buttonwillow

Trackspec's K24 Exige- Global Time Attack

Trackspec's K24 Exige- Global Time Attack

A few months ago, we decided to register for this year’s 2021 Global Time Attack and Super Lap Battle Finals at Buttonwillow. The Exige wasn’t built for time attack, but we thought it would be a fun place to compete and see how capable the Lotus with a K-series really is; even if it is heavily outgunned in its class (because of the rule set, the car falls into Limited, a class that normally sees cars with forced induction engine setups making well over 600whp). We decided to set our own goal of a sub 1:50 lap, which may be the first naturally aspirated Elige to do so. The best time this car had done previously at Buttonwillow 13CW was a 1:51.7 on Falken RT660s.

One-Two Finish at the 2020 NASA Pro Racing Season Finale

One-Two Finish at the 2020 NASA Pro Racing Season Finale

With the 25 Hours of Thunderhill postponed to 2021 (thanks, COVID) the final race weekend of the year took place at Buttonwillow in the form of a double header, Super Touring sprint racing and a 3 hour and 15 minute night endurance race as part of the Western Racing Endurance Racing Championships. We were able to use the month of September to properly prep both the Lotus Exige and the E36 BMW M3.

Trackspec's Exige S240 Project: Part 7, Clutch, Trans, Misc.

Trackspec's Exige S240 Project: Part 7, Clutch, Trans, Misc.

At the last two-day track day at Buttonwillow with Speed Ventures, shifting in the Exige started to get notchy. It would sometimes be difficult to get into gear, but we kept driving it. By the last session of the day, we were not able to get the car into gear after pulling off into paddock. If the engine was off, it would go into all gears, so we suspected it to be a failed clutch that was not fully disengaging...

Test Day at Buttonwillow with OnGrid

Test Day at Buttonwillow with OnGrid

The team hasn't been to Buttonwillow Raceway in a really long time, since March 2016 to be specific. We also rarely do trackdays on a Sunday, but yesterday, May 14, 2017, was a great day with OnGrid. This event was special because it was the first time that our Trackspec Autosports Honda S2000 “Irene” was debuting after a complete refresh during the off-season.