Morning arrived and aiming to demonstrate the team’s abilities, driver Andrie Hartanto took to the track after crew chief Chris Le and techs Andrew Eng and Bao Vu dialed in the settings both for the TSX and the S2000 for back-to-back runs. Throughout practice and qualifying, Hartanto and company established their superiority by not only driving the fastest lap times in the MotoIQ series, but of the entire NASA race group as a whole whilst putting himself firmly in Pole Position for the afternoon race.

The team’s closest competitor in the MotoIQ TU class was an Acura Integra (DA chassis) powered by a B20 engine and driven by Andrie’s former Honda Challenge competitor, Edo Stepanyan. While Hartanto qualified well over 2 seconds faster than Stepanyan, the team was all too cognizant of the fact that a race win wouldn’t be guaranteed. With the climbing temperatures and a near 600lb weight differential between the Prima Racing/TunerPlayground TSX and Stepanyan’s Integra, it was clear that tire management would be a crucial factor in the overall outcome.

The TSX took a convincing early lead, however Hartanto held back the pace in order to preserve the tires (a set that Andrie had used in 2011) until the end of the race. Despite running a 1:57.2 in qualifying, the temperatures and race strategy only saw a 1:59 as Hartanto’s fastest lap. Driving behind, between and around multiple classes of traffic scattered around the entire track certainly began to take its toll on the tires’ longevity. Stepanyan followed closely for the duration of the race before making his move as the TSX’s front tires began to give way. The first pass however was short-lived as the Hartanto overtook the Integra following Stepanyan’s off-track excursion through the Sweeper.

Unfortunately the TSX’s tires were at critical mass as Hartanto radioed to crew chief Chris Le that the understeer issues were worsening. While Andrie lead through the first half of the white-flagged lap, the tires finally washed out after a series of passes through the Spec-Miata field with Stepanyan in two. Leading into the Bus Stop Stepanyan overtook Hartanto. Andrie kept the race extremely close through the second half of the lap, however was unable to find the opportunity to overtake.

“I knew that the tires were old and were near the end of their life, but man, they really went out in a hurry. To be honest, I’m actually pretty surprised by the tires’ behavior. The understeer was pretty bad, but this race was more fun than I’ve had in a while. I thought that if I held back early on, I could push near the end of the race, but it looks like our strategy didn’t work out the way we planned. Congrats to Edo for a great race and I can’t wait to fight again tomorrow,” stated Andrie immediately after the race.

While the tires did pose a challenge, it was discovered shortly thereafter that main culprit of the TSX’s understeer was the car’s rear sway bar which broke shortly after the start of the race. The team wasted no time in welding the bar back in place and readied the car for Sunday’s rematch.

Following the grueling MotoIQ MPTCC race, Hartanto quickly jumped back in the S2000 for two more GTA sessions, however the heat proved to be too much for the street-class tires not only for Irene, but for the majority of competitors who nearly all ran slower later in the day.

After a hard-fought day by the entire team, the entire crew enjoyed yet another meal cooked by team chef, Lee-Anne Ostby. As they unwound and relaxed along with the hardworking photographers/videographers Nick Cahill & Trevor Jackson from MHMM Productions, the team laid out their plan of attack for Sunday’s events.

Day two at Buttonwillow started off in the same fashion as day one. Despite the seemingly uphill battle, the team set forth to achieve its comeback in both the MotoIQ series and Global Time Attack. Crew Chief Chris Le’s team of Andrew Eng and Bao Vu had already established the initial settings on both the TSX and the S2000, leaving the rest squarely within the capable hands of driver Andrie Hartanto, who would again be pulling double duty in the sweltering heat.

By 8am, the temperature had already climbed above 80 degrees (Fahrenheit). Without question, the first GTA session for the team and the S2000 would be critical. The team had already been dealt the setback of competing without their Hankook RS3 tires after an unexpected shipment delay. With nearly a year’s worth of events on their old set and virtually no tread, the TunerPlayground/Prima Racing team elected to switch to a slower Dunlop tire after their RS3′s had corded from Saturday.

