Congrats to Dragonfly Motorsports @ ICSCC 44th Enduro at PIR

[biknman]

https://www.facebook.com/16323702470...876264?sfns=mo

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Congrats to my other center drive 818r bother on the left coast, well done!

[Sgt.Gator]

https://www.facebook.com/16323702470...876264?sfns=mo

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Congrats to my other center drive 818r bother on the left coast, well done!

They did a great job keeping her running thru the entire 8 hour!
I was there competing in my STI in the 2 hour and 4 hour, and Retro was there with their Mazda Miata Honda K24 for the 2-4-8 hours.
At one point we thought Dragonfly were done for the evening when the driver front suspension upper ball joint died. I carry a ton of spare Subaru parts, but that part is a Factory Five one. Then about 30 minutes later they are back on the track and hauling along. I just discovered they found a suitable replacement ball joint at NAPA from a Chrysler. Classic endurance racing fix under extreme race pressure!

For a bit of color, here's what I posted on NASIOC:

The deciding race for the Northwest Mini Enduro Championship Series was run yesterday at PIR in the 2 hour portion of the Cascade Festival of Endurance. It was a day of sometimes rain with partly sunny skies. That makes for a special challenge in racing skills to recognize the changes before they bite you.

The race attracted some pro level teams we don't see in our NW ICSCC racing. There were three prototypes and a Mercedes AMG FIA GT4 car. The AMG is a factory built race car for the FIA GT4 group of races. He came complete with German mechanics. Absolutely beautiful and a marvel of engineering. He was smoking fast, almost as fast as the prototypes, and in our class!

The track was cold and wet for the start. First driver in was my friend Chris from Retro Racing. He would drive the first hour, then I would hop in for the second, take the 2 Hour checkered flag, then swap for another of Retro's driver for hour 3 then back to me for the fourth hour. Endurance racing rarely goes by plan.

There were several cars that lost it in the cold & wet and crashed into the wall. One driver was injured badly enough to be transported to the hospital. (It was his 3rd or 4th concussion. Probably the end of his racing if he's smart.)

Unfortunately the AMG GT4 was one of the drivers who needs more practice racing in the rain. $300K race car, $100K in bespoke composite damage.

At the end of the two hour I had collected enough series points to win the NWMECS championship and was presented our trophy:




A couple of pics of us getting ready for the LeMans style start:




..

The black car next to us is our race partners at Retro Racing from BC, it's a Miata with a turbocharged Honda K24. And just beyond them you can see the silver AMG GT4.

Refueling Action:



At 3 + hours into the 4 hour the left rear wheel bearing gave up and that was the end of our racing for the day. Apparently I need to change all the wheel bearings every 3 races instead of once a season.

Next year I'm hoping to run our Subaru powered 818 in fair weather and keep the STI for bad weather. The 818 should be a lot less expensive to operate.

I want to thank our Tier 1 sponsor Subaru of Bend for their support. It's great to win a championship with them!

I also want to thank our tuners and fabricators, ArcFlash in Bend, and Surgeline in Portland.

And a shout out for Boxkita from the Legacy GT forum for coming down to Portland to be our Crew Chief, many thanks!

[DanielsDM]

Congrats DragonFly Racing. Way to persevere and finish strong. Good luck at the 25 hour next month.

Well done Gator. Are you going to run the 25 hour?

[Sgt.Gator]

Congrats DragonFly Racing. Way to persevere and finish strong. Good luck at the 25 hour next month.

Well done Gator. Are you going to run the 25 hour?

Not in the 25 Hour as a car owner. The cost is way beyond my means, I'm too old to stay up for the 25 hours straight not including all the pre and post race work to run the team. I might pay for a seat and drive someday, but not as a car owner. I was discussing this with a guy who has taken teams as an owner multiple time, if you want to finish in the top 3 in my class the STI would be in you have to figure $10k, per driver for a 4 driver team. In the top classes it's double that at least.
I do enjoy going as a spectator though!
If Retro was going I'd go as volunteer crew member, but I think they've decided neither the MazdaHonda nor the 818 is ready for it.

[DanielsDM]

25 Hours of Thunderhill is tomorrow. DragonFly Motorsports qualified 2nd in the E0 class this evening in the rain. Best of luck guys!

[biknman]

25 Hours of Thunderhill is tomorrow. DragonFly Motorsports qualified 2nd in the E0 class this evening in the rain. Best of luck guys!

Yes see it via : https://nasa25hour.com/

[biknman]

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[Jim Haar]

Good Luck Dragonfly !
Anyone know why the FFR GTM IS NOT RUNNING THIS YEAR ?

