Da Groj

http://youtu.be/bQ7CY5MBxnA

It's only fitting that Loren have his nice and tidy quick 34.08 run posted first for most excellent course driving my Vetter .4 sec faster than me BUT that's a good thing as I'm getting closer!! Had that run counted he'd have been 12th OA and finished 2nd in MO in a totally stock car!! But then a stock Z51 is pretty quick:)

ANOTHER fantastic Classic event. The results are all ready posted and they aren't even home yet!!
Perfect weather. Perfect planning.

Brian was everywhere, gate, food, ice, water and gave runs to new passengers including my friend which was greatly appreciated.

The Mayor

It was a good day, but did anyone notice it was a bit warm ? Couldn't have planned it any closer to the weather, just started to sprinkle when the trailer was loaded up.

Doug, your friends could've rode with me more if they wanted to, Mike seemed to enjoy the ride. He said, "I don't think I've ever rode in a car like that before".

Lunch would've been about 15 minutes earlier but Publix over charged us $20 and had to straighten that out.

The course was a lot of fun, we should have more turn arounds like that in the future, it really made you think about how to attack it. The slalom and lane change at the finish was a blast, Loren drove my car and pretty much showed me how to take it, when I lined up correctlyI could take it at full speed.

I left a couple good runs out there because I was going so fast, the massive vacuum coming off the rear of my car sucked a couple of cones over, still wouldn't have been good enough for first though.

I forgot to ask, but how much food did we have left over ? I ordered a medium size party wrap, but they gave us a large, and we had a few no shows. Just wondering for future events.

I think we'd have been perfect with what you actually ordered had everyone showed up. There were at least 7 no-show guests and two no-show drivers. So, as it was, we pitched a fair number of sandwiches and a bunch of chips and stuff went home with whoever took it.

BTW, it was a great event! Thanks for being my right-hand at this one, Brian. And thanks to everyone else for the usual chipping in and helping to get things done!

The course seemed to go over very well, even with some very experienced high-level competitors. (high praise when it comes from those guys!) The turn-around had people guessing all day, and the lane-change at the finish threw off the less-experienced drivers that didn't realize they could take it flat-out if they had the right approach and timing. The cross-course sweepers messed with less-experienced drivers as well, as they required a bit of setup and patience to get through efficiently.

Solar wrote: Doug, your friends could've rode with me more if they wanted to, Mike seemed to enjoy the ride. He said, "I don't think I've ever rode in a car like that before".

Brian,
Mike sells exotic animals all over the world including Elephants. He being originally from UK was "actually" telling you that's the fastest frickin' Elephant he's ever ridden on They only rode with me once too so that means they ever so politely shit themselves and will return to UK for free medical soon for joints.

You Sir have earned a co-drive in the Vette whenever you want. We actually drive the same way but I have a lower car with no top.

twistedwankel wrote:they ever so politely

Mike was very polite, like he was requesting tea and biscuits.

Take you up in the ride for sure, thanks !

Man what great event, it seemed to run smoothly too. A little hot though eh?
I won't lie, with so many new parts on the mustang, and tons more 27 year old parts, I was nervous the entire, hour, long drive to get to brooksville and nervous all 8 runs. I finally started trusting the car a bit on the way home, she drives well. Thank goodness nothing eventful happened, I developed a bit of queaking from the brakes that's it. I'll get her up on the stands and check all bolts/inspect but I think she's good.

Loren thanks for the driving tips, basically I need to not only get familliar with the car but get familliar driving a manual...

Btw, Go Les! Reminds me to never let you drive my car lol...

Pictures!
https://flic.kr/s/aHskf3eunV
As with all the pictures I post here, feel free to use them if you like them.
...And Also Video
https://youtu.be/XGM767fVzM8

Big thanks to Mark and Dan for spotting for me!

Fun event but the heat was just to much for me. I wish I drove better and didn't cone almost all my runs. The car suddenly ( thanks to the tires I hope ) oversteering like crazy and I forgot to bring my 14mm wrench to remove the rear sway bar then I was just too tired to mess with it. Then my clutch stopped biting On my fastest clean run I couldn't get the clutch to hold until the dubble green cones. I think that might be why that run was a high 34 instead of a low 34.

Great photos Philip ! Thanks for your time taking and posting them.

Very good event... I second Brian's post nice job with the photos Phillip.

Phillip as usual those are some great action pix.

Looked like you might have been running from that Porsche dirt bath tho':(

Guess I know why you thought it was so hot now. You were running around all day.

If it's any consolation it hit 95F in London, UK on July 1st and they don't have any AC to speak of outside of their cars.