Things appeared to be progressing well with Hartanto and the S2000 dropping down to a 1:59.362 almost immediately. Unfortunately, disaster struck when Chris Rado’s Unlimited FF behemoth Scion TC caught on fire, immediately black flagging the session and bringing all of the cars off the track. Fortunately, Rado escaped unscathed. This however was extremely unfortunate for Hartanto, who according to the onboard GPS telemetry was actually set to do a mid 1:58.xxx lap but was forced to slow down because of the full track black. While some cars were able to squeeze in a few more laps in the morning session after Rado’s TC had been towed in, the team was forced to bring Hartanto in because he was scheduled to drive the TSX for MotoIQ qualifying.

Andrie once again put himself firmly in Pole Position, this time with fresh Hankook Tire C51s. When the race began, instead of preserving the tires and pacing the TSX as he had done on Saturday, Hartanto pushed hard immediately, quickly stretching the lead. Lap 1 was not without incident however as Andrie and Edik Stepanyan found themselves finishing their first lap in the middle of a Spec Miata field that was only receiving the checkered flag as they came around. After fighting through traffic, Andrie and the TSX maintained a sufficient lead all the way through to the end of the race, which saw a portion run under yellow flag/safety car conditions. The caution laps behind the safety car brought Stepanyan within striking distance, however Hartanto pulled a commanding lead immediately following the restart, effectively putting his stamp on the race and earning redemption from Saturday’s 2nd place finish.

While unlikely to yield faster times, the team prepared Irene for the final GTA session, which was run at the peak temperature hour of the day. Once again, the session experienced its share of complications as Irene struggled to get a clean lap. The difficulties on the track for Andrie reached critical mass when he spectacularly slid the car in an attempt to avoid a direct impact with the Evolution Racewerks BMW 135i who had spun and stalled itself firmly on the racing line immediately after the Bus Stop, a corner whose exit line already offers a frighteningly microscopic margin of error, even on laps when obstacles aren’t in the way.

Relieved to bring home Irene in one piece, the team took solace in the fact that they showed an incredible amount of determination to fight through the heat and stay committed in spite of the setbacks. Although bringing home a 4th place finish in Street RWD in GTA was still below the team’s initial expectations, Sunday’s MotoIQ win with the TSX was still a well-executed and deserved victory. Even still, Hartanto and the team remained in good spirits as they packed up and made the trip home to the Bay Area.

“These things happen,” Hartanto mused. “The great thing is that racing is unpredictable. Sometimes you’re not the one enjoying it, but that’s okay, we’ll always fight. We still had a lot to be happy with. We all worked hard and we had a lot of fun. Every weekend that we go racing, we’re with friends, we get to make new ones, we always learn something new and we always push to be better and faster as a group. You can’t go home crying about that,” Andrie said with his trademark smile.

The TunerPlayground & Prima Racing team would like to thank its partners, supporters, NASA, Global Time Attack, MotoIQ and all of the other competitors for an outstanding weekend. Look for the S2000 to be back with a vengeance. In the meantime, stay tuned for amazing videos featuring the team from MHMM Productions later this summer. They’ll be releasing a feature film along with a GoPro-exclusive clip!

Saturday was fairly laid back as Tom drove in the Open group for the day. He really enjoyed getting himself reacquainted with “Irene” and ended up setting a new personal best lap time of 2:07.610 (running the Cyclone Configuration). In the meantime Andrie and Chris were focused on our customer Jim’s Honda Challenge & NASA TT Civic EK. The crew had recently installed JRZ RS suspension (we are an official JRZ dealer) along with a new alignment setup, so they spent most of the day working with Jim to fine tune his car while Andrie provided his expertise feedback and direction as both a passenger and driver of the car in the Open group.