[biknman]

https://www.instagram.com/p/B5y6Hm9n...d=ks8d7zy70b9x
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5y6Hm9n...d=ks8d7zy70b9x

https://www.facebook.com/1387220611/...40?d=n&sfns=mo
https://www.facebook.com/1387220611/...40?d=n&sfns=mo

If the links above work they are video captures from the live coverage from one of DragonFly’s pit stops around 7pmPST after they repaired the damage from an off

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As off 8pm PST

[Sgt.Gator]

The E2 (ST5) race is epic! The FRS (BRZ -86) of TAPG is running faster laps than all the E1 cars. A Subaru engine that might win their class in the 25!
It doesn't hurt that TAPG are all Toyota engineers at the Toyota Proving Grounds and Randy Pobst is driving to the finish.

[biknman]

Be nice to get an after race report from Dragon Fly proof EJs can get it done!
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[DSR-3]

TOTAL STUDS, YOU ARE.
Congratulations!
*and congrats to NASA on putting on a great race, with the best amateur-event coverage I've seen yet.

[biknman]

If you missed it they (NASA) just posted it up on U Tube :

[Pearldrummer7]

this is awesome and inspiring! Congrats all!

[Leodelc]

Thanks for all the well-wishes, it was a great race. This was only my third time running the 25, but one thing I have already learned is no matter what you prepare for, there is always the chance of a new challenge coming up. Ours started during Thursday practice when one of my codrivers experienced a sudden wiggle in T1 followed by loss of brakes and drive in T11 as he tried to nurse it back to the paddock. As the tow truck brought the car in, I could see the left rear wheel was obviously deranged. The bearing was destroyed and the hub sheared, leaving the wheel free to move about as it would, only held in place by the brake caliper.

Luckily, I had prepared a spare set up uprights and a new pair of axles, and since the bearing appeared failed I decided we would replace axles and uprights on both sides out of an abundance of caution.

Qualifying was in the wet, and we put our third driver to give him a chance to experience Thunderhill at night. We got a lap we were happy with and let our driver take a few more laps and when he was comfortable we called him in and prepared the car for the start of the race.

If you followed the race start, you will know the weather was abysmal. There was a fair bit of rain and the wind was blowing in gusts. One of my codrivers started the race and did well through his first stint, but sometime into his second fuel stint he called in that he had gone off in T8, breaking the splitter and right side of nose, leaving the headlight assembly unsupported.

We could not find a satisfactory way to put the pieces back together with enough integrity to function as needed, so we decided to fabricate a new splitter from materials we found at Ace hardware. Ove the course of a few hours, my crew heroically fabricated a functional splitter solidly mounted to the radiator support, and stiched the bodywork back together with zipties and racer tape to the point that it almost looked like we intended it that way.

I then drove a double fuel stint to make sure the car was safe to drive, and we then proceded the drive the car through the remainder of the race. Our biggest challenge was the same everyone contended with, and that was the mod strewn all over the track, making for diabolical handling conditions. We found ourselves off-track a few times but avoided further damage, and took the checkered finishing fourth in class.

A few notes:
We are running the RaceCapture telemetry system so we can monitor critical system parameters from the paddock. It takes a great load off the driver and allows for even those not at the track (like my engine builder) to watch the data in real time.

We had zero engine and transmission issues throughout the race. PRE Racing in Portland built my version 8 EJ207 motor, which is setup for lighter weight as we are built to achieve 230 whp in accordance with the ST3 class rules. I am running a single-scroll VF30 turbo, Perrin headers, and an external water-cooled wastegate.

The oiling system uses the OEM oil pump but is a dry-sump setup using Aviad scavenge pump and ARE Spintric and sump tank. I am using a laminova oil cooler and an electric water pump controlled via my dash software, so ECT wsa in the 170-180 range and oil temps were in the 185-195 range with great oil pressure. We had struggled recently with an oil pressure drop and oil temp rise issue which we finally diagnosed to be a collapsing hose feeding the engine oil pump. Replacing the hose with a more rigid type of hose fixed the problem.

We experienced some minor alternator issues where the alternator would stop charging intermittently. This turned out to be water getting in the connector. Once removed, the problem went away.

With this experience under our belt, we will continue to tune the chassis as we would like to get a bit more mechanical grip and better front-rear balance.

[acmikee]

the GTM didn't run this year because NASA change the rules for its class which would make the car non competitive in its class

[Sgt.Gator]

Congrats Leo!
Question, for ST3 what did NASA decide your OEM gas tank size should be? 18 Gallons?
Thanks