Hyperfest Report

#21

looks the mid-atlantic races are war. Every race report this season involves some banging and wrecking. Whats going on? I know the series has gotten ultra competitve but something has gotta give. Was Vic’s car totaled by a car to car incident or from a one car deal?

#22

mrussell wrote:

[quote]stevekappy wrote:

[quote]
Matt,

Thanks for being my camera man for the weekend. Can I contract you for the next race too? :stuck_out_tongue:

-Steve[/quote]

Sure, because I’m planning to point my camera backwards for that one. :kiss:

Seriously, it was great being paddocked near you and Pilar. Looking forward to the next time.[/quote]

Touche!

I guess I asked for that one :slight_smile:

-Steve

#23

#24

Can these guys ever finish a weekend without blowing up?

[file name=doneblowedup.jpg size=72163]http://spece30.com/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/files/doneblowedup.jpg[/file]

#25

155MPH wrote:

[quote]Can these guys ever finish a weekend without blowing up?

[file name=doneblowedup.jpg size=72163]http://spece30.com/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/files/doneblowedup.jpg[/file][/quote]

I don’t think so. Seriously.

Man I knew hyperfest was going to be crazy. I had to make a choice between this or road atlanta and i’m glad I chose RA. It sounds like it was alot of fun but stressful as well. I can’t imagine racing with that many 944’s :woohoo:

Can’t wait for VIR!

P.S. JP it seems you have a hidden talent of diggin up photos on the interweb. See if you can find some of the blue car from rockingham!

#26

155MPH wrote:

Good lord man! where there kids in that pool when you hit it?

:blink:

Oh wait… that’s a Sallyzar spoiler :blush:

#27

DMoses wrote:

I was about 100 feet behind the incident and saw Vic hit the tirewall/dirt bank to the left of the track between turns three and four. I’m speculating some but from what I understand, Vic and Jon Allen were racing for the lead. Jon got about 1/3 up on Vic’s left side. Vic said afterward that he tried to pinch Jon a bit by moving left but Jon didn’t back off. They touched (Jon’s RF Vic’s LR) which pointed Vic left and off the track. I think he hit the wall with the right front corner, tearing off the suspension. The car then spun around and the right rear hit the tires/bank, crushing that corner. Again, I saw Vic hit the bank but didn’t actually see how it unfolded.

Jon’s car was not significantly damaged.

Vic is ok, which of course is the most important thing, and he and Jon agreed that it was a racing incident that was not caused by anyone making a serious mistake. Yes, it was a very serious crash but it wasn’t caused by Jon making a gross error. Both drivers went to the tower and spoke with the NASA race director but all agreed that no one should be penalized.

The Fly Navy car’s damage was a single car crash caused by the driver losing the rear coming out of turn ten, due to trailing throttle oversteer.

And regarding the minor contact throughout the weekend, we are now going to document every car-to-car contact. I expect every driver to report any contact to me, as several did at Summit. I will keep a log for the Mid Atlantic races and will report it to NASA if/when a driver is involved in a disproportionate amount of contact, minor or otherwise and with other Spec e30 cars or other cars in the group.

We have fully adopted the NASA CCR Rules regarding contact (a driver must report contact if he feels he has been wronged, starting the process) but I was told this weekend, when one of our drivers bumped several cars (Spec e30 and others) in several sessions, that NASA can determine that driver is creating an "unsafe situation" and can penalize him/her as they see fit.

Also, Dave Derecola of 944 Cup has a few incidents to report to me. Again, we will follow the CCR rules to the letter but evidently, we aren’t making any friends in the Autobahn Group. This is not good.

We know that a few drivers are new and are from other sanctioning bodies that overlook some beating and banging but as we have said from the beginning, Spec E30 is not going to become a crash-fest, or even a bump-fest. If a driver thinks that his "pal" won’t report some banging between the two, he might still get penalized by NASA. They have that right and I was told this weekend that they will not hesitate to use it.

I will discuss this with the Spec E30 Regional Series Directors so we have a consistent program across the US.

Carter

#28

Carter,

does this include bump drafting?
.
.

#29

scottmc wrote:

[quote]Carter,

does this include bump drafting?
.
.[/quote]

touchy subject. No pun intended.

#30

scottmc wrote:

[quote]Carter,

does this include bump drafting?
.
.[/quote]

According to the CCR…

25.3 Rough Driving
Any driver, deemed by the Race Director, displaying rough or unsportsmanlike driving
might be penalized.

