Hyperfest play-by-play

jls8177 · 2009-06-23 03:30:27 UTC

Let’s hear it. How was Hyperfest?

allenr · 2009-06-23 05:30:55 UTC

Short version:

It was mostly good.

Long version:

We had a very big field of 18 cars expected for hyperfest. I don’t think I have ever looked forward to a race as much as this one. I would have competitive horsepower for the first time ever, so it would be my first chance to see how I could do on a much more level playing field. The regulars would be there along with Carlton, who hadnt been to summit in 3 years, and Mike Morris, a CMC champ who barrowed Cobetto’s car.

Saturday:

I had very high hopes for Saturday, but my hopes got smaller as the sky got darker. About an hour before practice, the skies opened up. There were rivers in the paddock that ran over tires and through wheels on some cars, and some pit equipment was being swept away. Thinking that the track would probably be just as wet as the paddock and that qualifying would probably be dry, Carter and I decided not to go out for practice. It stopped raining 15 minutes before the session so that the track was at least not underwater, but I’m almost glad I didnt go out because I got to watch Pete Thibault drive from where I was watching at T10. His entry speed was at least 10 mph higher than any other SE30 :blink:. He took a very smooth outside line while others were drifting through the apex. Cobetto wasnt racing because of Hyperfest, but rain experts like Carlton and MikeD were a few seconds behind. I would’ve liked to see how Pete and Cobetto would have compared in the rain.

Of course qualifying was wet, too. Pete smoked everyone for pole in his second ever race, with carlton and rookie Matt Russell a few seconds back. I was surprised because I was actually feeling pretty comfortable in the rain, but we only had 3 laps so I qualified way back in 13th :(. Skip had similar issues and only made it up to 15th. Justin Silver qualified 6th in his first time ever driving in the rain :).

The race was going to be dry except for a few puddles off line. We were gridded by our wet weather speed so we knew things would be interesting in the first few laps. Skip and I planned to work together to move through the pack. Jon Allen got out front early and turned some consistent laps to pull out a big lead. Skip and I traded position some but we easily bumped our way to the front pack of about 2nd through 7th place. With about half the race left, I started to slowly move to the front of that pack. I had a great race with Mike Morris, a CMC champion who was driving Cobettos car. He really learns fast :woohoo:! You can’t see very well in the video, but he was glued to my bumper or my door for the entire second half of the race. I had to use every defensive trick I know to keep him behind. With 2 laps to go, Carter had a small off, then Matt braked too late into T1. So amazingly with one lap to go, Skip and I were 2nd and 3rd from 15th and 13th on the grid. Skip got a bad run going into T10, and I could have gotten along side him for a W2W finish, but Mike Morris was right on my rear and I didnt want to risk letting him by from battling with Skip. I settled for the podium, which skip and I were both happy about considering qualifying. I had some really bad understeer, which I think kept me from using my new horsepower but there was no dry practice or quali to make adjustments :S. We got some sprinkles of rain on the last lap, but not enough to affect grip. Congrats to JonA on the hyperfest win.

video: http://vimeo.com/5267028

In thunder race, Skip was spun in his Ferrari on the front straight by a stock car who later explained that he pushed skip off the track because he “wanted to win” :dry:. There was some body damage from grazing the tire wall, but it could have been a lot worse considering the speeds (5th gear in F430= 1 bizzilion mph). Skip duct taped the body work and raced the car to another win on Sunday.
There didn’t seem to be as many vendors in the paddock as usual, but there was actually a good turnout for the drifting, which is always interesting until you realize how stupid it is :P. At least the NASA winners got to spray the bubbly in front of a crowd, and the green beans at the dinner were phenomenal.
So Saturday went well considering how I qualified, but as fun as these hard-charger finishes are, Ive had a few too many lately and I was hoping for a better qualifying result on Sunday. The understeer was so bad in the Saturday race that we changed the sway bar to full stiff as well as adding pressure to the rear tires.