Video of Tom’s new personal best:

Saturday ended with Andrie and Chris efficiently and successfully building a larger honeycomb aluminum composite front splitter to use for testing the next day. They also worked to do a thorough check of the car, including the brakes and the now available to the public Wicked Tuning monoball pivot points. Following a delicious dinner courtesy of Chef Lee-Anne, the team packed up and headed back to the hotel for some much needed rest.

Sunday morning began with only one practice session while the track surface was still rather cold. We were pleasantly surprised to see the former Science of Speed S2000 competing in the Unlimited Class with us. The car was built very well with a fully gutted interior, cage, Ohlins TTX suspension, and Toyo RA1′s.

The team initially struggled to get “Irene” to handle properly having never tested at Thunderhill with the new tire setup, but as always Andrie’s unique ability to adapt and improve the car still put him in P3 during qualifying, barely a few hundredth’s of a second behind P1 and P2 respectively. The team regrouped during lunch and following some incremental changes made in the hot pit, Andrie was able to fight his way back up to P1 at end of Heat 1, where he would remain for the rest of the day as he continued to run faster and faster times.

Next up is Round 1 of Global Time Attack at Buttonwillow Raceway on Saturday & Sunday April 21-22. We’ll also be filming with MHMM Productions over the course of the weekend, so be sure to check back for updates and keep your eyes open for another unforgettable video. In the meantime, be sure to visit all of our partners (links conveniently located to the right of this page). See you all soon!

Andrie’s fastest lap of the day:

The weekend began on Friday afternoon with Andrie and team manager Tom Tang loading up our rig with tools and provisions from Costco before heading down to Buttonwillow. This marked the first time that Tom had ever driven our truck and trailer, so it was quite a fun learning experience. Crew chief Chris Le and Tammy Woo left from San Jose later in the evening, followed by Mike and Lee-Anne Ostby. Everyone met at the hotel just before midnight and after goofing around for a short while, we turned in for what would be a busy day ahead.

Saturday morning started off with the team moving into the garage space that we’d be sharing with our friend Sev (driving his red MKIV Toyota Supra Turbo on both days). Chris quickly began to work on swapping from the Recaro driver seat that Andrie uses over to the Sparco one that fits Tom. Meanwhile Lee-Anne cooked breakfast for everyone while Mike got his RSX ready outside.

Time went by quickly as Mike, Tom, and Andrie (driving Chris’ personal S2000) ran together in the Open Group. We were joined later by TunerPlayground exclusive-model Erica Nagashima, who drove all the way up from Santa Barbara because she had never been in a race car before and wanted to hang out with us for the day. Luckily for her, Andrie was more than accommodating about giving her an exciting ride along with him in Irene for a session. Needless to say, she had a blast. Video of the ride-along coming soon, in the meantime here’s a great video of Erica doing the shuffle because she told Tom she was really good at it. We’d have to say, we agree!

Unfortunately for Mike however, his shifter cable broke, so he had to retire early. Fortunately though, team mechanic Bao Vu hadn’t left the Bay Area yet, so he was able to pick up a spare from Andrie’s World Challenge TSX and bring it down later that evening. Just before we packed up to head back to the hotel, Chris and Andrie switched the 17×9 Rota Grid wheels on Irene over to another set that we had just mounted brand new Advan AD08′s on. They also filled up the gas tank in preparation for Sunday, when Andrie would not only be competing in the Chrono Series Time Attack, but also testing the AD08′s because we have to use them (being a 180+ treadwear tire) at Super Lap Battle Finals later in the year.

Sunday morning marked game time. The crew worked quickly to prepare Irene for practice while also swapping the spare shifter cable over to Mike’s RSX. Meanwhile, Lee-Anne and Chris Ng started on breakfast for everyone, consisting of delicious eggs, veggies, bacon, and croissants.

Some of our friends and fellow competitors from the Bay Area also arrived during this time, Edwin (silverstone metallic AP2), Anish (berlina black AP1), and Martin (sebring silver AP1). Tom went to attend the driver meeting with Mike (who had decided after his car was fixed to run in the GT2 Class for the Chrono Series Time Attack) because Andrie had to help Chris and Bao with the car.

