Savanah Sizzler @ Roebling Road

#21

Overall I would say the weekend was a good learning experience. The big lessons learned were used tires are not a good idea, I need work on my downshifts to 4th and 3rd in turns 1 and 2, and when doing a standing start you need to take it easy on the shift into 2nd or you will rip your OEM style shift knob off and get no gear.

Saturday actually went pretty well for me. I unloaded on a $350 set of used RA1s and was incident free in practice getting used to a track I had only been to once before in my second DE weekend early last year. I started qualifying behind Lako and was able to follow him to a good lap on my first flyer. On the second flyer I tried to carry more speed through 1 and thus had to trail brake a little too hard for 2 which resulted in losing the rear end and ending up in the grass. I was happy to qualify 8th out of 13 with a 01:26.2. The race went relatively well for me including battling with Chuck mostly in turn 1. My one big mistake was missing my downshift to third between one and two which caused me to panic a little and go way wide allowing Laura and Scott to get by. I finished 7th thanks to Johan’s car problems, Chuck’s low fuel, and a mistake my Herrington who was catching me and might have had me in another lap with that damn red 911 GT3 giving me hell.

At the end of the race going down pit lane I noticed my car was pulling hard to the left if I took my hands off the wheel. Turns out the used RA1 on my driver front had a cord seperate in the tire so it was now a gonner. Luckily I had brought the best of my original RA1s as a spare so I headed out to find an open tire shop to get it mounted. Goodyear was open till 6 and myself along with a Spec Miata guy and DeVinney all headed there despite the $30+ per wheel charge. DeVinney was kind enough to wait at the shop and bring my rim back so I could go eat Mexican with Lako, Gress, and Herrington.

Sunday went about as poorly as it could have and still be able to drive the car on the trailer. In qualifying, I ended up losing the rear end in the final corner trying to get a good run to start my first flying lap which resulted in another spin and going off track in the big field. It took me another 3 laps to get some good space and get the car back under me to then set a 01:26.8 time. This put me 9th out of 12 for the race. I was excited to do my first standing start as I feel I am good at launching cars from my street racing Saturday nights of the past. I got a great launch and then went to shift to 2nd and ripped the damn shift knob right off which resulted in no gear and having a gear knob in my hand. I tossed the knob to the passenger area and grabbed second. By that time I was 11th and surprised that Smith hadn’t passed me as well but he probably paniced when he was behind me and I slowed up missing the gear. I had a great battle with Smith for the first half of the race. I was again having issues getting my downshifts right and the missing shift knob wasn’t helping. My shift to 5th at the tower was also slower to ensure I didn’t money shift into 3rd. That old used RA1 I had mounted up was probably way past its prime as I had no rear grip and was struggling in every corner especially the 2nd left hander turn 5. I almost lost it there multiple times and went off track a couple times. Once Smith got by I decided to just put in cruise control and bring the car home. My second DFL finish in a Sunday Southeast SpecE30 race in a row.

I have decided from this point forward I will not be purchasing used RA1s. I plan to only bring shaved sets, and I hope to get 3 weekends out of them. I will also be replacing my shift knob with a taller aftermarket one along with focusing on taking it easier on my downshifts. I probably won’t be at any more Southeast events this year as the cost of a new set of RA1s and the two front wheel hub/bearings (I had a horrible sound in the left hand corners this weekend) I need to replace will take the rest of my budget.

Videos will hopefully be up tonight.

#22

Guys -

Thanks for the well wishes at MidOhio. As always, the driving was close and clean and I’m grateful to have put the car on the trailer in the same condition it rolled off!

Congrats to Kelly for his first pole. He was driving great and clean. If he weren’t such a nice guy he probably wouldn’t have moved over to prevent messing with the GTS4 battle. That little move in 5 put him on dirty track and let me slip through for the win.

Huge “way to go” to LakoWalsh Racing’s Scott for incredible rebuild skills. When DMo’s car was sitting on the rollback with the wheel hanging off like a winged bird, brake fluid dripping everywhere, I thought he’d be kicking in the doors as we rolled it on his trailer. The Paddock Parts Bin came out in full force and saved his weekend. That’s what club racing is all about!

When Sumpter came up to me after Sunday’s race, he had the biggest smile on his face and was just oozing that “this sh!t’s so fun it shouldn’t be legal” giddyness. A great reminder of how we are supposed to feel at the track.

Fowler wouldn’t let me run new tires this weekend since MidOhio likes thin Toyos. I think most everyone was on pretty well used skins. I was looking at Saturday’s grid sheet. Patton cleared the field by 0.4, then 0.1 second separated the next 4, then 0.2 separate the next 2. P2 through P9 separated by 1.2 seconds. That’s spec, baby! :woohoo:

See y’all at CMP for IFU!

#23

From watching the C Taylor video from Sunday one can say with great certainty that the weekend was a success. There were 8-10 cars all within 50 yards of each other. If you made a mistake you were shuffled to the back. If you spent too much time “racing,” others would close the small gap. Close racing, no contact…gotta love it.

Congratulations to DeVinney on the two race wins, to Damion for a great comeback, and to the new kid in town, Kelly Childress with his 2nd and 3rd place finishes.