I don’t see controlled bump drafting as being unsportsmanlike or even as being rough, especially when both drivers want it. However, the intentional and/or uncontrolled bumping, nudging, and downright hitting other cars at Summit Point this past weekend (not referring to the Hall/Allen incident) were certainly not intended to help a fellow driver, as is controlled bump drafting. That’s the difference. But according to the Rule above, I don’t make the final decision, the NASA Race Director does.

I suggest that Han, Jens, and Skip, contact the NASA Mid Atlantic Race Director, JJ. His email address is racedirector@nasaracing.net While Spec E30 does not issue penalties, these three drivers have been identified by 944 Cup drivers as having committed an offense that will be reviewed, using the CCR procedures.

Also, all Spec E30 drivers should be familiar with the following CCR rules. If a driver is involved in an incident that is reviewed by an IRB, he will accumulate "points" according to the guidelines below.

And my previous post about asking for a report of every contact incident is informal and has nothing to do with the official CCR Rules, Regulations, and penalties. And I don’t expect drivers to report consensual and controlled bump drafting.

27.12 Driver’s Points System
The IRB shall elect a “Pointskeeper” for the sake of keeping track of on track violations and penalties. Because the faults and/or penalties may be appealed, no results shall be official until personally approved by the Race Director, and/or published in The Penalty Box section of Speednews. The Pointskeeper will keep a tally on the accumulation of
driver’s points for each driver. The following are guidelines for assigning points.

  1. Contact bumper to bumper with no deviation and no damage: No points
  2. Any sheet metal contact with no damage and no deviation: One (1) point each
  3. Any contact causing deviation, with no damage, but loss of a position: Three (3)
    points for the offender, one (1) point for the other driver.
  4. Any contact resulting in “damage” as defined by these guidelines: Three (3) points
    for the offender, one (1) point for the other driver.
  5. Any contact resulting in a “punt” as defined by these guidelines: Three (3) points for
    the offender, one (1) point for the other driver.
  6. Any contact resulting in damage and punt: Three (3) points for the offender, one (1)
    point for the other driver.
  7. Passing under a standing yellow or double yellow: Two (2) points
  8. Passing under waving yellow and/or over-driving any yellow: Three (3) points

27.12.1 Point Limit- Annual
Any driver accumulating ten (10) points during the season (January-December) shall be
required to appear before the IRB. The IRB shall review the driving record of the
offending driver and take appropriate action. Appropriate action may range from a
warning to suspension or a recommendation to the Race Director for exclusion from a
series or even expulsion from NASA.

And according to this system, my incident with Mike Davidson at VIR earned 3 points for me. It will be properly noted and recorded.

Lastly, I had intended to finalize the Sasha/Matt incident from VIR, at Summit Point this weekend. With all the crazy goings-on, I didn’t have time to do it. Later this week, I will go through the proper CCR procedures to get it done. Both Sasha and Matt have been contacted and know this will happen.

Carter

#31

From the 944 Cup class winner at Summit Point this past weekend, both Saturday and Sunday…

I don’t think he would mind me posting this here.

[i]Dave,

I do have to say that all the spec E-30’s I passed were quite polite and aware of what was happening on track.

Thanks, Jersey[/i]

Good driving guys.

Carter

#32

Hyperfest was my virgin voyage from DE’s to racing. It was also my first time with the E30 on track, so I had a lot of learning to do. I guess the good thing about being last was that I didn’t get tangled in any of the contacts that were occuring. Even though I did finish last I had a blast just being out there. My times got better each time I got on track and can’t wait to do it again.

#33

This will be the THIRD time that I have typed this out. For some reason, after I have signed in and hit the "submit" button, I get an error about "the admin has disabled public access". This time I be sure to copy to the clipboard before hitting submit.

In any case, I made my first post attempt back under Kappy’s message. I just wanted to get some thoughts/thanks out from my weekend and they are getting briefer each time :wink:

My season so far has been an experiment in builting a SpecE30 on the most limited budget. Basically, get a street car, change the timing belt and fluids, add SpecE30 pieces and a cage and go. Sadly, this isn’t working out so well. :frowning:

After the car didn’t run right at VIR. I decided to got through the fuel and replace everything. Found a lot of bad/broken/rusted/incorrect parts. Fixed em all. Thought that the car was running good and loaded up Friday for HyperFest.

