Hyper-X

Wow, TWO autocross events in 1 month... what more can anyone ask?

I failed to write up my usual article on past events, however to sum things up Team S2000's showing wasn't as impressive as Team S2k's ace placed 10th overall, and I somehow managed to edge out Colin (I edged out Yoda of all people)... I mean, was the planetary alignment "off" for that event? Colin seems to think that Stephen's Mugen car needs more grip, while I think my car could use more power.

I think we're correct on both accounts as grip is essential to putting the power down (otherwise HP is useless) and all the grip in the world isn't going to help in the short-medium straight sections, especially if it's uphill.

Here's the upcoming schedule w/ a twist... (see below for more details)

August 29 - Hawaii Raceway Park
Heat 1: All Prepared, STS, SM
Heat 2: All Stock
Heat 3: ASP, BSP, CSP, DSP
Heat 4: ESP, FSP, All Modified

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Effective with the August 29, 2004 event, there will be some schedule and operational changes to better accommodate the increased number of event participants and perhaps going back to having fun runs at the end of the day. Please note the following changes and plan your day accordingly. Direct any questions to me or any of the event chiefs.

Schedule: Morning schedule (in blue) will be strictly enforced. First car WILL be off at 10am

0700

smccurry

Well, I just got back home from today's events and it's now 11:30 p.m.
What a loooong day!

A bit bittersweet as my car was damaged during the first heat during Colin's run. I say bittersweet because we still managed to squeak out some very respectable results despite the adversity.
Colin only got to record 1 time today and left with 6th place overall!! This is with a cone, folks.
WITHOUT THE CONE HE WOULD HAVE HAD FASTEST TIME OF THE DAY!!!
Thankfully, the damage was cosmetic only and did not affect the performance or operation of my car and so I ran the 2nd heat and finished with 3rd overall. The car felt very strong and not nearly as loose as the last event, probably due to Colin's suggestion to put more weight on the back wheels by filling up with more fuel before the event.
Jimmy finished with 11th overall, just getting squeaked out of the top 10 by Jen Lee. If anyone kicks me out of the top 10, Jen's name is up there with the Van Orman's, Pat Olsen, Barry Lai and Jason Guzman. Elton also looks like he's getting more comfortable driving your car. That would be sweet if he also starts to threaten Andy Barnes' times. :-)

A great course layout. Anytime you can give the reigning champion 240z's a hard time and still make the s2k feel comfortable on the course, you're doing a good job! Thanks Jimmy!

The other big surprise of the day. Mike Singleton.
This guy is a sandbagger! His first time out autocrossing an S2000. His first time out at HRP. His '04 s2k just broken in and running on street tires. He posts a 62.625 with a 2 cone penalty. I don't know if his cones were close-calls or not, but without the penalty he would have had the 3rd FTD!! I hope you continue to come out Mike. You are going to make a big impact!

The S2000 Team's future looks so bright

808style

sounds like a great showing for the s2ks! great job guys! way to go colin! i wish i had driving skills like all of you. sorry to hear about the car stephen... please tell me it wasnt the front bumper!

BlitzSRM

I know i would have been really slow, but i wish i could have participated.

hawkdog

All the cones I hit were fairly close-calls if I remember right. No big cone-marks on my car at least. I think I'll just not hit them next time.

Sorry again about your car Stephen. Hope everything works out ok with it.

smccurry

The front bumper was more or less unscathed. It's mostly the front left quarter panel, and the driver's door, with some scratches on the front and rear bumper and rear left quarter panel.
I took it to a shop today to assess the damage, and he will get back with me tomorrow on the cost. I will lose my car for a week during repair though These are probably special order parts, so I will probably have to drive around with a wounded s2k for a while...

BlitzSRM

what about carbon fiber parts.... less weight. it will probablly cost the same after painting the panels.

Hyper-X

I'm just glad that nobody got hurt. Steve's car looks worse than it appears, but a good close-up reveals that it's a lot of cosmetic damage, after all the car hit the stack of tires, not any concrete. A new panel, a skin and some refinishing should do the trick, the car will be back to how it was in no time.

808style

ouch! sorry to hear about the car stephen. thats exactly why i'll probably never get any closer to autocrossing than the stands. my crappy driving + autocross =

Hyper-X

The recap is as follows.

This event was a tough one, not so much in course difficulty, but the endurance required to get through the day. It started off as overcast, rained a little, got really hot, rained again, overcast... mother nature just couldn't make up her mind in the morning then she blasted us with searing heat for the remainder of the day.

The course ran counter-clockwise starting at the end of the drag strip ending up before the tower. Elton and I both helped with track setup in the first and largest section and I had the chance to test a few ideas with what I've learned through some course design books. I was very upset when "someone" altered the original layout (after the drivers started to walk the course) without consulting me with the design and I truly believe that 1 critical section was made worse when he deviated from our original design. I feel that once the course is setup and the drivers are walking the course, NO changes should be allowed period, it's too late. The resulting section became something completely different than what was planned. I'll go over our intended layout and post what actually happened after a few unplanned alterations.
Comments between the () describe the intent.

