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Thread: Another FFR PDG GTM Trans-Am Race

  1. #1
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    Another FFR PDG GTM Trans-Am Race

    The FFR PDG GTM ran another Trans Am race this weekend at COTA and finished reasonably well. 4th in class out of 9 entries. The team also won the Trans Am SGT West Coast series championship! I'll leave it to driver Carl Rydquist to add his comments, but here is a link to a report that is on the FFR website...https://www.factoryfive.com/uncatego...s-in-trans-am/

    WAY TO GO CARL!!!
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  3. #2
    Senior Member beeman's Avatar
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    Great finish, almost on the race podium! I was watching the timing web page on Saturday, the TransAm site's leaves a lot to be desired! Wish they had some live streaming at least... Will the race eventually be aired?
    What is your car's race weight?
    MK3.1 2004 Mach 1 donor. ABS, PS, TC.
    GTM #304 LPE 525hp LS3
    2000 C5 Lingenfelter LS1@489hp
    1999 Corvette FRC/Z06 track car

  4. #3
    FFR Maven Logan's Avatar
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    Good job Carl and team! Congrats!!
    Logan's Gen 3 Coupe-R Build
    Ordered 4/23/19 | Delivered 6/29/19 | First Start 8/1/20 | First Drive 9/20/20

  5. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by beeman View Post
    Great finish, almost on the race podium! I was watching the timing web page on Saturday, the TransAm site's leaves a lot to be desired! Wish they had some live streaming at least... Will the race eventually be aired?
    What is your car's race weight?
    They restrict the use of live feeds or we would have had one up. I believe this is because of their deal with CBS Sports which is airing some of the races this year. Hopefully this one will be on the air. You can find a lot of the events on YouTube. I spent much of the weekend watching them as the racing is top notch, exciting, and fun to watch. I don't believe we had to add any weight so that would put us at around 3200 lbs. Carl said the Viper had a good amount of HP on us, but he would catch, and even pass, them in the corners. GT3 Cup cars are always difficult for us, but then, when put in perspective, our GTM costs 1/5 what their cars do, so we are getting on pretty well!
    www.myraceshop.com

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  6. #5
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    Almost landed... although physically returned 5 days ago.

    89E6FDBD-BA94-4360-A03E-234664E9760C.jpeg

    We were required to not go below 3200 lb w driver at end of race.
    Our GMPP 525 is running without restrictor.

    COTA challenged us on setup, we have a West Coast baseline that doesn’t need to change very much between tracks here, but we quickly had to jump big on the RideTech shock settings, APR wing and rideheight to narrow the gap to the SGT front runners. Said and done, PDG crew got it done and the chassis balance turned out great. Trans Am races are 100 mile long so tire life is key. The longer the race the more focus we put on race setup, and qualy tires have to be run in the race so we set a banker and a fast lap then parked the car to preserve tires.

    Good for 5th at that time, but then we got narrowly relegated to 6th by a Viper. Same Viper would ironically cost both time and tire life in the race as we got held up and had to overwork the tires to get by. This battle saw us pass the Viper into T19, not a common move, but it was full clean just using a GTM advantage, the ability to do rapid direction changes at mid/high speed. But Viper power or aero won the spot back on S/F straight, however our msg had been delivered and duly noted.

    Went at it again and was able to get ahead in T15, build a gap T16-20 enough to make it stick.

    Mid race got company by a quick Vette coming up from behind, and we ended up in a very long ”battle of tires”. We had many crossover position swaps at T12 and T1, battles for position through T2. Super clean door to door racing. Vette eventually got it at T15 (see a theme?) and left me dreaming about more grip in T16-18. Until he spun at T11 and I was ahead again. At this stage, a car up ahead had broken down and we held station in 4th. Didn’t gain on 3rd which we had hoped would be possible towards the end. Our tire pressures, especially rear, were through the roof already with 12 laps to go (huge grip drop when it goes over target). We had even started below Pirelli’s lowest supported pressure spec, so while not helping in this race, it is invaluable data for 2020 to arrange countermeasures to avoid such a pressure hike.