Sunday:

I was so happy to see a bright blue sky when we woke up, but it had rained the night before so the track had very strange grip conditions. Some areas were bone dry, some shadowed areas were damp, some turns had a thin layer of mud on the edge, and some turns had puddles. I was the very first one out for quali, but I only had one clean lap to figure out the conditions and adapt to the new setup before I hit the tail end of the group. The track conditions were improving drastically every lap, so I knew I had to put my foot down in traffic and take what I could get. I didn’t have any clean laps after my first, but the balance was much improved so I still managed to qualify on pole in lap 4 :). The top 4 qualifiers were me, Skip, Grace, and Cobetto. Me, Skip, and Grace were separated by 5 one-hundredths of a second :woohoo:. This is part of what makes this field so fun to race with. Cobetto was a half second back complaining about understeer. From what I understand, all of those guys had open track towards the end of the session, so I was optimistic for the race pace since I had out-qualified them despite traffic. Jonny didnt quite make it out in time for qualifying because of car problems (electrical?), and Carter was caught out in a Ferrari F1-esque way. He did his quick lap early then parked it while the track conditions improved almost 2 seconds over the course of the session. He qualified in 11, setting himself up for a hard charger award.

The start was awful. I was planning to “trick” everyone, but I ended up confusing myself even more than I had hoped to confuse the other drivers. I mis-shifted allowing skip and cobetto to get by. We hadnt even done a lap when the FCY came out for the Mariani/White wreck. It was very bad looking. Cobetto dropped out of the race to go to the site of the accident. Both were conscious but Rick was taken to the hospital as a precaution. Luckily both drivers are ok. The cars were not. This was the only specE30 wreck but one of many major wrecks at the event.
Although the cleanup took our whole race time, Cobetto made the call to put the event behind schedule by giving us a 15 minute race at the end. My car was handling pretty well, but somehow it was still slightly understeering with the most loose setup possible. Im starting to think there might be a demon hiding in the front suspension somewhere. Skip gapped me a little bit at the restart, but I caught up quickly and was right on his bumper. I followed him for a few laps. The two of us pulled out a massive gap on the rest of the field. He was holding me up slightly in the brake zones, but he had just enough power to keep me from pulling up to him in the draft even when I got a better run. I probably could have outbraked him for position, but my front tires and brakes would only be good for one late braking move or I would risk over heating them and falling back. The grip was still a little inconsistent too. I knew it was a short race, but it was a single file restart so I expected us to catch traffic. Unfortunately for me, Skip was smart at the restart and gapped the traffic ahead. Skip is a very quick driver, but I know from experience that he can make mistakes. I was playing a little bit conservative and saving my equipment hoping that either traffic or consistency would help me out, but skip got lucky in traffic because we hit it in areas where it didn’t hold us up. He gapped me about 5 carlengths with 2 laps to go when we came up on a 944 wreck, which was kind of the dagger for my hopes of passing him. He drove an incredibly consistent race to win by 2 tenths. A lot of drivers tend to discount skip’s driving ability because his car is so strong, which it is. But he was the driver of the weekend in my opinion. He drove fast and flawless under pressure in 2 race groups. Great job to him :).
Carter finished 14 seconds behind us in 3rd from 10th and JonA made it all the way up to 5th from last. Great drives by them.

video: http://vimeo.com/5265460 (just a few laps)

Personally, I can’t say I was 100% happy with how the weekend turned out. Two podiums is good in this field but if it had been dry, I think I could have gotten the balance figured out early and put that power to better use. I’m also still in shock about how stupid I was at the start on Sunday. I think things would have turned out a lot differently if I had gotten out front early. The wreck kind of overshadows things, too. So of course I’m looking forward to next time as usual. I’ll also be running in the UTCC on the friday before. SpecE30 represent. Hopefully we’ll have a bigger and possibly more mediocre field for the sprints at VIR .

mrussell · 2009-06-23 09:01:46 UTC

Perfect write-up, RA, except I’m not a rookie pal, I just took 2008 off. Well, technically I’m not a rookie but I sure feel like one sometimes. :laugh:

Anyways Hyperfest was a soaking wet hoot.

