I don't have any pictures to share, unfortunately. (I was too busy stressing out about the little details and getting myself ready to drive!) [update - the photos above were sent in by our new friend Takano-san who was one stall over in that Civic... and he's a Prelude owner btw]
I think Russ and the others have done a great job documenting the race itself - both in pictures and video. I am really looking forward to the video that James shot, and any other pictures I have yet to see. And of course, the analysis from the Traqmate should be quite interesting and educational!
However I did want to publicly thank not only my teammates but also some friends who supported us or came by to cheer us on, not only on the day of the race, but also during the time we spent getting the car ready for the race itself. I think I can speak on behalf of the team - and at the risk of leaving some people out, special thanks should go to Nao (for allowing us the use of the garage), James (for his help in getting the car ready), Gill (for her support during the race) and Steve (for spotting that potentially lethal problem during the race)! Also, of course, Richard T of Traqmate Japan! Thanks, we could not have done it without you!
In addition, a few words about the race itself - interesting to see how a true race team was "born" by the experience - by the latter half of the race everything we did, from changing tires to driver changes to checking the oil in the car, became a well synchronized ballet - magic! As others have said, it truly was an honor to be a member of this particular team!
For the record, here is how the Prelude fared:
1) During the race, we added 4.5 liters of oil.
2) We discovered that while the brake pads were superb, the fluid (even though it was DOT 5.1) deteriorated, and the rotors have heat cracks in them. As a result, the car is not braking well at the moment. A future mod will have to be adding brake duct cooling.
3) Reverse gear is now not engaging - I've checked the forums and this appears to be an issue on the Prelude, particularly if there have been upshifts from second to third that miss third gear. A fix is either opening up the transmission to fix the offending fork, or to do some "interesting" driving as described on the forums. [update - Alex emailed me and said he had no problem getting the car into reverse. Go figure.]
4) For Ebisu Higashi anyway, the gap between second and third gear is huge. First, second are fine as they are, but third should be closer. Unfortunately the lack of Prelude tuning parts means we may have to get creative to fix this.
That's it, really! Fantastic car overall! Other desirable future modifications (as we discussed in exhaustion the day after) might be an LSD, shorter gearing, different tires, stiffer springs...but not much else!
I'm looking forward to Saturday October 24, when we will once again find ourselves at Ebisu, this time for their 6 hour endurance race. Meanwhile, I hope we can get the Prelude fixed up and ready for a few practice sessions!
Cheers guys, what a fantastic weekend!!
Aki
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