Based on how things were going yesterday I am not really surprised about the carnage.

What was wrong with the driver of the Robispec car?

 

Ask Scot. I'm actually being kind.

 

Skip, I agree with most of what you said. I do think it was OK for me to be soloed, but I also think I should have been in intermediate to begin with. I am home in one piece and didn

 

I do not know anything about the two Robispec cars/drivers, but I can tell you that the barrel-chested older gentleman that registered the cars did not lack... confidence(being nice like Rob ). At two difference times of the day I witnessed this.

Anyway, congrats to all the participants and winners. I home those that traveled from afar had safe trips home.

 

+1.

Never seen so many cars wrecked in a single weekend. And, not talking about minor "opps-I-slightly-hit-the-tire-wall" and ding the panels wrecks. Cars that were wrecked today are hit so bad that they aren't even drivable anymore. It was pretty bad. Oh well... one of those bad weekends I guess.

It was great to meet Calvin, Scott and Steve.

My best at first TA session was 1:42:30 and second was high 1:39 according to a friend (but other friend also told me 1:41 something). We'll see once they upload the time sheets on their website. Woot!

Some pics.

 

Beautiful car, datax.

 

Thanks, Skip. It's still slower than S2ks tho. Scott got 1:37 or something crazy fast if you haven't know.

 

Wow! What a weekend. I can't remember if I've ever seen so many wrecks and blown engines at a track event. I'm just glad I got back home in one piece without going off track. I was literally praying before each outing. I don't think I've ever done that before.

About the Redline event... I shouldn't really be surprised at the carnage this weekend. First of, Shenadoah doesn't have that much run off run. Secondly, the atmosphere at this event is just different. A lot of drivers are there to compete in time trails, but I think some how, that mentality rubs off on HPDE drivers too. I guess that happens when transponders are offered for HPDE drivers.

I think two things kept my car in one piece this weekend - luck and my mental approach. In two different sessions, I ran over either oil or radiator fluid where it got the back end loose, but luckily, I had slowed down enough from seeing the flags early. The second part I think is the mental approach. Yes, I did sign up for the advanced run group, knowing that I would be on track with 500+ whp cars, but I had prepared for that mentally, thinking about where I would give point-bys to faster cars after each turn including which side. I also wanted more experience passing and being passed in turns. It's a good experience to have.

That being said, the Saturday session was crazy. I saw lots of cars wreck. My brother also almost hit the wall after he blew his radiator hose. As far as times go, I couldn't even match the fastest time I had last year on my old setup at the Fall Colors track event. It wasn't until the first practice sesion this morning that I matched my fastest time. Then right before the first time attack session, Scot gave me some tips that help shave almost a second, and I ended up getting my personal best time of 1:42.5 during the first time attack session. Thanks Scot.

I think I could have gone faster than that, but on the first lap, this turbo'ed Nissan 240 didn't keep the right spacing between cars during the warm up lap and was on my bumper by the middle of the first hot lap. So, I had to let him pass, but after he passed, I was about three car lengths behind him the rest of the session. I even had to brake early in some turns so I wouldn't get too close to him. I thought since he caught up with me so fast, he was much faster than me. That wasn't the case. He just didn't keep the spacing right until the hot laps started.

For the second time attack session, I was grided right behind this loud Evo, and all I could think of was... just watch out for a blown engine or radiator fluid. Sure enough, during the middle of the second lap, a turbo charged RX7 blew his engine or something and laid fluid all over the track on the bridge straight. After I saw the debris flag, I just decided to slow down. I'm glad I did since my rear end started twitching after I ran over some of the fluid. Unfortunately for Steve, he was right behind the RX7 and almost had an off from running over the fluid. Needless to say, that ruined his time attack run.

At the end, Scot came in second in Modified RWD with a scorching 1:37.8. Congrats Scot!. The guy in first place for Modified RWD was 550+ whp turbo'ed G35 on BFGoodridge R1's. Even then he only beat Scot by 1.3 seconds. Unfortunately for Steve, he was behind a slower car in the first time attack session and had to pass the guy, which slowed him down a bit. His second session wasn't good because of a blown engine from another car. He ended up fifth with a 1:40.7. I came in 9th with a 1:42.5, and Rob came in sixth with a 1:43.1. I know Rob was faster on Saturday with a 1:42.7, so he could have gotten a faster time.

Brain - thanks for the pics. They look great! Here are a few of mine. I was so distracted this weekend from the wrecks that I dind't even tape one session of the HPDE or the time attack sessions.


^^Scot was drooling.

 

Nice meeting you too Ken.

I picked up a copy of the final results for Modifed RWD. You got sixth place with a 1:41.8. Good job. I think that's your personal best time too.

And David - thanks for the $5.

 

Well, I put down a shameful lap time of 1:46.2 as my fastest and finished 5th in Street RWD. So, I ended up donating $5 to Calvin.

I should have done two days, I think I could have cut down the times to be more competitive. With a few more sessions and I could have cut down a few seconds more (I finally got some good inputs down in the last time attack). The top three Street RWD guys all ran 1:41 (although David Ortiz's time didn't officially count).

Overall, aside from two of my friends crashing today (both were luckily unharmed), I'd say it was a pretty good weekend. The car is in excellent shape, the Carbotechs that Skip provided held up great, and I finally got some seat time in this S.

Nice meeting a few new s2ki guys as well. I'll see you guys around on the track.