FYI, I received the team kit last Wednesday. Of course I had to request half the day Thursday and all day Friday off.
As I planned to race it at on New Years eve, I first came up with a baseline one-way
setup for stock that would be similar to my 05's. Figuring out the shimming for the correct track width and in-board toe was a challenge seeing as I hadn't had much sleep lately. But other than that, most of my time was spent on preparing the CF and shock parts. On Friday, the baseline setup proved to be close and I only made two minor changes to the front & rear shock positions, as well as putting 1mm spacers inside the front wheel hubs in order to widen the front track width quickly.
The results were pretty conclusive. With our current layout, the best time set came in at 30 laps @5:06. In the last two months with the layout there have only been 30 lap runs recorded six times. My best run with the 05 came in at 29 laps @ 5:03.
Yesterday, with a best guess on converting my FK05 one-way carpet/foam setup to the totally different chassis geometry of the T2, and only two quick changes in setup within a few hours of testing on Friday (didn't change a thing on Saturday), the car was easy to drive fast and more forgiving than anything I've seen before it. If I made a mistake I flicked the steering wheel and/or feathered the throttle and all I received was a "twitch" before she got back on the line almost instantaneously.
I was able to set new track records for the fastest lap (9.7, previously 9.9) and the fastest run (30 laps @ 5:03). My new PT didn't work properly to record everything correctly, but the time sheets state the facts above. Passing was almost too easy as I could take several different lines and adjust at any point mid corner. In the main I was able to lap the entire field twice, except the second place finisher which I chose to stay behind for the last two laps in order to keep from messing his run up.
Now my driving, although good, is not the best. And anybody paying attention, could clearly see several times when I made mistakes. The point of everything I'm stating here, is that the new T2 is simply unbelievable. I have to chalk up the speed to the shoes...err, I mean the car!
I'll admit that it was not smart of me to assume the setup would work in the 19t main which I had been using the 05 for in the qualifiers. I should have stuck with the 05, as the T2's softer setup allowed the car to dive like a submarine, and literally ride the front of the chassis through the corner marbles, with all the extra torque. As always, I'll note this for the future and figure out a setup that works for both stock and 19t like the 05's.
I'll post more details in the next couple of days in the .
.