This is a pretty long post but I'm trying to give you guys an idea as to what goes on at a DECA motorkhana day. DECA (Driver Education Centre Australia) in Shepparton is used by a lot of car clubs to hold motorkhanas and is also used as a part of the Victorian Dutton rally. The guy who runs the SAU VIC DECA (Andrew Richmond aka Snowman from SAU) was the 2007 Dutton Rally winner and also there are about 5 other competitors from SAU VIC. So they schedule a DECA event just before the Dutton rally is set and they all come up and practice. It's been over a year since I last competed (Feb 2007) and that was back when my car was pretty much dead stock. In the last year or so I've fixed up a heap of problems that the car had as well as making a few mods along the way and the car is driving better than it ever has. Partly due to the suspension upgrade but also because, with the help of other members (Stu, Nathan, Chad, Mike, Chris, Alex, Kirby, Graham, Peter Black and all the other people from the tech days) , I?d been able run through the 6 P's by AshZ and get my car running perfect. So I wanted to have another crack at DECA so that I could actually see how the car felt. I also wanted to see what goes into organising an event like this. So at 4.30am on Saturday, I met up with a few people from SAU and headed off to Shepparton. Got there at 7.30ish and filled up on Maccas breakfast. From Maccas to DECA is about 10 mins across Shepparton. So we arrive at DECA and there are already quite a few people there working on their cars. So I find a spot to park in and start removing the spare tyre and tools from the rear. Also had to remove the floor mats, basically anything unsecured has to be removed. Into the office then to get my CAMS licence and club membership checked out. Back outside and the scrutineer comes along to inspect the car. You just need an approved fire extinguisher (metal bracket, secured within reach of the driver, minimum 900g), Australian standards or better helmet (they look for the silver sticker with the red ticks), battery secured, good condition tyres (no belts showing and decent tread) and they take a quick look over your car to make sure it's safe to drive (brakes, steering etc). After you're approved to race you get assigned a number, I was number 31. After everyone is ready there is a driver's briefing and from there the group was split into 2 smaller groups and one group went off to do the skidpan session and the other group did the back tracks (known as Long Wang and Mini Wang, not sure why, I'm guessing it's a SAU thing). My group was doing the back tracks first. The Long Wang and Mini Wang are like mini hillclimbs. I think it takes roughly a minute to do the Long Wang and about 30 seconds to do the Mini Wang track. This is a map of the backtrack events. Long Wang run 1 wasn't very composed. Launched from 3000 rpm and spun the wheels a bit too much because of loose stones on the surface. Handbrake 180 turn was good but applied a bit too much throttle coming out and lost traction when accelerating out of the manouevering area. Also approached the long left hand turn too fast and lost the good line through the corner. Backed off as I approached the crest of the hill (after the long left hand turn but before the chicane) as I chickened out and didn't want to take the wrong line over the hill. Through the cones and stopped in the parking bay. Didn't hit any cones during the run. Time was 68.85 seconds. Onto the Mini Wang, first run. Launched fine but should have stayed in first gear until after the first turn. Around the bend and over the hill (again I backed off because I wasn't sure about how fast I should have been going over the hill) and then through the chicane and into the parking bay. Didn't hit any cones and the time was 29.31 seconds Back to the Long Wang for run 2: Launch was better and into the manoeuvring area, again a little bit too much wheel spin after the handbrake turn but it was fun and even my NA manages to smoke up the tyres. Out of the manoeuvring area and took a better line through the long left hand turn and over the hill with a better line and down through the chicane and stopped. No cones knocked over and the time was 65.91 seconds. So almost 3 seconds better which I was happy with. And finally to the Mini Wang for attempt 2: Took the first turn in 1st gear this time, accelerated out better and around the bend and pointed the car straight and buried the throttle all the way over the hill into 3rd gear. As you go over the crest you almost feel as if the car is going to lift off, awesome feeling. Through the cones and into the parking bay. Didn't knock over any cones and the time was much better, shaved off 2 seconds and the time was 27.09. I really wanted another crack at the back tracks but with 40+ cars we were limited to 2 runs so I didn't get another chance to improve those times. Now it was time for the skidpan events. So basically the event schedule says that you get 1 practice/familiarisation run to remember the course and then you get your 2 timed runs. But because we were running late it turns out we didn't get any practice runs and for some reason I didn?t know until later. So for skidpan track 1, attempt 1: I thought this was a practice run. I didn't go all out but the run was good for a practice run and I remembered the course so I was happy, time was 46.93. Went up for run 2 (which I thought was my first timed run) and I dropped a cylinder halfway through and just idled my way through track in 2nd gear and finished. I didn't want to stop as I would get a DNF, but I still thought I had another try so wasn't too bothered and the cause of my misfire was just a loose coil pack connector. Fixed that and lined up for what I thought was the second timed run of the first track. The time for this run was 55 seconds. So I?m about to start when I realise that the car that is in front of me is running a different course, I ask the official and he says that it's event 2 now and I hadn't even had time to look at the course map. So if you do learn anything from this post just remember that trying to do a motorkhana whilst holding the course map in one hand whilst also steering, changing gears, using the handbrake and attempting to be fast doesn't work. Basically since the maps are drawn from a bird?s eye perspective, once you actually start driving it gets really hard because all you see is cones everywhere and it's completely different to looking at the course map from above. The best way to memorise it is by watching the other cars go through it (and practice runs always help) but since I was fixing the coilpack connector I didn't get a chance to watch the first few cars. So this run was pretty bad, I missed a cone which equates to a DNF. Run 2 was better but again I screwed up the course, which resulted in a DNF again. So the skidpan session wasn't that great for me, not only did I forget the courses but my driving wasn't that great, definitely