GRIDLIFE Touring Cup Round 1 - COTA

DC Sports is back racing again with Ronnie Vajdak and his Acura Integra, built by Track Monsters Racing. The first race of the year was held at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas. 

Here are some images of his rebuild process which happened over the last few months. 

 

Since Ronnie spent so much time putting the car together for this season as a complete rebuild, he didn't have any time to shake the car down before the event. His first practice session was the first time he would drive the car.

The GLTC race weekends are comprised of six sessions. 

Free Practice

Qualifying

Race 1 - Cars start based on qualifying times

Race 2 - Cars start based on fastest lap in Race 1

Race 3 - Cars start based on finishing position from Race 2

Race 4 - Cars start based on a random grid invert (Positions 4-15)

Practice

Ronnie was able to get in and shake the car down and was overall happy with the pace and performance of the car. Being this car runs a K20A Type R powerplant, it was down on torque compared to many of the other competitors. As a reference the pace setting C5 Corvettes in GLTC make around 350ft-lb of torque while our Integra dyno'd a mere 155ft-lb. 

With a few setup adjustments and the track temperatures increasing, Ronnie was ready to take on qualifying. 

 

Qualifying

Since no times were displayed, we were anxious to see how our DC2 would stack up against 30+ cars in the field. Ronnie was able to put together a lap that secured 14th place overall. This was very impressive for being only the second session of the day. 

Race 1

Starting P14, Ronnie made quick work a few cars in front and managed to pull a gap to the racers behind. Being the GLTC sprint format, the races were 15 minutes long. This makes for exciting racing since everyone is pushing flat out. However the increasing track temps were turning tire temps against us. The car became increasinly greasy causing a bit of instability in the brake zones. Ronnie would eventually fall back a few spots and finish P12, two spots ahead of where he started. 

Race 2

The next morning, GLTC enacted the signaute standing start at COTA using the Formula One grid and lights. You can't NOT have a standing start at a real GP track! Ronnie would make up a few spots at the start and was up through most of the race. A serious caution flag resulting in a loose wheel rolling down the track caused one of the S2000's to contact our Integra causing a bit of damage to the lower sideskirt and RH side door. Ronnie would move up and finish in 10th positon. 

Race 3

Race three would see Ronnie moving up the field again, starting P10. After realizing his ABS wasn't working in race 2, the DC Sports team quickly diagnosed the issue and got the system back up and working properly. This allowed Ronnie to dive deeper into the braking zones which helped keep the car stable and prolong tire life. He would race elbows out and finish P6 for race 3! 

Race 4

Because of the random grid invert, we would again start P6 with some of the much faster cars behind. Ronnie made the most of it and gained two positions up to 4th place for most of the race. Two of the leading cars would ultimately make it past in the later stages of the race so we would finish P6 overall. 

Results

Ronnie's skill and teamwork would pay off so we would finish 9th overall for the weekend, putting us in 9th place in the championship so far! Out of a grid of over 30 cars, this first outing for the DC Sports Integra showed excellet pace and beautiful style! 

We are excited to see how the car works at a more favorable track - Carolina Motorsports Park in a couple of weeks! Be sure to tune in to the live stream on the GRIDLIFE Youtube channel to watch it unfold!