Elephant4 · 2009-06-23 10:08:57 UTC

Nice write up Robert! I look forward to watching the vid later.

donstevens · 2009-06-23 10:53:59 UTC

That Saturday video was very entertaining. Nice Job!

allenr · 2009-06-24 00:42:05 UTC

Here’s another points update after 4 of 7 rounds. I factored in one of the two drops.

Cobetto: 621
J. Allen: 578
R. Allen: 574
S. Bennett: 568
Hunt: 560
Davidson: 551

It’s so close for 2nd that the top 6 were almost completely rearranged this weekend from only slightly better or worse performances. Jonny’s coming on strong with a win this weekend, as is skip who has to keep it clean. He has some low finishes so he can’t afford another DNF/DQ. MikeD has fallen back a little bit, but if his car is running well or if it rains look for him to make a comeback. It’s not a great feeling to benefit from cobetto dropping out of a race to help with a wreck, but he sure is starting to look more reachable in the points…

This could get really interesting in the last 3 rounds!

MikeD · 2009-06-24 00:59:50 UTC

allenr wrote:

[quote]Here’s another points update after 4 of 7 rounds. I factored in one of the two drops.

Cobetto: 621
J. Allen: 578
R. Allen: 574
S. Bennett: 568
Hunt: 560
Davidson: 551

It’s so close for 2nd that the top 6 were almost completely rearranged this weekend from only slightly better or worse performances. Jonny’s coming on strong with a win this weekend, as is skip who has to keep it clean. He has some low finishes so he can’t afford another DNF/DQ. MikeD has fallen back a little bit, but if his car is running well or if it rains look for him to make a comeback. It’s not a great feeling to benefit from cobetto dropping out of a race to help with a wreck, but he sure is starting to look more reachable in the points…

This could get really interesting in the last 3 rounds![/quote]

It should be a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to going back to VIR. Summit has been tough for me. I was hoping for rain and got a taste but it didn’t last. I think I might have been a little quicker in the rain if my rear sway bar hadn’t been on full tight lol. Saturdays race was pretty disappointing with the car feeling sluggish everywhere on the track. I had started 4th and couldn’t get the car into the 1:30’s. That’s not quick enough. Sundays race was a little better and I started 8th and finished 6th. I have to say that during Sundays race I had an absolute blast racing with Johhny. We were side by side for two laps! I had good fun racing with others as well! Good times. So I went from 2nd in points to 6th . I’m gonna see if I can make something happen at VIR. The competition is getting tougher and tougher. Good job guys. I’ll see you at VIR.

mrussell · 2009-06-24 03:30:11 UTC

allenr wrote:

[quote]Here’s another points update after 4 of 7 rounds. I factored in one of the two drops.

Cobetto: 621
J. Allen: 578
R. Allen: 574
S. Bennett: 568
Hunt: 560
Davidson: 551
[/quote]
Are those strictly regional points?

allenr · 2009-06-24 04:26:39 UTC

Matt,
Not sure what you mean. This is only for the points these drivers have scored in the mid-atlantic region. They aren’t official yet. I just added the points for this weekend since it takes them forever to update the official tally. And I added a drop to put it into perspective.

Mike,
We want videos! Put 'em up if you get a chance.

Carter · 2009-06-25 11:46:12 UTC

I’ll share my weekend, just because some of my experiences may help some of the newer racers.

As was written before, Saturday practice was very wet so I sat it out. While I’m certainly not exceptional in the rain, I do enjoy it. But having wasted a car at Summit Point last year I was being a little more careful than usual.

Qualifying was also very wet. Driving out of the pit lane, my first session of the weekend, I noticed that my car was missing a little. It had run fine at the (dry) Summit weekend last month, and was fine driving around the shop and into the trailer. I had installed an old voltmeter taken from a former racecar and it was reading just below 12 volts. The car was missing so badly that I would have been last on the grid if nothing changed. I then decided to turn off the headlights and the car got a little better. I then turned off the wipers and it got 95% better. I ended-up 7th on the grid, not too bad for such a strong field. Also, Broadreach Racing Team pal Carlton - aka Mr. “No Fear” - was second on the grid, despite not having been to Summit in two years.

