Brand new Regional #5 post event thread (the fun stuff!)

[steverife]

The course was finished a lot later than anyone had hoped. I imagine that most everyone would have liked a few more walks. I know I did, I got in 3 walks, but I barely squeezed in one by myself. The course was also tricky visually. You had to not only learn the course, but learn where you need to position the car to be able to find the course. All of that is part of the game. We gotta figure this stuff out quickly.

...but this thread isn't about administrative stuff, this thread is about talking about our awesome/sucky runs.

[ke0ki2k]

I only walked it once, because I didnt wake up til 8:30. My third run felt fantastic.. new car rotates on throttle beautifully. You can dive in way deep on the brakes without washing the front end out like the old car, but it does get loose when you trail off the brakes.. that left hander at the bottom of the hill was pretty exciting. Hopefully I keep JB a tenth of a second behind me for the rest of the season, and Carpenter decides to keep sandbagging

I'm really excited to get it on fresh tires (one of the Kooks is chorded/cooked), and get it to a tour and see how she does. Hopefully I drive like I did on my last run when I'm at the national tours, and we can make enough money to pay for some of the fees & expenses.

By the way - I know this isn't in the spirit of contingency's.. but if I were to win a tire at Blytheville or Ohio, could I order a 335/30ZR18 BFG R1S and sell it?

[steverife]

My car is pretty tight on throttle.

[integra55]

...but this thread isn't about administrative stuff, this thread is about talking about our awesome/sucky runs.

that would be me ... got 3 walks ... wouldn't have helped if I'd gotten a dozen ... more walking wouldn't have made me start braking BEFORE I started up the hill towards the last right hander going into the last slalom .... damn near had to stop/back and fill to make the turn one time ... that + drifting around the light pole (the first lap ) probably cost me close to a second (at least 1/2 sec) ... maybe with 5 runs I'd have figured it out ... but so would Bob, Mike, and Lin ... guess I should be happy with what I got

[01badz28]

I kept getting too greedy going through the two cones headed downhill through the figure eight. I got the car positioned right to take it straight, but the rear end would lighten up and come around on me and I lost time getting the turn around the telephone pole setup.

Some one tried to convince me to open up the last slalom and I wish I had. I coned three runs there, and then went too fast and lost time on my clean runs.

I've also completely forgotten what 450 or so hp feels like.

[rocracing2004]

Well I only got to walk the course 3 times and all 3 were with people asking me questions like why look here or there. I thought the course was fun but that last part was a big pain in the a$$.

Great job James and John and maybe if I can get tires that aren't 4 years old maybe I can go fast. I never did understand how I could have been in 3rd place after my second run with a cone and only be down .2 then go .6 slower on my 3rd clean and not move up? I don't know but it looks like some home cooking was going on after the 2nd runs. It was good to see everyone out and wow its funny how many new people there are to see.

I hope to see you guys soon.

RC

[steverife]

Yeah. Jeers on the slalom, Ryan.

[Jek]

It was a fun course, but even more fun than the course itself was having new tires! I preach all day long to the novices that tires make or break the car, and I was running on super dead Dunlop Z1's. The Rivals transformed the car completely! I felt like my times were much closer to where they should be for the car and its level of prep, although I'm still a few seconds off pace from where I should be to compete nationally.

My main problem Sunday was that I had no idea I coned so much...the stiff suspension and "old BMW" factor make the car so clunky that I have no clue if a clunk was the suspension or a cone, hah! I would really have liked my 70.7 3rd run to have been clean, and was somewhat disappointed that I couldn't replicate it with my last two runs being 71.7-ish. But I'm not going to complain about 13th fastest raw time at an ETR event, even if that was partially because the afternoon folks only got 2-3 runs

I also got to ride in the CRX, which was fun and made me feel like a giant in a hilarious way. I also told Steve that I could specifically feel my body weight screwing up the handling of the car, which is a unique and highly amusing feeling. Walter's CRX is definitely a better fit since we're closer in dimensions than Steve and I, I'm not sure a co-drive in Steve's is possible even though he has offered!

[John Brown]

I swear.. somebody moved that last salom before it was chalked... I paced it off 20-22 paces,which is a good fast pace at Pilli.. but dammed if I could even get thru 2 cones flat footed.. and normally 22 pace cones are flat in the Mazda... WHO DID THAT!!!???

I owe you a beer! its prolly what got me and Cathers ahead of the BIG veTTe..

[ke0ki2k]

I swear.. somebody moved that last salom before it was chalked... I paced it off 20-22 paces,which is a good fast pace at Pilli.. but dammed if I could even get thru 2 cones flat footed.. and normally 22 pace cones are flat in the Mazda... WHO DID THAT!!!???

I owe you a beer! its prolly what got me and Cathers ahead of the BIG veTTe..

seriously!

After watching that video.. I got lucky - damn near nailed the last cone on my fast run. I was crossing my arms up quite a bit even on my fast run, gonna work on moving my outside hand down to a 5 or 7 oclock position for turn in on the tight corners. Thanks for the feedback Robert!

[Mark McCrary]

Good Job Ryan! I know its difficult to chair a event! Looked like it was a fun course. Sorry I bailed at the end. I was not in the best of moods with the kart. Thanks everyone for there help trying to get the kart fixed. If you all need anything with the Bristol event let me know. I drive by the lot everyday!

[sentrase]

It was frustrating event for sure. Felt good about my driving, but still way off the leaders. I also felt that I couldn't turn the wheel fast enough in slaloms with the Rivals.

Thought about it being the tires maybe, but the only way to know would be to run back to back with Toyo's.

[John Brown]

You were on those things???

no wonder you were off the pace.. I swear,they feel fast.. but in reality... your just wasting a lot of time with them

[sentrase]

Well these were the 225's, but it seems that 7.5 wheel just won't allow to capitalize on the extra tire width.

And you are right about them feeling fast - I thought I was killing it....... till I saw the clock

[steverife]

We'll swap next after 3 if you want... unless I have my own.