RP

#24

Here’s my highlights video from all the action Saturday. I put in lots of commentary. http://vimeo.com/28717388

#25

Thanks Scott for the fun video.

RP

#26

Saturday Race:

http://www.vimeo.com/28695383

Sunday Race:

http://www.vimeo.com/28710364

I’m always open to suggestions on ways I could improve.

#27

Nice driving Scott!!! I like your new paint scheme too! What’s your oil light set to? I’ve seen pressures in the mid 30s, but never driven RRR so it’s hard to compare.

#28

Good driving Scott. Whats with all the blue hoses to the trunk?

#29

OP switch is at 20psi. I’d never seen it light up with the MM oil pan and scraper. That will be the cause of some thinking.

Re. the blue hoses. Cool shirt and cool helmet.

#30

OP is a mind over matter issue. I’ve seen 7 psi since i got my iq3 working, but i don’t mind so it doesn’t matter.

#31

Scott, nice clips and commentary.

  1. Failed pass on me in T1: Funny, I was wondering why you didn’t drive on by me!

  2. Outside pass into T1 on Lako. Smart (or lucky) move, as it was the fast dude pulling back in line in front of Lako and making him check up early that made it work for you.

  3. Behold the power of the draft. Running alone you topped out about 118. Chasing me or Laura I think I saw a 123, but definitely a 122 on the front straight.

  4. How close did you come to that pretty 911 when you squeezed by in 5? Looked mighty big in the camera lens!

  5. You stay in 3rd between turns 4-5. Surprised you aren’t hitting the rev limiter. I’m not the fastest, but at least I used to hit it if I didn’t go to 4th (I assume I still would!)

#32

I was backing it down just enough to not hit the limiter before braking. I noticed you used 4th. I will probably try that next time.

#33

Let’s ask Kelly what to do at t5.

For me it is a little of both, depending on traffic.

Heck, back in 2007 after the repave and with good traction you could do the entire track using 4th and 5th only…

RP

#34

Scott, nice clips and commentary.

  1. Failed pass on me in T1: Funny, I was wondering why you didn’t drive on by me!

  2. Outside pass into T1 on Lako. Smart (or lucky) move, as it was the fast dude pulling back in line in front of Lako and making him check up early that made it work for you.

  3. Behold the power of the draft. Running alone you topped out about 118. Chasing me or Laura I think I saw a 123, but definitely a 122 on the front straight.

  4. How close did you come to that pretty 911 when you squeezed by in 5? Looked mighty big in the camera lens!

  5. You stay in 3rd between turns 4-5. Surprised you aren’t hitting the rev limiter. I’m not the fastest, but at least I used to hit it if I didn’t go to 4th (I assume I still would!)[/quote]

  1. I’ll exploit an opening like anyone else, but I try not to push a questionable situation. In order to squirt thru on the inside I’d a had to brake less to carry more speed thru 1. But if I’d a done that my ability to hold the line would have been questionable and I could have slid out into you. It was my responsibility to make the pass work safely and I chose to err on the side of caution.

  2. Sure it was the combo of variables that made it work, but it always is. The fast dude could have easily chosen to swing to the outside of the track and therefore got in front of me instead. Me going to the outside just set me up for success should the fast dude do something to screw up Lako.

  3. Close. Lol.

  4. Obviously there’s lots of ways to do turn 5 and I don’t pretend to have the best solution. But what I do is to rimshot the first half while feathering the throttle a bit just before RL in 3rd. I sacrifice a little speed early in 5 in order to try to optimally execute turn in for the latter half of 5. For me, that turn in is dicey. Getting as much rotation as possible at as high a speed as possible is the whole ballgame for carrying good speed to 6. But there is a razor thin line between nailing that turn in, vs. spinning off into the dirt. Having to add a downshift there makes that critical moment a little more clumsy for me, and therefore further from optimum. And besides, when you’re rimshotting the first half of 5 you have to slow down a bit anyways because the turn radius is tighter then using the turn’s apex.

#35

[quote=“Patton” post=59638]Let’s ask Kelly what to do at t5.

For me it is a little of both, depending on traffic.

Heck, back in 2007 after the repave and with good traction you could do the entire track using 4th and 5th only…

RP[/quote]

My tendency is definitely towards 3rd over 4th. I think the pull of 3rd over 4th along with the time lost shift up and back down offsets the minimal time spent popping off the rev limiter right before braking into 5. I am also able to use left foot braking in and through 5 which I think helps me balance the car through the turn.

#36

Hi, I was in the Blue 944 GTS1 car. Since the split start wasn’t very split, I decided to let as many SE30 cars by on the first lap as I could without screwing up my own race with Nevit Hughes (GTS3). I hope I was not too intrusive.

I put 2 off in 9 about 2/3 of the way into the Sat. race. I saw a long distance video from C. Taylor. I was wondering if Steve Lako has any video, since he was right behind me?

#37

I found Steve’s video on Vimeo. It looks as if I almost had all 4 off in 9, 2 in the grass and 2 on the rumble strip.

#38

My humble video contribution: Roebling 9 3 2011