Post 'em here.
Good to see some old faces return as well as some three new Spec e30 racers.
Got any race stories?
RP
Road Atlanta Race Stories
Patton
#1
Patton
#2
Okay, I’ll start: it was a good weekend. Close racing throught the field. No damage to cars. Two maybe 3 DNFs due to mechanical problems.
Particularly impressive was the 3-hour enduro win by a Spec e30 car, Team Walsh.
Drivers for the team: David Walsh and after a mid race pit stop it was David Walsh.
Three hours, one driver, one win in front of all types of other cars. Congratulations David!
Other stories?
RP
King_Tut
#3
I’ll let Fish tell his stories. All I heard last night was it invloved a ton of kitty litter.
Steve_D
#4
From the outside looking it, it appeared that you all were having a great time! The field got pretty well mixed and everyone I was around did a great job letting the Spec Miata battle rage on.
I gotta give a shout out to Scott of WalshLakoRacing fame, FishMan, and Fred. My fueling crew for the 3 hour enduro eagerly and enthusiastically answered my plea for help, which let me run the entire 3 hours without getting out of the car (since I was sans crew this weekend). After 3 hours, I almost couldn’t get out!!
If only I had known that Walsh was passing me for the E3 lead, I woulda made that Miata a little wider!!
I hated to see Chuck’s race impacted (pun intended) by one of the Miatas. Chuck was a complete gentleman about it.
PS - Best quote of the weekend came from Chuck, as Lako was hatching a plan… “I don’t care about umbrella girls! I just want someone to help me put my shoes on in the morning!!”
Patton
#5
Oops, how could I have overlooked the yellow flag thing with Chuck and the Miata. Didn’t really register 'case his car was fixed in short order?
Likewise, why did I post this in “General Discussion” ?
RP
epalacio19
#6
Both races were a lot of fun with three leaders in both races. Sunday was my favorite though with Johan, Bratton and I fighting it out through traffic and a botched caution restart. It was also cool to see Dad get two 5th place finishes!
Here is Sunday’s video http://youtu.be/RZoypPQPbfo
Patton
#9
Very cool to see tpr jules get two 5th place finishes. Some new names at the front of the pack.
RP
FishMan
#10
The weekend was a blast and it’s awesome to be back racing in the SE again. Congrats to Eric and Johan for some awesome driving and finishes. I’m not posting my Saturday video because it’s frankly embarrassing. I couldn’t find third gear on the start and was completely asleep at the restart. Perhaps late afternoon racing, during my normal nap time, is not my thing or perhaps I was just rusty. Whatever the case, I sucked!!!
Sunday was different story. In qualifying, I yanked out a 45 flat in my first hot lap and expected that to be good enough for pole so I just came on in. My lap time stood for a few laps, but Eric and Johan both beat me by a good margin while by dipping into the 44s.
The race was great fun! My strategy was to attempt to keep up with Eric and Johan as I expected them to check out and then hope for them to make a few mistakes while battling late in the race. From a standing start, I started in P3 and got a great start (my camera footage misses the first few seconds of the start). I bumped Johan and followed him up the hill with Eric in third place. Eric quickly passed me on the inside of two; I didn’t “let” him pass, but didn’t make it hard as I figured all three of us would turn faster lap times with the two fastest drivers out front. Me battling with Eric for the first lap would slow things down and that didn’t seem like a good plan. I managed to stay relatively close to Eric and Johan for most of the race and they were doing a good job fighting it out without allowing me to make a pass. All three of us were able to check out pretty far so my strategy did in fact pay off.
At some point we had a full course caution. It was nice to be the third car behind the pace car so I could better anticipate the restart. After the pace car exited, Johan got a great jump and passed Eric going through turn 12. I, well, got going and continued my chase. Later in 10B, Eric made a move on Johan and slowed them both down. This was the opportunity that I had been waiting for!!! I was able to initiate a pass going up the hill and take the lead before crossing the start finish line. My lead was short lived but I did stay out front for a full lap. Two faster Thunder Roadsters started working their way through us and it slowed me down a bit in turn 12; Johan and Eric were both able to pass me… I probably could have fought to maintain my lead a little harder, but then again, a third place finish is better than sitting in a gravel trap or coming home with a banged up car.
On the next to last lap, I passed an out of class BMW 2002 in turn 10B and ended up off roading on the outside rumbles. I suspected a cracked oil pan, but my pressures were holding strong for the final lap and cool down lap. Two minutes after parking in the paddock, the car dumped the entire oil sump on the pavement. I’m not completely sure how it held together, but it did and my motor is still in good shape.
The move of the race has to be when Eric decided to pass 944 in the esses. Instead of out braking him or waiting until the exit of turn 5, Eric just cut across the grass in turn 4 (which set him up perfectly for 5) and completed a clean pass. I’ve never seen anything like that before…
I was taking turn 5 in fourth gear. My data shows that it’s slightly slower than downshifting to third, but I felt more consistent.
I thoroughly enjoyed racing with and hanging out with the SE racers again and can’t wait until CMS.
Sunday video: https://vimeo.com/44316862
Patton
#11
Bratton does the “thinking mans race.” I’m digging it, thanks for keeping those in back of you safe by not forcing a pass with 37 of 38 minutes remaing in the race.
The Eric pass in the grass…saw it in a World Challenge video from several years ago and it is impressive. I passed the slow VW in the esses going through the grass on the outside of four/five. It was slow and I lost a position. So much for clear thinking.
RP
Ranger
#12
Wow. Eric’s first killer move was making a try on Johann by looking to the inside at 10a and somehow finishing that non-optimal line by coming out of 10b so fast that they were side by side at 12. A non-optimal line faster than Johann’s school line. Just wow.
That pass on the Porsche in the S curves was just magic. Ok, maybe in a lunatic sort of way, but magically so. Children, don’t try that one at home.
jtower
#13
al taylor made a similar pass at vir a couple of years ago, watch my rearview mirror at the 1:05 mark
FARTBREF
#15
I passed jones and travis with that move, VIR much safer than Road Atlanta however…the fact we can do that proves the suspension rules for Spec e30 are perfect…
Al
pissant
#16
[quote=“epalacio19” post=66760]Both races were a lot of fun with three leaders in both races. Sunday was my favorite though with Johan, Bratton and I fighting it out through traffic and a botched caution restart. It was also cool to see Dad get two 5th place finishes!
Here is Sunday’s video http://youtu.be/RZoypPQPbfo[/quote]
Hey jordan anderson did a similar move on a 944, go to 4:20 in this video: