Swift 016/ ARRC

[bill gillespie]

Took a look at MYLAPS for the FS laptimes of a Swift 016 at the 2009 ARRC......121.5 Q, and 121.8 R, with one of the better known FA drivers.

My understanding is this was in PRO/Unrestricted form, so arguably might be a bit slower with the 32mm SIR.

Times are about equal with the top FB's, and a bit off the current FA times at Road Atlanta.

Can anyone who was there give more feedback, or can any of you draw conclusions about the Swift 016 entry into club FA ?

Regards,
Bill

[glenn cooper]

Isn't that the group of Columbian "rebels"?

Here's a way those lap times might be lowered to something more in line with the at the very least 1:19's that car should be running:

Put any of the top 6 or 7 FB drivers in the car!

GC

[bill gillespie]

Hi Glenn,

I feel your frustration from the mixed class affecting the terrific FB race. I'm trying to get a feel for the Swift 016 impact on current FA cars.

Did you have any feelings on strong/ weak points of the car itself. If it was truly unrestricted, any comparisons might be invalid.

thanks for your input.
Bill

[RussMcB]

This is not scientific or empirical or anything like that, but from track side the 016 looked MUCH faster than the FB cars on the straight, yet it was doing the same lap times. To be honest, I was pretty surprised to see the 1:21 lap time after seeing the car go through the corners a lot slower than the front running FB cars.

I think it may have been the first outing for the car, so maybe Jacek was learning it. He did seem to be in a bit of discomfort after the race (leg cramps?).

[Rick Ross]

Bill,

I specifically asked Jacek's crew about the SIR, and they claimed that he was running without the club SIR and in full pro series spec. From my perspective as an outside observer, the car appeared to be faster than the FB's on the back straight, but probably holding them up in the corners.

I did not get a chance to talk with Jacek, but it may have been his first event in the car. If so, it is at least possible that he was struggling with things suchs as seating, pedal positions, shift linkage, etc. I know that when I bought my DB4 it took several sessions before I had the seat, pedals, and shifter adjusted to my liking.

[mazda17]

While Jacek was fast at the Runoffs in CSR, he has not been fast in FA this year. I beat him at least once driving an FE and I know another driver beat him also driving an FE at another. 016's run 1:15s in the pro series and given that I have ran 1:19s in Pro Mazda I am sure a very good club driver could run at least in the 1:16-1:17 range.

[Dave Gomberg]

This coming weekend at HPT, there will be two days of testing with the new (required for club racing) air box and SIR. A top notch 014 and an 016 will be driven round-robin style by three excellent FA drivers. The purpose is to get the cars set up properly for the track and then to compare performance with different SIRs. This is to insure that the correct size SIR has been specified.

Dave

[bill gillespie]

Will the 016 use pro-spec tires, or available club tires for the test?......I may be wrong, but I don't think the pro tires are available to a club racer.

Thanks,
Bill

[Dave Gomberg]

Sorry, Bill, I don't have that information right now.

Dave

[dmundy]

That's odd. The car should be faster. The Star Mazda pole has been in the mid to low 1:18's the last two seasons, and the Atlantics have been faster than that.