SCCA Hawaii 2019 | “The Mis-shift” | Race 9
I’m always excited whenever its race weekend and this day was no different. The last few course setups had a similar feel but this one was much different. It was a nice change and a breath of fresh air for me.
I got to start the Junior Karts this time around for my work assignment. I’ve never done it before but they are MUCH louder than I thought they’d be up close. I had to call in the driver and number over the walkie before they were went off and I felt like I was yelling into it!
I forgot to turn on the GoPro and stiffen the dampening on the rear shocks for Run 1 and consequently, the car felt sloppy like a boat. Nothing unheard of as I’ve forgotten before but still a disappointment for having no footage to look at for Run 1.
Pulled a better run for Run 2. Car felt more responsive with the dampening to full stiff.
I mis-shifted in Run 3 going up to the turn around. I ended up grinding the gears pretty bad while trying to put it into gear. I first thought that I may have messed up the trans or that the car’s clutch was toast. I managed to get it into gear and just finished the run. Felt pretty bummed and I lost my concentration at that point.
The last run ended up about the same as Run 2. The tires were cooked from Run 3 and I ended up hitting 2 cones in the run anyway. Run 4 was driven out of frustration more than anything…
I’ve driven much worse than this but that means there’s much to learn and lots more to discipline myself in. I was real discouraged after throwing away that run in Run 3 and I let it affect me the rest of the race which probably attributed to how Run 4 went.
I drove the car home without any issues and Run 3 still heavy on my mind. I don’t know if something is starting to go out with the trans or if it was simply human error on my part. Today was simply a lesson in that it’s just one of those days where the outcome isn’t what you want it to be. Stuff like that should never stop you though because it could’ve been much worse.
Can’t wait for the next race 🙂
Addendum:
In regards to my mis-shifting, apparently there’s something called a shift “lockout” in 8th generation Civics where the car is unable to go into gear at high RPMs due to a delay valve in the factory clutch master cylinder (CMC). The remedy? It involves swapping an EM1 clutch master cylinder from Hybrid racing. I’ll look more into it later if it’s absolutely necesssary. I hear swapping the CMC is a pain…