Sat AM, first time at SP with the car, it just didn’t seem like it had power and by the end of the session it was limping. Brought it in and figured that it was mechanical. Sure enough, broken exhaust rocker on #4.

Would have been it for me except that SpecE30 has the best-prepared spares man I have even met - VIC! He had a rocker and convinced me that the Job was do-able. Some former '44Cup / SpecE30 friends (they have one of each) the Jadeszack’s (sorry for butchering the spelling) showed up and tore into it with me and 2 1/2 hours or so later, it was running again in time for the race.

Sat Race was interesting for me as I started from the back. Passed a couple cars in the first corner and Kappy about a lap or two into it. Followed two other cars for the remainder of the race and made another position when one went wide in the gravel. Finished 9th and discovered something else - these cars understeer like crazy. Sat PM I tightened the rear bar in prep for Sunday AM.

Sunday AM practice - When I started the car, the engine was ticking like an old grandfather clock. Ran it anyway and it didn’t seem to have the power of Sat. In addition, about 1/2 way through the session, coming down the chute, the LF brake line blew out of it’s crimp. Exciting ride. Replaced it with the one remaining one from Vic’s corpse (thanks again!) and started bleeding the system. No luck, nothing would come out of the rears. Back to Vic for a new Master Cylinder (thanks yet again!), miss qual again but have car back together for the race. The brake line thing was bugging me but I thought that maybe it was related to the MC failure.

Started from next to last for the race with "No Keys" Carter starting behind me. Was asleep at the start and so I got left in the dust and only picked up one position on teh start. Got behind Han (I think?) and for the next 5 laps I would take momentum runs on him in 10 only to fade back. Presumably from the grandfather clock under the hood. I finally had enough to where I was almost close enought to challenge in the brakes. I went in, hard on the pedal and BAM!, pedal hit the floor instantly just like in the AM. Only, I had used my bit of luck in the AM and this time, I spun and grazed John Brown’s 924.

So, I drove over by turn 2 and watch the race from there.

So, before the car hits the track again, it will have a complete going-through on all the mechanicals. I am going to pull the head and have it re-done and replace all of the brake lines with ones from a reputable manufacturer (shame on me for selecting some place off the Internet).

PS - solved the posting problem. The attached image file was too big and it wasn’t giving me the correct error message.

Here’s a summary of my weekend:

#34

erupert66 wrote:

Heh, that would be me. Cost me only 4 seconds that lap, but 2 positions in the finishing order.

erupert66 wrote:[quote]In addition, about 1/2 way through the session, coming down the chute, the LF brake line blew out of it’s crimp. Exciting ride. Replaced it with the one remaining one from Vic’s corpse (thanks again!) and started bleeding the system. No luck, nothing would come out of the rears. Back to Vic for a new Master Cylinder (thanks yet again!), miss qual again but have car back together for the race. The brake line thing was bugging me but I thought that maybe it was related to the MC failure.[/quote]Please share whatever you can on this failure. What type of line was it (rubber or steel)? If rubber, was it Original BMW? If steel, which brand was it? How old do you estimate the line was? Thanks.

#35

Back home in Florida after a long drive on Monday, the GRM project Spec E30 got itself off the trailer and is now patiently awaiting some attention in my driveway. Thanks to all the Spec E30 racers for the fun and support in the pits and on the track. I’ve posted an update about our debut weekend at http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/news/062007/not-that-fast-and-only-a-little-broken.php

#36

Good article, and thanks for bringing attention to our series. Re: "bolt on modifications to enhance power". Not sure what you are refering to but my black and white interpretation of the rules says that ain’t allowed. :wink:

#37

Air intake and exhaust, basically. I guess they’re more "screw on" than "bolt-on", but they’re still allowed :wink:

#38

GRMScott wrote:

Very nice article. Are you going to VIR?

#39

GRMScott wrote:

Scott, Not allowed according to my read. The stock air cleaner is as close to forced air as you can get. The backing plate on the drivers side headlight cannot be removed. Changing the exhaust manifold also isn’t allowed. Perhaps you meant other mods?

#40

mrussell wrote:

They were SS lines that I bought from a company called "GForce Brakes". They were brand new. I have sent them photo’s which they are forwarding to their manufacturer (presumably in China).