Winter Testing
It was at Auto Club Speedway back in October of 2016 where a talented kart racer, Nicky Hays and his dad, Rich Hays were exploring around the pits. They stopped, struck up a conversation, inquiring about a Piper DL7 owned by local club racer Brad Hayes. Just over a year later, Nicky Hays has now won six karting championships, including the SKUSA California ProKart Challenge X30 Sr. championship in 2016 and 2017. In addition, Brad Hayes has expanded his racing efforts through a partnership between BHR and Piper Race Cars. After some extended conversations, with Piper and BHR, Nicky made the decision to test out the team's Piper DL7. The results look to be a perfect fit.
On the morning of the test, a damp and cool Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca presented challenging conditions. The initial focus was on Nicky's familiarization with the car and track. As the track conditions improved under sunny skies, the goal was for Nicky to steadily increase his pace around the 2.2 mile road course. Between sessions, Doug Learned made small changes to the car's setup to capitalize on Nicky's increasing performance in the car. Brad and Nicky reviewed data and video to see where additional improvements could be made. With Nicky on the track, Doug was coaching over the radio sharing his vast knowledge of the technical and challenging track. Nicky was quickly able to implement Doug's direction and guidance, and the lap times improved with each lap. By mid-afternoon Nicky was fully utilizing the track curbs, his shifting had become smooth and precise, the car setup had evolved, and the lap times had dipped in to the 1:35 range. These were some of the fastest laps turned with a current spec F1600 car at Laguna Seca, and were fast approaching the track record lap of 1:34.6 from earlier in the season.
As the day finished, with the setting sun quickly cooling track, the team completed the test day feeling impressed and confident. All components of the team performed as expected, and the cumulative results are evident in the video, data, and lap times. The focus now shifts to what happens off the track. All the facets of what makes a race team work are being engineered to give Nicky Hays and the Piper DL7 a chance to chase the SCCA Runoffs National Championship in 2018. Stay tuned...