The only practice session that we would be given that morning quickly arrived, and Andrie strapped himself in before heading out to the grid. We were also sure to equip Irene with plenty of Hero2 cameras, provided by our partners at GoPro so that everything would be captured on film for the team to analyze later.

Practice and qualifying went great with Andrie in P1. We were able to dial in the settings for the AD08′s and Andrie also commented that the Wicked Tuning monoball pivot points made the car much sharper and consistent. We must admit that these have been our secret weapon because although they just went into production last week – we’ve actually been testing them for over 7 months now. He also mentioned that the engine felt great with the Supertech valvetrain, Berk Technology 3-inch exhaust, and Hondata K-Pro engine management system working in unison after being tuned by Jei Chang at Blacktrax Performance. We can’t wait to receive the Stage 2 Camshafts from our partners at BC Brian Crower next month!

We’ll be testing again this Saturday at Thunderhill Raceway and also competing in Round 3 of the Chrono Series Time Attack on Sunday. Be sure to check back then for updates. In the meantime, be sure to visit all of our partners (links conveniently located to the right of this page). See you all soon!

Video of Andrie doing what he does best:

-Install all of the new components that had arrived recently (Berk Technology 3-inch headerback exhaust, APR Performance carbon canards, Challenge USA 7075 duralumin front tow hook, Hondata K-Pro engine management system, lightweight racing battery, J’s Racing suspension components, and Blacktrax Performance baffle oil pan).
-Corner Weight
-Alignment

Because of the amount of work needed to be done, the crew split off into pairs of two, with Crew Chief Chris Le and Mechanic Bao Vu working together on certain tasks while Mechanic Andrew Eng and Technical Director Andrie Hartanto formed the other pair. Meanwhile, Team Manager Tom Tang and Program Director Michael Ostby went out to run supporting errands, stopping by a local auto parts store as well as the Fry’s Electronics in Concord to get some much needed electrical components.

Drew taking the splitter and bumper off to install APR canards and Challenge Tow hook.

Chris and Bao replacing the exhaust system with our new Berk Technology 3″ with built in HFC. Fitment is great, and the sound is exhilarating! You can also see our Exedium Racing differential collars & axle spacers.

Big honkin Honda Battery is replaced with lightweight AGM battery. Savings of 18 lbs!

Andrie and Chris installing necessary sensors for the Hondata Kpro.

Some nice shots of the JRZ RS pro on the rear of the S2000.

And the front.

New APR Performance Carbon Canards

New Blacktrax Performance oil pan baffle.  Did we mention it has lifetime warranty?  They are that confident in their work and products!

Andrie and Bao doing some high tech work involving BFH.

Some pictures, after all mechanical work completed.

Corner weight and alignment time!

Everyone worked with superb precision, tackling each of the “to-do’s” at a very good pace. For lunch, the crew devoured two large pizzas from a local Mountain Mikes and then got immediately right back to it. We even added a new radio system for Andrie so he can communicate with the crew while on track. The day certainly ended in success with all of the work completed, and the team thoroughly satisfied at the progress made.

We very much look forward to our next testing weekend at Buttonwillow Raceway March 31-April 1. As always, we’ll be sure to keep everyone updated. In the meantime, be sure to visit all of our partners (links conveniently located to the right of this page). See you all soon!

Some of our readers may have noticed that Irene is now sporting some fresh stickers from our newest partners: GoPro, Hondata and Blacktrax Performance. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to install the K-Pro unit in time for this weekend. However, we will be doing so within the next few weeks. This of course means that dyno tuning will be done by Jei Chang at Blacktrax Performance (be sure to keep your eyes open from now on for exciting videos from all of our adventures now that GoPro is on board).

Traffic was light going past Sacramento and the team arrived at the Motel 6 in Willows just after 5PM. After checking in and getting settled everyone gathered in the parking lot behind the rig to barbecue for dinner. It certainly was a nice change of pace from fast food or the other restaurants in town. As time went on many friends also arrived and the parking lot quickly filled up with cars and people. However most of our crew members had been tired from a long work week, so we decided to turn in early, anxious for the following morning.