Here’s the part that I hope may help other racers…

After the session, I immediately got on the phone and found a new/rebuilt alternator at a local chain auto parts store. However, NASA Official and Mid Atlantic E30 expert Sean Thompson suggested I replace the carbon brushes, which I think are a part of the voltage regulator. I did this (a five-minute job) but the alternator was still putting out only about 12 volts. I was told it should produce high 13’s when working properly. An easy way to check is to put a multimeter on the positive side of the battery, when the engine is running.

Drive Gear Racing, the guys who rent Spec E30 cars in the Mid Atlantic Region, offered their spare used alternator but after installing it, I saw 11.3 volts, and that was using the new carbon brushes/voltage regulator! So, they offered their second used spare and it produced 13.7 volts. Great!

I’m glad I jumped on the car just after qualifying because I had it buttoned-up about 20 minutes before the race. Wash hands and get suited-up.

In the race, the car was good but not great. I managed to get up to second place but after 3/4 spinning to avoid bumping a 944 that slowed a lot more than I had expected, for turn 5, several strong Spec E30 racers were on my rear bumper. After some good and close racing, I went four-off to avoid getting bumped by another car and lost a few positions. Then, I went off myself, and later, Matt Russell spun in front of me and I chose to go left. Thankfully, Matt kept the brake on and Carlton went by on the right. That was the best route as Carlton was a car length ahead when we met back in the middle of the track. I crossed the finish line in 6th.

For Sunday, I was third on the qualifying session grid, behind Robert Allen and Robert Grace, both sharp, young, and quick racers. After about four laps, Robert A had pulled out a bit but I was pretty-much staying with Robert G. We then started getting into traffic so I thought we had all gone about as fast as we could go, plus my brand new Auto Meter water temp gauge was pegged. The stock gauge (the backup) was reading just below half so I wasn’t too worried that I had cooked the engine. Later, and during a diagnosis in the paddock, it was clear that the new Auto Meter gauge is bad. They’ll get a call this week.

Regardless, I thought I would be about 5th or 6th on the grid. Wrong! I was 11th. As Robert A wrote, the track must have gotten better because their best laps were later in the session. Going in early was a bad decision, that’s for sure.

We started the 40-min. race and as many know, Tom White and Rick Mariani were involved in a big crash. We then did a couple of double yellow laps and went into the pit, seeing the black flag at all stations. I was 10th in the field and thought our day was done. However, after a 30 minute wait, Chris Cobetto made the call to give us a 15-min sprint. If I was going to make up any positions, I would have to work fast.

We re-started the race single file and while I wasn’t napping, I didn’t get a jump on anyone. However, it quickly became obvious that a few changes made after the Saturday race made the car better. As we raced, it was almost as if the car was getting better and better. I was able to catch some very good racers…and get by. Now, I will admit that I had a few lucky breaks during the race, but I also drove better than on Saturday. With Chris Cobetto dropping out because he was concerned about Tom and Rick, and my car being better, and a few lucky breaks, I was able to make my way up to third.

Sometimes, things just fall into place for a person and this was one of those few times. Having such a fun race on Sunday afternoon was almost like making a birdie on 18. It makes you really want to go back to do it again.

Many thanks again to Jon and Andrew at Drive Gear Racing for the use of the alternator, and thanks to Mike Davidson for racing so close, but so clean on Sunday. At one point, I don’t think we could have slid a piece of paper between the sides of our cars. But we never touched…

I look forward to seeing everyone (and our Southeast brothers) at VIR in July.

Carter

ps. My new alternator from Bimmerparts arrived today.

allenr · 2009-06-27 05:32:53 UTC

Nice recap carter. I didn’t realize your car problems were that bad. Nice finish on sunday.

They’re not quite as good as usual but here are some pics from the weekend. Lemme know if you want some sent to you.

link: http://s326.photobucket.com/albums/k432/allenr00/Summit%20hfest%2009/

MikeD · 2009-06-27 10:26:49 UTC

Carter wrote:

[quote]I’ll share my weekend, just because some of my experiences may help some of the newer racers.