Da Groj

Well that was a ton o' fun! Quite the challenging course - I particularly liked the turn-around - and a solid 50 seconds (for most of us)! Thank you to everyone who played their parts to a T and made the day go so smoothly! Especially the clean up at the end - there must've been 15 people all helping put stuff away, and it took no time at all. Excellent!

Thanks very much Dan, for the co-drive and the competition! We won't count that silly slalom cone you just barely touched enough to earn a penalty - you beat me with that raw time - very nicely done! S4 with all those Miatas is some tough competition for your 3, but get that backside tamed a bit and you won't have any trouble with them! Lots of potential.

And Greg picked up the coveted FTD - congrats!

I'm already looking forward to the next event...anybody want a co-driver/competitor/coach?

Yes. Good times! Challenging course of the "slow down to go fast" variety was fun to drive.

The teardown crew and others got it done in short order-- the trailer looked super tidy.

Thanks to the FAST faithful for another fantastic Sunday meeting.

FAST folks rock, no doubt about it!

Results are posted.

Anyone who didn't have a great time today was just not THERE!!

Greg is like holy crap. Don't ever put a new clamp on Greg's hose. Let him leak.

I was guaranteed a sticker today with only two entrants in S0.

Fortunately (for us) Jason had car issues and co-drove my Vette most impressively. He helped me sort out the car in only 4 runs.

He only finished .08 out of 2nd legally and if it weren't for one pesky cone (the only one he hit all day) he'd have been only .3 off the winning time for a run away 2nd. See...Miata experts can drive cars with torque toe to toe with anyone!!

ANY time I can beat "the" Fastiva is a good day. Ben always tells what Loren did to keep me on my toes!! That would be total humiliation being beat by anyone driving that frickin' thing.

I'll remind you that Loren beats me in my cars by less time every time we co-drive. So long as I don't let him have more than 2 runs:) The King of Brooksville.

What a GREAT day in the neighborhood. Finishing 12th OA is awesome with 94 drivers An early BD present for me.

Thanks to all of you who showed up and enjoyed this spectacular event. But aren't they all!!

The Mayor

Pictures. As always, you're free to use them in whatever you want.
https://flic.kr/s/aHsknPv5j5

I loved the course, it really had great flow and had I not been eating cones I think my car liked it!

Kudos to FAST crew-well run and fun!

Really enjoyed the cross overs...Brooksville dynamic was changed!

Never figured out the turn around and still not sure where I nicked a cone on the last run...wonder if some incentive money was exchanged. :-) j/k

Great run Greg!

Another Great Event!

Here are some photos from the afternoon run.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/135773738 ... 0924087416

Jon, Tyler and Aaron

The photos are pretty dank.
Thanks for the tips Dat! Helped me shave off some time.

3-wheeling... all the cool kids are doing it.

twistedwankel wrote:Fortunately (for us) Jason had car issues and co-drove my Vette most impressively. He helped me sort out the car in only 4 runs.

Thanks for the co-drive, Doug. That car is a hoot and a half! Definitely more fun than I expected. Couple more runs and I would have had it figured out...

Loren wrote:3-wheeling... all the cool kids are doing it.

jaball77 wrote:

twistedwankel wrote:Fortunately (for us) Jason had car issues and co-drove my Vette most impressively. He helped me sort out the car in only 4 runs.

Thanks for the co-drive, Doug. That car is a hoot and a half! Definitely more fun than I expected. Couple more runs and I would have had it figured out...

True. Lucky for Tony and I we didn't get our normal 5-6 competition runs!! Whew.

https://youtu.be/Ix9v5r5j5nI

Here is my fastest last run of 50.373 clean. Jason had me beat due to my cone by .3 seconds up until that last run. His final was 50.637 +1 (video got corrupted, sorry) would have put him .3 sec behind me and taken 2nd place. Pretty good for a dyed in the wool Miata racer!!

Doug, Tim, Greg and others really drove it like they stole it yesterday. It made for some great pictures. Thanks again Dan Brentnall for spotting me!

My fastest RAW time run *shakes fist at cone*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKHIrWnfknE


Compared to my other run I was actually slower on the way up to the decreasing on this run. I was hitting the rev limiter much sooner on my other runs (and my fastest clean run). I think I scrubbed too much speed thanks to more steering input than needed. The turnaround was tricky with my brake problem but I think I got it right on this run. The finish was a real monster to get into right but it was kind of fun!

Still, the more I think about the course the more I hope we see it again. It was great run even thought I was off the S4 pace.

RedBaronRacing wrote:Another Great Event!

Here are some photos from the afternoon run.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/135773738 ... 0924087416

Jon, Tyler and Aaron

Great pictures as always!

Carracer wrote:I think I scrubbed too much speed thanks to more steering input than needed.

Too much, but most importantly, too fast. You're whipping the wheel back and forth...slow hands!

Nice shot of the S2k taking a dirt bath...and a graphic reminder of why we make photographers take spotters!

Jamie wrote: Nice shot of the S2k taking a dirt bath...and a graphic reminder of why we make photographers take spotters!

+1

Thanks for the pics, Philip and Jon!

Loren wrote:3-wheeling... all the cool kids are doing it.

Say What?!

Thanks all for another great FAST event.

Had an absolute blast with Steve co-driving. Steve, thanks for the words of wisdom, it all came together in my last run of the day. Shame about the cone but oh well. I definitely learned a lot and had a great time throughout.

Philip, your pictures are fantastic as always. Never a hardship to spot for you, the end results are well worth it, I'm delighted you got a picture of me three wheeling - Now I know why it's called a Mazda 3 .

Not sure which event I will be able to make next but will see you all again soon.

Thanks,
Dan.

Carracer,,

I just wanted to stop and say how grateful I am for your pictures man, thank you so much! THEY ARE AWESOME!

Jamie wrote:

Carracer wrote:I think I scrubbed too much speed thanks to more steering input than needed.

Too much, but most importantly, too fast. You're whipping the wheel back and forth...slow hands!

Again: slow hands!

https://youtu.be/Vu-V9-Lr6kA

Carracer wrote:I think I scrubbed too much speed thanks to more steering input than needed.

I think part of the problem is that your shocks still aren't "good enough". You're not getting immediate feedback from the car that your steering input has done anything, and that's probably causing you to dial in more steering than you need.

You've experienced bad shocks (which may have been better in a way because they blew through the body roll so quickly that you instantly got into the bump stops and felt a change in direction), and now "better" shocks. You need to experience "good" shocks. Something with better compression damping that will translate your turn-in into a more immediate change in direction, rather than immediate body roll.

Or... just force yourself to work with what you have for a while!

Really old-school racers will tell you that with that kind of suspension movement, you need to make a two-stage turn-in. The first bit is just to set the suspension, THEN you actually get into turning the car. If you're NOT doing that, what happens is that you yank the wheel really hard and fast, and when you hit the bump stops, it upsets the car and slows you down. If you somewhat less violently set the car on the bump stops (without upsetting the car), then you can turn as aggressively as you want until you reach the limit of traction. All easier said than done, of course.