ALMS Round 6: Road America

[Mechanic Z]

Originally Posted by Mike Hedlund

Once we realized the race was going to be wet, we changed the settings on both the front and rear anti-roll bars. For our GTC cars, each bar is adjustable on each side... so you have 1-7 "notches" of adjustment on each corner (4). We changed all those notches at each corner so that we could go from our normal (or close to it) setup to the wet setup while only adjusting 2 sides (cuts the adjustment time in half).

Soon after changing to slick tires we realized our "soft" rain setup really wasn't working with the slick tires (first time we had tried it). During a caution period we planned to do fuel and spend the extra time to adjust the anti-roll bars. Being a good pit neighbor, we noticed the Falken guys were coming in at the same time (it's obvious when both crews stand up on the wall looking serious).. we mentioned to them we were going to be a little longer than normal since we were adjusting anti-roll bars (because we were directly in front of them, there was a chance we'd block them and delay their exit).

Originally Posted by MoMedic9019
Wet to dry change...they are usually set to full soft, or somewhere near that to allow for maximum compliance in the front end...when it dries out you'd have horrid under steer..so they need to be stiffened back up.

Thanks, Mike, and MoMedic9019. Always cool learning more about the cars!
I'd noticed a longer pit stop for the 17 during the GT race, and was wondering the reason.

Originally Posted by Mike Hedlund
They said they were doing the same thing.. and we were coming into the pits in the order of our pit boxes.. which meant the crew basically got a race of their own-- to see who could adjust their cars anti-roll bars quicker.

We lost that one, but I'm not 100% sure the RSR has the same adjustment as the Cup.... :-)

-mike

JDX doesn't have too much to be ashamed of! The Falken crew has been quicker than even the Vette & BMW teams on pit lane this year!

Hope you can get the car put back together in time for Baltimore! Really like the gold chrome!

[Mike Hedlund]

Originally Posted by Mechanic Z

Hope you can get the car put back together in time for Baltimore! Really like the gold chrome!

Thanks! We'll definitely be there. Chassis was on the machine yesterday to make sure everything was straight and it looks good to go. There'll be a lot of late nights for the crew leading up to Baltimore but we'll be there. :-)

-mike

[FalkenALMS]

Originally Posted by Mechanic Z

The Falken crew has been quicker than even the Vette & BMW teams on pit lane this year!

Last year, too! Specifically at Road America, we gained three or four spots in one pit stop. Not to brag, but our crew knows how to get pit stops done!

If anyone missed our Road America behind the scenes blog, here it is. Hope you enjoy! http://bit.ly/1f2JqEm

[Mechanic Z]

Originally Posted by FalkenALMS

Last year, too! Specifically at Road America, we gained three or four spots in one pit stop. Not to brag, but our crew knows how to get pit stops done!

I remember that, now that you mention it. Sorry I forgot! Definitely the top team on pit lane!