Nismo RC (race car) #001 on track with Doran racing

Dustin@Z1

Shamless plug for the Z1 Motorsports Urethane Motor Mounts....

Thanks for the pictures sir! I know many of us from Z1 went to the race this weekend over at Barber Motorsports Park, but I couldn't make it unfortunately. Really bummed because of that.

I hate that this car was TKO'ed. Such an awesome looking car.

Shamu

Same brakes as grand am cars. What abs system do they use?

Any chance we can get those front control arms? Those are sweet!

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Grant

takjak2

Bosch Motorsports ABS

I have almost 1400 photos from the weekend I've been working through including pics from the crash that I'll try to put up tonight.

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dastaco

Word is Doran will be back for Mid-Ohio. For anyone that isn't already following Doran racing on facebook I recommend adding them.

Doran Racing | Facebook

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DivZero

It'll be great to see more pics. Any chance you have one of the back of the brake rotor (where the duct connects)? Also, are you guys running the 350 or 370 heads?

Dwnshift

Hey guys sorry for the late update...but I have just been flat out bummed.
We fought some major running issues on the test day...which was the FIRST time the car had hit the track.
We managed about 5 laps total besides in and outs ...developing a pretty signifigant missfire.
The crew changed out plugs and coilpacks and combed through the data and mapping....never really seeing any redflags.
The next day (Thursday) was our first real go at it...and there was no mis....so Bryan and myself were finally able to get our first laps in anger and start on chassis setup.
For the most part the rest of the 76 car field behaved on through the practice session.
We fought some pretty evil handling and made some major setup changes to the platform...but still were not feeling great about what was underneath us going into qualifying.
After the last practice session...and a debrief with Kevin Doran...we took another stab at it and made a couple adjustments. The next thing we really looked at was how many laps we had on the tires...in addition to the runs on the chassis dyno the car had.....and the additional ABS braking test that we did back at the shop.
Bottom line....the tires were junk.
The next issue was qualifying in which the car received 4 brand new Conti tires....man what a flippin relief...and HUGE difference.
It goes back to one of the OLDEST SAYINGS IN RACING.......the are the only 4 things that touch the ground.
Anywho..... out of the box for quali I couldnt believe the difference and how hooked up we were....the bad issue was...traffic.
My 2 lap..I found myseld realling in one of the Turner M3's...but headed into the S on the back stretch...we had the APR Audi (whom just flew off track) jump right in front of us..and we had to slam on the binders hard.... that lap was junked.
Next lap go around the Turner M3 into one...but again..we ran into traffic headed into the corkskrew. I backed off and took another shot...this time...I gave myself 20 car lengths to a pack of Mustangs. I had a solid run through 1...2 and 3 the car was hooked up...headed into the hairpin I was able to go to the 2 marker for the brakes....but ended up right on the heels of the Mustang pack...JUNK.
With 4 minutes remaining...I backed way of and tried to find one last little gap...and ended up turning a 1:37.9 and the team was P11. For sure if I would have had better timing at the begining of the session we woulda started inside the top 10.
For our first outting out of the box with the new car...we were thrilled.
Now comes the quick depressing part.
The race started...and we were P10 going into 1....I got a little tap from behind by the 00 Camaro but no biggie....I had space in front...and space to my outside to the Roush Mustang...we all went down to the apex and picked up throttle.
The next thing I knew...we were in the sand trap outside of one and the car was smoking. THe crew radioed me to ask what happened...and my response in my head...I was helping you could tell me.
There are conflicting reports of how what and why...but the bottom line...a lot of cars got thrashed in the first corner...of the first lap...of a 2 1/2 race.
As the car tracked away from the apex.....behind me...a Mustang 3 rows back made a bold dash to the inside...in doing so...his inside tires went into the wet grass...the car didnt turn...and it didnt stop.....thats where Nismo RC chassis 001 A pillar came into play.
The Mustant hit square on the A pilar/ left front wheel area....of which I can say our upper control arms didnt break
That hit sent the car to the outside where it quickly closed that "gap" to the Roush car...hitting them square and me spinning in front of the 65 other cars.
Those 2 hits were plenty and our day was done.
So...we will be def missing round 3 of the series in Homestead and look to be finalizing the rest of our 2012 schedule in the next few weeks.
The good news is that we were able to get a great direction and progress has already been made towards our next level with this car.
As of Tuesday the chassis was already stripped and been taken to the frame rack.
I can say this......Ive been doing this for awhile...and this one was just flat out depressing.
I want to thank all the Nissan supporters and owners that we meet over the weekend...and the guys at Z1....when they saw we had their engine mounts they were completly stoked.
As always ....stay "tunned" for details
Cheers
Dwnshift

Dwnshift

PS...the race airs on Speed Channel this coming Sunday at 4PM est....get the tissues out..and you can turn the race off at 4:05 PM est

ChrisSlicks

I was pretty excited about your qualifying result, thought that was a great starting position for the car's first excursion.

Starts are always a problem. Everyone is jacked on adrenaline and there is always someone bound to do something stupid. The racing instructors always say, "You can't win a race on lap 1, but you can certainly lose it" as a way of trying to encourage the drivers to keep level headed for the first lap - doesn't always work though.

Many years ago it happened to me, I was the idiot with a wheel on the grass. Once you're there you are just along for the ride.

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m4a1mustang

It's hard not to get aggressive on the first lap (or a restart) because the opportunity to pass a lot of cars is so great. If you pull it off you're a hero... if not... you've got a lot of drivers and team owners angry at you!

But yeah, it definitely sucks to wipe out a bunch of good cars early on. Such a waste.

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redhoundracer

there is a difference between being agressive and being stupid watch the white and yellow and the blue and yellow mustangs in this video and tell me that it wasn't stupid driving
Barber Motor Sports Grand Am starts 2012 on Vimeo
or this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJpm5xLlvlo

Kingbaby

every one wants to win...lmao...crazy video

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m4a1mustang

I hadn't seen the video up to this point, so I was just making a generalization. Yes, that looked like a bonehead move! But I would like to see the full replay on the Speed broadcast to really see what happened since its hard to get the full picture from that onboard.

IDK what the heck happened on that second incident there.

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ChrisSlicks

Seems like very other car on the track is a Mustang, there's the problem!

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m4a1mustang

They were really strong last year. Still looking good this year but Grand Am has been doing a pretty good job of keeping the competition close. Get too far ahead and they'll reel you back in.

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gomer_110

From some talk I heard at the Daytona race, you'll actually hurt yourself if you're too good. Normally the added weight or reduced RPM's to "equalize" the field will take you out of contention for at least a race or two.

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