May 19 - The Royal Autocross

[Loren]

Results are posted! (and let me be the first to say, we miss you, Ron!)

The course worked out nicely. A little fast, but not overly so. A little technical, but not overly so. Everyone seemed to like it, I know I did.

We got in 7 runs for 47 drivers, had a fantastic Publix Deli lunch, and were packed and gone by 2:30. Not a drop of rain. Good stuff!

Thanks to all for coming out and having some fun, and for helping us pack up our toys at the end of a hot day!

[ImpostorDan]

I didn't get a 38 but I did get my precious. Good stuff on a dry, but steamy, day.

Nice, cough, cough, PAX... Philip.

[twistedwankel]

We left at the start of the 3rd run group so we could go buy a chair on sale and Maria could watch the Royal Wedding I had the good sense to record 6 hours of.

On the way home "west" we ran into a light rain from one cloud which apparently didn't make it to the airport. An hour later North it really poured. I could see the blue over the airport:) Didn't want to say anything until I knew everyone had all dry runs.

I put on my R Race tires stamped 200 and was somewhat astonished how good a 2 year old set of RE71's can be. My vette was a lot more nimble and skittish without the giant Toyo meats but we really enjoyed the feel of this course. When Maria got out of the car it got light and I went a whole second slower. I quit at 5 runs with a smile on my face.

The competition in S1 was fierce so I was very happy to finish 6th out of 8 but only 2 seconds back. I'm normally 3 seconds behind the leaders and Joe B. my other gage. I was able to finish 1 second ahead of the Mirage for the first time in 2 events but he only had one set of springs this time. Wait until he opens that can of whoopass Exhaust.

I also thought it was cool that I finished 20th OA and also 20th in PAX.

David Marcus broke in their new BS BMW as his "real" race car is sitting somewhere in the middle of the USA awaiting another National Event. Saves mileage and time. Be warned that he now lives in Orlando area so it's a mere 1hr+ to the Airport. I'm sure we'll be seeing more of him in the future. He and co-driver Campbell were blistering in that never before autocrossed car. Anyone who can beat Ken's GT3 is really good. Reminds me of Mike and Tonda action. He can beat me by 3-4 seconds in my own cars.

We won't talk about Philip for awhile. Yikes. Oh that R1 Miata was really trick with giant brand new Hoosiers. Would have gotten Elliot's attention.

The Dans were all good today. Dan B won his class with his replaced bar and the delicious lunch Dan did extremely well in his M class too. This is the first event I didn't see people jumping cars to play. Everyone wanted to take all their runs in their car at this classic.

Yep. For a Classic this course is a keeper. Might be a bit too confusing for newbie or people who don't walk the course

Anyhow thanks all. BTW Loren "the locksmith" made me an awesome copper key for a paper weight century lock he picked that makes it work like new. I'll have to buy him a tea burger for Monday so he can say he actually earned some money at his latest hobby. Oh, and he let me beat him again too

[mymomswagon]

great course. glad we had good weather.

Steve bested me by a half second and was just way more consistent than me. I left some time on the table at the turnaround and the sweepers before them.

Loved the M2. Sounded like a fighter jet rolling through the finish.

[Loren]

Personal frustration of the day: Laying down my fastest time on my first run. Again. I hate chasing MYSELF and not being able to catch up! So, that's why I was eager to take most of my runs in my own car today.

Though I did take one run in Mark's Porsche. As I was leaving grid, he said "It's got RE-71's in the back, and something cheaper in the front." What??? No time to ask for details, I went out for one run his car wondering just how bad the front grip was going to be. By the time I got through the turn-around, I'd figured out that it really wasn't that bad. And aside from some strange noises in the suspension, the car handled very nicely. If I'd taken another run or two in it, I'm sure I'd have been in the low 39's.

But, my car... 41.xxx

Fast course, slow car.

[Native]

Well the entire event ran like clockwork. And what perfect day to do it - we beat the rain by what, 30 minutes or so? Nice. All the help was much appreciated, and the lunch Dan E put together was mighty tasty! Dave - thanks for letting me borrow your car this morning. Torque is good.

Loren, I feel your pain - my fastest was my 6th, which was equal to my first (minus a cone...). Thanks for looking over my shoulder on that run - just a little aggravating to not find more than a tenth or two. I think maybe if I channel my inner-Philip I probably would've gotten quicker if we had that 8th run (but, see my second sentence above).

Bill liked the car without the bumpstop pack. I liked it with - more swing to the arse-end. I hope he keeps the bumpstops in the glove box for me for next time.

Dan - no offense, but I hope you break another swaybar and don't realize it... Good job - a moving target is hard to hit!

[twistedwankel]

Philip has learned:

Feed a man a fish he will always come back for more. Teach him to fish and he will find many much faster cars to borrow

Go Philip.