=== Original Design ===
(Section 1)
The course starts off on the left-most section of road going into a kink designed to eliminate benefits due to drag-style launches. Once you cross the timing lights, it forces you over to a very sharp left (just to see if you're awake and paying attention to the course). 50-60 feet later, in the center of the track is a gate you must drive through (that limits the approach angle into the next section) is followed by a short 3 cone slalom involving an offset cone with a marker indicating that you must enter from the left. The offset cone was exactly 1 pace to the left of the track centerline. The next cone is on the centerline spaced out 15 paces away from the first, then the last cone also on the center is spaced out at 22 paces. This is what we designated as a gradual speed up section (allowing for better exit speeds).

(Section 2)
This area is a zone of no cones for 80 paces, giving cars a short yet long enough area to open it up for a brief amount of time.

(Section 3)
Think of this section like the slalom in section 1 but in reverse. You'd approach the first offset cone 1 pace to the right with a direction arrow indicating that you must enter from the right. You get 22 paces until the 2nd cone that sits on the centerline, followed by another at 15 also in the center. This was designated as the gradual slow down section (to help trim speed and penalizing those who enter this section too quickly). Those who controlled their speeds would be rewarded by easing into the next area.

(Section 4)
1 cone is set 1 pace to the right of the center having a directional arrow showing that you must enter from the right, quickly followed by a Chicago box with rather wide entries and exits.

(Section 5)
1 cone is set 1 pace to the left of the center, having a directional arrow showing that you must (you guessed it) enter from the left, quickly followed by another Chicago box with a large entry and exit. (As you may already suspect, the majority of the area we designed was set around some degree of symmetry so it was designed to give each driver a taste of a left and right version, slow to fast and fast to slow sections to test your strengths and weaknesses).

(Section 6)
A 2 cone slalom follows the last of the Chicago boxes and since we made the lead cone a directional type, you must enter from the right, quickly followed by a short turn to the left then back over to the right (which is meant to slow you down and help prevent carrying excessive speed as you approach the crossover). If designed right, you won't be able to carry much speed into this area anyway because the 2 cones were placed close together. (This area wasn't meant to test your skill in any way, it's simply for safety reasons because nobody wants to risk going too fast into the crossover and possibly hitting something right?)

=== Final Design (after a few LATE modifications w/o consultation us) ===

(Section 1)
The 3 cone slalom was changed into a slanted gate. Imagine the 1st cone being unchanged having an arrow pointing to the left, but the next cone has an arrow indicating that you must stay to the left (???) then the last cone has an arrow pointing that you must go to the right of it. Obviously this wasn't a slalom anymore. A "slanted gate" is the best description I can come up with for now. Anyhow, that allowed cars to accelerate in a diagonal line from left to right which I had no problem with since hitting VTEC was easy to do here.

(Section 2)
No changes.

(Section 3)
This section was left mostly unchanged as a slalom with the addition of extra "pointer" cones making sure drivers knew that it was a slalom. I read in a book stating that it wasn't necessary if at least 2 successive cones were directly in line of each other, clearly indicating a slalom... but I imagine that this would help novices with reading the course correctly while others found it to add to the cluttered appearance. (can't satisfy everyone I guess)

(Section 4)
No changes

(Section 5)
No changes

(Section 6)
This is the section that I believe should not have been changed. The mini 2 cone slalom was changed to another slanted gate, much like how it's described in Section 1 allowing cars to open the throttle all the way for a long period of time, carrying a lot of speed as they approached the crossover. Our original slow section suddenly became an ultra-fast area. Several cars entered the crossover heading straight for the wall with their front wheels turned but to no avail. Too much speed, too much forward momentum, poorly paved track, loose gravel spelled out dangerous understeering conditions and unfortunately our resident Yoda experienced a boo-boo. If that section was left untouched, IMHO the crash wouldn't have happened because you wouldn't have been able to carry that degree of speed.

The next series of sections were a creative mix of cone placements that made for moderatley tight slaloms which I found some difficulty to find the right gear to be in. Too high for 1st and not enough power in 2nd. The area after the chicane (AKA S-turn by the gate) was setup in a forgiving manner that allowed all cars to enter the next set of slaloms comfortably and from the natural angle which is from the left side.

The off-camber was also left unrestricted allowing for a good old-fashioned "out-in" driving line, which would set you up for a nice late apex as you approached the final section (the flats). A few others and I had expressed concern for the last and final gate, a little too close to the timing lights because of the angle it'd set your car up will put it in direct line of sight as you approached the finish.

The course had a strange feel but it was good nevertheless. The silver MY04 S2000 made a debut at HRP this event, but evidence shows that he's no novice to autocross, hence his new nickname "The Sandbagger". (just kidding Mike, good job... sorry I didn't get a chance to talk to you).

Colin and Stephen represented all of us very well, showing that even when the S takes a beatin', it keeps on tickin'. Colin, why did you have to hit that 1 cone man? Steve had his game face on despite the car's condition... it was almost like when you see someone ready to kill something, I sensed no fear from Steve, no worries, only a tightly focused mind (this is no joke Steve, I was talking to someone else who thought the same thing). I think we need to bump the other fender next time so he'd smoke the reigning champ!