Sunday morning the team awoke just before 6AM and quickly made our way over to the track. Lee-Anne wasn’t feeling well so she stayed behind at the hotel to get some much needed rest. As the crew unloaded Irene, Tammy graciously began to cook everyone breakfast, which consisted of delicious butter croissants, fried eggs, and crispy bacon.

Following the driver meeting the crew began to busily prepare Irene for her first outing in over a month. Wheels were torqued, tire pressures were set, and GoPro cameras were turned on as Andrie strapped himself in. We were all very excited to see how the recent improvements after our February testing day would affect Irene’s lap times. Unfortunately, the track had not been configured from “Cyclone” to “Bypass” in time for the Advanced Group’s first session. Luckily for us however, the first session was intended for shakedown and to get re-acquainted with the track and the car anyways. We were still able to clock 2:02.46 lap time. However, we were in for an unpleasant surprise, as we received a “meatball” flag for exceeding the sound limit (103dB) by nearly 3 decibals (they said Irene was doing 105.8dB past the sound station). This meant that we missed Session Two in order to work with the local shop on site to build and weld an elbow pipe in order to help stay under the sound limitation.

Forty five minutes and $80 later, we had our new muffler elbow. With the sound issue taken care of, the team was able to get back to the planned testing program. We used the rest of the day by following our pre-planned testing program/schedule in order to fine-tune the setup and figure out the tires.

Meanwhile, TunerPlayground Staff Writer and former Redline Time Attack East Coast Street FWD Champion Mike Ostby was busy enjoying his recent surprise (a gift from his awesome wife Lee-Anne along with his closest friends) …his Acura RSX race car that had just been shipped over from GT Motoring (outside Chicago) only a few days ago (after being in storage for nearly 2 years). Mike certainly seemed to be having a blast as he quickly dusted off the cobwebs and began to contend for some seriously quick lap times.

The day ended in success! Even though we missed 1 session, we stuck with our planned testing program and worked very methodically to improve the car. In the last session, clear of traffic, Andrie was able to run a 1:58.160. We’re obviously moving in the right direction in terms of making the car faster. Our team was very encouraged by the progress made throughout the day and we’re confident that there is still much room for further improvement. The plan now is to continue brainstorming on how to make this happen.

All in all we couldn’t be more pleased. We certainly learned a lot and the entire team is looking forward to further improvements to Irene before our next testing dates at Buttonwillow Raceway.

In the meantime, be sure to support & visit our partners (links conveniently located on the right side of our website) because we would not be able to succeed without them!

UPDATED 3/8/12: Video recorded using an iPhone 4S and Ram Mount during the last session of the day when Andrie sets fast time of the day!

Also be sure to visit our partners (links conveniently located on the right side of our website) because we would not be able to succeed without them!

This weekend, Andrie Hartanto has the full driving duty.  The first practice is used by Andrie to get familiar with the track.  The last time Andrie drove this track was in 2003. This is definitely one of the tracks that Andrie drives at the least (2011 being the 3rd time ever).

Andrie was able to grab the pole position, despite not yet being fully comfortable.  He was still building his confidence gradually.

The race was pretty uneventful as Andrie lead from flag to flag to capture the first win of the season for Andrie, and a second win for the Prima Racing team.

Sunday is much more exciting.  As he grew more confident, Andrie is able to cut his time by one second under his personal best the previous day.  Things are looking up and we’re optimistic that we will be going faster on Qualifying since Andrie felt he still left a lot of time on the table.

Qualifying came, but immediately Andrie reported he couldn’t find 6^th gear most of the time.  It really ruined the rhythm and this resulted in slow lap times.  After a few laps, Andrie tried his best.  But being a very fast track, Andrie is in distinct disadvantage by not running 6^th gear.  Still, Andrie was able to narrowly grab the pole position.

