1-19-2003 - Motorsports Ranch test - Dallas TX

Today was a big day for Colin.  He had his first test of a car on a big track.  The 1.7 mile Motorsports Ranch was the location and the Fran Am 1600 was the car.

Here he sits in the car in the pits while we make a front wing change.

The car ran very well with only a few small new car problems. 

After running in the crown wheel and pinion, and doing a few system check laps Colin got to feel the car and start to learn the track.

The track is a fantastic place.  Here Colin climbs one of the hills while making a turn. 

The track is a country club type facility.  The paved paddock, glass scoring tower, offices with classroom, over 40 enclosed garages, and covered pre grid make for a great place to test.

Colin logged over 150 miles during the day.  We worked on some aero changes first to get the car balanced in the high speed turns. 

Here Travis and Jeff make a shock change later in the day looking for some rear grip under power.

The car responded well to changes, with this change improving the car by .6 seconds.

Colin was really hustling the car around by mid day and had fun racing with the various Formula Vee and Star Mazda cars on track.

By the end of the day Colin was really trying hard and working to cut off 10's of a second.

Here he leaves the pits after another car change. 

We plan some more testing in mid February, but,  Colin is the data engineer on the Quantum Autosports Fran Am 2000 team, and will be in Sebring this weekend working there in the first race of the winter series, so time is the problem.

We don't know when the first race will be, but plan to be ready by continued testing.