[Loren]

BTW Loren "the locksmith" made me an awesome copper key for a paper weight century lock he picked that makes it work like new. I'll have to buy him a tea burger for Monday so he can say he actually earned some money at his latest hobby. Oh, and he let me beat him again too

Thanks, Doug! Letting you beat me would have been enough. Wait. What?

[twistedwankel]

Personal frustration of the day: Laying down my fastest time on my first run. Again. I hate chasing MYSELF and not being able to catch up! So, that's why I was eager to take most of my runs in my own car today.

You actually beat me one run but it had +10 on it. Sorry I missed that one

[nathanwilliams617]

Yes, pretty cool how we got no rain! Though I do enjoy a little sprinkle while we're tearing down, just to cool me off, b4 having to ride in that hot car an hr home. I'm going to fix that a/c!

Great day over all with cool peeps. I like the classics as I get to socialize and get plenty runs to try different shock settings and driving techniques to see what the car likes or not. I'm proud of the stang, it did well running 40.1. Time address the understeer and go from there...

Good to see Robert in the red stang, back out on sticky rubber taming the beast - no more drifting. Good job Sir!

Thanks for the good time guys

[Loren]

You actually beat me one run but it had +10 on it. Sorry I missed that one

That was the run I took in Mark's car. It was clean, we just tagged it with cones to make it not count because it's not an M4 car.

[twistedwankel]

You actually beat me one run but it had +10 on it. Sorry I missed that one

That was the run I took in Mark's car. It was clean, we just tagged it with cones to make it not count because it's not an M4 car.

With 200 stamped tires it is ONLY a CS car:) Thanks for clearing that up. Does Mitsubishi make an econo Boxster? They must if Mark drives one. (He might have borrowed it.)

[Carracer]

That was another awesome course and event. Pictures! Thanks for spotting me Dan!

https://flic.kr/s/aHsmieyCPV

Matt was kind enough to let me borrow his car for this one. The course was a good blend of high speed sweepers that made his car feel right at home. The car did everything right but the tires actually felt a bit peaky and temps got a bit wrong with 2 drivers running with a short rest interval. The RS4 tires has an ok amount of grip but it feels like the Dunlop ZZII in the way it had a very narrow grip window it was happy with. It might not agree with my driving style because it seems others have reported the complete opposite handling characteristics. Still the car made up for it in spades when the turbo kicked in. When Matt let me ride shotgun on his first run I was really worried I couldn't keep up with how fast the car could move down course.

Speaking of the course, it was IMHO a great example of a higher speed yet technical course. Getting late was punished hard. The green cone sweepers on the way out really challenged me all day. My last run was the only run I felt I wasn't late but I made mistakes in the final slalom. That also might be my favorite slalom ever. The crossover entry just made that element.

[Loren]

Econoboxster. I like it.

I like it a lot.

[jbrannon7]

The finish. When I walked the course I thought the finish was too tight, and I thought it was because of the last slalom cone, and I mentioned that to Drew and Loren. They said they had actually adjusted the cone to make it easier. Then in the second run group Loren asked me how wide I thought the finish was, I didn't know, he said it was supposed to be 2 sections wide but appeared to be narrower. So for those that struggled with avoiding the big green cones like I did here it is. The map shows the green finish cones should have been set where the timing lights were, that would have made the finish far less dramatic for me. I think I will start carrying a map when I walk the course, of course that will only be of value if I am there before the course is official.

[Loren]

Yep, we totally missed that when we checked the course. We were so focused on getting the spacing and offset of that slalom right that we missed the gate width. That extra 12 feet was exactly what the finish needed!

If you catch stuff like that BEFORE the driver's meeting, we can fix it. As long as people haven't started running yet, we can make course changes. If it's a true safety issue, we can change it at any time. But, we prefer not to make changes after competition has started other than adding pointer cones and things that won't change the flow of the course.

[Jamie]

That extra 12 feet was exactly what the finish needed!

I thought the finish as it was demanded a very nice balance between precision and aggression. Perhaps an extra three or four feet (for a 15-16-ft gate) to reduce the pucker factor for the wider cars, but a 24-ft gate would have taken away any need for keeping it in shape or following a precise line through the finish.

[Loren]

We like an easy finish. That was the intent. Keeps people out of the timers.

[Native]

Yep, we totally missed that when we checked the course. We were so focused on getting the spacing and offset of that slalom right that we missed the gate width.

Oops. Numerous sets of eyes missed that. Will watch more closely in the future...

[AScoda]

The finish was fine. I doubt there was one person that wasn't trying to push the gas pedal through the floor coming out of the slalom and straight through the line.
I nearly knocked over the left side green cone with my mirror every time, because that was the shortest line.
If it was farther to the right I would have moved my line. But open it up more and it would have been too easy, for sure.

This post turned into a dope-ass rhyme. My rap game is coming along fine.