The race is much more exciting.  As first we were told the grid was inverted, and the H1 class will be starting behind H2.  This means we will have to work through traffic.  The start was pretty chaotic as it involves faster cars starting behind slower cars.  Two laps in, we were greeted by a surprised on turn 8.  Someone had dropped oil and most of us didn’t see it.  Andrie reported he saw Benny who was right in front of Andrie lost it, followed by Andrie and couple more cars behind.  In total, we saw 6 cars go off because of the oil.  It was a really scary off, as it happened at the fastest section of the track and cars were travelling in excess of 120 mph.  Andrie was slow getting back to the track since his engine died.  He rejoined dead last, but was able to work himself up and capture another win.

Next up we will be back in Northern California, at the beautiful Infineon Raceway.

Don’t forget to keep supporting us by supporting our sponsors.  Click on their links to the right.  We couldn’t do this without them.

In Round 2 of the race weekend, Telly was able to pilot the TSX to a 1st place finish in HC1. Andrie, on the other hand, started 23rd out of 30th in an inverted grid, and he smartly worked his way through the field during a one-hour race and finished an impressive 4th out of 30 cars after chasing former Pro Spec Miata Champion Barry Hartzel around the track.

Our next event will be the Honda Challenge weekend at Willow Springs Raceway in May.

The week started off on Wednesday for testing.  Qualifying races were on Thursday and Friday, and the big race on Saturday.  Your grid position for the Championship race was determined by your results from the qualifying races on Thursday and Friday.

Wednesday

Today is the day for Hartanto to get re-acquainted with the track, and it was also a shakedown for the car as it was the first time back on track ever since the crash at Infineon back in June.   Hartanto is quick to form, posting a competitive lap times and reporting car is behaving great after the first session.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go smoothly as in the middle of the 2^nd session, Hartanto was reporting a slipping clutch, and ended the test day early.

In our hasty diagnosis of the problem, taking into account previous circumstances, we ruled out the clutch slave cylinder because we had just put on a brand new one.  When we put the car back together after the crash, we noticed transmission fluid was leaking from the clutch side of the transmission due to a cracked case, so we thought the clutch was slipping due to transmission fluid on the clutch disc.  To cover all our bases, we decided to switch out the current transmission for the spare one.

We swapped the transmissions, put a new clutch on, bled the clutch, re-aligned the car, and crossed our fingers and hoped for the best for Thursday, the first official day.

Thursday

Morning warm up went without a hitch.  Car was performing fine for the moment, however, Hartanto was slower than the previous day.  At the briefing, he mentioned he liked the previous transmission better.  We debated to put the other transmission back, but finally decided to stick with it to make sure we didn’t rush or miss qualifying session.

Qualifying session end up to be a non session.  When a car caught fire in the first lap and took a while to get it cleaned up.  The qualifying session was cancelled and the qualifying race will be gridded based on the morning warm up.

Bad luck striked again during the qualifying race.  After 2 laps, Hartanto reported a clutch problem again.  Similar what he experienced yesterday.  He tried to kept going but a lap later, he reported a complete lost of drive.  The car can’t accelerate even when the foot off the clutch pedal and the transmission in gear.  He was able to cruise it into the pit and ended his race early.  This is a big blow on the first official day.  As we will be qualified as DFL, and will hurt our grid position on the final race.

After the transmission and clutch swap with brand new units, we still have the same problem.  The only logical solution is either the master cylinder or slave cylinder.  Upon close inspection, we found out the slave cylinder does not retract after a prolong usage, thus rendering clutch being depressed all the time.   We missed diagnosed the first time due to the part being a brand new unit and we didn’t suspect, it was the issue.   We were lucky that it is a simple problem.  However, it is still hardwork for the team as we decided to put the original transmission back since Hartanto prefer that transmission.

Friday

Fingers crossed, we went out for morning warm up on Friday.  After qualifying, it seemed like we had all the bugs with the car figured out, but were seeing really high intake air temperatures from the data.  Hartanto was able to record a blistering pace with 2:11.740.  A time that will hold as the fastest time for the week.

