Pre Season preparation 2026

When January started just days after the 29.12 Dracon event. I started planning the next season. The obvious issue that needs addressing is the Brakes Master Cylinder and the Brakes Booster. Mostly because of the brakes fluid leak from the Master Cylinder. So I opened RockAuto on 05.01 and was lucky enough for both parts to be in stock so I ordered them. 3 days later braking the record for fastest ever shipping from the States to Sofia the parts arrived.



By that time it was winter time in Sofia and the Mustang was waiting in the garage for snow and rain to stop.
January was not very eventful for the Mustang but something always happens in January most of the tracks start to announce the calendars for the season so people could start planning the season. I always use January to plan fun events for the season and my friend with the Nissan S13 actually left the car in Bulgaria and decided it's time to buy something more modern for Germany in the form of a F87 BMW M2 he did that and started watching the calendar for events.

His favourite track is actually Spa in Belgium. Spa announced calendar in January. My friend pinged me and suggested we book a track day on Spa on 6th of September 2026 and combine it with a trip to the Nurburgring. One of my favourite tracks is actually Nurburgring GP track and turned out on 7th of September that track is open for driving. So it was settled. We will be spending the first weekend of September at the Nurburgring and Spa trying to do 3 tracks in 3 days.

At the end of February I visited my favourite shop for fluids and bought: 10 litters of Motul X-8100 5W50 Motor Oil, 3 bottles of 75W90 Motul Multi-DCTF for the gearbox, 2 bottles of 75W140 Motul Gear Competition for the Diff and a 2 bottles of Castrol SRF for the brakes.

Something that was bothering me for a while is a rear right whine between 80 and 120 km/h which I think it's a wheel hub bearing. I took the car to the Dealership when the weather was a bit better in February and we checked it but the noise was only when the car is on throttle and not when coasting so we decided it's not a wheel bearing but maybe the Diff is showing some signs of wear after all this is my 7 season on track. So I decided will not order wheel hubs now and ordered just the bolts I need for the Brakes master and booster changes. I also booked the Service for middle of March but somehow managed to miss it and my shop appointment for installing all of this parts is on 30.03.

Free Day - A1 Motor Park (Lara) - 26.03.2026
In March something else was gaining traction the interest for the new Lara Racing Circuit now renamed to A1 Motor Park after a sponsorship deal with the biggest phone carrier in Bulgaria (A1). The grand opening was scheduled for 21.03.2026 and was invite only so I somehow missed it. It was a great event that was streamed on youtube:


The very next day they announced the first open track dates starting with 26.03.2026.


I texted it to a friend who owns a G80 BMW M3 if he wanted to go with me and he said yes. There were a few days announced including the weekend but we looked into the weather forcast and the only one without rain was 26th. My friend called the track and booked us.
In mean time on Monday 23.03 there was a closed track day for the GT3 cars that were still on the track from the opening. My coach Pavel Lefterov got announced as a Drivers instructor for A1 Motor Park. It was natural for him to post the first real lap record for the track with a 992 Porsche GT3 R a 1:30.991



The same day the track received it's first official Laser Scanned mod for Asseto Corsa and my friend started putting laps in his virtual BMW.

On Wednesday we learned that the briefing is mandatory and will start at 8:30 am so we agreed to meet on a petrol station at 7:15 and drive to the track. There is a Shell 5 minutes from the track so the plan was to stop there for fresh VPower 100 octane and go to the track. Both the Mustang and the BMW suffer from fuel slosh fuel cuts so driving with full tank is the only option.

The road to the track is actually a lovely mountain road next to a lake and with the first glimpses of a warm Spring sun and blue skies the trip was very scenic and good for the soul. At 8:00 we were at the Shell Station (just 40 minutes after we started driving) but there was no VPower 100 available and just when we decided to fuel with 95 octane the power went out. So we found another petrol station of the Russian Lukoil company that had some sort of a 100 octane fuel and we fuelled there. We get to the track at around 8:20 and there was a full parking lot of BMW G8x M cars because the first time attack event is on 03.04-04.04 and it will be a BMW Cup first round. The Registration took a while and we were divided in 3 groups by horsepower Red (fastest cars), Green (Cars with 450 or less HP), White (slowest). The briefing actually started at 9:15. We went over the obvious stuff as any other briefing but since this was the first official briefing for the track we took this lovely photo:



Next was time for a few sitting laps behind the safety car and we were mandated to all do them. So we did like 4 laps behind the safety car to learn the track with a few passes in the pit lane to learn where the entry and exit are.



My friend insisted we get a box because he needed to change to slicks and to store a lot of stuff and I agreed. My plan for the day since my brakes were needed servicing was to drive on the street settings (14 clicks on the Ohlins) and since the car was needing new oil (200 ml was dropped after Dracon) I decided to only rev the car to around 7000 rpm instead of 7500.

The order for the groups was Red, Green, White in 20 minutes sessions. First was the Red group with my friend with all the others G8x M cars as well as the Supercharged Mustang that is usually closest to me on Dracon.
The Supercharged Mustang did a 1:59.796 first session. While my friend was doing around 1:51 or so.

In my First Session I was driving very safe and only managed to do 1:59.0 in my 4th lap. But the surprising part was dissipate the heavy braking zones the brakes were actually working amazingly well it was only around 10C air temp so everything was running cool.

The 2nd Session for the day everyone started going faster especially the Red group my Friend with the BMW dropped all the way down to 1:48 and the fastest cars in 2 G82 BMW M4s with a ton of mods to both engine and suspension dropped all the way down to 1:43's. The Supercharged Mustang dropped to 1:57.782. Which based on my first laps was looking like a long shot for me.

In my session I was first to exit the pit and did a very fast opening lap to put everything up to temp quick. First flyer was 1:57.349 then I cooled down the car but got passed by a few cars including a 992 GT3 Touring. In my 3rd lap I started pushing again but had to pass the GT3 Touring at the exit on the long straight and that was costing me a lot of time. So instead of letting go I just started another flyer and tried to put as clean lap as possible:


This was a good lap that put me 7th in the Morning session:



First 3 cars were BMW G8x with around 600 to 700 WHP and top speeds on the long straight at around 260 km/h while I was posting a 215-217 km/h.

My BMW friend was complaining a lot from fuel cut issues so during lunch he decided to move from the slicks back to the street PS4s to see if the fuel cuts will stop and to be able to enjoy the track more. His car is on stock suspension so the added grip from the Slick tires results in more body roll and that is causing fuel slosh and cuts in right corners. My Mustang has similar issue but as we know that is done on Left Corners. With the PS4s he was able to post times at around 1:48 which is great.

I decided with just 4 days away from a shop visit and 5th track day on the same oil to not drive in the afternoon.
I'm trying to preserve as much as possible the tires for a Serres track day sometime in April in an attempt to drop to 1:26 lap time there.
Spend the afternoon talking in the pits with the other drivers.

Someone interesting that I met in the afternoon was the guy who did the setup on the Porsche Lefterov drove. He spend the last few years in motorsport setting up cars for Overdrive racing team as well as Huber Racing in Carrera cup. He recently opened it's own shop and did the alignment on my friends BMW so I asked if he does corner balance and he said sure I do a lot of track setups and agreed to do one for me.

I really enjoyed the new track as it's really well done with everything needed for a fun track day. We started the drive home at around 18:30.

At 19:30 I parked at the Mall because there was the Season opening Muscle Cars - Sofia facebook group Car Meet at 20:00. My friend with the Black Ecoboost that we traveled to the Ford Fest with arrived shortly after and we spend the next 2 and half hours talking around some amazing American cars:




At the peak of the event there were around 40 cars and this were just a few of the shots. The Supercharged Mustang from A1 come as well and we talked about what to do to improve the braking of our cars as his rear brake pads were gone.

At around 22:30 I parked the car in the Garage after a full day having fun both on track and at a car meet with it. It looks like it's going to be an amazing season.


What is Next:

1. 30.03 - Yearly Service at the Dealer
2. Corner Balance and Alignment
3. Serres Track day in April (fuzzy on dates yet)
4. Nurburging, Spa trip in September.


I wish you guys an amazing 2026 season !

Trackspeed Premium Trackday - Serres Racing Circuit - 26.04.2026

After the A1 event I took the car to the dealer. The Brakes Master and Booster were replaced and a fresh SRF fluid was fed to the brakes. I decided it's time to switch to 5W50 so I bought 10qt of Motul X8100 oil. The dealer also replaced the Trans and Diff fluids and the car was ready at end of March. I spend first half of April away from the car at my home town.

I was back in Sofia on 18 of April and booked a visit to the tires shop for 23rd so I can rotate tires front to back (different ET) however when I parked the car in-front of the garage I noticed something strange the famous BBQ tick. I never heard this noise before and the only thing changed to the car was the switch from the Motorcraft 5W20 to a Motul 5W50. Why switching oil is causing BBQ tick is beyond me. Obviously being the cautious guy I'm I bought a bottle of LiquiMoli Caretec but decided not to use it.

We were talking with my BMW friends to go to the Trackspeed Premium Trackday in Serres on the 25-26.04 weekend but we didn't manage to find a hotel for Saturday so we decided to only book Sunday day and travel to the track on Sunday morning. With the new engine noise from my car I was nervous for that trip.

I wake up in 5:30 on 26th and by 6:10 I was on the road to Serres my friends with the BMW's (G80 and G82) love to drive faster than me so they actually catch me at some stages of the road trip and eventually managed to get to the track before me I arrived at exactly 9:00:



When I was registering the BMWs were already on the track. I registered put the transponder on the car and set it up for track (Coilovers on track settings and initial tire pressures) when I was setting up the car I did something stupid and lose the bolt that holds my Racebox to it's mounting cup. So I drove most of the sessions without Racebox.

Since the weather was relatively hot 22C (72F) to 25C (77F) the morning sessions were really important.

My G80 friend (the one I was with on A1) switched from Slicks back to Nankang CRS tires his car is relatively stock suspension wise but have a Stage 2 tuned motor with the new tires he easy did a 1:24.148.

My G82 friend Chavdar actually was running used medium slick tires and that car has a KW Clubsport v4 suspension and another Stage 2 engine he managed to do a 1:22.939 Personal best and second best time for the Day only 1 second behind a 992 GT3.

In my first session I managed to do 1:29.739 which was actually my best for the day (not the car though):


This session was actually the first one for me I finished it with smoking brakes.

I waited like 30 minutes till like 10:00 for the brakes to cool down a bit but when I exited for my session a car crashed at turn 2 and the session was red flaged the car was hit hard but no one was hurt but it took like 33 minutes for the track to be cleaned.

When I entered the session the track was full with traffic and I was starting laps but always someone ruined them. One of them my G82 friend actually moved of my line but I missed my brake point for T10 the left handed hairpin and I almost when to the grass so I decided is time to stop the car in pits.

By that time my friends started to change cars and Boris decided to drive Chavdar M4 while Chavdar asked if he could drive the Mustang. I said sure and toss him the keys. He was also facing issues with traffic and did 1:28.0 but decided he want to drive another session and managed to get down to 1:27.939 just 0.06-0.07 shy of my November PB.



His lap is the blue one mine is the Red one. The line bellow is TDelta + is him - is me.

Overall the Tdelta shows that the car has a lot more time in it but nor Chavdar nor me can extract it consistently from the car. I drive with Traction control on and on Sport+ mode while Chavdar drive on Race Mode and traction control off. He mentioned that the car is moving the rear under braking (which is actually the reason why I leave the TC on) I wonder if that is caused by rear control arms bushings going bad.

By the time Chavdar finished that lap the car was with empty tank. So naturally I asked him to give me a ride in the G82 M4 and that car is mind blowing it's very fast doing close to 250 km/h (155 mph) on the front straight and been xDrive and with great suspension it corners really great. He only did 1:24.8 or so with me in it.
After that we decided it's time to load the cars and go for lovely lunch before the drive back home to Sofia.

Naturally the traffic back was a nightmare on a Sunday so I got back at Sofia Around 19:00 and by the time I wash the car and park it was after 20:00.

What is Next:

1. Corner Balance and Alignment
2. Nurburging, Spa trip in September.

Are you planning to do a track day or touristenfahrten at the Nurburgring?

Mike_FL said:

Are you planning to do a track day or touristenfahrten at the Nurburgring?

Click to expand...

The Plan is to do TF at the Nurburgring on Saturday (05.09), Sunday (06.09) we have booked 4 20 minutes sessions on Spa, Monday (07.09) the Nurburgring GP track will be open so we plan to do that as well and continue with TF after that if there is time and do TF on Tuesday (08.09) before traveling back on Wednesday to Bulgaria. In other words 3 tracks in 3 days is the plan for the trip.

Have you done the Nurburgring before? Weekends at the ring can be crazy. Week day evenings sessions you can some clear laps in but any big crashes can close the track for the rest of the evening

Personally I would skip the GP track and just drive the Nordschliefe, it’s so much better. Sounds like you are doing the public driving sessions at Spa, it’s awesome track too.

Mike_FL said:

Have you done the Nurburgring before? Weekends at the ring can be crazy. Week day evenings sessions you can some clear laps in but any big crashes can close the track for the rest of the evening

Personally I would skip the GP track and just drive the Nordschliefe, it’s so much better. Sounds like you are doing the public driving sessions at Spa, it’s awesome track too.

Click to expand...

Never been before but I'm going with a big group of friends that done TF multiple times so that's why it's so exciting. We are mostly there to enjoy Spa though and get some time at the Ring. The GP track is actually one of my favourites and I know it by heart from Sim racing so I want to experience it in real life for sure. My friends prefer TF though.

Free Day - Dracon - 06.05.2026

After the Serres track day. My BMW friends wanted to run Dracon. 06.05 was a Wednesday and a bank holiday so sounded great for a track day. We watched the weather as still unstable in Bulgaria but eventually the forecast was Sunny so we decided to go to Dracon.
After Serres I was not very happy with the car as I was slow with it especially considering the heavy traffic there. However after a very quick inspection of the car after Serres it looked like there are no major issues with it. So I decided to go with them to Dracon.

