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| June 10th
Our June autocross provided
more of the "two lap excitement" we experienced last
month. With more drivers knowing what to expect, there were fewer
folks making mistakes such as going three times around or missing the
cutoff to complete the second lap. Our course designers worked hard
to open up the track and allow for more straights and fewer
switchbacks. The result was an average time of 58 seconds for the
two laps and a fastest time of 40 seconds flat!
Our day started with Fran
driving in the first heat. She had one of those days that a driver
likes to see. Each run improved and her fastest time was her
last. Unfortunately one of our fellow competitors lost control and
bounded over a curb, damaging his front suspension. He was literally
the first person on the course and the track was slightly changed to
provide more runoff before the curb. This fixed the physical problem
with the track, but it would take a mental toll on many of the first
session drivers since everyone was 'tiptoeing" through that section
of the track. Fran later commented that she was really apprehensive
in that section after seeing what happened.
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She opened with a 46.178,
followed by a 45.408. The next run was about a second and a half
quicker at 43.742 and then her fastest at 43.505. This placed her
3rd in A Stock, 22nd out of 76 in raw times and a strong 20th in PAX times.
I ran in the second heat
and my day started off really great with the quickest time up till then of
40.890. I was all excited and hoping for something in the 39s.
On my second run, I was attacking a few places I thought I could improve
on and ran into a very loose condition as I pushed harder. I was
slipping and sliding all over the place and got sideways in several
places. As you know, this is not the fast way around and I finished
with a 42.794. The third run was a bit better with a 41.203. I
was still sliding and because we were having problems with our timing
lights, there were long delays between runs allowing my tires to cool
off.
I decided to make a big change to my tire pressures for the
last run adding 4 lbs to the rear and 2 to the front. As always in
this case, I never really know if the change really helped, of if I was
just getting to know what the course wanted. In any case, my fourth
run was my best (barely) at 40.878. This earned me 1st in A Stock
and was the 5th fastest
overall and 2nd in PAX. This was the third month in a row I finished
in the top three in PAX, and each time it has been the Type-R Integra on
top! Fran and
I missed a 1-2 A Stock finish by about a second and a half with my friends
Porsche 911 slotting in between us.
Results for the July 10th autocross here |
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July 29th
We had a longer break than
usual because the National Guard was holding their exercises and needed
our (their) parking lot on the usual 2nd Sunday. Since our track is so
limited on space, we continue to use the two lap formula with much
success. On the surface it looks like you have 8 tries at the
course, but the reality is that the second time around is deceiving
because as you start your second round you are carrying more speed than
the first lap when you started from a dead stop.
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As our race day started
Fran was driving first and as I was watching and taking pictures, and I
could see she was struggling with the handling of the car. There
were several corners where she was taking them at 6-7000 RPM in first gear
and the car was obviously VERY loose. I could see the back end of
the car sliding around and on several occasions she almost spun! The
first run included a cone as she slid through a corner and this netted a
46.476. We tried adjusting tire pressures and the next time around
was a better time of 42.810, but the car was still a handful. Fran's
third try showed that we still didn't have the balance right and she
recorded a 43.578. We were taking more and more air out of the tires
and the last run would prove to be her best at 42.579. These times were
good for 5th in A Stock, but only .003 seconds off the pace of the 4th
placed BMW M3. Her overall standings were 33rd out of 79 drivers,
and 31st in PAX.
| After
watching Fran struggle with the car, I wasn't sure what to expect as
I got in for my runs in the second heat. There was no doubt
that the car was having a hard time with rear traction, but I was
surprised how bad it really was. I managed to squirm my way
around on my first run, and recorded a 39.639.
Great, all I need to
do now is concentrate and get the car to handle a bit better and
I'll be in the 37 to 37.5 range. Or so I thought. The
next time around I misjudged the first corner and ran wide, this put
me way off-line on the second corner and wider still in the
third. I avoided the cones but the run was wasted and only
good for 40.891. I made a similar mistake on the third try and
only improved to 40.869! OK, now it was time to dig deep and
really pull off a flier. The fourth run was going great, I
maintained control through the fast s-turns, did all the braking
early so I could get o the power early, and I was excited as I
headed for the lights to complete the run when it all went wrong in
a big way.
As you can see, about
10 feet from the timing light the car started getting loose under acceleration
as I charged for the light. No real excuses here, just driver
error, too much throttle, too much steering angle and BAM the car
swapped ends so fast, I couldn't get the clutch in to keep from
stalling. I also took out three cones as I did this pirouette. |
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My official time was a
rather unspectacular 45.247. In the days since Sunday, I've been consoling
myself by thinking, "hmmm...45.247 minus the 6 seconds for the three
cones, equals 39.247. Since I was sideways well before the light (I
crossed it backwards) I was probably working on a solid 38, and maybe even
a high 37! I know it doesn't work that way, but humor me
please. When all the runs were finished, I found that my first run
was good enough for the 6th fastest time overall and 8th in PAX, leaving
me eager to get out there next month to improve on things. You
can see our results for July here. |
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Subaru WRX Driver Training
Event
Our local Subaru dealer
asked if the SCCA could stage a driver training event and provide
instruction and timing and scoring for their WRX owners. They goal
was to help them gain a greater appreciation for the performance
capabilities of their cars. The most interesting thing was they
wanted it at Hawaii Raceway Park instead of our smaller parking lot at
Barbers Point. Since the volunteers would get some track time on the
(modified) short course, it looked like a good opportunity to test some
tire pressures after the mediocre weekend the week before.
We now had a choice, take to the track with the S-02s (at $900 a set)
or mount the race tires on the 2001 Yellow car?! As you can
see from the photo, we chose the Spa Yellow. Although
the Yellow car was never intended to be the race car, it ended up on the
track....Oh well you know what they say about the "best plans laid
plans..." So
how did we do? There were about 35 times recorded for the afternoon
sessions and as usual Curtis' Datsun 240Z set the pace. I was
pleased to turn the second quickest time of the day (over 2.2 seconds
behind the 'Z) Fran (above with an instructor in the car) set some
good times for her first drive at HRP. So what did we learn? Well
for starters, using the 225/245 Kumho combo without additional negative
camber to keep the tires planted results in a very loose car!
The Silver S2000 is better setup to use the race rubber than the Yellow
car is. Second, the new WRX is a pretty fast car! As these
start to get dialed in, I expect to see them competing near the top of the
time sheets in Solo II. |
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