New Year, New Racing Season

Beto「ベト」Castelo -

As I watch the 2021 season F1 testing session at the Bahrain track, and start to get excited about the 2021 racing season, I decided to write this quick update.

First, a personal note: Last season ended with a bit of turmoil in my personal life. I was laid off in early October, and had to focus on getting back in the work force. All's well that ends well: In the beginning of January I had my first day on my new job, which I feel is an upgrade over my last one. Last year was hard on many people, economically and psychologically, and I am very aware of how fortunate I am in having a skill set for which the jobs market seems to have gone mostly unscathed. And also how fortunate I am to have the friends and contacts that I have, who looked out for me last year. I won't forget you.

So, what's new for 2021? The biggest change is that I'm planning to reduce the focus on autocross, and direct more effort to getting track time. The main reason for this is that I feel I'm spread a bit thin these days, and I'll need to reduce the number of events I participate in. Autocrosses are one-day commitments, whereas track events are weekend commitments. But with a smaller number of events, I'd rather spend a whole weekend with two hours speeding around a track than a whole day with 5-15 minutes worth of driving. So tracking the car will be my goal for this year.

The MX-5 has been sitting quietly in my garage since pretty much since the last autocross event. I probably have a flat battery, and probably flat-spotted tires as well. I've made no upgrades in the off-season. This season I have two upgrades in mind:

  1. Roll bar: The roll loops on the MX-5 are not considered safe enough for track work, and it needs an aftermarket roll bar to meet track requirements.
  2. Suspension: The stock suspension allows for too much body roll, which tends to make transitions particularly inefficient. I'll be starting with sway bars, and go from there as needed.

My first track event will probably be a "Fridays At the Track" at Summit Point. I have a good friend who invited me to one last year, which ended up being cancelled due to COVID restrictions. He invited me again this year, to an August session, which gives me plenty of time to install the roll bar.

Finally, it's a new F1 season, which means a new F1 Fantasy series (A Clueless household tradition)! This year I decided to make it public so feel free to join us!

See you around!