    The GTM is generally very good on tires, normally strong end of race, and tirewear did look good. Excited to see what we can do with correct pressures 2020! Our GMPP 525 makes great power, but clearly so does everyone else. So back to the drawing board to convert power to speed, review aero, rotating mass, etc. With the Viper I was on his bumper at T11, then nearly 2sec off by T12 brake zone. This was definitely a good opportunity to sample performance on a track with very many different challenges, from hairpins to long straights to esses at various speeds and a long sweeper.

    At the end of the day I think the greatest takeaway is how the PDG team delivered a very respectable performance, once again showcasing the capabilities of the GTM, while leaving us buzzing for more in 2020!

    800C1700-7F68-4451-9F65-3FFBA9D6891F.jpeg

    6680BA00-92D7-40D6-B8E4-91D3121A3A3C.jpeg

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  8. #6
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    Huge achievement folks!!!!
    Congrats on adapting to the different set up requirements of an unfamiliar track.
    Cheers,
    Dave

    GTM # 294 Build Start Date 10/12/2009,
    2000 C5 Donor, LS-1 Twin Turbo, AC/Heat, G50-20.02 6 speed, Brandwood Cable shifter
    Build site. http://s679.photobucket.com/albums/vv153/dfraser/

  9. #7
    Senior Member Roger Reid's Avatar
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    Nice write up. Congratulations to the team.
    Just an old man with a great hobby

  10. #8
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    GTM Love: Recaps usually make it to CBS Sports as well.
    https://youtu.be/y-7CD3yw_mo

  11. #9
    Senior Member jamesfr58's Avatar
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    Congrats to you and your team, making a mark for the FFR GTM !

  12. #10
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    Trans Am by Pirelli kicked off the 2020 West Coast Championship early August. First round was at Thunderhill, our home track, in absolutely sweltering heat. The PDG4 GTM qualified on SGT pole, and then went on to lead every lap of the 100 mile race to the checkered flag while also passing some of the cars from the very fast TA2 class.

    T-hill LR-7.jpg

    T-hill LR-11.jpg

    T-hill LR-13.jpg

  13. #11
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    Sonoma was the second round of the 2020 Trans Am by Pirelli West Coast Championship. The track conditions were very challenging with ash on the surface and some areas feeling very oily. Adjustments ensued after practice and come qualifying, we bested our lap time from 2019 and set a new track record for the Trans Am SGT class. This felt like a huge win since for 2020 we've had to make slight adjustments to comply with the Trans Am regulations including single element wing that must be below the roof line. This means no more LMP wing or even the APR GT-1000 dual element wing. Instead we are using a APR GTC-500 wing that looks very much like the wing that FFR sells for the GTM kit.

    Here's the qualifying video including a no compromises pass of a TA car. The new for us AIM MXL2 dash is a great addition for the driver.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6pHJLSXAE0

    DSC_8109.jpg

    DSC_6596.jpg
    Photo: Fixing a worn radio connection pre-qualifying. The spotter-driver connection is crucial as these races involve a lot of passing as tire grip comes and goes, and the teams applying different strategies of when they want to push or conserve during the 100 mile race.

    DSC_8211.jpg

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    Photo: Great racing in Trans Am with lots of impressive teams and machines.

    DSC_8397.jpg

    The race was a long and constant battle with several different TA2 cars. We had pumped a bit too much air into the rear tires which made the car slide a lot, but eventually we came home 10th overall while completely dominating our SGT class for a second straight SGT win from pole position.

    118374042_10216951184031847_6654233254452335046_o.jpg

    Next we're headed to Portland International Raceway for Round 3. More reading available on gotransam.com
    Last edited by RR46; 08-25-2020 at 04:45 PM.

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  15. #12
    Senior Member beeman's Avatar
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    Great stuff. You guys have to be one of the crowd favorites (OK, maybe no crowd on site currently). Camaro... Mustang.. Mustang... WTH WAS THAT?... Mustang... Camaro... Camaro...
    MK3.1 2004 Mach 1 donor. ABS, PS, TC.
    GTM #304 LPE 525hp LS3
    2000 C5 Lingenfelter LS1@489hp
    1999 Corvette FRC/Z06 track car

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