The weather was amazing at the morning drive to the track though since it was a Bank Holiday the traffic was heavier than expected. I was at the track at around 9:10 and there was a lot of people already there. My friends were also there so I parked next to Boris M3 and went to registration. There was already a line on registration but a lot of people I know so we started chatting about cars and track times. We registered and prepped the cars it was time for the briefing. There were Bikes as well so we were separated in 20 minutes sessions (Slow Cars (over 1:30), Fast Cars (under 1:30), Slow Bikes, Fast Bikes). First were the slow cars and then us. 20 Minutes was just enough to prep the car (one huge mod I make at Serres was to buy a Transponder stand and perm fix it to the car).

For first time I was in the Fast Cars group usually I drive in a middle group as Fast cars at Dracon post times at around 1:20 while my PB is 1:27.35. There were some really fast cars this session McLaren 720s on Full Slicks, 718 Cayman S (that recently won a 6 hours race on A1 Motor Park), Chavdar with the M4 G82, Boris with the M3 G80 and some more cars. When people are on slicks they warm up tires really slow so I was not able to get good 1st lap and heat into tires. In my first fast lap I was cached just before the final S corner by the 720s so I had to move out of the way. Then I did a cooldown and manage to post a fast lap of 1:29.107 before exiting to the pit for tire pressure adjustment. Chavdar wife was actually in the hot pits with tire pressure gauge so I used it to set my temps. There was a lot of smoke coming from the front brakes which made me decide I will not be exiting for another lap. So I parked the car.
Chavdar did 1:22.381 (on Hard Slicks) while Boris did 1:27.112 (on Nankang CRS tires). Mean time the 720s was fastest with 1:16.334.

The wait between sessions was 1 hour and 40 minutes. Which we spend in talking about cars the 718 Cayman S was parked next to me so we talked with Ivaylo (the owner of the SuperTrofeo on Serres) about what was done on the car as he was running 1:22.9's with the car. I was very impressed by that build not only because one of my favorite YouTubers Jackie Ding just started a Cayman S build but because 718 Cayman is on my shopping list for a while. In mean time the 720s was removing the slick tires so I guess that car was not going back on track. Between the sessions I also spoke with Boris about the fact that he is putting to little heat in the CRS as he is heating them up very slowly (I was behind him at the out lap during first session). He was surprised about that.

The Second session I managed to grid a lot better and a lot better to get the fast lap out of the A052s in the first lap. I'm starting to get very annoyed with the fact that this car only has 1 fast lap in a session and It has to be the first flyer. Ether way I managed to get it this time down to 1:28.300:


This was the best lap of the day for me anyway. As in the next few laps that session I was fighting traffic. In mean time Chavdar improved to 1:21.520 and Boris to 1:23.104.

Just when I was parking the car someone come to me and asked me if I'm the owner of the car I said sure. He said that he wants to speak with me about the Mustang and he presented himself as the driver of the McLaren 720s. This was very interesting experience as he mentioned that his girlfriend actually owns a 5.0 GT and he is really amazed by what lap times my Mustang is posting so he wanted to know what I did to the car. I explained to him that it's mostly very good suspension and setup and walked him through what I did and where even allowed him to take photos under the hood of the car and explained what a Power Pack 3 is. Then we talked about the McLaren and how fast it is and some other cars like G87 M2's as he owns one and I have a friend who owns one as well. He pointed out that putting a Verus Aero kit on his G87 dropped the lap times by 4 seconds and asked me if I consider doing an Aero kit and a Seat as improvements. To be fair I don't have huge plans for improving the Mustang more because an Aero kit while beneficial needs to be as extreme as a S550 GT4 Aero kit to have any effect and some of the parts for such build are expensive and hard to source at my end of the woods. Ether way Ford really did something special with the S550 Mustang since even exotic cars owners are interested in the car.

The next session was another 1 and a half hours away and by that time the temperatures were getting really hot (73F). So I only did 1 lap 1:29.66 which was slowest of the day. The only one who manage to improve was Boris dropping to 1:22.012 after fallowing my advice to aggressively warm up the tires in out lap.

After this session we started packing and I had a lovely drive back to Sofia even though the diff whine is still there so obviously this will need to be addressed.

I took pictures of the front tires after the drive:
Front Right:

Front Left:



I think for tires on 104 laps this look ok.

The car performed ok but I think my driving is not where it's supposed to be which is very annoying. I'm not sure why I'm not in shape driving wise but it's a fact that I'm slower than few months ago and I can't figure out why is that. As we know I will need to improve considering next is Nurburgring+Spa !