. I did very fast refueling and I was a very attentive turn marshal. Only if I had the same luck...

My car handled perfectly. I could just turn with throttle on, with no problem. Pity that the middle belt didn't hold the entire race.
Notice the cut on the bumper to improve air flow.

My final came. And I was 3rd on the grid. When the flag came down I lost one position but on the first curve I was 3rd again and gaining some time on the rest of the field. All was well until I had I had some difficulties with traffic and at least two contestants touched my car, making me spin when I was passing. Oh well, that's a risk we have to take. However all was well, because I was still 3rd and my final was faster that the first one. That could mean a 3rd or 4th in the end.

After the first stop, my pit man forgot to adjust the rear spoiler and my car lost rear down force (in fact gained up force because of the angle of the rear wing), and I was having lots of difficulties on sustaining a good pace with that setup.

And then the car started to behave in a completely unbalanced way. I assumed that one of the universals could have become loose because the car would spin on power and on brake. I stopped and my pit man could not see anything wrong. He refueled and sent me on my way.
It was impossible to drive. I decided to stop to have a more detailed check on the car. When I looked down, my pit man was not there. I had to descend the stand. and I found that the middle belt was missing. I had only rear drive and rear braking. What a mess.

Fortunately I had bought a pair of belts the day before. I ran to pick one up and at that moment my pit man arrived and finished the installation of the belt. I managed to recover one place on the last 7 minutes. There was this guy that I passed two times and stood 1 lap behind me. I was driving like crazy. I did the 5th best lap, this time with 27.24.

In the end I had the 10th overall in a day plagued by problems. I'm sure that on the next race there are a couple of things that I wont overlook. And a couple of things that people won't do on my car.

Helder Peres was laughing before the race and he promised to end in front of me. He did! And his car was a real bullet on the straight.

The Results - 1st Race - 9/24/2000