Khajavi Motorsports Porsche Boxster RSR Race Report 3-Hours
Publicado: 07 Abr 2008 10:43
We have been getting a lot of questions about the car and the accident on Sunday so here is our race report:
Thursday/Friday Practice - Immedietly after unloading the car and starting it the flywheel sheared off the crankshaft! This required removal of the transaxle and significant repairs to the flywheel, crank, and clutch disc. These repairs took until Friday night. Friday night we were able to test the car in the pits on jack stands and get it ready for Saturday to run and qualify.
Saturday Qualifying - During practice Team KM had a failure of the shifting forks in the Transaxle which limited the gearbox to only 5th, 4th and 3rd gears (3rd gear required holding the shifter to maintain the gear). Due to the tight gear ratios and the nature of the high RPM motor, the car was extremely difficult to drive and in the slower sections of the track was stalling the engine. Without the option to repair the gearbox and with the diminished performance of the car, the team decided NOT to put new tires on the car for qualifying and racing. The transponder was also not functioning which was not repaired in time to get a good qualifying time forcing the team to start last.
Sunday Race - Team KM decided NOT to run in the warm up session to save the gearbox from additional damage before the race and to conserve the old tires. The race start was as expected with the car performing poorly with the limited gears and old tires but was able to maintain a slow pace consistently. After the initial laps the car was running well (several previous issues with the car were no longer hapening, car temperature was good, brakes were very good). Going into the 'S's the car was balanced but when exiting the last 'S' before the right hand hairpin curve the Left-Front lower A-Arm outer joint failed and the front wheel turned full left, Dary could not stop the car from exiting the track. Not knowing about the full extent of the failure, Dary successfully returned the car to the track but having little control of the car due to the broken front suspention, the car entered over a steep curb which then damaged the Left-Rear suspention. The car then quickly departed the track again to the left side and came to a stop a few meters from the track. Dary was not injured and the car did not experience significant damage from the crash. However due to the fact that KM is not yet sponsored for 2008 we did not have sufficient spare parts to repair the car fro the second race.
Race Summary - Team KM is not entirely happy with the final results of our efforts but are pleased with the fact that the teams in GT2 were able to run and open the class for the 2008 season. With each failure we learn what is needed to get the 'Ghost Rider' to it's full potential. We feel the car and driver have the right combination to be very competitive in GT2 and look forward to showing the fans and other competitors what we can do! Special thanks go out to the team members who's devotion and hard work make this all possible (and to the wives who let us do it!)! Also special thanks to the fans and thier words of encouragement and sitting in the rain to see us race!
P.S. I thought I would share a 'Ghostly' picture of the Ghost Rider's car at 1:00 AM in the pits at La Guacima while the team fixed the flywheel and crankshaft damage!
Thursday/Friday Practice - Immedietly after unloading the car and starting it the flywheel sheared off the crankshaft! This required removal of the transaxle and significant repairs to the flywheel, crank, and clutch disc. These repairs took until Friday night. Friday night we were able to test the car in the pits on jack stands and get it ready for Saturday to run and qualify.
Saturday Qualifying - During practice Team KM had a failure of the shifting forks in the Transaxle which limited the gearbox to only 5th, 4th and 3rd gears (3rd gear required holding the shifter to maintain the gear). Due to the tight gear ratios and the nature of the high RPM motor, the car was extremely difficult to drive and in the slower sections of the track was stalling the engine. Without the option to repair the gearbox and with the diminished performance of the car, the team decided NOT to put new tires on the car for qualifying and racing. The transponder was also not functioning which was not repaired in time to get a good qualifying time forcing the team to start last.
Sunday Race - Team KM decided NOT to run in the warm up session to save the gearbox from additional damage before the race and to conserve the old tires. The race start was as expected with the car performing poorly with the limited gears and old tires but was able to maintain a slow pace consistently. After the initial laps the car was running well (several previous issues with the car were no longer hapening, car temperature was good, brakes were very good). Going into the 'S's the car was balanced but when exiting the last 'S' before the right hand hairpin curve the Left-Front lower A-Arm outer joint failed and the front wheel turned full left, Dary could not stop the car from exiting the track. Not knowing about the full extent of the failure, Dary successfully returned the car to the track but having little control of the car due to the broken front suspention, the car entered over a steep curb which then damaged the Left-Rear suspention. The car then quickly departed the track again to the left side and came to a stop a few meters from the track. Dary was not injured and the car did not experience significant damage from the crash. However due to the fact that KM is not yet sponsored for 2008 we did not have sufficient spare parts to repair the car fro the second race.
Race Summary - Team KM is not entirely happy with the final results of our efforts but are pleased with the fact that the teams in GT2 were able to run and open the class for the 2008 season. With each failure we learn what is needed to get the 'Ghost Rider' to it's full potential. We feel the car and driver have the right combination to be very competitive in GT2 and look forward to showing the fans and other competitors what we can do! Special thanks go out to the team members who's devotion and hard work make this all possible (and to the wives who let us do it!)! Also special thanks to the fans and thier words of encouragement and sitting in the rain to see us race!
P.S. I thought I would share a 'Ghostly' picture of the Ghost Rider's car at 1:00 AM in the pits at La Guacima while the team fixed the flywheel and crankshaft damage!
you might win a Back Fire competition... 
Just Kidding!!