[mxpop]

JC Meynet/Harmanmotive continue undefeated streak in Street tire class at California Speedway with Redline Time Attack 7-20-08



Following our challenging multi-race-win at Miller Motorsports Park 3 weeks ago, we realized that the competition is starting to really heat up in both the Street and Modified awd classes. Miller was the first (and only) time that we didn't qualify on pole as fastest Street tire qualifier. This definitely sent us a message that we need to work even harder on our already very aggressive car/driver development program. Fortunately, we made the correct decisions with some setup changes due the excessive temperatures and elevation to end up winning every Street tire category and almost won Modified as well in our Street tire class car (with simply a tire change).

We realized that engine heat and aerodynamics would be our main issues at this high speed "Roval" course at California Speedway with top speeds expected to approach 170mph. With that in mind, we designed a new aero setup to better control the airflow to/thru the intercooler, oil cooler, and radiator. We also added a lower section to our front splitter in order to help reduce air from getting under the car (in order to reduce high speed "lift"). From our previous testing, we also knew that we would be as slow as mid 40mph in 4 other sections of the track which calls for a totally different setup and approach. It's always about compromises.....

We decided to sit out the Saturday practice session as we knew our car was strong and I had just recently spent time on this track. Instead, I spent time with helping some other drivers and watching the competition. After a carnivorous rib dinner at "Claim Jumper" with the cool GST/Subaru crew and a good night's sleep, we felt ready for raceday.

On Sunday morning, we did our usual plan of warmup sessions while watching gauges with ride along's with Subaru guru Adon and racers Eric and Ryan, all from Harmanmotive. We felt strong and competitive so we sat out the 4th and final practice to preserve the car. We qualified on pole in the Street tire class and near the front in mod with our worn out practice tires and a passenger in each session. "Confidence is high, repeat, confidence is high!"

As predicted, we knocked a bunch of time off our practice pace now that I was running fresh tires, no passenger, lighter fuel load, and no traffic to deal with. My opening lap of a 1:50.xx was fast enough to lock in the win in Street tire All Wheel Drive class and also the fastest Street tire time overall. This also is the new track record in both of those categories. I was also about 4 seconds ahead of the 2nd place awd car, an eternity in racing.

After a phenomenal 1st pit stop by the Harmanmotive crew to get me on my "R" compound tires, I ventured out for the 1st Modified class race session. I managed a good but not necessarily great lap time and much to my surprise, I had the fastest Modified time as well! I had hoped to be near the front with my powerful but heavier and much less modified car but to be at the front was an unexpected surprise!

We sat out the mid-day practice session to make some more aero changes for better top speed knowing that the competition wouldn't be sitting still during the lunch break but instead, they would be doing whatever they could to get me as I was now carrying the target on my back!

Our aero changes definitely made the car faster in top speed but also resulted in a severe "loose" conditon with the rear of the car. While this was "exciting" to drive, it was overall slower and our lap times suffered. Fortunately, my previous Street tire lap times held strong and we clinched that win.

After another stellar pit stop by the Harmanmotive boys, I took to the track again for the final Modified race session. As feared, our loose condition continued an we didn't improve on our lap times. Unfortunately for us, several other teams made changes in the form of fresh tires, more boost, and who knows what else. Surprisingly, not 1, but 4 teams managed to set times slightly faster than my 1st round best time and put me back to a season worst 5th place in Modified! OUCH!!!

Oh well, dominating Street tire class is our main goal and any success in Modified is just icing on the cake! We also know that the winning driver/team was using Unlimited class BFG tires worth a couple of seconds per lap over the typical Modified class legal tire (somehow wavered into Modified...???), had a claimed 700+ horsepower, a thoroughly prepped to the limit of the rules car, and a talented "hired gun" driver. All of which is allowed so congrats to them for their victory! Coming close to the Modified win in my heavy Street tire class prepped car still makes us feel great and we know that wins in Modified will be had when we take the next steps allowed in Modified once we are out of the Street tire class. Also, the top 5 cars in Modified were just over 1 second apart which shows how tight this class has become (Street and Unlimited were won by about 4 seconds). We are already one of the fastest Modified class cars and we have a lot of improvements allowed that we haven't taken advantage of, yet......

Gary Sheehan in the GST Subaru won the Unlimited class with a blistering lap about 4 seconds ahead of the competition (Tyler McQarrie/C-west S2K, Tanner Foust/Crawford STI, Billie Johnson/M-works Z, etc). Also, props to my team mate Stephen "Tipper" Ruiz for his 3rd place in Street tire awd.

Well, another successful weekend thanks to the Harmanmotive crew and all of our supporters:

Harmanmotive
Yokohama Tires
Cosworth engines
Stoptech brakes
ACT clutch
Enkei wheels
COBB
AEM
Motul oils
Kognition designs
Deatshworks injectors
Garrett Turbos
Whiteline
Cusco
Hose Tech
Subaru

And an especially big thank you to Nik, Chris, and the entire Redline crew!

JC Meynet #15
Harmanmotive STI
Harman Motive Shop




Pics to come soon.

[amg destroyer]

Congrats on yet another successful time at the races

[TIMELESS]

Awesome work!

[mxpop]

JC/Harmanmotive "nose-cam" video.

1:50 (street tire track record)
160+mph on banking


YouTube - Nosecam, Harman Motive/Cosworth/StopTech 06 STi

[grambo]

Congrats! Awesome work. You'll be at Subiefest I hope?

[kitganzon]

Where are the pics! I want to see them!