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I didn’t crash.
But the engine is still hiccuping at high rpm. Is really a bummer. Is almost worth buying a Megasquirt just so I can see the diagnostic logs. Only thing left to replace is the engine harness so that’s next.
I was slow but there was lots of fun racing in the rear. I had close fights with Laura and Jon Stroup.
Yes, that was entirely too close. What I can’t figure out from the video is why Walsh went into the inside wall.
When Nash spun, Walsh took evasive action to the right. The car pitched sideways and David didn’t/couldn’t lock down the brakes early enough to keep it from continuing that arc.
I can’t say that the weekend went the way I envisioned it driving up to Atlanta on Friday. I only brought a worn set of shaved RA1s that I had flipped on the rims, and my set of brand new full tread RA1s. I ran the full treads in Saturday morning practice and felt slow, but only got in 4 laps. I swapped to the shaved set for qualifying and pulled a 01:50 before going in too hot into 1 and touching the gators at the exit resulting in a spin, both feet in, and flat spotting my tires as I went up the track sideways.
For the Saturday race I started 12th out of 16, and I was able to pull away from Stroup and had no real challenge from behind while I had a carrot in the form of J. Palacio. By the end of the race I had caught him but didn’t feel I could get a good enough run to try anything, and I needed that 4th clean race to get my full license. Thanks to Walsh 
, I ended up 11th. I was really happy I was able to maintain my qualifying spot after feeling I was so slow in practice and qualifying.
My front brake pads were down quite a bit so I changed them out to some DTC-60s and new front rotors after dinner. I was able to get them working well in practice, and I was confident I would set a good time in qualilfying. I went out and got a good first lap in with a 01:49 and then my qualifying was ended on the third lap with a trip into the gravel at 10a and some more flat spots on my tires. This time I had metal showing where the flat spot was so I decided I would not take a chance, and I went to my full treads for the race.
That was a huge mistake. I started 12th out of 16 again. I never got close to the 01:49s, and I never got better than the 01:52s. I had to sit there and watch everyone pick me off about 1 car per lap till I was DFL running around by myself hoping I didn’t see DeVinney come around and lap me. I’m hoping it was just the tire and not the result of damage to my car from the incident in 10a making me slow. I will take it in and check the alignment before Roebling along with banging out the bumper and spare tire location.
All in all I had a great time at my first Southeast SpecE30 race and accomplished my goals of making it through the weekend with my license and being able to drive the car on the trailer. Video of both races will be up tonight.
I nominate Fred for the Hard Luck award from Bimmerworld. After battling to prep the car on Saturday, he pulled in to the paddock Sunday morning with his usual, upbeat manner fully intact.
His car made it 3 turns before the cam gear came loose, ending his weekend.
I’d nominate Walsh, but Fred’s never given me a door donut. :woohoo:
PS - I hope the Hard Luck award isn’t limited to Saturday participants. If it is, I fully support my friend David Walsh’s campaign.:blink: :lol:
David, very nice job of saving paint and sheet metal. Don’t you need a few more lights on your dash to tell you when to shift??? Chuck
[quote=“cwbaader” post=58930]David, very nice job of saving paint and sheet metal.[/quote]Or Steve.
And thank you. I was pretty glad to have missed Nash. Ryan was mad about how the underside of the car looked though.
[quote=“cwbaader” post=58930]Don’t you need a few more lights on your dash to tell you when to shift???[/quote]
I started with the Autometer shift light. Then I wanted sequential lights so I put in the Shift-i on the gauge cluster. Then the new Traqmate dash came out with better/easier shift-point-setting interface than the Shift-i.
I shift at different points for different gears so I treat all the lights as suggestions anyway.
You should number each of lights for their respective gears.
On another note what are the thoughts on the new traqmate system and do you need to buy a whole new system or can you just get the dash? The current system has the +/- bar so what are the benefits of this new thing?
Edit: Bleh at least another $800 to upgrade. Already have a shift light and a basic traqmate.
[quote=“King Tut” post=58927]This time I had metal showing where the flat spot was so I decided I would not take a chance, and I went to my full treads for the race.
That was a huge mistake. I started 12th out of 16 again. I never got close to the 01:49s, and I never got better than the 01:52s. I had to sit there and watch everyone pick me off about 1 car per lap till I was DFL running around by myself hoping I didn’t see DeVinney come around and lap me. I’m hoping it was just the tire and not the result of damage to my car from the incident in 10a making me slow. I will take it in and check the alignment before Roebling along with banging out the bumper and spare tire location.[/quote]
Check the alignment on all four corners, but based on what I saw at Memphis running full tread tires I’m not surprised at the lap times. Full tread tires are squirrelly and slow.
Turn 1 from my view. Quite a lot to be learned here !!! Moral of the story im sure to follow…
[quote=“Steve D” post=58929]I nominate Fred for the Hard Luck award from Bimmerworld. After battling to prep the car on Saturday, he pulled in to the paddock Sunday morning with his usual, upbeat manner fully intact.
His car made it 3 turns before the cam gear came loose, ending his weekend.
I’d nominate Walsh, but Fred’s never given me a door donut. :woohoo:
PS - I hope the Hard Luck award isn’t limited to Saturday participants. If it is, I fully support my friend David Walsh’s campaign.:blink: :lol:[/quote]
I appreciate the thought Steve, but after watching your video I have to give David my vote. :S
[quote=“D Walsh” post=58936]Turn 1 from my view. Quite a lot to be learned here !!! Moral of the story im sure to follow…
http://vimeo.com/27445213[/quote]
I guess the SpecSegway class is being put on hold?
[quote=“D Walsh” post=58936]Turn 1 from my view. Quite a lot to be learned here !!! Moral of the story im sure to follow…
http://vimeo.com/27445213[/quote]
Was this guy feeling left out? What the hell, if everyone else can get in the wall, me and my Segway can too! :lol:
Sorry to hear about the tough weekend David!
Just in case others are curious…
You can get the dash separately but I think they have only been shipping complete kits. The first production run sold out really quickly.
The advantages I’ve found so far are:
+1 for Walsh to get the hard luck award after inspecting the carnage or maybe to the Segway driver who has to fill out an incident report for turn 1 wall contact.
This weekend was my best two finishes. Qualified P2 saturday and finished 1st and P1 Sunday and finished 2nd. Thrilled the diff made it through Sundays race. Special thanks to Scott for helping me with preparing the car and James, Donnie and Aubry for working on the trailer. Ill keep the sleeping arrangements on the down low. We appreciate your skills and availability to help the team. Walsh got the raw deal Saturday but at least we have an excuse to build a new car.
Video is not likely since I was running a new camera and track dash, I showed my lack of computer knowledge and only captured practice and qualifying. My 12 year old promises to help me next event.
Steve,
Nice save, but I noticed your seat moving around a lot, are the bolts loose or is it just the video. My seat came loose and I did not notice/feel it until watching my own video…
Is this Dejavu? Kind of looks like Ranger’s cockpit last year - all pretty like a X-mas tree.
Congrats on the win Sunday. I watched the whole thing unfold on Saturday, pretty messy. Actually, the whole day was very messy, way too much carnage and bent metal.
[quote=“poppy” post=58964]Steve,
Nice save, but I noticed your seat moving around a lot, are the bolts loose or is it just the video. My seat came loose and I did not notice/feel it until watching my own video…[/quote]I’ll have the shop check. I’m about 99% sure it is a combination of where the camera is mounted, composite seat flex, and maybe just a little movement from the sliders. Over the off season I might take out the sliders. They were in there for my wife but I think she likes the Miata better now.