We decided to remove the driver-side headlight to get some airflow straight to the airbox for the qualifying race.  This worked at the start, until Hartanto was ‘meatball’ flagged near the end of the race.  All the turbulent air had wiggled and broken the bumper mounting tabs loose, and ruin the bumper and splitter in the process.

Hartanto finished off the qualifying race with a win despite the bumper almost falling off.  We spent the rest of the day fabricating extra brackets and support to hold the bumper and front splitter in place, as well as put the front headlight back on.  This boost our starting position for the final race and it felt great to be back on top.

Our grid spot for the big race: 7^th.  But it sure does beat having to start in last place.

Saturday

Today is the big day.  The car was still working fine after morning warmup, so that was good news.  Starting 7^th on the grid meant that Hartanto had a lot of ground to make up.

After a great start, Hartanto was able to make it up to 2^nd for a brief moment behind Downey, before overtaken by Kraus and dropped to 3^rd again.

Downey and Kraus were pulling away battling for 1^st, while Hartanto and Shanfeld were battling for 3^rd.  A safety car brought out due to a bumper falling off in the middle of the track brought the pack all back together again.

On the restart, Hartanto had a great running charge, and was able to make it up to 1^st by the final corner, but lost position to Downey.  Hartanto was able to stay in 2^nd for a bit, then Kraus crept back up to reclaim his position.

The high intake air temperatures we were experiencing made our car low on power as the race drew on.  Hartanto let Shanfeld by hoping to be pulled along so that they could both catch up to Downey and Kraus in the lead.

Unfortunately, this plan didn’t work out and we ended up finishing in 4^th.

After a long, demanding week, we couldn’t have asked for more.

Thank you Honda Performance Development for all the support and the hospitality during the week.

Thanks to all our sponsors, none of this would be possible without any of you!

The weekend started just like any other weekend.   Saturday morning became a rush to get the new front splitter installed and getting the car ready.   Nothing really heavy, just the typical small stuff to put on after transport, and small setup stuff to ensure the car is ok and ready.   Saturday was pretty relax with lack of competitors.  We used the day to get Hartanto re-acquainted with the car, the track, and to find a good setup for the car.    The day progressed well with Hartanto finding good setup and improving his lap time every time he goes out.  The new engine sounded healthy and seemed to perform well and provide ample of power. 

Going into the weekend, Hartanto was confident that he would be able to pull a victory going wheel-to-wheel with Kraus.   Kraus’ Prelude has a weight and power advantage over us, but Hartanto felt our car’s setup was more suited to the technical nature of Infineon, as opposed to the long straights of Thunderhill.   Hartanto’s confidence on Saturday was reflected upon his qualifying result on Sunday.   We were able to out-qualify Kraus by a little over 1 second to grab pole position for the race.

For the race, Honda Challenge was gridded behind USTCC, and the traffic from the standing start allowed Kraus you get by Hartanto a few turns into the first lap.  Traffic between Kraus and Hartanto widened the gap between the two.  By the time Hartanto was able to get past the slower cars, the gap was around 7 seconds.  With a clear track in front of him, Hartanto was able to close the gap, gaining about 1 second per lap on Kraus.

That was, until the 6th lap. Hartanto was coming out of turn 8a (the esses) gaining on Kraus quick, when disaster struck.   Something had broken on the car at that point, and Hartanto lost control of the car.  Instead of turning in for turn 9, the car went straight off into the wall.   I was all the way up at the top of the grandstands watching the race, and even I could hear the sound of the impact. Even now, I still can’t come up with the words to describe how I felt.   Just describing the accident again is extremely difficult.  You can see the video here.

Hartanto just walked away from the accident with bruises.   Nothing can beat his “Oh well that’s racing” attitude, and determination to get the car fixed and back out there again.  I always remembered he told me that the best racing driver crashed due to fault of his own or the car.  It is just part of the game.   As of right now, the car is at RedZone Performance getting repairs done, and hopefully we’ll have it up and running for Thunderhill in August and Nationals in September!