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| March 06, 2009 News |
| On the Road: The Life of a Journeyman Mechanic - Day 6 |
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EKN's newest diary series continues as race mechanic / PR rep Mike Maurini remains on the road and at the track, supporting some of the finest young drivers in the sport. Ocala, Florida and the Stars of Karting Eastern opener are Mike's current homebase - Ed
 | Maurini will be working with Tyler Thomas throughout the season, beginning with the upcoming Stars of Karting Ocala event
(Photo: Corby Concepts) |
Waking up to warmer temperatures is always nice, but the 5:45 am wake-up call made me jump out of bed once again. Having organized my track clothes the night before, it was quickly off to the shower to get ready for the day. Sharing a room with Tony (Loniewski), I will always be that first to shower as he likes to sleep in a little extra. Upon my bathroom completion, I woke him up as I crawled back into bed. Neither of us takes very long to get ready, so 30 minutes is all we need to be prepared and we try to time everything to the minute.
Meeting in the lobby at 6:15 am, we were greeted by the Thomas and Wiegand families, as well as by Wesley Boswell and Mike Tetreault, as we would all travel together to the track.
At this part of the weekend we tend to get into a routine as we move forward. Trailer doors are unlocked, tent walls are opened, kart covers are removed, tool boxes unlocked and organized as we begin to touch up minor details from the day before. With the first on track session at 8:00 am, fuel is added to the karts, tire pressures are checked, karts are started and warmed up and then a secondary nut and bolt check is completed. Working as a team, we all chip in to help another teammate if there is a problem, but this morning was running smoothly so the iPod docking station was hooked up and tunes were playing as we worked through the morning.
This was the first event weekend for the Stars of Karting Series under a new President and class structure and it would be interesting to see how things would go. With over 80 entries, my driver Tyler Thomas would compete in the Junior National class utilizing a Woltjer Racing Engines Parilla powered Top Kart.
With a short track layout, wheel-to-wheel racing is close and being off a little bit could send you way down the running order. Not a very technical track, Ocala Gran Prix is very fast and the kart must be almost perfect to gain a quick laptime. With a stacked field of drivers in the Junior National class, over 20 pilots would be on the track each and every session.
As we worked through the day, trying different stiffness of wheels, axles and setup changes, we ended the day very happy. The morning saw us run on very old tires as we struggled slightly to gain the necessary grip on the slick track. At the completion of the second session, we were running a 38.6-second lap time with the fast time in the low 38.3’s. With a lot of drivers putting on new tires for the third session, we made the choice to switch from the Top Kart wheels to the Douglas Low Volume Magnesium. A small front end set-up change and it was back to the track for the third of five sessions where several of the top drivers had on new rubber.
Turning a quick time of 38.0, we looked as if we lacked the consistency needed to stay with the fast guys. 38.0 was the quick time of the session as Taylor Miinch, Shawn Sharkey and Louie Pogano were all in that unofficial area. Back to the pit area for de-briefing and DA download, Tyler and I studied the data as we began to talk about the session. Asking the right questions to get the necessary feedback is the only way to work with a young driver as this is how we began to fine tune our set-up. Complaining of a lack of side bite through the three 180-degree corners, it was back to work on the kart.
 | | An old-school photo, here is Maurini working with James Hinchcliffe |
Although I hate to post specific changes, I will give all the readers a general idea of the changes without telling you exactly what was done. A seat strut change was made for handling issues and a gear change to help us better down the straight was made.
Back to the track for session four, none of the drivers on the grid had new tires, so it would be a perfect gauge on where we really stood. The usual suspects would be quick again as the track looked like it had slowed up with the afternoon sunshine. With a better kart, Tyler was able to gain the consistency running 38.3 and 38.4 almost every lap with a quick time of 38.31. Fast time on the session according to my watch was a 38.26. We’re within striking distance, yes!
Back to the pits, Tyler explained that the kart was better but it felt like he was lacking pull off the corners and in the bottom end power. Thinking that the gear change was the wrong idea, I downloaded to check the data and saw that we had a faster mile per hour at the end of the front straight and only lost a little out of the corner. It was a definite improvement.
With times challenging the top of the charts, we decided to try a different axle to keep going the direction we were headed, as well as change the length of the exhaust flex to compensate for our gear change. A small carburetion adjustment was also made for the final session. Heading to the grid, it was noticed that front runner Phil De La O had a new set of Bridgestones installed as I would be sure to have a watch on him. With no significant drama during the final session, our time improved slightly to a 38.29 with De La O looking like the quickest at a 38.08. I felt very good about our speed on used tires and hope to improve tomorrow.
Kosmic driver Tristan DeGrand was super fast in the final session, turning lap times a half-second quicker then us and De La O. Knowing that something was not right, we had heard a rumor that he was on the Florida Winter Tour spec MG FZ rubber, which provides a lot more grip on slick surfaces. Having tested them in the past, MG’s are almost one second quicker then the Stars of Karting spec tires at any given track.
Back to the pit at 4:25 pm, it was time to start preparing for tomorrow. Removal of the motor and cleaning of the kart ensued as another flex change would be made for the morning. Wanting to look at data at night, not many changes would be made as a fresh motor was put in place and tools were organized. Leaving the track at 6:25 pm with the sun still up is rare for a Stars of Karting weekend, but the new weekend format provides for a little more relaxed and less stressed rush atmosphere.
With a jam packed car, I got a ride back to the hotel with the Thomas family of three, Wiegand and Loniewski as the Chevy HHR provided little room. Forced to sit with the computer bags in the truck, I was quite thankful the drive was only five miles. Choosing not to go out for dinner, Tony ordered some toasted deli sandwich’s from Dominos as I headed to the exercise room for a 30-minute jog.
With nothing planned for the night, I stayed in the room and surfed the Internet. Looking at some data and responding to e-mails was the only list of items on the agenda as it would be to bed early for a 5:45 am wake up call and an important Friday of practice and qualifying
Stay tuned all this week for my On the Road: The Life of a Journeyman Mechanic segment. |
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