6/3 Only a 20% chance of rain!

[AScoda]

There is dry air moving in, they said.
It will be a nice weekend, they said.
The rain chance is low, they said.

At least the rain stopped and the sun came out as soon as the last run group finished their runs.

Course seemed pretty challenging. Even though it was constant slaloming, the diversity of offsets and spacing meant you needed to be looking ahead always and not ever really get into a rhythm.

[mymomswagon]

https://youtu.be/t3lshY4PwI4

[Native]

[Lava Speed 05]

I enjoyed this course as it required a good mix of speed and precision.

https://youtu.be/6hoJcKsX-cM

[Lava Speed 05]

Heartbreaker...

https://youtu.be/pZspehzRn6o

[Loren]

Sooooo... it rained. And then it stopped. And then it rained some more. And it slowed down. And it got heavier. And it slowed down. And it got heavier. Ugh. We've had worse, but it sucked.

But, we persevered. And the course was great fun! And The Results are up!

We can't thank folks enough for sticking around to help pack up after getting soaked with the rain! Y'all are awesome!

[JasonS]

Well, the course was fantastic, the people were awesome, the weather... sucked. Wet, wet, and more wet. Looked for a brief time, in the 1st afternoon group, like it passed. Then the wind changed directions and blew the same rain right back at us. The course made it worth it, really enjoyed it. Didn't take any vids today, figured the rain would have soaked the lens.

[Loren]

Not my fastest run, but my fastest raw wet time. Fun!

https://youtu.be/NZ-dVIpmGHU

[dbeng]

I'm sorry to see the afternoon guys got hit with the rain, I've no idea how many runs were wet vs dry vs damp, but if they were all rain affected, it makes some of the afternoon times fantastic

I struggled with today’s course, specifically the return side. The outbound leg was really quick but there were a few points on the return where the “slow is fast” philosophy was required and I couldn’t get into the right mindset. I tried to carry too much speed, resulting in getting behind on the return slalom and over-driving the tires into submission. For some reason I kept repeating the same mistakes even though I should know better.

Loren, thanks for riding with me on my third run. A few words of wisdom from the professor helped clarify the basics of what I was doing wrong and the next run was my fastest - I still got behind on the return side, just not as much. I know I could have gone much quicker- my last run was a DNF due to (again) getting way behind on the return side but I was a full 0.6 sec quicker than my 4th run exiting the turnaround only to wipe out all the advantage on the first two cones of the return slalom. (The exact part of the course that Loren pointed out when he rode with me).

So my lesson for today is to focus on slowing down enough for the slow parts to maintain the correct racing line without understeering my way off the racing line by carrying too much speed. Slow in fast out….
Anyhow, here's run four, my fastest run of the day:

https://youtu.be/mHnfMyD4ISc

Looking forward to the next classic event to put in some extra effort working on what I learned today.

[Loren]

Only 8/10th faster after my coaching? I'm disappointed in me.

[dbeng]

You coached me well enough to get you by nine thousands of a second
But if your runs were all on a wet course I'd better shut up!

[Loren]

My runs were damp, drying, pretty dry, really wet, and wet.

Run 1 was decent, 46.0. Kinda damp, I was pleased with it.
Run 2 the course seemed dry, I was TEARIN' IT UP! Had a great run going. And then the last 3 cones before the finish it was unexpectedly WET! Oops.
Run 3 was my best actual run. 45.0. I did hit a cone, but it wasn't a cone that I "needed" to hit, or really had any business hitting at all! I was surprised when I hit it. It was the first hard right apex from the start. Clipped it with the rear tire from turning in just a tiny bit too early.
Run 4 would have been my redemption. No reason I shouldn't have been down in the 44's with it. But, it rained. Hard.
Run 5 was just wet, not really raining much. I decided to see what I could muster out of a wet run, and I was cutting apexes REALLY close in an attempt to "turn less" and keep the front end planted. That did work, but, I legit creamed 2 cones on that run. (that's the video above)

In the end, I lost a point to Soroya today due to hitting a cone. But, at least I didn't lose TWO points to Soroya today!

[yamaha731]

You guys still put on a great event...can't wait till the next one

[Native]

Very much appreciate everyone's participation - from the usual coursework, to helping move things in and out (and in and out) of the rain, to the crew who packed up the trailer. Good stuff!
Dan - thanks for lending your ride for the setup testing. Great job you've done with the suspension!
Nice to see some old faces, too - reunions are fun!

Bill, thanks again for the codrive. I really like the way you've got the wagon set up right now. It was a great match for the course, and I was on fire! Until the rain put it out... sorry you (and others) got rained on - kinda put a "damper" on the competition...

Enjoying the videos, ya'll. Keep 'em coming!

[CaptainSquirts]

Fun course as always. Sucks it rained in the afternoon, Les and Dan def would've taken 2nd and 3rd places in M1. Was getting stuck in a 43.7-43.9ish rut the first 4 runs. Had Loren do an instructors run before my last run, he got a 42.8, almost a good second off my fastest. Learned I wasn't gunning it early enough in the turn around, also the 2nd half just basically carrying a little more speed. I was able to get a 42.7 but I hit 2 cones in the slaloms at the start which I could've avoided if I had just brakes a very very tad earlier. But any who, comparing my fastest clean with my fastest +2 cones run was I was able to nab up a good second at the turn around and the last half of the course(slalom even hitting 2 cones didn't put me ahead, still the same as my clean).

My run
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Le36EUsl9Sg

Lorens run
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clEfVYBDVvU

Here's a side by side comparison. Very cool to see the difference. Loren def could've gotten in the 41's
http://youtubedoubler.com/?video1=https ... ren+vs+dan

Dan - thanks for lending your ride for the setup testing. Great job you've done with the suspension!

np

[ImpostorDan]

I'm not even mad about the rain yesterday, I got one good unintentional/intentional drift through the turn around on my last run and laughed slightly uncontrollably through the finish. The price of fun was a solid full second based on best raw.

[Bigdog]

in the side by side, I was able to get Loren to finish first by 0.427 seconds.

[Bigdog]

So you get to see the videos of the top tier in the better weather. The worse was the afternoon final run, not a dry area to be found. One of my very wet tweeb runs:
https://youtu.be/HZoyYqb26oA

Only good part was working the first runs, desert dry as compared to the course workers on the final run. big cheers for them!!

[friskyflea]

What Dan said... "“slow is fast” philosophy was required and I couldn’t get into the right mindset.“ and all that. I was up in arms mentally from the week and had no desire for self-restraint. Well driven Steve
Good thing I lost points to Steve "Dark Horse" Frank instead of Loren

[Jamie]

Something both courseworkers and drivers need to review before the next event: at every drivers meeting, we review the procedures for when a car goes off into the dirt. Basically, the action comes to a temporary stop -- courseworkers red-flag the course, and the car in the dirt comes carefully back onto the pavement and returns down the center of the runway, off the racing line, for a quick safety inspection before undertaking more runs.

It's not happening. Yesterday afternoon we put a couple of drivers into the dirt...not a red flag in sight. The drivers returned immediately to course, completed their runs, and lined up on the grid again. And yesterday was not an anomaly -- over the last Brooksville several events, this is more common than not. The courseworkers need to stop the course. Right away. In absence of any signals or instructions, drivers will continue under the assumption the course is still active, there's another car behind them, and they need to get on with it. It needs to be reflex -- see a car off in the dirt, pop out the red flag...all stations. That gives everyone a chance to take a breath, get the car out of the dirt, and calmly follow through with the rest of the drill.