VIR Season Opener

#21

I will be there, I am coming down Thursday afternoon after classes, I should be in around 6-7 hopefully.

Nice looking trailer Rick!

#22

monster e30 wrote:

[quote]
anyone else finding the RA1’s wearing out real fast?[/quote]

I’ve felt like the compound has changed for a while now. They definitely seem to heat cycle out now. Since we started running the R888 and then went back to RA1, the RA1’s seem to perform no better longevitiy wise than the R888. I’ve used RA1’s since 2001.

#23

Even though Toyo says it hasn’t changed, something is different. Yes new RA1s wear out a lot faster now.

#24

smoked a set that were dated 4th week 2010. i drove in a few hpde’s at 7tenths seeing how all the previous sets were gone in a weekend. still did not help i had 4 grooves on saturday thought i was going to cord them in the final race sunday. talked to the head of norcal and he was not aware of a problem but is not happy if this is true.

we need to complain to nasa NOW!!!

LOCAL DISTRBUTOR SAID THEY ARE TO FRESH! NOW I KNOW THAT IS B.S.!

talk to the miata guys and the 944 guys we need to get some action or we won’t be able to race unless you can afford an extra $800.00 each weekend!

i think that they are using the 888 compound. we used to get 4 -5 race weekends out of these tires. PISSED OFF IN NORCAL:angry: !!!

#25

I’m happy with the life of the RA1s on the SE30. 27-28 heat cycles and still getting good lap times.

#26

Rob in VA wrote:

What is the date code on the side of those tires?

#27

We should move the tire discussion to here, good luck at VIR everyone.

http://spece30.com/component/option,com_kunena/Itemid,86/func,view/catid,15/id,54528/#54528

#28

Evan, do us racers from the southeast proud.

Have fun all.

RP

#29

So where should I park… Up on the hill by the awesome bathrooms? Or just wherever I can find a spot? I’ll be arriving early Saturday morning.

#30

Evan - what happened Sunday? Looked like you had a great run on Saturday.

In what appears to be the norm in MA congrats to Mr Grace on sweeping the weekend.

#31

Robert Grace put down some blistering fast times this weekend. Congrats to him on the two wins.

It was fun having James Clay in the mix. My goal was to keep him in my rear view, but that only lasted for a couple of laps.

Video from Jame’s car:

Qualifying:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvyBn2QG6eI

Saturday race:
part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzymXkbeLLU
part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I39CydiovRs

#32

With James Clay and Evan Levine in the mix there have to be some race stories.

How was the event?

RP

#33

Another video from Clay’s car - http://www.vimeo.com/20183518

#34

Grace and Carter checked out hardcore. I cracked my radiator passing a D-mod car in Southbend and James broke his accelerator but we ended up spending the 2nd half of the race battling hard for 3rd/4th place. James took it by a car length or two. :frowning:

The Start: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YthJA81mHqs

A seriously close call (and the end of my radiator): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Xv3yKgbfDI

The End: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUuGMOtKT2Q

#35

nice job Robert!

really fun looking track seems to have a lot of run off and man it sure looks awful dry there.

#36

Thanks guys. It was definitely a fun weekend, very cool of DriveGear to lineup bimmerworld owner and driver, James Clay, to race with us on Saturday. James spent the day hanging out with the E30 camp talking and strategizing with the guys. Most of us decided that we were going to go out towards the back of the qualifying grid and hang back to create enough space for a flier. It didn’t exactly go as planned but I was able to squeeze a good lap out of the session and was on the pole. Gagliardo was starting P2, Carter P3, Clay P4, Levine P5 and Mariani P6. No one put too much weight on the qualifying results because only a few of us got a clean lap and with only 6 cars in the field anything could happen.

From what I could tell it seemed like everyone had a clean start on Saturday, Carter and I came out of T3 1st and 2nd, focused on the windshield rather than the rearview and checked out. After a few laps I had a comfortable lead on Carter, and Carter had a very comfortable lead on Clay and the rest of the guys. The best battle of the race was probably Evan and James. I was able to secure the fastest lap with a 2:18:574. At the stripe it was Grace P1, Hunt P2, Clay P3.

Sunday’s qualifying seemed to go better; I think most of us were able to put a lap together. Grace P1, Gagliardo P2, Jon Allen P3, Hunt P4, Zimmerman P5, Mariani P6.
The start of the race was clean as far as Spec E30s were concerned but we ran into the group ahead of us by the time we go to T3 which made for an interesting couple of laps and a lesson on traffic management.

First few laps of race 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugExC4jjbTA (I’ll work on a higher quality video)

I could see Gagliardo, Allen, and Hunt in a good battle when I was coming out of Oak Tree and T1, sounds like there may have been some spins, minor contact, etc because after a while the three car pack became two…and then one. Finishing order: Grace P1, Hunt P2, Allen P3.

All in all it was a great weekend; good to see everyone and it was a lot of fun having Clay and Evan racing with the usual MA group. Hopefully in March we have the same weather but more cars!