room for some improvement. So now both groups joined up again and went onto the skidpan battle session in the afternoon, which I found to be the best part of the day. The skidpan is split in half with identical courses on either side and you chose someone to race against. It doesn't really matter if you win or lose, it's the times that are important, but it brings in some interesting competition. There are 3 battle tracks, each build on the previous track but get a bit harder. Battle one I lined up next to an R33 GTR but as we approached the starting point he pulled off as he car was blowing a bit of smoke so I ended up against a Toyota Starlet GT Turbo. This thing was really fast, 90kw at the wheels and only 900kg. The start was pretty even but after the first handbrake turn I accelerated too hard and the car kept turning (more like a 270 degree turn) so lost a bit of time there. Caught up again and had a good run to the finish but he just beat me to the finish. Here?s a youtube video of us racing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hQ5AWOj8us So onto battle track 2 and I'm against a 33 GTR now. I don't know how but I actually beat this car. He pulled away from me from the start but I don?t think he was using his handbrake to spin the car around and also coming out of the last turn I used the accelerator to turn the car around which wouldn't really work in a GTR with the Attessa system. Also if you watch the video you'll notice that my car completely drowns out his car from the other side of the skidpan and also one of the guys behind the camera goes ?I never knew a slow car could do that? haha. Here?s a youtube video of us racing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMAtc94NqkM Battle track 3, attempt one was against an R32 GTR. This track looked a bit more complex but was the most fun. This was my best run of the day, didn't make any mistakes, no unnecessary loss of traction, handbrake turns were good and my time for this run was 8th fastest overall. I ended up beating the GTR but it was only because he forgot the course and started ripping burnouts. Battle track 3, attempt 2 was against a friend of mine in his 32 GTST. Of all the battles this was the toughest because this guy was one of the better drivers on the day (he finished 2nd in rwd class) but I wanted to give him a good run anyway. I lost this battle but my time was still good 14th fastest for this battle, slower than my previous time though as I made an error coming out of a turn. So that concluded the DECA motorkhana so we all packed up and I drove back in a small convoy of skylines. The car pulled up fine, DECA isn't that harsh on the cars, the skidpan surface is pretty smooth so there?s not much strain on the drivetrain and you can practice your drifting without really shredding the tyres. Also I was able to do the whole event and the round trip from Melbourne to deca and back again on one tank which is pretty good. Before the next DECA I need to: -Reroute pcv pickups, it wasn?t as bad as last time but my car was blowing smoke in the afternoon battles which wasn't really a good look but she?s driving fine now. -Disable J-spec speed chime, the speed limit on the Hume is 110km/h so when you have to listen to that beeping noise for about 2 hours each way it really drives you insane. -Fix coilpack connectors. Other than that I just need to improve my driving so that I can actually utilize all the mods that the car currently has. It doesn't need more mods to make it go faster (well, maybe I?ll get get better tyres when the current ones wear out) but I just need to learn to drive it faster. On to the results, I finished 28th overall, 12th RWD. Pretty happy with that result but there?s also a lot more room for improvement. The overall winner was a WRX. His car wasn't producing huge power compared to the other cars but he was running good suspension and good tyres and he was consistent all day which is the main thing. So that?s about all I have to write at the moment. There aren't any more videos of me on the net but there are some pics which I?m still waiting on which I will upload later. I will post the photos I took in another post. Some links: http://decamay08.racemeets.net/ this is the collection of videos shot in throughout the day. http://www.pbase.com/joelstrick/decamay08 Collection of photos from a professional photographer
4.30 in the morning at DECA Snowman's GTR. got brakes? this is just the rears! fronts Team Datto powered by sr20DET powered by Sr20det 180b but fuel injected team rexy: I got to go for a passenger lap in the next 3 R33 GTR's. the way they launch is awesome. rev to 5000rpm, dump clutch and nothing but grip. alex's series 3 gtr this is the leewah GTR. you might remember it from melbourne autosalon. was originally tuned from a single turbo to 617awkw! now turned back into a twin turbo and about 350awkw for street use. currently for sale for 40k. This one is for Pete and Jen. It wasn't a competitor but he came to watch. random shots i took: r33 with a high mount. maccas carpark group shots RWD winner Ryan Bell in his sileighty. Only tuned for 140rwkw but he runs on good suspension and tyres and he's a great driver.
looks like an interesting day Bet u learnt a few things too Congrates on beating the GTR in the vid Regards Trev
thanks guys. yeah it's good fun, even in my NA. Killing GTR's is good fun too , although if it were any other event besides deca i'd be way behind.
man i should really hook up with this too. Looks awesome! Would've been nice to pit 2 seater again 4 seater aye chad lol. When is the next event? Think i'd have to stay the night in melb cos i don't like the idea of leaving my house here in the sticks at 2:30am :s A single tank of fuel is good too. How many k's have you been getting lately?
the next SAU deca event is in August but they're making it a deca masters event. so it'll be for the regulars with lots of experience, tougher tracks etc. I don't think I'll be allowed to compete in that event but I want to go up and watch. The next open deca event is in November. Also I think NDSOC were going to have a deca day too. car's running better now, after the tech day I bought a set of intake pipes of moses so now I don't have any vacuum leaks anymore. getting about 400-450 per tank. most of my driving is short distance, stop start though. yeah I think a 2 seater might go better in the motorkhana with the shorter wheelbase.
i've been thinking of joining NDSOC, but my problem lies in not being able to attend most of their meetings. Whether this is a problem or not...i'm not sure. If i'm free for the masters event i'd like to come up and watch too if you have a spare seat
If you want to join the NDSOC talk to Wykked or redzedmikey or peter black, quite a few aus300zx members are part of ndsoc so you won't be a loner like me on SAU VIC I don't think meetings are compulsory though, I think most of the events are advertised on the NDSOC website.