Here is the record from the Brooksville Airport July 5th:

8:53AM Clear 81°F/27°C 73°F/23°C 79% 30.18 SSE 6 MPH 10mi.
9:53AM Clear 84°F/29°C 75°F/24°C 74% 30.18 S 8 MPH 10mi.
10:53AM Clear 88°F/31°C 73°F/23°C 62% 30.18 S 7 MPH 10mi.
11:53AM Mostly Clear 90°F/32°C 73°F/23°C 59% 30.18 SW 7 MPH 10mi.
12:53PM Clear 91°F/33°C 73°F/23°C 56% 30.15 SSE 8 MPH 10mi.
1:44PM Scattered Storms 90°F/32°C 72°F/22°C 55% 30.15 N 3 MPH 10mi.
1:53PM Scattered Storms 90°F/32°C 72°F/22°C 55% 30.15 N 5 MPH 10mi.
2:45PM Scattered Storms 86°F/30°C 75°F/24°C 70% 30.15 WNW 12 MPH 10mi

http://youtu.be/6D_NWmhaQlM

Just tells me how little .4sec really is. Line looks the same to me!!
Oh...Loren had less gas to drag around

Great event. I had a fun time. Very straightforward course - just required some cojones and a good line on the return trip. Glad that the black and red Porsche (Devon's?) was OK after going into the dirt on the very first run of the heat!

FWIW (I'm actually going to tell you exactly what it's worth) shifting to 1st in the turnaround was worth 6/10 of a second in a 5-speed NC miata. I have to imagine it was worth a few tenths to everyone with medium to long gearing (especially if you have poor low-end torque) and that took a short line - provided you didn't end up sacrificing time/your line trying to do the 2-1 shift.

Great event guys. Thanks for the pics Phillip. You do an excellent job.

Loren beat me too, Doug. Any wisdom on where I went wrong is appreciated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HMHylFRdnE

Dave S wrote:Great event guys. Thanks for the pics Phillip. You do an excellent job.

Loren beat me to Doug. Any wisdom on where I went wrong is appreciated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HMHylFRdnE

Dave, the best piece of advice I can give you is to take me on as your personal driving instructor/co-driver, I volunteer my services selflessly. That is a helluva nice car you got there chief, I'm very jealous. As for the driving its just a general lack of aggression in my opinion, you are driving a decent line turning early and staying ahead and reasonably close to the cones, but it looks like you are on a Sunday drive. Granted, that is a very nice/expensive car so perhaps no one could blame you, but you gotta get the car sliding around some if you want to be fast.

Despite my very vocal technical objections early in the day, that was a fantastically fun course and day. 1000 thanks again to Doug A. for letting me drive the Excocet, that car is stoopid fun and with some more tire and a bit of suspension tuning it will easily be an FTD contender any day of the month. Unfortunately, I failed to charge the battery on my camera before the event and it only had enough charge to make it through recording Doug's 8 runs, got 0 of mine. Doh!

Here is Doug's best:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOLe4SHw--8

Great event! I love getting so many runs. Thankfully the Porsche is just fine, just some bruised egos. Like my own when Les crushed my time with my own car! It's a great consolation knowing that a car I built is so capable. And thanks to Phillip for immortalizing in a video my attempt at a "Tokyo Drift".

Dave S wrote:Great event guys. Thanks for the pics Phillip. You do an excellent job.

Loren beat me to Doug. Any wisdom on where I went wrong is appreciated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HMHylFRdnE

Your dashboard is too big. You need 8 runs to win. I got my best run on the first run with 1/2 lap tire warmer.

Loren is a great tire warmer as Joe showed us at TBD.

Phillip took a zillion pix of your car. It looks awesome. Let Phillip drive it and cry.

Someone with mad computer skills will do a "three way" and show Loren, Doug and Dave in a "symalcast". Damn.

Dave S wrote:Any wisdom on where I went wrong is appreciated.

First watch with sound off, I wasn't seeing any glaring mistakes, it just looked like you weren't pushing the car hard enough.

Second watch with sound on confirmed that. You're not hitting the throttle hard enough where you can, and you're simply not pushing those tires enough. Listen to them. They are street tires, they should be making some noise when you are turning. They are mostly silent.

"Push harder, suck less." You're line looks really good... you couldn't run in the 34's on this course without having a good line. So... Push Harder!

Dave S wrote:Any wisdom on where I went wrong is appreciated.

First watch with sound off, I wasn't seeing any glaring mistakes, it just looked like you weren't pushing the car hard enough.

Second watch with sound on confirmed that. You're not hitting the throttle hard enough where you can, and you're simply not pushing those tires enough. Listen to them. They are street tires, they should be making some noise when you are turning. They are mostly silent.

"Push harder, suck less." You're line looks really good... you couldn't run in the 34's on this course without having a good line. So... Push Harder!

Dave,

You looked way faster than me.

Guess Pewter is less timeable than Torch Red?

You won but it took you way too long to do it. Loren did it in 2 and I did it in 1.5 laps in a 15 year old car. 8 runs means you have a newer car and it's worth way too much. Wait 10 years + and it will be much faster?

A three way would be cool.

Doug

Thanks guys. Appreciate the advice.

Doug, I find your three way comment deeply disturbing.

Dave S wrote:Thanks guys. Appreciate the advice.

Doug, I find your three way comment deeply disturbing.

Hahahaha. That would be 3 videos side by side beyond the normal 2:)